Drupal Camp Manila 2011

Here’s a short clip of the Drupal Camp Manila 2011 event held last February. Stay tuned for another Drupal camp 2012 of February.

Thanks to all speakers and sponsors for making this happen.

Croogo as your building block for Cakephp App

Croogo, a simple CMS built on top of Cakephp. But for me, it has become my first building block for most cakephp application that I create. Why?

• It has the most common features setup already
• Less features, less complication
• It can be extended without touching the core CMS

Less features to reinvent

I hate reinventing the wheel over and over again. Those includes installing ACL (pain) and recreating commong login functionality such as login, create account, forgot password, reset password and account administration. Comments and captcha are also setup. Most of my apps almost always have these so croogo makes it really easy for me to not to worry about them.

Few features

Common features may be setup but it’s not too complicated nor too difficult to use it for your other goals. It is still cakephp and it follows the convention. Unlike other CMS made from cakephp, there aren’t a lot of features. I don’t use them all but I find less time coding by utilizing the features that is already setup in the CMS.

Extendable

Another factor that makes croogo good as a building block is its plugin and hook system. I rebuilt the app that I created for a couple of months to croogo style in just a week. See their wiki to get a glimpse of what I’m talking about. Using the hooks, you can alter the behavior of the existing pages or features of the app. Using the plugins, you can enable or disable features. Think of wordpress and its plugin, it was built that way.

How to start?

In the next couple of articles, I’ll show you how to utilize the CMS to make you focus on your development to the real core. In the meantime, play around with it, read the wiki and join the google groups.

How to introduce someone in an email

I had been doing introduction lately via email only and it was a bit awkward because I did not know how to do it. Should I use the formal “please meet name” type introduction or something else? Googling about it did not help. Today, I found this article on how others do it so I just want to share.

Here is an example from the post:

Hi Sally,

Hope all is well with you! I really enjoyed your last blog post “insert topic here.”

I wanted to introduce you to Bob. Bob is doing “insert startup idea here” and is looking to meet people with expertise in the industry. Naturally, I thought of you since you “insert flattering remark here.”

Bob- I’ll let you take it from here.

Thanks,

Stella

Taxicab Confession – Featured in AcquiaTV

The webinar about Promet’s implementation of the taxi dispatcher system using Drupal and Phonegap by Andy Kucharski is out.

I’m excited to share that I am one of the panelists! On the webinar is also another Solutions Architect of Promet, Chris Bartlett, who now I call the map master or the Cartographer (which we both agreed sounds better than Solutions Architect). Being part of the acquia webinar was pretty exciting. But aside from me being excited to be part of it, Andy Kucharski gave everything away the in and out of how we developed the software. Hope you’ll find it useful!

See the original post here.

Drupal as Mobile Framework Talk

Yay! I presented the second time around at CDMUG (Chicago Drupal Meetup Group). The first one was last year at the Drupal Camp about drupal migration event. This year, I presented Drupal As A Framework For iOS Mobile Development

I talked about how drupal can be used for iOS mobile development. Here is a short presentation

I’m in Chicago! Woohoo!

For people who haven’t read my facebook updates, I’m currently in Chicago, Illinois. Thank God I’m living my dream! I’m staying here for quite a while but I’ll be back for sure. I kinda already miss the people back at home but I’ll make sure I’ll experience full Chicagoan life before going home!

My Chicago Life

So far so good but here are some snippets of the unforgettable moments

• I lived for a week just right the corner of the Magnificent Mile.
• First time I saw a lake that’s also called a beach.
• If you haven’t checked out Subway, you haven’t experienced Chicago yet. haha. John said that. (Parang jollibee?)
• I was lost on my 1st day in office. I had to be picked up by a co-employee (geesh)
• I was lost on my way of looking for my apartment. I looked for it from 7pm to 10pm in a very cold night.
• I’ve been lost many times but I was able to get back to our office or to my apartment. I’m the lost girl in Chicago!

I should post a separate entry for my Lost in Chicago moments. That’ll be lengthy! But here is one of my favorite lost stories

Lost in Chicago

It was my third day in Chicago and I had to look for an apartment. I wish I could live in the hotel forever! So after work, I took a bus in Irving Park St going to Irving Park/Keeler. I wrote down all the possible notes google maps has provided me (I should have printed it). When I walked out of the bus, I experienced hell in North pole (exaggerated! ). I spent 2 hours walking, from 7pm to 9pm, wearing only a thin blazer. The temperature I think is below 16 degrees celsius!!! I really thought I followed what google maps told me but I was getting nowhere. I tried reading the map available in waiting bus stations but my map-reading skills is at level -1 so it was a useless effort. I had to ask 3-4 strangers how to get to the place I was looking for. And when I finally found the house, the owner said there was no person living in the name that was given to me! That sucked! I thought, maybe they transferred already.

Feeling really down and it was already late so I decided to get back to the hotel. I tried searching my way back to the Irving Park/Keeler St. When I asked someone how to go back, the person said I was 6 blocks away! My feet were already aching so much and I was wearing only my sandals! Not close shoes. I was sooo freezing to death I just wanna cry and sleep over in anywhere I could sleep warmly. Anyway, I just continued with the woman’s instructions. Finally, I got to the bus stop. The problem now was that the bus could go on 2 directions. Again, my map reading skills ain’t useful at that time so I just had to trust my instinct. I jumped on the first bus that arrived going to Lake shore. Thank goodness my instinct did not fail me so at 10pm I got back to my room.

The funniest and dumbest in that experience is that I found out that I was searching for the wrong house! Instead of looking for house #4159, I was looking for #4129. Totally lame. I know I still have to go back so that night I spent 3 hours studying the goddamn google maps! Way to go for a map lesson.

I have more stories to share. But this is already too lenghty so I’ll stop here. Till next time!

Hongkong Trip – Day 4 in Ngong Pin

I forgot to post this! OMG! But here it is anyway, even it took me 6 months to post it. hehe.

It was really a cold day in Hongkong because of the rain. We had a nice breakfast at an restaurant where old people serve. They didn’t understand english though so it was a little hard. When ordering, we just rely on point here and point there lingo. I ordered a bunch of food since I did not know actually what I was pointing at! LOL. The food were great though, I would come again here next time.

This is considered our last day. Our last destination was on a mountain trip in Ngong Pin. We still continued our adventure since we had no choice. If only I knew it was reaaallly cold, I would have brought a thicker jacket. Anyway, here are some boring pictures for you (not for us!!).

Hongkong Trip – Day 3 – Mongkok and Victoria’s Peak

Day 3
After a long day and a long walk yesterday in Disneyland, I woke up still tired and my feet still felt sensitive and hurt. Our plan for that day was to move to Mongkok to a find a new place to stay. We wanted to explore Hongkong. So we went on and found the Dragon Hostel. The price was a little higher than Garden hostel but it was so much better. If given a choice, I would still pick Dragon Hostel. The night was HKD220.00 with shared bathroom. If I’m not mistaken, the rate for non-shared bathroom ranges from HKD250.00-280.00 per night. The room and bathroom are very clean and the attendants are very friendly and hospitable even though most of them could not speak English. So I highly recommend this to any travelers. You can also ask them for discounts to Disneyland and Ocean park. I wish I knew earlier.

A Domestic Helper’s Story

After we’re settled in our new place, we visited Gerold’s aunt. She is a domestic helper there and they had a small gathering just near our place. We had our lunch there (thank you!). We also heard some good and sad stories about DH workers. I actually met one who was fired after only a few days of work and she was really helpless so she sought help from the older ladies. Some good news were that some of them really found loving people who respects their helpers and are earning really good. Luck plays hard and most of our kabababayans had to face cruelty at times. Then I met another one and asked if she was given a chance to go back home if there was available jobs, it surprised me when she answered “no”. This lady had been to many places already as a DH and she already got used to living abroad. She’s only been a few weeks in Hongkong and her condition wasn’t that great. She had to endure her situation for at least 7 more months to be able to pay her agency’s placement fee before she get the courage to transfer somewhere else. It was a sad story but there are still some lucky ones like Gerold’s aunt.

After some long storytelling and getting to know each other talk, we finally said goodbye. Our next destination was Victoria’s Peak. One of the best recommended places.

Ferry Boat

Before that, we decided to take the ferry boat to Victoria’s Peak. So we went off to Tsim Sha Tsui. I had the chance to check out the place in the morning and I was so happy. Tsim Sha Tsui is the place for expensive shopping! Stores like Gucci, Chanel, Victoria’s Secret and all big names line up block by block. I did not dare to go inside though, I’ll just feel helpless and weak! hehe. We reached the ferry after a few minutes of walk (again – so much walking!). Tsim Sha Tsui to Central was only more or less 5 minutes to get there and you’ll see another great view of Hongkong. It’s very cheap too! I think we only spent HKD5.00 (not too sure but it was very cheap compared to MTR)! It is a must try experience too.

After the ferry boat, there are available buses that goes straight to Victoria’s peak. We chose this instead of the tram. The tram was a little far from where we are already. According to some sites, the tram experience is also a must try.

Victoria’s Peak

This is second coldest place we’ve visited. This is the highest place in Hongkong. You can have a great view of the whole city of Hongkong. Guess who I met? It was only Jet Li! Hehe. There were life size mannequin of famous actors and actresses. The best time to go there when the sun is out to see the beautiful city lights. There were also some shopping malls to dine in and shop! I bought some on sale (can’t resist!)

Mongkok

After the sight seeing, we went back to Mongkok. One of the tourist attraction in Mongkok is the Ladies market. Just right for me! My thriftiness was put into test. You can haggle as much as 50% off on any product. I suggest to do that to get the best deal.

Another must try in Mongkok are their street foods. We bought all possible street food available to try, they actually tastes good! Thank God we did not experience any stomach ache after that

That was all for that day. Here are some pics:

Till next time!

Also check out:

1. Day 1 at Ocean Park
2. Day 2 in Disneyland

Hongkong Trip – Day 2 in Disneyland

Happy new year! This is going to be my first post for 2010 so bless this post! Hehe. I’m already sleepy but I just want to accomplish something today. I am already finished marketing the PHP conference 2010 so now, I’m gonna continue my long story about my Hongkong Trip. Today is Day 2!

Day 2

We woke up early. I’m the most excited! I always dreamed of this day, this is the main attraction for me so I guess you have an idea how excited I am. We skipped breakfast because it was already almost 9am when we left the hostel. We took the MTR again from Tsim Sha Tsui to Lantau Island. The MTR have direct path to Disneyland so the way there wasn’t that difficult. We used our octopus card so I wasn’t sure how much to go there but my guess is that it is more or less HKD30.00. The last station going to disneyland has the disney feel already. Made me more excited

The place opens at 10am and closes at 8pm. In a big day like one of saturdays of December, a one day visit is probably not enough. It was not enough for us, we weren’t able to take the all the rides. The queue on each attraction would take us 30 – 45 minutes. But we only had 1 day to enjoy the most out of it.

For first timers, I would suggest to make schedule of activities that are only played once on that day. Example is the parade and pyro show. Some attractions on the other hand are played only a few times a day so that was 2nd on our list. The only thing that I regretted was that I wasn’t able to take a pic with Mickey and Minnie The line was soo long that it will probably take us more than 45 minutes. I should have done it in the morning when there were still few people. I already had that chance but I was too excited to go around

The day was full of adventures. My top lists to visit are as follows:

• Picture taking with Disney celebs – need I say more?
• the Parade at 3:30PM – see all the characters. Position in the best place early. We were already late so did not get the perfect view of all characters.
• Lion King theater show – I enjoyed this show the most
• Space mountain – love this specially the picture!
• Tarzan’s treehouse – I want that treehouse in our backyard! It is very beautiful. I even thought the tree was for real!
• Buzz lightyear Astro Blasters – an interactive adventure
• It’s a small world – very beautiful dolls dressed in different national costumes. See if you can spot Philippines

Here are some pictures

The night ended with magical fireworks display and sore feet! Imagine walking and standing for 10hours and the intervals that we sat was only 5-15minutes. Anyway, I don’t mind because it was a fun day. We even had the energy to find a restaurant and an internet shop (to check emails – err – work). Luckily, there wasn’t much pressure at work so we went off and prepared for our next big day!

See you again!

Also check out:

1. Day 1 at Ocean Park

PHP Developers Summit 2010

Good news guys, PHPUGPH is organizing another conference this coming January. The website is undergoing heavy development so here is a little info for you:

PHP Developers Summit 2010 – January 30, 2010

Date: January 30, 2010, Saturday
Time: 8.00 AM – 5.00 PM
Venue:
Hotel Rembrandt
26 Tomas Morato Extension Quezon City, Philippines
Location Map

In partnership with Microsoft Philippines, PHP User Group Philippines presents PHP Developers Summit 2010. We are inviting you to come and join us in this gathering of the country’s best tech-talents, professionals and web developers promoting the use of PHP and open source solutions in the enterprise and schools. Free flowing coffee with lots of freebies and raffle prizes! So what are you waiting for? Registration starts at 8 AM. See you all there! ^_~

Tentative Topics and Speakers:

• PHP Development with Yahoo Developer’s Network
  by Dominick Nowell A. Danao (CEO of Happy Mobile Inc.)
• PHP Scaling
  by Paolo Alexis Falcone (Senior Developer, Friendster Inc.)
• [unknown] – Alezandra Nicholas (Microsoft Developer Evangelist)
• PHP in IIS7 (using Fast CGI) and about PHP and ASP.NET interop via SOAP
  by Rodney C. Jao (MVP for Device Application Development)
• Simplex yet sexy UI development for developers
  by Marco Palinar
• Windows Cache Extension for PHP
  by Rick Bahague, Jr. (Computer Professionals’ Union)

LIMITED SPECIAL OFFER!!

If you register early and pay within the year 2009, you’ll get a ticket for only Php 1,000.00 and we’ll give you One (1) FREE Microsoft limited edition thumb drive.

Registration and Ticket Payment Instructions

Online registration website is currently being tested right now. In the mean time, you could pre-register by sending your name, position, company and contact details to chean@phpugph.com. Go to the link below for payment instruction.

Grab the SPECIAL OFFER before 2009 ends! Sayang din ang 2GB USB! Magkano na ba umaabot yun ngayon?

Read the complete info about the conference and payment instruction..

If you like this, please re-post and forward to your friends.

UPDATE

Early Bird Price of Php 1,000.00 has ended now.

Regular price – Php 1,200.00
Walk-in price – Php 1,500.00

Group of 3 Promo – Php 3,500.00 (instead of Php 3,600.00; payment for 3 people should be deposited at the same time to be recognized as group of 3)

Inclusions
- Meals (Lunch + Snack)
- T-shirt
- Raffle Entry
- Other freebies