marcologous

Can't Quite Get It

2010-04-18T01:58:00.000-07:00

I'm not really understanding this paging shtuff!

Indian Restaurant near my place!

2010-04-16T22:57:00.000-07:00

This small but really great Indian Restaurant near my place in Bur Dubai doesn't look like it's a mainstream one. Mainstream restasurants tend to reduce quality of the food to accomodate a common cooking style. Unlike "underground" or non-mainstream stuff which tend to be more of a specialist. The name of this restaurant is the Candle Light Restaurant. With intricate indian paintings inside and a warm welcome from the crew, indian cuisine is never boring!

Fly petals

2010-03-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

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Sketch 02

2010-03-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

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Light and Shade

2010-03-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that this is NOT the right way to make a study of light and shade. Just a forced experiment on moving light with a capture of the lens - although our eyes have frame rates of more that 30fps I guess this is sufficient. Well.

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Sketch journal 01

2010-03-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

My brain gives me a constant reminder to draw lines - shades is not really part of my perception now - i can't really view things in shade. Our eyes should be able to see light and shade generally but i see stuff in edges... I'm also adept in viewing objects in general shapes not in detail. *crap! Although I should see things that way 'cause of my profession! But you know, some things don't come that easy. Although I'm not forcing myself to simplify objects in drawing - I will be forcing myself to conjure 'light and shade'. *goodluck to me. Sorry, this post probably doesn't make any sense.

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Blue suits

2010-03-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

A common sight in dubai... These suits are going down in numbers though.

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Rose, tulip?

2010-03-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

First time in months, moreso, years! A start of a new sketch portfolio... Everything's almost coming back now!

RF cables - end connector

2010-03-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

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This is...

2010-03-28T01:50:00.000-07:00

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A trip to the edge of terra

2010-03-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

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Cool sky!

2010-03-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

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Tubes in the sand

2009-12-06T19:55:00.000-08:00

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House full of lights 2

2009-12-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

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Docu-Black

2009-12-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

Swiss Open Cinema: Jenny Cusi

2009-11-26T08:05:00.000-08:00

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Swiss Air Cinema: Arlene Arabe

2009-11-26T07:56:00.000-08:00

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Open air shwinema! Ramil Dimatatac

2009-11-26T07:55:00.000-08:00

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Then and me!

2009-11-26T06:08:00.000-08:00

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Swiss open air cinema!

2009-11-26T06:06:00.000-08:00

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Stand Out

2009-11-25T22:03:00.000-08:00

Spoon

2009-11-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

Dragon Fly Perched

2009-11-25T21:59:00.000-08:00

Top of Reception at the Canon Building

2009-11-25T21:58:00.000-08:00

Winter Sky

2009-11-25T21:44:00.000-08:00

Sky

2009-11-25T21:40:00.000-08:00

Pyramids near the Creek

2009-11-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

Mankhool + Bank Street BurDubai

2009-11-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

Waiting = People Waiting

Mirror mirror in the artificial lake

2009-11-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

Night-time Dubai Internet City

Barrio Fiesta [BurJuman] = Good food + Bad Service

2009-11-25T21:28:00.000-08:00

It's been freakin' ages! 1 and a half hours na kami ni Arlene nagiintay dito para sa order namin sa Barrio Fiesta! Awwww man!!!

Bus night!

2009-11-25T07:36:00.000-08:00

There's nothing more fun than riding the night bus! I get to sleep for a bit... Obviously after this posting!

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Before Eid celebration in DIC

2009-11-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

Some arabis dancing. Food. UAE souvenirs. And singing!

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Last day to Eid Al Adha

2009-11-24T20:36:00.000-08:00

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The bus, finally

2009-11-24T19:37:00.000-08:00

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My waiting feet

2009-11-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

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Men in black

2009-11-24T19:30:00.000-08:00

Got delayed this morning ride because of a guy scanning his card (but was empty) and still went in... Black suits caught him and penalised for 1000 dirhams!

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Black suit

2009-11-24T19:28:00.000-08:00

Becareful riding the bus at the al ghubaiba bus station... One wrong move and you're penalised for 1000 dirhams!

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Every morning!

2009-11-24T19:23:00.000-08:00

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A line has been drawn here!

2009-11-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

This is the stop to my random postings [probably]. I will now post
stuff that is of my every learning step! whatever it is! :))

So old school

2009-11-22T22:01:00.000-08:00

I just hoped I left the philippines a year later... For the digital version!

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Baby stuff... Not yet!!!!

2009-10-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

I am marcologous

Great book! Cheesy but great!

2009-10-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

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Morning risin'

2009-10-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

This place couldn't be much fresher... I wonder if this will be something to ponder about.

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THE DANGERS OF OUTSOURCING WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

2009-10-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

by www.thesambarnes.com

Introduction

I would always strongly encourage any small web agency to build and maintain a stable and trusted freelancer network that can be called upon in times of project management crisis, however, there is a long-term and real danger of outsourcing work on a regular basis that can go un-noticed until it is too late.

Why outsource at all?

At any one time, a web agency will need to outsource web project management, design or development work to a freelancer for a variety of reasons. These range from lack of in-house skill, employee illness to a sudden influx of business that cannot be resourced internally.

All of these are solid reasons to outsource work and can prove commercially viable. Because most of the reasons are a reaction to an unforeseen event, a wise agency management team will always have a bank of reliable freelancers with a vast array of design and technical skills to call upon in such times.

The snowball builds

The negative effects of outsourcing are slow to develop at first making them very difficult to identify, but once the seed is sown, the effects gain velocity and size and by the time they are plain for all to see it is difficult to recover from. This snowball building usually follows like so:
Small web project arrives that needs management/technical/creative skills or resource your in-house team don't currently have

The in-house team are working on large client work that is too in-depth and risky to handover to a freelancer given timeframes and account relationships
Small project work is outsourced to a freelancer
In-house remain on large client work and/or within skill set
New small web project ends and in-house team haven't learnt any new skills
In-house team can't take on any new small projects that require new skills

Go back to Step 1

The snowball effect

The effects of this on a one-off basis is negligible, the project is completed, and with a drastically reduced cost to the business resulting in a higher profit margin and a happy management team, but if repeated it can have disastrous long-term effects on your business, for example it can:

Stop your internal online team from developing new skills
Reduces the chance of the in-house team gaining valuable experience
Decrease team morale due to being kept constantly on the same large client project

As the cycle continues, the in-house team slowly becomes out of date with the latest web trends and technologies (given that larger clients are generally slow moving) thus impacting on your agency's ability to respond to new web projects effectively, and staff members become increasingly frustrated with the lack of opportunity to develop their skills and experience online, eventually opting to leave the agency for one where these kind of opportunities are available.

The reality

I have personally seen, over a three year period, a web agency go from having a high revenue generating skilled in-house web project management, design and development team become a low revenue generating relatively un-skilled team where all web design and development work was outsourced. The passionate and ambitious skilled employees left one by one, and were replaced with employees who were mostly indifferent to the industry and saw it as a job rather than career.

Was the overall revenue of the agency the same? Just about, was the business a creative and skilled web agency still? Not at all

This slow but devastating transformation impacted almost every part of the business, for example, potential clients did not recognise the business as a web agency any longer and ceased to invite to tender for web projects and thus the client list reduced and it became almost impossible to attract new web skilled employees to the company.

Spot the warning signs

Early identification, long-term strategy and pre-emptive action are the keys to avoiding this negative spiral. The early warning signs are there to be spotted and come in several forms:

The need for freelancers seems to become more frequent than the month before
One regular freelancer becomes two, then three
Freelancers are used on the smaller projects while in-house staff are on the large projects

Team morale drops

There are 'office whispers' of frustration at freelancers "getting all the fun work"
More new project briefs are answered with use of a freelancer in mind from the outset
Skilled and experienced employees choose to move on to another company in the same industry

The long-term strategy and pre-emptive actions that must be applied to avoid this predominately focus around a disciplined approach, from the start, and an on-going commitment, from the directors and senior management, to developing the in-house team's skills and experience.

Pay now, not later

The willingness of a business owner to resist the temptation of using a freelancer and reduce profit margin in the short-term on some projects, and allowing for in-house team research and training (and mistakes – the most effective training technique in the world!), for the long-term benefit and growth of the agency is the essential ingredient to avoiding the transformation.
It takes determination, discipline and a fair amount of sheer entrepreneurial courage in the face of adversity to apply this long-term strategy, but in doing so the future of the agency is only made more secure by the skill set and the value of the in-house team being kept on the cutting edge of the web industry.

Pirates of TGIF

2009-10-14T23:15:00.000-07:00

I am marcologous

Another day of work!

2009-10-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

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I can't believe this!

2009-10-14T03:13:00.000-07:00

Frequently used tool!

2009-10-14T02:41:00.000-07:00

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus elit leo, eleifend auctor placerat sed, consectetur in dui. Morbi dapibus, leo ut porta feugiat, massa nulla porta velit, bibendum egestas nisi lectus ut nisi. Donec dignissim turpis at leo ultricies vel ultricies purus blandit. Sed ac varius purus. Aliquam arcu nulla, sagittis quis sodales sit amet, sodales eget felis. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec at varius libero. Fusce magna tellus, aliquam at scelerisque eu, egestas sed dolor. Sed gravida pharetra adipiscing. In dignissim scelerisque orci, et tincidunt nibh pharetra non. Fusce augue est, egestas a mattis eget, tempor a turpis. Pellentesque arcu nisi, condimentum at pretium eget, varius nec justo. Phasellus a libero enim. Pellentesque egestas ante quis magna eleifend eu feugiat libero elementum.

Augmented reality - marco style!

2009-09-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

I am marcologous

-----Original Message-----
From: marco pradil <marco@creative-sauce.com>

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 19:36:15
To: <ammpradil@gmail.com>
Subject: augmented reality - marco style!

Angel

2009-08-22T02:15:00.000-07:00

I am marcologous

hair art

2009-08-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

I am marcologous

OpenCanvas Again!!!

2009-08-16T01:43:00.000-07:00

OpenCanvas Again!

2009-08-16T01:39:00.000-07:00

The place where I work

2009-08-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

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Brick lain Dubai

2009-08-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

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Every morning with whitey!

2009-08-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

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Dubai Underground

2009-08-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

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Magkakaroon din ako nito balang araw!

2009-08-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

I am marcologous

swatchit!

2009-08-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

My watch, and will be until the day it won't accept batteries!
I am marcologous

shadow ko

2009-08-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

I am marcologous

Me and Arlene - On the Border

2009-08-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

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Waiting for the bus!

2009-08-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

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ooo lonely afternoon

2009-08-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

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Usual trash spot

2009-08-09T02:26:00.000-07:00

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Lot'sa palm trees - Internet City

2009-08-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

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Hot summer afternoon

2009-08-09T02:11:00.000-07:00

I am marcologous

The andal wedding!

2009-08-09T01:29:00.000-07:00

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Shot!

2009-08-09T01:26:00.000-07:00

My first mobile experience in blogger!!! Cool!

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Are you this heavy?

2009-08-02T02:08:00.000-07:00

This is where I buy food! 24 hours open!

2009-08-02T01:52:00.000-07:00

Dubai Museum Facade

2009-08-02T01:47:00.000-07:00

Inside Old Karama

2009-08-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

B&W in K.M. Brothers

2009-08-02T01:42:00.000-07:00

entrail 2...

2009-08-01T02:53:00.000-07:00

entrail...

2009-08-01T02:51:00.000-07:00

The Date of Conception

2009-08-01T02:47:00.000-07:00

Death Cemetery

2009-08-01T02:44:00.000-07:00

Going to DHCC

2009-08-01T02:32:00.000-07:00

John the reaper

2009-07-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

Dark and Gloomy

2009-07-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

Genuine Maranan

2009-07-30T03:07:00.000-07:00

This one is for the Maranans

2009-07-30T03:06:00.000-07:00

Horizon 1

2009-07-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

The Prey

2009-07-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

Horizon 2

2009-07-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

Blue Funk

2009-07-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Us@Chilli's

2009-07-25T02:11:00.000-07:00

Pigo

2009-07-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

Yer Eye

2009-07-23T01:46:00.000-07:00

Tooth & Nail

2009-07-23T01:45:00.000-07:00

Arlene @ Chilli's

2009-07-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

Dubai Mall Golf

2009-07-18T01:47:00.000-07:00

How to YO!

2009-07-18T01:39:00.000-07:00

Noodle Factory

2009-07-18T01:35:00.000-07:00

@ Dubai Mall

2009-07-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Judith and Renato Arabe

2009-07-18T00:59:00.000-07:00

Arabe Trio

2009-07-18T00:57:00.000-07:00

Dubai Mall Divers

2009-07-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

arlene @ TGIF

2009-07-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

TGIF

2009-07-16T23:02:00.000-07:00