Speech about Christmas and Advent

I had the opportunity to write down a speech about Advent and how we prepare for Christmas. This is a duet and students from my club performed it well. Just wanted to share in case it'll be of help to you.

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Christmas. A lovely word to hear. A season everybody is excited about!

But what does it really mean? What is its importance for us as students?

To our school president, our high school principal, school administrators, teachers, and fellow students, good morning.

Yesterday was the first Sunday of advent. But what does that signify? Well, as a member of Media Club, I researched the Internet and found some answers. And here are the following:

… Merriam-Webster defines Christmas as a Christian feast on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Christ, and Advent is the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, observed by some Christians as a season of prayer and fasting.

Wikipedia on the other hand defined Advent, from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming", as a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.

A friend of mine in Facebook defined the season as vacation, celebrating parties, having fun, getting gifts, and a time to sleep and not do anything.

But isn’t Advent and Christmas more than these?

Christmas, we must remember, is fundamentally about the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God. It is more than a day or a season; it signifies our salvation, the promise of forgiveness and everlasting life. And of course a reminder of our eternal duty to love and do good unto others. And Advent is simply to prepare us for the coming of this day.

But if Advent and Christmas is this important, it is an immense task to prepare for, isn’t it? But as a student, is there anything we can do?

Yes, we can help in the preparation in our small and simple ways. I, for instance, can prepare for the season by spending more time with my family and helping in the little chores at home. Not only we can learn more practical things, we get a little exercise.

Or we can use up more time studying to get better grades rather than to surfing what is more than necessary in the Internet. With barely three weeks left in the 3rd quarter, it will be nice to get better scores in our quizzes and activities.

And of course, we can pray for others, especially those who are in great pain and need. A little time we sacrifice would do great healing.

Indeed, these may be small things, but I know, in the long run, these will greatly contribute to our progress to become better persons, not just for the sake of our family or for others but also for ourselves.

So how about you, my dear schoolmates? To end, I would like to leave you these questions for reflection. How do you plan to spend the Advent and prepare for Christmas? Even in the simplest of your ways, how do you plan to serve others? And how are you to become a better person?

May everyone have a wonderful and meaningful Advent! Thank you and good day!

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Rio: Overcoming the Fear of Flight! - A Movie Review

Indeed, it has been refreshing to see a movie so unpretentious, especially in today's world where movies are all about special effects and violence. Rio has been like a blast of cold and fresh air.

The movie is about Blu, a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, who, being the last of its kind, travels with Linda, his owner, to mate with his only living female counterpart. However, things go wrong the moment the two blue macaws gets abducted.

It has been a very long time that I laughed so hard during the screening in which I attended. The funny moments are intelligent, yet they are realistic in nature that anyone, kids and adults alike, really find them hilarious. This may be owing to the fact that, despite the exaggeration of speaking animals, the characters are someone we can relate to, with special mention to the main character, Blu. Throughout the movie, we share his experiences together in a very comprehensive manner. The audience feel the fear of flight just as Blu does, we fall in love with Jewel just as he does, etc. And this is what I like in a movie, the connection the main charaters to its audience.

Being a tech junkie, the animation of Rio is also commendable. The crisp and the variety of colors really fit with its characters and the setting, which is in Rio de Janeiro. How'd I love to go in there! There has been a great improvement with animation as we progress with technology. Being said, it is of great recommendation that one experience it in 3D cinemas. A little expensive, but totally worth it.

If I'd get the chance, I'll go see it again. 4 stars out of 5!

Oscar 2011 Best Achievement in Visual Effects Nominees

Indeed, there has been a great improvement with the visuals of the movie industry last year. 3D has become a fad and good special effects translate to large revenues. (Although, there are still victims of this confidence, aka, The Clash of the Titans)

And to prove this point, the nominees for the Best Achievement in Visual Effects of The Oscars this year are the cream of the crop. The following movies prove the point that visuals is not a simple business.

First off, Alice in Wonderland: Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas, Sean Phillips



Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1: Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz, Nicolas Aithadi



Hereafter: Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojansky, Joe Farrell



Inception: Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, Pete Bebb, Paul J. Franklin



Lastly, Iron Man 2: Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright, Daniel Sudick



Well, there you have it! My bet? I'd go for Inception any day.

For the complete list of the Oscar 2011 Nominees, visit IMDB.com.

Pinoy on Technology

The surge of the use of technology and the boost of social networking sites these days is proved to also be true with the Filipinos. Juan de la Cruz seems not to far to the currents trend, just as recent surveys has showed.

First up, the just released 2008 Functional Literacy and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) results indicated that 58 million of the estimated 67 million Pinoy with ages 10 to 64 years old are functionally literate, or they can read, write, compute, and comprehend. This is a big improvement as to the functional literacy rate is now 86.4% compared to the 2003 FLEMMS result, which was 84.1%. More details of the report can be read in The Manila Bulletin official website.

On another hand, the latest report of the IT research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. states that the Philippines leads Asia on worldwide social media usage. In simpler terms, Pinoys are the most avid users of social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, in Asia.

The report had said that, "While Asia's biggest economies have been slow to embrace the global social communities of Facebook, Yahoo and Twitter, many countries in the region have followed the adoption patterns of Europe and the US. The most avid social networkers are in the Philippines, where Facebook is the country's most visited Internet site."

Does the two reports mean something that is good, I don't know? But it does mean that we are improving. Despite of the problems we encounter, I am still proud to be pinoy! Yeeehaa!

On Computer Games and Surveys

A former student of mine asked my help with a paper in one of their classes (I'd assume in Filipino) and it made me think of some of my stand on computer gaming. Well, it was a little research wherein I would answer few questions. Well, I'm not a fan of surveys but since she was good in my class (and a very nice student), I gave in. Just wanna share my answers. (translated in english)

1. What is your current profession?
I am currently teaching computer to high school students in Ateneo de Iloilo.

2. How old are you?
22

3. Why are you giving importance to playing computer games?
Playing computer games help me with my focus on tasks ahead of me. On instances that I'm fatigued with work, along with opening social networking sites, it helps me clear my mind off things, giving me the more opportunity to compose my thoughts better.

4. When you were still studying, how do you manage your time between playing computer games and your studies?
To be honest, during my college years, I got addicted to online games. It came to the point where I skip classes just to play. I do not know how, but it came to point where I realized it was unhealthy, so I made a decision to leave my 3 year old account and give more focus with my studies. though I still use game applications, online games are off-limits.

5. Why are you giving all your with playing computer games?
During the times where I was addicted to online games, the main reason why I continue playing is because it gives me a sort of feeling of fulfillment. Finishing quests and leveling up increased my confidence and self-esteem. (It was only later that I realized it does the opposite)

Please understand that these was true in my came but may not be for you. Don't try this at home! LOL! Yadda!

Google Doodles!

Google's best feature for me is their Doodles, or the change of their logos every time there is an occasion, whether it is globally or for a certain region only.

Well, I enjoy looking at the logos, and it entices viewers to use Google more! Take a look at their logo last April 22, 2010, Earth Day.



Also, I liked their Philippine Independence Day logo. Try to check it out. They list all their logos at Google Doodles page.

Sorry for not being able to write well these days. Been very tired and exhausted. Yadda next time!

Happy Earth Day!

Now, we all know that this blog's purpose is to seek and prove that still, there is a human side for technology. This in fact is also the purpose of almost all advocates of the correct usage of technology. Well, we just got another day, today, to prove our gift of maintaining humanity in this modern and technological age.

Today is Earth Day!

According to Wikipedia.Org,

Earth Day is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in held on April 22, 1970. Earth Day is celebrated in spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Many communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues. The first Earth Week originated in Philadelphia in 1970 (starting April 16 and culminating on Earth Day, April 22.) Earth Day Network, a group that wishes to become the coordinator of Earth Day globally, asserts that Earth Day is now observed on April 22 on virtually every country on Earth. World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5 in a different nation every year, is the principal United Nations environmental observance.

So what's the whole point of celebrating this day? This gives us, as users and beneficent of Mother Nature, the responsibility to take part and be aware of protecting her, not just today, but any other day of the year. What do we need it for? Why do it? Why not depend on technology? The answers to these questions are already known to us. It's either we embrace it or we pretend not to know.

Happy Earth Day!

(Photo source: http://www.theothero.com/media/2009/090422_earthday/earth_day.jpg)

A Blogger's Code of Ethics

Sorry, been a while since my last post. Been very very busy at work. Damn! Now I really know why teaching is called a vocation! Haha!

Anyways, I thought of dropping by now because a co-teacher of mine placed something on my table. Now, I've been familiar of this Blogger's Code of Ethics before, still, it was a nice thought that he shared it with me. So here I am, sharing it to the world. Just wanna let you know that this list came from Cyber Journalist.

Here we go:

A BLOGGERS' CODE OF ETHICS

Be Honest and Fair

• Bloggers should be honest and fair in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
• Bloggers should:
• Never plagiarize.
• Identify and link to sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources' reliability.
• Make certain that Weblog entries, quotations, headlines, photos and all other content do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.
• Never distort the content of photos without disclosing what has been changed. Image enhancement is only acceptable for for technical clarity. Label montages and photo illustrations.
• Never publish information they know is inaccurate -- and if publishing questionable information, make it clear it's in doubt.
• Distinguish between advocacy, commentary and factual information. Even advocacy writing and commentary should not misrepresent fact or context.
• Distinguish factual information and commentary from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.

Minimize Harm

• Ethical bloggers treat sources and subjects as human beings deserving of respect.
• Bloggers should:
• Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by Weblog content. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.
• Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.
• Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of information is not a license for arrogance.
• Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone's privacy.
• Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.
• Be cautious about identifying juvenile suspects, victims of sex crimes and criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges.

Be Accountable
Bloggers should:

• Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
• Explain each Weblog's mission and invite dialogue with the public over its content and the bloggers' conduct.
• Disclose conflicts of interest, affiliations, activities and personal agendas.
• Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence content. When exceptions are made, disclose them fully to readers.
• Be wary of sources offering information for favors. When accepting such information, disclose the favors.
• Expose unethical practices of other bloggers.
• Abide by the same high standards to which they hold others.

Nice list, eh?

I'll try to update The Human Side of Technology, at the same time, my Ateneo de Iloilo Computer Teaching blogsite.

The Google Story

Google's official youtube account has uploaded a nice little video showing the brief history of the said company. Just dropping by to share this to all of you!



Sorry for not being able to make posts recently. I'll try to make posts on the next few days. Yadda!
Rod of the Future!
.(@_0)"

Trailers I Just Can't Get Enough Of!

I love movies!

I am always open and proud about that! And it has been a long time since my last movie post! Whoa! So I just decided to just drop by here to post few of my favorite trailers for the past few days. Here they are.

Surrogates. People are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic surrogates -- sexy, physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves. It's an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences don't exist. When the first murder in years jolts this utopia, FBI agent Greer (Willis) discovers a vast conspiracy behind the surrogate phenomenon and must abandon his own surrogate, risking his life to unravel the mystery.



Zombieland. In the horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss -- but when you're afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-toting, zombie-slaying' bad ass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.



The Last Airbender. The story follows the adventures of Aang, a young successor to a long line of Avatars, who must put his childhood ways aside and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations.



Avatar. In the future, Jake, a paraplegic war veteran, is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na'vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture.



It's amazing how technology has evolved, right!

Ateneo de Iloilo Immersion

As part of the outreach activity of Ateneo de Iloilo - Santa Maria Catholic School, the third year students will be adopted by a certain foster family, and live the simple life in the rural areas for a day. It has been my privilage to be asked to be one of the teachers to accompany the young ones, and thanks to God, the whole activity is a success.

A scenario in Brgy. Sinubsuban

It was such a good scene to see the student's who were not used to walk on muddy trails "survive" and appreciate the simple lives of the residents of Brgy. Sinubsuban in Maasin, Iloilo (here on the Philippines). I too had fun doing (of what supposed to be a daunting) task of checking on the kid's condition with their respective foster families. Imagine we also have to walk hundreds of miles of muddy trail (ofcourse I'm exagerating) in order to check on all of them. But the long walk was seemed to be made short with the company of my serious(?) but fun colleagues and co-teachers. It was such a great experience with an activity with a great cause!

My co-teachers making a pose with a (self-proclaimed, just now, sacred) tree.

Students and teachers walking through a muddy trail.

Ma'am Menchie overlooking at the students who enjoy the coolness of the river.

Me in my (self-proclaimed, again) hacienda.

For more pictures, please go through my official blogsite, Ateneo de Iloilo - Computer and Technology.

We are the STALLIONS!

Last August 21, Ateneo de Iloilo - Santa Maria Catholic School, held her High School Intramurals Opening. As tradition, the Level 2 had their cheerdance competition, and guess what, we gor the second place! Yeah! I'm soooo proud of my co-advisory class! Weeee!!!

Yeah, we are the stallions!

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For more pictures, please visit my official blogsite for my stay at ADI.

When Career and GOD Work

Heyya!It's been a long time since my last post. And come to think about it, I miss doing this! The last few days, or weeks, has been very very busy. With all the papers to check, the examination to make, the lessons to prepare, not to mention the stress (and additional work) the burning of our computer lab caused, it felf like I was really about to give up TEACHING.

Hmmm.... I'm tired of too much drama, but the last few days really made me realized that I need to grow up (or go younger). Tests came in one after the other. Hush!

But the GREAT thing about my current career is that we always take the time to PRAY and converse with GOD. Even with our busy schedules, deadlines to meet, we still pause and give HIM the TIME.

This made me realize, GOD, I love this.

A picture I took when I was working with my student's grades.

lol! Too much drama, eh? Anyways, Please take the time to read the official site for my student's computer subjects at EREGIA.COM. I may post updates there from time to time. Thanks!

Dashboard Confessional's Even Now

My most favorite band, Dashboard Confessional, has recently released one of their singles, Even Now. Wanted to share with you this wonderful wonderful song.



Also, here is Chris Carraba's recent interview with Banana Republic. Enjoy, Yada!

Blogging is in my blood!

Heyya!

Its been awhile since my last update. I know there are many things that we need to talk about, however, time is one of my problems nowadays.

Its been about two months since I started teaching Flash Animation and Java Programming to high school students. And I can say that there are alot of ups and downs and twist and turns with my current profession. After all, TEACHING isn't noble for no reason at all.

Teaching has opened alot of new perspectives for me. I mean, I can better understand and relate to how my previous mentors actually feel. (Now I understand that even the most silent of all the whispers between two students in the most secluded place in a classroom is very very VERY distractive.)

I will never deny the fact that I miss the things I did before that I can't now. I miss my previous job and BLOGGING!! Yep! That is why even with a very busy schedule, I really took the time to post this! Yeah!

So far, so great! The job gives me alot of challenges and I can say, I am even a better person after 2 months. I am always inspired to go to school. So, is teaching really for me? Is this the end of my quest to find my rightful place in this world? Too early to tell, but I can't say never. After all, I'm currently a loving a job I never really imagined myself since my birth up until the day I passed my resume. Hmmm....

Time moves soooo fast!

Samuel Morse, telegraph system and Morse Code

Samuel Morse is much known as the American creator of the first telegraph system and notably, the Morse Code. And he was born this day, last 1791.

As a tribute, I decided to make a post to the person, who made communication with long distance possible.

According to Wikipedia.org,

Samuel F.B. Morse was born on April 27, 1791 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the first child of geographer and Pastor Jedidiah Morse (1761-1826) and Elizabeth Ann Finley Breese (1766-1828). Jedidiah was a great preacher of the Calvinist faith and supporter of the American Federalist party. He not only saw it as a great preserver of Puritan traditions (strict observance of the Sabbath), but believed in its idea of an alliance with Britain in regards to a strong central government. Jedidiah strongly believed in education within a Federalist framework alongside the instillation of Calvinist virtues, morals and prayers for his son. After attending Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, Samuel Morse went on to Yale College to receive instruction in the subjects of religious philosophy, mathematics and science of horses. While at Yale, he attended lectures on electricity from Benjamin Silliman and Jeremiah Day. He earned money by painting. In 1810, he graduated from Yale with Phi Beta Kappa honors.

In addition to this, after his education, he became a painter who created little known masterpieces. Though he isn't know for painting, his invention of the Morse code is one of the reasons and the foundation of why we have technology like telephones and cellphones. Read about the overview of the brief history of how he came up with Morse code at Wikipedia.Org

You rock Samuel Morse!

Try and decode this: - .... . & .... ..- -- .- -. & ... .. -.. . & --- ..-. & - . -.-. .... -. --- .-.. --- --. -.--

Yadda!

Ashton Kutcher's Twitter Account Reaches a Million Followers!

The internet is evolving!

It is known that actor Ashton Kutcher had made a contest with CNN on who first reaches a million followers on Twitter. It turns out that @aplusk won the contest against @cnnbrk!

Congratulations Ashton! Great! What is even greater is the fact that this is for a good cause. The winner gets to donate to MalariaNoMore.org!

Change the world! Tweet!

Sidenote: I too have a twitter account. Check me @sanity_hunter! Yadda!

Movie Bosses is Listening to Your Tweets

I was actually doing my daily news reading when I found this article at IMDB.com as reported by Studio Briefing. Just wanted to share this great, yet disturbing, kinda funny news about movie bosses listening to your tweets.

In a clear reminder that all that Twitters isn't told to just a small circle of friends, a woman who had been tweeting about trying to download a copy of Adventureland from a BitTorrent site found a message from the movie's distributor, Miramax: "Cmon Amanda, don't do it. #adventureland # fbi." The message took the form of a thumb-typing instant-message writer, lacking case and punctuation, and appeared to be a warning that the FBI might take action against Amanda if she actually found a copy of Adventureland to download. She did not. She did, however, respond to the Miramax tweet. "Okay I won't, Just For You." This time Miramax responded by offering her a free ticket to see the movie. "I was pretty surprised about it," Amanda told the TorrentFreak website. "I couldn't find a working Adventureland torrent anyway."

Just wondering what'll they say if I tweet... nah never mind.

Flutter: The New Twitter

Twitter too wordy for you. After all, 140 characters is indeed too long to read, sometimes, that is.

Enter Flutter, the world's first nanoblogging site.

Zak Ryman, Flutter CEO, says: "I think a lot of people don't have time to Twitter. It just takes too long to compose a message with 140 characters, and then you start getting bombarded by a few tweets and it's like hundreds of characters that you have to read."

Flutter brings the limit down to just 26 characters for Twitaholics, who need more time.

"We limit our users' posts - or flaps, is what we like to call them, because it's like a hummingbird's wings flapping, which is like really fast, which is like, you know, faster than a regular bird tweets - we limit it to 26 characters."

I was literally browsing the internet in random when I saw this video. I say lol to this! Especially with the glasses.

Note: this is of course a joke made from the guys at Slate Video. Kudos for them!

New Hobby: Reviewing Movies!

Hello!

There has been no updates and posts has been quite slow these past few days. I've been busy and I'm trying my best to make posts.

Anyways, I've develop a new hobby these past few days. As you've known, I love watching movies and I enjoy blogging, and I've been busy to do both, watch movies and think of ideas to blog!

Yesterday, I thought of something. What if, what if I decide to blog about movies! Now that'll keep be great right! So, for the past few days, I've been making reviews about the movies I caught in the cinemas. So far, I've made only three. Ready?!

• Race to Witch Mountain - the family film I loved and had a great time. Read more in My Information Technology - Race to Witch Mountain Movie Review
  
• Knowing - the movie that squeezed the creeps out of me! A must see in the cinemas! Read more in My Information Technology - Knowing Movie Review
  
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans - even though you already know what will happen, you'll still loot at this movie! Read more in My Information Technology - Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Movie Review

These are just the first three movies I've made a review. Catch more in the next few days. You may be able to catch them at the My Reviews Category from My Information Technology! Yadda!