Saturday, July 28, 2007

Negoskwela's schedule for August

I personally believe every person craves for new things to learn. From those who are already formally educated to those who are practically illiterate, we are one in the search for interesting new things to master, for new challenges in life. The usual stumbling block is the lack of time or resources. It is a good thing that there is the Internet and that there are government and non-governmental organizations which offer very affordable learning opportunities. Let us take advantage of these opportunities. Check out this announcement on Negoskwela's schedule for August (updated) Seize the day.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Negosyo seminars at P99 only

Here's another bargain I found in another station of the MRT. On a wall at the MRT Station at Shaw Boulevard, there's a poster which announces courses on meat processing, fish processing, chocolate moulding, flavored juices, candle-making, balloon arrangement, perfume and cologne-making, flower arrangements, and many more, for only P99.

The seminars will be conducted at Richville Hotel located at 286 Edsa, Mandaluyong City, walking distance from the southbound side of the Shaw Boulevard station of the MRT.

For further inquiries, call 5331608 and look for Mr. Elvin Viola. I understand that this Saturday, their seminars will be on candle-making moulding, chicken tocino and hamburger patties. There are limited slots. To attend, you have to pay ahead of the event at the Richville Hotel's cashier. See you there?

Everything at P55

We all have seen that shop or chain of shops which sells everything at P99. Well, I came across this shop in Makati which sells just about anything at only P55, around 50% less. The shop known as Uncle Bills, is located near the escalator/stairs of the southbound side of the MRT Station near Ayala.

I could not believe the things they were selling there at such a low price. Their wares include kitchen utensils, cleaning paraphernalia, school supplies, household items, hobby and craft items, even some sport equipment like a pair of table tennis rackets, and many others.

I think their pricing would be a hit to the common Pinoy who are constantly looking for bargains. Their wares looked durable enough too. I and my wife got an egg beater that we have been using in dishwashing/fabric conditioner-making.

I can only hope that shops like Uncle Bills will continue to flourish in Metro Manila and in other provinces.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Basic Beaded Accessory for Beginners

A reader emailed me and thanked me for creating a blog on events and seminars. It was too bad the email was sent to my other email address which is the one I use for all my YahooGroup subscriptions. In other words, I did not get to read the email until yesterday. Anyway, Ms. Em Mariano hopes she can reach out to more craft lovers and tell them about their upcoming seminars through this blog.

One these upcoming seminars, Basic Beaded Accessory for Beginners, will be held tomorrow, 21 July 2007, from 10 am to 5pm at the Danzhub Studio, Libertad Street, Mandaluyong City, beside California Garden Square and just 5 minutes away from the MRT Shaw Station.

They promise to teach you the techniques of the craft, color combination, trends and design execution, creative design, marketing and pricing, and sourcing. They also promise to teach how to make 2-in-1 convertible accessories like bracelets which can also be used as necklaces, bracelets used as bag charms, etc.

The seminar will be conducted by Ms. Mariano whose designs are displayed at Urban & Co, Tint (Greenbelt), Souk (Shangri-la), Pandango F&S (Serandra, the Fort), and many more upscale stores in Metro Manila. If you want to know more, call Business FunDynamics at 7182182 or 09194011308, or visit www.emmarianodesigns.tk.

I myself would love to go but for now I have no idea about the registration fee. I wonder if they'd give a discount for this late free advertisement. :)

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Beads on camera

In a very special wedding we attended last Saturday, my wife wore an earing I made for the occasion. The motif was flame, a tinge of orange and blue, and the earing easily matched the color of the day. It was simple hook earing but it gave my wife's costume an added glow. Or so I say. :)

As it turns out, the bride and groom's giveaways for their female guests were bracelets made of beads. My wife got one with an orange theme, again matching the color of her gown. In that part where the groom and the bride thank all those who helped them in the preparations, they thanked two friends who made the bracelets for them. Quite a lot of work I would say as they probably distributed more than a hundred of them.

Incidentally, Nina Lumberia of the blog The Fickle Minded has pictures of some of the things you might want to consider doing: baking, cake decorating and crafts, like parchment craft, cross-stitching and beadcraft. By her own description, she is a Pinay expat in Doha, Qatar. She went there in 2004 to join her husband and start their married life.

The reason I mentioned Nina is that, in her post, she showed some pictures of different kinds of beads. I remembered Aryst who commented on my first post on beadcraft suggesting I post photos on the different categories or types of beads. Or, at least that's what I thought he said. I don't have such photos yet. I think Nina's will do for now.

Nina notes that before she went to Qatar, she made a lot of bracelets and necklaces made out of beads including pearls. That's one of the markets for beadcraft mentioned to me by my instructor. I guess they are cheaper here than in other countries.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Batasayti: IT Law and Policy in the Philippines

Before I even learned how to blog, I have long been tinkering with free websites. One of my personal projects was Batasayti at www.freeservers.com where I posted my personal ekek on information technology(IT) law and policy, something that I was interested in when I was still a research assistant at the UP Law Center. The site is still up but much of the content there is already passe.

My objective in putting up Batasayti the website was really to help make accessible and promote the discussion of information technology law and policy issues in the Philippines. Now that I learned about blogging, I feel the same objective can also be achieved through a blog. For this reason, I decided a few days ago to start Batasayti the blog, a personal effort to compile as much information on IT law and policy in the Philippines and in other Asian countries.

I certainly wish that this site will be of good use to IT practitioners, law students, and even to the general public, even though I am not really an expert on the matter. My aim is only to help make information on the right to information, right to privacy, electronic documents, electronic signatures, electronic evidence, hacking, even wiretaps, more accessible to the common Pinoy.

For the blog to be of real use, however, it must be reasonably searchable on search engines like Google. For this reason, I would like to solicit everyone's help by asking you to post something about the blog with a link using the text "information technology law philippines". I also request everyone to suggest or point to me any material which you feel should be included in the blog. I would gladly add them to the site.

Your support of course will be greatly appreciated and an appropriate link to your blogs will be added to Batasayti. Am sure, with your help and in due time, we would have accumulated enough information to make the blog useful. Hopefully in the near future.

Negoskwela's schedule for July

Here is the latest announcement (updated) from Negoskwela. As always, their scheduled trainings include almost everything, from silkscreen printing to catsup, toyo and vinegar making to reflexology and acupressure. My personal favorites this month include hydrophonics technology, bagmaking without sewing, and bookbinding and gold stamping.