for your happily ever after endings

E-Commerce and Zen Cart

2010-07-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

Why should you choose Zen Cart to power your e-commerce site over several shopping cart frameworks around?

Every shopping cart framework has its own strengths and weaknesses. The main edge of Zen Cart from other shopping cart frameworks is that it is built by programmers who understand the process of selling online from strat to finish. It is superior to most in ease-of-use and features.

Zen Cart Features

Easy Installation
Global E-Commerce ready
Customer Status Modes
Catalog Status Modes
Categories and Products
Customer Retention Tools
Promotion, Sales, discounts
Administration Tool
Fully Customizable Catalog Templates

As a web developer, I can say that Zen Cart is really the best shopping cart framework. It is easy to use and you can customized it easily to suit your clients' needs.

Click here to download Zen Cart.

A Simple WordPress Plugin

2010-05-09T07:34:00.000-07:00

A wordpress plugin should have a header like this:

Plugin Name: Hello World

Description: This is a simple WordPress plugin that displays "Hello World" on all pages' contents

Plugin URI: 
Version: Version 1.0
Author: Darlene Grace Arcenal
Author URI:

*/

This header lets WordPress recognize that your Plugin exists, add it to the Plugin management screen so it can be activated, load it, and run its functions; without the header, your Plugin will never be activated and will never run.. Except for the header's first line, all the other lines in the header are optional and interchangeable. Note: Plugin Name should be on the header, without it, your plugin won't be recognized by WordPress.After putting the header in the your PHP code, you are now ready to create your plugin that displays "Hello World:

function hello_world()

{

echo 'Hello World';

}

add_action('the_content','hello_world');

Now your plugin is ready, save it inyour WordPress wp-content/plugin directory. Go to the WordPress admin , then Plugins. Lastly, find Hello World in the Plugins' tab and click activate. It's done! Go to your WordPress front-end site, you will now see "Hello World" in every page's content.

So what does this function really do?

You have a function hello_world() and this function displays "Hello World". This function will not be functional if you won't add the comand add_action().

add_action('the_content','hello_world'), will add your function to the action 'the_content' which is responsible for your WordPress site's contents.

Hope this post will help you.

Basics on PHP

2010-05-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

What does PHP stand for?

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor

What is PHP?

PHP is a server-side scripting language usually written in an HTML context. Unlike an ordinary HTML page, a PHP script is not sent directly to a client by the server; instead, it is parsed by the PHP binary or module, which is server-side installed. HTML elements in the script are left alone, but PHP code is interpreted and executed.PHP's language syntax is similar to C's and Perl's.

PHP scripts are surrounded by what delimiters?

How do you write Hello World in PHP?

echo "Hello World";

In what symbol do the variables in PHP start with?

How do you end a PHP statement?

;

How do you create a function in PHP?

function myFunction()

In PHP, how do you connect to a MYSQL Database?

mysql_connect("localhost","username","password");

In PHP, how do you add a comment?

/*...*/ ->for muliple lines

//... ->for a single line

I will post more info about PHP on my next posts.

From Bioinformatics to PHP

2010-05-01T04:16:00.000-07:00

Since I am a PHP Programmer, I now shift the topic of this blog from Bioinformatics to PHP. From now on, I will talk about PHP and the web. I just wanted to share the things I learned and will be learning from my job.

What is Bioinformatics?

2010-04-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Bioinformatics is the science that uses computational methods and approaches to study biological problems and to analyze biological sequences (e.g. protein sequences, DNA sequences) and related data. It is the integration of biology, computer science, information technology, statistics and mathematics.

Bioinformatics involves data storage, data management, database implementation, data retrieval, annotation, data maintenance, networking and protocols, data analysis, algorithm design, structure prediction, modeling and sequence analysis. On the other hand, sufficient knowledge in Bioinformatics has become a vehicle for pharmaceutical scientists who genetically modify bacteria, plants and animals to produce effective drugs to cure diseases. Furthermore, Bioinformatics can increase our understanding in the molecular mechanisms behind several genetic diseases and can help researchers develop strategies in curing these diseases. In addition, nowadays, Bioinformatics has become an important tool for researchers in constructing drugs targeted to particular organelles to correct a specific defect. With the huge amount of unprocessed biological sequence data and the fact that experimental procedures are time consuming and very costly, automated technology for biological computation (Bioinformatics) is becoming more and more important. These are just some of the importance of Bioinformatics in our daily lives.

Bioinformatics involves technologies such as sequence analysis, genome annotation, gene expression analysis, biological regulation analysis, protein expression analysis, sequence alignment, signal peptide prediction, homology prediction, comparative genomics and computational databases for biological sequences. Some of the many examples of such technologies are SWISS-Prot, ExPASy, BLAS, SignalP, SigCleave and PrediSi.

Today, the technology involving bioinformatics is in demand and for me the most interesting technology because it can lead to several discoveries, improves the lives of the people, cures diseases, saves time and money and it is really challenging since only few people are trained adequately in both biology and computer science. The technology is still very young and promising, and there is a lot of information waiting to be decoded. In addition, there are still a lot of spaces for new interesting discoveries. If this technology will continue its growth, many lives will improve. Furthermore, based on my researches, ranks Bioinformatics ranks as #1 among next hot jobs in SmartMoney and one of the top 50 Masters of Innovation in Business Week; there are plenty of jobs available in the field of Bioinformatics.

http://www.sigcon.upvcebudcs.edu.ph

SigCon, A Signal Peptide Prediction Method Based on a Consensus Approach

2010-03-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

To complete my BS Computer Science Degree in the University of the Philippines, I need to conduct a Special Problem or Thesis. My Special Problem is entitled "A Signal Peptide Method Based on a Consensus Approach". It is all about signal peptides and cleavage sites. Well, I think only a few know what signal peptides are. Only those Biology/ Bioinformatics people know such.

Here's the overview of my Special Problem:

The importance of signal peptides has led to the development of several signal peptide prediction tools implemented using different methods. However, no signal peptide prediction tool can predict all signal peptides accurately and each has its own weaknesses.

This study evaluates five of the publicly available signal peptide prediction tools, namely, SignalP-NN, SignalP-HMM, PrediSi, Phobius and SigCleave. Based from the results of the evaluation, the study comes up with a signal peptide prediction tool, SigCon, implemented using the consensus approach. SigCon uses as input the prediction results of SignalP-NN, SigCleave and Phobius. SigCon, in turn, outputs the consensus of the prediction results. If SigCon predicted a sequence to contain a signal peptide, it will then give the cleavage site location of that signal peptide. SigCon uses the predicted cleavage site locations of SignalP-NN.

SigCon has been tested in terms of its prediction accuracy. Using the data set from SPdb, SigCon acquired a prediction accuracy of 81.3%. On another assessment using a data set generated form PrediSi’s training set, SigCon had a prediction accuracy of 38.2%. Furthermore, SigCon has a low rate in false positive prediction, which is only 1.27%. The result of the first evaluation showed that among the other prediction tools excluding SignalP-NN, SigCon was the most accurate in predicting signal peptides. However, in the second assessment, the performance of SigCon and SignalP-NN are the same. In addition, SigCon has the lowest false positive prediction rate as compared to SignalP-NN and other prediction tools.

Here is the url for SigCon : http://www.upvcebudcs.edu.ph/sigcon/signal_UI/signalPeptideHome.php

If your interested in signal peptide and cleavage site prediction, please feel very to visit the site. :)

Companies that made a turn around after adapting a quality standard.

2010-02-01T06:26:00.000-08:00

Case Study: Companies that made a turn around after adapting a quality standard.

Company 1: Porsche

Porsche, an auto manufacturing company in Germany, was one of the most distressed companies in auto manufacturing. In 1992, Porsche’s production from 50,000 units a year in 1986 had fallen to 14,000 units a year. Porsche losses more than 10% of its sales when it began to address its problems seriously and the loss were fast. By this, the Porsche’s German turnaround manager asked the help of Japanese thinkers. Porsche then decided to adopt lean production methods.

Lean Production Methods is a standard strategy in operating turnarounds that led Toyota Motors to be among the most admired companies in the world after facing a crisis. Many automotive companies facing a crisis adopted Lean Production Methods.

After Porsche practiced the lean production method since 1992, it indeed brought it back from the dead. Productivity doubled, defects in supplier parts declined by 90%, in-process time for a car shortened to five days from six weeks, and parts inventories were being cut 90%.

Company 2: McDonald’s in India

McDonald’s entered India in 1996 and managed to buck the trend in a struggling economy. The fast-food chain started making profits after it broke even in 2008. Given the unique cultural space of India, where regional food preferences dominated the people’s food habits, McDonald’s, a beef-based hamburger chain, achieve success and was able to put up a number of stores in India.

Globally McDonald’s is known for its hamburgers, beef and pork burgers. To survive India, McDonald’s adopted India’s local culture by coming up with chicken, lamb and fish burgers. Furthermore, India has a huge population of vegetarian, thus, the company came up with a new line of vegetarian items like McVeggie Burger and McAlooTikki. They also adopted the pricing standard in India. In September 2009, McDonald's announced reduction in prices by almost 25% for its lunch and dinner menus.

On the other hand, due to these strategies, McDonald’s India was able to successfully gain profits.

References :

[1]Watson H.Dec, 2006.The New Standard in Operating Turnarounds:Lean Thinnking?. http://www.turnaround.org/Publications/Articles.aspx?objectID=3245.[Retrieved: December 7, 2009]

[2]Mc Donald’s: Behind the Golden Arches. http://www.scribd.com/doc/11520753/Marketing-Strategies-of-McDonalds. [Retrieved: December 7,2009]

♥Cinderella's Prince ♥

2010-01-27T18:51:00.000-08:00

Even if I'm doing my SP (thesis, as you know it) and a lot of stuffs lately, I still couldn't stop my self from thinking about him every single second.:D Well, I strongly believe that this indeed is true love :D ♥

We've been dating and seeing each other for more than a year now and we've been officially together for 8 months. But it's more than just dating, seeing each other and having someone you can call yours. I can say that our relationship is so deep and no one in this world could set us apart. :D. We've been together for a pretty long time now but still our relationship is going stronger each day :D.

No one in this world has ever treated and loved me like the way he does every single day. He's so sweet, caring, loving, understanding,appreciative... he's every woman's dream :)(But he's mine :p). By the way we first knew each other and the way we met, everyone can say that it is destiny that brought us together. Our story is so amazing and it's like a fairy tale :) But it's too long and so complicated that I won't write that one in here heheh :D

We both strongly believe that our story will end happily, just like a fairy tale. :D (By the way,he's my fiance now :p )

♥ Meljun Pador is Cinderella's Prince :D ♥

PS: From this day on, i'll be posting every happening in our story ♥ to prove to everyone else that indeed there are happily ever after endings :D

How Research becomes Scientific Knowledge?

2010-01-27T01:54:00.000-08:00

How Research becomes Scientific Knowledge?

Research is defined as the systematic, controlled, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the presumed relations among natural phenomena (Kerlinger, 1964). It is an objective inquiry into natural phenomena using currently accepted investigation procedures, theories and inferences, with the objective of discovering how that aspect of the physical world works. The output of a research is evidence. The evidence, the procedures used to acquire it, and the subsequent interpretation is subjected to peer evaluation of the experts as a prelude to its publication in the primary literature where it is publicly available for further scrutiny and use.

On the other hand, Scientific Knowledge is defined as the current set of peer-evaluated consensus models (which are established by evidence obtained from research) about how natural phenomena work, which often differ between groups of researchers at the research frontier.

Thus, how can a Research become a Scientific Knowledge? Based from the definition of Research and Scientific Knowledge, doing researches is science, however, it is not necessarily a contribution to knowledge. Until experts review it and the data would be published in a peer-reviewed journal, nobody will know about it nor will believe it, thus, it is not contributing to knowledge. Therefore, a research becomes a scientific knowledge by publication of research results for public use.

Why we do Science?

2010-01-27T00:12:00.000-08:00

Why we do science?

In the book “Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge” by Edward O. Wilson, science is defined as the concerted human effort to understand, or to understand better, the history of the natural world and how the natural world works, with observable physical evidence as the basis of that understanding. Science is done through a systematic observation of natural phenomena in order to discover facts and information about them and to formulate laws and principles based on these facts and information and through experimentation and investigation that tries to simulate natural process under controlled conditions.

So, why do we do science? According to Joseph de Maistre, a famous philosopher, lawyer, diplomat and writer, “Man by nature is insatiable for power; he is infantile in his desires and, always discontented with what he has, loves only what he has not”. Thus, even with the existing principles, laws and discoveries, man still does science to disprove these existing knowledge and to test new ideas. Man is never contented of what he has and he is always dissatisfied with the knowledge around him. Man is always curious with the things around him. There is always that desire to improve every aspect of the people’s lives. Thus, we do science to fulfill our desires, satisfy our needs and always gain new knowledge. On the other hand, with the evolving world, world problems are also increasing in numbers. Thus, man does science to find ways to solve these problems. Man will never get tired of doing science.