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2008-06-23

TAKING CHANCES WITH ENTRECARD



If someone told me less than four months ago that I would be a blogger, I would laugh it off.
You see, at that time, I didn't even know what a blog was all about.

But let me tell you this significant story from the start.

I work with the academe. I try my best to meet up with the ideals of the university where I am engaged in. It is a daunting and formidable task, because it requires one not only to have a mastery of the subject matter but also to be innovative enough to be able to incorporate the updates in science and technology - into one's didactic methodology.

It was for this reason that I wanted to conduct an experimental study on how I could effectively use solely - the world wide web resources in my particular subject.

One computer expert in the University advised me to open a main "site" of my own.

"How will I do that?" (I only know the basic rudiments of the computer) I could not help but ask him.

"Just surf in the internet, and you'll learn how." was the curt reply.

...So there I was, hunkered down on the computer, going over pages and pages of related literature.

Then I chanced upon this:

" Blogger create your blog now -- Free!"

I was curious what it was all about, so I clicked on it and followed the prompts.
I got excited when I learned that by making use of this "blog", I would be able to write about anything under the sun and be "published" in the internet. Incidentally, I forgot to mention earlier that I love writing. In fact, I would have ended up being a journalist if my parents didn't insist otherwise.

"There is no money in writing, " they said. Topic closed.

I didn't have the option but to be an obedient child.

Going back to the story - so that day, I created my very first blog.










I wrote my first post - it was entitled: " The Value of Honesty".
It was composed of only one paragraph. I was just curious of how it would work.

As soon as I saw the outcome, I was hooked. I started "blogging", and within the week, I created 5 blogs (imagine that!) - each with a topic of its own.

And yes, I was able to create 2 blogs for my subject.

After several days however, I realized that my blogs did not appear in any search engine.

I had presumed that they would, because they have been created for the internet. Sadly though, people came to me asking what the URLs were as they could not find them.

So I conducted another search and found this; "Add Your URL to Google". I got some pointers from google and painstakingly copied the meta tags, etc, to my blogs.

Would you believe me if I say that I had 15 tries before I was able to properly paste the verification code to my blogs' HTML?

I was ready to give up then!

This computer language was all Greek to me and I didn't know the "body tag" even if it was there in front of me.

But because of my desire to write, I persisted and learned painstakingly and slowly.

All my sites now had the verification codes in their HTML. BRAVO!

I had also started enlisting my blogs in Bloglists and other blog ranking sites.

To my dismay though, I still got little traffic.

I had a snippet of success - my blogs' names now appear with google search but not with any other search engine.

I wanted to be read just like any blogger. I wrote because I loved to.
But wouldn't it be wonderful to share these thoughts, ideas and facts with people around the globe - regardless of race, color or creed? I wanted to share with others my culture in this corner of the world, and learn from them too.

I had dreamed about this to happen one day.

Miracle of miracles, IT DID eventually!

And this is how it happened.




I was going over an interesting site which I had chanced upon the search engine when I noticed this small rectangular logo - ENTRECARD!
I clicked on it and it led me to another site. I discovered that the card was like an endless link to several blogs.




"Get one" the card said, so I registered and got one - more out of curiosity.

And that was the day, my real blogging days began.

I met writers who were excellent in their own genre of writing. The icing on the cake was that- my traffic and rank increased in leaps and bounds.

I could now type "The Clamor of Kalinga" in any search engine and it appears in one of the top searches, or even on top of all the search results.

I have discovered a new and exciting world.

There were varieties of blogs dealing with any topic that I could think of. Blogs that were simply amazing and incredibly informative.

I realized the fact, that to be able to maximize the benefits of entrecard. I will have to consider that entrecard is a community of people - of bloggers, and that in a community - respect for one another, understanding and cooperation - should be observed.

Presently, I try to reach the maximum drops per day, but I don't make it as my sole target. I usually stop and comment on articles I find worth reading and there are several noteworthy and information laden posts. It is much more rewarding to learn something new and interact with people all around the globe.

I took my chances with ENTRECARD and I had succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.

I laud ENTRECARD for continuously trying to improve their services. I am sure the blogging community recognizes your efforts.

Without you, blogging would never be a dynamic experience.

TO ENTRECARD , THANK YOU AND MORE POWER!

2008-06-20

AT HEAVEN'S DOOR - FROM A CONTRIBUTOR


www.joe-ks.com/heaven.htm

A Contribution from An Incoming Intern: BY: MELIZA PENIQUITO

If you ask me what I wanted to be 13 years ago, I'd say I wanted to become a doctor because I wanted to cure people.

I think all kids will basically give the same answer. What will a five year old kid know about Medical Technology, Physical Therapy, Pharmacy etc.?

All they know are doctors and teachers because they are well respected. As for me, at that young age, I wanted to become a doctor because I wanted to cure my grandfather.

He was suffering from a disease with a long name I couldn't spell, at that age.

Since then, I became very passionate in science subjects. I wanted to be a doctor immediately. It was in my High school days that I fully understood that you can't go jumping into doctoring. You need to take up pre-med course first.

This is how I came to know about Medical Technology.

I chose Medical Technology because this is what I really wanted to be in case I can't pursue the Medical course. I can't picture myself being in another profession because I can already see myself wearing a lab gown, peeping in a microscope, holding test tubes or performing blood and urine tests.

I also believe that Medical Technology is the best profession for me. You'll know how to perform and interpret lab findings and results. That's as good as being a doctor already. It's just that you are not licensed to diagnose.

This is also the course where you can exercise leadership fully because there are lots of laboratory works that require a leader. Just last semester, in our Organic and Biochemistry class, I was chosen to be the leader.

At first, I wasn't pleased because of the responsibility I have to shoulder. But as I exercised the Democratic Style in my leadership, I have come to notice that I'm even enjoying myself. And that is not because I'm bossing around. It's just that my burden was lessened because I am able to handle my small group properly without the “you-are-the-leader-I'm-just-the-member” sort of relationship.

In our experiments for instance, I first asked my members what they wanted me to do: assign them each a separate task to be able to save time or we do the same task and proceed to the next one only when they were done with the first? They chose the former but they were afraid that they might not be able to do their job properly, so I decided to assign the task according to their capacity. I'll assign the most difficult and complicated one to the most intelligent in the group and so on and so forth.

As a result, we were always the first group to finish the experiments and as the leader, I'm so proud of my group mates.


Photo by: Poramoporn

To become an effective leader therefore, you should be able to exercise freedom and rapport among your members. They should not feel that you are the leader and you are superior to them. You must always be open for their suggestions and make sure to consult them first before you do something.

I also believe that a leader is able to lead, guide, inspire and bring out the best qualities in their members. When it comes to my relationship with my peers, I can say that I can relate to people around me pretty well. I can be approached by anyone. I have no enemies and I can befriend anyone no matter what their status in life is. I also attend to people who approach me and ask for my helping hand not only in academics but also in other matters like swimming, arts, family and even heart problems. I can't remember turning down anyone who approached me not unless they have financial problems, in that, we're just in the same shoe.

Even people I do not know can approach and ask favor from me. I can still remember when I was in my Senior Year, someone asked me to please join the SCA (Student Catholic Action) club. She said that it is not compulsory and I wouldn't be receiving any incentives for joining. But still, I signed up because I wanted to have an experience in community service and share my knowledge with others.

Everyday at 4:00-5:00 PM, after our class, we go to a public elementary school where we teach catechism. We were grouped in 5 and were assigned to one class. My group mates and I were assigned to Grade 2 section 5. At first, it wasn't easy because the teacher was out and everyone wanted to go home. In our first meeting, we just introduced ourselves, what we were there for and tried to familiarize ourselves with their names and faces.

On the succeeding meetings, we introduced Jesus to them, teach them the Lord's prayer word by word, told them to pray before and after sleeping and eating, and many more.

This lasted for a month. Before finally leaving, we've seen a lot of improvements in their personality. They stayed quietly in their classroom waiting for us, they learned to pray along with us, they became polite and call us ate and kuya, which is very much far from what they had shown us in our first meeting.

They weren't the only ones who improved. During that month-long activity, my group mates and I have learned a lot too. Friendship, teamwork, cooperation, patience and many more. We also learned together with our students how to appreciate Jesus in our lives. I can say it was all worth it.

It was so nice to feel that you were able to help and change people for the better and at the process, improve yourself as well.

At this point in time, I am already standing in front of my heaven's door taking up Medical Technology. In spite of financial constraints I am in, because of low family income, I do hope someone will open the door and let me in.

About the Author:

Meliza is a a 4th year college student, who will be graduating this April. In spite of the various challenges (financial, emotional, academic) she had encountered and is presently experiencing; she is undaunted and is still striving to fulfill her dreams.

May all your goals be fulfilled Meliza, my hats off to you.

2008-06-15

SUBMIT NOW!!!

SUBMIT NOW!!!



Write an Article (poem, essay, short story, personal experience) About How TV Violence Can Adversely Affect Children and Earn 1,000 EC Credits!

DRAWINGS, CARICATURES, CARTOONS (WITH EXPLANATIONS) WILL ALSO BE ACCEPTED!

This is NOT a contest, so all submissions will be published and awarded 1,000 EC credits each. All entries will be published in this blog "A Campaign For Non-Violence On TV".

THE CRITERIA ARE:

1. You must be an Entrecarder.
2. The article must be original, if you use quotations from other authors, you must acknowledge your sources.
3. The topic must talk about the negative effects of TV violence on children.
4. It maybe a poem, an essay, a short story, or a personal experience.
5. Drawings will be accepted too, but there should be a brief explanation of what the picture portrays.
6. JOIN NOW! Let's makes the world a safer place for our children, and our children's children.

If you want to send an entry, send a message to my EC card and I will get back to you; or just leave a comment and I will send my email through your EC dashboard.


Visit this site to learn more:
A Campaign for Non Violence on TV

2008-06-09

BREAST CANCER: ITS PREDISPOSING FACTORS AND SYMPTOMS


This tag is for "BREAST CANCER AWARENESS". I hope I can help by spreading the word in this blog. I owe one to Ms. Manilenya , so I am doing this tag also for her.

Breast cancer is every woman's night mare, especially those above 40 yrs of age. But do you know that men too can develop breast cancer? Yes they could; and sometimes because people are unaware of this, it is often untreated and leads eventually to death.

The early detection of breast cancer or cancer of any kind is a vital factor in its successful treatment. Although the exact cause of cancer has not yet been discovered, there are certain predisposing factors that have been observed to those who had developed the condition.

These are the following factors:


1. People who have close kins who have had breast cancer are found out to be more prone to the disease.
2. Early menstrual period and women without children are more prone.
3. Women who have breastfed and are breastfeeding, are LESS prone.
4. As usual, constant use of alcohol, obesity and lack of exercise have negative repercussions, they increase the risk of the disease.
5. Birth control pills and drugs that cause hormonal changes, may slightly increase the risk of cancer.

How will you know if you have the disease?
Perform a breast examination yourself ( feeling for unusual lumps in your breast)
or better, have an annual visit to your doctor or as often as necessary.

So what are the symptoms? Below are some of these:
1. There maybe tenderness or unusual hardening of the nipples (sometimes they turn inwards).
2. Presence of lumps in the area ( but not all lumps are cancerous, so don't panic. Have it examined immediately by a competent physician.)
3. Any changes in color, texture and appearance of the areola .
4. Any discharge or fluid coming from your nipple, especially if you're not breastfeeding, should be considered abnormal until proven otherwise.

Remember that the early detection of the disease is CRUCIAL. Early detection will ensure a good prognosis.
Help spread awareness on Breast Cancer by clicking on the icon below.
"If The Breast Cancer Site receives 8 million clicks on the pink button in June, their premier sponsor -Bare Necessities- will donate $10,000 for more free mammograms. "
Just like Angel of Happy Family Matters ( Understanding Cancer and Helping the Victims), I won't be tagging anyone . If you feel generous enough to spread the word, then by all means, do so by passing on this tag!

References:
Susan Lim Surgery
Cancer. Org

Visit their sites and learn more about Breast Cancer.

GROWING UP AND STAYING YOUNG


A Guest Post by: KYRENE


I firmly believe that you must not wait ‘til you’re senile before you return to your childhood … yet, no, that is not the reason why I watch cartoons up until now.

I often equate heaven with pictures of a problem-free, worry-free and guilt-free life which makes me wonder, haven’t I had my slice of heaven some time ago in this realm? “For from the mouth of a child comes out real worship” …

Growing up, I have allowed that piece of heaven to slowly shrink away by allowing myself to learn so many things while losing the time for the things I knew beforehand. Reasoning took the place of innocence, a roster of "things-to-do" took over the "things-to-hope-for" and a handful of "things-to-gain-knowledge-of" relegated a truck-load of wonderful things I already possessed to a concealed corner.

Having experienced a really awful and life-changing loss a couple of years ago with a “disaster-appearing-normal”, I was told to keep myself busy in order to forget the pain. I took the advice to the maximum level … often to the borderline of “insanity-causing busy-ness”. A piece of heaven got chomped out of me everyday …

One night, I had a dream that I was again talking to this person I haven’t seen nor heard from for nearly a decade. He was, at one point in my life, very important to me. Can the word “important” even do justice to what he and I meant to each other? We knew "everything" about each other, from the trivial to the crucial, the mundane to the exotic, and the communal to the most personal and intimate core of our beings. He and I shared a bond that the mature and rational mind cannot fathom. I lost touch with him when adulthood was shading its days and in due time, I have learned to live with the loss. After all, there were a lot of people who were willing to take his place … it was a place of nobility in my heart and of a grave importance in my soul. Unfortunately, I made a severe mistake of bestowing charge of that place to the “disaster” I talked about in the previous paragraphs.

After that vivid dream, I searched for him on the internet (thank God for modern technology) and found a way to contact him. Two days hence, he called me up and took me on a trip down memory lane … a road I have refused to travel of late. He is apparently even busier than I am. He has four very adorable children, a business and a new girlfriend to help him cope with the divorce he went through with his wife who left him for another man. He is still into the same stuff … sports, music and food. While I, have turned into someone I myself don’t even recognize.

With each question commonplace in catching-up conversations that he asked me, he reinforced the nail in the coffin of “I-am-not-living-the-life-that-I-want”.

His simple “What do you do?” made me ponder about all the dreams I have not pursued (some by choice and some out of a seemingly “no choice” situation). He asked “What keeps you busy” … and I became aware that everything is keeping me busy that I don’t even have time to do the things that I love – assuming that I still remember what I love.

Do you still draw when you are happy? Do you still dance in the morning as you go about preparing to leave for school (then as a student and now as a teacher?) Do you still roller-skate when you are angry? Does it still take you an hour to take a shower? Do you still play the piano at night when you are feeling down? Do you still write when you don’t understand what you are really feeling? Do you still buy birthday presents a month advance? Do you still wake up in the middle of the night to reach for a bar of Snickers? Do you still read voraciously? Did you finally open the bookshop you have always wanted? Are you still my damsel in distress? Do you still possess that smile – the smile that launched a thousand ships in my heart? His voice sounded like a distant echo of the shouts that have long been welling up in my heart that are now just starting to reach my brain. He said I sounded the same – sweet voice … sweet words …
Free Image Hosting and Photo Sharing

I haven’t drawn a single picture since the “disaster” struck, leaving me in a chaotic state incapable of grasping the notion of being “happy”. I have trouble sleeping, thus, trouble getting up in the morning, robbing me of the luxury to dance around and take hour-long baths in the morning. I have not found an alternative to roller-skating to dissipate my anger.

Having no chance to skate makes me carry a chip on my shoulder biting off the head of practically anyone who comes my way when I wake up on the wrong side of the bed.
The feel of the ebony and ivory keys of the piano is so foreign to the tips of my fingers which have now grown accustom to the feel of my laptop’s keypads. Oftentimes, my gifts to people are accompanied by words like “belated” or “sorry for being late”. I don’t keep those fattening Snicker bars near my bed anymore and a book shop is not financially rewarding. I seldom flash the smile that launched ships that sailed away with people I love. I still am a damsel in distress … but not his … not anyone else’s. I am in constant distress devoid of a knight in shining armor. I loathe being sweet … because I have a friend who loathes my sweetness – some kind of friend he is!

So here I am … writing … because as you have guessed, I do not comprehend what it is exactly I am going through right now.

A firm believer that all things happen for a reason, I have since then, questioned myself why the Lord has caused our paths to cross again. “All things work out for the good of all those who love Him and are called according to His purpose”. The realization didn’t come to me like a big ball of blazing fire – instantly and noticeably. It crawled upon my being like the benefit of exercise – painstakingly slow, inconspicuous and needed to be reinforced by the opinion of others before it became apparent. It involved stages and the stages took me to horrendous depths …


He and I, going back to how close we were, is NOT an option … the geographic distance and the time elapsed with all the what-have-you’s in between makes it improbable.

But if there is at least one purpose why he has journeyed into my life again is perhaps not for that fleeting moment of joy which I will just end up missing as we put down the phone … it is most likely to hold my hand as I return to my childhood – a second time, a third time and each time I need to – to regain my slice of heaven while I prepare myself for the real one when my mortal body seizes to be. I need to go back to that piece of heaven …

I need to go back to that piece of heaven … when I still believed in romance, in love … in all the things that do not last but bring exceeding fulfillment. I need to believe in something I cannot see … to dream about things simply for the ecstasy that dreaming brings … when dreaming is not for sleeping – and sleep can be interrupted by bars of chocolate without the worry of gaining weight. I need to forget disappointments and the indelible scars they leave … I need to let go, to trust, to treat everyday like a fairy tale waiting to happen or to end in a happily ever after … I need to live – to live like a child… to venture without worrying about things being economical or financially wise. I do not want to be this adult that merely exists. I want to go back to the time when my biggest problem was which stuff toy I will choose to hug for the night without hurting the other stuff toy’s feelings, not like now when I am capable of hurting real people’s feelings. I need to go back to a time when I pretended to talk on my toy phone content with the imaginary conversation going on in my mind … not at all expecting a real phone call or a real conversation from a real person. I was spared from problems and all the serious talk. I was told what to do … I complained about it all the time. But now, I am always involved with the problems and the serious talk and how I wish someone would tell me what to do instead of me deciding for myself … which is now the new thing I complain about all the time by the way. I need to hang on to that ignorant bliss of believing that people you love will not hurt you nor leave you. I need to … I need to … as if saying it will magically whisk me back to the past …

This article was originally published in the Allimed - the official publication of the College in which the author served as the Moderator.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

The author is a young, successful academician, presently pursuing her doctorate degree. She has a zest for writing and writes whenever her multifarious tasks give her a chance to. Thanks Kyrene, for allowing me to post your article.

2008-06-06

I VOLUNTEERED FOR THIS INTERESTING MEME

Linking has been made interesting by creative people. This meme is stimulating. I "caught" from Francis of "Caught In The Stream" .

Don't expect me to answer these questions as remarkably as he did, but I promise, I will do my "darnedest" best, so here goes...

1) What was the best moment of your life?


The day I held my eldest son in my arms. As I looked into his small, trusting eyes, there was a lump in my throat. The realization that I will be responsible for the tiny bundle in my arms made it a lachrymose scene. Twenty nine years later, he does the carrying. (grins)

2) If you could pick a superpower what would it be?

A power that could completely eradicate poverty and war. I could not think of anything better.

3) If there was one thing you could do, with no limits of any kind, what would it be?

Acts that could achieve my answer to number 2.

4) What's the weirdest dream you've ever had?

I was a man, a soldier in an infantry in a different country; and I was amidst a raging war. I considered this weird as I am a woman and I don't fancy putting potholes in other people's bodies.

5) What's the weirdest thing about you?

I enjoy eating hot rice with fresh, uncooked eggs and a pinch of salt. (Yuck for you!)

6) What's your favorite self made philosophy?

I like what Francis wrote: "... we humans are unavoidably barreling ahead toward a technological singularity that will either prove to be the precipitate of our eventual downfall or the first step down a new evolutionary path."

It sounds "make or break" for the human race Francis, the way you put it.

Errr, but I have to be original....let me see...." I do my best to help someone in need, but he has to help himself first."

7) What (if any) question has been the most annoying unanswered question of your life?

When will I die? (this question keeps bugging me.)

8) Why do you blog?

The first time I ventured into blogging, it was because of a research project. Eventually I discovered it was a good outlet for my ravings, rantings and scribblings and I am at liberty to express whatever I wanted to...The most important thing though that I have learned, is that blogging allowed me to meet wonderful people with multifarious talents and great minds.

Insanity Personified
Caught In The Stream
Random Thoughts

I will not be tagging anyone too. If you feel these questions are interesting then I tag you!