Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Real-Time Collaboration of Flow Charts

Meeting face to face with all the people involved in the system is quite difficult due to schedule conflicts. As I search for a way for me and our client to talk about the actual business processes while both of us design the flowchart without the need of meeting up, I came upon http://www.flowchart.com

Flowchart.com is an online multi-user, real-time collaboration flowchart software. Flowcharting made easy. It does not require any software download, it works with your favorite browser such as Fire Fox, IE, Opera, Safari, Konquerer plus it works on any Operating System.

Create and share your flowcharts for free! This is a very useful tool for teams whose members are working remotely. You can collaborate with your colleagues in real-time. All collaborating parties can chat and design a flowchart at the same time.

Below are the features of flowchart.com:
  • Free
  • Easy to use
  • No plugins to install
  • Works in all browsers
  • Drawing Tools (Lines, Arrows, Curves) and objects (flowchart objects, clipart)
  • Real-time online collaboration between multiple users with different browsers
  • Save your flowchart as a PDF or PNG formats
  • Upload your original clipart and use it in your flowchart, or share them with the community, or sell them.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Using SE K610i Mobile Phone as Modem

Last month, our office's internet connectivity was down for 1 week and our work was affected. I got dismayed with Globe and PLDT customer service as the support came too late. Internet has been quite a necessity in my everyday life so I came up with an alternative solution - using my 3G mobile phone as a modem.

Luckily, Globe also offers competitive connectivity rates such as Smart for Php10.00/30 mins. Just switch from per KB charging rate (the default) to time based charging rate by texting TIME to 1111 and you would be receiving the confirmation within an hour. You are now ready to surf!

Overview of Sony Ericsson K610i Phone


A compact classic

Slim, elegant, with a back-lit keypad and large screen; you can access the most used functions in one or two steps and talk and surf at the same time.

Big on business

Push email and PC synchronisation ensure you’re always on top of things; and it’s a high-speed modem to connect your PC to the Internet on the go.

Enjoy the small world

News and events are at your fingertips with RSS feeds, and you’ve got music, video and games to entertain you in flight or when you deserve a break.

Size does matter

One of the smallest 3G phones available, it’s packed with powerful features including a discreet quality camera and always-on, high speed Internet.

Getting ready to surf the Internet
  • Connect the mobile phone to the PC thru USB cable provided with the unit.
  • Choose Phone Mode when prompted in the mobile phone screen.
  • Open Sony Ericsson PC Suite 3.1 and phone would be detected as modem.
  • PC Suite would be in phone mode and screen would be shown like in the figure below.

  • Click Internet Connection and this screen would be shown.

  • Click connect and the phone modem would establish connection.



  • When connection is estbalished, this screen would be displayed.


Voila! You can now enjoy surfing the internet. =) An alternative way of connecting to the internet - the mobile way. ^_~

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

no {frills}: the philippine {heroes }community launch event

Organized by PHINUG, PHISSUG and PHIWUG

Date:
June 7, 2008


Venue: Windows Vista, Exchange and Office Rooms - Microsoft Philippines
16/F 6750 Ayala Office Tower, Ayala Avenue, Makati City

Admission: Php 100

***Visual Studio Track

Developing with Windows Live SDK by Roman Canlas
WCF: SOA and Beyond by Warren Yu
Silverlight Unit Testing by Jonjon Limjap
Migrating your applications to ASP.NET 3.5 by Eduardo Lorenzo

***Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Track

SQL Server 2008: Reporting Services 101 by Glenn Gamboa
CASE: “The Always Available Simple Search Application” by Vince Azcuna and Glenn Gamboa
SQL Server 2008: TSQL Enhancements (Change Data Capture + Table Valued Parameters) by Michael Corpuz

***WIndows Server 2008 Track

Windows Server Management
Windows Server Clustering by Randy Datan
Windows Deployment Services by Jay-R Barrios
Windows Server Terminal Services by Chester Coronel and Jasper Jugan

Sign up now for this event at http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=128964

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

[PHP User Group Philippines] tri{php}letreat@USAutoPartsPhilippines - May 24, 2008

Brought to you by PHP User Group Philippines, Inc. (PHPUGPH)
In cooperation with US Auto Parts Network (Philippines) Corp.

Event Details

Date: May 24, 2008
Time: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Venue: US Auto Parts Network (Philippines) Corp.
Training Room 6/F RCC Center 104 Shaw Blvd. Pasig City
(Near Jade Palace)

Topics

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Riz Sanchez, SEO Manager, US Auto Parts Network (Philippines) Corp.

Model-View-Controller (MVC) 101: A Web Development Architecture
Reynold Lariza, Web Development Supervisor, Glocorp IT Solutions, Inc.

Web Application Security by Example
Richard Peter Ong, Lead Developer, Internal Projects, SysIQ Inc.

Event Fee

Php 500.00/head (inclusive of lunch and snacks)

*refundable Php 100 for attendees who have resumes, refundable Php 50 for early birds

PHP 350.00 for those early bird with resume.
PHP 450.00 for those who don't have resume.

Note:
Limited seats, good only for 35 slots. First come, first serve basis. Registration is open until May 22, 2008. Your registration expires if no payment is made within 2 days.

Payment Details

All payments must be made within 2 days after online registration through bank deposit.
Bank account details are listed below:

Bank: BPI Family Savings Bank
Account No: 6006-6267-67
Account Name: Cherrie Ann B. Domingo

Scanned deposit slips should be sent to chean@phpugph.com for payment confirmation.

Registration

While waiting for official PHPUGPH.COM registration page please register on this temporary link: http://phpugph.wufoo.com/forms/php-user-group-philippines-event/


Contact Us

For more details or any other inquiries, kindly contact Cherrie Ann B. Domingo at: +639178652412(Mobile), (632) 7253053(Office), chean@phpugph.com(E-mail) or visit our website at http://www.phpugph.com

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Join the Save the Developers Campaign!


Save A Developer. Upgrade Your Browser.

THE CAMPAIGN

Say no to IE 6!
Our current campaign focuses on assisting users in upgrading their Internet Explorer 6 web browser. This campaign will result in former IE 6 users having a more enjoyable experience on the web while (hopefully) creating a less stressful and complicated environment for web developers by hastening the retirement of an outdated browser.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

If you'd like to support our cause, you may do so by going door to door urging the inhabitants of your town to upgrade their browsers.

For more details, click here.

HEROES happen {here} : Celebrating and Inspiring Customer Heroes

When: April 10, 2008
Where: SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City

It’s Microsoft’s Biggest Launch for IT Professionals and Developers ever! Discover the next generation of products for the next generation of Heroes. Experience & learn about the tools you need to deliver the next generation of secure, flexible applications… Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 & Visual Studio 2008.
  • Expert speakers
  • Interactive live demonstrations
  • Hands-On Labs
  • Breakout Tracks specific to Business Decision Makers, IT Professionals, Developers, and a special Student Track.
Professionals, click here to register.
Students, click here to register.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

We are now officially PHP User Group Philippines, Inc.!

After all our best efforts, our organization is now officially recognized as PHP User Group Philippines, Inc.

PHPUGPH is a non-profit organization established to provide support for LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) and open-source enthusiasts in the Philippines. It is founded by Allan Joseph Batac on January 2001.


Vision:
  • To promote and support the development and use of PHP as well as Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) for web-based and related applications.
Mission:
  • To advocate and disseminate the use of PHP (Hypertext Pre-processor) as well as Open Source technologies in schools and companies in the Philippines
  • To provide help & support for the Filipino PHP developer
  • To instill camaraderie & sense of responsibility among its members
  • Push PHP in the enterprise as the primary scripting language
Last year, PHPUGPH held the first ever PHP Developer's Conference in the Philippines - PHP Everywhere! Conference 2007. This is in follow-up with last Aprils successful event, a gathering of professional LAMP developers, web freelancers and companies utilizing OSS (Open-Source Software) technologies for enterprise use.

Join us now and be part of our community! ^_^

Monday, March 17, 2008

C2 Synthesis - Studio + Lab

At last, our personal website (my bf and I) - C2 Synthesis: Studio + Lab would be up soon. This time, we merged our skills for the website development - I (cookie) am the designer and he (cream) is the coder. This website is intended for our freelancing projects and for the mean time, we've uploaded a teaser. I hope you visit our website when it is launched. ^_^


Sunday, February 17, 2008

Broadcast Yourself Live On The Web: Best Tools To Create Your Own Live Web TV - A Mini-Guide

Here it goes again... I think I am dying already and managing several websites are too much for a sole web designer/developer like me, but I've got no choice. I was given the task of embedding live video broadcasts for one of my website projects. A quite challenging task for me, I thought. As I look for articles on how to do it, I found myself looking at the implementations using a streaming video server, but my boss doesn't want to put up a server. *Sighs... *

As I look into the google search results, I stumble upon this link: Live Broadcasting Solutions Guide A very helpful article that I wanna share. ^_^

Here are some solutions on how to broadcast live videos embedded on website using 3rd party websites:

  1. Live Broadcasting Solutions

If you are looking to broadcast live to the world using your web-cam, there are now a number of options available to you. Furthermore, several services offer you the opportunity to enhance your direct-to-camera performance with the inclusion of extra features, such as the ability to add and mash-up a variety of different media, or manage a group of participants in a live video discussion.

UStream - http://www.ustream.tv/

UStream does one thing and does it really well. If you are looking for a solution to broadcast live from your camera, by way of your computer, UStream makes it very easy to get started. Providing you with an embeddable video player and a TV-guide style listing of forthcoming events, UStream allows you to create truly live videos that can be inserted into any website or blog. Once your live show has finished, your videos are archived and can be watched back at any time.

Suited to: Situations where broadcasting live is of peak importance, from up-to-the-minute (on-location) news reports, to reality-TV-style lifecasting in the style of Justin.TV

Not suitable for: Situations where you want to edit your live feed on the fly, or insert other media into your stream, such as a musical soundtrack, or pre-recorded video clips.

Operator11 - http://operator11.com/

Operator11 gives you what is essentially a mini-TV-studio right in your browser. Broadcasts are created either from pre-recorded video clips, or in the Operator11 studio, whereby you can mix your own web-cam video, that of any other person watching your broadcast, adverts and pre-recorded video clips. With a simple drag-and-drop interface, you choose which feeds will be displayed in the live player at any one time, just as an editor might do for a live TV show. The result can be a fantastic combination of live conversation and pre-recorded video clips. It's a real shame you can't embed the live video player into your website, though.

Suited to: Live shows with more than one participant, such as talk and discussion shows. Also an excellent tool for conducting and recording interviews, allowing you to cut between the two (or more) speakers with ease.

Not suitable for: Those that want to broadcast their show live from their own website. Solo video-bloggers with no interest in involving the audience.

Stickam - http://www.stickam.com/

Stickam has been around for quite some time now, and was reviewed in full on these very pages a year ago. Stickam makes it very easy to create both video chat sessions and live broadcasts straight from your web-cam, with the addition of being able to upload photos and audio / music files to include in your broadcasting line-up. With an easy to navigate embeddable media player, an active (if teenager-biased) community and promotion of forthcoming shows on the Stickam website, this makes for a well-rounded live broadcasting solution.

Suited to: Creating live broadcasts that can be embedded into any website or blog, or watched from the Stickam website with the addition of text and video chat.

Not suitable for: Those afraid to seem 'past their prime'. The Stickam website and community is almost entirely comprised of teenagers, and the service can feel a little too teenaged for the tastes of some. Nevertheless, there is nothing to stop you breaking the mold.

Youcams - http://www.youcams.com/

YouCams focus is firmly on video chat, and the service is primarily advertised as a 'Webcam chat widget', allowing you to embed video chat capabilities, along with text-chat functionality, right into your own website. This is a great solution for those looking to broadcast from their own website, and perhaps to a smaller group rather than to the world at large. Furthermore, you can watch YouTube videos together with other chat participants, seeing their reactions in realtime.

Suited to: YouCams could be used in a number of ways, from small seminars, marketing presentations and discussions through to focus groups, video-feedback sessions or just plain old video chat.

Not suitable for: YouCams is ill-suited to broadcasting to a larger audience, and also lacks the creative control that other services offer, making sessions much more of a group effort than a programmed, individually-led broadcast.

Scheduled and On-Demand Broadcasting Solutions

If you are looking to broadcast live to the world using your web-cam, there are now a number of options available to you. Furthermore, several services offer you the opportunity to enhance your direct-to-camera performance with the inclusion of extra features, such as the ability to add and mash-up a variety of different media, or manage a group of participants in a live video discussion.

Kyte – http://www.kyte.tv

Kyte offers a very easy way to create scheduled programming by combining your video footage, images, music files and even live image-feeds from your camera-phone. Using a really easy-to-get-along-with drag-and-drop interface, you simply drag different media and formatting features onto your screen to create a media-rich show. You can then share the show at a scheduled time from the Kyte website, where live text chat is integrated. Kyte features extensive customization features, so that you can really transform the look and branding of the media player to suit your tastes. It also allows you to produce shows for other users' channels, or invite them to contribute to your channel. The inclusion of in-show polling adds interactivity to the viewing experience.

Suitable for: Anyone looking to put together their existing media files into a great-looking, branded-and-customized media player, to create scheduled Internet TV shows.

Not suitable for: Those looking to broadcast live, as in 'right here, right now'. Kyte will allow you to upload photo-streams from your mobile, but if you want to broadcast your video show as it is recorded live, this isn't currently supported.

Splashcast – http://www.splashcastmedia.com/

In some ways similar to Kyte, Splashcast is focused on allowing you to easily aggregate your existing media into shows and channels. However, in addition to its extensive capabilities in this department - including the ability to import and incorporate YouTube video into your show - Splashcast has a further list of great features. With the ability to add a soundtrack to your show, to record voice narration, create still image slideshows as well as video, and to record your web-cam right from the interface, Splashcast has a very rich feature-set. What it won't do is allow you to broadcast live in any way shape or form, but this is perhaps made up for by the inclusion of RSS feeds that instantly update any player embedded out on the web each time you add new content to your channel.

Suitable for: Splashcast is an excellent way to combine your media into playlists, with our without video and audio commentary, and is therefore also very well suited to the delivery of all types of web presentation.

Not suitable for: If you are looking to broadcast either live or to a schedule, Splashcast is not for you, as the Splashcast player is on-demand only.