 | Google+ | Jul 8, '11 8:32 PM
for everyone |
Google+ is luring me back to blogging. The moment I joined, my dusted existence over at the Picasa web and Blogger beckons me to reconnect. I would have forgotten about the inanities that I spread over time at these sites in favor of Twitter, Plurk and Facebook until the Plus came about. Why am I blogging now and why the hell am I blogging this from Multiply?
I find Google+ strangely engaging. Aside from the fact that they have a wider infrastructure base than Facebook (Android, Gmail, Voice, Talk, Picasa, Blogger, Docs, Youtube, just to name a few), the integration model that Google offers is tighter than I could have imagined.
This idea of having strong, individual services being able to stand on its own two feet, yet being able to function as a single product makes a lot of sense. The Google+ Android App that enables instant upload of photos is deemed to be a killer feature and is an example of how tight Google can integrate their mobile platform into their photo cloud-hosting facility.
I will not go into the merits of how Google Hangouts is probably technologically superior than the Skype-powered Facebook video calling feature, or how Chrome apps are slowing creeping into relevance. And while there may be some FB experiences that Google won't and probably never be able to provide, having essential services running shoulder to shoulder on a unified platform seem to offer a lot more potential and be worthy to spend geek time and effort on.
Of course, if you are sentimental like me and still value older technology like Multiply, I guess simple features like Cross-posting still makes sense :)
Day 1 - SaturdayMorningWe left Manila Friday night by bus to wake up the following morning to Baguio's cool summer breeze. We were to attend my cousin's wedding by 1 PM, so off we go to Burnham Park to look for a place to stay.  Burnham Park  Tour of Luzon, Baguio Leg  Time to check out the Cathedral. The rain poured hard as I stepped down the cab, just before the start of the procession. It was surreal, as if the heavens blessed the union at the right time.  Me with the reasons why we were in Baguio.  Me with announcement duties After the wedding celebration, we strolled down Session Rd, looking for an authentic local coffee. We ended up in SM Baguio, and got settled in Cordillera Coffee.  Tired me, Gid, and cordillera coffee. Perfect combination. They also serve civet coffee for 300+ a cup! Civet poop coffee anyone? We woke up really early, and we're already on foot by 6am. I've plotted our route the night before, and off we go! First stop is Mine's View Park.  Nothing beats a good cup of strawberry Taho (well, next to cordillera coffee of course)  Enjoying the early morning mist  Catching the early morning sun Next stops were the Wright Park and the Mansion. Nothing interesting except for Romina's horse that took a pee. Botanical Garden was the next in the list.  Tao po?  Not her type Since we still have time, why not drop by Camp John Hay for an early morning snack?  Before coffee  Hmmm.. coffee!  After coffee  After my second cup  Out, enjoying the cool, fresh air  Inside, relaxing at the Bell House  Getting serious  This is what i'm talking about!  Long walk home
 If you're looking for a quick brutal fun, here's a tip:
1. Go to: http://ronaldallan.mybrute.com
2. Type a unique name for your player on the entry space at the left.
3. Choose a persona, a look that would fit your character.
4. Click validate to ensure that nobody else owns the name.
5. If all is well, we fight! :) I don't really endorse games or anything, but this is stupidly simple and fun that I am blogging about it. First day you get 6 tries to challenge anyone you know. Each day thereafter, you get 3 attempts. Get enough experience to level up and fight some more. Give it a shot :)
...but we're not. because of this: 
and new episodes of Dr. House S05 1-20, Dollhouse S01 1-8, and Legend of the Seeker S01 1-17 (between old episodes of CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, The Practice, and everything else in the CD album). There's also that anticipated boxing match last Sunday between Bradley and Holt, aside from the Valero and Pitalua bout that I could only watch in Youtube. We're supposed to be outdoors on a long weekend, but pleasurable indoor cardio activities keep me locked in.
So, you installed that Windows XP Black Edition that you got from your neighborhood pirata. Really cool install, optimized for that power-user in you, loaded with all the useful power-user apps and none of those lousy programs that came with the original. Until one day, you updated your windows, thinking that maybe, since it passed previous Windows Genuine install checks, that you could get away again this time.
Then, a message appeared in your screen, saying that "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting", in all it's black background glory. What do you do?
Even if you want to legalize, you can't without re-installing. The previous wga cracks prevents you from using the Product Key Update Tool. (If you deactivate your windows, you'll notice that the the notification app is set to notify to you re-activate in 49023432 days. Funny.)
One alternative is to search google for WGA Validation Crack. Get the latest version. Apparently, wga works in two fronts: the client and the server. The patch works for the current client setting that attempts to connect to the server. Microsoft, on the other hand, would update the server settings, thus invalidating the current crack. By getting the latest crack, you'll have access to the needed update that conforms to the new server setting.
And the WGA notification will magically go away :)
Google for Mom and Tina's and you'll get good raves about the place. It's very near our place (located in Ugong, Pasig, just along C-5), so deciding where to eat dinner on our 5th anniversary, the choice was obvious. At first, I dismissed the place as another bakery cum restaurant (just like red ribbon and goldilocks), albeit for a niche market. We almost always pass by the place but we never entered the establishment. Only when a good friend passed word on how great the food was, I decided to do some research. It didn't take long for me to find reviews on the place. Dessert Comes First wrote a lot of good words about it and photos looked very enticing. After surprising Gid with lavender roses and belgian chocolates, I told her that we're having dinner somewhere in Ugong. She doesn't have a clue. I took her through the streets of Ugong, and asked her how she likes her tapa, because there are good tapsilog in the area. She made a frown and the frown became a surpise and the surprise became a smile when I parked in front of Mom and Tinas. Why the bakery, she asked in a slightly confused but amused tone.  The area is well lit, the cakes are all prominently displayed. We ordered the soup of the day, a Chicken Spinach Lasagna (picture above), and a lengua (forgot the name). The iced tea is really good (and they're color blue!). We also got the baked Oreo Cheesecake which is super good also. The price is very reasonable, and the food experience has been really good. Worth the return trip in the future.
Saturday was movie day. Gid went to Makati so I had full access to the TV that day :) After a brief workout, I loaded up my USB playlist for a movie marathon. I moved the rear speakers to the rear sides of the bed for that extreme surround experience.
I started with Into the Wild, a moving film about the true story of Chris McCandless, an idiot an idealist, who went to the wild to cast out the evils of organized society, to live life simple and alone. He eventually ended up dead in the wilds of Alaska.
Next on the playlist was the extended version of the Gladiator. I really liked how the surround experience brings more life to the already excellent film. This movie never fails to bring me close to tears after watching it (especially during the last scene when Maximus gave back Rome to the senate, fulfilling the wish of a dying man).
Last was Casino Royale. I never liked the idea that there is a new James Bond, but after seeing this movie, I'm now another fan. I had to turn the volume dial a bit during the explosion scenes because despite the closed door, my father downstairs could still hear the booms.
The marathon would have ended up with Changeling, but since it was already late, and the opening scene was a snoozer, I fell asleep :P
I went home last Wednesday night to a tableful of delightful feast prepared by Gid. Since it's ash wednesday, we can only serve fish. There's chunky tuna spaghetti, garlic bread, fish fillet, cheese sticks and pancit. After devouring all the food, there's still the chocolate cake and the chocolate ice cream. Charles was even more delighted than I was. We blew the candles together (he counted 3 candles) and took the first bite at the sugar flower. Gid made everything extra special. I guess she's extra happy that at last, I breached the 30 year age mark :)
It's my second time to go inside the surgery suite at Medical City. The first one was during my tonsillectomy several years ago. This time, however, the visit will be brief and pain-free. I was about to have another lumbar epidural steroids injection. It's basically a way to inject a type of steroids (cortisone) directly into the affected area to reduce the inflammation. During my first shot more than a year ago, it was done on the pain management clinic. This time, their protocol changed, and it is now required that the procedure be done under a flouroscopic xray guidance. So, even with a simple procedure, I still had to be admitted before my trip to the surgery suite, where the uber-xray (they called it the c-arm) is located. So butt-naked and sterile, I was on the surgery table, with a long needle in my back. The doctor injected the dye so they could see where the drug would travel up my discs. I wish I could see what the doctor was looking at the x-ray monitor, but I couldn't without my glasses on. The dye injection followed by the steroids would just have taken 5 minutes but since there were residents and interns at the room, the doctor felt that he needed more time to discuss every step of the procedure to the young doctors, and allowed the needle at my back to stay longer than usual. I wouldn't mind actually that female doctors could see my naked butt or even that gay nurse, but having to grit my teeth in pain while fluids were travelling up my discs and a rather long needle sticking behind me for a period far longer that it would usually take, it didn't make sense to me at the time. I was just too glad that the procedure was over and that the pain was almost gone and that I am back at the office, ripped and ready to play basketball this afternoon :)
It was a Tuesday night and I was waiting for Gid to get to the car from her office at PBCom tower in Makati. I waited longer than usual, so instead of patiently waiting for Gid at the car, I went down to Ministop which is just across the street where I was "parked". It was probably hunger; I couldn't resist the call of oreo and iced tea waiting for me at the counter. Gid met me at Ministop and we went back to the car together.
Just when I was about to go inside the car, a tow truck went in front of us, with chain-wielding men threatening to put the chains on my vehicle. Apparently, that side of the street was a tow-away zone. Of course I protested. They are not supposed to do that when the driver is already on the scene. They asked me to talk to the "yellow boy", aka, the traffic police officer in Binay yellow uniform.
I wasn't really in the mood to talk with the officer, much less offer him a bribe or something. It's probably because I was a bit tired from work, and hungry, and quite frustrated that I cannot yet eat the oreos that I just bought. So I asked nicely if they can just forget about towing the vehicle since I am already there and just give me a ticket for another offense. He confiscated my driver's license (after giving hints and waiting for me to offer him something...), and gave me a ticket for illegal parking. He then told me to go to their station on Friday to get my license back.
I'm still bitter about it. I haven't had my license confiscated in a long time now (I almost always find ways to "talk" my way out of trouble). Too bad :(
Allan and Rose lived and loved on two different worlds. Six years ago, their worlds met. Allan was drawn to Rose as a bee to a flower. Yet, ironically, every time he saw her in the canteen, the butterflies would crawl up his stomach and leave him speechless.
Allan, master of the subtle, would email Rose with messages that almost always end with romantic haiku signatures. Rose would encouragingly reply with the same poetic subtle zeal.
Mustering enough confidence, Allan devised a plan to invite Rose for a date. Despite being budget conscious at the time, he organized a group date that would eventually bring the entire IT and HR departments together for a night out.
Unmindful of the crowd, Allan and Rose felt alone together that very night.
And many nights would follow. And together, Allan and Rose dreamt of a world that they will both live and love.
Yesterday, a friend sent me an Ebay link to a notebook that is up for auction. It's an HP Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz, with really good specs. The price was really, really cheap. It's just 14,999.
Sounds good to be true? You bet.
I happened to be looking around for a good priced notebook that we are planning to send to my cousins in Iloilo. We don't mind if it's just second hand. We also recently bought one over at Openpinoy.com last week for my sister-in-law, and we are thinking of making a repeat purchase.
We bought an IBM Thinkpad T42, single core 1.6 Ghz and basic specs, at Openpinoy for 14k. Almost the same price as the HP Core 2 Duo ebay offer, albeit half the specs. So yeah, the Ebay offer was really, really good.
I didn't notice the location of the seller, and I quickly assumed that he is just somewhere in Manila. I was thinking that when we come to an agreement, that we'll just set a meeting and seal the deal. So there, I clicked the big blue Buy It Now button and committed to buy.
The seller contacted me and explained to me that he is from Davao, and that he wanted me to send over the downpayment before he sends the notebook over via LBC. I initially asked if we can just cancel the transaction because I really didn't know that he's not somewhere near Manila, but he did insist that I already made the commitment to buy. Of course, that will be too risky for me. So after a few rounds of negotiation, an idea came to mind.
I remembered that I have a good friend online who I happened to have several successful trading card transactions already, and this guy is also from Davao. So I contacted this friend and he agreed to verify the seller for me.
I mentioned to the seller that I will only give the money to my friend, and that my friend has to check the product before agreeing to the transaction. My friend then tried to contact the seller but got no response.
And this morning when I checked my inbox, I got this ebay message:
The seller has requested to cancel the transaction.
Friday the 13th is not too unlucky after all :)
Charles got his own computer last night. Using an old crt monitor, a new keyboard, a tiny mouse and an asus eee pc, I've set up a working desktop for him at the corner of room where he can play his favorite games, disney, jumpstart pre-school and dora :)
No more taking-over papa's pc while papa is playing Neverwinter Nights 2!
 We went to Philips' warehouse this saturday and got ourselves a cheap home theater system (HTS3366). This will replace my crude HDMI-DVD + edifier 5.1 speakers setup which we only recently bought last December. The package includes an hdmi-dvd, a 6.5" sub-woofer, a 2" central speaker, 2x 2.5" front speakers and 2x 3" full-range rear tower satellites.
I'm quite happy with the switch as the sound quality is way better than the smaller edifier. It also offers a faster USB input, at 2.0, so I can download the movies from torrent, save it in an 8gb flashdisk and play it from there. It supports all major formats including divx, wmv and mpeg-1/2/4. Video quality is the same as the old dvd, offering video upscaling quality up to 1080p on hdmi.
It also has a wide range of connectivity options, from hdmi-cec, component, s-video, composite, and digital coax-in.
As an all-in-one package, I think the HTS is superior to the HTPC and variants (Popcornhour, etc). Yes, it doesn't have a built-in wifi and torrent client, but cost-wise, quality and versatility, the HTS3366 is by far the better choice :)
I've been watching the Legend of the Seeker TV series for a few weeks now which is based on a novel series that I've started since college. While it was kind of disappointing how the series twisted the original storyline based on the novel, it was also very surprising to see this:
Kahlan on a tight red leather mord-sith uniform....
From the book: Richard turned at a sound from behind. Kahlan stepped out of the darkness of an archway. Her long hair didn't flow over her shoulders, but was tied back in a single braid. Instead of her White Confessor's dress, she wore the red leather of a Mord-Sith. Richard stood stiffly, his chest heaving. "Kahlan, I refuse to think of you in this way, even in an illusion drawn from my own mind."
She arched an eyebrow. "But isn't this what you fear most?"
"Change it, or be gone."
The red leather shimmered and became the white Confessor's dress he knew so well. The braid had come undone.
Happy New Year to everyone!
I spent the last few days of 2008 fixing my personal space and eating. My old external hdd is still dead (haven't the inclination to try "other methods" yet). I've upgraded my notebook's hdd to 250gb and moved the old 80gb to my Maxtor Basics enclosure. I still think Maxtor's enclosure is okay and offers better shock protection than cdr-king's. After low-level formatting the old 80gb, it feels like new in its new external role.
I installed the XP Black version on my main notebook, and it's really great. It comes with useful software on top of the sp3. It looks and feels like vista, except that it's lighter than vista. I also converted my Asus EeePC into a media stream client, running Nero Home. On my desktop, I ran Nero MediaHome that streams multimedia content (movies, mp3s) into the EeePC.
I also installed an extra shelf on top of my work-area and placed a 13-pocket accessory bag at the side to hold all the loose cables and remote controls in the room. Cable hooks and organizers also make it more manageable to organize all the cables going in and out of the equipments.
The problem with the EeePC streaming media content is that it's not HD. We got a Philips HDMI DVD player that is capable of upscaling video to 1080p and outputs it via hdmi. To top it off, I got a cheap Edifier 5.1 speaker for it and mounted the front and rear speakers at the corners of the room.
Here's to 2009!
Almost exactly after one year, it's finally dead..
Just this morning, we were still together. It's death came to me as a shocker..
I was reading my email this morning when suddenly, an alert popped up my window.
Power Surge On Hub Port. One of the USB device has exceeded the power limits..
Curious to find out about the error, I traced it and to my horror, found out that it's connected to my Maxtor Basics Portable external hard disk!
I pulled the usb plug, hoping that it's not too late. I plugged the cables back to check for activity, ..nothing. I plugged the cables into my notebook,.. still nothing.. I plugged the cables into another desktop, still no pulse.
I took out my tools, and ripped the enclosure apart. It took a while but I finally managed to yank the hdd out thinking that maybe, the encloure board is the problem..
I went to Market!Market!, and bought a cheap SATA 2.5 hdd enclosure from CDR-King. This should probably work.
After getting back at the office, I plugged the hdd to the new enclosure. Still, no activity. The enclosure is not the problem after all, but the drive.
Option B is to go to the refrigerator. I wrapped the hard disk in an anti-static wrapper and placed it on a freezer. After 2 hours, I checked again. Nothing.
I don't exactly know what I am missing yet, but sooner or later, I'll remember that I placed a very important file there and regret not having another copy.
Rest in Peace.
| Vampires | Nov 10, '08 8:23 PM
for everyone |
I'm a sucker for vampire stories.
Since highschool, I've been playing Vampire: The Masquerade, both the card game and the rpg. I've watched Interview with the Vampire several times, Kindred: The Embraced TV series, and the Blade trilogy. I've read Anne Rice.
And now these:
(Really didn't know that there was a vampire in Krynn)
(Gid surprised me by giving me this book)
| Loyalty | Nov 10, '08 10:24 AM
for everyone |
by Elbert Hubbard If you work for a man, in heaven's name work for him. If he pays you wages which supply you bread and butter, work for him; speak well of him; stand by him, and stand by the institution he represents. If put to a pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness. If you must vilify, condemn, and eternally disparage, resign your position, and when you are outside, damn to your heart's content, but as long as you are part of the institution do not condemn it. If you do that, you are loosening the tendrils that are holding you to the institution, and at the first high wind that comes along, you will be uprooted and blown away, and will probably never know the reason why. xxx one of my favorites - reminds me of highschool CAT training.....
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