MOM: It’s your day!!!

Happy Mother’s Day to all you MOMs out there!

You are a child’s light, guide and best friend. You are a daughter’s ally. You are a son’s security blanket. You are an amazing person and you deserve all our love! May you get not only love and appreciation today but in every single day for the rest of your life.

Enjoy your special day!

Malware in WordPress themes

Two of my blogs were branded as attack sites by Google. When I tried opening it in either Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers, a warning saying that “your computer can get a virus if you proceed to open the site” was displayed on screen. So what I did was I checked with Bluehost what caused the malware and I found out that the WordPress themes those two blogs were using had a change in codes that cause the .htaccess files of my blogs to change.

I was relying on the themes to be free of any malicious codes but it turned out that it could be a gateway for hackers to access your sites. So I am warning all of you bloggers and site owners out there to be careful with the themes you use. Do not just change themes without checking first if the theme has a loophole to it causing an “attack” to your site to take place.

Anyway, here’s what I did to my two blogs to get rid of the malware in it. Removing the themes won’t be enough. You have to uninstall and reinstall WordPress to your domain and wait for a day for the malware warning to stop showing up on browsers. Of course, before you uninstall WordPress from your domain, make sure you have a copy of your posts and comments by going to your admin page and exporting all of it via the tools section.

If you did all of it and the warning still shows up, you have to ask Google for a review of your site via Google Analytics.

If you’ve experienced a similar issue, let me know what you did and how you were able to get rid of the malware warning associated with your site.

The Use of Sub-domains

When blogging was just starting to boom, not everyone had a personal domain name to use. If I am not mistaken, at least 30% of bloggers that time had a personal domain. So what did we do bloggers who also wanted a personal domain but couldn’t afford or didn’t know how to go about it? We requested sub-domains from kindhearted bloggers!

I was once blogging under sasha.akoni.info under Ate Ghee’s akoni.info. It was my first ever personal domain and I truly am thankful until now for the use of that sub-domain. When I opened up this blog, sasha-says.com, I also opened a couple of sub-domains for friends but since a network I joined became strict with the use of sub-domains, I was left with no choice but to cut short the existence of domains under this blog.

Sub-domains are still being used to this day, especially business websites.

Relying on a single source of income

These days it’s not advisable to just rely on a single source of income. No matter how big that income is, another source should be created.

I know most employees are relying on promotion to increase their income. I did, too. I kept waiting for a promotion, a performance appraisal and bonus, quarterly, mid-year and annual bonuses, 13th month pay, tax refunds. I kept waiting for anything that would add to my paycheck. But then I experienced being without work. No paychecks coming in. No clear source of income in the horizon. I was in a state of panic the whole time I was without work! The longest was three months. I swore that time that I would find another source of income. And I did.

I found blogging. I found out that my love for writing hasn’t diminished over the years. In fact, I missed it so badly I wrote and wrote every single day since I became a blogger. I found that I can earn from all of this. So I put my heart into creating blogs. I socialized with other bloggers and visitors who would leave comments. I visited other blogs and gained inspiration from them. I chose topics I could write about and stuck to it.

And you know what? I haven’t felt happier in my work life! I was working a nine to five job while blogging and earning a bit on the side. Writing and earning from it… that’s more than what I asked for! I felt free financially and my fear of losing my job was lifted from my overburdened shoulders. I now have a second source of income.

But I made a mistake along the way. I quit the corporate world. I concentrated on writing. I forgot that having a second (or third, fourth and so on) source of income is freedom. It meant having less worries that no matter if one of the sources dried out, there’s still another source to rely on.

So now I am creating another source of income. I won’t say yet what it is as I am still in the process of creating the source but this is my advice to all of you breadwinners out there… DO NOT rely on a single source of income! Make sure there is another one ready to take the place of your primary source. Make sure you have a second, third, fourth and many sources of income, if possible. It will give you the financial freedom you need.

Trust me. Been there, done that.

The president’s love life

I find it really distasteful how the President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III can talk (and joke) about his love life in the light of what’s happening in the country. I mean come on! So many issues need to be answered/addressed by the president I would like to think that he knew to brush off questions regarding his love life, not bask in it and act like he’s even kinikilig about it!

These are just some of the issues in the country right now…

• There’s still those missing persons/casualties of typhoon Sendong in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City.
• There’s the to-be-implemented K+12 Program by the Department of Education (DepEd) by this coming June 2012 (School Year 2012-2013) which I heard from my sister (who teaches in a Catholic School in Manila) is being protested by a lot of parents especially those with incoming Grade 6 kids.
• There’s also the ongoing impeachment proceedings versus Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.
• Congressman Iggy Arroyo’s death. This should not have been a national issue but since he is tied up to the controversial Jose Pidal account…
• And there’s still the cases against former President-now Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

So the Philippines has a bachelor president. So what?!? Sure, we have vested interest in who he might marry while serving as the Chief Executive of the country. But the guy is still getting to know women and dating them. We need not discuss it on national television and he need not act like a teenage boy in the brink of jumping into a relationship with his first love! Not to mention how his sister Kris Aquino couldn’t stop herself from declaring how nice the president looked together with the Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra who is also single like him! Ah these Aquinos!

Can you imagine the Korean TV host Grace Lee became a trending topic in Twitter for close to 2 days just because she is dating the president?!?

Sana bago asikasuhin ang love life eh asikasuhin muna ang sandamak na issue sa bansa. Ang dami pa ring eskwelahan ang di magamit dahil evacuation centers pa rin. Kulang pa rin ang mga classrooms at school supplies especially textbooks. Ang daming dapat pagtuunan ng pansin ng presidente natin! Kung gusto lang pala niyang mag-date, sana di na lang siya tumakbong presidente di ba? Unahin ba raw ang love life!!

DepEd’s K+12 Program: Solution to education problems in the country?

I don’t know if you have heard it already but starting June 2012, all incoming Grade 1 students in the country will be part of the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program of the Department of Education (DepEd).

What is the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program that I mentioned?

This is what I got from gov.ph‘s web site…

This model involves Kindergarten, six years of elementary education, four years of junior high school (Grades 7 to 10) and two years of senior high school (Grades 11 to 12). The two years of senior high school intend to provide time for students to consolidate acquired academic skills and competencies.

The two years in senior high school… The curriculum will allow specializations in Science and Technology, Music and Arts, Agriculture and Fisheries, Sports, Business and Entrepreneurship.

At some level I understand the point of the DepEd in the additional two years in high school. Some high school graduates tend to enroll in a college course that they are still unsure of. After a year, they will shift to another course and that is a waste of precious time and money. What the DepEd has in mind is for high school students to spend the additional two years thinking and making sure that they know what they really want to take up in college. DepEd is also saying that the two years will be like a course in Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), training students so that for those who cannot afford to go to college, they can begin looking for jobs after.

Now, my beef on this DepEd program…

The program claims that the two years will provide better quality education for all. Does it really guarantee a better quality education? (more…)

A reminder to Sendong victim donors

May I just remind every kindhearted individual who will be donating to the victims of Typhoon Sendong to please verify the accounts you will be donating to. There are so many individuals asking for help and you will find that they are using their personal accounts in accepting donations. I am not saying all of those individuals are out to get your money. But this thing already happened in the past and it can happen again. There are just some people who can stomach duping kindhearted people out of their money.

So please verify. If unsure where to donate, I suggest go to RED CROSS. You can donate in any way you like through their page. You can donate via online banking, credit card, Paypal, GCash, bank deposits, and many more.

ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya and GMA Kapuso Foundation are also accepting donations. All LBC branches are accepting donations as well. If you want to donate clothes and other stuff, just go to any nearest LBC branch and they will send your box to Mindanao right away for free!

Just verify and make sure the money, clothes and goods you want to give to the victims of Typhoon Sendong will really find its way to them.

6 long weekends in 2012

There will be 6 long weekends in 2012 according to the official list of regular holidays and special (non-working) days from Malacañang.

The first one will be on January 21 to 23, the 23rd being a special non-working holiday as it is the Chinese New Year celebrations.

The Holy Week which will last 5 days is the next long weekend we will have. April 5 to 9. Mark your calendar and schedule those trips to the beach during these days April 5 (Holy Thursday) and 6 (Good Friday) are regular holidays. These are followed by a weekend, April 7-8, while April 9 (Araw ng Kagitingan) is also a holiday.

Next one is on August 25 to 27, National Heroes’ Day, a regular holiday.

A 4-day weekend on November will be the next one which will be composed of two special non-working holidays November 1 (All Saints’ Day) and November 2 (All Souls’ Day).

At the end of November, there will be another long weekend after Bonifacio Day, November 30, was declared a regular holiday. November 30 falls on a Friday.

The last long weekend will be on December 29 to 31, the last day being a non-working holiday.

Regular Holidays for 2012

New Year’s Day…… January 1 (Sunday)
Maundy Thursday…… April 5
Good Friday……. April 6
Araw ng Kagitingan…… April 9 (Monday)3
Labor Day…… May 1 (Tuesday)
Independence Day…… June 12 (Tuesday)
National Heroes Day…… August 27 (Last Monday of August)
Bonifacio Day…… November 30 (Friday)
Christmas Day…… December 25 (Tuesday
Rizal Day…… December 30 (Sunday)

Special (Non-Working) Holidays

Chinese New Year…… January 23 (Monday)
Ninoy Aquino Day…… August 21 (Tuesday)
All Saints Day…… November 1 (Thursday)
Additional special (non-working) day…… November 2 (Friday)
Last Day of the Year…… December 31 (Monday)

Special Holiday (for all schools)

EDSA Revolution Anniversary…… February 25 (Saturday)

Mark your calendars!