CELEBRATE 2017

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR FOOD FARE

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

A few more hours and the new year will arrive. For some of you living in other parts of the world, the new year has already arrived. Let's all welcome and celebrate 2017!

2017

One way to celebrate 2017 is eating during your mealtime your favorite food or the food that sustains your good spirit. Here are some of my favorite food.

FAVORITE FOOD	PICTURE IN THIS WEBSITE
Puto Bumbong (a rice delicacy, very, very tasteful)	http://www.purewow.com/food/What-people-eat-for-christmas-around-the-world
Lanzones (very mouth watering fruit bigger in life and taste than green grapes)	http://www.onlyfoods.net/lanzones.html
Niyog (also known as coconut fruit, contains both the edible white meat and the coconut nectar)	http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/coconut-health-benefits/
Siniguelas (just saw this picture in the internet and it brings back memories of fun eating during my boyhood days)	https://www.pinterest.com/pin/33847434669602165/
Duhat (a very messy food and it could stain your clothes, I love it!)	https://www.pinterest.com/pin/33847434669602165/
Apples (a very traditional food in a New Year's Eve table)	http://kimberlysnyder.com/blog/2012/08/15/what-everyone-ought-to-know-about-fructose/

Does one have to be in the Philippines to eat them? No, just go to a Filipino restaurant.

Do I miss eating them, even though I haven't tasted them for like one hundred years? No, you can just imagine them. Mmmmm! Delicious! Yum, yum! Just remember the times or the time you savor the taste and the pleasantness of the moment you ate them. Mmmmm! Magnifico! Muy delicioso! Uno pa gani!

You can just imagine Oliver in the story "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens when he said these following words:

"Please, sir, I want some more."

Though Oliver Twist was hungry, you can just imagine that he likes the food he was eating.

Or you can just imagine Mikey liking it in the old commercial when they said these words:

"He likes it! He likes it!"

In fact you don't have to imagine. You can just go to this website and watch the old commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEXzx-TINc.

Such are the pleasure of food and the quality of mealtime. Enjoy and be gratified by their tasty treats and tasty moments!

TECHNICAL PART OF THIS PROGRAM

An Introduction to HTML

HTML is the computer language of websites. HTML uses tags to show a website in your computer. Here are the most common tags used in any HTML document.

< html > contains the entire HTML document.

< head > contains the parts of the HTML document that you do not see, except for one.

< title > contains the text that you see in the URL address bar of your browser.

< body > contains the parts of the HTML document that you see.

< header > is usually used in the top portion of your visible HTML document.

< footer > is usually used in the bottom portion of your visible HTML document.

< article > is usually used to contain an independent article, like this blog post.

< nav > contains links to different sections of a website.

An Introduction to HTML Table

An HTML table is a chart composed of rows and columns. A table is a good way to organize your data so they are more readable to the reader.

Here are the most common tags used to create an HTML table.

< table > contains the entire table.

< tr > contains an entire row.

< th > is used to contain the column heading of a table.

< td > contains a data of table.

I hope you enjoyed today's program. Next time, I'll be serenading you with a love song. Just kidding! I don't know how to play a guitar but I do know how to sing. I know the lyrics and melodies of a hundred songs by heart, including Christmas songs. And I'm thinking of learning to play the guitar, just to entertain people.

Your most affectionate and loyal fan in You enjoying Your mealtimes,

John Sindayen

PS: I know I wrote in a recent blog that I will write 1000+ words every week, but I want to amend that to make it more reasonable for me to accommodate other projects. So instead of 1000+, it is now 700+ words a week beginning now, that's like 100+ words daily.

A Love Story

A Love Story

To the girl who broke my heart and made me cry myself with tears to sleep many a nights and made me cry profuse with tears walking to school once for over a minute,

You are not to blame for making me cry.

I am not to blame for making me cry.

Stupid Cupid is to blame for making me cry.

For stupid Cupid has made me love and fall in love with the wrong girl.

There is an old saying that goes "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"

That means I'm strong, stronger than anyone or most people because I came through from the battle in the battlefield called love, even though I had no recourse to see my way through my embattled state.

I cried my last tears in my sleep for you last night, Chelsea. For I shall not let you or the memory of your face or the memory of the time we spent together cloud my mind when I go to bed each night ever again.

And I shall take comfort and believe that we are a gift to each other as John Denver, the singer of "The Gift You Are", eloquently said it in this website:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vw92nkIXXA

Always your loyal fan and your good friend,

John Sindayen

Oh What Fun It Is

Oh What Fun It Is

While you unconsciously dull your life away with constant studying, something stirs in you that something is not quite right. Well, you are right! You have forgotten how it is how to have fun. You have forgotten to have fun in your life, the one thing that matters to you, however unconsciously, when you were a first grader.

You have somehow forgotten what fun is among the valorous ways you have entrenched yourself in the mastery of your subject, Computer Programming, Computer Science, Office 2013, Math, or any other subject, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

What is fun? Fun is sometimes hard to pin point down, especially when you always end up with an activity that you thought was fun but realized was not fun at all after you had tried it. Then you try to do another activity, then you realized it shared the same characteristic as the previous one, that it was not fun at all either. Such is the quest for the elusive fun that some people, if not most people, find themselves in the predicament.

Alas! You have found this website at this place and at this time. And now I will tell you the secret all along into what you have been looking for and pining for, for a very, very long time -- what fun is.

Fun is you. The "you" when you were a first grader.

Can you remember the things that were fun to you when you were just a first grader in elementary school? If you can, then bless you for you have a good memory. If you can't then, you'll have to jog your memory back to those long ago days when times were simple and unencumbered by the old and new stuff that somehow now creep into your mind now and then when you let it.

What is fun? To me, it is the nickel that my mom often gave me before I went to school in the first grade. It was a shiny new silvery nickel. And I wondered what to do with it. I knew I could use it to buy candy from the school store. But then I will have no more nickel and the candy will be gone. So I often tucked it away in my khaki shorts pocket as a reminder that my mom gave it to me as a token of her love for me, not that I know what love is for I did not know what love is at 6 years of age. Life was so much simple then when love was not in the equation.

What else is fun, other than that silver nickel? All you have to do is remember your Mommy Chelsea, your Nana, or your Nanay, or your Mom, or whatever name you called your mother, that woman who has been given her own special day of the year called Mother's Day, just because she is a truly special person, more than you can actually remember, imagine, or consider.

Do you even realized that your mother was your only source of fun in those days? You didn't have any idea what fun is or what things are out there that can cause so much fun, not when you were just 6 or 7 or 8 years old.

So what else was fun when you were a first grader? It was that little toy that your mommy gave you now and then, unless your mom gave you too many toys that none of them holds no more special meaning to you since you are overwhelmed by their quantity.

Yes, you only need one thing that your Mommy Chelsea or whatever name you now call your mom has furnished you to know what is fun and have fun. And just remember this quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of the children's book named "The Little Prince":

"If someone loves a flower of which just one example exists among all the millions and millions of stars, that's enough to make him happy when he looks at the stars."

Your loyal fan in You having lots of fun,

John Sindayen

New Year, New Life

New Year, New Life

I know I have been remiss in writing to my loyal fans (counting me, myself, and I). You, who have been dedicated to living the travails of life, learning, love, and earning a living, with an enduring hope that are the envy of Hollywood movie producers and directors.

Let me assure you now, my loyal fans and future fans (hopefully one will be a Hollywood movie producer) that beginning this week, I will write 1000+ words every week from now on, as my solemn promise to you.

Your repentant pilgrim writer,

John Sindayen

PS: I have made changes to the purpose of this blog, as you can see in its new subtitle. It is now dedicated to your true joy in life. The only things that matters when you were a first grader.

IC3 Exam

IC³ Exam by Certiport

The IC3 (Internet and Computing Core Certification) is the basic IT (Information Technology) global certification. Basically, it certifies that you can do the following items. Given how prevalent computers are nowadays, smart first graders should be able to do these items.

1. Use a computer to do basic tasks like the following items.
2. Create a professionally looking letter or report.
3. Create a spreadsheet to calculate a professionally looking budget or chart.
4. Create a professionally looking presentation of a report or lesson.
5. Create and use a database for an inventory or an account.
6. Use the internet wisely for emails and visiting websites.

Here are some basic computer terminology that you need to know in order to pass the IC3 Key Applications part of the exam. The key to passing the exam is not to have a cavalier attitude in acquiring the substantial knowledge base needed to pass the exam. Based on my experience as a tutor, I believe the passing rate for passing any of the IC3 exam in the first try is 70% or lower. This is mainly because of the cavalier attitude of the IT students.

Describe the following Microsoft Word items.

• Bullet
• Center Alignment
• Clip Art
• Footer
• Hanging Indent
• Header
• Line Spacing
• Sans Serif Fonts
• Table
• Theme

Describe the following Microsoft Excel items.

• Absolute Cell Reference
• Argument
• Border
• Filter
• Formula Bar
• Function
• Gridlines
• Heading
• Range
• Workbook

Describe the following Microsoft PowerPoint items.

• Animation
• Bullet Point
• Contextual Tab
• Font
• Handouts
• Insertion Point
• Placeholder
• Slide
• Slide Master
• Transition

Describe the following Microsoft Access items.

• AutoNumber
• Database
• Field
• Foreign Key
• Input Mask
• Primary Key
• Query
• Record
• Relationship
• Report

Be smarter than a first grader!

John Sindayen

Microsoft Paint

Microsoft Paint

After watching the presidential debate, people might wonder if the rival candidate will truly accept the winner as his or her president.

What did Trump mean when he said "I'll keep you in suspense!" in the presidential debate in UNLV?

The suspense is over, this Microsoft Paint drawing might be what Trump mean by keeping America in suspense.

As you can see Microsoft Paint is a useful software to draw. Here I drew a tank, a battleship, a jet, and the United States map. But if you are really an artist and have time to be one you can draw something like what they have in this website: MS Paint drawings

You can draw like a first grader.

John Sindayen

Keywords: Microsoft Paint, Trump, election, debate, drawing.

Good In Programming

How do you know if you are good in computer programming?

A first grader can tell you the answer. At least the smart first graders who has been programming since day 1 in school -- public, private, or home-school.

The answer is: if in your 10th to 20th programming homework, you are still turning in programs with a bug in it, then you're just not good in writing programs without a bug in it.

Every first grader knows that they won't get a smiley face if they turn in a homework that is not what the teacher expected. So why should an employer or the person who wants to buy your program be any different.

Of course, just because you can't fix the bugs in your programs does not mean an employer will not hire you. Some employers are only looking for a good fit, a great personality, and a Computer Science degree since they have nerdy programmers who can always fix your bugs.

Here's what a smart first grader who knows C, C++, and JavaScript will answer.

while (true)
    if (program == "has_bug")
        fixBug(program);
    else
        break;

First graders know that every ONE has aptitude and they don't know anyone who failed Grade I.

Be smarter than a first grader!

John Sindayen

Keywords: C, C++, JavaScript, Decision, Loop, Programming.

Smart Enough To Vote

First Graders Are Old Enough To Vote

It takes a smart voter to elect the best candidate to be the next President of the United States. Voters who are 100 years old and senile can vote, so why not a first grader!

I was actually voted as Vice President of my fourth grade class, no less nominated by the prettiest girl in the class who was voted as Muse of the class. The President was the serious looking girl in the class.

Voting for the president of the good ole' USA is a very serious affair. You will be voting for the most powerful person in the world or maybe the entire universe. (Maybe that's why more boys wanted to be president.)

And that's exactly why first graders need to vote also. Because they are voting for their own future.

Here's what a smart first grader will do when his teacher asks him or her who to vote.

Who do you vote for president?

Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump

Be as smart as a first grader!

John Sindayen

Keywords: HTML5, radio button, president.

Smarter Than A First Grader

By 2020, children will be smarter than their grandparents, and sometimes even their parents.

Welcome to the 21st century!

By the time a first grader graduate first grade, he or she will learn how to form complete sentences like these:

I am in Grade I. I got an A in Recess.

And not only will first graders learn to form complete sentences, they will also learn to become programmers by forming complete Python statements like this:

print("Good morning, teacher!")

And the smarter first graders might even program this:

print("I will bring my homework to class. " * 100)

Not only can children learn Python, they can also learn any language they happen to like, like C++ and Java, or German and French!

Be smarter than a first grader!

John Sindayen

Keywords: Python, computer language, print.