My blogs

Auto repair by repairpal

2011-03-07T09:22:00.000+08:00

Will you buy a new car? this might seem to be a very good question in our economy today. A lot of people for some reason need to buy a new vehicle but doesn't seem to have the budget to do so. My answer, why not repair your old one to save money, or at least until the money comes back in. The next big question is which one to choose, my answer is a website that does just that, informing you where to repair your precious vehicles its repailpal.com.

I had a friend in Dallas area and just went to Dallas auto repair http://repairpal.com/dallas-auto-repair . The link doesn't just let you know where the best repair shops in Dallas are, but also give you a small background of the area and what common problems you might encounter because of the environment. Their pages also gives you a small map to look at and other useful links and information for your vehicle and the vehicle savvy.

For those looking for a vehicle to use here is one you may look at its the Chevrolet Silverado http://repairpal.com/chevrolet-silverado_1500-2005. Since they deal with vehicles, its just normal to see some in this website, and the good news is that it also features reviews by some of the owners, helping you decide or if you just want to know what other people think of the vehicle.I do know some of you like to tinker in your own vehicle, for example brakes, you can check brake job http://repairpal.com/brake-rotor-replacement which will give you information about breaks, best practices or you can check other links which will give you a ton of information. this truly is a one stop shop for vehicle repair.

Skyline: A movie that could have been a blockbuster

2010-12-08T02:12:00.000+08:00

During the last few days, movie goers seem to flock to only one line and that would be Harry Potter 7 part 1, and that almost no other movie was available nor seemed interesting to watch except for one, Skyline. We have seen the trailer before as well as the posters and the movie seemed to offer an alternative, or so we thought.

The movie is just all about the title itself, a group of people who's last few hours of their lives revolved at the top of the tower, evading an alien invasion. Aliens seem to hypnotize human being and suck them to their ships or sometimes not for the purpose of getting their brains to make more aliens. The graphics seemed good enough and the actors seem to know what to do with themselves but the story not that good. Not much action was seen only, people avoiding capture.

And it seems that the best part was barely shown on the last part where the lead actors brain was somehow still in control when it was transferred to an alien body and tries to protect his girlfriend and started attacking enemy aliens. I guess that should have been the part where they should have concentrated, but then the title would not have been skyline. Its just a shame to see that this could have been a good movie, something like of War of the Worlds mixed with Ben Ten.

Blue Sky Scrubs

2010-11-21T22:25:00.003+08:00

Image from www.blueskyscrubs.com/

Healthcare has always been a sensitive issue, and in recent times we have seen a drastic rise in the demand for healthcare professionals. I am not a healthcare professional myself, but there was a time where I almost started to be one, not that I have any regrets but sometimes its nice to think what could have happened otherwise. During those times, I always wondered what was the uniforms being used by nurses and other healthcare professionals, they always have the same look but different designs, until I found out, they were called scrubs.

Scrubs clothing is something that healthcare professionals , medical professionals or even patients wear inside a hospital or clinic, but they are most commonly associated with nurse uniforms. They come in a variety of colors and sizes but seem to follow a relatively same design in cut and feature, we can even call them nursing scrubs, since the majority of its users are nurses. They all seem to be comfortable and easy to wear and emphasize that the person wearing it is supposed to be sterile and clean. I even saw a veterinarian wear the same type of clothing.

But for all those who are wondering, where to buy cheap scrubs? I say the availability of scrub clothing is very high not only in department stores but on the world wide web as well. I even found a website which would allow you to choose not only cheap scrubs but with good design and quality as well. You can go to http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/ or click on the link to see more information. The website is very useful specially to those in the medical field or to anyone who wants to be fashionable whenever a time would come to visit or to stay a while in the hospital for a day or two. www.blueskyscrubs.com/

Gamer: A movie that could almost be a reality

2010-11-15T23:32:00.000+08:00

Every now so often, we would come across a movie that would make us think. Just recently, I was able to view such a film, at first I thought it was another action film from the guy who made Sparta look cool from the movie 300, but then the film was in fact for me a possible reality.

The movie is about in a time on a not so distant future when social networking has taken an advanced step into human life, and that nano-technology as evolved into something that can not only be controlled but can reproduce as well. Gerard Butler plays as Kable a framed convicted criminal who is part of an online reality game of kill or be killed "Slayers", as a character he is being controlled by a kid named Simon played by Logan Lerman. Kable then works his way to freedom from being controlled including his wife who is also part of an online reality game "Society", and his child.

Certainly, the technology imagined in the movie has its roots in todays world. The virtual reality used by Simon could be the future of Telepresence, possibly a room filled with sensors, walls of HD screen, a very high speed connection via fiber and probably a multiple times faster than the current I7 processor of Intel. Even the nano technology is not that far from imagination, even today experts are working on nano technology to help save lives and improve performance on how we work, maybe not as small as a single human cell but certainly did we think we could pack billions of transistors the size of our thumb 20 years back which makes up todays processors?

With regards to signal transmission, that could be something that needs a lot more work, since there are a lot more things to consider specially the environment and signal strength to ensure seamless connection, specially if your playing online games, but even that is not fictional. Either we fill the entire city with access points (which some cities are now working on) or improve our RFID technology.

But probably what is scary is that it is a great possibility that every single one of us could be fitted with an IP address. A unique set of binary or hexadecimal digits that would allow us to be reached much like a mobile phone but with much more direct access. We value our privacy and that is reflected on the way we protect our personal information specially on the internet where everything could be accessed with the right hardware and software. With social networking being one of the biggest income generating sub-industry in the field of IT, people will certainly invest on how to entertain and get their attention as well.

Circle Island Resort

2010-09-27T00:19:00.001+08:00

A good place to spend the day does not have to be far from the city. Our team had our very first GA from a resort just a few minutes away from where we work and the place was called Circle Island Resort in Cavite.

The resort had a slide and a number of pools to choose from and with varying depths to swim at.

Although I'm not so sure about the theme of the place, probably native american due to design of the pools, a tunnel and plenty of rocks and plants that surround the pools.

They also have different cottages, a restaurant, videoke facilities and grills for those who prefer to cook their own meal.

In all, it was a very nice place with reasonable rates Php90 to Php200 for the entrance fee, Php500 to Php3,000 for the cottages with hotel amenities as well. In my opinion it was a very nice place and budget friendly.

Mobot

2010-09-26T23:46:00.001+08:00

Going back on my college days during the time when we were still working on the initial stages of our design project, we had to practice with something common, or rather do something which already was existing. Our group then decided on making a robot. Nothing like the Star Wars Interactive R2D2 Astromech Droid Robot found on stores but something a bit more complicated, thus we worked on what we call "Mobot".

Its basically a device or a toy that would follow a path and avoid collisions. I forgot the model of the processor that we used but it was I believe a very primitive type of processor.

We used an IDE and if I remembered correctly a serial cable to connect to the computer for us to program the robot. We also used 3 infra red sensor at the front, together with two independent dynamo to act as the engine and an old Motorola battery pack for power.

Transformers at SM Makati

2010-09-26T23:27:00.002+08:00

A couple of months back, when me and my girlfriend were off buying a new DVD player, I just could not help but notice a familiar image Transformers Leader Optimus Prime on the cat walk together with other characters of the movie Transformers. Even though, the even was probably for kids, I did saw a lot of adults posing with the mascots, I myself included.

It was just reliving the times when I used to watch the cartoon version of Transformers.

The guys inside these mascots would have been sweating but then again they still looked cool even though I'm not so sure if these were real characters from the movie.

Taco's for breakfast

2010-08-23T09:15:00.000+08:00

Here is another breakfast blog, sometimes it nice to have breakfast that's a bit out of the ordinary, at least for our dining table. My mother tried serving taco's, but because beef is a lot more expensive, she improvised in using tuna. Tuna right out the can then cooked with onions served as the protein part of the meal.

With the other ingredients as lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, cheese and a bit of sweet chili sauce. I thought at first it was not a heavy meal, but after two or three of these I felt I was wrong.

http://www.makemychoice.com/

2010-08-10T09:41:00.001+08:00

Do you need to make a new decision? or simply want to see how other people answer your questions. I just stumbled upon an amazing website, its called makemychoice.com, the website allows you to make easy and free feedbacks on choices for your questions. You can also make feedback to the choices of other people making this site a very social way of providing you feedback in some of the decisions that you need to make.

The results for the choices are shown immediately together with the comments, and if your profile has picture, it will show them as well. I think there is a lot of potential in this website to be one of the next great social websites since, users are allowed to make feedback to other users as well as send messages and create your own profile. It might also be possible to link makemychoice.com in the future to other social websites, which would allow the website to reach to a wider audience, as well as to allow other people experience what makemychoice.com has to offer.

We will always have questions that needs to be answered and, makemychoice.com is a great venue if you have something you just cant get off your head and at same time, get feedback from people, who may provide a good reason for a certain option. The best thing about the website is that, feedbacks are no longer bound by text alone, now you can send a feedback in a form of mp3, pictures and even documents.

Sorcerer's Apprentice Movie

2010-08-03T10:30:00.001+08:00

Just recently I had the chance to watch a movie a couple of weekends back, and find this film interesting. It tells of a story of a sorcerer named Baltazar (Nicolas Cage) who is searching for the prime merlinian, someone who is destined to be the next Merlin and the only sorcerer who can defeat Morgana, this happens to be Dave (Jay Baruchel). During the course of their acquaintance Dave releases Horvath (Alfred Molina) Baltazar's arch enemy. As time goes by, more and more enemies brakes loose and Dave being the next great sorcerer is trained by Baltazar, until Dave finaly meets and defeats Morgana.

The story wasn't that great, or maybe its just meant for younger audience but in my opinion the only part that made this movie great is because it had Nicolas Cage and that it had a cool sound track "Secret by OneRepublic". The movie would have been better had they added more twist or depth, they did however, add room for a sequel, which would need to be a lot better than the first. The story would also be good if it was made for a TV series first, then add a finale as a movie.

One great breakfast

2010-07-11T21:09:00.000+08:00

A good breakfast is probably the most important meal in your day, to make this meal special I decided to make something I just craved. A good rice meal with omelet and sauté'd vegetables. A lot of butter and hot sauce really made a good breakfast and ended up with a great day.

Secure locks

2010-07-11T21:05:00.000+08:00

A time came when I had to keep my things inside a locker but for obvious reasons I had to buy my own locks. I have heard scores of instances where locks were opened and valuables taken. That is why I looked for something that seemed secure enough, I ended up with this certain type of lock.

At first glance, it just looks like any ordinary lock until you take a close look at the keys.

I know it looks like a phillips screwdriver but its really the key hole.

Home made pizza of Guiller

2010-07-04T22:26:00.001+08:00

I have made home made pizza's before (you can click here to view my post) and I guess I'm not the only one in our family who loves to make pizza's at home. My younger brother has recently made a very nice pizza on his own, while I use bread, he instead used real dough.

A very simple pizza, but very delicious.

Samsung GT-E2120

2010-07-04T22:15:00.001+08:00

With all the expenses around us, would it be nice to have a phone that not just only does the job that we require but also gives that extra mile without the extra cost. Such is what I have found in the Samsung E-2120.

One of the not so latest but not so old Samsung Mobile phone model which I got my hands on. Some of the features of this very nice phone includes:

Textured cover
1.52 inch screen with 65K colours
FM radio with internal antenna
VGA camera
External Memory (upto 2GB)
MP3 player
520 hours standby time and 10hours talk time (According to their website )

As you can see there really isn't much with this phone, but with the price tag of around Php2,000 or a little less than $50 its a pretty good deal, considering also that its Samsung. Here you can see the back side, of the phone, its all I'll be showing since there really isn't much to look at except the nice texture of the cover.

You'll notice that just like some of Nokia's boxes, Samsung has also made clear that there is no point putting a small phone in a large box specially if your putting only a few pieces of paper, headset and charger inside.

What's great about this phone is that, its not only cheap but functional as well. I placed a 2GB MicroSD card and it worked without slowing. The call quality was excellent and the talk and standby time seems to live to what Samsung has indicated in its website. The music on loud speakers is acceptable, loud enough to be heard with decent quality, but adding the headset changes that to a very superb quality. There is no equalizers but I really didn't need it since the quality was really good for the price. Camera quality is mediocre, but acceptable with the video playback to be a bit awkward since it plays in a very small space. My only wish is for the phone to be able to play music while I read or write text messages.

In all, Its a great phone, specially if your just looking for a budget friendly phone that just enables you to call and text while at the same time provides great quality and yes, play great music.

Greenwich American Idol Pizza

2010-04-28T10:23:00.001+08:00

The Greenwich American Idol Pizza is one of the newest product from one of the best known pizza chain in the Philippines. According to Greenwich the pizza has seven favorite American toppings, hence the name, also, they dubbed it American Idol pizza due to their promo for American Idol, though I am not sure if this type of pizza is actually part of that promo or just their overload pizza's. By the way, I would like to apologize for the picture, it seems i ate a lot before I decided to take a shot.

I am also unsure what the seven toppings really are, probably based on what I saw and tasted were, onions, bell pepper, shoestring potatoes, and a couple more. The verdict, its really good, its something close to Yellow Cab's New Yorks Finest, except for the shoe strings which I find annoying when eating.

Nokia 5130 Xpress Music

2010-04-12T13:07:00.004+08:00

The Nokia 5130 Xpress Music or the 5130 XM is another classic bar shape phone from Nokia's Xpress Music Line and comes in three colors, blue, silver and red. Just like any music phone from Nokia, it specializes in excellent music but that is not all this gadget has to offer. Its basic specifications include:

Bright screen up to 256K colors
Numeric Keypad
Dedicated music keys
Voice Command
USB connectivity
3.5 mm audio jack output
micro SD card slot
Bluetooth
GPRS and EDGE
Approxiamtely 6 hours of talk time
Approximately 288 hours of stand-by time
Supports IMAP, POP, SMTP, OMA EMN
Supporteds HTML, XHTML for web browsing
2 megapixel camera
Video recording
Symbian series 40 Operating System

First thing I noticed is the very small box, unlike previous Nokia phones whose boxes were at least twice the width of their phone's unlike the box of Nokia 5130 XM.

The reason for such a small box may probably be due to two reasons: one is that it only contains the basics, these include the phone, battery, 1GB micro SD memory card, charger, headset and the smallest USB connector from Nokia I have ever seen, the second reason is just my theory of Nokia's effort to save resources and to cut prices.

Nokia made good with the cellphone's casing, because its very convenient to hold, I would however, comment on the numeric keypad because the 2 keypad is very close to the D-pad, it might be better to add a bit of space between. Found on the left side of the phone are the dedicated music keys, its also the Radio keys for Radio listing.

On the right side of the phone is where the volume controls are located as well as the micro SD slot. On top are conveniently placed 3.5 mm jack output, power slot and the micro USB port.

At the back you'll notice the design on the lower portion which is where the speakers are located. Also, there is the 2.0 Camera with out flash.

In all the Nokia 5130XM is a great phone, and considering its retail price of about Php6,000 or rougly US $135. I think the phone is between mid-range to low-range device, considering its price tag and the features that it provides. The feel and touch is great and the audio is very nice, specially when you use the 3.5 mm audio jack output and connect it to your home sound system. The down side for this phone is probably its camera, even though it has 2.0 Mega Pixels, the pictures are mediocre, probably due to the lack of flash. Also, I'm not a great fan of the series 40 of symbian, it would have been great to use a series 60 instead, avoiding the short-cut keys of attachments to your text editor. All in all, the phone is great for its price tag, and does best what it's meant for, having great music.

KVM Switch

2010-04-12T09:29:00.002+08:00

A Keyboard, Video and Mouse (KVM) Switch or KVM switch is a device that is used to control multiple system units using only one Monitor, one keyboard and one switch. Just as what I have here, I used a two port KVM switch to control two system units. KVM switches are useful because they are sometimes cheaper than monitors and can save a lot of space. This device is also ideal for people who manage multiple computers control them on a single seat. KVM switches vary, some allow buttons to switch from one computer or server to another, while some allows shortcut keys to keep the administrator from going to and fro the KVM switch.

How to connect a bluetooth headset to a Nokia 5800

2010-04-07T23:52:00.001+08:00

Everyday whenever I travel its almost impossible not to see people listing to their music, either through their cellphones, MP3 players or even the background music from buses, and I guess I'm one of them. But sometimes having all that wire from your earphones is pretty annoying, that is why it's convenient to use a bluetooth headset to skip all that wire and enjoy your music wire free.

It took me a while to learn how to connect a bluetooth headset to a Nokia 5800 and here is what I did.

1. On your phone Tap Settings > Connectivity > Bluetooth
2. Turn your bluetooth "on"
3. Above the menu, tap the right arrow or the connectivity sign in between the two bluetooth logo, to view your paired devices
4. Tap "Option and select "New Paired Device".
5. Make sure your bluetooth headset is switched on and is ready to be paired or in pairing mode, Tap "More Devices"
6. Select the device as it appears on the list, if you do not see your device, just try tapping "More Devices" again
7. If the device request's for a code, enter the code provided by the manufacturer of the bluetooth headset
8. Select if you wish to connect the device automatically in the future
9. Select connect when asked, and your bluetooth headset should be connected

Riverview Resort

2010-04-03T19:19:00.011+08:00

As a small treat to my siblings and to have a temporary relief from the heat, I decided that we should go to nearby resort. It's called Riverview Resort and Conference Center and it is just a few minutes away from our house. We have been here before and you would not call it a dream vacation getaway, but it does the job of providing enjoyment to the kids and for some adults as well.

The entrance to the place seems renovated probably to attract more customers, a fresh look is always welcome.

As you enter, the first thing you notice is a large pool and a covered area at the center, this area might prove useful for those who prefer to swim in the shade. Notice there is a rather small blue slide, which spurs water on a scheduled basis (meaning you can only use it when water comes out).

Holding the roof are four pillars, and a pair holds an elevated area. I really do not know its purpose, probably just a venue to jump around the water.

Since the large pool is for adults, the place also provides a kids pool at the back with two feet of water, has a smaller slide and a large mushroom that spurs water. There is also a play ground for kids who want to stay dry while their parents splash each other out.

Cottages are spacious and the resort also has a store to buy goods and stuff. There is also a place where you can grill foods for lunch or you can also buy from the resort as well.

There are also room for those who wish to swim at night, with an array of rooms that provide CR, TV, bed, etc.

Riverview Resort is a very nice budget friendly, easy to reach place if you want to suddenly splash water with your family and friends. Cottages cost at least Php300 to Php500 and up, depending on what you want and entrance fee is a mere 75 pesos per head. Getting to the place is easy as most buses going to Calamba City from Metro Manila pass through the resort. Being budget friendly does have its consequences: the place tends to be filled up during peak season, and sometimes it just gets too crowded, food and other items are very expensive inside. The place is best for budget night swimming, and its also better to have reservations.

Speaker quick fix

2010-04-02T23:41:00.001+08:00

Going green and saving planet Earth has suddenly become a priority for a lot of people, and the hysteria is slowly creeping into the minds of almost every person, sometimes unintentionally they become environmentalist. That was not the case when I decided to have a new set of speakers for my rather old PC. It took me four old computer speakers and create a personalized home sound system for myself.

I would not call this one as a modern work of art, but the fact is it works, and it works just fine. I took old parts from one speaker and soldered them to another. I made a few wire jumpers here and there, and a few electrical tapes did the job. Not only did I recycle, I also saved a couple of bucks in the process.

Indulgence before the holy week of 2010

2010-04-02T14:38:00.001+08:00

I always believed that sometimes we should enjoy our life and give in our small desires. Such as what I did a few days before Lent, eating an entire bar of dark chocolate while drinking a nice hot cup of coffee. This might sound simple yet there are just things that no matter how simple, simply skips our minds when we start to do something else. Eating something you like helps us keep our minds whole in a time when we feel an event would turn everything otherwise. Maybe there will always come a time when we feel that the road just keeps on moving in different directions and that no matter how hard ones effort is to go straight we just end up being hurdled a little more to unhappiness. And the short term solution that I found, was to sit back, relax and find something you enjoy at, no matter how simple, as long as it is easy to get.

Quotes from The Book of Eli

2010-03-25T10:39:00.001+08:00

Here are some of the quotes that I liked from the movie, click here for my blog about the The Book of Eli.

1. "Both thorn and thistles it should bring forth, for us. For out of the ground we were taken for the dust we are, and to the dust we shall return." - Eli

2. Stay on the path. It's not your concern. - Eli

3. I walk by faith, not by sight. It means that you know something even if you don't know something. It doesn't have to make sense, it's faith, it's faith. It's the flower of light in the field of darkness, it's giving me the strength to carry on - Eli

4. Do for others more than what you do for yourself - Eli

5. "Dear Lord, thank you for giving me the conviction and the strength to complete the task you entrusted to me. Thank you for guiding me straight and true through the many obstacles in my path and for keeping me resolute when all around seemed lost. Thank you for your protection and the many signs along the way. Thank you for any good I may have done, I am so sorry about the bad. Thank you for the friend I've made and please watch over her as you did for me. Thank you for finally allowing me to rest. I'm so very tired but I go now to my rest and peace knowing that I have done right with my time on this Earth. I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith." - Eli

The Book of Eli

2010-03-25T09:57:00.002+08:00

In a time when the things we take for granted are being fought for and sometimes to kill for. The movie, the book of eli tells a fictional future when one man fights for a book that became so important for him to protect, that he is given not just permission but extraordinary skills to kill.

Its been almost thirty years and the world has become a wasteland after the war. With few people left and almost depleted resources, the rest of the population resort to extreme means to survive, some eat human meat, others kill and some scavenge on whatever it is that is useful. during this time, Eli has been walking across America, and with his gift he kills anyone who tries to him.

Upon his travel, he comes across a town ruled by Carnegie who uses bikers in search of a certain book. Eli then comes into trouble in the local bar and kills everyone inside. Seeing this Carnegie tries to win over Eli not just because of his skills but also, because Eli is literate. Despite Eli's refusal Carnegie sends Solara to seduce Eli, but is turned downed once again. Instead Eli invites her to share his food and prays before eating. After eating, Solara see's the book that Eli is reading but is Eli kept it away.

Solara then tries to imitate the prayer with her mother and was seen by Carnegie, Carnegie then asks the book that Eli has and tells that it has a cross. This sparks Carnegie to pursue Eli and his book while Solara tags along Eli, hoping to have a better life. During the pursuit, Eli and Solara comes across a house where an old couple lives, Carnegie finds them in the house and both exchange gun shots, with Eli loosing and Carnegie acquiring the book, but not without looses. Eli being left alone and being shot continues to go south, while SOlara after being successful in releasing herself from Carnegie follows Eli and both continue their jouney until they come across Alcatraz.

There, Eli asks the caretaker to gather paper as he muster his strength to re-tell the book that he had kept and read for almost thirty years. What he kept and remembered were the words from the Bible, and despite Carnegie holding the only copy of the book, he is unable to read it because the words are in braile, Eli dies after successfully dictating the entire Bible.

The Book of Eli, is a fascinating story of faith while maintaining that sense of action in a film that we all love.

How to setup proxy for Nokia 5800

2010-03-23T08:25:00.001+08:00

I would like to share something that took me a while to figure out with my Nokia 5800 ExpressMusic. That is setting up a proxy for connecting to a network that requires proxy settings. I would assume that your phone has its WLAN scanning turned "on" and that your unit can detect the wireless network. Configuring a proxy for your Nokia 5800 is not difficult , here is what i did.

1. On your phone go to or tap Settings > Connectivity > Destinations > Internet
2. Choose and tap the network you wish to access
3. Inside choose options and select advanced settings
4. If the network needs an IP address you can select it and add the IP address, otherewise, just leave it and enter the proxy address and port number for your network

One done, you should be able to connect to your network.

Mabini Mansions

2010-02-22T21:13:00.001+08:00

During office events and/or trainings we usually require to stay on a hotel for a couple of nights specially if you live far from your venue. This has been the sometimes in our office, hence, we or the organizers look for a suitable and yet affordable temporary home. Very few of these places takes my attention, and one of these places was Mabini Mansions along Mabini Avenue in Manila.

(image taken from mabini mansions website http://www.mansiongroup.com.ph/MabiniSite/about1.html)

Here are some of the photos taken inside the hotel;

Of course the main purpose of finding a place to stay and rest is definitely a comfortable bed. The size where I stayed was probably a king size bed because it can accommodate two persons. Aside from the comfortable bed was the clean and neat bed sheets which is equally important.

Then there is the couch to rest before you go to bed, or watch cable TV while waiting for time to pass. The couch were also comfortable and very neat.

One thing I really loved about the place was that the rooms offered a kitchen complete with utensils, an electric stove and a refrigerator.

You would not call Mabini Mansions a five star hotel but considering a price tag of just Php 1,550 to Php 1,85o or roughly $34 to $38 its a pretty good deal. Finding a clean comfortable place to stay is not that expensive and is a good alternative for the budget conscious. The hotel is in Manila and the place is also very accessible and within reach of the US embassy. The Hotel URL is http://www.mansiongroup.com.ph/MabiniSite/about1.html

Penang Hill Restaurant

2010-02-16T09:38:00.002+08:00

Valentines Day has passed and like any occasion, it is best celebrated with your love one and of course with great food. We stumbled upon a great place to eat at Penang Hill last year for no apparent reason, and found out that the place offers great food and whats better is that its very accessible, you can find it at the second floor of Robinson's Mall in Manila. With the great experience we had last year we decided to have our Valentines dinner at Penang Hill.

Black Pepper Tiger Pranws, a very tasty dish with a dash of spice. The prawns are cut in the middle for easy eating, and despite the generous dash of pepper, the prawns are not that spicy.

Almost every filipino meal needs a rice, and we choose not just any rice and choose the very tasty sea food fried rice. With all the sea food in the rice, its a complete meal in itself.

Another dish we love is this Beef Rendang, the soft beef with a mild spicy taste really kept our appetite at a high level.

We didnt have any dissert since we were already full, so what my girlfriend had was a sweet dalandan juice to finish her meal.

And mine, a not so sweet and a bit sour green mango juice.

The typical budget in this restaurant would probably be at around Php 1,000 to Php 1,200 for two people but the price is humbled by the great food. Penang Hill is located at the second floor of Robinsons Manila. Almost every taxi in Metro Manila knows hot to get to Robinsons, which is also very accessible via the local commute system (jeepneys and buses).

Nintendo Wii

2010-01-19T21:37:00.002+08:00

Ever since I was a child I have always been fascinated with video games starting from the family computer to the games in my personal computer. Then came a revolution, the playstation which I was in one way became more addicted to playing with titles like final fantasy, red alert, silent hill and resident evil. But soon it had to pass and I had to grow, but then came another revolution, the best console I have tried, Nintendo's Wii.

The package (which I bought includes the console, the remote, nunchuck (not included in the picture) the various cables, sensor and wii sports.

You play the game by moving your body and using the remote, nunchuk and other add-on devices. What made this unique is the fact that you dont just use your hands, your actually required to move other parts of the body making the games more interactive. For now I am looking for cheaper titles as the one's available are a bit expensive.

My 2010 New Years Arsenal

2010-01-19T21:11:00.001+08:00

Every New year here in the Philippines, it is imperative that we celebrate with a bang, weather you have a lot or just a few, what is important is that fire crackers has always and probably will still stay in the Filipino tradition. I am not good in history but some say that we got our firecrackers from the Chinese who lived and traded with our ancestors and with it, the promise of removing bad luck for the new year and to bring about good luck in the coming year. Firecrackers have been lit for a long time every new year and 2010 is no difference, except for the fact that I had a tight budget, so I just bought and lit some of the basic and probably the most practical.

This obviously is not a firecracker but this is what I use and recommend to lit those nasty firecrackers. Accidents happen, but we cant let a few accidents defer us from having fun and celebrate the new year, so here is a pretty good suggestion. Firecrackers are thrown first on the ground before you lit them using this "katol" or mosquito coil on a stick, so your hands have a bit of distance from the explosion.

The classic 5 star fire cracker, it never looses out of touch, but some have poor quality and explodes as soon as it feels heat. Extra care should be taken if playing with these guys. I bought one box which has 10 packs and each packs have 10 pieces, giving me 100 ways to be a bit concerned on my hands.

Piccolo, this has become a favorite, its cheap and gives a good bang. its also relatively small, a little bit thicker than a match. I bought one box which has 10 packs and each packs have 60 of these nasty guys, and blowing up 600 fire crackers is a good way to wake up the neighbor.
another favorite and classic, the "kwitis", this baby is not just used during the new year but during fiesta's as well. It shoots up in the sky and makes one bang,, leaving behind a trail of nasty smoke, but its fun to see something go up like a rocket.

My finale, I lit this up just before 12 o' clock 25 small rockets in sequence going straight in the sky. I just did not know how they would fall, but what is important is that they did go up and gave a bang.

Develop INEO 353

2009-12-02T09:25:00.001+08:00

A couple of weeks ago our office purchased a new copier, its the new Develop Ineo 353 which according to our supplier is the latest model available in the country for state of the art copiers.

Since our office requires a lot of photocopies which needs to be sorted and stapled, I requested to add a finisher, so that papers are not only sorted but stapled as well. This feature is very convenient for bulk copying.

Then we do not want to constantly pull the cover up and down every time we copy documents, not only does it strain our arms but its also time consuming and is not recommended for quick copying of documents for those crucial moments. A feeder was installed not only for easy copying but also to allow back-to-back scanning and copying, according to the technician who installed the feeder, the safe volume of paper would be 100 but of course I would like to try if it can handle more.

Ineo 353 features monochrome as well as colored copying, touch screen colored console, scanning with electronic copies stored on a PC, RJ 45 plug for connection via Local Area Network (LAN), fax machine, can act as a network printer, fast output at 35 ppm for colored and b/w (we have yet to test this one), password protection, can enlarge or reduce images, control the density of print, compact design which perfect for space consious offices, accepts up to A3 size papers and scans, and other features of a normal copier.

Since its a colored copier and scanner, it has four toners Magenta, Cyan, Blue and Black. The imaging units are also of four types based on the colors mentioned. I think the only disadvantage that the machine has is the price. It cost around $7,500 and up depending on your supplier and the consumables would cost around $1,300 for each of the imaging unit and $220 for each of the toners as a rough estimate. But according to our supplier the consumables can produce around 100,000 copies but ofcourse that is still a rough estimate since you can control the density of the colors and would also depend on what are you actually copying.

Blogging, Microblogging and social networks

2009-11-25T10:36:00.000+08:00

Its amazing how the world seems to be a lot smaller thanks to our present technology, communicating regardless of distance or language. A lot of people has taken advantage on what our technology now has to offer, and that includes myself. We can tell what we want and sometimes earn a couple of bucks in the process. Blogging is an online entry of any topic and usually it tells the feelings of the writer. Microblogging is simply a shorter version of Blogging, since some entries or feelings or topics can actually be written in a few words.

Social Networking Sites allows people to create a place to see their friends, acquaintances and people they dont even know and connect with them and share with them a part of their life as well. For every symbol that we press into the keyboard, for every word that comes out of our screen, and for every entry that we publish, someone eventually reads them and makes and interpretation on their own of what the group of symbols mean.

We have these technologies that are acctually opportunities to connect and create a feeling of freedom to say and be who we are to everyone.

Jennifers Body

2009-11-11T11:27:00.002+08:00

Definitely one of the movies Id love to see again. At first I thought it was just another ordinary movie and that the only aspect that made me and my girlfriend watch is the fact that Megan Fox was in it, well we'd like to see if she has more to offer than what she did in Transformers and we saw that she did.

The story is about two best friends with very different worlds, Jennifer the sexy hot chick and Needy the book worm. It all comes at a concert in the local bar when the bar burns the band who plays there suddenly takes Jenny and offers her to Satan. Since Jennifer is not a virgin which the band members did not know, turned into a flesh eating chick who preys mostly on boys.

As the story goes Jennifer confessed to her best friend Needy. Needy shocked tried to keep her boyfriend away from her, but unfortunately Jennifer caught Needy's boyfriend and tried to eat him. Needy came to her boyfriends rescue and injuring Jennifer in the process. Needy's boyfriend dies and Needy herself was bitten, what she didnt know is that anyone bitten by the monster and survives absorbs some of the monsters abilities. Needy kills her bestfriend and ends up in a mental hospital, she eventually escapes and hunts down the band members that initially killed her bestfriend, and kills them.

A very cool movie, with a very cool sound track and ill be grabbing a copy of the songs.

Typhoon Ondoy a.k.a Ketsana

2009-09-30T08:59:00.001+08:00

last September 26 the Philippines witnessed one of the worst calamity man has had to endure. Typhoon Ondoy a.k.a Ketsana was barely as strong as the previous storms but brought far more havoc than anything we have ever witnessed. I was on my way to my Girlfriends house and it was already raining but suddenly the water began to rise. The rain was not that strong but it did continue to rise at such a fast pace that the water started to go up through the floor of the bus in less than two hours.

Then as fast as the water came, it went away with just the same rate, but unfortunately the bus that I was riding had its engine damaged due to flood water so I had to walk a few meters to look for a new bus (the water was still ankle deep). The new bus went forward, it was a bit higher but by the time we were on the overpass we saw the extent of the flood which was a bit scary.

After 12 hours of travel I arrived at my Girlfriends house bringing with me a couple of canned goods, candles, bottled water and biscuits as they do not have any foods stored. We ate what we had and hoped that the rain would stop and that the water do not rise any further as the water was already chest high. We stayed at the second floor hoping for sunshine.

Flowers from Alfonso

2009-09-02T13:01:00.000+08:00

last August 31 I went with my Girlfriends family to visit some of their relatives at Alfonso, Cavite. The place was far and on high ground, the temperature was mild and humid, that was probably the reason why my girlfriends grandparents choose planting flowers as their past time. I personally don't know what these flowers are but they are pretty, here are some of these beautiful plants:

Nice purple and violet colored flowers that seem to hang upside down.

I guess this is an orchid of some sort.

Another orchid, this was pretty high so I had to tip toe to catch a good shot.

I find this vine interesting since the leaves only grow on one side and grow in a spiral manner.

Bright yellow flowers that have been damped by the humidity.

Another flower at the top of a tree, it seems to have a smaller flower within.

The violet leaves makes the flower glow, or might just be the flash of my camera.

Like all gardens, insects play a vital role to help flowers bloom.

Im not sure about this insect, some say a type of cockroach but Im not sure, all I know is that it has a hard exoskeleton and is huge.

Jewerly and Watches

2009-08-24T19:45:00.000+08:00

Precious items needs precious time when your looking for them, good thing there is the internet to help us and I just found a great website for such items, its Jewelry and Watches Buying Guide from Shopwiki.com. The website features a load of information for people who are having trouble looking for the right jewelry for that special moment or for those who are just looking around.

For Engagements and Wedding Jewelry Guide they help you in choosing Engagement rings, Diamonds, Wedding Rings and even Wedding Day Jewelry. The Guides they provide are very useful and informative providing excellent information when choosing the right accessory for that very special moment. Personally I liked their Engagement Ring directory, because it does not only provide images but filters as well to help me choose in the future the right ring for that magical moment.

The site also has information about Women's Jewelry Buying Guide, Men's Jewelry and Watches Buying Guide. They also has information on Buying Gemstones which gives you everything you need in choose the perfect stone

USB LAN

2009-07-19T23:49:00.002+08:00

I have here a very interesting, very useful and very practical gadget, its a Local Area Network (LAN) device which can be plugged to your Universal Serial Bus (USB) in short its a USB LAN.

This is very usuful for those who have damaged LAN cards or to those who use old computers that needs a bit of upgrade or parts replacements, and its best for those who are not really that knowledgeable when it comes to computer devices plus its cheap, around 250 to 300 bucks or 5 to 6 US dollars.

What you get when you buy one basically are these two items, the USB LAN itself and the CD which contains the driver for the device.

I used an old Compaq Presario which is kinda ancient in the laptop world but the device still works fine. I used it because the laptop doesnt have a LAN card good thing it has a single USB port, i can use a USB hub later, but for now its nice to know that I can connect through the USB LAN. By the way my old laptop doesnt have wifi, and why didnt I just buy a USB wifi device, well even though I have a wifi router its still better to use wired connection, specially for my old laptop.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

2009-07-19T00:02:00.000+08:00

One of the biggest movies this year Harry Potter and the half blood prince is the sixth movie from the Harry Potter movie franchise based from book of the same title. The movie continues the struggle of Harry against his enemies in the world of magic. I dont really want to tell much about the story as I have not yet made any synopsis of any Harry Potter Movie in my blogs, so I would suggest you read the book or watch the movie since it has an excellent story.

As you would expect from any movie adaptation, there are missing chapters and edited story lines, but I must say the producers of the movie did a good job in keeping things in-line with the book so to speak. Even if there were missing chapters you would not feel as if your having a hard time understanding the story that much, you might feel you don't need to read the actual book (but I suggest you do...). The characters were also great, maybe because they are more mature and more at ease with their characters (they are doing the movie franchise for the sixth time...), seeing them grow is fascinating indeed, from the first movie till this one.

Effects, cinematography and all the stuff that makes the movie is really superbly done, they maintained that quality that was seen on the previous movies. There weren't really that much action as it told in the book but i would have loved the movie even more if more chapters were included the movie. Its like you can watch it for the movie and not just because of the book, it was a balanced film as far as action, story and effects were concerned, in all it was a great movie and my opinion one of the best among the Harry Potter Franchise.

The Notebook Movie Quotes

2009-07-17T09:14:00.001+08:00

"The Notebook" a 2004 love story movie about an old couple where the man tells his wife about their story but the wife does not remember anything not even him. The man who never lost hope continues to read their story until one night his wife finally remembers and died sleeping together. I love this movie which I watched together with my girlfriend, despite the condition of his wife, the man persisted on staying with her, I rarely like love stories but this is one of a few films that I liked, maybe because the story was told in a different way or how the story tells how an ideal couple would be in a somewhat realistic society. Here are some of the quotes that I liked:

Noah: I am no one special. Just a common man with common thoughts. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who ever lived. I've loved another with all my heart and soul and for me that has always been enough.

Allie: most of the time I have all these thoughts bouncing around in my head, but with a brush in my hand, the world just gets kinda quiet.

Noah: Well thanks doc, but you know what they say, science goes only so far and then comes God.

Anne: 'Cause I might know you a little better than you think. And I don't want you waking up one morning thinking if you'd known everything you might have done something different.

Allie's mother: Sometimes when I'm in the area, I just stop here and I watch him, trying to picture how different my life might have been.

Line from a letter of Noah to Allie: The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that's what you've given me. That's what I'd hoped to give you forever.

How to install NVIDIA graphics driver to Ubuntu 8.10

2009-07-16T14:46:00.002+08:00

After thinking of a way to maximize my U-Box i noticed that Ubunutu 8.10 seem to have a bug on NVIDIA graphics driver, whenever I try to install the driver via hardware drivers. Eventually I managed to install the my graphics driver here is what I did:

Enter the NVIDIA website, www.nvidia.com, go to download drivers and select Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris Drivers under other downloads and support.
Download the driver that suites your harware in my case i used Latest Legacy GPU version (173.14.xx series).
download the driver NVIDIA-Linux-x86-173.14.20.pkg1.run
Press ctrl + alt + f1
supply the username and password if asked.
enter sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop this will stop your x-server in preparation to install the driver
enter sudo sh /path of your package/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-173.14.20.pkg1.run
enter sudo reboot
enjoy your ubuntu 8.10!

Nokia 5800 XpresMusic Phone

2009-07-12T00:07:00.001+08:00

The Nokia 5800 XpresMusic Phone dubbed by some as the "iphone killer" is Nokia's almost all touch screen smart phone. Released on the first quarter of 2009, the phone boast both a hand full of features and some shortcommings. A High-end Phone for an above mid-end price is something that would surely entice any gadget lover.

Here is what you get from the box aside from the phone, the stylus, battery and memory isnt in the picture but it is included in the box. I liked the fact that the Nokia gave a lot of stuff included in the box, considering its price, which is not but nor was it that expensive for this type of phone.

You can see at left side are two slots one is for hot swapping of memory cards ( the phone includes an 8GB memory card, very nice....) and the other is for the SIM card, although unlike the memory card you can only insert it in this fashion if you want to pull it out, you need to remove the battery. The slot of the SIM card slot in my opinion isnt really necessary, why put it in that fashion if you cant use it that way? This is also the location of the speakers which is the best (quality wise) I have heard so far, its also pretty loud and despite its loudness sounds played are still clear.

Here is a view on top, almost all external connection are made here, which include, 35mm audio jack, charger slot, USB slot and power switch. I findit convinient that all these connections are placed here,it just made the phone look neat even you connect the USB cable and power jack in. Nokia also made good adding the 35mm Jack since it allows users to use their standard headset. You cant however, charge via USB, dunno why they didnt inlcude that feature, it would have been great to have that included.

The right side of the phone has the volume control, keypad lock and the camera button, these buttons are conviniently placed for easy access.

The back is where you find your 3.15 Mega Pixel Camera (why didnt Nokia used a 5MP camera?..) also you'll find your stylus which is again placed nicely.

The phone uses symbia S60 Operating System and runs beautifully except for a few instances of lags and slow responses, its very much acceptable. The phone works like any phone the only difference is that its obviously a touch screen device. Nokia also gave its users options on entering text either qwerty or alphanumeric and even a hand writing feature. It also has Wifi and bluetooth so you stay connected if there is an available network. The device also has an accelerometer which allows the screen to change based on how you hold the phone, this can breed softwares that can be very entertaining, Nokia made a sample of this with their racing game, where you need to steer the phone to steer the car, neat! GPS is also included and with its ultra wide screen, im sure you wont loose your way.

I liked the phone, it has a stirdy well developed design combined with Nokia's Symbian Operating System. I think Nokia could have made it better though, but I guess in order to compete with the market they just cut short a few of the features that they could have put in.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

2009-07-02T20:56:00.002+08:00

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the sequel to the first movie released in 2007. Just by watching the trailer you would know that this was a movie to watch in the silver screen. It tells about the story when the decepticons return to Earth first to revive Megatron leader of the decepticons and to fulfill the revenge of the Fallen. The fallen is said to be one of the oldest transformers who visited Earth, alongside with other Primes with the goal to harvest the Sun. The Fallen made a Sun Harvester despite the disagreement of other primes since they saw early humans living in Earth. The other primes stopped the Fallen by hidding the Matrix of Leadership the key to the Sun Harvester.

Present day, Sam found a shard of the all spark and receives some of its energy and knowledge. Hunted by the decepticons he is evtually helped by his autobot buddy bumble bee and his girl friend Mikaela, Optimus Prime also came to the rescue but was killed in the process by Megatron. After learning of the meaning of the symbols Sam has seen since he found the shard he goes to Egypt and after a heavy strugle revives Optimus Prime kills the Fallen and Megatron retreats.

The movie is one of the best I have seen and really keeps you on your seat, effects were spectacullar and they introduced new transformers into the movie from the original Cartoon. There are several inconsistencies with the movie but I really didn't watch the movie and expect things to be "that" realistic, as long as I am entertained and kept me in my seat then its a good movie for me. Words cant describe what they have done with the movie, it was money well spent.

Dengue

2009-06-20T18:24:00.002+08:00

According to the World Health Organization Dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with any one of the four dengue viruses. It occurs in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. Symptoms appear 3—14 days after the infective bite. Dengue fever is a febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults.

Symptoms range from a mild fever, to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rash. There are no specific antiviral medicines for dengue. It is important to maintain hydration. Use of acetylsalicylic acid (e.g. aspirin) and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g. Ibuprofen) is not recommended.

to sum it all up, its a very nasty virus from a mosquito. Here in the Philippines Dengue is quite common and to prove that today my brother was diagnosed with type 1 Dengue, the second in our family, I'm not sure where the mosquito came from but it was definitely not from our home.

here are some tips from http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/oct/10deng.htm on how to avoid and detect dengue:

The fever comes within eight days of the mosquito bite.
How to detect if you are infected:
1) Serological test to detect IgM, IgG antibodies: IgM antibodies appear in blood at the end of eight days and persist for 1-3 months. It indicates acute infection. This is the test that most people undergo. It has an accuracy of 80-90% and is referred to as the preliminary test.
2) Isolation of virus in blood: This is a sophisticated test, conducted only by the Pune-based National Institute of Virology. Can be undertaken 10 days after the first blood test. Quite expensive, but it can confirm if the person is infected by dengue.
3) Polymerized Chain Reaction: This test involves amplification of the DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid). Very expensive and hence, undertaken only in rare cases

Dengue is also known as Break Bone Fever. If the infection is treated on time, the mortality rate is less then 15%.
How to avoid it:
1. Water from flower pots should be changed at least once a week
2. All containers storing water should be covered with a tight lid
3. Water stored in barrels, drums etc should be replaced by fresh stock (at least) once a week
4. All large water tanks, like those in buildings, should have single piece cast iron, tight fitting cover. A suitable ladder should be provided to enable civic staff to climb and examine the tanks at frequent intervals. The overflow pipe should be protected by a net that can keep away mosquitoes.
5. Discarded container-like objects like tyres, coconut shells, bottles, etc should be disposed off or destroyed.
6. Water fountains should be kept dry once a week
7. Surface wells should be well-maintained so that mosquitoes do not breed in the vicinity
8. Rain water collected on terraces/roofs should be cleared (at least) once a week

How to Change Workgroup name in Ubuntu

2009-06-11T15:08:00.001+08:00

I am assuming that the version of Ubuntu being used already has Samba Installed otherwise please refer to www.ubuntu.com

1. Go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal
2. At the Terminal type the command
sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf
3. Scroll Down and at the workgroup = workgroup, simply change the workgroup name and press enter
4. Restart Samba, at the terminal type
sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart

and your done!

Restaurant: Sizzling and Grilling

2009-06-07T01:03:00.001+08:00

I always try to look into places where you dont have to spend a lot for good food and good service, and it seems i have found another one of those places, its a restaurant called "Sizzing and Grilling".Its found somewhere in Manila, its a bit hard to find but once your stomach is grumbling you'll see where your nose wants to point you, in this case good food.

You may notice a change in the picture quality, this one is taken from a 3.5 Mega pixel camera phone where the others were standard VGA camera phone's, sorry about that. Now, this is what we ate, we ordered sizzling sissig and mixed seafood (crabs, oysters, shrip and fish) plus garlic rice which i forgot to take a picture of.

here is another picture of our food, half way to being done, the sizzling sissig is gone by now. Budget wise the place is very affordable for the type of serving they provide. If you plan to eat by yourself 200 - 300 bucks will do, thats a good amount if you want good food.

If your on a date simply double the amount. They dont have any service charge so I gave them a nice time (to my standards anyway...) for the food and for the service they gave.

Well, my plate said it all, I had a great dinner, good food, quality time with my girl friend and felt that my money was well spent. They do have to improve their ambiance though, but except that, the place gets an A.

Bali 2009

2009-06-01T23:02:00.001+08:00

25 May 2009, Its 7:45 in the morning, and I just arrived last night, I was too tired to type anything. The hotel was nice, but not that great, staying at some of the hotels in Manila made me compare, but that did not matter last night, I was tired and all I could think of was a hot shower and sleep at the nice bed. Breakfast was not that great also, with very few food selections, I did like the local music being played while taking breakfast, the music made the difference. Being a Filipino here in Bali made me feel at home, the climate, the locals skin tone, some similar words, similar in a lot of things, but one thing I did find interesting is that they unlike us, has not been that much influenced by western countries such as the United States.

As days passed, I tried to enjoy myself despite the fact that I was sent there to work, I enjoyed the beach in the morning before breakfast, then after an hour or two, I'll be at the meeting venue and before I know it I was back at my room trying to tell my body to rest and recharge for the next activity. Our host was kind enough to give us a tour to enjoy the place, which was nice and very enjoyable indeed but not that spectacular.

As soon as I arrive, I leave Bali, treasuring the moments passed, despite the work, the fun, the experience, I will still miss my home.

Josephine's water camp

2009-05-31T13:16:00.001+08:00

Just before I went to Indonesia, I spent some time with my Girl friend and her family at Josephine's water camp in Cavite. The place was not that popular to me but as I roam around and swam I saw why they choose the place.

Before entering the place you'll notice a fish pond with a restaurant on top, i would assume that orders are freshly taken from the pond, which is very nice,knowing what your eating is actually very fresh.

Pools have play grounds making a perfect place for kids, the water was not deep possibly around three feet. The area was big enough for you to and your kids to roam around and yet still have time to have fun on you own.

The amenity which me and my GF spent most of our time was a river like pool, which amazingly has a current on its own. People only go on one direction since there are parts of the river with strong current, the water is also clean and is not that cold, perfect to cool of the heat.

I dont remember the exact price but its probably around 180 per person and cottages range from 200 to 1000+, again i'm not sure, but what I am sure is that this is really a very nice place for you and your family, its located in Cavite a few hours drive from Manila.

Punto Miguel

2009-05-18T07:44:00.003+08:00

From time to time its nice to visit a place away from the noisy city streets and pollution yet is still a drive away from the Metro and here is one of those places. Punto Miguel is about two to three hours drive from the Manila, depending on traffic, you would also have to travel by boat which is roughly five to ten minutes away from port.

The place isn't well known such as boracay or Puerto Gallera but it still is pretty nice considering the location and it does have clear waters. The sand is not powdery white but its better than black or dark sands, which is common to the place.

But looking closely to the sand you'll notice that there are more rocks bits than sand at the shore, plus the occasional sea urchins and crabs, so I needed extra care while walking specially at night.

The resort does have a function room which overlooks the islands and waters that commands the beautiful beach, but since we went there with a bit of rain, we were wet before we even took a dip at the water since its very open.

Log Furniture: Bed of choice

2009-04-12T21:09:00.001+08:00

some of us spends almost 1/3 of our time sleeping, making the bedroom one of the most integral part of our home. And every hard working individual deserves a bedroom with a nice bed. As I surf through the internet i stumbled upon a log furniture site which previews a lot of furniture and specially my beloved bed. Browsing through the site showed me a wide array of log furniture's of which I'm sure anybody can find something to love and you can even order them through the site itself.

Now back to our bed, here is the type of bed that I would love in my home:

A very nice elegant log king size bed, according to the website the type of wood used is Walnut Mainframe and Tiger Maple Accents giving this bed a sense of being one with nature, making a good stress reliever and not just a place to sleep. If you want to know more you can visit the site at the URL: http://www.scenicfurniture.com/

Sweet and Spicy Shrimp

2009-03-30T08:30:00.001+08:00

Here is one of my favorite and perfected dish, which I haven't done in a while, Sweet and Spicy Shrimp. My version is probably the simplified version without compromising the taste. Here are a few of the ingredients that used. Of course shrimp,

What I did here is that I peeled the shrimps skin but you should not throw the skin away.

You'll also need your spices, the most basic being sugar, pepper,salt, garlic, and chili.

Butter, for this type of dish i would recommend the unsalted butter, and just enough to give that creamy texture...

Tomato sauce for color and to add a bit of flavor.

Here is one of the most important ingredient, clear soda, never use flavored or colored soda. Soda is for family consumption but the best substitute is vodka, to give a slight kick in your meal. As you noticed I didn't give any amount,not that its a secret but Ithe amounts actually differ based on your preference.

Procedure:

1. pour the soda in a pan to heat slightly, use low heat.
2. Add shrimp skin and let it boil until the color of the liquid and the skin changes. If skin is orange and the liquid gets darker, remove the skin and throw it away.
3. add the shrimps and let it cook until the color changes to orange.
4. add the butter, sugar, a dash of salt and pepper.
5. add garlic and chili and let it boil for a couple of minutes under low heat.
6. add tomato sauce and stir lightly, add salt, sugar and pepper as desired and serve.

Very simple but very delicious meal

Baler

2009-03-01T18:40:00.001+08:00

Last 25-28 of February, my office sent me to Baler and despite the long travel (8 hours) and rough roads I have few regrets upon seeing the wonderful town of Baler. Most of my time was spent on the nice beaches and strong waves that make Baler a wonderful place to relax and spend quality time with your family or love one.
Bahia de Baler, this was one of the hotels that was offered to us during our stay, though they only have few rooms they make it up for their quality of service.

Right infront of the hotel is their function room, a building whose walls are made up almost entirely of glass for you to see the wonderful surroundings, most specially the beach.

The beaches of Baler is really top quality,though the sand is not as white as Boracay, they make this up for the wonderful waves that come ashore, making Baler an ideal place for surfers.

If you can survive the trip and want to go to a place that's peaceful, not so crowded with a nice view, excellent beach, waves and wonderful people, this seems to be the perfect description.

How to add a password to a guest account in Windows XP

2009-02-24T12:34:00.001+08:00

In the today's world security should always be your top priority and that includes one of the most indispensable machines in everyday life, our computers. Here is simple step to add security in your beloved personal computers who uses windows xp as their operating systems, specially if your connected to a network.

Here is a common workplace scenario, your at an office who shares not only computers but files as well through the shared folder of each computer. This is a good way to save cost and at the same time improve efficiency through networking, but of the draw backs is the security issue, since all in the network can see you and all can use your computer whenever your not around. The solution, create a guest account and add a password, this allows you to let people use the guest account if they dont have any account on a particular PC, and also it allows you to choose which people in the network can access your PC, here are the steps:

1. Go to start and choose control panel;
2. Select User accounts and turn on the Guest Account
3. Go back to the control panel and choose Administrative Tools and select Computer Management;
4. Click on the folder "Local Users and Groups"
5. Right click on the Guest and select set password
6. Add the password of your choice and let the people you want to know the password.

OSIST

2009-02-17T07:47:00.001+08:00

OSIST stands for "One Stop Information Shop of Technologies in the Philippines". The web site is a project of the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development (PCIERD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) from the Philippines. The website is basically a way for PCIERD to present to the public the number of technololgies available from the Department, whats interesting to note is that these technologies are products of researches and is now ready to be presented and be used by the public, also the website has been nominated as a finalist in the WSA Global Contest and the 11th Philippine Web Awards (PWA) e-Government Category.

The general appearance of the website is very neat, with a very clean look, there is not much clutter and shows only the information relevant to its purpose in a very clear manner. The main options are very visible at the left panel of the site which offers the available technologies, guest book, related links, and a web forum. The left panel also contains the search option of the website, which is very useful since the site contains a lot of technologies making searches easy for any user who wishes to visit the site.

The site shows at the front page the News & Updates and Success Stories, which allows visitors to read the things that are happening about the technologies being presented at the website. This adds credibility to the website and a good source of information especially to first time visitors. The right panel contains the "Most Visited Technology" section, this is a great section for showing all those topics and technologies that are usually being asked by the public, this gives visitors an idea of the content as well as a tool to help visitors look for the technologies that they need. Aside from the basic options, another feature of the site that is really helpful is the option to increase the font size of the content, allowing users to see the content at a font size of their liking.

Access to the website is easy the url si http://www.osist.dost.gov.ph or you can click here to visit the site. I tried to access the site from home and at the office, using different browsers and connection was a breeze, provded of course you have good internet connection and a decent computer.

In all, the site is very well built, Its nice to visit a website that does very good on what its supposed to do, and the OSIST website a very good example. Though not the most fancy of websites with minimal graphic designs that is pretty much acceptable as it removes weight in browsing and showing only the things that you need to see. A very functional website I recommend this website to be a sure winner.

You can vote through the url http://www.philippinewebawards.com/pages/register.asp.

Mapping Windows Network Drive to Ubuntu

2009-02-11T08:47:00.001+08:00

Its been a while since I figured out how to map a windows network drive to an Ubuntu Operating System. This is very useful especially if your office is using different types of Operating Systems.

Here are the steps:

1. On your Ubuntu Desktop, click on the places tab, which is usually found at the upper left portion, in between application and system and choose "connect to server" option

2. At the service type choose windows share, and simply fill up all the details:
- the server is the name of the pc where you want to connect(use the computer name)
- share is the folder name of the shared folder
- user name is the name of your pc
- domain name is your workgroup
- name to use in your connection is name that you would like to use

3. simply double click on the connect icon and the detwork drive should show up on your desktop

Slumdog Millionaire Movie Review

2009-02-11T08:30:00.002+08:00

One of the best films I have seen, Slumdog Millionaire is a movie worth watching. The plot itself is not new but what makes the story great is how they made the such a way where ordinary people can relate and yet provide an interesting scenario that has deep meaning. Majority of the people around the world are poor or at least their not rich, similar to the Character of Jamal, born of poverty and despite the huge opportunity that he has his desire is the simpliest of things, all he wanted was for Latika to see him in the game show. Jamal has all the qualities of an ordinary person living in a rather ordinary life, but is given an extraordinary experience that everyone wanted, the only difference was, his simple desire.

Even the Antagonist were very realistic, the brother Salim who became bad not because he wanted to but because of circumstances and influence of others, but deep inside, he still loved Jamal. The game show master, who simply became ignorant in accepting Jamal's winning streak, he was also the reason for Jamal's torchure. The police officer who like the game show master refused to accept that Jamal was not cheating and the two simply acted like any ordinary person would act, out of suspicion and the desire to know the truth, and these are very human traits.

There were also the gang members who in todays society is very much a part of. Every society has its own version of a gang, whether its in Mumbai, Manila or New York. These people shape the lives of those they encounter. In all its a great realistic story.

The movie did not have a lot of visual effects, just the normal drama scenes and minimal graphic effects, it was not great but it was well enough. It's rare to see a movie that shows cinematography and choice of shots, and even the angle to be just right, not great not spectacular, but just right. And that is what I think made this movie a film worth watching

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-02-09T21:25:00.001+08:00

This is really one of the best movies that I have watched, it has deep meaning, fresh story, something we could relate to and really shows us what reality is in life. Very few movies or stories can reach to what this film has told, something that is not filled with special effects, nothing fancy but something that has meaning.

The film is about the amazing story of Jamal, an 18 year old teenager, his life in the slums and the biggest day in his life. He is one question away from winning 20 million rupees from India's version of the game show "Who wants to be a millionaire" and as the show pauses for the next day, Jamal is arrested because of suspicion of cheating. Upon interrogation, Jamal tells his story and how his experiences led him to the game show, from childhood, to the last minute of the game.

He was born in the slums together with his brother Salem on one of India's poorest places. He lost his mother at a young age, and the two start to live life on their own, doing whatever they can to survive, at this instant Jamal also met Latika. The two had a hard life, they were taken to be part of a gangster though they managed to escape, Latika was left behind. A few years later, the siblings return to save Latika, and Salem managed to kill the leader that once held them captive. Salem then joined another gang and took Latika for himself, leaving Jamal. A few years passed and Jamal found Latika, still captive with Salem as one of the gang members. Jamal then joins the game show not to win, but he simply thought Latika would watch.

Every question in the game was answered with the help of his experiences that he remembered so vividly. He answers the last question and won the prize, but his victory was not of money but of Latika, being saved from the gangster with the help of his brother who sacrificed his own life.

A very very splendid film, something that all of us can relate to.

Inkheart Movie Review

2009-02-09T20:32:00.001+08:00

Inkheart is a fantasy movie starred by Brendan Fraser, a very typical hero type of an actor. The movie centers on how a father, reveals to her daughter how her mother was lost and shows her his unique ability which her daughter has inherited, and this ability is to bring characters from books to life. Hauted by the past, Mo (Brendan Fraser) battles againts odds to bring back his wife and saves the world from an evil character he has unleashed years before.

The story itself is relatively nice, its not too deep nor too shallow, a movie that can be shown to the entire family. Brendan shows his hero portrayal once again, and presents his usual ability to be the man that would save the day. Other characters did play well, most notably Hellen Mirren, which portrayed as Maggies aunt. The characters was well chosen, and Brendan would really fit the character of Mo. Cinematography and how the film was shot was very nice, getting less advantage of the background and more focus on the characters.But I felt the movie could have been better with inserting more details on the how the story went.

In all, Inkheart is a great family movie, though it could have gone a lot better if story had a bit more detail. A sequel would be nice to fill the gaps on the story, such as what did the villains do, after they were released and how was life inside the book.

Inkheart

2009-02-09T07:37:00.001+08:00

Here is another movie from Brendan Fraser, and how he saves the day once more. Inkheart is a movie similar to the genres of Naria a fantasy movie that tells the amazing powers of Mo, played by Brendan, to turn bring to life the characters from the books that he reads out loud. But there is a twist to his powers, everytime a character comes out a book someone from the real world comes inside the book.

That is what happened the time he read a book to her daughter and brought in characters from Inkheart, a story set in medieval times and filled with magical creatures. Years later Dustfinger, a character from inkheart tracks them and abducts Mo, her daughter Maggie and Maggie's aunt. The three found out, other magical creatures that came out from the book, and truth to the disappearance of Maggies mother.

Dustfinger soon realizes his mistake and frees the three in pursuit to the remaining copy of inkheart and found their way to its author. As they found the author, Dustfinger admits to Mo that his wife is no longer inside the book but is held captive inside the castle where they were previously detained. The two decides to go back the castle and save the wife of Mo, while Maggie was abducted by villains at the house of inkhearts author.

The villains soon discovers that Maggie has inherited Mo's ability and uses her to unleash a powerful evil being from inkheart. Mo stops this,while Maggies used her own body and writes a story of her own and reads it aloud to save the day.

Coffee

2009-02-03T13:09:00.001+08:00

Would be nice than to sit down in a cold windy day and holding a hot cup of coffee. Thinking and wondering what would be life in a couple of minutes, a couple of hours, a couple of days and for the rest of your life. Coffee just seems to be one of the simplest but great things in life.

Every cold morning would not be complete without a hot cup of coffee. Some people drink coffee after lunch, or afternoon snack, and even if it keeps them awake some people take a cup of coffee in the middle of the night savoring the sweet bitter taste of coffee.

Some people live for coffee, some make a living out of it, regardless if their planting the seeds, retailing a cup or actually owning a shop. Some people grew young due to antioxidants, some grow old drinking coffee. Whatever happens, coffee will always be part of our lives.

A lot of people might say a couple of bad things about coffee, but I don’t think the majority would mind, knowing how good coffee feels. Coffee might be addicting and has its own side effects, but for some, coffee is their only companion through the hardships of work, through cold days and night. A cup of coffee can warm your body and sometimes create bonds that for some would last a life time.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Movie Review

2009-02-01T23:06:00.003+08:00

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is the prequel to the Underworld series, and just the previous releases, the movie centers on the struggle between Vampire and Werewolves known in this movie as Lycans. The movie showed most of the previous characters except Selene which is played by Kate Beckinsale. Although Kate or Selene was gone, another female vampire was present and She was Sonja played by Rhona Mitra. Athough I liked Kate more Rhona was equally stunning, plus her awesome performance as a Vampire princess.

The movie answered a few questions from the previous Underworld movies and the origin of the great feud the first two movies revolved upon. It nice to see that there is consistency on the movie based on what was previously told on the first movie. Actions scenes were immense, with battles that show a lot of gore and brutality, which of course I liked since the battles look realistic, despite having an R13 rating. Battle choreography was very nice, accompanied by great back ground but there were a bit awkward camera angles, but great fight scenes none the less.

The actors played very well, specially for Rhona, who fought and moved just like Kate, consistent with Sonja and Selene being incomparable in the eyes of Viktor. There were a few things I made me think though, like Kraven who was portrayed as a hero by the vampires where does he come in, and why did the Viktor and the rest of the elders went to sea, when in fact they would try to exterminate the Lycans. These questions might probably be answered if producers would make a fourth movie.

All in all, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, great movie, no money wasted, very very nice.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

2009-02-01T22:35:00.001+08:00

The third movie from the Underworld is really something, seeing the first two movies made me feel that the third movie is bound to be spectacular.

Instead of making a sequel the movie producers decided on making a prequel which is pretty neat considering that the previous movies still lack a few details on their past.

It movie is centered on the origins of Lucian, leader of the Lycans from the first movie and how he became the first Lycan able to change to human form, after being born from a werewolf mother. He was then taken by Viktor, the vampire king who used lucian to create more lycans to be viktors slaves. The idea seemed perfect, lycans being stronger than humans and immortal as well would be best suited to being his slaves, Viktor even created a colar with spikes that would immediately kill any lycan whishing to transform.

The only thing was, and based on the first movie, Lucian was in love with Viktor's daughter, Sonja. Things get complicated when Sonja tried to escort a few nobles to enter their castle, but they were attacked by werewolves which unlike Lucian could not take human form. Lucian upon knowing this rushed to save Sonja, and disobeyed Viktor by transforming into a werewolf, amazingly other werewolves seemed to obey Lucian.

Viktor saw Lucians disobedience, and punishes him, after receiving severe punishment Lucian escapes with a few slaves but returns after knowing that Sonja would be killed after Viktor knew about their relationship. Lucian tries to free Sonja but was captured, Lucian is once again punished but this time by seeing Sonja die before him by being burned from sun light. Lucian once again tries to escape, but is severly injured, despite being weak, he calls upon his werewolf bretheren to attack the vampire castle. The sheer number of were wolves over powers the vampires and is over run, and Viktor is defeated by Lucian.

My short love poem

2009-01-31T00:10:00.000+08:00

Time pass and seasons change
But my love will stay the same
with only cupid to blame

Acobay

2009-01-30T14:29:00.002+08:00

I found a very interesting networking site, its acobay.com, this isn't your typical networking site since it actually allows you to share your stuff but this is not a review site, It shows the stuff that you use everyday. Another point that I like is that this site offers registration without using your email address, pretty neat. Its a new way to experience social networking, and at the same time, a sharing site that is very useful when it comes to what you need.

Items are sorted by category making browsing for stuff easier, and with a lot of stuff to choose from you will certainly see the things you need, even things you still havn't thought about. The site also is very simple and easy to use, from registration to the actual posting of your stuff, it wont take a sweat.

The sharing site allows you to show your stuff and see people with the same stuff as well, this creates opportunities to meet people similar to yourself and learn from them as well. You can click here to see and experience the sharing site.

Syringe Pen

2009-01-28T10:00:00.001+08:00

Now here is a nice way to write for those in the medical field. My sister is a nurse and she usually takes a medical syringe and places an ink tube inside to be a pen. Patients like this type of pen specially children. Now my sister found an item similar to what she does, and its kinda neat.

It comes in various colors I choose blue, which can be sinister looking, some can be red, green, yellow, white. The pen writes nicely with a good grip. you can also close the tip to be sure that no one gets hurt...

Sudoku

2009-01-27T12:42:00.001+08:00

My girl friend just gave me a nice way to do something while waiting and its a Sudoku calendar, for some just a preview of Sudoku would be a turn off but the truth is, its not so bad. In my calender, aside from showing the day, it also offers a new Sudoku challenge everday. That's pretty neat, because I get to practice my brain cells a bit.

Even if there are numbers involved there is very little math, there is logic though. Just fill all the box from 1 to 9 horizontally and vertically without repeating. But to those who really cant catch up, worry not, coz this baby got all the answers at the back side of each page.

But why peep, when you can solve it, yeah...

Quotes from The curious case of Benjamin Button

2009-01-26T21:18:00.001+08:00

I'm supposed to include these on my other post, but I think, these lines deserve a separate post. You can check my blog on The curious case of Benjamin Button movie here.

Now, here are some of the lines I find interesting on the movie:

"Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life. Some people get struck by lightning. Some are born to sit by a river. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim the English Channel. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people can dance." -Benjamin

"Your life is defined by its opportunities... even the ones you miss." -Benjamin

"It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you." -Benjamin

"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again." -Benjamin

"Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?" -Ms. Maple

"It's funny how sometimes the people we remember the least make the greatest impression on us." -Benjamin

"You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You could wear, curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go." -Capt. Mike

The curious case of Benjamin Button

2009-01-26T20:43:00.000+08:00

I rarely enjoy movies which do not belong to action, fantasy or science-fiction, and this movie is one of them. I liked the story because I find it interesting and different, the movie showed audiences what its like to live your life backwards, being to old to do things and too young to know almost everything.

The story begins when a dying woman made a request to her daughter to read a diary she kept, and so begins the life of Benjamin. Benjamin had a rare illness, he would live his life backwards, born with signs of old age but as time passes by he body gets younger. Abandoned by his father while her mother died during labor he was left to a Queenie, a care giver.

Queenie loved him like his own son, and Benjamin loved him back, and as he seemed to be on the right place, being with old people and all, he experiences life as if he was old enough to understand yet in his heart he was just as young as his child neighbors.

Benjamin met Daisy from her grandmother at the home care, and as time goes by they went their separate lives. Benjamin now a sailor who soon enters World War II on a tug boat and Daisy who became a ballerina, but soon had an accident. Both experienced a lot of new things, specially Benjamin, time went on and despite their misunderstandings they soon lived together bearing a child. Benjamin realized Daisy could not raise both of them, now that he is getting much younger and decides to leave them. Daisy found a suitable father, and Benjamin starts to be a child in form, but looses memory. Daisy now old,took care of young Benjamin,until he looked like he was just a new born. Soon Benjamin looked at Daisy for the last time then slowly closed his eyes and died.

Pretty tragic, but very deep, I liked the story, the plot, the way it was directed, and the characters as well,I think this movie should be a classic.

Click here to see some of the lines that I liked on the movie

Aplaya : Laguna's Bay Walk

2009-01-20T12:42:00.000+08:00

Ever since I moved to Laguna, I got very little time exploring what this wonderful province has to offer. I must admit that I'm not that excited but it did made me curious when my mom said, why don't we go to Aplaya, Laguna's version of baywalk. The Christmas season had just passed and we didn't expect to see much. But when I got there the place wasn't that bad at all.

The place reminded me on how vast Laguna lake was, we could see I think Rizal province, the mountains around the lake, I even thought I saw the tower at tagaytay, Los Baños was also in sight.

The place wasn't in its best place to be honest,a lot of lake debris was all around, there were still a couple of vendors. It was really cold during that day and very very windy, and the best way to enjoy it is a pack of chicharon with vinegar....plus the coffee of course.

The wind was so strong that it created waves that could reach the break waters and we could not go near the water since we didn't bring extra clothes.

I was amazed to see a small island,they said it was a resort and you would need to take a ferry to get there, i'll bet its pretty expensive. I wished I brought a jacket that day its freakin' cold and wet,but still it isn't everyday you experience that cold weather here in the Philippines so better enjoy it.

After being wet, we decided to make a sideline to our national hero's house in Calamba, we've been here countless times, but we still came back, why?... the entrance is free...hehehehe

A crucial decision for the future

2009-01-03T23:24:00.000+08:00

I believe there will always come a time (metaphorically speaking) when a man has to decide on what foundations his house would be built, I just never realized how close or early it would be for me to make such a decision. At my present age, a lot of opportunities still lurks in the corners of the corporate and industrial world but they seem elusive even though at times I feel I can clearly and with all certainty can grab that torch with both hands.

A decision needs to be made, will my only reason for happiness beyond the cradle be left in exchange for uncertainty but with an increased number of torches ready for the picking? A question that might haunt me for years, months, even days to come. Happiness, man's ultimate goal, what decision would bring me to this goal, will it be worth it, or just like the great generals of the past, it would only take a good strategy to win not just the battle but the war for Happiness.

Nobody really can understand me better than myself, does that mean no one can possibly make a better decision than myself? Or would it be better to hear an outside voice, a voice that is impartial and innocent to my clouded thoughts.

Better to think of the present than the future, the only problem is, the future in time will be your present.

Samsung SC-MX10 Digital Camcoder

2009-01-03T22:06:00.000+08:00

It's so nice to have a new gadget around and this little critter is just perfect for gadget lovers and even for those who just want to keep a record of the good ol' holidays. This device maybe small but packs a couple of nice features.

aside from the camcoder itself the package includes battery charger, battery (not shown), cleaning cloth (not shown), software installer via cd (not shown) usb cable, usb to video-audio jack and pouch bag.

This small device is pretty nice since it provides both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios - 4:3 and 16:9 which ensures that recorded media can be played on wide-format HDTV screen and olderTV sets. It also has a 34x optical/1200x digitalzoom and 680,000 pixel CCD with electronic image stabilization providing clear pictures with matching 2.7 LCD display for your recording pleasure.

The Camera records all your precious moments using a standard SD or MMC card, I got a free 512 MB SD card but you can also use memory cards with higher memory say 8GB perhaps, the 512 MB gives me around 15 minutes of recording time, so 8GB would probably give you an estimated 4 hours of recording time the only catch is that according to its manual the battery can only give you two hours of juice, so i suggest you plug it if you consider recording higher than 4GB.

To wrap things up here's my personal experience: The device is small cute and easy to carry, perfect for those who is always on the go, for two hours or less that is, since this baby can only give you roughly two hours of recording time, otherwise you'll need to plug it. The software wasn't that great since it just like your standard movie maker nothing too special. The quality of the recorded video is nice, and recording on a memory card is very convenient since I can swap out fresh card if my memory runs out. I hate the fact that it doesn't have a viewing lens, to save battery life, since you'll be recording on your LCD all the time. All in all, its a great device but Samsung could have done better...

Chirstmas 2008

2008-12-26T20:20:00.000+08:00

Here's a gift from my sister this Christmas, thank you! Ever since I could remember,we celebrated Christmas and Christmas Eve, but what I notice the most is that our celebration changes every year, and if I could turn back time, I would swear the later years were far better. But despite the things that I missed, we may not have as much as before, nor was our house packed with relatives, or even waited long after Noche Buena or Christmas eve dinner, not even the exchange of gifts, but there are still a lot of things to thank about. We are still together, alive, healthy and despite thebad economy, we still manage to keep our way of living, minus the luxuries...

Here's something that I cooked for Christmas, a nice, juicy ham, I just don't know if I over did it, but by the time I figured it out, the plates all clean. Something didn't change though, that's our Christmas is always celebrated with the family, specially now that this Christmas might be the last Christmas we would have together, because soon they could be leaving and live with my father back at the states.

This Christmas was less dramatic than our previous years but still memorable since we were still all together despite our problems. But most especially, this Christmas was still memorable because we celebrated Christmas, like all true christians should, a time to give and share our blessings and a time to remember to embrace and accept Jesus as out savior.

Cloud Computing another Google Market

2008-12-24T07:56:00.000+08:00

I was browsing through the internet and checked a favorite news site and noticed an article about "cloud computing". According to www.wikipedia.org, cloud computing is defined as:

"refers to the delivery of computational resources from a location other than your current one. In its most used context it is Internet-based ("cloud") development and use of computer technology ("computing"). The cloud is a metaphor for the Internet, based on how it is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals. It is a style of computing in which IT-related capabilities are provided "as a service", allowing users to access technology-enabled services from the internet ("in the cloud") without knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them.According to a 2008 paper published by IEEE Internet Computing "Cloud Computing is a paradigm in which information is permanently stored in servers on the Internet and cached temporarily on clients that include desktops, entertainment centers, tablet computers, notebooks, wall computers, handhelds, sensors, monitors, etc.""

As a IT person, I cannot help but tell something, the news said that this technology would reduce operating cost with google (as usual) to take the lead role, with $36 billion market this year, representing roughly 13 percent of global software sales, this is a market that has huge potential.

I think one of the real purpose of cloud technology is to bleed software giant Microsoft and other big IT companies with reduced operating cost as its main bait in a financially unstable era. Google which is a big player is now the taking the markets off Microsoft, who knows someday Google might even launch its own Hardware to compete with IBM or other hardware makers. Toppling any rival in its path, its not hard to predict that Google would further dominate the IT industry, shoving away today's giants.

But cloud computing still needs a bit of thinking, If your applications would run on the internet then, your primary concern would be having an ultra fast connection, and that might add a bit of cost, and if connections go sluggish even for a moment you might have a bit of a problem. Unlike stand alone software applications, where you can work without any connection anywhere around the globe.

Cloud computing might also need more deliberation as to control the information being controlled, with cloud computing information would be vulnerable, specially of you do not take good care or take your security for granted. The big question would now be " are you willing to sacrifice your information at a very volatile environment? "the internet".

Theory about Happiness

2008-12-19T22:18:00.000+08:00

Someone once asked, what is the ultimate goal of man?

I answered with a mixture of embarrassment and uncertainty, "to be happy..."

all of my classmates laughed, except my professor, which smiled at me and said "correct"...

Ever since that day up to this day, I always remembered that our real goal in life is actually to be happy. But that leaves more questions than answers, such as, What makes us happy? When will we be happy? Why should we be happy? Where can we find Happiness? etc... I have always thought of those questions and for a brief period of my life time, I could attain a certain level of happiness, sometimes, physical, material, emotional even spiritual. But these happiness came at a price, a price than can sometimes be similar to one of Isaac Newton's law of Motion: "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction".

I really don't know if this applies to other people, and I don't ask anyway but the point is, every time something happens to me, there's always a catch. Say, for one whole week, I felt like hell at work, then by next week I would receive news that a friend of mine just forgave me from a mistake that I unintentionally did, something like that...

I dont know if there is a connection or if its just how life goes, but my theory is simple. "Everybody deserves to be happy, the only question is at what price".

and the price isn't just monetary, its anything in exchange of what would make you happy. Sometimes you felt like you lost nothing and that you are simply blessed,but look around you, maybe there is a reason for you to be happy. Everything has a price, everything has an equivalent and opposite value and for me that includes happiness.

Parody of Life: Lost in the midst of longing memories

2008-12-05T19:56:00.000+08:00

Another day, just like any ordinary day, except for an invitation, digital and electronic in nature but still a rare occasion is brewing.

Its been a few years since the last opportunity arrived, but the question remains, will the invitation be answered? or will it be another waste and wait for another invitation, maybe I guess in that next moment a better position would help make the answer, or the big possibility that this is the last invitation.

Will the answer renew lost bonds? or will it just bring awkwardness? Will ignorance forever break the great memories? Or will understanding prevail?

I've seen my reason to smile in different people's faces, smiles which can never be mine, but still I find reason to hope, just hope, it's all i've got, all i can have.

Twilight the Movie

2008-12-01T17:27:00.000+08:00

One of the most anticipated movies of 2008, Twilight tells about a teenage girl who has just moved in with his father and fell in-love with a vampire. The movie is a screen adaptation from a novel with the same title by Stephenie Meyer, you can click here to check my previous blog about the book.

The movie adaptation was fairly nice, but I just can't help to notice some points that really made this movie less that what it supposed to be. First was the choice of characters, while I liked Kristen Stewart as Bella and Robert Pattison as Edward Cullen, some of the supporting characters just made me think, for example, why did they made laurent a black jamaican dude, and why did they choose a chinese teenager as Eric. I've heard rumors that Kristen isn't beautiful enough for Bella but, the book doesn't state Bella to be a beauty queen, not until she becomes a vampire herself.

Another point was that the movie made a lot of emphasis on the scenery of Washinton state which kinda made it look like a film from a wildlife channel. I also didn't liked the way the vampires move, since they looked liked moves from Power Rangers or something. And the last, the movie looked more like a soap opera or a TV series rather than a movie.

But the movie also has a few points, while it's expected that the movie adaptations would be different from the book, this movie still sticked to the book with few minor changes for effects but still acceptable, since you can clearly hear the characters say the famous lines from Meyers book. I also think the characters portrayed their role pretty well just as it was told in the book.

In all, the movie should have been great if it were just made just like say, "Underworld" or "Interview with the Vampire", films that feel like a movie and not a TV series. I'm no director but I think the angles which the movie was shot could have been in a better position.

I like twilight, and thanks to the book, this movie is still a great film to watch. A modern Vampire lovestory and putting a new definition to vampires.

The best gift

2008-11-28T22:57:00.000+08:00

Christmas is very near and most of us would be thinking about the best holiday gifts this yuletide season. I'm not much of a gift giver but I do at times give something for someone. Before I would really like to receive gifts, and even get envy if someone gets what I want, not until I got to work did I really appreciate giving to be more rewarding than receiving.

Everytime before I give something I always ask what he or she wanted, so that I would know what to give,I never really bothered the surprise thing, for me what matters is that the person that I'm giving would appreciate whatever I give.

There was one experience during my lowest days, when someone special to me is going to have a birthday. While our family was experiencing, what you may call a financial breakdown, I gathered what money I had just to be able to give something, anything...Surprisingly I was able to get a whopping twenty pesos, like I said we were experiencing a financial breakdown.

After my college class I got home and bought what my money can buy along the way, twenty pesos worth of brittle nut. Honestly I got excited, happy even that I could give something, when I got home I gave her my gift with a big smile in my face. What I got in return was something unexpected. A frown and shout in my face, I shouldn't have bothered giving the gift, and it hurt me so bad. I didn't ate just to save money, I skipped class just to be home early but got disappointed.

It's an experience I will never forget, but it taught me one good lesson. If you don't have anything to give then don't bother giving anything. Instead, just be with the person you love, and show him or her that he or she is special without giving presents.

The best gift is yourself, no matter what the occasion and best thing is, it will never go out of time.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

2008-11-16T19:11:00.000+08:00

Breaking Dawn is the fourth book from the twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. As it trails through the life of Bella and Edward, you may also try my blogs on Twilight Book 1 of Stephenie Meyer, New Moon Book 2 of the Twilight Saga and Eclipse Book 3 of the twilight Saga.

In this novel, the cullen family including Edward to turn Bella into a vampire with a few conditions, started with the marriage of Edward and Bella. After the marriage the couple spent their honeymoon in an island in Brazil which was owned by the cullens. Amazingly Bella finds herself pregnant with the confirmation of Carlisle. Edward initially wants the child aborted for Bella's safety but Bella insisted on having the baby and goes back to the US.

At their house the ware wolves found out about Bella's condition and fearful on what the baby could bring wanted the baby to be destroyed. After hering this Jacob, protested and separated from his pack and creating his own with Seth and Leah as part of the new pack. Jacob's pack vowed to protect Bella and her baby providing protection while the vampires cannot see when and where the ware wolves will attack.

Bella soon gives birth, and during the process, her condition worsens,in order to save her life Edward makes her into a vampire and after healing finds herself enjoying her new life, while Jacob soon finds out that his soulmate is actually Bella's daughter Renesmee, this outrages Bella but soon accepts Jacob as a son-in-law.

A vampire named Irina saw Renesmee and mistook her as an immortal child went to the Vulturi a power vampire clan who controls the actions of vampires. Knowing this fact the cullens prepare themselves and gathered vampires from around the world to stand witness and show that Renesmee is not an immortal child, Bella also soon discovers her unique ability to shield others from attacks of other vampire abilities. As the vulturi clan came in force, the cullen proves that Renesmee is not an immortal child but the volturi has not decided whether to let the cullens live, Bella protects the cullens and their allies while the Voluri deliberates their faith.

Jasper and Alice soon came with them is a 150 year old half-vampire which proves that Renesmee is not a threat and there is no reason for such a confrontation. After hearing and seeing this the Volturi left the Cullens and their allies in peace, ending the fourth book of the twilight Saga.

The fourth book despite its good story I'm afraid isn't as good as the first or third book in the sense that there is few action involved and everything seemed I think it just lacks a bit more suspense. But none the less, this still a great book, fresh story, and a good way to end the twilight saga, or is it...

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

2008-11-02T21:10:00.000+08:00

Here's the third addition to Meyer's Twilight Saga. Click here for my blog on book one twilight and here for book two New Moon. Following the story from the second book,Edward is now back in town together with his family of vampires unfortunately he also discovers that her love Bella is befriending a pack of ware wolves which incidentally are vampires greatest enemy (aside from themselves...). Alice,Edward's adopted sister who sees visions saw that Victoria a vampire who wants Bella dead is hunting her in near proximity at their town. Despite Edwards hatred of warewolves, Bella convinces Edward that she will be safe with her warewolf friends.

Bella now convinced to be one of Edward's kind tries to make love with Edward but he refuses, making sure that he does'nt hurt Bella in the process. Instead Edward made a deal to make love with Bella as soon as Bella becomes a vampire making her stronger, Bella agrees since all she wanted was to be with her Love for all enternity.

A few moments passed and the cullen family realizes that Victoria has created an army of vampires and is posing an attack.The cullens realizes this threat and made an alliance with the warewolves and fought againts Victoria and her army of vampires (That was my favorite part, all action...).

This book perhaps remedies the second book in the sense that it has more action, with a bit of twist to the love triangle between Edward, Bella and Jacob, this bookis definitely more interesting than the second and made me wanting more for book four Breaking Dawn. I think what I liked about the twilight saga is it's closeness to reality, something believable. And, Bella and Jacob's character is really close to what you would expect in a real person, in the case of Edward,I think his character is almost a perfect gentleman.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

2008-11-02T20:29:00.000+08:00

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer is the second book to the twilight saga, the story follows the trail of events started during twilight. While I felt in-love with the story of twilight, my feeling on New Moon seemed different. You can see my blog about the first book here.

During Bella's eighteenth birthday celebration at the Cullen's she accidentally injured herself. The Cullen's being a family of vampires have been restraining themselves from human blood but the scent of Bella blood suddenly drives one of Edward's brother Jasper to attack Bella. Edward manages to save her but the Cullen family decides to leave their house and move to a different location for Bella's sake.

Bella obviously didn't like the idea but she can't do anything about it since they left. The worst part was she was longing for her Edward, she loves Edward very much and became so involved with their vampire family that missing him drove her to be lonely.

This loneliness was filled in by Jacob, a large part of the book was about the bonding between Jacob and Bella and I just don't like the idea but hey' I guess everybody loves a love-triangle. Bella soon found out that Jacob and his tribe are actually a bunch of ware wolves, and just like modern vampire stories ware wolves and vampires always try to kill each other.

Alice Edwards brother soon came to visit to convince Edward to stop his suicide attempt in Italy after getting information that Bella might be dead due to an accident. While at Italy Bella manages to stop Edward but their actions brought them to confront the Volturi a powerful vampire family. The Volturi felt a suddent interest with Bella as she knows too much and for her not to be killed she has to be transformed into a vampire and that she is the only person whose mind can't be read by Edward and Aro one of the members of the Volturi.

I think the story of twilight is better than New Moon but still it excites me because new characters are comming up and how the story is made close to reality, while still bringing a new color to being a vampire.

Off to book 3 and 4 of the twilight saga.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

2008-10-20T06:41:00.000+08:00

A lot of friends told me about a new book about vampires, and since I'm a fan of Anne Rice and Lestat, I scoured the book stores to look for this particular book. I was amazed that I actually had a hard time looking for the book, that alone made me conclude that this book is really something, but eventually I found a copy and so I started.

The story is about a teenage girl named Isabella "bella" Swan and her love affair with Edward Cullen. Teenage love stories are pretty usual but this one is very much different since Eward is actually a vampire, Bella doesn't know this fact at first but even when she knew, she couldn't deny what she felt for the hundred year old teenage looking vampire.

Bella seemed a pretty ordinary girl with extraordinary skill in being at the wrong place moved from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington, to live with her Father Charlie, since her mother Renee can be with her new husband. At forks she eventually adapted herself at school and quickly made friends with her classmates.

At first Edward being a classmate was being rude and shows a bit of agression with her, but as time passes, this turned to friendship and Edward even saved Bella from a freak accident that made Bella think about who Edward really was. After a bit of flirting with a friend, she concludes that Edward and his family are a bunch of vampires.

Despite this fact they both fell in-love with each other since to Bella's satisfaction Edward and his family are actually resisting to drink human blood, specially Edward who finds Bella's blood to be very attractive. Everything seemed to be doing well until they encounter another group of vampire with one particularly interested with Bella.

The family of vampires hid Bella and tried to stop the vampire thats interested with bella which they eventually did using their vampire skills.

For me Stephenie Meyer is like a lighter side of Anne Rice when it comes with vampire stories. I'm really not a fan of love stories but I liked this one since the story is new and puts a new description to vampires. Stephenie's vampires are not your usual vampire's and for me her vampires are much cooler that your usual Bram Stoker Dracula's.

It seems I'm on the hunt for Book 2, 3 and 4 of her series.

Joomla! CMS Review

2008-10-09T23:50:00.000+08:00

Joomla! is a Content Management System (CMS) Introduced to us at the Department of Science and Technology to easily manage the websites of the Department. I was reluctant at first to try this system since I was more of a static type of person, who always want to have full control of the website, but I soon found out that I might need a little upgrade.

Installing Joomla in my opinion might need an intermediate knowledge in IT since it entails a few tinkering to your server, if this is the first time for you install an open source CMS, I suggest you seek a little help just to make sure. Luckily for me, it's not the first time, and I already have some of the requirements in my server such as Apache, Mysql, etc..., you may also use XAMPP, you search XAMPP at any decent search engine and follow the instructions at their site.

Working with Joomla isn't really that difficult onceyou get the hang of it, if you've tried editing your profile at your favorite social site, then you've probably have little difficulty using this CMS. You may also need a little background in HTML and CSS, specially if you want to make changes to the codes of the templates.

Joomla uses CSS templates, and can use various modules, mambots and components which are readily available at a search of a button, and there are lots to choose from. I however uses, components for Galleries, modules for login menu, mambots for text editors just to name a few.

Creating articles is also fairly easy, you can cut/copy text directly from MS word and paste it to your text editor. It also alows you to create an info text to be placed at the front page of your website.

Over all, Joomla! is a great way to improve your website specially if your moving out from the old statict website management and administration, but might just have to get a little technical background on a few stuff, and most specially you'll need a bit of patience learning the tools. And as far as security is concerned, Joomla! seems to be good enough to keep those nasty beings from tinkering the website.

Tips in public speaking

2008-09-30T21:32:00.000+08:00

Dragon Blogger is a friend of mine from Social Spark and made a spark on some tips in public speaking. Speaking in front of an audience is a bit difficult but that doesn't mean you can't make it a bit easier for yourself. I got my experiences in public speaking way back in college and I've been using the same tricks now that I'm working for the government. I'm no expert but I think these tips might help.

1. NEVER! memorize your speech unless you can do so flawlessly-Memorizing is hard work and the worst part of it is that it would take eat up a lot of your time, and during your presentation if you miss a word you might end up missing the entire paragraph or even get lost at all, just make sure you know your topic.

2. Make an outline of your speech or presentation-It won't hurt bringing an outline of what you have to say, just to give you a guide if your a bit lost at the flow of your presentation. Never write everything in your outline, remember it's just a guide on what comes next so you wont miss anything and know what you will say next.

3. Unless necessary make your presentation brief, simple but complete-This makes your job a bit easier, you should use simple words and tackle only the main points, branching topics will make your presentation longer and might end up being boring and confusing.

4. Make sure you have ample time in preparing for your topic with enough rest before your presentation - never cram a presentation, you'll mostly end up missing a few important details, and have a good night sleep before you present. Not only will you need your energy, it will make you look and feel better as well.

5. Know your audience, anticipate questions and prepare your answers- you need to know who your audiences are, what they might know or concerns are about. This gives you an idea on what they might ask for you to prepare ahead of time and maybe impress them a bit.

6. Dress accordingly-packaging is very important, ask people on what clothes you should wear if your unsure. But regardless of what you wear make sure they are not only appropriate but comfortable as well.

7. Before presenting, remember to relax and breathe- for obvious reasons, you can't expect to deliver a presentation being nervous, you don't want to have a mental block-out in the middle of your presentation. This helps you to be confident.

8. Look at your audience while presenting or just look at their hair-you need to look confident, and if you have trouble looking at the audience...simply look at their hair. Yes, their hair, this gives you the impression that your looking at their faces.

9. Use clear well modulated voice-I think in order to be effective you need to make sure you can clearly say what you need to say, and that everybody understands you.

10. Try to be lively-once in a while you can crack jokes, tell experiences, use visual aides, etc., anything to keep your audience attention to you. Everybody hates a boring presentation.

To know more about Dragon Blogger you can check out his site at http://www.dragonblogger.com/

bluerayer.com: Latest in Gadgets and Technology

2008-09-21T10:19:00.001+08:00

Being an IT professional I usually browse and search for the latest news in IT. and the gadgets that pop up every now and then. As you know the IT industry is a very fast paced industry with technologies and innovations appearing suddenly from nowhere, supplying the hungry demand for new ways to make life a little bit simplier and better.

Here is a place that suites those needs, bluerayer.com features some of the latest news in Gadgets and Technology, with categories ranging from Accessories to News, bluerayer provides good information not only to individuals like myself, but even to ordinary individuals who just want to know about something.

I honestly and simply like the fact of putting gadgets and technology into one space, I love gadgets and I need to be informed. You can check out bluerayer at www.bluerayer.com.

Google: Chrome Web Browser

2008-09-14T14:05:00.000+08:00

Being a google fan myself, I felt excited when google finaly released it's own web browser and it it's pretty obvious how they really wanted to dominate the internet industry.

After downloading the browser I installed it immediately and installing was a breeze without much to thinker about, after installation, the next best thing to do is actually use the browser. looking at how google presented the new browser, I was impressed to see how much space my 14" inch LCD monitor really was. With Chrome you only get to see whats actually important...a lot of space for your internet life.

The address bar which also acts as a search box is a good way of thinking out of the box, saving space and getting all those searches for you, and for google to indulge in, this feature removes other search engines to be used, since its already part of your browser, pretty neat. Tabs are a bit of a standard in todays browers and all the rest of your options are packed in the corner, I guess this is also a part of cleaning up the browser.

downloading items seems to be faster but in terms of opening sites, I'm not that impressed yet, some sites still open just like you would when using other browsers, specially to heavy sites that use a lot of videos and stuff. Another thing that I really don't like is the lack of customizing the browser. It's just a plain blue clean browser for me, but I guess that's just fine considering it's just a beta version.

I hope that next version would be a lot better.

A night to remember: Bus ride

2008-09-09T07:02:00.000+08:00

I guess its just one of those day's when you expect things to go nicely but went horribly bad, and all you wanted to do is to make someone happy. It's like when you have a really bad migrane and even if its killing you, you still have the strength to smile do something that you think special, and all of a sudden a big wall slams into your face, and you can't help yourself pull together for a brief moment.

It's 8:00 pm and all you wanted to do was to go home, take some rest, and thank the lord for the blessings that he gave you. All of a sudden the angels in heaven decided to play bowling and it seems someone is loosing pretty badly. The rain seems endless and the road has turned into a river with cars floating like boats, good thing I have an umbrella and a tough pair of shoes.

As soon I step into the bus, I felt calmer, with my cellphone as my music companion I tried to sleep the night at the bus. After an hour I woke up and I noticed I was still at the same road with only a few meters from where I took the ride, I never felt sleepy again. It was still raining, another hour past and another until it took me five hours at the bus just to get home, five which normally would only take two or three hours at most.

It's 1:00 Am and my body feels numb, at last I can savour my bed and sleep my thoughts behind, and hope for a pleasant day when I wake up.

Web Development Training: Joomla!

2008-08-11T06:32:00.000+08:00

After a few years of existence of the DOST website the Department decided to refresh its old website and create a new updated version. A call for a webmasters consortium was made and create under the eDOST-Infosys project, which was handled by the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI).

As the meetings progressed, it was set that the new website would be using a Content Management System (CMS) and in this case we used Joomla!, and in order to manage administer the website, a week long training was scheduled on 19-23 May.

Our group was comprised of staffs from the different offices from the Central Office of the Department. I was not very familiar with CMS and was used to static web development and management, but CMS proved to be easy to use and learn as long as you have basic knowledge with HTML or CSS and know how to use and understand basic commands, it's just like editing your profile at your social network website.

The experience wasn't the best with regards to training but it was very memorable and helpful to my job and myself personally. There are a lot of CMS, and based on what I learned I think other CMSs wouldn't be to difficult to handle, with a bit of time of course.

The perfect dream

2008-08-04T20:08:00.000+08:00

"You will be different, sometimes you'll feel like an outcast, but you'll never be alone"

Superman Returns

There always comes a time when we feel alone, and it's one of those moments when we just want to disappear, but I guess it's also a good time to see who your real friends are, that is if you have any, for a true friend will never leave you, no matter what you've become. I once thought I had an army of them, but now I'm not so sure.

As superman said, I'll never be alone, and I wasn't. I have my entire family and my Girl Friend who is always there despite the rare occasions of misunderstandings. In that instant, I knew, I'll never be alone. No one is ever alone, only the feeling of being alone,a feeling that can be easily forgotten, you just have know what to look.

Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon

2008-08-01T20:00:00.000+08:00

I know this novel is a bit old (so was my copy...), but still the angel in the title gave me a feeling that this seemed special. I know Sheldon is a great writer but this is the first time for me to actually like a novel with a sad ending, kinda weird, but hey, its Sidney Sheldon...

Its a story about a lawyer named Jennifer Parker and her struggle for her career and personal life. At first everything seemed well, fresh from college with all the eagerness to be successful until she got entangled in a mafia case. What I liked about the personality that Sheldon gave her, she seemed to be strong and never gave up, she worked her way out with the help of several friends and a special someone in the person of Adam Warner, whose personality was similar to Jennifer only that his situation was a bit complicated.

Jennifer became one of the top lawyers of New York and Adam whose initial case with Jennifer was her disbarment for her being at the wrong place at the wrong time, became lovers, despite the fact that Adam was already married. Life became more complicated as Jennifer got pregnant and so was Adam's wife in a time when Adam was running for a senator. Jennifer went away with her pregnancy and even attempted to abort the child but her love for Adam and her baby prevailed. She raised the child in a bit of secrecy for the benefit of everybody, and everything seemed well when she got involved with the mafia. Soon Jennifer was in the arms of the mafia's top leader Micheal Moretti, and to make matters worse her beloved son died. As Michael new about Jennifer and Adam who is now Senator and is running for President, Michael tried to kill both of them, who only ended up being killed himself by the police.

I think the main characters have similarities to real persons, Jennifer seemed to be a strong person, a very good lawyer who handles her career very well but she's also a weak person, letting herself drown in search for love. Adam being the good person we all love and know but keeps a secret, and Michael whose reason for being in a crime syndicate and worked hard to be in the top was his thirst for money and power.

a very good story indeed.

Here Comes the rain again fallin' from the stars...

2008-07-23T21:11:00.000+08:00

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when september ends

Lines from one of my favorite songs from one of my all time favorite bands, When September Ends by Linkin Park. It's been a while since I last posted, let's just say, I took some days off on-line, except for work related research and e-mails. Everything seemed to be back to normal (depending on your definition of normal...), and I now can do some of the things I used to do. But things aren't all great, I did had my losses, I guess I over spent, over ate (as usual...) and wasted a few minutes of my life here and there.

Well, everythings done and all we can do is remember the past, make the best of the present and hope for the future.

8th ASEAN Science and Technology Week (ASTW)

2008-07-13T21:49:00.000+08:00

The 8th ASEAN Science and Technology Week (ASTW) is a more than a week long event held last 01-11 July and hosted by the Philippine Government through its Department of Science and Technology to promote and extend Science and Technology within the ASEAN region (ASEAN stands for the Association of South East Asian Nations). The ASTW is divided into several meetings the Sub-Committee meetings, Committee on Science and Technology (COST) meetings, S&T Conferences, Ministerial Meetings, Exhibits and Youth Summit.

The Sub-Committee meetings (i.e. Sub-Committee on Biotechnology, Sub-Committee on Microelectronics and Information Technology (SCMIT), etc...) , COST meetings, and Ministerial Meetings were attended by delegates from different countries within the ASEAN and talked about issues concerning S&T collaboration. There were also conferences participated both by local and international delegates whose topics include Capacity Building, Alternative Energy, etc... The exhibit showcased the various S&T projects of the different countries, most specially by member countries of ASEAN. The Youth Summit provided a venue for future S&T leaders to talk about relevant scientific and global issues.

In my opinion the 8th ASEAN S&T Week is an important stepping stone to enhance the level of S&T in the Philippines, one cannot deny that Science and Technology is a force that can improve lives of every person not just physically but also economically. International S&T collaboration is a good way to help improve the level of S&T in our country and could help solve not only local but global issues as well.

Peace at last, or so I thought...

2008-07-11T21:18:00.000+08:00

One of the biggest event for our Department has just ended and all that's left is cleaning the mess we have just made. Almost everybody took a time out as soon as they could, including me. I took a day off the first day that I could, I missed myself and now is the time to go forward and face another challenge. The last few days left me battered, drained and wasted, but it also gave me memories that could last a life time, an exprience that only a handful of people could get and new realities that only few people had the blessing to discover.

By the time I came home after ten days I felt it was just yesterday that I left. Everything was normal, too normal. All my stuff were still in same place as they were ten days ago, and my family greeted me as if I wasn't gone for a long while. One part of me felt relief, because nothing happened nothing needed my attention, but one part also felt lonely, it wasn't like before when I was only gone for a few hours and yet when I came back they greeted me as if I was gone for a year. Maybe they have become mature and self sufficient, I'd like to think about that and nothing more.

It took almost a year to prepare for that event but problems still arose, problems that could have been prevent but we can't change that anymore, what's done is done and all we could do is either repair the damage done or minimize the impact. After a long while I felt a bit of peace, now I can visit my special someone, be with my family and most especially be myself again. The person who at times wants to be with himself but at the same time enjoys the company of love ones, the person who loves to laugh and yet keeps a serious side close by.

I want to relax but I guess we can't have all that we want, and sometimes we might even have to sweat blood just to have it, but no matter what, the most important thing is for us to be happy, and despite the mistakes, problems, headaches, and all things worse, I still am happy. Happy for the accomplishment, for the experience, for the lessons learned, and most of all, I'm happy because it's over and finally we can take on new challenges.

The Gift of Language

2008-07-11T07:05:00.000+08:00

dinner with some of the foreign delegates who attended the ASTW

Truly language is one key in uniting different countries. I have witnessed this during the 8th ASEAN Science and Technology Week (ASTW) held last 01-11 July 2008 here in Manila, Philippines. The event became an opportunity for member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations - Committee on Science and Technology ASEAN-COST to meet and discuss matters that relate to the advancement of Science and Technology in the South East Asian region. It also became an opportunity to meet with other nationalities within the ASEAN Region.

I believe that one factor that contributed to the success of the event was the elimination of the language barrier. English became the language of choice and even if no native language within ASEAN was used, the discussion went well since english provided a unified medium of communication. I think it doesn't matter what language you use, as long as we understand each other and be able to express our ideas and help in contributing to the advancement of humanity, and in this case that language came in the form of english.

I don't think I'm that good in grammar, accent nor in figures of speech but that didn't matter during the ASTW, because they still understood me and everybody spoke in english some even provided interpreters, but still that didn't matter as long as we could speak and be understood.

Language is truly a gift, something that needs time to learn, but once learned can become a force that can drive ideas into reality, bridge barriers and unify far away lands.

Nice Scenery

2008-07-09T22:35:00.000+08:00

I'm always interested in various sceneries, seeing nature or beautiful landscapes, and last 30 June to 9 July I had that small opportunity. I took the camera then simply took some pictures, and these are some of them. I guess one of the things that I might fancy is a professional camera, and see what I can do with it, given of course I get to see things that deserve a click from that kind of camera. I think it's nice to see these things specially if your usually locked on the four corners of your office every single working day.

Pay Per Post: Earning while blogging

2008-06-29T00:47:00.000+08:00

Since college I wanted to have my own site hence, I took my computer subjects a bit seriously than other classes. But unfortunately I wasn't able to do so, not that I cant create one since even back then there were some sites that offer free domain and hosting, but because I don't really know what to put in it. Then came the social networking era, I signed up to these sites and quickly made new friends, found the old ones and most specially strengthened the present one's. One part of social networking was blogging, though I never understood what was it for but still I made several blogs.

Then I realize, I'm not getting anything for my time and effort so I said to myself why bother blogging. I took that question until I started working, only then did I realize that It was a great past time, and a nice way to earn cash without doing much. I started searching and the first result was pretty obvious because I'm presently writing something about it. Payperpost is great because you get to earn while you blog, which is like a normal activity nowadays. Earning while doing something you like is simply great. Another thing I like about the site is that it's simple to sign up, very straight forward, fast and clear.

I signed up not only because I can release stress while earning, I can also practice my literary, artistic and keyboard skills. I haven't made any new friends yet but I think I'll be finding a hand full simply because it's great to meet new acquaintances. As a computer engineer I'm really fond of gadgets like mobile devices (i.e. laptops, cellphones, etc...) , and I think Payperpost can help me acquire the latest gadget without worrying on even how to produce the money needed to buy what I want, for now I set my eyes on two things, a high end cellphone or an Ultra mobile PC. both can help me increase my ability to blog and simply feel cool...

8ASTW Hell Week First Encounter

2008-06-25T09:08:00.000+08:00

As the preparation for the 8th ASEAN Science and Technology Week progresses, one might expect problems and issues to arise, and soon enough it came true. At the last week of preparation we expect to wrap up things as soon as possible and settle all the things that needs to be settled, but we can't expect things to always go as planned. More and more changes to the original game plan arose and even extending considerable working hours per day isn't enough to create havoc at our small but never the less reliable office.

One of these incidents came when I was totally at a loss, all but one of my transactions were failing, and I was behind schedule but the irony was that it was at a time when help was being extended to us and I would be lifted with one of my duties. A message was sent to me, telling that I am to give up one of my failing duties and let another office handle it, I was for a moment relieved, but that moment was short lived.

By time I handed over the materials, I felt a bit of hell had been released and that a rush of cold air had blown on every corner of my body. I thought I was relived, but it seemed I had a new boss, and my priority had quickly made a sharp turn to accommodate my thought of a relieved duty. I felt stressed and less than a person, but still a sense of respect and duty prevailed and kept myself together even just for the night. The release of duty was actually a fast track of what I was actually doing, I never felt that I was helped, due to the fact that I already canceled the transaction a few minutes before what they call help arrived.

though my description is unclear, I knew it would be an unforgettable experience. They say it is just a tip of the ice berg but hey, its one hell of an ice berg, for now I just want to get over with everything, nothing more, nothing less.

Forecasted Hell Week: Pre-8th ASEAN Science and Technology Week

2008-06-22T22:34:00.000+08:00

Back in college before every term ends we would have what we students would call "Hell Week". It's literally a week of Hell for us students, and for the professors, its what they call exams. The reason why its called Hell week is that we have to endure for one week all the final exams for all our subjects, and these exams aren't easy, well I guess it's not supposed to be one, but the point is these exams are difficult for the majority of students, also it's our the last chance to pass all our unfinished projects and prove to our professors that we are worthy of passing grades, this is the time that usually spell life and death for our college life.

After graduation I thought I would never have to endure the same hardships similar to hell week, but then it seems I spoke to soon, by the end of June our office will be experiencing what I would imagine as Hell week, office style. By the third week of June my boss already gave us a hint that we should brace ourselves on the last few days of preparation for the 8th ASEAN Science and Technology Week with which our office is the secretariat. All of us are preparing our request for over time and we are also preparing our mind and bodies to endure tremendous pressure and stress.

I have not yet to experience this and maybe I might write something about it but for now all I now is that, our office will be very toxic soon and all hell could break loose. I have prepared myself just like college for this might spell life and death for my working life, this event could make me if things worked flawlessly or break me if things went bad, though I'm confident that I'll get over this event.

Or maybe I'm just over reacting like I always do. But then It wouldn't be bad to be extra careful and expect the unexpected, after all I do expect that some things will go wrong eventually like someone is playing on us. Just like a game, I guess I'll just have to think of a strategy for every eventuality on the spot.

A fresh new look on my cell phone

2008-06-22T00:28:00.000+08:00

I have already tried a number of phones but this phone stood up the most. Its a nokia 5200 mobile phone, It's not high-end but definitely reliable and dependable. I have this phone for over a year and I'm a bit surprised that it lived that long, considering the kind of battering that I do. Its a bit late for me to make a review about this phone since this phone has been in the market for quite some time, and I would simply like to make a tribute to the phone and to the company that made it (not that they needed one...)

The nokia 5200 is a mediocre compared to its cousin the nokia 5300, it only has a VGA camera, symbian OS, long battery life, can play mp3's and radio. These are the exact features that I was looking for when I bought the phone, and after more than a year, I got more from my money.
First was the type of battering that I did in a list and the result

1. fallen from two (2) meters high - minimal damage to exterior, phone operation has not changed

2. over charged, and emptied the batteries - battery life is still amazing, at full charge the battery can stay for 4 days, with texting, calling and gaming included.

3. played games, - free and trial symbian games only, still works perfectly

4. Used as a back up memory - works just like my thumb drive

5. Thrown around - still works perfectly

off all these punishments the 2 meter fall made the biggest impact, and I decided to buy new housing for my phone and the results are from the pictures above. From the original blue and red strips I got an all black rubberized housing and partnered it with a fresh new theme I got from the Internet (free ofcourse...) and look I think my phone got a bit younger...

Office Clutter

2008-06-18T06:11:00.001+08:00

I always knew that in order to work efficiently one has to have a conducive environment. That I knew until I actually worked, in the real world having a nice well maintained work area isn't really your priority once you think about it (for me I guess).

My table is full of clutter and that everything is either for priority or urgently needed, and by the time I finish one task, another comes in to fill the space, and these tasks come in bundles. I barely have room for my mug and even my computer is having a heart attack. How to manage such a mess, simple, extend your working hours and I'm not talking about minutes here, but in hours.

Since highschool I always wanted to be busy, accomplishing things, having the feeling of fulfillment, but sometimes, you just can't finish them all, and that no matter what you do, no matter how badly you want things to work out perfectly, things go wrong. I really don't want to blame my clutter, because no matter how confusing it looks, it's actually arranged and organized in such a way that only I can see where things needed to be.

But I guess it won't hurt to have a neat environment...

Just a thought: how I wish

2008-06-17T21:05:00.000+08:00

There always come a time when you get unsatisfied with something even everything, from the clothes you wear, food you eat, salary, your work and even on how things go in your life. It just doesn't feel right to everything you wanted and yet that's just all there is to it, just seeing things.

I've always thank for all my blessing and sometimes misfortunes and hard lessons learned, but sometimes you just get frustrated for not having more. It is not about being greedy, but the feeling of having what you want, being proud of yourself and not having the feeling of being deprived of the thing you really want and instead get the things you didn't actually wished but still great.

I sometimes ask, why do I see these things, why do they show them to me?...I guess it's a way to motivate me to be more of myself, or it might also say that you don't deserve such blessings. I have no regrets (so far...) in my life, but I've always wanted more. That, maybe is how I was raised or how I just think of myself. Is really possible for me to be what I wanted to be?...That is a question no one can answer, but that would be one question whose answer will not be decided by my hands alone but will also be decided by faith, by my surrounding's and by eventualities that cannot be controlled by any man .

Everyman wishes for more, the only difference is that everyman has it's own definition of the word "more".

The Incredible Hulk

2008-06-17T07:27:00.000+08:00

I'm always amazed on how they make movies out of comic without making it cartoon like. The incredible Hulk is a very well made film, though it wasn't as spectacular as I'd hope for.

the story is like the continuation of the first movie, but I'd really like to know why it's title isn't called The Incredible Hulk part 2. The story goes after Bruce Banner played by Edward Norton whose experiment for the US military used himself as a guinea pig on gamma rays and ended up being a rampaging green monster killing people and destroying properties. After avoiding detection for a long time he ended up in Brazil and not only that he was able to find a job and learn Portuguese.

At first I thought the factory girl he saved from a bunch of factory bullies would be his partner, but then she never left Brazil. Unlike Bruce whose blood has dropped into one of the bottles and ended up in a US consumer in America (played by the legendary Stan Lee) gave the US military a hint on where to find the elusive green giant. As soon as the military was tailing Bruce he ended up in a tight situation with the factory bullies and with the military, as a result, Hulk emerges destroying everything in its path.

Bruce then finds himself in Guatemala and works his way to the United States to find her partner the lovely Betty Ross played by Liv Tyler. As soon as they met they worked to find a cure to the green menace but again the military was tailing them, this time of the military officers Emil Blonsky took some of experiment of Bruce to become a supper villain but still his exposure to the gamma rays was low and sure enough one kick from the hulk and his bones became crushed gravel.

Bruce and Betty after eluding the military finds Mr. Blue who helped Bruce suppress the green giant within him, but after a successful experiment, the military ever persistent came to ruin everything and this time Emil took Mr. Blue and asked him to inject more gamma rays and the result was an abomination, another green giant and this time gave the hulk a fairly good match. But then the Hulk still prevails after a few hits here and there plus a few damaged property.

At the end of the movie Gen. Ross (father of Betty and the guy responsible for making and chasing Bruce) was found drinking in a bar and all of a sudden Tony Starks shows up, and we all knew him, he's the Iron Man, and he tells Gen. Ross that they are building a team! Hhmm... wonder what that was all about but I guess if all the Marvel super heroes would show in one movie, that would be a blast.

The movie was great and I think the story was fairly nice, but there was a lot of talk and the hulk seemed to be more timid and in control of himself, not like the one we knew that rampaged everything in sight. The hulk in the movie was also more controlled by Betty and though the green giant still gives a nice scream, there were a lot of times he looked rather calm. It's also nice to know that the hulk uses his signature moves in the movie.

The movie was great and is a good addition to other great marvel movies.

Simple Home-Made Pizza

2008-06-14T21:34:00.000+08:00

My family asked me to do something special since I was always out of the house, so I decided make myself and my family some pizza. I didn't have time to go to the supermarket to buy the ingredients I needed so just went to a local grocery store and bought alternatives.

The ingredients were:

Quick melting cheese
Parmesan cheese
Hotdogs
Spam
Pizza Sauce
bread

I didn't indicate the amount because for me that usually depends on how you like your pizza, for me I just wanted two different types of cheese to add texture and just the right sauce and a lot of meat into my pizza

Procedure:

1. Cook your hotdogs and spam in a nice non-stick pan
2. Cut your hotdogs and spam into bite size pieces and set aside
2. take a piece of bread, and cut in half
3. Spread your pizza sauce just to cover the top
4. spread the hotdogs and spam on top (depends on how much you like your meat)
5. Spread your quick melting cheese first before the Parmesan on top of your meat (again, depends on how much you like)
6. Dump it into your oven
7. A few minutes (5 to 8) until the cheese melts
8. eat...eat...eat... and enjoy!

now that was simple, I satisfied my pallet and saved a few bucks. The pizza was great specially for kids, and since our house has plenty of them everyone enjoyed the snack. I once added shrimps, pine apples, you know the usual stuff you'd fine in an ordinary pizza parlor, but the difference is that this one is home made and imagination as your only limit.

Maze

2008-06-06T21:43:00.001+08:00

This about a dream of mine which I find rather weird. I know people sometimes get wild dreams or fantasies but there are times when I can't really decipher what they mean or should I really bother trying, honestly...

The setting is a damp, maze of apartments, whose rooms were small and looks very old and dirty, its like an old dungeon cell with modern amenities. One weird thing was the to get to these apartments, you need to go through stairs that at first glance, doesn't seem to direct you to any room at all, until you try one.

I'm not alone in my dream, I was with my old buddies from high school. I know our group was complete, but then some of them seemed to be lost in the maze and the few of us who were together seemed to have a silent understanding to look for them, until one by one I'd loose my buddies.

We looked room after room until I was alone, I didn't notice how my buddies disappeared, all I know was I was left alone inside the maze, standing and trying to think, what the hell happened. Then I woke up, late for work, still thinking what was that all about, I guess I'll never know, but at least It made me think.