It’s been already a while since I transferred the site here and still got no new post! I have a lot of ideas to talk about but lacks the time to write them. The things that keeps my mind busy - another website, the reason I bought this domain but now made to this one instead of “that”, studying Drupal, widgets and meeting up with the local Php users.

Recently I’ve met with PHPUGPers (great people) and talked about a few things. I’m excited about the upcoming event this December 1 although I am not able to come Well there is also another BIG EVENT for the Promet team this upcoming late November so I’m quite preparing (and praying) for that now :D. Back to the Dec 1 event, as a Php user, I am excited to know there are local events like this and recommend everyone to join. The Goal of the meeting is about Gathering of country’s best tech-talents, professionals and web developer’s promoting the use of PHP and opensource solutions in the enterprise and schools. There are already some subjects I like

Tentative Topics/Sessions this year:

1. CodeIgniter with Aptana (PHP) by Roger Filomeno (Mobile Specialist, TechBiz Asia Group Pte Ltd)
2. TipidPC: How it was made! (PHP) by Jesus Domingo (Frontend Engineer, Yahoo! Singapore)***
3. Database 101 using MySQL (Database) by Cherrie Anne Domingo (Multinational Investment Bank Corporation)
4. Sulit:Ads made Easy (Business) by RJ David (CEO, Sulit.com.ph)
5. Defensive Design (Web Design) by AJ Batac (Director of Operations, Webcore Canada)***
6. CSS and the Web (Web Design) by Angela Sabas (Frontend Engineer, Yahoo! Singapore)***
7. Test Driven Development in PHP:Recap (PHP) by Andre John Cruz (Application Developer, Barclays Singapore)***
8. IT Trends (Business) by JR Yap (CIO, MobileXchange)
9. Zend Core and Oracle (Database) by Clodelio Delfino (Moderator, PHPUGPH)
10. PHP in Schools: A Visit (PHP) by Anne Michelle Santos (Web Developer/Professor, University of Santo Tomas)
11. Exploring OpenSUSE 10.3 (Linux) by Reuben Ravago (CEO, OLM Technologies)
12. Stealth Startup Product Launch by AJ Batac (Director of Operations, Webcore Canada)***

I just wish I have a modified soul I can use to watch the other event for me. To find out more about this event, visit this thread.

For ticket reservations, visit: http://www.jotform.com/form/72883452322.

Reserve your tickets early to avail our early bird promo and get a 50% off discount on the ticket prices and special ticket promos.

• Student Tickets for Php 100 (Orig. Price: Php 200)
• Professional Tickets for Php 500 (Orig. Price: Php 1,000)
• Student Special Promo - Buy 2 Take 1 for Php 200 (Orig. Price: Php 400 )
  
• Professional Special Promo - Buy 2 Take 1 for Php 1,000 (Orig. Price: Php 2,000)
  

Promo ends on November 16, 2007.

At the javascript.crockford.com site, I found some really cool functions I wish I have known them earlier.

• typeof
• isEmpty()
• entityify()
• quote()
• supplant()
• trim()

Source codes

I also learned some really good tips from it! Thanks to the author!

There are so many places here in Philippines that are not quite known even to locals due to lack of advertisement. Taytay falls or also known as Majayjay falls in Laguna is one of them. To describe it, I’ll just borrow some words from this site to describe this place.

Taytay Falls, located at Barangay Gagalot, Majayjay, Laguna, has one of the clearest flowing water we have yet seen. The water flows from Mt. Banahaw, through the mountain’s lush and untouched forest which keeps the water clear even during heavy rains. The water temperature is VERY cold even during summer but, for people who are not used to cold water, they can still take a swim for a few minutes before their teeth should start to chatter.

Taytay is just near Pagsanjan falls so if you want to check out a less expensive place, ask the locals about Taytay/Majayjay falls.

Last May I was lucky to visit Taytay falls(this post have been here since then, it was never published!). My experience was really great and very relaxing. The whole time I was there, I was just sitting and feeling the wonders of nature. I am already satisfied and the fact that the water is really really cold so I couldn’t stay longer dipped in the water. I also tried to climb the second level of the falls which I really suggest you visit if you can. The water is colder and only a few people come. The scenery is also much better and more relaxing. We planned to go up to the third level but we were afraid because the road was quite stiff. Well, maybe next time

Going there is very economical and you can get there by means of PUJ. But I must warn you that it is really far if your coming from Manila. Living in Cavite at that time, it took us around 5-6 hours. We took the Dasma->Calamba->Sta. Cruz route. To help you in budgeting, here is the breakdown of our expenses:

P12.00 - Jeep from Imus to Dasma
P45.00 - Van from Dasmarinas to Calamba
P54.00 - Bus from Calamba to Sta. Cruz
P70.00 - Tricycle from the Sta. Cruz terminal to Majayjay terminal
P25.00 - Jeep from Sta.Cruz market to Majayjay
P12.00 - Jeep from Majayjay town to Taytay
P20.00 - Entrance fee
P100.00 - Rented tent for 2
P250.00 - Estimated Food

Total cost is: P588.00

What I could say.. the place was great. sad enough, some people do not know how to value it.. Thankfully, the locals are taking some actions for the cleanliness of the place so it is still worth a try. Please just be reminded to always keep places like these clean and treat them as if they are our valuable resources.

At the devzone, Cal Evans has written 21 php security tips. I have only read #17 where you can download a 37 page guide (in pdf) that explains the terms and concepts involved in securing your PHP application.

Application security should not be a “when all else fails” situation. It’s not something you can “put in later”. As we’ve mentioned before, there is no single silver bullet to solve your application security issues. Security is something that should be rolling around in the back of your dead in the design phase, the coding phase, the testing phase, even after you’ve rolled your code into production.

Source

Interviews is one, if not the top one, most hated thing when applying a job. I’d probably prefer to answer 8hours exam and do 16hours programming non-stop rather than an hour of interview. I am not proud of it but I really suck at those times. If only looking at the interviewer’s eyes (heh.. i practiced that) and smile the whole can make me get the job, then I would be a very good candidate! Maybe because I was not really trained to talk, i was trained to type! Or maybe if it was a tagalog interview, maybe I am able to talk alot. But that will never happen I even planned to be a member of toastmaster club but that didn’t became a reality for the sole reason of Im afraid to talk in front of teachers! (most of the members at that club are teachers.. missing college eh?). Those are just the things I remembered when I read this blog, ‘Why Should I Hire You?’ and Other Favorite Interview Questions. I tried to answer some of the questions and think as fast as I can but some questions are just too tough for me. Examples are:

What book is currently on your nightstand? > I don’t read a lot of books, I read a lot of blogs though and please don’t ask me about the author, I do not remember author names most of the time, just the url or pictures of the author. Hmm.. that said, maybe I should start looking at the authors?

What are your long-term goals? > I remember an incident once that an interviewer asked me about this. I didn’t know what to answer. I was newbie in the IT world then, I only wanted to work but that doesn’t mean I have no dream. I wanted to be successful at it. I wanted to say I want his position but he is HR and I am looking for an IT job! I wanted to say become your President, but I would be lying. I ended up mumbling! It is tough, it was really an awful answer. Thank god it was only a phone interview (unsurprisingly, I never heard from them again.. hehe).

Why should I hire you > When your starting, it is just hard to boast what you have when really do not have anything to boast at the moment.. tough!

What will you do if you don’t get this job? > I have another interview..? hehehe…

And the hardest question that I can be asked off-guard:
Tell me a joke > Oh my god.. I already lost the battle!!! I probably laughed before I even begin to say a word!

I found some job interview and call center bloopers and they are unbelievable and funny at the same time. check them out.

Why should someone care if there are less women in IT? Why should I care?

Fortunately and unfortunately, I was questioned by a man (in a good way) something like this. I said it is still fortunate because I was challenged to think. Unfortunate because I didn’t know what to answer. That surprised me really. Looking back in college I was told by my professor that I was a feminist. I didn’t believe her because I can’t just feel that I am. Maybe now that is one reason why I act like so. Then, I asked also another woman in IT why she’s doing what she is currently doing (she is an active member of Ubuntu-women) and that hardened some of my beliefs and answered some of my questions. I wouldn’t tackle much about her answer but basically one point on my end is to feel comfortable working in your flock. Men and women are still different the way they think and act and being on your own group sometimes brings out your true self. I do not like the idea of doing this because I just want to show men that as women I can also do what they can because we have our own talents and weaknesses. These things and our childhood experiences are ingredients that tells us what path we will take later on. I want women and other minorities to know that there is another option in choosing a work, not just the usual stuff like nursing, management, tourism, etc. This is millennium anyway, we are advancing in technology. Back in my highschool years, there was no option like that. I should thank my brother for showing this path because I am loving it! In my country, I think this is not only a concern about women, basically it is a concern for everyone, men, women, young and old but that is another issue. Some other “convincing” reasons will be tackled in a series of articles in oreilly.com written by Tatiana Apandi. There is already one that is out. Check it and see more.

In response to this, I have to tell 8 things about me. Here they are.

1. I am beautiful! (Don’t react if you don’t want me to slice your throat! :P)
2. I am a programmer (duh! is it not obvious?) and a woman (duh again!)
3. I want to be an architect or interior designer in the future. Any work related to houses and visiting UK would be a dream come true. I want to check the old castles and buildings there!
4. Back in college, I used to like hiking. I would like to come back to that hobby of mine (I wish I have the time and money! Can you spare me some? )
5. I’d like to become a better swimmer because right now, I cannot go further without any salbabida (tagalog term, something like a life jacket)
6. I am always torn apart when I have to choose between cake and ice cream. Can I just have both? I’ll feel better though if I eat one of them with Donna.. hahaha (she doesn’t like sweets)
7. I am afraid of heights, you know, I get a little dizzy when I look down from the 2nd floor and you feel like going down any minute. In spite of that, I want to experience hot air balloon and bungee jumping! I like to challenge myself.. hihihi..
8. I always tend to lose or forget little things anytime, anywhere.. they call me matwa (Kapampangan term for ‘old’) for that.

Before I forget, I have to tell you the rules, otherwise they are going to call me rule-breaker. Here it is:

* You share 8 things that your readers don’t know about you then at the end, tag 8 other bloggers to keep the fun going. Each blogger must post these rules first.
* Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
* At the end of the post, a blogger needs to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
* Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

I am tagging Tere, Kathy, Isabel, Lorna, Giselle, Cecille, Grace and Hannah.

If your a first timer installing cakePhp, it's quite annoying if your not getting it to work. Really, I've seen people take up to 3 days just installing it because they don't know what the problem is. The common problem I've seen is usually a mod_rewrite issue. If your installing an application made in cakePhp and can't make it work, I suggest the ffg:
1. Get the most recent stable version from cakephp.org and follow the instructions from the Manual Section 3. Install it in a subfolder. You can always move it somewhere else after the installation. Let's say the subfolder name is /mycake. Also make sure to change the permission to /app/tmp
2. After running it, see if the page is a bit colorful. If yes, then go to the next step. If not, check the src of the <link> tag. The link tag should most likely look like this
<link src="/mycake/css/style.css">
If the src is only "/css/style.css", then I bet you have a mod_rewrite problem. Check your apache configuration. For windows, I believe it is named httpd.conf and most likely it was just commented out in the list of modules so look for the word mod_rewrite. In ubuntu, most likely it is in the /ect/apache2/, I don't know in other distros. I can't give much info in troubleshooting it in ubuntu or linux, there could be a couple of ways. After successfully doing so, remember to restart your apache and check again. Don't stop until you see those colors. Go to the next step afterwards.
3. You can stop right here. The ffg step is just for me to verify that no doubt the installation works. Proceed if you like.
Create a simple controller with the ffg content:

Then create your view named index.thtml (im using the 1.1 version). If that successfully loaded, congratulations! You have verified your installation successful. If not, then tell me about it.

Another problem I experienced before when installing this in a server is the "new installation of cake: open_basedir restriction error". Basically, here are the solutions:
1. Hack the core. Change the fileExistsInPath (located in /cake/basics.php) function to:

2. .htaccess config. Add the ffg lines to your .htaccess so that the php include_path doesn’t have all the extra stuff you don’t need:

Read more info here.
For IIS installation, I just found this help . If you have other experience, write about it or add a comment and let us all know.

The debugging features of cakePhp is very very helpful to me specially the full debug with sql. Sometimes it's a bit irritating if your dealing with ajax calls. In looking at the cheesecake source code, I found this hack to change it to 0, 1, 2 or 3 on the fly:

Here is the complete code on how they handle ajax calls:

iPhone.. iPhone.. iPhone.. I've been wanting this gadget the very first time I heard of it's existence .. not because of its functionality, I just like to play it like in this video.... I'll probably have my luck and get a cent from it..

Well, if your seriously thinking to buy it or not, check out this man's blog - 20 reasons to buy an iphone - he is a certified geek btw and he hated it at first (i believe so), now he's liking it..

What do you think of the iPhone? is it worth the fun?