Simplicity at your fingertips

A whole lot of us continue to use Microsoft Office at work. Learn how to improve your daily routine with the latest release.

Jerry Liao, Certified Microsoft Office Professional, will talk about about new features, tips and tricks in "Simplicity at your Fingertips with Microsoft Office 2007" which will be held on May 29 at Crown Plaza Hotel (back of Robinson's Galleria - Ortigas), with sessions at 8 am to 12 noon, and 1 to 5 pm.

Certificates of attendance will be issued by Microsoft Philippines. Tickets priced P300 for students and P500 for professionals are available at SM Ticketnet outlets.

Go Negosyo Go(es) Gobyerno

Our office received recently an invitation to the launching of the Livelihood Lending Facility for Government Employees this May 2, 2007 from 10 am to 5 pm at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC). I think this marks another milestone for the Go Negosyo campaign, reaching out to a big (and underpaid) sector in Philippine society. Where I belong, of course.

There will be a photo exhibit, several forums, and a formal program launch with a message from Presidential Consultant on Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion and a keynote address by no less than the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Forum topics include the following:

• Ano ang Microfinance Industry
• Ano ang Small and Medium Enterprise Industry
• Learning from Successful Entrepreneurs: Iba't Ibang Negosyong Babagay sa Akin
• Livelihood Lending Program for Government Employees: Puhunang Pangnegosyo para sa Kawani ng Gobyerno
• Product Development: Produkto Ko, Angat Ito
• Market Development: Pagpapalawak ng Merkado para sa Produkto't Serbisyo
• Entrepreneurship Training: Sa Taong Mahusay, Negosyo'y Titibay
• Intrapreneurship in Government Service: Empleyadong Negosyante: Posible ba?
• Inspirational Talk on Balance of Life: Ang Balansiyadong Pamumuhay, Pamilya at Negosyo

There will also be time for mentoring sessions, book signing with successful entrepreneurs, and expo viewing. Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila will deliver the closing message. I am not sure if the event is open to the public but I am sure government employees can. I suggest you inquire with your HR departments on how you can attend the event. See you there.

Corregidor photo shoot

I came across these photography seminars announced at Blogalicious. The topics include travel writing and photography on May 12 to 13, photographing architecture on May 19, and photographing animals on May 26.

The travel writing and photography session is entitled "Explore Corregidor" will actually include a photo trip to Corregidor with pre and post trip meeting with expert photographer Jay Alonzo and writing tips from noted writer Kristine Fonacier. The registration fee of P6000 includes the workshop kit, meals, transportation, hotel accommodation, and certificate.

The speaker for the photographing architecture will be Jojo Guingona while that of photographing animals, Kathy Chua. The registration fee for these sessions is P2500 and will include handouts, meals, transportation, permit to shoot (architecture), entrance fee (animals), and certificate. For details, you may call 8921801 or email AFIFHLEvents@ayalafoundation.org.ph.

Workshops at a different bookstore

Dean Alfar, apparently one of the most respected Pinoy bloggers and whose presentation - based on most accounts - was the most applauded during IBlog3, has announced in his blog, Notes from the Peanut Gallery, that the Eastwood City branch of A Different Bookstore will be conducting a 2-hour writing workshop on Speculative Fiction.

He said that it will be part of the bookstore's summer activities which will include workshops on digital photography, drawing and painting, comic and book illustrations, among others. The activities will be held on May 5, 12 and 19, 2007 from 4 to 6pm. Dean Alfar, Kate Aton-Osias, Vincent Michael Simbulan, Alex Osias, Nikki Alfar and Andrew Drilon will moderate.

The activities will be open to anyone 18 years and above for a registration fee of just P300 per session. For reservations, just call A Different Bookstore, Eastwood City at 6873932.

My take on how to install Wordpress

Note: I was told that I could have installed Wordpress in 5 seconds using Fantastico, although some hosts do not "offer" the thing. I was told also that the steps I outlined below are generally correct and thus useful to those without Fantastico on their cPanel. Sigh.

I have recently gotten myself a hosting account at ploghost.com for the domain pinoyseminars.com and immediately set out to install a Wordpress blog. I did so because, in my short stint as a blogger, I learned that you can do more with a Wordpress blog than one in Blogger.

My problem was that I had no idea how to do it. I posted a query at ploghost.com/forum/ but didn't get any reply. I was forced to try following the step-by-step Wordpress's 5 minute installation guide. Unfortunately, I ended up with an error message. I had to restudy everything until I found what was wrong. I am proud to say the blog is now up and running at pinoyseminars.com/blog/.

For non-techies like me, this is my take on how to do the installation:

1. Download the latest stable release of Wordpress at http://wordpress.org/download/.
2. Unzip the compressed Wordpress folder.
3. Log into your cPanel at www.yourdomain.com/cpanel.
4. Click on MySQL Databases.
5. Create a database and take note of the database name.
6. Create a user and take note of the username.
7. Add the user to the database you created.
8. Open the unzipped Wordpress folder and find the file wp-config-sample.php.
9. Rename the file as wp-config.php.
10. Double click on the file to open it at Notepad.
11. Replace the word "wordpress" with the name of the database you created.
12. Replace the word "username" with the database user you created.
13. Replace the word "password" with the password of the database user you created.
14. Save the wp-config.php file.
    
15. Upload all the contents of the Wordpress folder by FTP to the "public_html" folder of your hosting account.
    
16. Or, instead of 15, rename the Wordpress folder with a subdirectory name (i.e. blog) and upload the whole folder by FTP to the "public_html" folder of your hosting account.
17. In your browser, go to "yourdomain.com/wp-admin/install.php" or "yourdomain.com/subdirectory/wp-admin/install.php" to install Wordpress.
18. At this time, Wordpress should now be installed and you can now log in to start building your blog.

I hope this will help others who want to install Wordpress, especially the non-techie ones who like me happen to have no techie friends ready to help. My message is that, you can do it on your own. I did.

Technorati favorites exchange

Around three months ago, I created this blog supposedly with a clear goal in mind. In my first post, I said "Today, I start a new endeavor. I do this with a very clear goal in mind, something that I would rather keep to myself for now. Everything else is just implementation." Haha. To be honest, my goal then was to make this blog an earning blog. Big mistake.

I learned quite fast that it is not that simple, not that easy. I also learned that there is this thing about blogging which makes it worth your while even if you are not earning. For one, you get to improve your writing skills. Second, there is the feeling of satisfaction in being able to share information, no matter how unimportant, with your readers, no matter how few. My goal now is to make this blog a useful site to as many readers as possible.

In order to reach more people, I have decided to participate in a Technorati favorites exchange. My objective is to increase the possibility of people finding this site through search engines. Hopefully, once they'd chance upon this blog, they will find some useful information and come back. I'm sure other newbie bloggers would like that for their blogs too.

So, if you'd want to exchange "technorati favorites" please add this blog to your Technorati favorites and leave a comment on this post with the url of your blog. I will gladly return the favor. If you want, you may also participate in a similar and bigger exchange at Dosh Dosh. Let's see if the experiment works.

Learning from ants

The beauty of the internet today is that there is always something to learn at every click of the mouse. Today, my mouse led me to this thing about ants. According to this blog, CWright Consulting, ants were tasked (or perhaps just observed) to carry a dead beetle 100 x their size through a mosquito netting.

In accomplishing the task, the ants had clarity of message, or more accurately, mission. They all knew the task at hand without discussion or dissension. They also had seamless leadership. If they had a leader calling the shots, he was fully integrated and was invisible, allowing everyone to complete their tasks.

The ants had unflagging determination working continuously until the job was done three days later. They also thought out of the box, resorting to breaking the dead beetle leg by leg, wing by wing, section by section, after realizing it will not get through the net. And most importantly, they had teamwork. There were no squabbling, no slackers, everyone giving 100 percent.

Summer Workshops

I should have written about this a month or so ago but I guess there is still time. Scoured the net for all the summer workshops available and found a lot, many of which are still open. Specifically, I found the following interesting.

The Metropolitan Museum of Manila will be holding their 2007 Summer Art Workshops for children, teens and adults during the month of May. The workshops include basic photography (April 30 to May 4), basic water color painting (May 7 to 12), basic drawing (May 21 to 26), and art therapy and visualization (May 14 to 18). The deadline for registration is on April 21. For inquiries call, 523-7855 or 536-1566, or email info@metmuseum.ph.

The Filipinas Heritage Library will also be conducting an Effective Business Writing Workshop on April 23 from 8 am to 5 pm, and an Effective Business Presentation Workshop on April 26 and 27 from 9 am to 12 noon. For inquiries, call 892-1801 or email events@filipinaslibrary.org.ph.

Bo's 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich

I have just finished reading Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad book. It was an enlightening read for me who by definition will a very good "poor dad" example. I now intend to reform and be more aware the bad habits I shouldn't have. For that I need to learn more. And, even before I have even gotten myself a copy, I have decided that the next book I am going to read is Bo Sanchez's 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich.

According to Bo, people are not poor because they have no money. He believes that that is only the result. He says Filipinos are poor because of three giant monsters of poverty. First, we don't want to be rich. Second, we are financially stupid. And third, we insist on walking instead of riding. I guess he explained all these in his book which costs only P350. Know more about the book at www.nationalbookstore.com.

Financial intelligence quotient

In order to get to where you’re going you need to know where you are. According to Robert Kiyosaki of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame, this is one of the lessons he learned from his “Rich Dad”. To know where you are now, you need to assess your aptitude for good financial management. One way is to take Rich Dad’s free financial IQ quiz.

Through the online test, you will get insights as to your aptitude for making sound financial decisions – decisions that can provide you with a path to financial freedom. It will certainly help you improve your current financial situation. The key, according to Kiyosaki, is to get on the fast track today, meaning, get out of the rat race as soon as possible.

What is your financial scorecard? What are the types of income? What is a doodad? What is an asset? What is a liability? To take the test, go here.

Call for the Spartan in us

Excerpts from the speech of Tony Meloto, the visionary and driving force behind the Gawad Kalinga movement, during the 2007 Commencement Exercises of the Ateneo de Davao where he was given Doctorate of Humanities, Honoris Causa.

"The Filipino spirit today is rising wherever he is in the world. He is starting to discover that he has the power to liberate himself from being a slave of the past... that he can remove the label stuck to his soul as a second class people from a third world country... that he can correct the scandal of history of being the most corrupt in Asia despite being the only Christian nation, until East Timor, in the region. In the right setting the Filipino has proven that he can be law- abiding, hardworking, honest and excellent."

-----

"We have compromised our values and tolerated corruption. We have lowered our standard and tolerated poverty. We have sacrificed the truth for hypocrisy. We have chosen convenience for vision, popularity for leadership...and have chosen despair over hope."

"Do we fight or do we run? Is there a King Leonides among you who will fight for honor and freedom? Are there 300 Spartans among you who will confront our enemies with extraordinary courage and love? Can you be the army who will lead our people to victory following the path of peace? Are you the generation of patriots who can shout to the world that no Filipino will remain poor because you will not allow it; that no Filipino will remain a squatter because you will not allow it; that no politician will remain corrupt because you will not allow it?"

"If you are, then join us in Gawad Kalinga. Together, we can build a great nation, first world in the eyes of God and respected by other great nations."

Solutions to hunger and corruption

In Negosyo Today, a newsletter of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, Joey Concepcion and other accomplished Pinoy entrepreneurs shared their thoughts on how we can solve hunger and corruption in our country. The article was in response to recent news ranking the Philippines high up in terms of hunger and corruption.

Concepcion believes the solution to hunger is "teaching our nation how fish". He pointed out that to his knowledge, no Pinoy has gone hungry overseas and that they are the most enterprising workers in any country they are in. But why are they poor in our own country? According to him, although studies show that we have high propensity for entrepreneurship, most are micro or small, often characterized as survival microentrepreneurs. There is a need to encourage, advise and empower them to be agents of innovations in any product or service they provide.

Manny Pangilinan of PLDT says "we can develop a national culture of enterpreneurship". Socorro Ramos of National Bookstore thinks "the key is education at all levels" and that "entrepreneurship should be discussed as early as high school or even at the elementary school level".

Santi Araneta of LBC Mabuhay USA Corporation says "government, both at the national and local level, must establish that is business-friendly" and that "red tape should be cut and government workers should be trained to serve professionally". Aloysius Colayco of Level Up International believes "entrepreneurs are often born but can also be taught" and that "the best teaching is by example".

Colayco thinks that we should publicize success particularly by people who started with nothing or surmounted great obstacles in building their businesses. Joey Gurango of Webworks agrees saying, "to succeed in any field of endeavor, we need role models". Ardy Roberto of Salt and Light Ventures says we should start them young by integrating enterpreneurship in our school curriculum. Read the full article at www.gonegosyo.net.

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