OSIST

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2009/02/osist.html last February 16, 2009

OSIST stands for "One Stop Information Shop of Technologies in the Philippines". The web site is a project of the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development (PCIERD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) from the Philippines. The website is basically a way for PCIERD to present to the public the number of technololgies available from the Department, whats interesting to note is that these technologies are products of researches and is now ready to be presented and be used by the public, also the website has been nominated as a finalist in the WSA Global Contest and the 11th Philippine Web Awards (PWA) e-Government Category.

The general appearance of the website is very neat, with a very clean look, there is not much clutter and shows only the information relevant to its purpose in a very clear manner. The main options are very visible at the left panel of the site which offers the available technologies, guest book, related links, and a web forum. The left panel also contains the search option of the website, which is very useful since the site contains a lot of technologies making searches easy for any user who wishes to visit the site.

The site shows at the front page the News & Updates and Success Stories, which allows visitors to read the things that are happening about the technologies being presented at the website. This adds credibility to the website and a good source of information especially to first time visitors. The right panel contains the "Most Visited Technology" section, this is a great section for showing all those topics and technologies that are usually being asked by the public, this gives visitors an idea of the content as well as a tool to help visitors look for the technologies that they need. Aside from the basic options, another feature of the site that is really helpful is the option to increase the font size of the content, allowing users to see the content at a font size of their liking.

Access to the website is easy the url si http://www.osist.dost.gov.ph or you can click here to visit the site. I tried to access the site from home and at the office, using different browsers and connection was a breeze, provded of course you have good internet connection and a decent computer.

In all, the site is very well built, Its nice to visit a website that does very good on what its supposed to do, and the OSIST website a very good example. Though not the most fancy of websites with minimal graphic designs that is pretty much acceptable as it removes weight in browsing and showing only the things that you need to see. A very functional website I recommend this website to be a sure winner.

You can vote through the url http://www.philippinewebawards.com/pages/register.asp.

Joomla! CMS Review

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2008/10/joomla-cms-review.html last October 9, 2008.

Joomla! is a Content Management System (CMS) Introduced to us at the Department of Science and Technology to easily manage the websites of the Department. I was reluctant at first to try this system since I was more of a static type of person, who always want to have full control of the website, but I soon found out that I might need a little upgrade.

Installing Joomla in my opinion might need an intermediate knowledge in IT since it entails a few tinkering to your server, if this is the first time for you install an open source CMS, I suggest you seek a little help just to make sure. Luckily for me, it's not the first time, and I already have some of the requirements in my server such as Apache, Mysql, etc..., you may also use XAMPP, you search XAMPP at any decent search engine and follow the instructions at their site.

Working with Joomla isn't really that difficult onceyou get the hang of it, if you've tried editing your profile at your favorite social site, then you've probably have little difficulty using this CMS. You may also need a little background in HTML and CSS, specially if you want to make changes to the codes of the templates.

Joomla uses CSS templates, and can use various modules, mambots and components which are readily available at a search of a button, and there are lots to choose from. I however uses, components for Galleries, modules for login menu, mambots for text editors just to name a few.

Creating articles is also fairly easy, you can cut/copy text directly from MS word and paste it to your text editor. It also alows you to create an info text to be placed at the front page of your website.

Over all, Joomla! is a great way to improve your website specially if your moving out from the old statict website management and administration, but might just have to get a little technical background on a few stuff, and most specially you'll need a bit of patience learning the tools. And as far as security is concerned, Joomla! seems to be good enough to keep those nasty beings from tinkering the website.

bluerayer.com: Latest in Gadgets and Technology

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2008/09/bluerayercom-latest-in-gadgets-and.html last Sept. 20, 2008

Being an IT professional I usually browse and search for the latest news in IT. and the gadgets that pop up every now and then. As you know the IT industry is a very fast paced industry with technologies and innovations appearing suddenly from nowhere, supplying the hungry demand for new ways to make life a little bit simplier and better.

Here is a place that suites those needs, bluerayer.com features some of the latest news in Gadgets and Technology, with categories ranging from Accessories to News, bluerayer provides good information not only to individuals like myself, but even to ordinary individuals who just want to know about something.

I honestly and simply like the fact of putting gadgets and technology into one space, I love gadgets and I need to be informed. You can check out bluerayer at www.bluerayer.com.