Father's Day

While watching MMK's Father's Day Special (Boyet de Leon as a doctor...), I suddenly felt an urge to write something about my father.

I don't really have the best father in the world.

He has always been struggling against his addiction to gambling. When I was only 5 years old, mother used to ask me to go to our neighbor (where Papa used to play mah-jhong) and tell my father to go home. Papa would give me a five-peso bill and tell me to go home.

I could not remember at what age I stopped going to Papa's mah-jhong place, but I could still remember when he and Mama got into a huge fight that Mama took a handful of sleeping pills. I was so scared at that time, I thought our family was falling apart and I might lose my mother. Thank God, nothing bad happened to Mama and they were able to fix things.

When I had my debut, Papa took a vow never to gamble again - in front of our family and friends. Yeah, he was true to his promise - for a week, I think. Then he went back to gambling again.

Just two weeks before this year's Father's Day, I woke up to the sound of my cellphone's message tone and was glad when I saw that the message was from my Papa. But my heart sank when I read his message. He wanted to borrow 5 thousand so he could pay some of his debts and household monthly dues. I sent three full messages through Chikka nagging my father for being so irresponsible. Papa never replied to any of my messages.

The following day, I was so bothered and guilty for hurting my father and decided to text him and tell him that I am sending 2 thousand to him. He replied and said thank you, and that he will pay me when he receives his salary. I really didn't expect that he'll pay me and just said I love him.

A week before Father's day, Papa texted me and told me that he's paying his debt already. I said he doesn't have to and to think of it as my Father's Day gift to him. He said thank you.

On Father's Day, I texted Papa and told him how much I love him. He told me to have lunch with them because he's cooking "alimango" (crabs) - an impossible thing, because I live nine hours away from them! I just told him I'll taste his cooking soon, when I go home. Papa just replied saying, "Cge, pagtext lang daan kanus a ka mouli kay magluto ko daan." Awww... it really touched my heart.

Yes, I don't have the best father in the world, but I love him anyway. =)

How to Install Wordpress (Locally) on PC with XP

This is a modified version of GeeksAreSexy's guide in installing Wordpress.

For this post, I would assume that you have the following on your box:

• Apache
• PHP
• MySQL

1. Create a database named wordpress in MySQL.

2. Download Wordpress and unzip it in C:\Program Files\Apache2.2\htdocs

3. Open wp-config-sample.php using your favorite text editor (e.g. Notepad) and replace it with the following values:

// ** MySQL settings ** //
define('DB_NAME', 'wordpress'); // The name of the database
define('DB_USER', 'root'); // Your MySQL username
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password'); // Your MySQL password
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); // 99% chance you won't need to change this value

4. Open your web browser and navigate to: http://localhost/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php

5. You should now see the welcome note of Wordpress. Enter the necessary information. Enjoy!

MIS presentations

Hi to the students of IT143 (MIS). As promised, I have already uploaded the slides:

Note: I have tried uploading the slides to my Google Site. But it's not working so I used Google Docs instead...

You can download the slides by clicking the hyperlinks...

Group 1: Part1 Evolution of Computers

Group 1: Part2 Moore's Law

Group 2: Introduction to Computer Architecture

Group 3: No presentation

Group 4: Virtual Office System

Group 6: Information System Users

Group 7: Role of Information in Problem Solving

Pirates of Silicon Valley: OS Class

Last Friday, I let my OS class watch the video of Pirates of Silicon Valley. Here are some reasons why I think it's important for them to see the movie:

1. To know the history of desktop operating systems and desktops in general.

2. Get to know Bill Gates and Steve Jobs

3. Be inspired by their passion, struggles, failures and success

4. Know the history of 2 of the world's leading computer giants: Apple and Microsoft

5. Change of teaching strategy... =)

I have asked my OS students to write a blog about their reaction, learnings, insights about the movie.

(Instructions to the students: Please let me read your post about Pirates of Silicon Valley by commenting on this post, writing your name and link your name to your post. Thanks.)

Example: Use the anchor tag... #a href="http://mylenesereno.blogspot.com/2009/06/pirates-of-silicon-valley-os-class.html"#Mylene Sereno#/a#

NOTE: Please replace the number sign (#) with angle brackets. I substituted it with # to show the code.

My Life Mentors

I feel so lucky to have the right people as my mentors in different aspects of my life.

1. Web 2.0, Teaching, Presentations, Blogging, Work/Life Balance - Sacha Chua

2. Spirituality, Living the Catholic Faith, Attitude Towards Life, Life Lessons - Bo Sanchez

3. Love and Relationships, Self Esteem - Rori Raye

4. Career, Life Choices, Blogging - Penelope Trunk

5. Blogging, Writing - Darren Rowse

They make learning so fun and easy for me... =)