Lifebit

How many of us take photos of our food? And how about we get rewarded with that? Exciting right! We invited a couple of student - bloggers and influencers from Ateneo de Davao University last December 18, 2015 to try our newest mobile application, City Lifebit. And, together with City Lifebit’s early partners: Cococ’s Bistro, Oriental Touch Shiatsu Center Massage & Spa and Upstairs Rooftop Bar + Kitchen, the event was made even more fun and exciting!

(Left to Right: Jeffrey Mondia, Dewanie Kim Sala, Jowe Posadas, Nikko Zamora, and MJ Castro) AdDU’s Influencers had their orientation with Twidl Inc. Ceo Eric Su at Lifebit HQ located at CVA Building, J.P. Laurel Ave, Poblacion District, Davao City.

Located at Legaspi Suites, Cococ’s Bistro was the first stop of the Blogger’s Night Out. The freshest ingredients, mouth-watering Asian cuisine, and picture-perfect dishes were served. Within seconds of serving, everyone whipped out their mobile phones and quickly took photos.

Who says City Lifebit is only limited to food and drinks? There are also service establishments included such as massage salons and spas to accommodate your favorite relaxation places. Great massage, with a serene and relaxing location, and providing excellent service, this is one of our early partners, Oriental Touch Shiatsu Center, offers. They have 6 branches in Davao (Ecoland – beside SM Ecoland, Matina – Along Nccc Mall, Metro Avenue, Bajada – Fronting Robinsons Cybergate, Buhangin – Along Jollibee, and Nova Tierra Village) that will surely attend to your pampering needs.  

We ended our (Bloggers) Night Out in the famous deck spot in Davao – Upstairs Rooftop Bar + Kitchen, located at Maa Road, infront of DPB Village. Besides their scrumptious food and cold bottles of beer or glass of cocktail, the place itself is a perfect hideaway (of course, with your favorite clique).

So if you want to enjoy and live your city life to the fullest, download City Lifebit now,  a free mobile application that let’s you earn actual cash by endorsing your favorite shops!

Visit and Like their Facebook page to keep you updated.

https://www.facebook.com/cococsbistro 

https://www.facebook.com/Oriental-Touch-Shiatsu-Center-170226642996950/

Nina enrolled in an associate course in computer programming right after high school. She felt the rush of coding. "There were about 10 guys in my class and only two or three of us girls,” she relates, “They gave us one big problem to solve as our project. It was challenging just mapping the solution but I love every minute of it!"

It was a decision she had to defend from her father who didn’t see the need to “invest” in her future as she might just end up pregnant. She was considered one of the top three in her programming class.

Reasons vary why there is an unbalance in tech. In fact, recent numbers show that women hold only 25% of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) jobs in the US. Females shying away from tech jobs fostered tech giants like Google to start projects to close the gender gap. Check them out:

Made with Code

Women Techmakers

More amazing resources that popped up to partner with Google or exclusively teach girls to code:

Code School is “an online learning platform that teaches a variety of programming and web design skills.” They’ve partnered with Google’s Women Techmakers Program by giving away free accounts for three months.

Rails Girls is a global non-profit global community that aims to give tools to women to understand technology. They make technology accessible and approachable and help build ideas into reality with basics such as sketching, prototyping, and basic programming.

Mother Coders is founded by Tina Lee, a mom herself, who sees moms as an enormous talent pool and who needs help on-ramping to careers in technology. Their business model includes the fundamentals in technology skills, industry knowledge, peer and professional support, plus on-site childcare.

Girl Develop It is co-founded by Sara Chipps and Vanessa Hurst. They target to empower women to feel confident to code and build beautiful web and mobile applications. Their learning model includes mentorship and hands-on instructions.

Girls Who Code founder, Reshma Saujani describes, “This is more than just a program. It’s a movement.” Their goal is to inspire, educate, and equip girls with computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities. They know that exposing girls at a young age to computer science will lead to more women in the STEM fields.

Hackbright Academy teams up with Facebook and Intuit to provide sponsorship for Moms in Tech who qualify for the Hackbright Academy Engineering Fellowship. They offer 12-week accelerated engineering program for women with the purpose of being a career game-changer.

Skillcrush states that “digital skills are job skills.” Adda Birnir knows that women tend to be underrepresented in tech so she started an online resource with a collaborative environment to empower women to build their own website and learn web development.

Ladies Learning Code is a Toronto-based non-profit group. They empower everyone to learn beginner-friendly technical skills with computer programming workshops.

Pyladies is an international mentorship group that focuses on helping women become active participants and leaders in the Python community. They equip through outreach, education, conferences, events and social gatherings.

Code Scouts is an Oregon-based non-profit startup founded in 2012 by Michelle Rowley, a self-taught software developer. They create customized learning plans with mentors to hone their skills alongside other learners.

Photo: Idaho National Laboratory

We're on the second post in our quantified series. We hope this brings self-tracking or Quantified Self closer to your heartstrings.

While it may come under different labels: self tracking, life logging, quantified self or self hacking -- these all highlight the fact that we, not only “quantify” aspects about ourselves but also shows we like competing with ourselves.

In improving our health, raising our productivity or just learning things about our habits and patterns, daily self-tracking of your routine does put you in a more self-aware state; increasing your chances in achieving that goal.

Which can be very good.

Tracking for Health

As this infographic demonstrates, 46% of the US adults with chronic condition changed their overall approach to health.

So how should you start?

Although majority track their health data more than anything else, you can start with anything you might find interesting.

It can be any aspect about you. Just keep it simple: your mood, the number of steps you take everyday, you're productivity, your sleep, your weight, your food...go crazy with this one.

What tools should you start using?

For starters, a pen and paper and a digital spreadsheet like Google Drive or Excel would work. Once your goal becomes specific, try the tools in this list:

Sleep

Lark

SleepTracker

SleepCycle

Activity

Fitbit One

Moves App

Misfit Shine

Food

MyFitnessPal

Lose it

HAPIfork

Lifelogging

One Second Everyday

Google Glass

Autographer

Goals

AskMeEvery

Beeminder

RoutineTap

Travel

Foursquare

TripIt

VEZMA

Money

Slice

TheBirdy

Mint

This is by no means a comprehensive list of tracking tools. A quick search on the internet and you'll get even more apps - more up and coming ones too!

Long and short, tracking technology has made it easier to acquire data about yourself. 

Now you can go start tracking!

Just in case you missed it take a quick read :

Log Your Life and How to Play It

Image: David Wall

When your status is set on "working", you know it's only effective when things are actually done at the end of the day. But what do you do when you've put in the hours but you're hardly halfway through your workload?

Shrinking your to-do list is easier when you can identify and eliminate your time-suck. Some hacks may require a change in habit but it's no big deal for big boys (and girls!) like you.

Image: Christian Schnettelker

Here are concrete steps from entrepreneurs:

Cut back on multitasking - Suze Orman says, "For starters, you will never, ever catch me multitasking. I think people who boast about their ability to simultaneously juggle multiple projects or chores are fooling themselves if they think they are operating at peak productivity. I measure productivity not simply by the clock, but the quality of the work. Multitasking is the ruination of quality."

Work when others are still sleeping -  leader of 85 Broads and past president of Merrill Lynch, Sallie Krawcheck says, "My mind is clear, not yet caught up in the multiple internal conversations that we all conduct with ourselves once we gear up for our first meeting of the day. And there’s a peace that comes from knowing that my family is all in bed and safe upstairs while I work." 

Clean your inbox everyday - Elliott Weissbluth,CEO and founder of financial services firm Hightower, uses the methods of unsubscribing, filing digitally, and delete when in doubt. He gets Inbox Zero every night.

Hack your list - Jacki Zehner, CEO of Women Moving Millions, uses these categories for her to-do list: 

Urgent

TO Do Soon

To Do Someday

Waiting For

To Watch

To read

She shares one more simple and easy tip that she uses every day, "Any task that will take less than two minutes to do, don't waste time putting it on the list. Just get it done right then and there and knock it off immediately. This will help keep the length of your lists manageable and your sanity intact."

Summer won't be summer without the beach, the BBQs, and some heat. But who says you can't have it all and still look cool. We found The King of Random and his 10 Life Hacks for Summer. He shows how you can rock it too!

1. Condiments

Problem: Crowded condiments table at a BBQ.

Hack: Use a muffin pan. Your condiments are easy to access plus you'll save some table space too.

2. Mango 

Problem: Too much mango left in the peel.

Hack: On one piece of a cut mango, gently cut lines to resemble a checkerboard. Take it with both hands and push it inside out. You'll have bite sized pieces of mango, ready to eat off the peel.

3. Burger 

Problem: Big-sized burgers get soggy.

Hack: Turn it upside down! The top bun is twice as thick as the bottom and can absorb all that sauce.

5. Quick Snack Bowl 

Problem: You have to dig into a bag of chips.

Hack: Fold the top edge inside the bag, then begin rolling the bottom corners, up into the base of the bag.  Easier access to all that chips.

5. Popsicle

Problem: Dripping popsicles and little sticky fingers

Hack: Grab a small paper cup or a cupcake liner, and poke a hole in the bottom, about the size of a popsicle stick.  It's an instant drip catcher.

6. Cold Drink

Problem: Quick cold drink to cool down.

Hack: Fill your water bottles with just enough water so it will settle just below the bottle neck. When frozen, the ice won't block the opening. Just fill it up with your favorite beverage when you are ready to go. Instant icy-cold drink.

7. Straw in Soda Can

Problem: Your straw won't stay.

Hack: Bend the tab of the can over the hole and place your straw through the tab.  No more bobbing straws.

8. Ants

Problem: How to get rid of ants?

Hack: Measure out a cup of popcorn kernels.  Put them in a blender, on high speed for about 30 seconds, and you have a batch of fresh, homemade cornmeal. Just make a few piles around the ant trails and within a few days, your ant problems will, literally disappear

9. Fruit Fly 

Problem: Fruit flies everywhere!

Hack: Slice a few pieces of banana and mix them with some of your leftover mango peels.  Find yourself a couple of small containers, and add the fruit.  Stretch a piece of plastic wrap over the top, and poke a small hole in the center that's just bigger than the fly.  

Within a few minutes, the flies will be checking things out. Once all the flies are in, just take the lid of the container and seal them inside.  A

As the King of Random says: "Now you, are the lord of the flies."

10. Stealth Beach Container 

Problem: Stolen valuables at the beach.

Hack: Take your old shampoo bottle and twist the top so that it pops right off.  Clean it out and cut a hole in the top that's just big enough, to stash your valuable items inside.  Snap the top back on, and your items are perfectly concealed. To anyone, it may just be another shampoo bottle. 

There you have it! Summer just got easy. 

For more lifehacks, experiments, projects, or just mad science, check Grant Thompson's channel, The King of Random.

Thank you for letting Lifebit use your images, Grant! 

This is installment 3 of 3 of life logging and quantified self and it's getting more fun! See the first and the second post too.

"If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it."  

                                                          - Lord Kelvin

We have covered what quantified self or self tracking and the tools to quantify your data. The range of areas you can track is pretty much varied.

The impact of quantified self is still the proverbial tip of an iceberg. We haven't seen the entirety yet! And this will continue to be an emerging industry.

For a little inspiration here's a roundup of quantifiers and what they found out:

Medical: Databetic

Photo: Doug Kanter

Doug Kanter is a Type-1 diabetic. He experimented with visualization to track his diabetes control for a few years. To better understand how diet impacts his diabetes self-management, he started adding more data.

His experiment shows the best diabetes control of his life.

Quantified Kid: Ashley Barchas

Photo: Dave Barchas

Dave Barchas, a technology architect in Scottsdale, Arizona, noticed his 4-year-old daughter, Ashley, hadn't gained weight in 18 months. Although perfectly healthy and a big eater, her lack of weight gain concerned Barchas. So he turned to biometric data using Fitbit.

He was able to measure her physical activity.

Artist: Quantify-me

Photo: Laurie Frick Quantify-me

Laurie Frick is a visual artist who turned her data into beautiful art installations. She conveys what if we can see our mood, our temperature, sleep patterns, weight, movement...our data on our walls.

Self-tracking as art also inspired a visual project started by an elementary teacher, Abigail Soto. Laurie Frick made sure Quantified Self knows about her project.

Facebook: The Formation of Love

Photo: Facebook Data Science

Your Facebook timeline is a "datamine" of how relationships progress. You can tell the point of a couple's courtship with the frequency on each other's timeline and other decreasing factors as the relationship progresses.

Facebook has more anonymized, aggregated data.

Photo credit: William Brawley

What used to be in the area of science is giving us regular people a chance to be in control and be our own research project.

The idea of tracking our behavior, our patterns, moods, or any other aspect about ourselves is nothing new. In some shape or form, you might have dabbled in self-tracking:

Mood: Can you be happy in 100 days in a row?

Projects: 365 Projects or Make something

Weight Loss: Daily food plan

Diabetes control: Databetic

This is Quantified Self 

You use any tracker to measure aspects about yourself that you want to pay close attention to; things like sleep patterns, weight loss, food you eat, cash flow, travel, anything that matters to you. Nothing is too small or too big.

Why it's important

Since we churn out immense amount of data, we become the best source of information. This data can help manage medical conditions, can pinpoint factors to your mood, or affect your productivity. Information that makes you better using the appropriate data.

Your turn

What's your biggest problem? How would you want to fix that? Where would you want to be better at? 

Mugs can have a variety of uses besides just hanging out with your morning coffee. They keep things organized; even double as your pen holder or corral small items. Add more to this kitchen essential's repertoire by making quick meals.

Your favorite mug, some kitchen staples thrown in, 5 minutes or less in the microwave and who would know you took shortcuts.

Here's a roundup of 12 mug meals:

Image credit: STL Today

1. Coffee Cup Quiche - Great for quick breakfast..or dinner. Whichever way you'd go, you'll never go wrong

Image credit: Kirbie's Cravings

2. Blueberry Muffin with Streusel Topping Mug Cake -  Blueberries. Crumbly freshly-baked streusel. Your kitchen will smell like sunshine. 

Image credit: Lady and Pups

3. Microwaved Sausage and Cheese Spaghetti Dinner -  This may take more time than the rest but waiting is good. That's when great, glorious comfort in a mug happens. 

Image credit: How Sweet It Is

4. Strawberry Mug Pies - This micro version would be equally proud to sit next to its pie cousin. 

Image credit: Smitten Kitchen

5. Roasted Tomato with Grilled Cheese - This isn't as two-step as the rest but its worth it. Prep a day ahead and when it's time to serve, please sprinkle loads of cheese on it.

Image credit: Babble

6. Nutella Mug Cake - Because everyone has Nutella. Here's your excuse chance to include it. 

Image credit: Dance on Flour

7. Chicken Pot Pie in a Mug - Comfort food is extra special if it's cradled in your favorite mug. Just like how mom makes them.

Image credit: No. 2 Pencil

8. Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Cup - Basic stuff, really. I'd eat them as dough if I could. 

Image credit: Babble

9. Instant Mug o' Mac & Cheese in the Microwave - Comfort food number 2 in our list. Just as good as a hug!

Image credit: Heather's Dish

10. Microwave Peanut Butter Swirl Brownie - Things just got a little creative with peanut butter and brownies. Great combo if peanut butter is your thing.

Image credit: Just Putzing

11. Omelette in a Mug - Perfect for breakfast on the go! Healthy and quick. 

Image credit: Kirbie's Cravings

12. Cookies and Cream Mug Cake - This is a recipe of five: 5 ingredients and less than five minutes (Yup, we don't know our math anymore) 

These babies deserve their own selfies. Don't forget to post a bit if you're on a Lifebit Foodie Quest. Because you have to prove they existed before you inhaled them.

Image credit: Dimitris Kalogeropoylos

Social networks and technology has changed the landscape of human interaction and communication. We had gained and lost some qualities along with privileges with our human relationships.  

Among all social media platforms, Facebook remains “king.” According to their quarterly earnings report, released last April 23, Facebook has 802 million active users each day.  Facebook users also spend about an average of 6.75 hours a month.

How does Facebook affect you? 

It mainly hits your life satisfaction and happiness. Life Satisfaction is indicated to a degree by your social ties. Factors for a high life satisfaction and happiness are:

Friends - and if friendship is reciprocated

Personality - extrovert versus introverts

Interpersonal communications - that has beneficial effects

Family - your circle of support

A team of psychologists from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and the University of Leuven in Belgium presented how life satisfaction changes with Facebook use.

While social media has its beneficial effects, their study shows that over time, Facebook can undermine your happiness. 

How? A game of comparison starts as soon as we see curated posts or pictures of travel, announcement of success in work, or generally family and friends having a good time. We may feel left out or jealous to see a high school friend's "perfect" life and ignore the fact that people generally highlight successes more than failures. 

How can we flip it around?

Weed out your list - go ahead and remove people who has no positive influence on you. Remember that Facebook "friends" don't necessarily translate to real-life; I'd rather have 15 genuine friends who have your back over 300 people you barely know. Quality over quantity. 

Face-to-face time - supplement those relationships with offline sessions like chatting over coffee or going out. Nothing replaces real life human interactions and that is how friendships are nurtured.

Clean up - in a world full of virtual "noise" wouldn't it be great if your feed is all about elevating the human mind, encouragement, or uplifting messages. Keep those who have the can-do and trash those who just don't.

While negative effects through Facebook is possible how you ultimately respond to these factors is still in your control. 

Image credit: Kenny Louie

There’s something about preparing to hunker down in your favorite coffee shop. You are all set for a busy day ahead, and when your latte’s ready, you see a delicate rosetta on your favorite cup of joe. You can't help but smile :)

Yep, that's a smiley right there.

Whether your barista is in an artistic mood or it's just his way of telling you to smile a little, coffee art is welcome.

This elevates coffee into a whole new level where its appearance is as critical as its taste and flavor.

These concoctions showcase both the quality of the craft coffee shop's coffee and their barista's skill in frothy design.

‘They say, “I’m not going to punish the customer by serving him as fast as possible. I’m going to ask for a little bit more of his time, but I’m going to reward him with a really excellent cup of coffee.”’ - WILLEM BOOT

Taking a picture of the coffee is more than just showing what you have for the day. It's a perfect homage to those people who have mastered their craft. 

There is no special meaning encoded into each latte after all. Just pure awesome art.

Learn how to free pour with this slideshow and add this to your Lifebit quest: Post a Photo of a Coffee Art

If you are a small business owner, you might have the notion that there is just too many social media platforms out there. Too many things about everything from everybody. In a way, that is true. 

Why would you want to build your business's online presence in a platform that no one uses?

That is what everyone thinks. And not everyone is always right.

Here's why your business might be missing out without a Google+ page:

Number of users - 150 million monthly active users. About 50% sign in on a daily basis. It's not a ghost town as everyone claims. You can add people who agreed to be added not just people you know. This will grow your network even more.

Reach and visibility - Google loves Google. Everyone knows that. If your business works with SEO (search engine optimization) then you know what your customer uses to search (you can Google it!). Your G+ business page content can rank in search results. Bringing your brand front and center to potential customers. Check Quicksprout's in-depth tips on optimizing your social media pages including Google+ 

Function - Google+ is social media and SEO (blurred lines there). It is also much more because it works with the rest of its brethren. Wanna email? Gmail. Wanna set your schedule? Gcal. Wanna collaborate? Google Docs and Google Drive. Wanna chat? Hangouts. You get it.

To sum it up, you don't have to be in all social media platforms. Because that would be crazy. And who has the time?

Find one or even three that your customer uses. Just make sure Google+ is one of them. 

Image credit: Sabrina Krilic

Life hasn’t been the same after the Red Wedding episode. 

While everyone wondered about the fate of the remaining Stark children or find out that yes, there’s still room to loathe Joffrey, there is a growing shift to story lines that initially were nonessentials. Particularly, Daenerys Stormborn’s. 

Why is Daenerys justifiably a popular character?  

Simple. She is on this epic hero journey, a veritable hero’s guide for underdogs. And on so many levels, we relate to that because we can structure our failure and triumphs around her. Except for the dragons of course.  

Dany’s development has a good TV pace. She grows up with oppressive brother, becomes a child-bride, falls in love with her husband, got pregnant, and loses it all. 

Unlike her brother Viserys, she has the making of an exceptional leader with a strong moral compass. Her story unfolds into a landmine of life truths that we can use:   

The importance of waiting, setting your goal and knowing your purpose:

“When my dragons are grown, we will take back what was stolen from me and destroy those who wronged me! We will lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground.”

The danger of being complacent: 

“People learn to love their chains.”

 The importance of breaking free from what’s holding you back:

“Unsullied! Slay the master, slay the soldiers, slay every man who holds a whip but harm no child. Strike the chains off every slave you see!”

 Sometimes, the best time is now:  

“The time to strike is now, the Starks fight the Lannisters, the Baratheons fight each other.” 

Rely on mentors who’ll give good advice but who won’t make you look bad:  

You’re both here to advise me. I value your advice, but if you ever question me in front of strangers again, you’ll be advising someone else. Is that understood? 

Girl power: 

Missandei: Valar morghulis. 

Daenerys Targaryen: Yes. All men must die, but we are not men. 

It takes work to accomplish a goal so don't go around thinking you deserve everything: 

Viserys Targaryen: You would turn me into one of them, wouldn’t you! Next you’ll want to braid my hair!

Daenerys Targaryen: You’ve no right to a braid! You’ve won no victories yet! 

Money isn’t always everything: 

“A man who fights for gold can’t afford to lose to a girl.”

The importance of moving on:

“If I look back I am lost.”

A leader is useless without a team:

“It seems to me that a queen who trusts no one is as foolish as a queen who trusts everyone. “

The importance of being a good influence: 

“Perhaps I cannot make my people good, she told herself, but I should at least try to make them a little less bad.” 

Spirituality: 

“A queen just listens to all. The highborn and the low, the strong and the weak, the noble and the venal. One voice may speak you false, but in many there is always truth to be found.” 

Strong parental duty: 

“A mother does not flee without their children.”

Know you’re worth:

  “I have never been nothing. I am the blood of the dragon.” 

And love: 

“…my sun-and-stars made a queen of me, but if he had been a different man, it might have been otherwise.”

A little bad-ass but true.

The one thing that resonates so well about Dany is her ability to bounce back from her failures. Look where it got her: her dragons, loved by the people she freed, and a loyal khalasar.  In this game, the Iron Throne may be better off with a queen.