February 26, 2015

Android Studio

Not yet using Android Studio? Now is a great time to start using it for Android apps development. You can check this video introducing Android Studio.


Android Studio is the official Android IDE. You can download it at http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html. To those migrating from Eclipse, you can check these pages: Migration Guide and Tips and Tricks.

There is also a new Google+ community for Android Studio discussions at https://plus.google.com/communities/103491657963571270604.




February 11, 2015

Google I/O 2015

Sundar Pichai, Google SVP of Android, Chrome and Apps announced on Google+ the dates for Google I/O 2015 in San Francisco: May 28-29.

The registration will be opened on March 17 at 09:00 AM PDT and will close on March 19 at 5:00PM PDT. After that, a lottery of tickets will be done to select the developers who will be able to purchase tickets. General Admission tickets cost $900 but Academic tickets are only $300.

If you won't be able to attend I/O in person, you can still join online (in the Google I/O website) or attend one of the I/O Extended events worldwide. GDG Philippines will have another I/O Extended event this year. For updates, add GDG Philippines in your Google+ circles.


February 4, 2015

Condura Skyway Marathon 2015

After my 16k run last January, I ran again this month. This time, I ran 10k at Condura Skyway Marathon 2015.


(Photo from conduramarathon.com)

Condura Skyway Marathon 2015 was held in Filinvest City, Alabang on the first day of February 2015. There were four categories: 6k, 10k, 21k, and 42k.

Official race results say I finished the run in 1:16:52. Runtastic shows that I ran 9.95 km in 1:16:33.



This year's run and route was good. There were just too many runners in Skyway. The separation of runners in waves was good but once everyone is already in the road, it started to get clogged. It was hard to run faster, especially during the last two or three kilometers, where everyone has only one way to the finish line.

The location of the hydration stations are okay. I like it that there were more than one station with Gatorade (unlike other running events with only one station with sports drink).

This is already my second run for the year. I am hoping to have three or more runs this 2015 (at least one per quarter).


February 3, 2015

Trip to Ozamiz City

I was again invited by La Salle University-Ozamiz to be a part of the 6th ICT Youth Convention on January 28-30, 2015.

I arrived in Ozamiz in the morning of January 28. We went to Royal Garden Hotel and had breakfast in The Coffee Lounge while waiting for the rooms to be ready. I went to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, which is just a few steps away from the hotel, for prayers before going to LSU. The cathedral has the largest pipe organ in the country and is the biggest in Mindanao. In LSU, I checked the machines and started the download of the latest version of Android Studio for the afternoon workshop. We went back to the hotel to have lunch at Hukad Sa Golden Cowrie. I ordered Chicken Pandan.

After lunch, we went to LSU. Android Studio has been installed but the download of other components is taking too long so we just used ADT Bundles which were already installed there last year. There were around 30 participants in the Android workshop. I did a talk first about Android apps development. We were already starting with the hands-on when the power went out. It lasted for more than 30 minutes. I talked and demonstrated Google Cardboard, Android Wear (Moto 360), and Chromecast during the blackout. Most of the participants were able to finish the activity.



The next day, I woke up early and we had breakfast at The Coffee Lounge in the hotel. After breakfast, we went to LSU. I was the second speaker for the morning. My talk was "Android: Beyond Phones and Tablets." I discussed Android Wear, Android TV, and Android Auto. I also told them about other innovations like Google Cardboard, Chromecast, and Project Ara.

The slides I used in my talk

We went to Chicken Ati-atihan for lunch. After eating, Sir Harold and other teachers toured me to Fuerte de la Concepcion Y del Triunfo (Cotta). It was an old Spanish fort built to protect the region. We checked the Cotta Museum, Cotta Shrine, and climbed the lighthouse.


Miniature of the Fuerte de la Concepcion Y del Triunfo
We also went to Clarin, Misamis Occidental to try the different flavors of suman in House of Suman and Pasalubong Center. There were a total of 13 flavors. Only 7 flavors were available that day and we were able to try six.


Some of the suman we tried
We went back to LSU campus. After the other speakers finish their talks and workshops, we went to Tangub City to go to Hoyohoy Highland Stone Chapel Adventure Park. Unfortunately, it is already too dark when we arrived there. We checked out the Highland Chapel Hotel in the compound before going back to Ozamiz. We went to Dahon Boodle and Grill for the Social Nights but we had dinner at Hukad Sa Golden Cowrie in Royal Garden Hotel.


Hoyohoy Highland Stone Chapel Adventure Park

Sweet Chili Chicken for dinner at Hukad Sa Golden Cowrie

The morning after, I was picked up by Miss Leslyn and Miss Jabie of LSU. We had breakfast at Jollibee before going to the Ozamiz Airport. It was great to visit Ozamiz again. Hopefully, Celine and I can go back there soon to explore the city more.