Philippine Astronomy

Philippine based Astronomy site. And it's real cool to know that the site is updated regularly.

So if you want to know when the next Phillipine solar or lunar eclipse is going to happen, this is the site to go to.

Doctor Who

**************
Five years since this post, I'm still here watching every bit. Riversong... wow
*************

The doctor has fought genetically modified Daleks; encountered nanorobots that can heal your every ill; owned a robot dog (20 years before Sony); and explored a virtual-reality world called the Matrix back when Keanu Reeves was knee-high to a memory card.

I've been a fan of the Doctor since I was wee high. Something about british sci fi that's just gets me.

Too bad here in the Philippines, the Doctor isn't as well known as say, Sapphire and Steel...

Official Web 2.0 Certifyr

Here I am still obsessed with being web compliant. Anyway, glad that my blog is web 2.0 compliant. I do suspect a low rating because of those pesky inq7 urls...

This certification of course has nothing to do with how the site has been coded. It's more about the features you have on it.

For me, it's just I like how the button looks. Oooohhh... bright orange on a white background...

Philippine airline offering one peso (US$ 0.02) seats

A Philippine discount airline, Cebu Pacific, is offering seats for one peso (2 cents) in a bid to boost sales.
More than 50,000 seats are on sale through Sunday at the price, which does not include taxes and surcharges, the Philippines' second largest airline said Thursday in a statement.

After the ten peso airfare promo, it's now the one peso airfare promo. Oh and when the title said Philippine Airline, it just meant an airline in the Philippines. Actually it's Air Philippines.

Funny, it's not in the official site yet. Although, the newsfeed is from AP so this might be true.

A Public Service Announcement

From the info on your site, I think you and your readers might be interested in both the website behind managing our donations, as well as our project itself.

We a non-sectarian, volunteer run, organization, managed from Vancouver, and are closely affiliated with Rotary International. We are creating permanent family placements for abandoned infants in the Philippines – virtually all have led directly to their adoption.

We’re hoping you will mention our program in your blog, and provide a link for some of your interested readers.

Our not-for-profit program, Sister Families Society, has been placing babies with families within the Philippines since startup a year ago. Our mission is to find and facilitate loving homes for abandoned or relinquished infants in their native country. We also provide professional social work counseling and guidance throughout the process.

We are providing regular, educational interview content to a national commercial radio network broadcasting throughout the Philippines. We are also publishing articles in their quarterly magazine to further enrich attitudes towards adoption in the Philippines.

We suggest interested readers go to www.sisterfamilies.givemeaning.com for more information on the program, and how they might chose to support it.

We have chosen www.givemeaning.com as our donation management agency. They are also a not-for-profit, and they ensure that 100% of every donation dollar goes directly to the designated charity.

Please check us out and email me directly with any questions you might have.

Thanks

Ron MacKenzie

Director

List of shopping malls in the Philippines

This article lists all shopping centers in the Philippines, listed by companies:

Want to find out each and every mall that could be ummm.. found in the Philippines? Well mozy on over to the link. This is as close as you could get to knowing this.

Way cool as a source for a term paper about Philippine shopping malls. Ack! There's even Plaza Luisita Mall. A Shopping Mall in Hacienda Luisita, a sugar mill plantation owned by the family of former Philippine president, Corazon C. Aquino.

BushSpeech

Make George W. Bush say the things you always wanted him to say! you don't even need to be a multinational company!

Tons of fun. Make him deliver the speech you always want G.W. to give.

I posted about this years ago and I'm quite surprised it's way better than before.

The Porn Timeline

Here's an excerpt:

1953 - Hugh Hefner starts Playboy
1965 - Bob Guccione starts Penthouse
1968 - Al Goldstein starts Screw
1969 - First mainstream movie to represent the swinger lifestyle - Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Directed by Paul Mazursky
1970 - Penthouse shows pubic hair for the first time.
1970 - Notable Porn Movies - Cycle Studs - Le Salon (Gay)
1971 - Notable Porn Movies - The Boys in the Sand - Wakefield Poole (Gay)
1971 - First condom to appear in a movie - Carnal Knowledge, Directed by Mike Nichols
1972 - Notable Porn Movies - Deep Throat - Gerard Damiano (Straight)
1972 - Notable Porn Movies - Behind the Green Door - The Mitchell Brothers (Straight)
1972 - Notable Porn Movies - Fritz the Cat - Ralph Bakshi (Anime)
1974 - Larry Flynt starts Hustler.
1975 - Betamax introduced

After the Betamax, the whole porn thing just exploded into what it was now. I'm not sure about the roots of Philippine Porn but I guess the first ever "mainstream" distributed porn was the alleged tape recording of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos with U.S actress Dovey Beams.

I haven't heard the tape but I ummm... hear that it even includes the former strongman singing a native song to Dovey....

Philippine Trivia

A cornucopia of Philippine trivia.

Here's a couple;

• The largest city in the Philippines is Davao City. With an area of 2,211 sq. km., it is about three times the size of the national capital, Metro Manila.
• Cebu is the oldest Philippine city.
• Negros Occidental has the most cities among Philippine provinces.
• The Basilica of San Sebastian is the only steel church in Asia and was the second building to be made out of steel, next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
• Tagala - the Philippines first Filipino-Spanish dictionary which was printed in 1613, 25 years older than the first book printed in the United States.
• Cagayan de Oro City - “The City of Golden Friendship,” known for its warm people and old-fashioned hospitality
• Basilica of St. Martin de Tours in Taal, Batangas built by Augustinian Missionaries in 1572, is reputed to be the biggest catholic church in East Asia. It is so huge that it can house another big church
• Did you know that the first four cities of Metropolitan Manila are: Manila, Quezon, Pasay and Caloocan
• Quezon City is the second biggest city in the Philippines

Philippine Weather Forecast

Here's a site that features the current weather forecast for major Philippine cities.

Here's the weather forecast for the lesser known Philippine cities.

PAGASA: Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration

Not just a weather bureau, PAGASA is also the official government agency tasked to study the stars and other heavenly bodies.

Mention the word PAGASA, and most people think of weather forecasts. But to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, work goes beyond floods and typhoons—their realm of study extends all the way from the earth and its atmosphere to the depths of outer space!

Check it out. They have an astronomical observatory that is open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Their observatory has the distinction of having the largest telescope in the country—a fully computerized reflecting telescope with a primary mirror almost one and a half feet across. They have a planetarium where you can learn all the constellations with the help of a professional astronomer. They also have a time service unit with an atomic clock, a solar radiation network, and a publication unit that produces star maps as well as almanacs containing tables of sunrise, sunset and other astronomical phenomena for the rest of the year.

Nice primer on what Pagasa is all about. Not just weather, it also covers the whole sky. The Philippine sky, that is.

Aside from the link below, here's their official site. You think they also handle UFO cases?

Batman Visuals

Holy visual sound effects Batman!

You can see more of these when you click the link.

How to solve a libel suit from Mike Arroyo

A MANILA court has issued an arrest warrant for INQ7.net columnist William "Billy" Esposo over an 11 million-peso libel case filed against him by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, the columnist's lawyer said.

In a phone interview Tuesday, David Narvasa said Esposo would post bail of 10,000 pesos on Wednesday.

The charges stemmed from an alleged libelous column by Esposo titled "How to solve a problem like Mike Arroyo," which was posted on INQ7.net on July 5, 2004, Narvasa said.

Do you know that the URL from INQ7 doesn't validate? It isn't XHTML 1.0 compliant.

Soory I'm digressing... if Mike Arroy wins, he'd be 11 Million pesos richer. Wow.

..............T H E M O V I E T I M E L I N E..............

So here's the pitch: The Movie Timeline is the history of everything, taken from one simple premise: that everything you see in the movies is true - the real mixes with the fictitious, so long as it's reported in a movie somewhere...

Welcome to it!

This is like the Holy Bible of movies...

Clooney, Pitt, Damon a Go for 'Ocean's 13'

...Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon will star in "Ocean's 13," the third flick in their franchise about a gang of lovable crooks, distributor Warner Bros. announced Monday....

Ocean's 13... makes me wonder, was there ever an Ocean's 1?

HAMS International Talent Competition

Go check this site out. Way cool. Totally funny.And just so absorbing.

Watch people tell their most funniest jokes. You get to vote if it is funny or not. Or, if you think you have a funnier joke, just upload it and see how people like it.

There's more to this than ummm... this. But you got to check it out yourself.

Oh yeah... it's also a contest.

Dennis the Menace

Is it me or is this the first time I ever saw Dennis' grandpa?

How would Mr. Wilson react to this?

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is an uncommon form of cancer, usually associated with previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant (cancerous) cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity) or the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart).

So after my post about high paying words, my interest was piqued to what this Mesothelioma is all about. Turns out it is an uncommon disease that's asbestos related. And when that mineral is talked about, lawyers just get giddy with excitement. Wanna know why?

In the United States, the average mesothelioma-related settlement was $1 million; for cases that go to trial awards averaged $6 million, according to a study by the RAND Corporation.

It is a rare disease but given that mesothelioma seems to be a virtual gimmee in court litigations, lawyers are on the lookout for these patients.

At a minimum of US$1 Million Dollars a pop, I'm not surprised why search terms for these in Google would charge that high...

Updated: Highest Paying AdSense Keywords

Google has released a great tool to search for the current CPC for keywords which can be found here. I have used this tool to compile an updated list of some of the current highest paying keywords. It seems that lawyers are still paying the most out of all. It’s a bit concerning that some of the highest paying keywords are for “Wrongful Death”, and “DUI”, but oh well..

I have updated the Highest Paying Search Terms page to include the current Top 230 paying search keywords. Below are a few to check out:

The ten top keywords are:

$54.33 mesothelioma lawyers
$47.79 what is mesothelioma
$47.72 peritoneal mesothelioma
$47.25 consolidate loans
$47.16 refinancing mortgage
$45.55 tax attorney
$41.22 mesothelioma
$38.86 car accident lawyer
$38.68 ameriquest mortgage
$38.03 mortgage refinance

Expect a lot of professinal bloggers incorporating these words into their posts.

Netvibes launch a 1 GB personal web storage module !

...Now you have a 1 GB hard drive available all the time on your desktop. And if you add some MP3s you can clic on them, they will play automatically...This module made in partnership with box.net and is a part of an ambitious projet to build a web 2.0 service ecosystem.....

Funny how in the near future we can't be productive unless we're connected to the web.

Boondocks to take six month leave

"Boondocks" creator Aaron McGruder, 31, announced last month that he is taking six months off from writing the strip, which runs daily in 350 newspapers nationwide, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The last new "Boondocks" will appear on Sunday.

Oh no... Huey doesn't have anything to say! This is the end of Boondocks! Well actually a leave of six months. And yes, that's the last strip pictured above. Click the image to get a bigger ummm... image.

You do know that the word Boondock is derived from the filipino word "bundok" meaning mountain...

15 Best Skylines in the World

All my years in studying Urban Planning helped me grow a greater appreciation for the dense downtown skyline of the big city. The downtown core of big cities across the Americas, Europe and Asia are the cultural pulse and economic engines of urban regions where millions of people live. All urban "life" begins and ends, each day and night under the watch of the city's tallest skyscrapers and most grand architectural structures. So kick back and appreciate the view that they have to offer...

Guess from what city this number one best skyline is from?

A Lego Arena

Would you believe this is all from Lego?

Call Center Forum

Do you work in a call center? Do you have a camera phone and a story to share? Join the CallCenterForum now and contribute your MMS views of what you've got and what you're about!

CALL CENTER FORUM is a cellphone community project where Filipino call center agents share views, opinions, and images. Like timezone expatriates, they work all night to assist overseas customers. If you see the lights on during the night in some Metro Manila skyscraper it is because they are awake and on duty.

I was at Carlos Celdran's launch of Antonio Abad's conceptual art project. It was held at Carlos' The Living Room. It was fun and informative. I had the wrong impression that it was a painting thing. But then again, I wouldn't be filipino if I didn't...

Funchain

Funchain is a free, online service that lets you create shareable BLOGS. A blog is your easy-to-use web site, where you can quickly post thoughts, interact with people, and more. Funchain is also an online community that will help you CONNECT to a network of friends.

Proudly Philippine made ummm... in Malaysia

Ummm....

A Power Ranger morphs into something else...

Star Wars + Transformers + Hasbro = Geek Coolness

It's a match made in geek heaven. A marriage between Star Wars and Transformers. Two of the biggest perpetuators in keeping people from growing up, together at last. As Hasbro owns the rights to make toys for both franchises, they were free to commit to the most wonderful sacrilege ever by turning Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and other classic Star Wars characters into robots in disguise.

I'm just speechless. Where where these toys 20 years ago?

Dell to double call center workers in RP

Michael Dell, founder and chairman of Dell Inc., announced Tuesday that the company was doubling its call center agents in the Philippines to 1,400 people from the current target of 700.

Speaking during the official launch of the Philippine call center facility at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, Dell said that the company is now expanding its call center operations worldwide, opening at least 10 new facilities in recent years.

Wow. I didn't even know that Michael Dell was here. One thing though, he promised 5000 more jobs in India (as pictured above) but only 700 more here. I wonder why? Is India a better business model than ours?

But still, that's 700 more employed people for the Philippines...

Vietnamese customs official executed for taking bribes

HANOI -- A senior customs official found guilty of taking bribes in one of Vietnam's largest-ever smuggling scandals has been executed by firing squad, a court official said Wednesday.

Oh how I wish...

A Screenwriters Guide

This site has analysis for current and classic movies. It covers topics such as

• Screenwriting
• Hero's Journey
• Story Structure
• Creative Writing
• Screenwriters
• Screenplay
• Storytelling
• Film Making
• Sitcom Writing

A Blog Rant about Blogs in the Philippines

Is it me or is the trend for new and upcoming blogs is not about content anymore? It seems most are preoccupied with getting link backs and hits. Why is that?

Just like the old addage that the three most important things in retail is location, location, and location. Blogs are about content, content, and content. It's not about how many links to it. Or how many hits one gets. It's about ummm... dang if I know! But my point is that it's not about that. Oh yeah. It's about content.

The Sassy Lawyer seems to be experiencing a link related problem now. Some blogger has been baiting her so she'd link back to him. That's just not right. Sassy nailed it right when she said;

...For whatever it’s worth, I’m not a traffic whore nor a links whore which he obviously is. Excuse me, but we’re not on the same level....

I try and avoid posting for hits. Operative word here is "try". I mean, when some piece of news that is a guaranteed hit generator comes up, I don't join the bandwagon and post it just for the hits. I post something because it's interesting to me. I have posts here that are just way out there and that the only person that would interested in it is me and some green faced alien that's related to the cousin of the neighbor of Xenu who's oozing with thetans. I even avoid joining blog groups or activities since that's not really my cup of tea.

Whenever I see that my Philippine links is the most visited, it gives me a good feeling. I somehow feel good that somewhere, somehow, someone learned something about our authors, scientists or whatever. Even a check from google for a thousand dollars wouldn't beat that. Well... maybe a check for two thousand dollars. But I'm digresssing.

I miss the early years when blogs where about blogging. Jet's last post was the 10th of January. Even cbsmagic has limited his posts to a few a month. They are and will always be the epitome of Philippine blogs to me. I have links to blogs I visit everyday. I like them because they blog from the heart. I limit my links to just 13. No more and no less. The reason is because that's the most I can go to given my time.

I do have some ad links here but that's more for fun than profit. It's more bragging rights that I get a check from google once in awhile but to make it so that it's become the main reason for blogging? That's just not right. Oh wait, a two thousand dollar check could make it right. But I'm digressing.

The reason the greats are up there like MLQ3, Jessica Zafra, and Sassy is because they don't post for hits. People write stuff because they want to be heard, they want to write, they want to blog, not to be oggled at. I hate to bring this up but I remember when Retzwerx was a real cool place to go to for Pinoy Big Brother news. Now, it's just a summary of the goings on and screen caps and chock full of ads. Maybe that's the direction of his blog now but there was a time when his site was way better than the official site. It had more meaningful content. I guess PBB learned from it's mistakes and really spruced up their site. That site is way more interesting now with real content. I could be wrong here but hey, this is just my opinion. What went wrong there? I guess it was the time when he started using the full names of PBB contestants during season one in all and I mean all his posts. To the point that even the verb say became Say Alonzo. The name of one of the contestants. No offense meant Retz, just stating my opinion.

Heck! I wasn't even aware of my page rank until two weeks ago when Yuga brought it up in his post.

I post because I like to post. It's therapy for me. I'm in no position to force my belief in others. I don't or even intend to insiu.. insenuat... ummm... come off as a high and mighty honest to goodness, true blue blogger. Whatever reason other philippine bloggers blog is not my problem. Nor am I in a position to dictate. I just want to unload whatever is in this small brain of mine.

So that being said, what's the whole reason for this post? There I go again. I guess I forgot to take my lithium again...

ADDITIONAL

Well, Yuga posted another side to this situation. The Problogger's side. Where traffic is essentially important...

A Lawyer Story

A Charlotte, NC, lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against fire among other things. Within a month having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy,the lawyer filed claim against the insurance company...

Something about stories like this about lawyers against lawyers makes me feel good inside...

Americans forgetting how to cook

At Kraft Foods, recipes never include words like "dredge" and "sauté." Betty Crocker recipes avoid "braise" and "truss." Land O' Lakes has all but banned "fold" and "cream" from its cooking instructions. And Pillsbury carefully sidesteps "simmer" and "sear."

When the country's top food companies want to create recipes that millions of Americans will be able to understand, there seems to be one guiding principle: They need to be written for a nation of culinary illiterates.

..."Thirty years ago, a recipe would say, 'Add two eggs,' " said Bonnie Slotnick, a longtime cookbook editor and owner of a rare-cookbook shop in New York's Greenwich Village. "In the '80s, that was changed to 'beat two eggs until lightly mixed.' By the '90s, you had to write, 'In a small bowl, using a fork, beat two eggs,' " she said...

That's not the case here in the Philippines, I'm happy to note. Although, I still don't know most of the words mentioned in the article.

Sting to open a strip joint

NOTORIOUS strip-club aficionado Sting is opening his very own jiggle joint. We hear that the former Police chief is set to launch a satellite of Hollywood burlesque bar Forty Deuce on West 21st Street and 10th Avenue - and among his backers is regal rock legend David Bowie.

Sting, Bowie, and a strip joint. Sounds like a Disney movie to me...

Firefox 2.0 Alpha is out! Try it umm... out!

If you are a bit of a risk taker, try out the alpha version of Firefox 2.0.

Rate your influence in the blogosphere

My influence

[4561.5]

I don't know what the number means. I thought it was big til I saw some blogs sporting 6 to 7 digit numbers.

(via J-Walk Blog)

iTunes Smart Playlists

I listen to my iTunes music library almost constantly when I’m working. I currently have 3476 songs in iTunes which works out at around 12.4 days worth of music. This may seem a lot, but considering how much time I spend on the computer, I burn through tracks with surprising ease.

One of the problems with this is keeping your music collection interesting. You’ll want to hear newer songs more often than older ones, yet at the same time you’ll want to make sure that the old music doesn’t get lost. You want to hear your favourite songs slightly more often than everything else, but you don’t want to keep listening to the same old tracks over and over again. As such you need to make sure your playlists have a good degree of variety as well as and a high churn rate.

I have around 5000 songs on my iPod now. And following his sipmle suggestions, it did boost up my listening experience. I don't get to hear the same song more than once a week...

Passed validation

The document... was checked and found to be valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional. This means that the resource in question identified itself as "XHTML 1.0 Transitional" and that we successfully performed a formal validation using an SGML or XML Parser (depending on the markup language used).

Ok, that took wahile to clean up and validate the code. Now, looking at validating the CSS Code, I think i need a year's vacation. That's going to take serious tweaking by the looks of it.

Uninstall existing GD before installing Google Desktop 3

Well, it seems I had to uninstall the existing Google Desktop first before installing the latest version.

Make sure you do this, seems the new features are not activated without this step. Otherwise, you still get the old version.

The best feature in my opinion is the Lock Search feature. You can lock down Google Desktop with your Windows password. Although, I would have liked it if I can assign a unique password to it.

Check out the complete features of this cool app (if you're not paranoid) right here.

Joe and Monkey

Well this is proof that my life is pretty pretty tame...

World of Warcraft player banned for using logitech keyboard

A World of Warcraft player was banned from the game for using Logitech's new gaming keyboard. The keyboard allows you to program macro's that can make playing the game easier.

Remember the days of Ultima on the C64 where you really had to be in front of the computer?

read more | digg story

Airport tightens security vs baggage thieves

THE MANILA International Airport Authority (MIAA) is beefing up security at the ramp areas of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals starting this week to avoid pilferage of passengers' baggage, MIAA General Manager Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.

"We want to prove to our valued travelers that their baggage remain safe with us here at the NAIA," Cusi said Tuesday.

I remember a news article years ago where japan bound girls would crawl to the airvents to avoid going to Immigration and go straight to the plane. I wonder how they got their boarding passes or even their passports stamped.

I had a friend who used to work there and everyday, EVERYDAY, he'd come home with a bag full of stuff.

Now. After decades, DECADES, of airport operation, The Philippine's main ummm... airport, NAIA, is going to beef up security!

Wow.

50 Greatest Actors (and actresses)

The results of The World's Greatest Actor, as voted for by the stars of the screen themselves.

It's funny to see who tied at number five as this one was a hotly contested issue before...

Also funny is number 50 compared to number 1...

Overlooked Photo Reveals Swiss UFO-Contact Case Genuine

...Heavy debunking of the case ensued, despite all the evidence from the primary investigators from 1975-1986, and authentication by various scientists and experts, that the case could be no hoax. But the photo* from which the image on the right was recently cropped went largely overlooked. Meier took it, along with many other shots, in the hills of Switzerland some 15 miles southeast of Zurich, in 1981, long before personal computers and photo-manipulation software were readily available.

We haven't had a real world rocking UFO conspiracy since the Hale-Bopp Comet. Maybe Art Bell should resurface and announce one.

I miss the days when Photoshop was just an itch in someones finger...

Indiana Jones and the Much Awaited Sequel

"Steven Spielberg and I now have a script in hand that we both like. I believe that we can start with the filming soon," Ford was quoted as saying in an interview with German lifestyle and entertainment magazine Fit for Fun.

So we can expect Indy to whip out his ummm... whip anytime soon. What would it be this time? The Lost Ark?

I meant Noah's.

Miss Deaf Texas struck by train, killed

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The reigning Miss Deaf Texas died after being struck by a train, officials said.

Tara Rose McAvoy, 18, was walking Monday near railroad tracks when she was struck by a Union Pacific train, authorities said.

A witness told Austin television station KTBC the train sounded its horn right up until the accident occurred.

I hate to be cruel here but she's not blind is she? Also, can't she feel the tracks rumbling?

Disney's shaggy cast

It promises to rain in Los Angeles this weekend, so we’ll probably wind up taking the kids to the movies to see Disney’s remake of The Shaggy Dog.

We don’t really look forward to the probable butt-sniffing and leg-humping gags, but we do have to hand it to Disney for providing our kids with such positive role models as stars Tim Allen and Robert Downey, Jr.

Signs of the times folks. I mean, a convicted cocaine dealer, a rehabilitated drug user, two soft semi-porn girls are part of the cast. Well not really soft semi-porn, but I just wanted to use that for a little emphasis.

Don't get me wrong, it's just funny to see all of them in a Disney movie. I mean, wouldn't it be hilarious if Mary Poppins starred Pamela Anderson, Bobby Brown, and Lindsay Lohan?

I know, I know, wrong analogy. They're not even english.

Google Desktop is coming out of Beta

Well, today, Google Desktop is out of Beta plus it has a new feature. Users can get a search box in the middle of the desktop. Just press the Ctrl key twice.

ADDITIONAL
I still can't activate it despite numerous ctrl presses. I think you have to wait for the whole PC to be indexed and restart the computer to use this feature.

A Recording Engineer's Guide to the Secrets of iTunes and iPod

I had never bothered with these little players or compressed digital audio since I presumed the sound quality was awful. WRONG! The little things sound great for serious music listening, presuming you click a couple of the right buttons in iTunes' preferences. I'll explain these in this article.

I converted all my mp3s to AAC months ago. I did it to conserve space. Awhile back, I started reading articles saying that mp3s are better than AACs. Imagine the stress!

This article kind of relieved all that stress. I hope he's right. But come to think of it, I never really did notice any difference...

It's 'Official': Windows Vista to Launch in November!

Looking at the screen caps, the OS does look sweet. I hear it'll come in five flavors. I'm not into switching right now, probably early next year.

But honestly, I'm beginning to really like Ubuntu.

read more | digg story

Apple ITunes to Offer NCAA Games

Apple said Tuesday it will offer condensed versions of the 63 Division I men's NCAA basketball games a day after they air on CBS Corp. Full-length versions of this year's semifinal and championship games also will be available for download.

So who'd want to watch a day old game? Movies I'd understand but basketball? Those shows are meant to be seen live.

Stars, Clouds, and Portalets...

I've been seeing a lot of police checkpoints all over. It seems someone is pretty paranoid about another rebellion, insurgency, revolution, whatever.

It ain't gonna happen. You know why?

It's just too damn hot to go out and protest.

I mean, how can anyone just stand out in the blazing sun and shout out anti-government slogans. I can't remember but I think EDSA 3 was a dud also because of the weather. I guess there were some wishing to get hit by a water cannon just to cool down.

And this week has been a real brain melter. (I could be immune to this as some people would point out, I have no brain to melt...). Oh and don't mention umbrellas. They're not cool to lug around. They're clunky, get in the way kind of objects that just starts fights when you hit other people with them.

Oh, and don't forget, we need those movie stars and celebrities to attend. I'm talking Viva Hot Babes, Regine Velasquez, and the always present APO Hiking Society (Is Jim Paredes still in the country? If not, GMA can heave a sigh of relief...) I mean, who's going to entertain us while we stand outside. Maybe a Wowowee kind of contest in between would even liven up the whole thing.(Also another reason umbrellas are a no-no, you can't see the show with them in the way...)

Finally, the next time someone organizes this type of thing, please don't forget the portalets. It's hard to do the business when there's no place to do the business. You know what I mean?

In my opinion, a revolution is just an excuse for us to get together, sing songs, dance, and cuss out the latest leader. It's not about making the world right. If it was, then 1986 would have solved that. Remember 1986? We had a song about it then (Di ako papayag...What was the title of that song?) We got to see tanks up close. Food was free and aplenty. We even had a free tour of Malacanang then (plus the freedom to trash the place too).

So, revolution? Maybe next month, when the weather cools down and Jim Paredes comes back.

Tah-Daah!

Please excuse all the clutter. As you can see, I'm again changing the look of my blog.

I always have valued my Philippine Links but it just gets in the way of the whole design. So, I just made a post about it and plugged it up there on top under "Philippine Links". I hope it doesn't get too confusing.

That goes for all the other links too.

Funny but this one reminds me of my previous white design I got from blogger. Anyway, this template is from Open Source Web Design. You can go there and check some out. They're just ubercool.

Oh, and isn't blue just so soothing?

Other Blogs and Sites

---

Blogs I Read

Cinnamon Puppy
Babbling Point
Carlos Celdran: Walk this Way
cbs magic
The Dilbert Blog
Five Feet Flat
Jessica Zafra's Twisted
J-Walk Blog
Now What, Cat?
Manuel L. Quezon III
Post Secret
The Presurfer
Tom McMahon

---

Favourite Sites

Astrology Zone
Boing Boing
Coffeespark
Engrish
Everything Website
Google Blogoscoped
J and S Surf Co.
RetroCRUSH
Tricks of the Trade
Unexplained Mysteries
The View Askewniverse
Waxy.Org
Wired News

---

Philippine Links

I always get hits on information about the Philippines. I've covered some of the topics that may have some importance to some. But there are a lot of things about this country that people want to find out.

So what I did was scoured the net for sites that might give information on the topic. Hopefully these sites are still up. If not, give me a holler, and see if I can at least fix it up.

So, without further ado, here are the links:

Famous People in the Philippines

Famous Filipino Athletes
Famous Filipino Authors
Famous Filipino Moviemakers
Famous Filipino Scientists
Philippine Heroes
Philippine Presidents
Other Popular Filipinos



Cory Aquino
Ninoy Aquino
Francisco Baltazar
Andres Bonifacio
Lino Brocka
Epifanio Delos Santos
Eugenio Lopez Jr
Ramon Magsaysay
Jose Rizal

Famous Places in the Philippines

Wow Philippines
Philippine Cities
Phil Schools & Universities

Pictures of the Philippines

Pictures of Cebu
Pictures of Manila
Pictures of Zamboanga

Government Sites

Phil Government Official Site
PAGASA
Academy of Sci & Tech
Dept of Sci & Tech
CIA Factbook
The Philippines

The Philippines

Philippine Alphabet
Philippine Ancient History
Philippine Art Gallery
Philippine Astronomy
Philippine Bike Club
Philippine Blogs
Philippine Blog Awards
Philippine Books
Philippine Comics (Komiks)
Philippine Congress
Philippine Constitution
Philippine Culture and Arts
Philippine Department of Justice
Philippine Directory
Philippine Festivals/Fiestas
Philippine Firsts
Philippine Food and Recipes
Philippine Flag
Philippine Historical Documents
Philippine Historical Timeline
Philippine History
Philippine Info and Stats
Philippine Information II
Philippine Language
Philippine Literature
Philippine Masons
Philippine Motorcycle Clubs
Philippine Movies
Philippine Music
Philippine Names
Philippine National Police
Philippine Newspapers
Philippine Outsourcing
Philippine Radio
Philippine Recipes
Philippine Religion
Philippine Senate
Philippine Shopping Malls
Philippine Short Stories
Philippine Stock Market
Philippine Surfing (Surfing in the Philippines)
Philippine Television
Philippine Top Websites
Philippine Travel Destinations
Philippine Trivia
Philippine Tours
Philippine Various
Philippine Weather
Philippine Web Awards
Philippine Web Cam
Philippine Yellow Pages
Philippine Zip Codes
Philippine Zoo

Philippine News Sites

Philippine Daily Inquirer
Moreover-Philippine News
Philippine Star
Streaming Philippine TV News (GMA)
BBC News
CNN
Reuters News

Philippines Etcetera

Philippines in the 1970s
My Town: Baclaran
My Town: Baclaran II My City: Paranaque
What's on my TV
Movies Showing
Events Happening

Filipino Tagalog Dictionary

English-Tagalog Dictionary
English-Filipino Dictionary
Tagalog Slang Dictionary
Tagalog Tools
Downloadable Tagalog Dictionary

McAfee update exterminates Excel

An error in McAfee's virus definition file released Friday morning caused the company's consumer and enterprise antivirus products to flag Microsoft's Excel, as well as other applications on users' PCs, as a virus called W95/CTX, Joe Telafici, director of operations at McAfee's Avert labs, told CNET News.com.

I wonder if any in the Philippines got affected by this. I'm pretty sure many would agree that the McAfee and Excel programs running in most computers here in the Philippines are pirated.

Oh FYI, I use AVG and Open Office... Planning to go Ubuntu too.

read more | digg story

Anti-porno group scores ‘Casanova’ rating

AN anti-pornography group has criticized the R-13 rating of the film "Casanova" given by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, saying minors should not be allowed to view the movie because of its sexual content and anti-Christianity scenes.

I haven't seen the movie so I can't really comment about it. Specially about the "sexual content" or the ratings issue.

But anti-christianity? That's porn?

They are an anti-porn group not an anti-christianity group.

I wonder how they would react to a movie based on the Bible's Book of Ruth. I hear that's a cornucopia (sp?) of sexual content. Plus it's in the Holy Book.

Marijuana extract used in cakes

NBI forensic chemist Aida Magsipoc said consumers of baked goods with hashish oil could experience "more potent effects because of the products' more concentrated drug content."

Reading the article and the quote above, I could have sworn this was an ad to promote those cakes...

Cool Philippine Tourism Ad

Click the play button to ummm... play the file. The ad is in filipino and the visuals are just plain beautiful.

Search the Digis of Pi

Want to find how many digits into pi your birthday is, phone number, social security number? Just pop open this webpage and hit search.

read more | digg story

Guns vs. Velvet

VELVET REVOLVER/ex-STONE TEMPLE PILOTS frontman Scott Weiland has slammed GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose for his comments in a recent press release where he claimed that in October of 2005, VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash visited Axl's house at 5:30 one morning and said he wanted to "end the war" with Rose. Rose alleged that Slash tore into his current bandmates in VELVET REVOLVER, calling singer Weiland a "fraud," saying that he "hates" drummer Matt Sorum and describing bassist Duff McKagan as "spineless."

We haven't had a Rock War in a long time. This oughta come out interesting.

Top 150 Children's Books

Here are the best-selling children's books of all time (through the end of 2000), with author and year of initial publication, compiled by Publishers Weekly. OP means the book is no longer in print.

Charlotte's Web is number one.
"Charlotte died alone"
The saddest line I have ever read.

ADDITIONAL:

Well, Ina of Everyone else is doing it, so why can’t I? made a better post about this.

Why not check her's out.

Ack! I meant her post.

Ngak! I meant check out her article.

Gack! Oh heck! You know what I mean.

Click here to get to her.

I didn't mean that. I meant... I meant...

...

I think I'm going to faint.

New Template coming soon

Well, I'm getting pretty tired of the look of this site. It looks too cluttered.

It reminds me of those old Geocities sites, minus the midi music and flashing letters. Once I have time, I'll do a ummm... redo of the site.

New comic strip: Unshelved

I have added a new strip to this site. It's Unshelved. It's been my daily read since late last year. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Driver's ed for blind kids?

Mayra Ramirez scored an A in driver's education this year, but sitting through the 10-week class felt like a bad joke to the Curie Metropolitan High School sophomore.

Ramirez is blind. She knows she's never going to drive. She can think of a lot of things she'd rather be studying than rules of the road, but she didn't have a choice.

This is just cruel.

06.10.06

The World Cup! It's just months away! I'm rooting for England because of John Terry. But France (Go Zidane!) is my second choice.

Goal!

Football Gets People Talking.

I just can't wait!

(via Gahsoon. How does he get these wonderful things?)

The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Characters

Some Top Super-Heroes

Superman : Methodist
Spider-Man : Protestant
Batman : Episcopalian/Catholic (lapsed)
Wonder Woman : Greco-Roman Classical Religion
Captain America : Protestant
The Hulk : Non-Religious
The Thing : Jewish
Daredevil : Catholic
Wolverine : former atheist
Elektra : Greek Orthodox

Friendster account leads to arrest of murder suspect

STA. ROSA CITY, Laguna - A website dedicated to social networking proved to be vital in solving a crime.

On Thursday, operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation arrested one of five suspects who allegedly shot dead four people and fatally wounded two others in San Pablo City two months ago.

Rexson Hizon, 27, was positively identified by Joey Belen, a survivor of the attack, based on pictures posted on the suspect’s Friendster account.

I wonder what kind of testimonials he has on his Friendster account...

US Catholic bishops launch website vs 'Da Vinci Code' movie

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops launched a new website refuting key claims made in Dan Brown's novel that are likely to be brought to the big screen in Howard's movie, starring Tom Hanks.

"'The Da Vinci Code' is a mess, a riot of laughable errors and serious misstatements. Almost every page has at least one of each," the bishops wrote on the website Jesusdecoded.com.

Hmmm... Now if they could say the same about Genesis...

Here's the link to the site ummmm... sited in the article.

Heh. Seems, I was right.

Bossabol

Bossaball is a ball game between 2 teams. It's a mix of volleyball, football, gymnastics and capoeira.

The court is a combination of inflatables and tramplines, divided by a net.

And it takes less than 45 minutes to set it all up and get ready to play...

Looks like a real cool game to play.

It's like those trampoline based basketball games shown on tv before.

O'Brien, Richter reteam for detective comedy

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Conan O'Brien and his former sidekick on NBC's "Late Night," Andy Richter, are reuniting for NBC primetime, and this time Richter is the leading man.

The network has ordered "Andy Barker P.I.," a detective comedy pilot starring Richter, which O'Brien co-wrote and is executive producing.

Cool.

You think that dog puppet would guest star? What's his name? oh yeah... Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Thanks Google.

Google Acquires Writely

Writely is now part of Google!

Yes, we've been acquired by Google, and we're really excited about this for many, many reasons. But I can hear you saying, "I don't care why YOU'RE excited - I want to know how this change will impact ME!"

Props to John Heart for the story. Here's the link to the announcement made by Google.

I've been using Writely for awhile now and it is a very usefull app. Now with Google in the mix, The much rumored online G Drive is but a few steps away from fruition.

Why black sheep are barred and Humpty can't be cracked

TRADITIONAL nursery rhymes are being rewritten at nursery schools to avoid causing offence to children.

Instead of singing “Baa baa, black sheep” as generations of children have learnt to do, toddlers in Oxfordshire are being taught to sing “Baa baa, rainbow sheep”.
...In keeping with the new approach, teachers at the nurseries have reportedly also changed the ending of Humpty Dumpty so as not to upset the children and dropped the seven dwarfs from the title of Snow White.

This just takes the cake. All for political correctness. Oh when will it end?

And just so you know, Han Shot First...

Mozilla made $72 million from Firefox

Last year Mozilla made $72 million from Firefox, The money comes from the Google Search box on the top right, when you search using that box and you click on Google ads on the results page Firefox gets about 80%.

US$72 Million from Google Ads? That's a lot of zeroes!

Maybe that explains the Get Firefox ad referral from Google...

read more | digg story

After 150 Yrs, Western Union Ends Telegram Service

Western Union quietly announced last week that it was exiting the business synonymous with its name for 155 years.
..."Effective January 27, 2006," the company said in a note posted without ceremony on its Web site, "Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage."

The Telegram is dead. Long live the Internet.

This one may not take front page but there are a lot of things that are falling in the way of obsolescence that we may not be aware of. I mean, this happened two months ago and no one noticed! Whatever happened to pagers? Or even the telex? In the Philippines, I think that RCPI, the local telegram company, is still operating. Heck! I think we still have places without electricity.

Wonder when the telephone, as it exist now, will be next?

Paper profits from student creativity

Freshman Jason Ku submitted an origami model of one of the Nazgul, or ringwraiths, from 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. Ku's entry won a prize for Best Original Model.

MIT has an Origami building contest. That Black Rider looks uber cool!

The $39 Experiment: Asking Random Companies for Free Stuff

The Idea
The way I looked at it, if I took $39 and went to buy groceries, I wouldn't be able to get all that much. On the flipside, if I took $39 to a casino and lost it all, I wouldn't be all that upset. With that said, I decided I was going to try something — I was going to take my roll of stamps and send 100 letters to 100 different companies, asking for free stuff. I figured that I couldn't do any worse than blowing the $39 at a casino, and who knows... maybe a few of these places would actually send me something good.

Here in the Philippines, one could try and join Wowowee and try to win One Million Pesos. That's all for the cost of a SMS Text Message and bus fare to the TV Station. They changed the mechanics since there's a risk of dying in a stampede before...

Top 10 Strangest Lego Creations

Built by Lego Master Model Builders, this Volvo XC90 is the official car of Legoland California.

Hmmm... if these lego people would come over here to the Philippines, they would have been astounded to see a Lego President (Erap), a couple of Lego Congressmen and Lego Govt. officials...