Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

Thursday, July 2, 2009

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

Saturday, June 20, 2009

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

Thursday, June 11, 2009

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

Sunday, June 7, 2009

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

Monday, June 1, 2009

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.