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Is religion a prerequisite in believing in god? If not, why such importance is put in it. If one does not believe in neither god nor religion does that make him a bad person?

I personally have my doubts about both topics; and earlier I asked myself why. Is it because God failed to help me, so I dismiss his existence; or because I have no proof that he exists; Or is it the lack of faith. I used to pray a lot when I was a kid, even though I seldom went to church; and somewhere along the way I lost that habit. Now whenever I get the urge to pray I ask myself, why now? is it because it is a convenient time to ask for assistance?. And that is not right by my standards. I try to tell myself that what fortunes we have may it be good or bad are the fruits of our actions, and there is no one too blame but ourselves. So is it right to ask help from a higher being when everything fails... and maybe get mad in the process when things don't go as we hoped them to be?

If praying helps I guess it does give you peace of mind at the very least, knowing that someone is actually listening; that much I'll acknowledge. With regards to a higher being giving assistance is another issue. I would want to think so, especially in times of great need, but there are times that no matter how much faith you put into someone or something, it doesn't make a difference. At the end of the day it is the person who took action that often gets his way.

If I were to believe in God once more I would want it to be because I have proven to myself that he does indeed exist and not because of any other reason. If that day comes, I will throw all my inhibitions and accept that fact, though I shall not put my faith in religion. I think a person can have his own beliefs outside the boundaries and politics of religion.

code updated 12-18-06

Litrato means photo or picture in Filipino; which is also the name of my script I use on my site to show my pictures.. It's my own implementation of the lightbox script.which is not as sophisticated as lightbox but it is still functional never the less. I wrote it because I was curious how the lightbox script worked and I wanted to try and make my own just for educational purposes.

For those who are interested and want to build their own I contribute my work to you and hope it helps. So here it is.

litrato.js

This is the gist of the script, you must call litrato.init() when the page loads to initialize the http object for our AJAX goodness. The AJAX routine is handled by litrato.php which is also responsible for the presentation of the image. The script also makes 2 <div> tags which is styled using litrato.css to give it that lightbox fill to it


 

var litrato = {

    http: null,

    image: null,

    isActive: false,

    imgId: "ViewPhoto",

    bgId: "PhotoBG",

    

    makeObject: function() {

        var request = false;

        try {

            request = new XMLHttpRequest();

        } catch (trymicrosoft) {

            try {

                request = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");

            } catch (othermicrosoft) {

                 try {

                    request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");

                } catch (failed) {

                    request = false;

                }

            }

        }

        return request;

    },

    

    init: function() {

        litrato.http = litrato.makeObject()

    },

    

    facade: function(make) {

        var opacity = 85;

        var height = (typeof( document.documentElement.scrollHeight ) == 'number' ) ? document.documentElement.scrollHeight : document.body.scrollHeight;

        height += 150; //to fix the height bug

        

        if (make) {

            if (!document.getElementById(litrato.bgId)) {

                var fadebg = document.createElement('div');

                fadebg.id = litrato.bgId;

                document.body.appendChild(fadebg);

                var bgObj = document.getElementById(litrato.bgId);

                

                bgObj.style.height = height + "px";

                bgObj.style.opacity = '.' + opacity;

                bgObj.style.filter = "alpha(opacity:" + opacity + ")";

            }

        } else {

            document.body.removeChild(document.getElementById(litrato.bgId));

        }

    },

    

    render: function() {

        if (litrato.http.readyState == 4) {

            if (litrato.http.status == 200) {

                //display the photo

                var response = litrato.http.responseText.split("|");

                document.getElementById(litrato.imgId).innerHTML = "<h2>LOADING IMAGE</h2>";

                

                //check if the image is cached

                if (litrato.image.complete) document.getElementById(litrato.imgId).innerHTML = response[0];

                else { //else load it

                    litrato.image.onload = function(e) {

                        document.getElementById(litrato.imgId).innerHTML = response[0];

                    }

                }

                litrato.image = null;    

            } else {

                alert("Request has timed out.");

            }

            litrato.isActive = false;

        }

    },

    

    show: function(file) {

        if (!litrato.http) {

             alert("Error initializing XMLHttpRequest!");

             return false;

        }



        if (litrato.isActive)    { 

            alert("Still proccessing your previous request; please wait untill the process finishes"); 

        } else {

            litrato.close(); //make sure everything is clean

            litrato.isActive = true;

            litrato.image = new Image(); //preload the image

            litrato.image.src = file;



            //create the div element

            if (!document.getElementById(litrato.imgId)) {

                var photobox = document.createElement('div');

                photobox.id = litrato.imgId;

                document.body.appendChild(photobox);

            }



            litrato.facade(true);

        

            file = file.replace(new RegExp('/',"g"),'~');

            

            litrato.http.open('get', 'litrato.php?page=photo&l='+file);

            litrato.http.onreadystatechange = litrato.render;

            litrato.http.send(null);

            window.location = "#canvas";

        }

    },

    

    close: function() {

        if (document.getElementById(litrato.imgId)) {

            document.body.removeChild(document.getElementById(litrato.imgId));

            litrato.facade(false);

        }

    }

};

litrato.php

This file parses the info sent by litrato.js and returns the corresponding output in HTM;. if you want to format how the image is presented do it here.


 

if ($_REQUEST['l'] == "") { header ("Location: error.php?404"); }

$file = ereg_replace("~", "/", $_REQUEST['l']);

if (!file_exists($file)) { header ("Location: error.php?404"); }



$title = substr($file, strrpos($file, "/")+1, strlen($file));

$title = ereg_replace("_", " ", $title);

$title = substr($title, 0, strpos($title, "."));



list($x, $y) = getimagesize($file);



echo "<h4>click on the photo to hide it</h4><a href="javascript:litrato.close();"><img src="$file" alt="$_REQUEST[i]" id="GalleryPhoto" width="$x" height="$y" /></a><br />n<h2>$title</h2>";

litrato.css

Finally the CSS file; this code is responsible for the opaque black background and the image borders and what not. the elements are created by the litrato.js file.


 

#ViewPhoto {

    float: left;

    position: absolute;

    top: 0;

    left: 0;

    text-align: center;

    z-index: 2001;

    padding-top: 20px;

    width: 100%;

    color: #000;

}

#ViewPhoto img {

    background: #FFF;

    border: 1px #333 solid;

    padding: 5px;

}

#ViewPhoto h2, #ViewPhoto h4 {

    font-weight: normal;

    margin: 0;

    padding: 5px;

    color: #FFF;

}



#PhotoBG {

    float: left;

    position: absolute;

    top: 0;

    left: 0;

    z-index: 900;

    width: 100%;

    

    background: #000;

    z-index: 2000;

}

Notes

To load an image you use a normal A tag calling the litrato.show('path') function and specifying the path in the function arguements like so:


 

<a href="javascript:litrato.show('somepath/photo.jpg');">ClickMe</a>

There you have it! As far as I know the script works well on DOM ready browsers; if you find any bugs lemme know.

After a long break I have returned... It all started when my cousin died of some sort of cancer at the age of 3. I'm trying to make sense of the things that have been happening around me lately and I felt I had to step back to get a better perspective.

I heard the Philippine web awards have ended, honestly I am disappointed with the outcome, not that I'm sour-graping but I thought other nominees were much more deserving than the elected winners; especially in the Art and Portfolio section. Not only that, the award giving body's site itself was a disappointment; I mean I expected a much better site from them... I guess I expected too much.

The holidays are at hand at last, the usual hustle and bustle, cheer and of course danger is in the air. by danger I mean snatchers, hold-up'ers and the like; unfortunately it has been a part of our holiday season through the years0 Personally am not into the spirit this year but I am definitely liking the cool weather these past few days.

You may have noticed the new layout; It's the uber late update (ironic ain't it) I was suppose to make last October. I feel the my time off had a huge influence in my new design. And like the Project name suggests, it's back to basics. Also I'm starting some mini projects also like the hiragana/katakana game I just finished. I plan to do more small projects to pass the time and to contribute to the respective communities I patronize.

Everything seems well aside from the fact that I don't have a job at the moment and my options are dwindling fast. I wont bother going into details, bottom line the future of my financial life looks very bleak. I hope I can find something I can do to earn money despite my handicap.

I am planning on redesigning my site once again with a different motive in mind. The few days have been somewhat chellenging for me, simply put my eyes are getting worse and I don't think I can use computers for much longer much less make it my source of income. I don't wanna go into details about it, but I am currently thinking of other carrers that i can apply myself in. Designing and Programming will be more like a hobby or a pass-time from here on out.

It's frustraiting really when you even have a hard time reading the keys on the keyboard which is only a few inches away from your face... With that said, I'll shall be back on the drawing board.

On other things I wasn't able to enter the semi's for the Philippine Web Awards, which was cool, but a few of my friends found it odd. I wasn't really surprised with the outcome I am just glad I was able to actually join. Though one of my friends told me something which made me laugh a bit, it goes something like: "Average people can't appreciate above average work"... no harm intended :)

The lighting was just too good to pass; I couldn't help myself taking a photo. I was after the dramatic lighting effect; unfortunately my shot didn't catch it. Never the less I'm glad I took the photo, the ambiance at that moment brought back some good memories of my childhood. Aside from that it'll serve as a benchmark of my physique. I've been trying to gain back lost weight mainly muscle mass I lost during the past 2 months. I'm not at the size I used to be but I'm definitely making some progress.

Moving on.. my free nihonggo classes will start tomorrow; I've been looking forward to it for quite sometime. Coincidentally I'll also be having a job interview tomorrow morning; I hope all goes well and I land the job..I really wanna get a job for 2 reasons; 1: take care of my financial responsibilities and 2: to my own place.

I think I'm getting to know more about myself these past few days and it's putting me in a rather good mood lately. Maybe if I understand myself better I'd be more motivated and driven to find a job and excel in my field... am guessing that's a big IF

I've been thinking about IT developers here in the Philippines; especially in the multimedia scene primarily the web. Most of the time these people sell them short (myself include) to compete in the market. It's more of not how good you are but how much you are. This is especially here; where the price wars are cut-throat. It gets to the point that you solely do it for the money, and think to yourself "Why should I put my all in this project!? the pay is lousy and I was only forced to do it since I really need money"... which eventually leads to the death of creativity and innovation.

This is especially true for free-lancers and small IT companies. The goal is to finish the project at the least amount of time and effort at the cost of cutting corners. Which is a profitable gesture, but I think leads to complasancy and halts progress. Idealistic as it may seem, I try my best to do projects I feel strongly about, projects I can be proud of. But other people don't have that luxury; it's a sad reality we have to face.

I would want to see more filipinos who have the luxury of choice in their line of work to put their 100% into their crafts and continue to push the limits. Some fear piracy in all its forms, but I would want to think that there are some things that cannot be pirated like the dedication and effort one brings to the job.

Bottom line, thinking about what sells isn't always the best way to sell your services, I think it would be better to take different avenues and create new possibilities. It gives chance for innovation and creativity to work its magic. There is always a choice.

If you want something done right, do it yourself. A statement that I have forgotten, and made me complacent with my situation. Call it inhibition, procrastination or whatever; bottom line is: one should always be responsible for his or her actions.

Blame makes the situation better because you don't have to face the truth, it's just the same as running away, and I don't want any of that. I want to and hope to become the better man and take responsibility and atone for my mistakes. Easier said than done; but that's the only way to move forward.

My shit is broken so to speak, things are looking bleak for me. Been lossing weight recently and my sleeping pattern is way off. I don't know how to deal with my problem right now, I am not proud of the manner I am handling things at the moment and frankly it's slowly breaking me. I'm pondering how long I can keep this up before I do something irrational and stupid.

When this problem blows over, the repercussions of what transpired will still be there to haunt me, so I'm fucked either way. I guess I was a really bad mother fucker in my past life and this is the beginning of my karma... like my alias suggests.