A year ago, on the night of this day, I started blogging because I somewhat got awed by the numerous opportunities that blogging can bring. I admit I started blogging because a friend encouraged me to do so since she was already earning big time from it. Yes, monetary reasons. And I somewhat can write well so why not whip up an effective combination from it?

A year ago, on the night of this day, I brought life back to this blog. This blog was born in 2006. It died the same year when someone pushed me out of love. I had to revive it. But not for love.

A year ago, I named my newly-revived blog: Bryan's mind... is yours to explore.

One year later...

I'm still a blogger.

There has been so much that has happened between August 31, 2008 and August 31, 2009. I could not list all of them here. But I've been into a lot when it comes to blogging. Not really a lot compared to others' experiences but a lot on my own standpoint.

Though my blog's really made in 2006, I acknowledge 08.31.08 as it's birthday because it is where everything started.

Thanks to Anne for injecting in me the spirit of blogging. Unfortunately, she stopped blogging already. Thanks to CBS. I felt like the lost kid finding the big yellow school bus again. Thanks to my other school friends -- always the supporters. And thanks to everyone, the bloggers, that I've met along the way...

One year down. Many years to go!


September 2, 2008; days after I started blogging.


Previous header


Recent header
Photo by //Starfishurricane

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The Department of Languages and Literature (DOLL) of the University of San Carlos, in partnership with the English Majors Association (EMA), will be staging My Fair Lady, which is a play based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. This will be an opportunity for the viewers to look into the socio-cultural and historical values portrayed in the story.

For queries and further details about the production, you can contact these numbers: 09167811930 and 09202112860, or look for Hannah Aranas at 09159112274.

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Our batch just took the Azeus Employment Exam this morning at school.

Quick Overview: Azeus is a leading IT services provider in Asia Pacific. It's headquarters are in Hong Kong and is listed in Singapore Stock Exchange. It maintains working offshore development models in China and the Philippines.

I took the Software Developer exam (the other is Software Test Engineer) which is for 2.5 hours. It was long but I chose it over the tester position because it has a higher pay and it really requires you to be a graduate of a computer course. There's nothing wrong with being a tester but I've been one as an intern and I don't like it that much.

I liked the idea of the 6 months probationary training in Manila. Why? Because I already am planning to work in Manila before all of this. At least I'd be nearer my Manila blogger friends. HAHA

But the problem is I am not sure if I'd pass that ten-item exam. It was one of the most difficult programming exams I've taken. Hmm not really difficult but it confuses the hell out of you. It requires you to think.

Anyways, I just hope and pray that I will pass that exam. Nothing wrong with hoping. If not, better luck next time or better luck on other companies.

Where the hell is my future directed at, huh?

Did I shape my solutions enough to craft my career in Azeus? I just hope so.

Plug: www.bestoftime.com

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Today's just a very horrible day. In the morning, we endured the blazing heat going to CICC to attend the opening ceremony of Convergence 2009, sort of an IT event here in Cebu City. But our professor did not allow us to attend the career talks in the afternoon so the attendance on the opening ceremony was just like nothing. Career talks portion is way more important than the opening ceremony. And we were late.

In the afternoon, our much awaited first long exam results in Software Engineering was returned. And guess what, I failed. I know who's to blame. Me. I admit I didn't study well. @_@

And another thing, our software project plan was returned and again, my group's score is a Failed. @_@

Fortunately, we squirmed our way down and defended that we have complete requirements so when our project plan was rechecked, we got additional points. And we passed. Two percent above the passing. Great.

Fortunately again, I found out that some items in my test papers weren't checked so I had it rechecked and I passed now! That's 0.5% above the passing. Better than failed actually but still too low to make me achieve my scholastic goal. Oh good.

I then thought, oh good, it's the climb! I remember Miley Cyrus' song and I know everyone of us in my batch could very well relate to the song. IT'S THE CLIMB! And we are climbing now right at this very moment. I wonder how I've been able to write this entry during these busy times?

The climbers
In relation to that, here's a cover song of The Climb by AJ Rafael, a great singer/musician from YouTube.



Enjoy it and I just hope we'd get through this mountain we are in now. Wish us luck please...

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7380465@N04/

Plug: Movies Coming Out On September 2009

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Cebu Bloggers Society will have a tour in Kenneth Cobonpue's furniture factory on September 5, 2009. I already have signed myself up for such tour. Who is Kenneth Cobonpue by the way?

Kenneth Cobonpue is a world-class furniture designer and manufacturer. With his designs magnificent and made from indigenous materials, Kenneth Cobonpue has been a favorite of even the most famous stars from Hollywood.

You could read about Kenneth Cobonpue on a post I made about him last June entitled I’m Proud of Cebuano Kenneth Cobonpue. I really am proud of him by the way. And it makes me excited knowing I'll be visiting his factory soon in Cebu City.

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ABS-CBN's newest teleserye, Katorse, will start airing on August 24, 2009 before TV Patrol World. It is a new addition to the strong lineup of Kapamilya shows in Primetime Bida. Katorse stars Erich Gonzales, Ejay Falcon, Enchong Dee and Xian Lim.

Katorse is a remake of the 1980's original starring Dina Bonnevie and Gabby Concepcion. Katorse is a story of love and responsibility.

Katorse is a series to watch out for mainly because of the cast. Enchong Dee may have had experiences in primetime main roles but the other three have yet to discover more their potentials in the context of a primetime series. The four of them underwent a Sensuality Workshop to work out their roles best.

Erich Gonzales is from Star Circle Quest, Ejay Falcon is from Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition and Xian Lim is from University of the East's basketball varsity team and a Cosmo model. Katorse is their biggest break.

In an interview by Boy Abunda in The Buzz (August 23, 2009), Erich Gonzales, when asked to choose from one of the boys, picked the one who said that has a crush on her. Xian Lim admitted that he was the one who has a crush on Erich but strongly stressed that all the four of them must focus on their work first, and leave love life as a second priority.

Would Katorse be an epic fail or would it boom like the other remakes from ABS-CBN like Eva Fonda? We'll see.

Here are some photos of the cast of Katorse.


The guys of Katorse


Erich Gonzales in Katorse


Xian Lim in Katorse


Enchong Dee in Katorse


Watch the trailer of Katorse below:



Photos:

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickkimchongkimerald/
  
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/29787401@N04/
• http://media.photobucket.com/image/erich gonzales/tv_explorer2005/

Watch Katorse now!

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Leighton Meester, star of Gossip Girl, is one of Hollywood's most gorgeous and hot ladies. But just in the recent weeks, Leighton Meester joined the line of Hollywood stars with leaked video tape scandals. The Leighton Meester tape scandal has made some temporary noise in the online community with pictures and videos leaked all around the web.

Leighton Meester [Photo from http://leightonmeestertape.net/]

Too bad Blair Waldorf has to go under all these talk. Probably, the Leighton Meester tape scandal would just die soon.

Why don't we just listen to Leighton Meester's leaked song entitled Birthday instead of searching for the Leighton Meester tape scandal?



Is Leighton Meester already one of those good girls gone bad?



Click here to see the Leighton Meester tape scandal.

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Today I just received a text message saying that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is trying to bring down ABS-CBN News Reporter Willard Cheng and his family. I don't know if I'll believe this chain message or not as no source has been included in the text message. I still doubt the authenticity of such news.

For every one's sake, here is the body of the text message:

Report: Remember a few weeks ago, ABS-CBN reported someone actually dying for hunger and comparing it with PGMA's lavish meals? The reporter (Willard Cheng) whose parents owned 2 hardware stores is now the target of PGMA's ire. She sent the BIR to close down the 2 hardware stores. Amount being asked is Php17M! Total sales and assets don't even reach Php7M! That's what happens when you cross the wrath of Gloria. Please pass.

It seemed believable but it would be better if a proof of such occurrence, even for the closing of the stores, would be provided. Innocent until proven guilty, then.

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Super Junior 슈퍼주니어, often referred to as SJ or SuJu, is a very popular boy band from South Korea. They were a group formed in 2005 and are still kicking up to this year. Super Junior holds the title as the largest boy band in the world with a stunning thirteen members.

The members are Leeteuk (the leader), Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kang-in, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kibum, and later, Kyuhyun. The Chinese member, Han Geng, was chosen from three thousand applicants, via auditions held in China by SM Entertainment in 2001.

One of Super Junior's most famous songs is It's You or 너라고. It has a dance version, just as Sorry Sorry has one too. Here's the video.

Thanks Maellen for the recommendation! Super Junior's It's You Dance Version

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A lot of us are already into self-hosting our own blogs rather than having it free on Blogger. We have our reasons and some are primarily inclined on the features and functionality of WordPress and the challenge of having been able to control one's blog and hosting. But what to look for a web hosting service?

A lot of web hosting services are failures. They fail both their reputation and their customers. This should not be the case. So as customers we must be able to look for the basic things that a web host have in order for us to even touch the surface of the trust factor.

Here are some points one may take a look at when looking for a web host:

• Type of server - A dedicated server is always better compared to a shared server speed-wise. Price-wise, the latter's much affordable. Linux servers are more stable than Windows. They also have lower prices.
• Features - The two most important features are the web space and allocated bandwidth a month. They say unlimited is not true, so just have it, the bigger of both, the better. It also depends on what the blog is for.
• Bonus Features - It wouldn't hurt to consider the bonus features.
• Rating and Reviews - It is always advisable to read the reviews of their past customers. This is real experience text and has some weight when choosing your hosting provider. A good feedback is a sign of a great service.
• Customer service - You could always test customer service beforehand by asking some questions. If the response is quick, you get an active web host provider. If response comes in late, you have to hesitate. If there's no response, find another target web host.
• Reputation - Some web hosts have built their names already. Look for this. But usually it comes with a much larger price.

Those are some pointers to take note of when looking for the perfect webhosting for you.

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dNeero's finally revolutionized. They're now using script codes instead of embed codes when embedding conversations in blogs. They saved some lines of code, made it much shorter. And for me, the conversation now loads faster than the older widget. Here it is:

So earn money online with dNeero! Hope to have more dNeero conversations!

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The dreaded day has come. I just checked my PageRank today and to my dismay, this blog's now a PageRank 0. It's sad knowing it has been PageRank 3 since October 2008 up to this month. But now it's gone. And why do I call it 'dreaded'? It's because I know someday that Google would punish me for doing paid posts and the such. And they just did, unfortunately. Here are some branched out consequences:

• again, no more sponsored posts offers which means
  
• no more money coming in at PayPal which means
  
• should spend less and less, even on food consumption and
  
• should spend only on 'needs' and avoid spending on 'wants' so
  
• I think I should ask support from parents again (financially)
• I could not buy my own textbooks anymore
• I should take a very keen look on my budget (woaaaah!)

If this were to happen months ago, I should have been 100% sad now. But thinking I have fun spending my time with Cebu Bloggers Society is one thing that would cheer me up. Hey, I may not have any money but at least I have my blogger friends. And at least I could go to events. Sweet lemon, nyak nyak.

Anyways, I have to save much for more spendings the coming months. Sigh, I wish I could do something about it. But I'm not into businesses and my resources are running low -- I've been eating a lot nowadays without getting fat. Argh.

Anyways, that's the sad news of the day. I will get over this soon. I need to muster myself up for poverty the coming months. Waaaah.

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I boldly noticed one thing: that I always spend my Saturdays together with my fellows from Cebu Bloggers Society. I really meant to say "always". Whether it be an event, a meeting or a simple dinner, Saturdays are always with them. They're now becoming family to me. Mikyu and I always get amused by how much priority we give to our CBS affairs compared to other stuff.

Yesterday, August 15, we welcomed our newest official members Rabsin and Mikes in McDonald's, IT Park. Welcome fellas! We were doing random things while waiting for the important closed meeting the officers and BOT's of CBS will be doing. Here is a snapshot:

X's back, serious Rabsin, smiling Mark, Mikyu's face, smiling Bryan,
serious Tianexx, and the rest as background.

Then the "closed" meeting started. Closed means ordinary members are not allowed to join the meeting so it meant that I, Mikyu, Rabsin and Tianexx will be spending our time waiting for them to finish. We were bored, I guess, but we still waited. After doing some table hops, they finally finished.

That's the meeting on the foreground and the 4 "outcasts" on the background.

We came out of McDonald's around 8PM and we were there since 4PM. Wow. We decided to have our dinner some place where we, with budgeted pockets, could afford. And that's AA's barbecue in Lahug.



We then came home on full stomachs and happy feelings.

I always enjoy CBS' company! Til the next meetup again, which is on my birthday!

Photo credits: Clado

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A lot of Filipino students usually fear or hate the subject Math. Is it because math requires us to do some serious thinking, analyzing and computation? Is it because we are forced to learn a lot of math solving techniques and principles? Or is it purely of personal reasons?

One time while I was blog hopping, I stumbled upon a blog that talked about why math is one of the youth's (specifically Filipinos) most disliked subject. The gist of what I read is that Filipino students dislike (or even hate) math because they find the study of it impractical. They say that beyond basics math is inapplicable to our ordinary lives. Cosines, square roots, differentiation and the likes, they say, are useless when placed in the context of the practical world. Is that so?

I personally think Math is useful. Especially with college students who are going their own paths in line with their course. When I was a kid, I don't hate math. But this does not mean I have had no bad experiences with it. In high school, I got a failing grade (not failed, doh) in Problem Solving because I refuse to understand the teacher. Well in college, we're used to failing the exams (not the subject) in Calculus.

Math in Tutor Centers

Tutor centers usually offer Math, Science and English subjects. Math, the number one area. When I was in elementary, a friend had a tutor in Math. When I was in college, a lot of friends who are into tutoring usually teach Math. Does this mean Math Help can be a good business venture?

But tutoring can be a hassle sometimes especially if the setup is "the tutor goes to the tutees place", vice versa. So how about online math tutoring?

Just as there are online tutoring for IT courses such as Windows Server 2008 training, there are also now courses for online math help.

Advantages:

• hassle-free
  
• saves effort
  
• flexible time
• at the comforts of one's home
• qualified tutors

Disadvantages:

• communication gap (compared to face-to-face)
• needs internet connectivity

Those listed above are the most common but it could vary from person to person. Now with the internet, even learning could be distance. This is a personal choice though as cognition in each individual varies from one another. If one finds online tutorials the suitable one for you, then go for it.

Math is a challenging subject. Only a very small percent of the population would understand math quickly as possible. People struggling in math are understandable. Math takes time, they say.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/akirsa/

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A day after the stunning Sumilon Bluewater Resort Day Tour that Cebu Bloggers Society got, members of the Content Management Team met up at UCC Cafe Terrace in Ayala Center Cebu.

Agnes, Mark and I met at CBTL in SM Northwing but transferred to UCC as per request by the other members who were already there.

After a few chits, we started the historic meeting, our first. Cebu Bloggers Society's website is still awkward-looking, that is, content's still shabby and outdated. So we decided to delegate the tasks and planned to move forward within this month. We all engaged ourselves in a healthy exchange of ideas, debated a little, then went back to the course plan. We ended a long time after with great plans on hand and a bunch of group and individual tasks to do. We hope to see some life on the website soon.

We talked about the Philippine Blog Awards afterwards -- the updates, mechanics, venue, sponsors and many more. Winston was there to help and brief us all in this upcoming big event.

Here are some photos of our meeting:

About UCC Cafe Terrace:

That was my first time there. I was only able to taste the salad and one sip of coffee. I'm not a coffee lover so no comment. And the salad plus its sauce is great. Just that, I'm also not into raw veggies. The place though is great -- relaxing and the ambiance is good.


You can read more about UCC Cafe Terrace at:

1. UCC Café Terrace at Ayala Terraces, Cebu
   
2. Discovering Cebu: UCC Coffee Cafe Terrace at Ayala
3. Coffee Chic at UCC cafe
   

Photos are courtesy of Dahong Laya.

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Today, two friends made me realize one thing: As long as you love, there is still hope.

Photo credit: http://darrenluchmun.deviantart.com/

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