I went to the Iblog2 summit

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Even if I only stayed for the morning, I had a great time at the iblog 2 summit (view me here and here). Thank you to the organizers of the iblog 2 summit. You all did a great job. Really, a huge success in terms of registrants and quality of the speakers. (View gallery). I don’t have the figures yet but the room was standing room only . We had to get additional chairs. iblog2.jpg I happened to be the moderator of the Personal Blogging Panel and met Joel Yuvienco, Anton de Leon and Mike Abundo. They are so funny and perfectly suited for their topics. Mike Abundo innovated his open forum. He asked for volunteer bloggers to show off their blogs. In turn, Mike recommended strategies to improve the marketing effectiveness of the blog.

My daughter, Lauren just got in the room just before Mike closed the open forum. She readily volunteered her blog. Mike thinks that Lauren has too many “chicklets” in her side navigation. Guess what “chicklets” are!
Iblog2_Mike_Abundo_025.sized.jpg
(photo courtesy of Disini’s gallery)

Lauren protested , ” But I like the “chicklets”

I couldn’t stay till the end of the summit because I had to fix some legal problems. Glad to have also met Abe Olandres and Manuel Viloria, JJ Disini, and Adrian Sison. Incidentally, Adrian is about to launch his book on RA 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004) this coming June.

And the perks: An iblog2 t-shirt and a Certificate of Appreciation. How sweet.

iblog2iblog2
Rebecca Mackinnon and Dr. Ronald Meinardus

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Laughter is the best medicine

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Even just the expectation of a mirthful laughter involved in watching your favorite funny movie has some very surprising and significant neuroendocrine/hormone effects. That’s what this paper “”Beta-Endorphin and HGH increase are associated with both the anticipation and experience of mirthful laughter,” stated. Earlier experiments showed that viewing a favorite funny video can offset symptoms of chronic stress, which can suppress various components of the immune responses, particularly those related to anti-viral and anti-tumor defenses.

No wonder my body seeks comedy shows. My hubby knows me better now that whenever the American Idol season starts, I watch it with the anticipation of great entertainment. Naturally, laughter ensues when singer-wannabes become delusionary. Hehehe.

He enjoys hearing the sound of my shrill laughter. Every night, my family and myself watch the “Jacks” Comedy channel and the late night talk shows of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” .

What I miss the most are the original jokes of my brothers, Oscar and Ruben (bless their souls!). My family of origin loves to laugh and I thought it was normal to have loud laughter and noise during dinner. Yes, I grew up in a noisy family where song and dance followed after dinner. Good thing our house was located in a huge lot and neighbors were far apart. It came as a culture shock to me when I married a husband whose family was let’s say…quiet. Not much humor. So when my second daughter took after my family’s genes , my hubby often warned her to lower her voice in front of his mother. Oh boy! That used to cause marital conflict. But that soon came to pass after I set my foot down . There is nothing wrong with laughter during appropriate times.

“Why do you think Reader’s Digest has claimed that ‘Laughter is the Best Medicine’ for so many years?”

Hubby has now learned to laugh along with us. There’s nothing like a family who laughs together.

Featured in Blog-O-Rama and other site news

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technews1.jpg Thanks Annalyn for the Blog-O-Rama interview of this blog. I received a few emails from readers who have lost a loved one and got directed to The Compassionate Friends website. I know I can’t take away their pain but by talking or writing about their grief, they can somehow ease their pain. I only got to read the paper version while at the gym early this morning.


PageRank Tool“Touched by an Angel” is only 7 weeks old , and my Google [tag]Page rank[/tag] is already PR 5 on the main page (it’s PR0 on newer entries). Sometimes I don’t understand Google. Only 10 sites link to this blog and not to mention, the domain is quite new. Anyway, this is good news because there is a chance that visitors can easily find this site by typing the significant keywords.

Unacceptable SMART WiFi Customer support

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I have three internet connections at home: SMART WiFi, Destiny Cable and a pre-paid dial up connection. See I need to be redundant with my internet connection in case one fails. I overheard my daughter complaining to SMART Wi Fi Customer Care over her slow connection. I insisted on talking to them after she filed her complaint. Ever since the [tag]SMART WiFi[/tag] was installed in October 2005, we didn’t encounter internet connection problems.

Being used to Destiny Cable Technical Support expertise for the past 7 years, I was horrified to discover that their customer care is Level 1 meaning all they do is report it to the next level. No wonder a lot of angry SMART WiFi Subscribers flood Ambot AH!. In the first place, their LEVEL 1 support should be able to troubleshoot right there and then. Imagine waiting 24 hours for some technician to call us up and then what happens next? Level 3 technician? This long wait is an unacceptable Service Agreement. In the meantime. I told my daughter to run the CMD and when the DOS box pops up to type, ipconfig /release followed by ipconfig /renew and restart if possible.

I hope SMART WiFi issue does reach Congress.

Work at Home Mom Part 1

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nook1.jpgThis is my Home-office, Business-office (HOBO) or does Small-office Home-office[ (SOHO) sound better? Whatever you call it, I’ve been a work-at-home-mom since my daughter, M was born in 1987. That’s my working station and right behind it is the kitchen which overlooks the front door of the house. It’s a small nook that allows me to be in touch with kitchen activities and family members hovering behind me.

Everyone is yelling distance away except for my kids if they are in their bedrooms. That’s because the walls of their rooms are almost sound-proof. Nothing to worry about, the Yahoo Messenger is a convenient tool for getting their attention. An example….
ym.jpgMy husband goes “What are you doing?”

“Talking to Lauren”

“you’re lazy. Why can’t you just go to her room? ” He teases.

“Yahoo messenger is faster“. I quip.

The girls had their own computer upon reaching college. I believe that young kids should share a family computer so their activities can be monitored. Not that I don’t trust them . Staying too long in the computer is unhealthy.

One of the hazards of an online business is sitting on the computer chair all day long. Not to mention getting afflicted with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I also tend to get engrossed with work that I forget the time.

 

nook2.jpgPhysical activity is limited to finger exercises which does not derive cardio-vascular benefits. Hence, my daily routine entails a two-hour gym workout in between my work. If that’s not possible, the stationary bicycle is a wonderful alternative. As I bike , I watch TV shows at the same time. Computer work also strains my eyes. Just before bedtime, placing a cucumber slices on my eyebags highlights the end of a productive day.

(to be continued…)

The Mystery of the Poisoned Water Jug

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““[tag]Poisoning[/tag] shocks best, brightest in science high school”. Upon reading the news, I could only shake my head at the cruelty of this sick joke. Kids create pranks now and then but this is just too much. My friend Cathy Babao-Guballa aka Nancy Drew , blogged about The Mystery of the Poisoned Water Jug , an inside story.

Now it can be told…”“J” was not the first victim, mind you, she was the fourth, but the worst hit, in a string of poisoning cases that had been plaguing this high school for brilliant minds over the last few months. It was only when ““J” finally hovered between life and death, did the pieces of the puzzle finally fit.

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Chocolate Lover & The Micro entrepreneurs

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chocolate loverMy daughter dragged me to Chocolate Lover , in Quezon City yesterday because she wanted to try her hand in chocolate molding. It’s been years since I’ve molded some [tag]chocolates[/tag] but the process remains fresh in my mind. When the kids were well, little kids, I stayed mostly at home except when I needed to meet clients for real estate transactions. My hobbies varied from cross-stitching, grandmother’s quilting, Chocolate candy making, cake decorating, baking and crafts. I even baked and iced their birthday cakes. How proud my kids were when I churned out Barbie themed or cutesy dolly cakes. The smell of cinnamon and molasses filled the air during the Christmas season. Christmas decors created by the girls and myself adorned our little home. That was until I discovered the internet in 1995 and neglected all those hobbies behind. But hey, those days were not in vain. My kids still do crafts and baking. During special occasions, I still bake but I avoid cake decorating with fancy designs.

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Generation Net:First Filipino Kids in the Internet

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Who were the First Filipino kids in the internet? My daughter dubbed these kids as the Generation Next, Generation Net in 1998:

A decade ago, the world was totally different. Nail polish were red or pink, those little peace signs were everywhere, everyone were wearing flowers all over their clothes and the Beatles rocked the house. Now, nail polish are in practically any colour, smileys are everywhere and Boyzone rules. Now the people from the last decade says we’re the generation next. Is it true? It sure is. And we’re not just the generation next but the generation net.

Today, these generation net kids are in their early twenties.

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The ultimate stage mother?

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I believe that college kids are responsible enough to take care of their own peer problems. So why did the mother of an actress confront my daughter because of “an offending entry” about her daughter? Can’t her daughter just talk to my daughter? And why does the mother want to report her to the Dean? Report her for what? I hope she reads the Student’s Handbook before she complains or she will look really foolish. I want to say more but maybe this mother will report me to the police.

/me shuts up.