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Schools Division Superintendent Gencaya, Principal Orquiola, teachers, staff, parents, friends, graduates, good afternoon!

Eleven years ago, I was in this very same spot during our graduation ceremonies. I was the emcee and our graduation speaker was former Schools Division Superintendent, Ms. Ida Endonila. And now I’m the guest speaker? Indeed it is very humbling for me to be in her place now. I have much to thank my former adviser and science teacher, Ma’am Ramos for inviting me to speak before you – believe it or not – more than 8 months in advance.

I have been cherishing that day, more than eight months ago, when SPED visited SEAFDEC in Tigbauan. FishWorld was filled with busloads of color-coded English-speaking grade school pupils running from one aquarium to another, very excited, and very amazed with the large turtles and the colorful fishes. In a few moments, I found myself trapped in a crowd of grade-schoolers, all trying to ask me difficult questions only about half of which I could actually answer. “What is the scientific name of this?” “What is the scientific name of that?” “What are the member countries of SEAFDEC?” “Give a name of a Filipino scientist.” Those were the easier ones which I could remember.  Amidst the storm of questions, the persistent tugging on my sleeves, and the demand for answers, I realized I was surrounded by truly gifted children, rightly trained to be inquisitive, curious, and always ready to learn. That’s a SPEDer!
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 2% [?]

Smart Bro is now (or soon) offering an Unlisurf Package that lets you surf all you want for 5 days for only P200.  Take note: this is unlimited internet surfing on your computer and not  just on your mobile phone. YAY!

I just saw the new Smart Bro Unli Surf option appear under the Data Packages of the recently updated Smart Bro Web Connect website. However, when I try the option, I get a “Sorry for the inconvenience. Service is unavailable at this time. Pls try again later.” It’s either because I don’t have P200 in my load or because I’m still registered to per-minute packages, or the promo hasn’t been activated yet. Nevertheless, I really hope Smart would offer this as a regular package and not just as a promo. I think it is just such a good deal. If you register 5 times in a month, that would be only P1000 for mobile broadband that can reach 2Mbps!

You might ask, how about Smart’s P999 a month Unlimited Plan? What’s the advantage of having Smart Bro Prepaid over Smart Bro Plans? I’ve been holding off on getting Smart Bro Plans primarily because of their 2-year lock-in period. Their terms stipulate that if you pre-terminate your plan, you still have to pay the monthly service fees up until the 2nd year of  your plan. With the pace of technological development, 2 years is just too long! Who knows what better mobile broadband options will come out in just a matter of 6 months? I believe staying prepaid allows one the felxibility of switching to another mobile broadband provider or availing of a better technology in case the one you currently have begins to dissatisfy you.

Now, I can’t wait to register for the P200 Smart Bro Unlimited Surfing! I’m tired of periodically subscribing to per-minute packages and disconnecting and reconnecting everytime I don’t need an active connection such as when writing an email or reading forums. I can finally work on my websites and blogs  without being conscious of every second. Ahhh.. don’t we consumers just love competition?

Popularity: 3% [?]

Finally, I’m finding time to write something again for this blog.I have more time now since I’m no longer employed in SEAFDEC. There were so many things I wasn’t able to write about late last year due to my work load.

One thing I want to write about is why I left SEAFDEC after 2 years and 5 months of working there. First, I didn’t resign. I simply did not renew my contract which officially ended December 31, 2009.

From the very moment I entered SEAFDEC, I never planned to stay long. Perhaps I was to some extent ’skilled’ in my work on publications and multi-media but it was never my passion. Besides, writing ‘world-class’ news and laying out books, flyers, posters, etc. from day to day can be really taxing on the most oxygen-hungry organ of our body. So, to be frank about it, I was very much looking forward to January 1, 2010. I think I’ll write more about this and my SEAFDEC work experience later.

So moving on, what’s there to look forward to in 2010?

I thought I would have lots of free time this year since I only have my MS classes on Mondays and Tuesdays. Boon or bane I don’t know, but it seems like my work is following me. I might see myself writing a book and producing an instructional video this year. On top of that, there’s the demands of fully establishing Tibiao Fish Spa Co. before I can let it loose on auto-pilot. Lastly, of course there’s my nonnegotiable responsibilities in church which I truly love and enjoy.

So much for peace of mind.

I need a thesis topic! I need to finish my thesis next semester so I can graduate by October 2010 – but the problem is I don’t even know what aquaculture field to go into! Where is my ‘expertise’ needed in case I decide to actually practice my profession?

In case I do graduate by October, I hardly have any idea what to do next. Apply for a new job? Where? Concentrate on being self-employed? Really? Go on to PhD? What field?

Though the future be a haze, wherever God leads me, that will be my desire, my delight.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I’m happily moving out of a job but one of the things that bothers me is the impending deactivation of my office mail and the deletion of all my emails. I think it is a good idea to keep a copy of all the thousands of office emails I’ve received along with all their attachments. Aside from being a an e-souvenir, those office mails will be priceless reference later on.

Forwarding all email

But how do you forward all your office emails to your Gmail account? Surely forwarding them one by one will be ridiculous. At first I though it was not possible, but I tried a new method which worked perfectly. Good thing my employer uses Google Apps for email! Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 5% [?]

Any site still hosted under the Geocities free hosting will be gone forever tomorrow, October 26, unless the site owner upgrades to Yahoo web hosting or the site is moved to another web host.

Archive.org is trying to keep a copy of as many Geocities sites as they can but only one of my two sites have so far been stored. Also, I will have no control whatsoever on the copies stored in the waybackmachine servers.

With that, I have moved two of my websites hosted in Geocities into this domain. You may now access them at pisaywv.rexdelsar.com (formerly geocities.com/pisaywv) and eureka.rexdelsar.com (formerly geocities.com/upveureka). These two websites were among my first that I made in high school and college respectively. Interestingly, I also consider them to be my best sites ever. Back then I still had lots of time to be creative. I will talk more exhaustively about these two sites in another time.

Meanwhile, if you still have a website hosted in Geocities, you better move them elsewhere NOW.

Popularity: 2% [?]

The article below is reposted from ellaganda.com.

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Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo?

(A special report from a volunteer)
Oct 21st, 2009 by ella
Dear friends,

I’m asking your help to spread the word. Tulungan po ninyo akong ikalat ito. Beyond this, we should also demand action. I disabled a plugin so you can copy the photos of relief goods rotting in DSWD warehouses. You can link this post to your blogs, facebook, websites etc. You can also email the photos.

Philippine News (US based Philippine newspaper) will use this as its front page story this week. Every Filipino has the right to know where the tons of donations from the UN and other counties go. Kahit po nakakahiya sa mga nag-donate. Kung sa ganitong paraan, matutulungan natin ang mga nasalanta, then by all means, let’s do it.

For those who have the time, please try to volunteer sa DSWD warehouses. Getting in was not easy. A friend had to put in a word for us. Let’s see kung madali nang makapasok sa DSWD warehouse ang mga volunteers.

Please read on and good luck to us.

Ella

(This post was last edited Oct 22, 12:30 pm)

Kahapon, tinanong ng Philippine News si DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral:

Editor of Philippine News: Why are the relief goods in DSWD warehouses not moving?

DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral: Wala kasing volunteers.

This short interview was done over the phone. Philippine News wanted to hear her side pero ayaw niyang makipag-usap sa press. After four tries, pinasabi na lang niya ang maikling sagot na ito sa secretary niya – “Walang volunteers”. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 1% [?]

I vote for ExploreIloilo.Com

Bloggers’ Choice Award

2009 Philippine Blog Awards

Popularity: 1% [?]

While waiting for our bill at Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria earlier this evening, I decided to take photos outside the restaurant since the place has a good vantage point of Iloilo City’s busiest intersection. With a mini-tripod at hand, I was playing around with my camera’s settings trying to take 15-second exposures of the night traffic. My point-and-shoot had no manual controls so I had to experiment  with different scene modes while tweaking what I can in the ISO and shutter speed settings.

While I snapped some shots of a group of policemen across the intersection, a man approached me from behind and asked if I was taking pictures of the policemen. Well, obviously, but I told him I was taking pictures of anything. Indeed, from a photographer’s point of view, it is very normal to be taking pictures of anything at any time. But this man asked me the same question again. Then another man came, then another. They kept asking me questions.

“What are you taking pictures of? The Policemen?” “Are you from the media?” “Where are you going to use your pictures?” “Are you a student?” “What are you going to do with your pictures?” “What are you taking pictures of?” [questions translated from Hiligaynon]

I tried to answer their questions.. “No, I’m not from the media… I have a flickr and a photoblog in the internet… I’m a student from UP [didn't bother to explain I work at the same time].. I take pictures of anything..” However, they just seemed to repeat their questions and they were now surrounding me. Read the rest of this entry »

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When Smart decided to drop the  price of their broadband prepaid plugit kit from P1995 to P995, I immediately decided to buy it even if I already have the Globe Tattoo which I bought some months ago for P1895 (now costs only P895).

The main reason I opted for Globe Tattoo before was because they charge every 15 minutes compared to Smart Bro which charges every 30 minutes. But now, Smart offers an ideal per-minute charging which means I can disconnect and reconnect anytime without being concerned of paying for unused minutes. Be aware though – you need to periodically register online to avail of the per-minute packages. Also, Smart Bro can be loaded using call and text cards with a simple text from any Smart phone unlike Globe Tattoo where I  have to insert the SIM in a phone just to use load cards. Also, I sell Smart load myself (hehe..) so I get to save on my profit margins if I load my Smart Bro myself. One more thing. The Smart Bro USB stick looks way better than the Globe Tattoo USB I got with the cheap stickers. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 2% [?]

They said it was still dangerous to the eyes to use film negatives so I made a pinhole and projected the image of the eclipse to a piece of paper. The eclipse is only 30+% here in Iloilo City and lasted around 8 to 11 am today.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Weeks ago, I was getting promo messages in my SMS inbox from Smart Telecom about their rewards program and so, since I was a little bored, I decided to give it a try. I registered by sending REWARDS to 9800. I’m a prepaid “Buddy” subscriber by the way.

I also got messages from 9800 telling me that my point were about to expire so I should redeem them already. I guess Smart was already keeping track of my point even before I registered.

Curious as to how many points I have already accumulated, I sent INQUIRY to 9800. To my surprise, I already had a whopping 31,830 points! Since 5 points are rewarded for every P1 transaction, that means I already spent P6,366?

I really don’t know how I got that much points but it seemed like a lot and I was excited to check what I could redeem with it. Probably free air tickets? Haha! Read the rest of this entry »

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