Faces, Phases

Our weekends are spent taking pictures of Sean, our boy genius. Here are some of Sean's many faces taken at different phases of his young life.

Photoshop Experiment

Before

After

After reading some photoshop tips from a blog, I tried experimenting with a photo of my nephew. I tried increasing the saturation and this is what I got. I don't know if it's just me, but the second photo (After) makes Sean look a little livelier. What do you think?

Quotes from my feed reader

It's a slow day at the office, so please allow me to post some quotes from my rss feeds.

To lead others, embody their ideals! - Leonid S. Sukhorukov

Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue. - Confucius

In this business, by the time you realize you're in trouble, it's too late to save yourself. Unless you're running scared all the time, you're gone. - Bill Gates

Boy Genius Turns 2

My nephew celebrated his second birthday last Monday, January 21. Since he loves animals, his parents treated him to a day at the Manila Zoo last Sunday as a pre-birthday gift. From his stories (yes, he can tell a story), he said he saw all the animals that he reads in his books. My sister said he particularly enjoyed watching the elephant and the big cats. Sean said that the tigers were sleeping when they came so he shouted for them to wake up. HIs mom added that he started singing Barney's Elephant song when he saw the big elephant. When asked what other animals he saw, he said he saw birds, monkeys, a deer, a zebra, the crocodiles, the hippo, and even a flamingo.

I wasn't able to get him a present for his birthday, but I made the picture above, showing him driving LIghtning McQueen, the lead car in his favorite movie, Cars. The cropping could use some improvement, but our boy genius was ecstatic when I gave him a print of this.

DTI-Ayala-Magsaysay Business Plan Competition Extended: Student Category Participants Increasing

Students and young entrepreneurs can still submit their business plans for the DTI-Ayala-Magsaysay Business Plan Competition until February 20, 2008, 12 N.N. The deadline of entries was moved due to the clamor of several colleges and universities to extend the duration of the contest. To date, the participants who submitted their business plans come from the following schools: Ateneo de Manila University, Far Eastern University, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Philippine Women's University, Technological Institute of the Philippines, and University of the Philippines. More universities are expected to join, as classes have resumed this January.

Cash prizes and free consultancy in starting a business are at stake for the winners. Grand winners in the Young Entrepreneurs (Individual Enterprise), Young Entrepreneurs (Group Enterprise), Student Entrepreneurs, will be awarded P300,000.00, P500,000.00, and P100,000.00 respectively. The top ten entrepreneurs for the Young SME Category will be awarded P 200,000.00 each.

The competition is open to all Filipino citizen and Filipino-owned companies in the Philippines, with current and / or potential agri-business operations or business dealings in the National Capital Region (NCR). The Young Entrepreneurs (Individual / Group Enterprise) is open to Filipinos 35 years old and below who have an original enterprise which may not be currently in operation. This includes the newly-started businesses. Bonafide regular college students are welcome to join the Student Entrepreneurs category. Those who already have an existing agri-business enterprise, which is, at least 3 years operating are invited to join the Young SME category.

Business plans will be judged according to profitability (30%), creativity of product or service (25%), feasibility (25%), and contribution to the community (20%).

Assistant Secretary Angel L. Pelayo calls on to more participants: "We discovered that a lot of young Filipinos, specifically students, are interested in coming up with innovative enterprises. This competition is intended to motivate and assist more entrepreneurs to grow their business. We invite more college students and young business-oriented individuals to participate. This is a good opportunity for them."

All entries should be submitted to the Secretariat Office on or before 12 NN, February 20, 2008. The address is: DTI-Ayala-Magsaysay Business Plan Competition Secretariat c/o Starfish Magazine Center for Social Development, Ayala Foundation 10/F BPI Bldg., Ayala Ave. Cor. Paseo de Roxas, Makati City.

For more details on the mechanics and to download application forms, log on to www.dtincr.ph.(end)