Yep! It says... Get "Zero" Refreshment

FAIL! I thought the guys who do the Coke ads were supposed to be really good. I think I’ll just drink water, which at least gives “some” refreshment.

Very busy right now with grad school work and I think the following PhD Comics strip sums it all up:

PhD Comics

Now, I really should get back to work.

Still, I thought it would be great to have a photo gallery that’s integrated into my blog. That way, I could refer to pictures from my posts and also use a particular post to let people know if I’ve uploaded a new album. Kinda like how multiply.com does it, but with so much more control and right here on my blog.

Some guidelines

Here are a few issues I considered when building the gallery for my blog.

• I don’t really have a lot of webspace to host full albums in my own server. Good thing there are loads of services on the web that will do exactly that for you. A lot of people like Flickr, so I chose that and went ahead and created an account.
• I needed to find a plugin for werdpress that will do all the work for me. I’m not much of a web programmer so building one from scratch was definitely out of the question. Besides, with this great Flickr Plugin for Wordpress, designing my own gallery was plain dumb.
• I wanted something that would allow me to create a blog post whenever a new album is uploaded to my account.
• It also has to be aesthetically pleasing and should look at home with my current theme.

My First Album

Here’s my very first album for my gallery. These pictures are from the recently held WordCamp Philippines 2008.

WordCamp Philippines 2008

Just go to the Gallery page (menu bar on top) to view my filckr sets (i.e. albums). Or click the picture above to go directly to that album.

Some Issues

The plugin worked great for my needs but of course there are some minor kinks that needed (or still needs) a little tweaking to be workable.

• Your Flickr API key (needed for the installation) won’t work until about 5 mins. after you create it. I was so excited to make it work that I thought something was wrong when Flickr was complaining that my key was invalid. Apparently, you just had to wait a bit.
• The look and feel of the default template was just not working for my theme. The album view was a bit cluttered for my tastes, showing all the pictures as thumbnails. I just wanted a single photo as cover for the album. A few changes in some php and css files ironed it out really well.
• I still think the look is a bit too bare but my web styling know-how is not enough to improve it significantly. So for now, I’ll just have to be satisfied with it.
• When clicking on the cover picture (at the Gallery page), you are directed to the specific page for that picture. It would have been better if it directed you to the album page, since that’s the use of a cover page.
• Uploading big pictures is too slow using my connection (and a bit costly in terms of my free flickr.com bandwidth limit). So I downloaded the jUploadr program (available sourceforge.net) which automatically resizes as well as uploads your pictures to flickr.

Head on over to my gallery section and test drive it. Don’t forget to comment on this post if you encounter any bugs or if you have any suggestions on how I can improve it’s look/usability.

Edit:

Possible show-stopper (thanks scion) - Flickr non-pro only allows 3 photosets, after that, you have to pay 25$ for 1 year. Unfortunately, the plugin I use tracks these photosets to group pictures into albums. Darn. So I guess, I’ll have to be content with a max of 3 albums for now.

Plan of action:

• Just use photosets for the 3 most recent albums
• Tag older albums so that they are still grouped somehow
• Figure out a better way!!! (if you know a solution, please comment. Note that I don’t want to host my own pics due to limited space and I don’t want to manually link every single picture)
• Get lots of MONEY from a kind soul and upgrade to Flickr pro (haha. I seriously doubt this one)

The Event

Besides being fun, the whole thing was a really great learning experience. Matt Mullenweg, the creator of the WordPress platform was there for a short talk about the state of WordPress and some Q&A towards the end. He had a really really light character and seemed to be a very approachable guy. I really should go to more of these kinds of gatherings. It’s definitely a great way of enriching and cultivating my inner geek. Ooops, maybe I should edit that out, because I don’t think I have an “inner” geek. I’m probably geek inside-out. Haha. So much to learn today and I’m really glad that Wilson told me to register for WordCamp in the first place. Funny thing though, Wil doesn’t even have his own blog (yet).

Stuff I Learned

It won’t be like me at all if I didn’t take the opportunity to share with you folks some of the things I learned (and as I said, there’s a lot). There so much stuff that I can’t even figure out how to put it all in this post. So, to save up on time, I’ll just pile them up in a bulleted list:

• Indonesians Rock - apparently, the second most used language in WordPress, after English, is Indonesian. Cool.
• WordPress is so much more - I already knew that, but seeing companies using WordPress for corporate sites is simply amazing. You can’t even tell that some of the websites are made with wordpress. Like this one.
• Tons of SEO plugins - a really hot topic in today’s WordCamp was Search Engine Optimization. Just do a google search on WordPress Plugins for SEO to streamline your blog for search engines.
• WordPress is actually very profitable - a lot of people think that there’s no money in Open Source. I guess this just proves how wrong they are. Just the licensing of Akismet alone is already a lot of money.
• Some folks really take blogging seriously - I wasn’t really familiar with the concept of Pro-Blogging, but it seems, some folks earn decent (or maybe indecent) amounts of money off of their blogs. Wow. I’d be satisfied if I could just earn enough to pay for my webhost and domain.
• Custom Fields for CMS - using WordPress to manage web content becomes really easy by using custom fields in your post. You could attach additional content to a post such as a logo, an audio file, an excerpt to sort of customize the way each post will be presented. This is especially useful if you want to use WordPress to build a website other than a blog.
• A whole lot more - which I’ll just share when I get to apply them.

Photos

Here are some pics from the event:

Matt, Wilson and Me

Matt, Wilson and Me Again

My Sister with Free Chowking Food

Freebies Galore

For absolutely 0 pesos, I got the folloing:

• A cool mug from NuffNang.com
• A small cloth bag with the WordCamp Philippines Logo
• Chowking Lunch
• Two wordpress stickers (round and square) which I now proudly sport on my laptop
• Free blog advertising (care of wilson)

For a little bit more, I got:

• A really really cool shirt which I showed in this post. According to Matt, it’s one of the best designs he has seen so far from any WordCamp.

I can’t wait for the next one!

(Disclaimer: This is not a paid advertisement. Just a friendly recommendation.)

I don’t usually buy stuff online (coz I’m poor. hehe). However, I recently made an exception after a friend told me about this really really cool multiply.com site.

They’re based in Metro Manila (I think), and as of now only ships within the Philippines. If you’re delivery address is within Metro Manila, they even ship it for free.

Geek Shirts Galore

Is it just me, or has the geek culture slowly been gaining a bit of popularity. Yeah I know, it’s probably just me.

Anyway, what better way to broadcast your geekiness than through a nice geek shirt. Head on over to Reboot Wear to check out what they offer. They’re all really really nice, but due to some financial limitations, I can only pick two. Here are the two designs I chose. I already got them (kudos on the 1 day delivery), but my photography skills are a bit underdeveloped. I just couldn’t get a good picture. So I just stole from the site. Hahaha.

No I will not fix your computer (I got one in green)

Digg me (nice)

My friend also got a “Feed Me” shirt with the universal feed logo. Unfortunately he got the last one. These shirts are very reminiscent of another geeky site thinkgeek.com but so much cheaper, if you live in the Philippines. So head on over to Reboot Wear and order a shirt now.

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Okay, I haven’t been in grad school that long and I definitely don’t have a kid yet, but I don’t want it to come to that either. I’ve actually been thinking a lot about this recently and I’ve come to the conclusion that I should finish my Masters as soon as possible. This way I can move on with my career path as early as possible. Whether that is to teach, to work in the industry, or to go straight to a PhD (I’m kinda hoping for this last one).

Full-time Master students in our department are expected to finish in 2 years. However, the sad reality is that I don’t really know of anyone (especially not among those who also teach), who have actually managed this. The course work isn’t really a big issue, since they don’t really fail a lot of people in grad classes. It ultimately boils down to how long it takes for you to finish your thesis. From what I’ve observed, that can be really long time.

The Problem of Focus

Why do people take forever on their thesis? I’m not exactly sure. Since it’s my first semester working on mine, I can’t really be considered as an authority on the matter. It’s safe to say though, that a lot of it’s got to do with maintaining focus.

A graduate level thesis usually involves a lot of open-ended research work. This is in contrast with most undergraduate work which follows a very strict schedule, usually in the form of a syllabus which they give to you at the start of the semester, or maybe a course checklist. Point is, you know exactly what to expect, and if you work hard enough, there really shouldn’t be any reason to spend a long time in college (okay, maybe that’s not exactly true).

In actual research, you constantly find yourself stumped by some new problem, or maybe an unexpected result. There’s also usually so much happening that you find yourself distracted all the time.

My Plan

I want to finish my thesis this semester. I really do. So what am I gonna do about it? Remove all distractions and try to maintain focus. Of course, that’s not exactly a walk in the park. So, what I’ve done, is to lay out a plan which I’ll try to stick to as close as I possibly can until I manage my goal.

That’s actually the main reason I’m writing this post. I love writing down my plans. Plain and simple, clear and concise, listed down on paper (ok, on a blog). Most of it, I’ve actually managed to do in the past month or so. Others, I still have to work on. Some of them might seem really extreme to a lot of people, but then again, extreme cases call for extreme measures.

1. Zero Distractions - The amount of distractions you run into in a single day is staggering. I think, the best way not to be distracted is to not allow for the possibility at all.
   • Email - I only check my email once a day (in the evening).
   • IMs - I have actually turned off my instant messenger by removing it at start-up. If you want to reach me, use email (which again, I only check once a day).
   • Feeds - Same as email. I might not even read them at all in a day.
   • Blogging - Ummm… I’m blogging right now. Haha. Just on the weekends I guess.
   • Stocks - I initially planned to stay “in-cash” (i.e. no stock) and have managed to sell everything at a decent price. However, now that the market seems to be swinging up again, a friend suggested that it might be a better idea to pick some “blue-chips” and then just check on them once in a while. (I chose, ABS-CBN, Metrobank, and First Gen)
   • Web in general - I try to avoid the web if possible since I consider it the #1 reason for being distracted
2. Forming a habit - Plans like these are easier to implement if you make them part of your routine.
   • Office Time - I arrive at school at exactly the same time (8:00 am) every single day. That’s a feat, considering I have almost 2 hours of travel time
   • Break Time - Strictly 1 hour for lunch. That’s it.
   • Work Time - I do teach, so I can’t really neglect my duties. However, I try not to be distracted too much by it. I can always devote more time on this after I graduate if I decide that this is what I really want.
3. Thesis Work - The key part of this plan is really the schedule. I have outlined everything that I have to do in order to finish my thesis and I regularly check if I’m still on schedule.
   • Adviser Updates - Every week, I will email an update to my adviser. No matter how little work I actually managed to do. This way, someone can track my progress, besides me.
   • Publication - I try to motivate myself to work by aiming for a conference. My adviser suggested submitting to this conference in Hungary. This way I have a deadline which is beyond my control.

That’s it. That’s my plan to finish my thesis either this sem or the next. Hopefully, this will allow me to graduate by April 2009. I’ll bookmark this entry so that I’m constantly reminded that I made this plan. If you know me, and you find me slacking about, just tell me that you read this post so I will remember my plan.

Please pray for me. See you in April!

Thanks to Scion for suggesting that I cross post to multiply. This way, I get a “wider” audience (at least in the Philippines).

This means that anyone with an OpenID can now comment using their OpenID url. Amazingly, that means anyone from:

• Blogspot - blogname.blogspot.com
• Flickr - www.flickr.com/photos/username
• LiveJournal - username.livejournal.com
• Technorati - technorati.com/people/technorati/username
• and a host of other sites (or even your own site)

I think it’s a great way of improving the inter-operability of different blogging / social networking platforms. It will definitely mean a little more convenience for those who will comment on this blog since they won’t have to type all those info to comment. Just type your OpenID url on the text box with the OpenID logo.

Enable OpenID on your own wordpress site by installing the OpenID WP Plugin just as I did. You can also install the OpenID Delegation Plugin to make your website (i.e. http://urriza.net/blog) your very own OpenID identity. So now I can comment on my LiveJournal and Blogger friends using my own URL. Nice.

For those who’ve never heard of WordCamp (like me, just a few minutes ago), it’s the premiere event where people can gather to talk about anything and everything related to WordPress. WordPress is the opensource blogging platform which runs the AFC (this blog). It’s community developed, meaning nobody really owns it. This also means that a lot of the features (and there are a lot) are developed by the community, for the community. This open-ness is the main reason I chose WordPress when I started the AFC.

I actually heard of this from a friend of mine, who interestingly enough, doesn’t even blog. Although, I think he reads more web content (blogs, etc.) than the average person. We both plan on going to the event which will be held on September 6, 2008 at the College of St. Benilde (watch out DLSU chicks! hehehe). As for my friend, he says he’ll start blogging just for the event, something to do with “hamsters” I think.

Reasons to go to WordCamp Philippines 2008:

1. It’s FREE. FREE. FREE. Hmmm… Did I mention, it’s actually free. Thanks to some sponsors, which I have to thank in writing right about now (since they are the main reason it’s FREE).
   • i.PH: the Domain for Individuals
   • Free Online Flash Games
   • Wazzup Manila Philippines
   • Real Estate CRM
   • Real Estate Website Designers
   • Orange County Real Estate
   • Auto Insurance Quotes
   • Lane Systems Inc.
   • RedMedia
   • Orange County Business Lawyer
2. You get to meet a lot of the really influential bloggers out there. I mean, dream as much as I want, I couldn’t really consider this blog as topnotch. It hasn’t even been up for more than 2 months. So, this is a chance to meet and greet the people who are turning the gears of the IntarWebs (at least in the Philippine setting). Maybe get some advice or something.
3. This might be a chance to rekindle the web development fire in me. I’ve recently been interested in PHP and Perl (for reasons not remotely related to blogging), and this might nudge me a bit in the right direction.
4. There’s this really cool T-shirt just for the event (which isn’t free, costs 400Php):

WordCamp T-Shirt (the Pinoy Sun is a great touch)

Very nice. I think the T-shirt alone is enough reason to go. Not to mention the DLSU blogger chicks.

So head on over, and register to WordCamp Philippines 2008, also presented to you by, MindanaoBloggers. See you there!

This event is presented to you by:

CODE IS POETRY

For this week’s Pick-of-the-Week, I’d like to veer away from consumer gadgets like my previous POWs. I mean, there’s only so much gadgets I can personally review (Oooh! Unless manufacturers start giving me samples! That would be neat.) and besides, that’s why there’s Engadget. This week I’ll be reviewing, what is in my opinion, one of the best free and open source, personal accounting software out there. The one I personally use and of course the one that I recommend that everybody should use.

It’s kinda like Quicken (if you’ve ever heard of that), and it’s very simple to use. Okay, I’d admit that its not really the easiest program to learn, but a little patience is all you need and you won’t regret putting in some effort into learning this program.

Do I Need Accounting Software (even a free one)?

The answer is yes! Hmmm… Ok, maybe it isn’t yes to absolutely everyone, but I’d say a majority of the population needs accounting software. Maybe you run a business, even a small one. Or maybe you just got your first paycheck and you wanna budget properly. Maybe you want to track how much you spend during the course of a week or a month. Maybe you just want to make sure you don’t overspend and end up with a negative balance. Or maybe, your like me and you really fancy seeing neat graphs and charts showing you how much money you have (or don’t have).

Or you probably have money on different investments and you want to track them. Maybe you owe a lot of money and you want to budget your earnings so that you can pay for your debts. What ever the reason may be, it’s always best to have data regarding your money.

You Should Learn Accounting

Besides the obvious practical reasons I mentioned above, I also believe you should learn to use accounting software because in the future, you will inevitably be dealing with it directly or indirectly. If you want to be successful, then you have to master the basics of accounting while you’re still young and only need to account for a small amount of money. Good luck managing your potential millions when you can’t even manage your monthly salary.

It’s all about being the boss of you. Maybe you are an employee right now. Maybe you’re at the lowest point in the corporate hierarchy. That doesn’t stop you from being the boss of yourself. Learn the tools of the Big Boss and you won’t stay down there for long.

So How Do You Use It?

Go on over to sourceforge and get your copy of GnuCash. Now, I don’t usually recommend learning open source software from their own documentation (help files, etc.), but this one’s an exception. Usually FOSS software come with sucky (almost unusable) help files, but this one is a diamond in the rough. I learned the entire program from the help file which acts more like a tutorial. Actually it is a tutorial. It guides you from creating your initial accounts, filling up your data, even up to using GnuCash to track your stock investments. Simply amazing!

Head on over to the GnuCash Website to see some screenshots and also see the entire feature list.

(Unfortunately, I can’t really post screenshots from my account because that’s a bit confidential, you might discover how rich I am and have me kidnapped )

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