John Raul dot Com

Tech Conclave To Try Weekly, Needs Support

John Raul II — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:40:59 +0000

Hi everyone. Sorry, I wasn’t able to write for my own personal blog for a couple of weeks due to high workload that I have with my main job, my tech news show, Tech Conclave, the Global Geek News Patrol, and Tech Webcast.

Speaking of Tech Conclave at the time of this writing, I’m now working on our eighth episode, the first to start in a weekly basis, and I’m very happy at this point because Episode 7 was a success (probably because of the new microphone). It earned honors at YouTube.com and I earned some new friends from other places in the world. The exciting point of the show is its social aspect: every episode I am self-mandated to hunt for a Geek of the Week online.

I have several personal complaints with the show though: my Internet is slow and video editing is choking my laptop! The system that I use to work on the video is truly not meant for video editing and I need something better and faster. I believe I’m only limited by the systems and resources that I have, not what I can do out from my ideas or motivation since I’m full of it. I’m looking now for sponsors and if you have suggestions, please let me know.

On the side, I’m also working on several websites for survival. As far as you know, I only earn like $200 a month and that’s a pain because my bills eat more than half of that and considering that I work like around the clock each day. I’m hoping that Tech Conclave would escalate and my hard work be recognized: I am doing my best for it and I spend many restless nights to bring great episodes for the world. So if you can, please support my show. Your $1 donation can help me a lot or if you don’t want to offer monetary help, there are things you can do to support Tech Conclave like subscribing to our official YouTube account, spreading the word to your friends and to tell your friends to tell their friends, and registering at Tech Conclave website.

Thanks for reading this and for your time. I’ll try to do more and become even more productive. In some ways, I truly need your help.

I Am Now 22 And More To Come

John Raul II — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:07:52 +0000

As I write this I’m listening to Adam Lambert’s rendition of Gary Jules’ Mad World on YouTube. The song is nice, soothing and sad – and if my good friend Tom would listen to it, he might add it on his "Freezer Tunes" playlist.

Now to the gist: the clock just hit 12:00 AM! Drum rolls…I’m officially 22 years old! But whoa, the memory of my 20th birthday is still very fresh in my mind. Time flies, huh? It does.

Speaking of which, this year’s birthday is probably one the simplest natal day that I ever have. I don’t have plans of what to do today: don’t have any money to go/hang out or start a celebration and I’m clueless if my parents are going to do something special because they just spent a good amount of money recently from their modest income to send my two brothers in college this year – one of them is a senior college student and the other one a freshman. Anyway, who knows? I might get a surprise! However, it’s a thing I’d less expect. Life goes on.

However, despite the drought of celebration (I’m thinking about eating my favorite chicken curry with lots of potatoes, fruit salad, etc), I’m happy because I got plenty of greetings and blessings from my online friends. Brad of Tech Webcast, for instance, sponsored a condenser microphone to help improve my tech news show, Tech Conclave. Hopefully when it arrives, I’ll be able to use it for the upcoming episodes.

I’m taking Tech Conclave (and all the other shows that I participate or co-host with) seriously because I believe that it brings a lot hope in realizing my dreams, helping my family, finding new friends, and reaching places that I can only think about for now – as well as meeting that special person dearest to my heart and rather one of the reasons why the show exists and I put so much effort into it. I’m also thinking of recording my karaoke songs and hopefully they’ll sound good enough for me to be able to share to the world. lol

My wish this year is that I hope my family’s health will remain stable and good, that all the relationships and things I’m involved with will improve, and I wish that the global recession will end so that I’ll not be choked anymore with all the bills and I will have more freedom. I don’t want to stuck here forever and I’m looking forward to reaching new places.

To myself: happy 22nd birthday! Thanks for being so productive, objective, dutiful, and persevering and hopefully one day you’ll find what you’re looking for. Everything that you do is a legacy that will remain in me.

Win a Free Web Hosting and Domain Name for 12 Months at Tech Conclave

John Raul II — Fri, 08 May 2009 05:02:04 +0000

Updated: Easier steps to enter the contest!

My birthday is coming on May 25th and Tech Conclave, my tech news show is doing great. In line with that, I decided to run a contest on Episode 5 which will be formally announced and commenced on May 15th and I will be giving away free Speedy web hosting and a domain name to five (5) lucky winners valid for 12 months! The prizes are sponsored by the nice folks at Top Hosting Center who gladly accepted my invitation.

What’s a web hosting and domain name and why do you want them?
A web hosting is what you need when you want to start a blog, a website, or anything Web-related. A web hosting must be partnered with a domain name. A domain name is the web address you want (for example, www.yourblogaddress.com, or anything)

How To Enter

So you might ask: how to enter the contest? Well, the steps are quite simple. The phrases I wrote in bold letters below means the important steps you must follow.

1. Register to Tech Conclave Community Forum if you are not a member.

2. Tell the forum community who you are, what you do, and why do you like technology at Introduce Yourself category in the forum.

3. Follow Tech Conclave’s official Twitter account at http://www.twitter.com/techconclave – if you don’t have a Twitter account, create one at www.twitter.com. Also, subscribe to Tech Conclave’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/techconclave

After completing the steps above, you will have one (1) valid entry and you now have a chance to win the prizes. There are five winners so chances are high since as I write this, there are not much entries / members yet on the forum: so don’t miss it. The winners will be drawn randomly and will be announced on Episode 6 which is slated for release on May 30, this month. For more information about the official rules and regulations of the contest, please follow this link.

Before I end this post, I have one little favor to ask you: could you follow me on Twitter as well and greet me on May 25th as I turn 22? That would make me the happiest person on that day. Thanks a lot!

My Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/anmjoven

Please spread the word about this contest and participate in my tech community! Everyone is welcome – geek or not!

My First Cadbury Creme Egg: From Yorkshire, United Kingdom

John Raul II — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:25:56 +0000

In the past two years working at home as web developer, there have been so many changes in my life and simple things that either I strongly needed or wanted to have in my childhood. To cite some, I used to be sleeping and working on the floor now I have my own half a bed to sleep comfortably at night; I used to be working outside my house now I have a cool room to maximize my productivity. Last year, someone told me I’d be somewhere in Canada this year but the recession hammered that. However, it didn’t stop my life and I’m still hopeful of going somewhere and meeting the special persons in my life.

Last month, I received a small but extremely remarkable surprise from my good friend from Yorkshire, United Kingdom: I had my first glance and taste of a Cadbury Creme Egg for the Easter Sunday – LOL!!! Yes, you read it right, Tom Maxwell wrote history in my life by letting me have my first experience of Cadbury Creme Egg – something I never experienced in my childhood. Receiving such gift is my first as well coming from the United Kingdom! That sounds really posh to me.

So, without further ado, here’s how I enjoyed the Cadbury Creme Egg. Have fun watching me eating:

Life comes with surprises be it good or bad. The most important thing is that you enjoy every moment, to amplify the value of things that come into your way be it big or small, and to share what you can in making new records in other people’s lives. It might seem pointless, dull, and uninteresting, but you’d never know how much happiness you’ve brought to one’s life until you do so. So Tom, thanks a lot. This is something I will always remember and never forget. The act is as sweet as the Cadbury Creme Egg.

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Guest Speaker at Pag-asa Youth Association (PYA)

John Raul II — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:03:20 +0000

On April 28, 2009, I went to the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) or the legislative building of my city to fulfill an invitation to become a guest speaker to give a success testimony for this year’s induction of Davao City’s Pag-asa Youth Association (PYA) city-wide officers. PYA, as it is popularly known, is an out-of-school youth program spearheaded by the City Social Services and Development Office.

Here’s the speech the I delivered to them:

First of all, maayong hapon sa inyong tanan! (good afternoon to all of you)

It’s my utmost pleasure to be invited by our City Social Services and Development Office, to be here and to be a guest speaker of this induction of officers for the Pag-asa Youth Association (PYA).

I’m John Raul Joven II, I’m from Lasang, Paquibato District and I currently work for someone in Canada as web developer.

Many years ago I used to be an active participant to the Davao City Children’s Congress. Just like PYA, it’s a local government-backed program except that it focuses more on activities that advocate the welfare and rights of every child. I was a Children’s Congress officer both in our district in Paquibato and in this city for several years and I actively participated programs initiated by our city government which include but not limited to art workshops, children literacy campaign, leadership seminars, recycling, anti-porno and anti-gambling rallies.

Many people say that the youth is the best part of every man’s life. I think I can agree finally agree to that now that I’m grown up. Why I say this is that during my days of youth, it wasn’t completely pleasant and it was more like a bunch of difficult challenges and hard-time dilemmas.

My college years saw the worst part of my life so far. It was during those days that my mother was assigned to Marilog from Paquibato District as a result of our local government politics. It affected my family so much. My mother had to travel every day to a district very far from home at the same time she and my father worked really hard to support me in college, and my brother, who was studying in Davao City National High School at that time.

Knowing that I’m on the financially disadvantaged side, I decided to use those grievances to focus on things that makes sense, to be realistic yet optimistic, to be active in the community than repressive or passive, to be more productive, creative, and resourceful, than just wasting time waiting for help and to be totally reliant from someone which could be our own parents, our family members, our relatives, our friends, or our government. I knew back then that the best thing I could do is to do the best I can to improve myself without losing the quality of being humane and kind to others.

There in college, I started to realize that money doesn’t really improve a person’s personality, and having money does not necessarily mean it can make a person fully happy. I had classmates who are financially more capable than me. While they go out to eat somewhere or go to malls, I was stuck in the library working for my education and got so many questions in my head asking why I am working while other people of same age are enjoying their college lives after classes. How unfair was that?

It also recalled my experience when I was a kid when I sold bananas in NHA Ma-a and in CENRO office. While I was shouting and trying to get people’s attention and persuade them to buy bananas, there were instances that I asked myself why I was walking under the sun when other kids that I saw on the road were having parties, playing, and generally enjoying life. Although those events were painful, it made me think that there is more to me to do and to understand the realities of life.

I realized later in college that all the hardships and complexities I’ve experienced tend to be designed for me to become a better person. I never thought of winning in the midst of my adversities and during our college graduation day, modesty aside, I was extremely surprised that my school recognized me as the best in the class. All I remembered was that I just did what I must do: I just carried out the purpose why I was sent to school (that is, to study and to absorb knowledge as best as I can).

Now, I’m happy that I’m living a life that is much better than before. I’m able to support and reciprocate my parents in a new way that I am now capable of, help my brothers, and now I’m trailing a path to my own future.

Success to me doesn’t only mean getting what you want, reaching places you want to go, or becoming who you want to be; it is having the greater capacity to help, support, and enlighten the lives of other people not just within the walls of our biological families, but also with people whom we directly interact each day in our community.

That being said, the reason why I telling you my story is to share with you that there’s always hope towards something good and it is something I can give. Refuse to be defeated by financial obstacles, stand up, learn, do what you must, and strive for the betterment of our community.

It doesn’t matter now if you’re poor, rich, successful, or not; everyone can fail, yet everyone can do something good for our society. Each of us has the ability to help and support one another, especially the youth, to collaborate for progress and to motivate each other. The more challenges we face and make through, the better persons we become.

So to all of you, elected city officers of the PYA, the chosen out-of-school youth leaders of our city, I hope that my little story was able to spark motivation not to try but to do your best during your term, and to grab the self-defining leadership opportunities from the government through this youth program.

Finally I hope that you share what you will learn from every activity that will be funded by our government to other youths who are in danger of being derailed in life, those who are still seeking refuge in your districts and communities. There’s always a way to be productive and PYA gives you an arm to help them out. So, you got to give them hope.

That’s all. I wish you all the best, congratulations, and daghang salamat! (many thanks)

The event marked a history in my life to become a guest speaker in a formal, government event. Before, I was one of the audience who listens to someone standing in front sharing his wisdoms in life. Now, it is my turn to share and I’m glad that in one way or another, I was able to inspire the lives of people. Such achievement is priceless.

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Tech Conclave Community Forum Now Open

John Raul II — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:49:37 +0000

Just a month ago I launched a tech news show (or video podcast) through YouTube called Tech Conclave. In this show, I work as the host, news anchor, and video producer with my geek friends worldwide as my news reporters.

Just this week, I finished setting up a community forum for the show primarily to give my audience updates of what is going on with the show and what to come and expect, which can also be done by following Tech Conclave’s Twitter account. The community forum is also aimed to add interaction with my audience and help them as well if they have technical difficulties with today’s gadgets, questions about technologies, or simply helping them with their computer issues.

If you have watched the previous episodes of my tech news show (click here to watch them if you haven’t), I urge you to register yourself in the forum community, support my show, and be part of our tech conclave. It takes only one minute to make me happy and also I will give you opportunity to help and be helped by other members. You can also meet new friends there which adds excitement to the forum.

Should you decide to register, please introduce yourself in the "Introduce Yourself" section (hehehe, makes sense) and let us know what you do, who you are, and in what way are you inclined with technology.

Tech Conclave tech news show is currently independent and not funded by anyone.

Warning Facebook Users: You Could Be The Next Victim of Scamming

John Raul II — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:07:01 +0000

I never thought someone would actually try to scam me online. I’ve been wary about this kind of stuff the time I learned about the risks of sharing information in the Internet but it was on April 21st, 2009, 7AM, that I tasted its experience first hand. Someone used my close friend’s Yahoo Messenger (YM) account and sent me messages asking seriously for financial help.

In the midst of my work early on that day’s morning, just right after breakfast, "Lynden," the name of a person with superior credibility and reputation in my life and a close friend sent me a message on YM that "she got mugged" in London, England, UK. Lynden and I are good friends and we met as classmates in our high school years here in the Philippines. However, she now lives and works in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

In the beginning of chat, I never felt any doubt at all because I initially believed that it was the real person whom I am chatting with. And with the disclosed event that "she" revealed, I was ultimately worried about "her" situation and immediately broadcasted on Twitter to find help desperately from people all over the world.

Although on chat "she" said that "she was in London and got mugged," I never doubted this statement as the real Lynden, although residing in Australia, is a professional person and already capable of traveling anywhere in world. And we never communicated online since the last time she visited my city to spend vacation last Christmas season.

What hinted me that it wasn’t the real person I thought I’m chatting with while I was conversing with the scammer is that "she" couldn’t speak or write our local dialect, Cebuano, which the real Lynden uses every time she communicates with me both online and offline. Already doubting, I kept digging more and throwing more questions to the scammer. I asked for more personal information that Lynden and I both knew (like the similarity of the middle name of her mother and mine, Lynden’s middle name, and the name of beach resort we went last January). I’m surprised that the scammer was able to give me a correct answer of Lynden’s middle name. However, wrong answers were given to me on other questions confirming the validity of my doubts.

Twitter proved helpful in this kind of situation as some folks replied back and gave me advices on what to do and showed me some useful information that this scamming technique is not really new. What worried me was that this scam originated from Facebook’s vulnerability or the account owner’s negligence or recklessness to secure her account. Otherwise, it could be in other means like she not knowingly used malicious software or scripts on her computer, or perhaps, permitted dangerous Facebook apps that finally stole her personal information that resulted a hack to her Facebook account.

You can read here the full chat and some screenshots of this scam attempt.

To all other Facebook users who might be reading this: be careful. You could be the next victim.

Brother’s Trip To Japan And His New Laptop

John Raul II — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:48:20 +0000

As I write this post, my brother is currently in Osaka, Japan, participating a student cultural exchange program that aims to strengthen the relationship of Japan and its neighboring nations. He is very lucky to be chosen as one of ten participants sent to Japan to attend the program. And hey, it’s an all-expense paid program with allowance! Well, personally I must say that it wasn’t out of luck, he’s a smart person and deserves what he is experiencing now. Just like me, he also experienced a good part of his life sleeping on the floor. Both of us are strongly motivated to succeed through our cultivated minds and grateful for our parents who honed us to be creative and strong-willed.

Now, I’m so jealous of him – in a good way. In his previous academic strides, he was able to comb the major cities of the Philippines without incurring any major financial costs as he was frequently chosen to attend conferences, seminars and participate with academic contests through in his school. He’s been to Baguio City, Manila, and Cebu – places around my country that I’ve never visited yet. Two years ago, we were expecting that I would be working abroad today. Now, the changes happened and he’s in Osaka, Japan, making the first direct family member I have that was able to go abroad. He likes cold temperature and said Osaka is cold than he expected it to be. He is currently bound to visit Hiroshima, and Tokyo. How good is that!

Before he flew to Japan, he was complaining that he needed a computer or laptop for his Japanese language resources. So, I gave him the laptop I acquired two years ago. He said he will use it to boost his knowledge as he will be able to store Japanese e-books, tutorials and language guides for him to be able to "survive" his first visit in Japan since he will be using the language he started learning since 3 years and it will come into practical use. Well, I’m pretty confident that he’ll be able to make it. Why? I’ve seen it first hand. He has his freedom wall in our house that is full of Kanji characters and every time I see it I go crazy.

Well, it’s nice to know that his efforts is starting to pay off. He got brains that act as like a passport and whenever it works it sucks many opportunities along his way. I’m just trying to be the same. Now, I’m waiting for his safe return and wondering what he will bring home from his Japan trip. He said on Skype that the gadgets there are cheaper and that excites me to the bones. I hope he can bring something interesting for me. He’ll return here on April 27.

Tech Conclave Premier Episode Launched

John Raul II — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:32:22 +0000

My plan has finally materialized by the launch of Tech Conclave’s first episode. Tech Conclave as what I wanted it to be is a tech news show that welcomes people from all walks of life who want to be up-to-date with the developments of information and communications technologies,
those who want to express their passion on this field, and participate tech events with computer geeks and enthusiasts.

Tech Conclave reignites journalism history

Everything started with my involvement to podcasting with Brad from Melbourne in our tech program called Tech Webcast, which I explicitly mentioned in my previous post. Tech Webcast exposed me to some of popular tech geeks online and brought back my interest with journalism. Due to my affinity with computers and technology, and great inspiration with existing and fully-developed tech news shows on the Internet, I came up an idea of creating my own style and that led to the creation of Tech Conclave.

Back in my high school years, I was very active with campus journalism with I got acquainted with journalism code of ethics and philosophies. My team championed in a Division Secondary Schools Press Conference (DSSPC) for a radio broadcasting event. I also used to be our school paper’s editorial cartoonist, sports editor, copyreader and headline writer, and I founded Alternative Newsmagazine (ANM), an independent newsletter in our school, where I served as Editor in Chief. Due to such involvements, I was given a Service Award in Journalism during my high school graduation day.

What’s ahead of Tech Conclave?

Besides discussion of sensible technology news and current events, I want Tech Conclave to touch the life of every geek that I know of and who wants to be connected with me, on the Internet. Starting Episode 2, I will feature one geek per episode and take a glimpse of a geek’s lifestyle, tech expertise, and computer engine (or control center), with their permission.

My geek friends, some of them became significant in my life in 2008, are working with me in developing Tech Conclave. New things will come along the way as I shape the program based on my ideas and audience demands.

What about Tech Webcast?

I just want to make it clear that I will still be hosting with Brad with Tech Webcast. Though its lousy format needs changes, we are planning to reformat the program in such a way that it will parallel the quality of its video counterpart, Tech Conclave, and interoperate with it. Tech Webcast provides us more freedom to discuss technology issues, trends and affairs that is not possible with the linear format of Tech Conclave.

You can watch the first episode of Tech Conclave by following this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0RQveWmtoM

Please subscribe leave a comment, rate the video and make it as a favorite if you like it. It will help boost my motivation to better episodes in the future and you’ll be happy to be part of it.

Bloggers Break: Step Mania, Do The Dance On PC!

John Raul II — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:52:00 +0000

For someone who works in front of the computer all of the time, I am naturally prone to have a less active lifestyle in pursuit of a greater good. I serve people whom I care, I devote my time with them to be productive, and I think a lot of ways to have a pleasant future. Now, even though I’m just working inside the four corners of my room, it comes with some health risks as well, a gray area that I’m increasingly worried about: my health. The nature of my work have caused me to live a sedentary lifestyle – and I don’t like it.

People like me who work on the Web are usually willing to drown themselves with work in an effort to earn more money. They are willing to sit in front of their computers or laptops whole day and work on the edge to focus on being productive or aggressive with money-making. Well, that reason alone sounds very noble indeed. However since two years of work as a freelance, I learned that some employers with higher standards of living exploit people’s ignorance or strip one’s fundamental rights to protect their businesses and money. For me, as someone who doesn’t have the economic power yet, that’s purely depressing. It’s very difficult to be generous to people who upholds selfishness.

The physical, mental, emotional and economic depression brought about by the events and people in the business world have made me grow so weary. So, I’ve decided to take another break just like what I did last year — but this time, I’m gonna do my break on a dance mat! Funny how this article’s topic changed in an instant (this is actually the purpose of this post per se).

I have been looking for a good dance mat for ages that I can use on the computer or laptop and that search just came to an end last month. And I know, the technology is not new. I just want to have an escape from sleep-eat-work lifestyle by adding dancing on my daily routine. You should know that when I was younger, I was very active in participating dance contests (from amateur folk dances to campus-wide modern-style dance cheering competitions). That being said, I have a dancer’s spirit inside me. (In fact, there are so many spirits inside me: see picture below at your own risk). LOL

Back to the gist, the dance mat somehow reincarnated my forgotten dancing skill to a limited point. Well, I bought it for my health and a good physical break from daily mental challenges. The dance mat cost me PHP 500 (or $10.63 USD). It’s actually meant for PlayStation 1/2/3 – but you know as a geek, I know for sure there’s a way to hook that onto my PC. So I roamed around the mall and went to CD-R King, one of Philippines’ most popular tech store that sells amazingly super-cheap computer devices, and stumbled a PHP 150 ($3.19 USD) PS2 to USB adaptor on the shelf – and bingo – solution found.

When I returned home I quickly downloaded and installed StepMania, a free dance game for my Windows Vista laptop. I was truly surprised by the quality of the game. Its at par with the ancient commercial-grade Dance Dance Revolution games. The great thing is that you can add any dance music that you want due to the game’s open-source nature. Well, it requires a bit of tech knowledge so it’s going to be a challenge for beginners. Nevertheless, their official website provides in-depth tutorials which you can explore.

Hooking and detection of the PS2 to USB adaptor was flawless on Windows Vista until I spotted an in-game problem that ruined my excitement: the adaptor didn’t recognize simultaneous directional button presses for jump moves. I was truly sad when I learned that and I ended up dancing basic songs. It was “no challenge,” and here comes the evidence:

Hahaha! Isn’t that more depressing?