A new Resort and Apartments have been added to the Hotels and Resorts page on the website. 
A new Web Directory has been added to the dumaguetecity.net website.
I finally received my first check from Google for the AdSense ads placed on my blogs and website.
I went to work,trying to get more affiliate advertisements for the website and blogs.
It hasn't been quite a year since I started the website...that'll be in October, I think.I have to say though, that it's not coming along in quite the way I expected.
Surfing the web, I came across an article about my website on a site called aboutus.org . I don't remember having been to that site before and I'm not certain how the article came about. Anyway, I created an account there and did a little bit of editing on the article.It would probably be a good idea for me to learn more about all this and do some serious editing .
After a long spell of laziness, I've updated a couple of pages on the Dumaguete city website;most of the changes being on the Blogosphere page.I've changed the background image,added buttons and took out a few blogs.I think the updated page looks a bit tidier.Incidentally, the background image is called "sfondo" and I swiped it from the Vatican's website.
More photo links have been added to the Dumaguete city web site.The links can be seen here.
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Saint Catherine Cathedral Dumaguete |
The dumaguetecity.net website is a work in progress;I suppose it always will be.As anyone who's been to the site can see,I've not had any formal training in web design and I'm learning as I go.With a limited budget and practically no web design tools,I've had to get by with what I can get free of the Internet.I've not been satisfied with the links in the index page......the photos with the font beneath.I've wanted to have "buttons" instead but had no idea how to create them.I've assumed they were images and keep looking for some way to do it that way.Today,I finally found a tutorial site that explained how it's done.I've put the new buttons on the index page,but as of this writing, I've haven't made the same changes to any of the other pages.
I received a email today from someone looking for a street map of Dumaguete.I wrote about this on another blog. Rather than go into the details, I'll just put a link to that post here.
Finally,after a seemingly endless wait,there are a few pen pal profiles on the website.I'm hoping that now that the ball is rolling, we'll have more before too much longer. I have someone in Dumaguete who'll try and help me on this.I know from my analytics that the old page was getting hits.Now,if the ladies who are profiled there get a lot of responses then "word of mouth" should be a big help in adding profiles,as well.The few listings I have,so far, are from young ladies who do not use email to any great extent. They can be contacted via "snail mail" which may be frustrating to some of the men out there, but in the long run I think it could lead to better relationships.
We now have merchandise on the Dumaguete city website.We've started out with a limited selection of T-shirts but we'll be adding more items on a regular basis.We wanted to get this going before we left for Dumaguete.We're always looking for feedback and comments.We'd like to hear any and all suggestions.
The Business Atrium in Dumaguete has a new website.Located on Silliman Ave. the business includes an Internet cafe, coffee shop and Computer Sales, Graphic Design, Advertising, Publishing, Repairs and Services.Their new web address can be found by going to the Dumaguete Blogosphere page and clicking on the link there or by going directly to businessatrium.
I've added a link to another blog/website to the Dumaguete blogosphere page called Scammers!!!!. Those who have been to the blogosphere page before may have to refresh their browser to see the link.We've all received emails from people claiming that we can somehow lay claim to millions of dollars by providing this person with personal information such as name, phone number and bank account information.I've been communicating with a few of these scammers for several months-myself posing as different characters- and the Scammers!!!! site is the result, so far.It contains transcribed email exchanges as well as copies of photos and documents sent to me by these folks.The photo is one sent to me by someone claiming to be Modestus Iba.....a lawyer in Nigeria.Like everything else, Scammers!!! is a work in progress so the pages will have to be refreshed to see the latest changes. As of today, there are transcripts from five scammers but I have much more which I haven't been able to include yet but will be added ASAP.
In a few weeks, probably after our return from Dumaguete, we will be selling T shirts on the Dumaguetecity website .We'll be be starting off with two designs on an ash grey shirt.We have the T shirts printed already, but I won't be able to sell them online until I've opened an Internet Merchant Account and set up the page with a shopping cart.This shouldn't take long,but there may be difficulties shipping the shirts to customers while we are out of the country.We don't have anyone working for us, so it looks like we may have to wait.
I've added two more blogs on to the Dumaguete blogosphere page on the website.These two blogs,eatingthesun and muffetsmenagerie were brought to my attention by Olga of losingmaia.
I've added a new link to the Dumaguete Blogosphere page.Although Sun Star Dumaguete Online isn't a blog,I've included the link to it because I feel like those of us interested in Dumaguete will enjoy reading it for the latest news.
I've made a couple of changes on the Dumaguete blogosphere page.Regular visitors to that page may have to refresh their browser to see the changes.
The poll for the most popular blog on the Blogosphere page has been there for a week now and the results are weak, indeed.I was expecting more voting but, so far,there's been only two votes cast.I'll keep it up for another week and,if there isn't more interest by then,I'll remove it.I guess that only shows how little I understand the folks visiting the website.We live and,hopefully,learn.
I've put a poll onto the website on the Blogosphere page. Go there and vote for your favorite blog on that page.Just want to keep track...I won't vote on it myself.
Trying to place a value on the various Dumaguete websites and blogs appears to be a never ending challenge.As for the outside links,I have,basically, only two ways of judging....Google PageRank and how-much-is-your-blog-worth. As for my own blogs and sites, I have the additional help of Google Analytics. Unfortunately,the results aren't conclusive.
I installed the Google Analytics in Nov. 2006. December was the first full month of readings.At the end of January I was able to compare two full months for the first time and we've shown a marked increase in the number of hits.We're always trying to improve the website.We're looking to have t-shirts available soon....we're working with the t-shirt people now. We're hoping to go to Dumaguete within the next few months.You can expect several updates after that.We want to get the penpal section up and running.I'll be taking lots of new photos from all over the city.We're excited about going home.We need to get a passport for my son (can't even set a date until we have it). I'm also hoping to meet some of the bloggers that are linked on my Blogosphere page.
My Internet browser of choice is Firefox.Not long after I started the Dumaguete website I installed the Google tool bar onto the browser.With it, I am able to see the page ranking of the sites I visit.It's a little bar space that defaults white but becomes different levels of green to show the ranking....the more green you see the higher the ranking.For the longest time, the page ranking for the website has been pitifully white with no green what-so-ever.Today, I noticed that after the last "crawling" but the Google robots, a bit of green has started to appear.I'm even starting to see green on the sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken blog and the meditation blog too.Sadly, the blog you are reading now isn't showing any green at all.
A few days ago, I came upon an interesting blog written by a woman-a wife and mother- in Dumaguete. The blog is entitled Losing Maia. I've commented on her blog posts one of my other blogs and today I added a link to her blog on the Dumaguete Blogosphere page.I hope everyone enjoys reading what she has to say.
Maintaining a website can be challenging and frustrating.I want to keep the site fresh with links to keep the visitors entertained.Sometimes in this effort,I will include links to sites that are outside of my control.This is the case with the Live Radio link on the index page and ,of course,most of the blogs on the Blogosphere page.The radio link doesn't always do as it should and I'm still having problems with the negrosislandonline blog.I'm going to wait until this weekend before I decide about removing them.The Internet is wonderful but sometimes it seems like it has a life of it's own.
I want to say from the beginning that this is not an advertisement.I am not getting paid or compensated in any way for this post. I am merely expressing my opinion.Anyone who has had any contact with someone in Philippines knows of the widespread use of text messaging as a means of communication.Unlike in the U.S., text messaging in Philippines is relatively cheap......especially compared to what they'd have to pay to call and talk to someone.One of the best ways for people in other countries to stay in daily contact with friends and loved ones in Philippines is to send messages from your home PC to their cell phone in Philippines. I highly recommend to everyone that they go to chikka.com and download their messenger.We've been using it for years and are very pleased with the speed and reliability. I know that there are other messengers that you can use and I'm sure they work very well but I am very familiar with this one and have no complaints with this company.It's a lot cheaper than international long distance phone calls and since they don't have to be in an Internet cafe, you can chat more often.It's free from the PC side and the rate for the cell phone user is reasonable.
As can be seen from this photo, I am always hard at work.I noticed yesterday that this new radio station on the main page was having the "singing chipmunk" problem so I've changed the link. Same station coming from different site.I took another look at the Blogosphere page after yesterday's posting and found a few problems that have now been corrected.I also added a few more links to that page and made some re-arrangments.As always,it's a good idea for return visitors to refresh the pages.
When I first put the blog " negros island online " on the Dumaguete Blogosphere page the url was http://negrosilandonline.blogspot.com . A day or so ago I looked at the blog and learned that the domain had changed to http://www.negrosislandonline.com/. Today I find that using either url results in an ERROR 404 page not found.I don't know what the problem is but I will continue to leave the link as is for awhile. Maybe someone will let me know what's going on with the site.
Even before my wife arrived in the U.S.,I would listen to Yes FM radio from Dumaguete over the Internet.When she came here she liked hearing radio from her home and the stream was a bookmark on our Winamp player.When I put together the Dumaguete website, I included a link to Yes FM but,as I mentioned in an earlier post,I had to remove the link because the station is no longer on the Internet.Sadly,we haven't been able to find another Dumaguete radio station.We've been listening to stations out of Manila and Cebu, but lately there's been a problem with those too.The music seems to be streaming very fast and the voices sound like chipmunks.We finally found a suitable station to put on the website....90.3 EnergyFM out of Dagupan.You'll find the link on the main page (it's the Marconi jpg).The station will open in a media player and you can continue to surf the Internet while you listen.Needless to say,it'll be best if you have cable or DSL.According to the Google Analytics,that shouldn't be a problem with most of the visitors to the site.
One of the new blogs listed on the Blogosphere page is humour and last laugh.A few days ago, a comment from a blogger was left on an earlier post. It’s my habit to look at websites and blogs of those who comment on my pages. I found his blog interesting enough to share with others. He is from Kathmandu,Nepal.The image used for his link on the Blogosphere page comes from here. It is of the Swayambhunath Stupa. In his profile, he mentions two authors. V.S. Naipaul and Samrat Upadhyay. Both are new to me, but after doing a Google on them, I decided they were worth looking into as well.
I've finally gotten around updating the Dumaguete blogosphere page.I moved all the files from the Comcast server to Host Monster.I added a couple of links on the page as well.While I was at it, I made a couple of changes on the main page of the website.Those of you who've been there before may have to refresh your browser to see the differences.There doesn't seem much point in moving the pen pals page until the whole project is finished.I know the photos page needs work too but I haven't decided how I should approach it.I'm sure I'll be doing further updates as time goes by.
It's been brought to my attention that occasionally,when trying to get to the website an "under construction" page will come up instead of the proper page.Corey sent a screen capture to me showing me the page.This was the page that originally came up before I contracted with a web Host.I'm thinking this error page is coming up when Host Monster's servers are down. I'm going to call them ASAP to find out what the problem is.Of course, the results of that exchange will appear on this blog. ( Thanks to Corey for the heads up).
A few days ago I transferred the Hotels and Resorts page on the website from my ISP account to the regular website server.While I was at it, I added a couple of hotels to the page.Soon, I'll be transferring the Blogosphere page as well and I want to add a few more blogs to that section while I'm doing all that work.There are lots of great blogs to choose from.I'm not going to limit my picks to Dumaguete blogs. Because of the set-up of the Blogosphere page,I want to put in an image with the link to the blog.If the blogger has an image in his or her profile I can use it.....but some folks don't use any.It that case I'll have to put in an image that I think fits.I'd hate to omit a blog because there wasn't a suitable image.I just hope that whatever image I use is OK with the blogger.
From it’s inception, I’ve looked at this blog as an extension of the dumaguetecity.net website. Its purpose is basically twofold. I hope to use it to drive visitors to the website and also, as a way of giving those already going to the site an update as to the progress being made on the site. Thanks to the wonder folks at Google and their Analytics program, I’m able to keep track of the hits going to the blog and the website. I find it interesting that the blog keeps getting fewer hits than the website. I’m not complaining….I am happy that so many people have gone to both places but to my mind, it seems that the blog has a bit more to offer when compared to the website. I try to put something new here as often as I can. There are incremental changes being made on the site but those changes are less noticeable. I’m not able at this point to do as much on the website as I’d like. The pen pal section has become a great disappointment to me. I can’t see how I can fix it until I go to Dumaguete. I’m not happy with the photos section either. I have more photos that I could add but these are pictures of family and friends…I don’t think the average visitor would be interested in them. One of my wife’s friends in Dumaguete has promised to send new photos but he has yet to do that. I guess I could troll the Internet looking for other folk’s photos but I won’t go that route. I hope that Cathy, J.P. & I can go home around Holy Week. I’ve been in Philippines during the Christmas season and arrived there once on Easter Sunday….but I would like to be there to experience Holy Week.
It's not as if I don't have enough to do.Between my 3 blogs,the web site, my regular job and helping out at home I don't have a lot of spare time.Yesterday,I started doing a little experimenting with photo imaging effects.After working with a jpeg, I wanted to see how the photo looked on my 2 blogs........there are different backgrounds, after all.I didn't have anything in particular to write about.I started with the sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken blog.I entitled the entry "testing the waters".I uploaded the photo,wrote a bit of nothing. I published the entry;After seeing how the photo looked on the white background,I deleted the entry.I went over to this blog and did exactly the same thing.Later,out of curiosity,I searched the blogs for Dumaguete blogs.The sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken listing was shown correctly, but the search results showed my last entry on this blog as "testing the waters"....the deleted entry. Of course,when I clicked on the link it took me to an error message.I'm not quite sure why this one was wrong while the other blog was right.It seems to me they should both be wrong or both right-not one of each.
Within the next few days,there will be a number of changes on the Dumaguete website.Most of these changes will probably go unnoticed the average visitor.This entry might appear to some as being "inside baseball". When I first put the site together,several of the pages were put on my ISP's free space with basically just the front page on my host's server.From a visual or content point of view,it really makes little difference on which server these secondary are located.But,I began to see some of these pages come up on a few search engines and the thought occurred to me that it would be better if all the pages were on the main server.This idea was confirmed by an email from Corey.I'll also make a few changes in the content while I'm transferring all this.I started working on the Hotels & Resorts page yesterday and the work involved is more than I anticipated....especially since I'm tending to my 1 year old while I work.
We want to wish a Happy New Year to the hundreds of people who have visited the website and blogs in the past few months.We hope everyone from Arizona to Uzbekistan....from Cebu to Cincinnati have a glorious and fulfilling 2007.May God's blessing come to each one of you.We know that some who come to our website who are away from their loved ones.We truly wish that these people can be re-united soon.To all of you we say pag ayo ayo and we hope you will continue to stop by.
