ODB for today…

Last Christmas, while wrapping some gifts for family and friends, my mom gave me 3 Our Daily Bread booklets to wrap, for just-in-case gift giving. I wrapped it but at the end of the celebration, it remain there, lying under our Christmas tree. Well, my curiosity aroused me to open up one for myself and I began to read it each day starting Jan. 1, 2008. I read it every morning before I start my work and it feels nice good.

So I just want to share today’s topic. It is about waiting (patiently)…

“[Abraham] believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. — Genesis 15:6

Any mother can tell you that waiting to give birth is an experience that builds patience. But pity the poor mother elephant. It takes about 22 months for an unborn elephant to mature to birth! The shark known as the spiny dogfish has a pregnancy duration of 22-24 months. And at elevations above 4,600 feet, the Alpine salamander endures a gestational period of up to 38 months!

Abraham could have identified with these examples from nature. In his old age, the Lord made a promise to him: “I will make you a great nation� (Gen. 12:2). But as the years passed, Abraham questioned how the fulfillment of the promise was possible without even the basic building block of a son (15:2). So God assured him, “One who will come from your own body shall be your heir� (v. 4).

Despite his advanced age, Abraham believed God and was called righteous (v. 6). Yet he waited 25 years from the time of the initial promise for Isaac to be born (17:1,17).

Waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled is part of trusting Him. No matter how long the delay, we must wait for Him. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful� (Heb. 10:23). — Marvin Williams

Not so in haste, my heart!
Have faith in God, and wait;
Although He seems to linger long,
He never comes too late. — Torrey”

God always performs what He promises.

Add comment January 5th, 2008

How to recognize a STRoke

“Stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is the clinical designation for a rapidly developing loss of brain function due to a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain.” It is caused by the lack of oxygen supplied to the brain, causing the brain tissues to die. It may be due to ischemia or the lack of blood supply caused by thrombosis or embolism, or due to a hemorrhage. When a severe blood clot, for example, blocks the passage way of the blood to the brain, it may cause stroke.

It is an emergency scenario and every second count in quickly and accurately detecting a stroke. In order to save a patient or a loved one’s life, we must know the early signs of stroke and immediately bring it to the knowledge of doctors.

To recognize a stroke, just remember the first three letters of the word and ask the individual to…
S * SMILE.
T * TALK and SPEAK A SAMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
R * RAISE BOTH ARMS.

A new way of detecting if a patient is suffering stroke is to ask him/her to stick out his/her tongue. If it is crooked or goes to one side or the other, then it is a sign of stroke. In cases of stroke, life is hanging by a thread so protect your family and friends by knowing ahead.

Add comment January 5th, 2008

DOJ website hacked: NBI is now on the hunt

A felon is a felon, whether it be against a private individual or the government!

YEZ! Last thursday, Jan. 3rd, some felons greeted DOJ with a big surprise for the New Year. For a few hours, visitors of the Department of Justice’s website saw Wizard of Enchanted Kingdom, instead of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez.

 There was no major disruptions in the operations of DoJ, but the incident remains to be a great mockery and an on-the-face insult to the department. If hackers can access even the government department’s websites, how much more private individual’s websites.This poses as a warning to different business establishments as well who uses the internet as a means of a selling point or keeps record or uses the worldwideweb as a means of communication. Important files on the net may no longer be safe and we all have to be cautious.

The DoJ website was hosted by PLDT, who has promised to investigate the event as well. As of now, the NBI is also conducting their own probing and hunt for who is liable for the hacking. Note that hacking is punishable under Republic Act No. 8792 or the E-commerce Law. As Sec. 33 of the said law provides:

“SEC. 33. Penalties. - The following Acts shall be penalized by fine and/or imprisonment, as follows:

(a) Hacking or cracking which refers to unauthorized access into or interference in a computer system/server or information and communication system; or any access in order to corrupt, alter, steal, or destroy using a computer or other similar information and communication devices, without the knowledge and consent of the owner of the computer or information and communications system, including the introduction of computer viruses and the like, resulting in the corruption,destruction, alteration, theft or loss of electronic data messages or electronic document shall be punished by a minimum fine of one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) and a maximum commensurate to the damage incurred and a mandatory imprisonment of six (6) months to three (3) years;…”

Add comment January 4th, 2008

MACBOOK PRO STOLEN on CHRISTMAS! 40K REWARD

(I’m posting this to help the victim..to what’s the least that I can do)

STOLEN: Macbook Pro 2.4GHZ, 2GB RAM, 120GB HDD - SERIAL # W8732099X92
WHEN: DEC.23,2007
WHERE: Tagaytay City
REWARD: P40,000 for recovery and information leading to recovery
CONTACT: MARK DE LOS REYES, 0917-893-2392

My sister’s Macbook Pro laptop was stolen last DEC. 23 from our home in Tagaytay. Someone had taken her laptop from a table inside our house while it was charging. Charger, and case were taken as well. My sister is supposed to graduate this coming year and all her work files were in that computer. (my christmas gift to her was an external hdd for her to back up her files, but unfortunately the laptop was stolen before she could use it.) Her thesis and a lot of her design work remains inside, so the laptop’s contents are more valuable to us than the actual laptop. The computer is passworded, so it is likely that the person who has it will bring it to a store or shop to have the hard disk reformatted.

Please spread the word among technicians and other apple stores so that this laptop may be found soon. My sister’s career depends on it.

Hopefully we can all still have a happy new year.

-Mark De los Reyes
0917-893-2392
timdlr@gmail.com

Add comment January 3rd, 2008