Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I updated this blog. My life as a professional IT Consultant has been pretty colourful recently, with the current economic recession being a factor. Everything in my online life (aside from FB, emails and work-related IM’s) took a backseat. As a consequence, my creative juices have ceased to flow as I took my place in society as either a member of the corporate workforce or as a freelancing Independent Contractor.

Nevertheless, I’ve been making progress both personally and professionally, with one complementing the other, and the results are encouraging. It’s given me a whole new outlook on how I should approach my work and how to present myself better. The challenges of working in the IT world are constantly evolving, and being always in the loop is a must.

More updates on this blog (hopefully) in the coming weeks.

Came across this article while perusing the CodingHorror blog today. Quite interesting read, too. You should read this one if you’re in the same line of work as I am

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001249.html

Ever wondered what you’d be if you weren’t a programmer? If all went well and my dream of becoming a professional musician came true, I wouldn’t be churning code all day long.

Check out this great discussion http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?AlternativeJobsForProgrammers

Not so much happening these past few months (aside from work, that is). Been trying to go on that roadtrip to “somewhere” but can’t seem to:
a. Find the time
b. Pry myself from work (I’m a closet workaholic )
c. Decide where I’m going to in the first place

My first thought of a good destination is Baguio. The last time I went there was about 17 years ago (1992-199?) right after Mt. Pinatubo’s wake. The trip was like crossing a barren “white desert” (remember lahar?).

Hopefully this week won’t be as busy as the last so I can squeeze in some bit of downtime when the weekend comes (no laptop, no internet, no TV!)

I just got back from schooling this semester and I am now about to get back to freelance work again, after not working for almost 5 months. Before I went back to school I told my clients that I’d be open for any jobs and projects after the semester. I needed to recoup my resources.

Of course, that was BEFORE we actually felt the impact of the recession here. 5 months later, it’s as if somebody dropped a nuke and dead silence reigned in its wake. Suddenly emails weren’t getting replied to, job offers stopped coming in, and noticeably some US contacts on my YM list have gone gray and often offline. Understandably the crisis has gotten everyone in America on their toes and scrambling. Being based here in the Philippines, I can tell the outsourcing industry is facing a tough problem right now, especially if your clients are based in the US.

Read more about the US recession from a regular person’s point of view here.

I’m doing some numbers on my head right now. How long has it been? When was the last time I actually sat down and blogged away like crazy? I could hardly call my last entry as something “blog-worthy”; more like a quick memo similar to “Out to lunch” or “On leave”. Didn’t really say that much.

Okay, it’s been months, and a lot of things have transpired since then: school, family issues, losing my freelance stint and a host of others. I was actually out of the loop work-wise, since I’ve been mainly focused on the “aforementioned” factors. I found some time to reflect over a lot of things: my career path, my vocation, where I’m going to be in the next couple of years, and my personal well-being. Mulling over these gave me a new perspective on a lot of things. It helps when you try and “defrag” yourself a bit because it gives you a sense of direction on where you want to go.

Anyway, having said all that I figured I need to make some changes to everything that I am used to. I also realized that I’ve been barking up the wrong tree, so to speak. It’s time for a fresh start.

To those of view who have been coming back to this site, thanks again! I do wish I have more time on my hands, but real-life priorities are just some things you can’t ignore. It has been months since my last proper post and I don’t see myself updating this blog as often in the next few months. However, you can check out my Plurk timeline and see what I’m up to right now (you need a Plurk account to view my entries, signing up is easy!).

See you in the Plurkusphere!

My apologies for shamelessly advertising on an unrelated post from an obviously far-fetched topic. Our family is selling off a 712 sq.m piece of residential land here in the locality. Quite conveniently located on the outskirts of town, it is the perfect setup for those who want a quiet and peaceful place to go home to after a hard day’s work.To see the actual ad, click on the link below to get to Sulit.com. Residential lot for sale in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. 

I’m doing some updates on the blog at the moment. Planning to reorganize everything by moving out all the technical articles and moving them into my portfolio blog/site, which is presently under construction. I will still be posting “techie” stuff in this blog, but if you’re into more technical and in-depth discussions then you might be interested in checking out my portfolio blog.

I will update this blog once the move is done.

-Mike

Ajax-Animator 

(http://antimatter15.110mb.com/)

I don’t know if I’m behind on the news, but there has been a basic yet usable Flash visual editor (like the real thing) lying around for quite some time. Ajax-Animator, a simple browser-based application that looks like a stripped-down version of the Flash IDE, lets you create simple animation using its ingenious user interface. Here’s a screenshot:

If you want to try out Ajax Animator you can check out the demo at the project’s homepage at this page. Personally, I find this attempt at trying to emulate the Flash development interface very impressive, it even lets you add layers and switch from one frame to another.

The project is currently adding new features to the application, so some functionality might be incomplete or not work at all. Perusing the website reveals that development on Ajax-Animator  might be experiencing some problems. However, the site lets you submit suggestions to the developers about adding new features, fixing bugs, etc. Just check out their website regularly for updates.

OpenLaszlo

(http://www.openlaszlo.org/front_page)

Rich Internet Applications (RIA) are actually web-based applications that have been made to look and function like your typical desktop applications. OpenLaszlo (pronounced laslo) is one of the few development platforms available for creating RIA’s on the web. This Java-based platform lets you create dynamic forms and user interfaces using its own LZX language, then compiles it into an SWF Flash application that you can embed in your pages.

Here’s a sample on YouTube on how to code in OpenLaszlo:

OpenLaszlo is also used by major sites like Yahoo in their interactive web services.