Bill Gates, Microsoft's Chairman, bids farewell. I quote,
The geeks at Microsoft mourn his departure. The Ballmer-Gates dynamic duo will now be a solo flight.
Personally, I'm not a Microsoft fan, though I'm grateful for everything I've learned from MS-DOS to Windows. Will Bill Gate's move gain more ground for open source?
As I was browsing through my Friendster account, I came across a call for support for those of us in the Philippines that have been affected by typhoon Frank (FENGSHEN). I'd like to thank in advance everyone on Friendster who will support and send help to the victims here in Iloilo City, Philippines.
Iloilo City, Philippines. I have been informed by the Iloilo Federation for Information Technology (IFIT) that due to the calamity which hit the whole of Iloilo province and city the IFIT board has decided to postpone the I.T. Week scheduled on June 24 - 27, 2008 at Gaisano City Mall, Lapaz, Iloilo City.
They will inform us regarding the next schedule as soon as it is available.
In case you haven't heard about the typhoon "Frank" (International code name "FENGSHEN") hitting my city, take a look at this video:
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV
Here's a web site that offers free short courses on blogging, everyday life, Math and money, and computer training. I took lessons on money management, even taking the test to see where I'm at with my budgeting. According to the money quiz results,
"You tend to be fairly responsible with your money, but you need to work on some of your habits. Read the lessons on the course to help you strengthen your money management."
Guess what? There's even a Spanish version if you click on the "Spanish" link at the footer.
Yesterday, my ClustrMaps became black and white. They were down for a while, probably due to maintenance.
So for this service has been useful in tracking the amount of traffic that goes into my site.
Blog on-the-fly as Firefox allows this plug-in for your browser! Simply open a window for making new posts as you surf. This makes it easier to copy and paste content without having to switch browser windows or tabs.
June 17, 2008. Firefox attempted to set the Guiness' World Record for the most number of downloads in 24 hours. I pledged first, then they emailed me a link so I can download Firefox 3.
Last I checked, they're just waiting for the Guiness review. I quote:
"Awesome work - we’re almost there!
Thanks to the support of the always amazing Mozilla community, we got more than 8 million Firefox 3 downloads in 24 hours. That’s more Firefox downloads than we’ve ever had in a single day -- an impressive feat indeed!
Please be patient while the good people of Guinness review our World Record attempt. This might take a few days so please check back here. And, a huge thanks for all of your support!"
June 6, 2008. I took the real test for the Zend PHP 5 Certification. My test center was MISNet in Makati, Philippines.
I got to the test center with time to spare which I spent reviewing with my friend who accompanied me to the venue. I took the test which lasted an hour and a half (90 minutes). I was able to review most of my answers, and was confident of all the answers I gave. None was left incomplete.
Still, my best wasn't enough. Some of the questions were very tricky. For example, you are given four possible answers and you have to choose the best one. None of them would be considered "wrong" in terms of code usage, but only one is the best and correct answer. Another example is that there are four correct answers and you have to choose two of the best answers. There's also subtle differences I saw with regard to the choices, and even when looking at code, it seems that they deliberately placed a syntax error in one of them that I overlooked somehow. I will not be disclosing any of the questions here since there's a non-disclosure agreement that I promised to follow.
They don't give you the raw score or even let you know the passing score. But they do print out the areas where you can see your level of strength. I got a high score for Streams and Network Programming, as well as Strings and Patterns. I scored medium in Functions, Arrays, and Web Features. I got a low score in Security, PHP 4/5 Differences, Object-Oriented Programming, PHP Basics, and Databases and SQL.
I read somewhere that the practice tests were harder than the real test. But in this case, I don't find that to be true. I passed two practice tests (via the Vulcan engine) and failed the real test. You can read my previous posts regarding my practice tests.
Zend offered me a discount for a retake. Instead of paying $125, this time I can take the test for $100 only. But I doubt I will be doing that anytime soon. This test has shown me that to pass the exam I need to know PHP inside out, and not just in its practical usage in web development but its architecture and configuration as well. I may need more time to study. And I don't really need that kind of knowledge if I'm just gonna work as a PHP programmer starting out in the industry, at least not in the junior and mid-level. Besides those, PHP 6 is scheduled to come out in August this year, and they might change the exam altogether. So I'll wait and see.
Are you ready to take the test?
Goosh - the unofficial Google shell. I came across this software when someone in a community that I'm part of, PHPUGPH (PHP User Group Philippines Inc.), gave a link to Goosh.
For a Linux user, I like the interface that the shell has:
It might remind you of the old MS-DOS or BASH shell. You can type the keywords you are searching for on-the-fly. No GUI, no text boxes. Just plain text, old-school style.
I tried searching my name, and it produced a short list:
guest@goosh.org:/web> RJ Alobba
1) Writer's Tongue: October 2007
Christian writings written by RJ Alobba for wholesome reading. ... RJ Alobba. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of ...
http://radicalpoet.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html
2) Jesus Freaks: 3rd World Radicals: Baggages
Blog by RJ Alobba on radical Christians, also called Jesus Freaks, ... RJ Alobba. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of ...
http://www.jesusfreaks.co.cc/2007/10/baggages.html
3) ==Everything is BEAUTIFUL==
Nothing. Let's keep our eyes on Him, and just when you think you're falling, He catches you. - RJ Alobba. http://www.kristiyanongpinoy.com ...
http://yzzzzzzzzzzzz.multiply.com/feed.rss
4) Jesus Freaks: 3rd World Radicals: More Graduation Pictures
Ang kagalang-galang na si RJ Alobba. Congratulations po... 10:14 PM · Post a Comment · Newer Post Older Post Home. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) ...
http://radical3rdworld.blogspot.com/2006/09/more-graduation-pictures.html
Comparing it to Google's search results, they're not the same. Here are the first few results from Google (You can download the screenshot for clarity):
I'm not sure how Goosh works, but it seems to rank pages differently than Google. Still, it seems to be a useful tool.
To try it out, visit http://goosh.org/.
Joomla! Day Philippines is on its way!
Mark June 14, 2008 on your calendar. It's the 1st ever Joomla! Day in the Philippines.
The Philippines is set to witness the next biggest event for the month of June besides Independence Day. On June 14, 2008, Filipino webmasters and amateurs alike will converge at the Engineering Library and Computer Science Building, Velaquez Street, UP Campus, Diliman, Quezon City to liberate not just Filipinos but every single individual in cyberspace. The event is dubbed as Joomla! Day Philippines.
Since knowledge in computer technology assures individual a competitive edge in the 21st century, Joomla! Day Philippines is indeed as remarkable event for Filipinos as Independence Day (June 12). Joomla! is an award-winning free open source content management system (CMS) enabling professionals and amateurs to build and administer feature-rich, powerful web sites without having to have an extensive knowledge of web programming languages. It is designed to power simple personal homepages as well as complex corporate web applications.
Come June 14, 2008, Filipinos online will once again express its commitment to the free software movement with the holding of the first-ever Joomla! Day Philippines – a great opportunity to learn and network with other Joomla! users and developers in the country. The conference will be attended by representatives from the Joomla! Core Team and Working Group, representatives from non-governmental organizations, local government units, and the business sector. Joomla! Day Philippines is another good reason to celebrate freedom after Philippine Independence Day. Don't remove the Philippine flags just yet until June 14.
At this time, it's three days before my actual exam.
A friend bought me a voucher for the Zend PHP 5 Certification exam, and I received it through email from zend.com. I also was able to book my exam online at Vue, and confirmed it by phone that the test center has received my booking. My test center is MISNet Inc. in Makati, Philippines. They require you to have two valid IDs with signatures when you walk in, along with the voucher. But I had to verify if I can use my passport since the new passports only have an electronic ID system and no longer store the handwritten signatures of the passport owners. MISNet said it was okay. So I'll be bringing my company ID and my passport to the test center.
I also bought Cebu Pacific round-trip plane tickets online, so my flight is booked and confirmed for June 5. Another friend is gonna help me get to the test center -- I've never been to it, and I don't live in Makati.
I took another practice test online using the Vulcan simulator. This time, there were differences to my last practice test results:
I have less excellent scores now. In Arrays as well as PHP 4/5 Differences, I failed this time where I was once excellent. But I also have less failing marks this time. I passed Database Access and XML & Web Services this time around, where I failed the last time.
I studied in the areas I was weak in, and by God's grace I know I'm ready to take the test.
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