Friendster: A Changing Social Network

From the very title of this post, you might already have an idea on what it's all about. Indeed, there is only one constant thing on earth, and that is change. If you don't believe in this, well, I won't force you for you are entitled to your own opinion.

If you are a fan of social networking sites, you must be familiar of friendster. Though it did not rank 1st on any surveys nor reviews conducted before December of this year, still it is used by many social-network users.

I only started engaging myself into social networking sites when I was in college, and the main reason for this was, to keep in touch with my high school friends (as well as to new found ones) and of course, to go with the flow.

Few weeks ago, I decided to open my friendster account after not updating it for almost a month. I got myself too hooked-up with facebook that I almost forgot my password. And, I got so surprise when I saw green. Yes, friendster has turned from blue to green. It's not only that the color has changed, but also the lay-out and some of its settings and features.

 

Friendster is starting to employ some fun features in the page making it more appealing to its users. Not to mention its new page color which appers to be so relaxing (my personal opinion). More games, easy shout-out updates, and friendster wallet  are only few of the many new features incorporated in the account. And guess what made me more surprised? The popular farmville or may be farmtown in facebook now has a friendster counterpart. The application's name is The Farmer (I haven't tried it yet, but I'll try one of these days). I won't be surprise if one day, there will be cafe world or fishville - the friendster version.

Those changes which friendster had started to make in their site only showed that, social networking sites also evolve into something better. Changes are not only made for the sake of competition but with the goal of having more users o sign-up and encourage those who are already in the network to stay. And of course, the marketing side of the story - the more users you'll have, the more advertisers will find their way to you since you have their targets.

Got to go. Need to check out my friendster account and find out more about the new things it could offer... I'll get back as soon as I can. ;-)

Give Life To Your Account With Free Blogger Templates

Have you ever wonder how you're going to spend your downtimes while at work into something worthwhile? If you haven't yet, well, I have.  I simply don't want to spend my free-times staring at the computer's monitor while everything in my consciousness slowly turns blurry until I see nothing else but darkness. I want to keep my mind awake despite my body is almost sleeping and even snoring.

The moment boredom came knocking on my system, I usually grab a pen and along with my diary of poems, I scribble words that slowly flood the parchment. But since I don't have my diary with me while I'm at the office, the blogsites have become my reliever. It's either I'll start juggling some topics on my mind and come up with an acceptable post or, I'll find out how to change the template of my blogs for them not to look (I hate this word) boring.

Few moments ago, while I was staring on my blogger account, I noticed something. It wasn't that alarming, but, as a reader myself, that template didn't have any appeal on my sight. What am I talking about? Well, it's my blog's template.

Having that craving in changing the template of my personal blog, I decided to ask help from my ever dearest friend, Google, who led me to this site:  BloggerTemplatesFree, a site that offers free templates for web blogs.

Here are some screenshots of some templates you may find.

 

 

There are still other sites that offer free templates for the different blog sites. Just find time to explore the wide ocean of the virtual world and you'll surely find one that will fit your taste.

No matter how much you deny it, the lay-out, or let say, the template of the blog which you are reading or you might want to read greatly affects the interest you'll have for it. How did I say that? Let's just say, the fact that I am a journalism graduate made me realize how the packaging of the write-up contributes to how many readers you will be able to pull (or maybe drag) to read your post or published write-up (though I'm not a pro on lay-outing).

It's now your turn to change those pale-looking templates. Who knows, your blog might be the next most visited account. By the way, you don't need to be an expert in HTML codes in order to change those lay-outs. But, I must say, it's an advantage. ;-)

Need to Translate? Try Google

Guess what? I am writing this post for the second time. Why? It's just that, my first draft containing five paragraphs wasn't saved when I logged out few hours back. When I rechecked it for polishing, I found out that what remained was only the title. I can no longer remember how I started the article and so, I decided to make this introduction. Oh, by the way, I'm working on OpenOffice.org Writer right now so as to make sure that my write-up would be saved (thanks for the piece of advice Tita Barbie).

If you have the capacity of speaking (may be writing as well) different languages, you are considered to be a linguist. Unfortunately, I am no Jose Rizal (Philippines' National Hero) who has given that acquired talent and I cannot speak Spanish nor Latin like he did.

Surfing the net happens to be one of my favorite habitual past times when I am at the office. Just to kill some time, I usually search for some interesting articles or sites that contain interesting topics that might inspire me to post something on my blog. I am a fan of photography, thus, when I come across a photography related site, I can't help myself but try to look at it, even just for a moment.

It was like yesterday (literally) when I came across one site that really captured my attention. I was (almost) hypnotized by the pictures on it and how the blogger (it was a blog site) related each picture to colors – colors that became alive in those pictures. No more illusion and picturesque descriptions. Only reality.

The blog's name was 'Japanese Color'. I had all the enthusiasm to browse each and every page of the blog since all contains pictures. Pictures which, I know, have other meanings that lie behind each. Then, I got frustrated. Why wouldn't I?..I can't understand the captions! Why? Because they were all written in Japanese characters.

Then, I relaxed. Trying to get back my almost lost temper. I remembered using one  application when some 'alien' messages got into my inbox. I knew it could help.

Google ---> (type the keyword) google translate ---> search

or, to make it easier, just click on the link below:

http://translate.google.com/#

Then, after few minutes, I was able to read the captions. What I did was copy the Japanese characters to the 'text' window in Google translate, chose Japanese in the 'Translate from' tab and English in the 'Translate into' tab. If you are not sure of the language you want to translate from, you may choose 'Detect Language' and Google will detect the language for you.

Now, I will no longer carry the burden of translation in my mind. As long as the web (and Google Translate) is there, I know that my linguist friend will be always at hand..;-)

Thanksgiving - A Countdown to Christmas

When this topic was given to me, I really had no idea about the approach to use on it. Would it be plain conversational, informative, fun, or serious? All those possibilities were playing behind my mind but I couldn't exactly come up with a unique approach. As I was writing this exact line, I was perfectly experiencing the name of this blog - writer's block.

Minutes passed and I decided to stick to the real me, the way I write articles depending on my mood. It's more of a go-with-the-flow thing, but at least, I'm not pretending to be one of those most prominent writers. I am simply being me.

Enough of self introduction. Now, what is this write-up all about?

Maybe some of us have almost forgotten the magic word said after someone else does a little favor for us. May it be a simple tap on the shoulder showing appreciation for a job well done or keeping you awake when you're too sleepy working for a deadline, a simple 'thank you' is well-deserved. Two words that mean more than what they really say.


Thanksgiving - a season of sharing, family gatherings, and shopping... ;-)

Thanksgiving holiday has already been a part of the culture of some countries all over the world. Canada, Australia, Korea, India, and Canada just to name a few. But among these countries, the United States has its own way of celebrating this holiday which marks the beginning of the Christmas season.

Thanksgiving day in the United States means festivity, reunions, traditions, sharing, and even shopping sprees. Yes, you read it right. I did say shopping sprees. The reason behind this is that, when former President Franklin D. Roosevelt had the idea of thanksgiving, what he wanted was to help the businesses by lengthening the shopping period before Christmas. Here's another piece of a cake, thanksgiving is not merely about shopping. Americans also resemble close family ties during this season. Though families live away from each other, during the Thanksgiving Day, they really find time to celebrate it together. Gathered in a reunion, they all give thanks to the blessings and other good things that come their way.



Trivia: Here are some of the known Thanksgiving symbols in the United States (just another piece of cake)

If Santa symbolizes Christmas and Cupid Valentines,  Thanksgiving Day is also represented by some symbols. Here are some of them.

Pumpkin , Corn, and Cranberry

One of the most staple food in one family's thanksgiving table is a pumpkin pie. Of course we are not talking about Halloween here. Pumpkin just happened to be one of the most important symbols of the harvest festival in US and has been an American favorite for centuries.

A corn, being present on the festival table, may it be as a food or decoration, serves as a reminder of the importance and heritage of the harvest season.

Cranberry now also found its way to the festival table as cranberry sauce became the permanent companion of turkey during the festivity.


Turkey

Benjamin (former US President) once considered the turkey as a national symbol since it is a picture of a good runner and sharp sight.

In today's picture, every house cooks turkey as the main dish during the celebration and considers it as the main mascot of the celebration. And the whole festivity will never be complete without the customary 'Turkey Song.'

Cornucopia

Known as the most common symbol of thanksgiving, cornucopia is a horn-shaped container filled with the Earth's harvest during the Thanksgiving season.


So, I think, that would be it. Hope you learned something from this post. I may not be the best writer of all times, but I'm happy to have shared my thoughts... ;-)