The Broken Bow

To Quietly Weep

2011-04-28T17:34:00.002+08:00

One of the habits I got from using a Mac is constantly moving the mouse cursor to the upper right corner of the screen to hide all opened windows and have the desktop view. I'm using Windows at my office so sometimes I would move the cursor unconsciously on the corner of the screen, only to remember that I'm using a different OS.

Speaking of OS a certain blog teaches you how to fix any computer, be it Windows, Apple or Linux. :D

Wonder About Oranges

2011-04-27T00:51:00.003+08:00

It's past midnight but I feel the need to write what I learned at this moment.

One of the secrets of being discovered is doing a good work and putting it where people can see it. Obviously, it's about putting it on internet. In it, you just need to wonder at something and invite everyone to wonder with you.

Furthermore if you should wonder. wonder at the things nobody else is wondering about. If everybody’s wondering about apples, go wonder about oranges.

I found the inspiring words above from Austin Kleon.

To Succeed

2011-04-19T17:30:00.001+08:00

To some, it's all about putting in the time and effort and overcoming fear.

To others, it's about persistence and determination. It's all about pressing on.

Still to several, it's about a couple of things like winning the respect of intelligent people and affection of children, finding the best in others and knowing that one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

A Beautiful Day

2011-04-18T17:42:00.000+08:00

Sometimes changing the way you see things can have great results. Sometimes it's all about having the right perspective, as the story below shows.

An old blind man was sitting on a pavement. He had a poster beside him bearing the words "I am blind, please help." In front of him were some coins tossed by people passing by. Time went by and more people walked past him.

Only a handful were giving alms, until a woman came by. She reached out for the poster and began writing. The old blind man touched and felt her dark green heels. Once the woman finished writing, she put back the poster beside the old blind man and walked away.

This time though, more and more people were tossing more and more coins. At the end of the day, the woman with dark green heels came back. The old blind man reached out for the shoes, recognized it and asked the woman. The poster had a saying that goes, "It's a beautiful day, and I can't see it."

An ad video of this is created by the Purple Feather group that specializes on Online Marketing and others.

Seoul Searching 2011

2011-04-17T17:03:00.005+08:00

One of the things I find helpful when planning travels is the availability of information online. Frankly, you won't need a travel agency to do the itinerary for you. This means that you could save some money and you could customize your travel plans.

Last month I had the opportunity to travel to Seoul, South Korea. And here are a couple of things you may need to know.

1. Visa Processing

The Korean Embassy, located at Upper McKinley, Taguig, is closed on Korean Holidays. Take note of any holiday before going there. If you have US, UK, ANZ, or Japan visa, processing is three days. Otherwise it will be five days. For the three-day processing, if you submit on Work Day 1, it will be submitted on Work Day 4.

2. Korean Won reservation

If you have account in BDO, won reservation is three days and you could only reserve in the branch where you opened your account. If you were not able to reserve beforehand, obtain US dollars instead. Although no reservation is needed, you still need to get the funds from your account opening branch. An alternative would be BPI. You could obtain US dollars from any branch.

3. Outlet adapter

Korea has a so-called Schuko style electrical socket so you need a Euro travel plug adapter. Here's how it looks like.

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4. T Money

T Money card is a re-loadable card used to pay fares around the city. There is a KRW100 discount when used in subways. It can be used in place of credit card as well. When you arrive at the airport, obtain this card from convenience stores such GS25. When used in a bus, you need to swipe when you hop on and exit the vehicle to avoid double charge.

5. Cebu Pacific

The airline only has free 15kg check-in luggage. When your stay in the country is more than 3 days and it would be cold, you may need more than 15 kgs. so anticipate the check-in baggage you will be paying for.

When returning back to Manila, the airline has a very early flight (7:20AM) so that you need to get up early to be on time especially if you're in Seoul and the airport is in Incheon. There is an Airport Limousine which is available as early as 4:20AM (Anguk Station). If you catch this bus, you will be at the airport around 6AM.

6. Places

If I have to rearrange my itinerary, it would be something like the following assuming I am staying around the Anguk area:

9AM Changdeok Palace

1030AM Bukchon Village

1130AM Lunch

1230PM Gyeongbok Palace

* See changing of guard ceremony

* Don traditional Korean dress or hanbok for free

230PM National War Memorial

330PM Namdaemun Market

5PM Seoul Tower

* Check out the locks of love

630PM Cheonggye Stream

* Buy key chain souvenirs near Doota Mall

730PM Dinner at Doota Mall

On the next day, do either a ski tour or DMZ tour. Package tours are arranged by the Cosmojin group.

Note that several palaces are closed either on Mondays or Tuesdays. On Sundays, some establishments are closed as well.

7. Food

Experience Korean culture through food. Try out the following:

Samgyupsal (grilled pork wrapped in a lettuce with bean paste and various kinds of kimchi)

Gamjatang (like pork sinigang)

Bibimbap of various kinds

Jajangmyun (Black bean paste noodles)

8. Accommodation

Contrary to common belief, Seoul actually has a number of affordable good places to stay at. We stayed at Beewon Guesthouse near Anguk station which had heated floors, small fridge, cable tv, bathtub, heated water, free breakfast (bread with jam and yogurt) and so on.

Now with the knowledge mentioned, I am certain that you'd be more productive to get the most out of your visit to the country.

A New Start

2010-08-15T12:35:00.002+08:00

Hopefully...

Bataan Highway

2007-11-17T18:16:00.000+08:00

I have known a couple of streets, avenues and highways here in the Philippines named after the Americans such as the McArthur Highway, Taft Avenue and McKinley St. Some are even named after a place in the United States like the New York St. and Times Square St in Cubao, Quezon City.

I never thought though that there is a road in a US state named after a place in the Philippines - the Bataan Memorial Highway in Indiana. The road commemorates the heroes of the Bataan Death March.

Krillion - Finding National Brands Near You

2007-11-14T16:15:00.000+08:00

Krillion, a local search engine for offline appliances founded in February 2006 and funded by the Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, offers customers the convenience of having the location information of a product. It is an important site because it tells you who carries the product near you.

Searching for a samsung 32 inch LCD for instance would give a list of available items and their prices. Clicking on one would further provide you the product detail, reviews and product location. On the product location, you would see right away the price comparisons and if the product is available or not. Distance to the store and a map view are provided as well.

Top 50 Thinkers

2007-11-12T19:33:00.000+08:00

There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.
- Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

...I only know of eleven of them. Two are great bloggers - Seth Godin and Scott Adams.

Sunstop Media in association with Skillsoft produced this list of Top 50 Thinkers. The list basically answers the question, "Who is the most influential living management thinker?" The thinkers are chosen by business people, consultants, academics and MBA students throughout the world based on ten criteria. These are originality and practicality of ideas, presentation style, written communication, loyalty of followers, business sense, international outlook, rigors of research, impact of ideas and guru factor.

Shopping Coupons

2007-11-12T17:16:00.000+08:00

“You can get shoes for 85 cents at the bowling alley.”
- A Shopping Tip

Sometimes shopping, online or not, can be a demanding task. At times, you become indecisive, not really with shopping itself especially when you have a lot of resources. But difficulty in choosing what to buy is experienced when online shopping coupons, such as Old Navy and Dell, are involved.

Finding the best deals can be a grueling job. When you find one, you may even get to deal with the frustration of discovering that the coupon has already expired, or that it only works with the retailer's credit card. The technique however is to be persistent in searching. Never hesitate as well to try whatever coupon you have even when there is a disclaimer that "coupon cannot be combined with other offers". It may be a cheapskate but it can definitely save you a couple of bucks notably now that Christmas is near.

Top Ten Fighter Aircraft

2007-11-12T13:26:00.000+08:00

There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying.
The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Here are the top ten fighter aircrafts according to the Discovery Channel. Criteria include kill ratio, fear factor, innovation, production, and service length.

10. F/A 22 Raptor

9. Sea Harrier FA/2

8. Sopwith Camel 112

7. ME 262

6. Spitfire

The next two planes tied for the fourth place.
4. Mig15

4. F86 sabre

3. F4 Phantom

2. F15C Eagle

1. P-51D Mustang

Roger Murdock: We have clearance, Clarence.
Captain Oveur: Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?
- Airplane! (1980)

Shopping Cart Software

2007-11-12T10:33:00.000+08:00

Ashop is a shopping cart software that caters to merchants doing electronic commerce. It can be a good tool for those businesses not transacting online yet. For one, it is one way of obtaining a wider range of customers. And for another, it is also another way of giving customers convenience since they do not need to go out anymore from their homes to buy. The vendor comes to them.

A few of its features include the acceptability of credit cards, customization of the layout and design, and the quick and easy update of the content within hours. The benefits on the other hand include search engine optimization and uncomplicated usability of the site. Also, there is no need to install the software since it is web-based. It is affordable and secured with 128bit SSL encryption. It offers a 24 hour technical support as well. And finally, it provides free emails, upgrades, payment integration, and web promotion tools.

Smorty's New Referral Program

2007-11-11T09:03:00.000+08:00

In an earlier post, I mentioned about Smorty being another opportunity to earn, aside from being another way of increasing productivity perhaps. One of its differences with the other paid-to-blog sites is that Smorty would only take 5 full days to review your posts and approve them. Unlike other sites, your earnings will reflect on your paypal account in about two weeks. In terms of writing opinions, posts should be a minimum of 150 words and a maximum of 400 words. Also, only one link is allowed.

Now here is something new about the site. You only not get paid to blog but you also earn when you refer new bloggers to the site. You only need to place the Smorty banner to your site firstly. Then you earn commissions from anyone who clicks on that banner, signs up to the site and writes a post. A 5% commission of the total payments made to your referred blogger will be given to you. This would go on for as long as the blogger you referred writes posts.

A Little Nightmare Music

2007-11-02T15:54:00.000+08:00

The concert begins. The music is sublime.
Not even a pin would dare drop.
Suddenly, a cellphone rings and the madness starts.
- Igudesman and Joo

Indeed all hell breaks loose when the violinist loses his bow to a vacuum cleaner and the pianist plays the piano upside down. More so when Mozart's 40th Symphony blends with the James Bond theme.

Though exaggeration aside, Aleksey Igudesman and Richard Hyung-Ki Joo performed remarkably well. Listening to I Will Survive is very entertaining. Then hearing Michel Legrand's Les Parapluies de Cherbourg incorporated in it is pretty enjoyable.

Meanwhile, check out the 40th Symphony played with bottles and the violin version of the Super Mario Theme.

On Planners And Remembering

2007-10-25T10:14:00.000+08:00

...To escape the certainty of oblivion,
...This is what drives our species to diaries.
- Timepiece

Recently, I have forgotten a lot of things - birthdays, appointments, tasks, etc. And it is all because of not constantly checking a planner I got from drinking a lot of coffee. It is quite interesting though that Starbucks still believes in paper planners despite the emergence of PDAs and smartphones. A stylish old-fashionedness is definitely involved there. Anyway, what I do not like is the Starbucks planner itself. The cover, ballpen and incorporated cards are pretty commendable. But unlike a slim sturdy school planner I used to have in the past years, the Starbucks planner is really bulky and it does not have the time section. Each date only has notes section.

I can't help but recall the experience that got me started on having an organizer for myself. It began back in my college days when I was in an organization that taught catechism to kids living in poverty-stricken areas. Every Friday afternoon, the org would ride a bus going to a particular place in Fairview to visit them.

I joined the organization without the intention of teaching the kids. I signed up with the org for the sake of having an extra-curricular activity. So that for the whole semester, I was on and off when it came to teaching. On top of that, I was hanging by a thread as a student so my studies took priority over teaching. By the next semester, I decided not to teach anymore.

After about seven months, I felt that I got the hang of things already at school so I became a member of the org again. When I came back to the teaching area, I observed several changes. The place was cleaner and the kids had somewhat grown that I barely recognized each of them. When we were about to start the lesson, my co-teacher asked the kids if they still knew me. A couple of seconds passed and no one answered. Of course, who would remember or even want to remember someone who taught on and off? I started to get disappointed with myself when a little girl uttered, "Kuya Dundee!" They were the sweet words I heard in that place for that particular semester. I was really moved that somebody still remembered.

From then on, I promised to remember a person at least once a year on his or her birthday. I bought myself a planner to do that. But as it turned out later on, you have to be "comfortable" with the planner as well to remember things. Perhaps this coming December, I would be switching back to the school planner I used to have.

Brothers & Sisters

2007-10-01T22:36:00.000+08:00

Tommy: Hand me a screwdriver.
You know what a screwdriver looks like, don't you?
Kevin: It's orange and comes in a glass with ice.

Cooper (singing): Jingle bells, batman smells,
Robin laid an egg,
Batmobile lost its wheel and the Joker got away, hey!

What if you find out that you are not in the family picture and the photo is even posted by your mom on the wall of your living room? What if you discover that you have another sibling aside from the ones you have now? Then when you meet her, what if you have this urge to pull a strand of her hair to check if her DNA is a match to your dad's? On your mom's birthday party, what if an adult video finds its way on the presentation tribute for your mom? What if you are getting married while a sibling of yours is on the verge of having divorce? And so on....

You could actually create great stories just by asking the proverbial "What if". And Brothers & Sisters did it in a way that is decent, funny, witty, humorous and touching. If there is a sitcom better than Desperate Housewives, I would say that it would be Brothers & Sisters.

[Update: There has been a buzz in the blogosphere about Teri Hatcher, playing as Susan Mayer, in Desperate Housewives throwing a line that says, “Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Coz I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines.” Check a videoclip and some discussions that strike a raw nerve. Although there might be some truth in the statement especially when placed side by side with the nursing exam debacle last year, I still find it offensive because it somehow committed the fallacy of over-generalizing. The fact is that there are a lot of great medical practitioners from the country and they must not be brushed aside especially when they outnumber the few who are otherwise. As for the said few, this might serve as an eye-opener and a signal to prove to those who are unimpressed that they are wrong to be so.]

On Leadership

2007-09-10T12:05:00.000+08:00

As I see it, I need to maneuver my partner around the dance floor,
taking care not to bump into anyone or anything, dancing to the music,
spontaneously choreographing a changing and pleasing series of moves,
all the while maintaining light conversation.
- Mr. Data, Startrek

There are few things about leadership that can be learned just from doing the salsa dance. An article from an online dance instructional website where members receive access to thousands online salsa dance videos, and DVDs by mail, Salsa Dance BootCamp tackles about the tips on leading when dancing. Here are some basic points.

1. Lead clearly.
2. Avoid being a literal and metaphorical jerk.
3. Know the difference between smooth and jerky.
4. Use the lightest effective lead. Know the difference between indication and demand.

The tips given are quite interesting since they can be applied to the corporate world, or to any place where leadership is involved. Also, though they are insights presented from the perspective of men, everyone can pluck something out of these. And those are just the basics. A few more scrolling and one will learn about navigation and the philosophy of the dance. Navigation is all about looking around to avoid any collision and to get through tight spots. Understanding the dance philosophy involves the awareness that leaders lead and followers follow. If a partner can't follow, it is because one can't lead.

When Cab Drivers Blog

2007-09-08T23:04:00.000+08:00

I didn't know the city well
I often asked customers to tell me the way.
- Ihsan Aknur, Cab Driver

I was amused when I learned about Ihsan Aknur from Travel and Living. He is a cab driver in Istanbul, Turkey. And he has a website entitled The Best Taxi Driver. It is basically a website about his routes around the city and the people he met. Ihsan started it last 2000. He fondly remembered how his fellow taxi drivers laughed when he began to learn English back in 1982. Most of the words he learned were romantic like: "I love you," "You have pretty eyes," "Are you married," "What are you doing tonight," and "I've never seen a pretty woman like you". Then when he created his own website, again his friends laughed. Now he is working with Çiragan Palace Hotel Kempinski taxi station and he just acquired a new taxi.

Ishan's making of website got me thinking that perhaps the cab drivers in the Philippines could do likewise as well. They would probaby do great in making travel blogs. Though my guess is that they would likely produce political blogs.

Gone Running

2007-09-04T15:39:00.000+08:00

If you went running
when you first started thinking about it,
you'd be back by now.
- Nike

NOTCOT points us to the interactive "Gone Running" clock of Nike. It provides us with every bit of justification on why one should be running. Here are some favorites.

12:00 AM - Run like there's no tomorrow. Oh wait, it is tomorrow.
3:30 AM - Pondering your existence is best when done at a 10-minute pace.
4:30 AM - The most peaceful time to run? When the world's still asleep.
4:45 AM - Prove your busy calendar wrong. Make time for a run.
6:30 AM - March to the beat of your own drum. Run to the beat of your own heart.
8:30 AM - One hour running makes the next 8 more productive.
10:30 AM - Seeing your crush isn't the only way to make your heart beat faster.
11:00 AM - Brainstorm your plan for world domination on your next run.
11:15 AM - Keep your running friends close. Keep your running enemies at least two blocks back.
12:45 PM - Your favorite lunch spot is 3 miles away.
4:00 PM - Your best self is waiting at the finish line.
6:00 PM - You're just one mile away from a better mood.
9:15 PM - You might run into your soul mate. Or at least a squirrel.
9:45 PM - The internet will be here when you get back. Promise.

Generosity *

2007-09-01T20:35:00.000+08:00

To give and not to count the cost...
Except that of knowing that I do your will.
- St. Ignatius Loyola, Prayer for Generosity

A thought-provoking question from Seth Godin:

"If you didn't want anything in return, nothing at all, what's the most generous thing you could do for your best customer, your best friend, your most important prospect?"

For the best customer, I would likely give her or him a discount. Or probably an extra serving.

For a best friend, just to spend time with him or her, I would perhaps walk with him or her until he or she reaches his or her destination even if I am supposedly going the other way.

And for an important prospect, I would probably give her flowers and chocolates. But then I still could think of a more generous or perhaps romantic act like conspiring with high school friends to serenade her some time. Then again I could think of some more and the answers could go endless.

Though some things remain unanswered. Given that I am simply human, why would I not want anything in return? Because consciously or unconsciously, I want something in return either in the short run or in the long run.

Supposing that I do not want anything in return so I say that I give what is needed. If I specify that I give what is needed, then I am implying in a certain degree that I do not give just anything if it is only wanted. If it is needed, then I provide. If it is only wanted, then I do otherwise. The need-vs.-want scenario gives the impression then that I unconsciously want something in return. A condition is set - that I give only if it is needed. So that the answer "giving what is needed" is a kind that wants something in return.

Now, I usually do not want anything in return if I give to the person who has already given me something. Since the question speaks about giving to a best customer, a friend and a most important prospect, then there has been an established premise already that the concerned people have given me something. That is why I call them best and important. That is why I call someone a friend. I am being generous to the said people because of a prepaid generosity. But supposing that they did otherwise, I guess everything changes.

The real question then is, what could be the most generous thing one could do to complete strangers without expecting or wanting anything in return?

In contrast with an Online Tutoring service, I would probably give free tutoring to street kids.

But what if I give free tutoring just to feel good about myself? With it, I am already wanting or expecting something in return. So I guess motivation plays an important as well when giving.

* A post dedicated to a friend who each time says, "Always count your blessings."

Productivity

2007-08-30T07:14:00.000+08:00

The real secret to productivity is...to listen to your body.
To eat when you're hungry, to sleep when you're tired,
to take a break when you're bored,
to work on projects that seem fun and interesting.
- Aaron Swartz on How to be Productive

Philip Brewer has a point in saying that in order to be productive, you only need to be internally motivated. By doing what you're internally motivated to do, you'll never be more productive than when you're doing what you have a passion to do.

It's another story of course when you need to be productive in doing the dull stuff. A couple of productivity advice from WikiHow could be useful.

Creative Cities

2007-08-28T07:47:00.000+08:00

Minds fructify across generations and oceans,
otherwise literature and art and music
would be empty interludes and ornament.
- George MacKay Brown

A previous post speaks about Edinburgh being the City of Literature as appointed by UNESCO. The said city belongs to the Creative Cities Network that UNESCO's Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity established in order to link the cities that make creativity an essential element of their economic development. UNESCO has appointed a number of Cities in the fields of Design, Folk Art, Music and Gastronomy. The Cities of Design are Berlin, Buenos Aires and Montreal. The Cities of Folk Art are Aswan and Santa Fe. The Cities of Music are Bologna, Seville, Oaxaca, and Salvador de Bahia. And finally the City of Gastronomy is Popayan.

I wonder if at least one of the cities of Philippines like Vigan, Baguio, Cebu and Manila would qualify for and be regarded as a City of Folk Art.

* The photo shown is that of Seville, featured by a travel blog as the travel photo of the day .

American Choppers in Australia

2007-08-27T09:52:00.000+08:00

What are you doing here?
"I'm the chief fabricator and engineer.
You want an autograph?"
- Mikey

The Discovery Channel is currently featuring the American Choppers in Australia. Paul Teutul Sr. and his sons Paul Jr. and Mikey, were brought to the country last February 2007 by Tourism Australia and Discovery Networks to experience the best Australia has to offer and to design a Down Under-themed chopper. Aside from a visit to Russell Crowe's NSW farming property and a little cricket game with him, the undoubted softies toured incredible sights from the Harbour Bridge, Mrs Macquarie's Chair and Bondi Beach to Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef. The featured landmarks are simply marvelous that they compel admiration and make one arrange reservation right away at hotels in Sydney, or even at hotels in Melbourne or hotels in Brisbane.

In due course, Paul Jr. produced a bike that features the attractions of Australia. A map of the country was incorporated on the bike's gas tank. A mini-surfboard served as a cover for the belt drive. An illustration of Sydney's opera house was stamped on the taildragger fender. Boomerangs served as the wheels' spokes. The exhaust pipe was designed to look like a shark's tail. A snapshot of the Great Barrier Reef was painted on the oil's tank. And a kangaroo sign was displayed near the bike's engine. My only problem with the bike is that its handlebar is just too high that a small person won't be able to see the road. Just imagining the bike however makes one remember what Australia is all about.

City of Literature: Edinburgh

2007-08-26T00:29:00.000+08:00

The motto of Edinburgh, as you might still see it,
I think, carved over the old castle gate,
is "Sic Itur ad Astra" - "This way to the stars."
- GK Chesterton

Anything that bears the word "literary" often almost fascinates me. The word is considered to be high level that it is usually attributed to things like the arts, scholars in the medieval ages, or to any writings valued for the quality of their forms. To be associated with it is quite overwhelming and unbelievable.

Would you believe for instance that there is already a City of Literature? And it is UNESCO who declares the place to be as such?

Edinburgh is the first City of Literature in 2004. And perhaps it is rightly to be so because it has more booksellers per capita than any other city in Britain. It is home as well to the first billion-dollar author JK Rowling and to an equally great writer Alexander McCall Smith.

I guess it must be time for me to check the classified ads and consider Edinburgh jobs.

Lamps and Lights

2007-08-24T14:47:00.000+08:00

I was browsing through a site that offers a wide variety of products from ceiling fans to lamps. Under each of the items are arrays of product types. Say the lamps for instance, under the said product are different kinds of lamps, from floor lamps to torchieres. I was reminded somehow of my teacher in Philosophy of Science who once remarked that reading under a yellow light is better than reading under white light. I think what he meant was that reading under an incandescent lamp which usually radiates yellow light is better than reading under the fluorescent one which generally releases white light. This is so because the incandescent bulbs emit continuous light waves while the fuorescent ones produce sporadic waves. While indiscernible to the human eye, fluorescent lights are said to flicker thus straining the eyes and creating the strobe effect.

As to the white and yellow lights, it is said that the yellow light is created in the the absence of the blue color. The blue hue is intense that it stimulates a reaction we call "glare". In fact, the French, knowing of the said "glare", had the blue removed from the output spectrum of their vehicles' front lamps. Besides, since blue has the shortest wavelength and it easily scatters, it makes on-road vision very difficult.

Moreover, a study published five years ago found out that our biological clock is most responsive to narrow band of wavelengths from 466 to 477 nanometers (nm), which are close to the blue of a clear sky. The so-called ganglion cells in our eyes detect the blue hue and send signals to the brain that it is already morning thus ending a sleep or a circadian drift. The downside however is that bluish light is often detected from computer screens which oftentimes sabotages sleep schedules. The blue light reduces the brain's secretion of melatonin. Melatonin is usually brought about by dusk and darkness to help trigger and maintain sleep.

Now here is something that we can use for our advantage. Aside from a freshly brewed coffee or perhaps a couple of cancer sticks, the blue-light therapy can be used to keep ourselves late at night. While the yellow-light therapy is something that we can use when we want to doze off easily.

Feature: ShopWiki

2007-08-23T14:02:00.000+08:00

One of the amazing things about the internet is the so-called wiki. It is a collaborative website which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. It was Ward Cunningham who applied the word for web use to connote something quick. He got the idea from a Hawaiian bus shuttle named Wiki Wiki. Wiki in the Hawaiian language simply means fast.

At the moment, one of the best-known wikis is the Wikipedia. Others are the Wikinvest and the Wikidot. But here is an emerging kind of wiki site - the ShopWiki. It is basically a shopping search engine designed to help consumers find specific products on the Internet. It has buying guides serving as the wiki site where one can contribute any knowledge about the featured products and moderate the contents for accuracy.

When buying, a customer is not really interested with the specific product but with the product category. This is because the customer needs to gather lots of information or options first before deciding to buy something. ShopWiki provides a central place for relevant information that a customer needs. One can search for personal audio and video products, home theater systems and cameras and photography items. The good thing about the site is its accuracy and its comprehensive coverage when searching for products. Unlike other search engines that provide biased results since they only show the retailers who paid, ShopWiki presents even an unknown retailer with the premise that it has the best price.

For more information, visit the site and check a brilliant story behind it on how everything started with a red British telephone booth.

A Sad Love Story

2007-08-18T09:58:00.001+08:00

AirTran Holdings set a $431 million dollar deal for its merger with Midwest Air Group. Despite its two year fight to buy the Milwaukee-based Midwest that it even received the approval of more than half of Midwest’s shareholders, it still lost to another suitor, Nortwest Airlines.

There were some hints that the federal regulators might not approve the sale of Midwest to the winning party, but Northwest Airlines Corp. could eventually end up owning Midwest Air Group Inc., which has agreed to a $450 million buyout offer from private equity firm TPG Capital.

The Best Title of the Day

2007-08-14T18:49:00.000+08:00

"...Orange preparing to make deal with Apple in France."

- A post title referring to ongoing negotiations between Apple and Orange aiming at a deal for the French telecom operator to carry the iPhone.

Anyone Can Be A Movie Character: A Quick Review of Ratatouille

2007-08-12T13:10:00.000+08:00

I had some reservations about the motion picture Ratatouille, pronounced as rat-a-too-ee, as to how it would really appeal to people especially to kids. The Anton Ego in me was somehow clamoring that a house rat is simply disgusting and it can not be a character in a film. A mouse or a kangaroo rat would have been a more suitable movie character. Good for the Flushed Away of Dreamworks though the main character, a house rat as well, looks quite decent. Firstly because the movie is some kind of a clay-animation which means that the horrid furry look of rats is eliminated. Secondly the rat has had some "decent upbringing" if anything like that applies for a rodent.

On the other hand, Disney's house rat, named Remy, is portrayed like a real life rat, with the horrid furry look and without the "decent upbringing". Take for instance the shot taken when he escapes out of a window with a recipe book. Remy even narrates, "This / is me." There is of course some exaggeration there in the window-smashing part but it illustrates to us a known point that a house rat is simply a pest. I wondered whether Disney ran out of characters already that its people decided to choose a house rat as the protagonist. I wondered how Disney would pull it all off.

But after watching the motion picture, here are some highlights about it.

The first one is the introduction's deductive approach which starts from the general to the specific. It begins with the world until it focuses on Chef Gusteau.

"Although each of the world's countries would like to dispute this fact, we French know the truth. The best food in the world is made in France. The best food in France is made in Paris. And the best food in Paris, some say, is made by Chef Augusto Gusteau."

The significance of this is that it immediately captures the attention of those who watch the movie. It situates and pinpoints them into a particular context.

The second highlight is the acknowledgement of some problems. One would be Anton Ego's negative criticisms. He takes cooking seriously and thinks that not anyone can cook. Another would be Remy's being a rat which simply means that life is hard. And another would be his having a highly developed sense of taste and smell which basically paralells the job of a poison checker in the point of view of his dad. Right there at the beginning, people already know whom and what the lead actors grapple with.

The third highlight are the sound tracks. Listening to each one actually gave me the same sensation that Anton Ego experiences when the taste of the ratatouille dish hit him. The music offered me a little bit of perspective. Le Festin and the Ratatouille Main Theme remind me of certain amusing and inspiring scenes of some European films such as Cinema Paradiso and La Lengua de Mariposa. Somehow, Le Festin and This is Me can be associated with some Korean comedy like the Sassy Girl. The 100 Rat Dash and other upbeat music remind me of the Brandenburg Concertos. Cast of Cooks has a bit of jazz in it typical in old thug-flicks such as for instance the Italian Job where Michael Caine starred in. The Paper Chase can be a soundtrack of the Star Wars. Collete Shows Him Le Ropes and End Creditouilles can be identified with a couple dancing the flamenco or tango. Michael Giacchino did a very good job here.

The fourth highlight is the unpredictability of its plot. My expectations were often the opposite of the outcome. In the film, there are always some twists involved. I was about to be filled with disappointment for instance when watching the scene where Linguini discovers the talent of Remy. I somehow had the thought that Linguini would turn up to be the user type. But as it turns out, he acknowledges Remy as the little chef that he even introduces Remy to Anton Ego. I also thought that Anton Ego would be greatly displeased that a house rat is able to please him with a Ratatouille dish. To the contrary, Anton Ego delivers a great very humane speech. Moreover, I had my doubts if packs of rats would really cook in the video because that would be so gross. I was expecting that Linguini would do everything by himself when his cooks leave him. But as it turns out, the house rats really do cook and I had the same horrified look like Skinner's when he enters the kitchen full of rats cooking. Then in the end of the film, Linguini reinforces this fourth highlight narrating that the only predictable thing about life is its unpredictability.

"Anyone can cook" is the theme of the movie. Which means that even a rat can cook. But I think what the movie is trying to say at least to me is that anyone can be a character of a movie. Even a house rat can be a film character and a great one at that. A Droste Effect is present in the film. The Anton Ego in it is only part of a smaller picture. The bigger picture are people such as myself who had reservation about the movie because the lead actor is a rat. These people are the real Anton Ego.

But just like Anton Ego, these people in the end recognize the worth in the discovery and defense of the new. Truly, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than the criticism designating it so. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. Or perhaps not everyone can become a great movie character, but a great movie character can come from anywhere.

Eight Facts

2007-08-09T16:24:00.000+08:00

I was tagged by OFWLayf and Tiriza to share eight facts about myself. I am sticking to eight since fifteen may be a bit overwhelming.

1. I have a weird fascination with Kiefer Sutherland's chin. His chin for me is the ideal chin.

2. This may be true for almost anyone but I am a computer-game addict. My favorites are Generals, Commandos 1-3, Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed and Need for Speed: Underground 2.

3. I have a collection of movie soundtracks cassette tapes.

4. I was a pingpong player in grade school. And I usually placed fourth or fifth out of six players.

5. In high school, my best friends and I formed a music band called Sugar Day. We were big fans of the Sugar Ray and the Green Day back then.

6. I was a freshman in college when I had my very first email address. And I'm still using it until now.

7. Sophomore year was the first time I entered a cinema in my whole life. The motion picture was The Mummy Returns. The movie theater was full so my schoolmates and I were standing when we watched. But I remember I was quite amazed with the hugeness of the place.

8. The next time I watched, I made sure I had a seat and some popcorn.

Now, I am tagging the following:
1. Punditocracy
2. Lemon Ink
3. Ar-Wee-Der-Yet
4. Bobo
5. Hello Katkat
6. Charissesr
7. Walking Tower
8. Ang Peregrino

[Update: Jehzlau Concepts tagged me as well.]

Blog Advertising

2007-08-08T21:01:00.000+08:00

I previously mentioned in my posts All You Need is Blog and Getting Lucky Thru Blogging about some ways of earning income by blogging. Recently, I discovered another site that gives you that opportunity – Smorty. Through it, you get paid to blog.

Generally, the site is a bridge between advertisers and bloggers. Advertisers create campaigns that Smorty eventually distributes to bloggers for write-ups. The set-up is beneficial for both the advertisers and the bloggers. On one hand, the sites of advertisers are promoted through the backlinks coming from the bloggers who write the reviews. This is called blog advertising. On the other hand, bloggers are paid for giving their opinions. Visit the FAQ page of advertisers and the FAQ page of bloggers for more information. Perhaps you would even consider joining Smorty’s Affiliate Program for additional earnings.

And one more thing about the site is that it points to useful tools such as the Easy SEO Guide and the Blog Optimization.

Perspective

2007-08-07T18:43:00.000+08:00

I agree. Because I might want something that isn't on the menu. And because Anton Ego would have wanted a fresh, clear, well-seasoned perspective.

Digital Frames

2007-08-06T18:56:00.000+08:00

A while ago, I came across a site that features and sells lcd digital picture frames. As I learn more about the product, I can't help but be fascinated with it.

Basically, the digital photo frame creates slide shows of photos. A memory card can be plugged into it since it has a standard five-in-one card reader and a USB 2.0 connection. It also has a built-in stereo speakers, 1/8" headphone out, and an infrared remote control.

The frame is quite user-friendly in terms of transition of pictures. And the good thing about it is its compatibility with various formats like JPEG, MP4, DivX, AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, MP3, WMA, WAV. This means that you can play, aside from music, an entire movie in an avi format assuming that you have a 2GB memory card.

In that case, you may perhaps go one better than someone with a Zenith or Coby DVD player. Or you may even be on a par with someone who has an iPod video.

The Best Sentences of the Day

2007-08-06T15:29:00.000+08:00

"I want to clarify, I'm not Fake Steve Jobs."

- Bill Gates, when introduced in a recent conference alongside Steve Jobs.

"You did the sleuthing. You put the pieces of the puzzle together. You went through my trash, hacked into my computer, and put listening devices in my home. Now you've ruined the mystery of Fake Steve, robbing thousands of people around the world of their sense of childlike wonder."

- Dan Lyons, a senior editor at Forbes, when found that he is the guy behind the Fake Steve Jobs.

Check the video here.

Top Ten People with the Coolest Jobs

2007-07-31T20:45:00.000+08:00

My siblings and I were watching Travel and Living when one of us remarked that Tony Bourdain probably has one of the coolest jobs on earth, which is, traveling around the world while searching for the rare and sometimes dangerous foods.

Later, we came up with a list of people who have the coolest jobs. By cool, we mean the one-of-a-kind jobs that only a handful of people are associated to. Since one person is already mentioned, I am proceeding, without any particular order, to the next ones.

2. Andrea Mosconi - He is Cremona's official musical conservationist who basically maintains and preserves string instruments. His work involves the playing of 300-year-old violins made by the Amatis, Guarneris, and Stradivari to keep the instruments fit and sounding their best.

3. Mythbusters - Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman use their skills and expertise to test the validity of various rumors and urban legends in popular culture. Their experiments range from disproving the notion that a duck's quack echos to proving that a wine glass shatters if a person sings at the right tone.

4. Heinz Ketchup Taste Testers - According to the Discovery, there are only eight people who know the secret ingredient of the Heinz Ketchup. About four or five of them taste-test, which means that for a whole day, they take a lick of a sample of each packed ketchup to ascertain that the products meet the standards. And they have done just that for several years already.

5. Top Gear hosts - Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May must be thrilled by the constant need in them for speed. The privilege of being able to drive the crème de la crème cars of the century is sheerly priceless. The Top Gear though has constantly faced criticisms for its preference of performance over fuel efficiency and conservation. But that would be another story.

6. Just for Laughs/Gags Cast - Fooling around with people especially when they are strangers must be in some way pretty gratifying. It is all about the response of those we pull our pranks on that matters. I remember the reaction of a high school classmate when I took him by surprise in a dark hallway. To this day, the memory still makes me laugh. He bravely took the stance of some karate master and shouted in a trembling voice, "Hiya!"

7. US CEOs - Back in 1979, they were paid 55 times more than the average worker. In 2005, they were paid 465 times more.

8. Photographers - As to why, I point you to Gaya's Photography and Photographers.

9. Gondolier - There is a competitive exam that a potential gondolier has to pass before becoming one. And for the first time in the history, Venice seems to be finally considering a female gondolier to ply its famous canals.

10. Bloggers - Because they can produce a list like this and include themselves on it.

Bonus from Gaya:

This good-looking TV host looks cool doing her work.

But then, this guy seems to have the cooler aspect of the job.

Now, who do you think have the coolest jobs? Make your list!

Getting Lucky Thru Blogging

2007-07-28T06:15:00.000+08:00

Michael Jordan must have been overjoyed the moment he realized the fact that he could earn for doing something he loves, basketball. Comparably, the Google founders must have had similar experience of being ecstatic for getting paid doing what they love. People like them are simply lucky. And in some ways, the kind of luck they have could be a root of envy for several other people such as myself. Because it is often too rare to be in a situation like the one they have - getting paid for doing something you have passion for.

However, one thing I've discovered if you happen to be a blogger, and have a passion for blogging, you could be like the lucky people too. Because fortunately, you can get paid for blogging. And this kind of opportunity is made possible by payperpost.

Post something like the Bamboo Jeep in Boing Boing, or the Sputnik Sweetheart, or even about some chicken mami SEO project. Then draw a particular connection of whichever topic is relevant to an assigned task by PayPerPost and you could be on your way of doing something you love and get paid for it like Michael Jordan and the Google founders.

That way, you become lucky as well and all you need is blog.

An Impromptu Road Trip

2007-07-23T16:59:00.000+08:00

What would you do if you found out that your planned activity of shopping for a barong, several dvds, shirts and pearls, does not suffice to end your day?

The big answer of the Band of Bloggers last Saturday was to take an impromptu road trip to the not-so-distant destinations such as Cavite and Tagaytay. Whether the out-of-nowhere pitch was a good one or not, the Band of Bloggers hoped for a big sign.

A sign came when two moving violations were committed. In the span of ten minutes, two traffic enforcers approached us and asked our driver for his license. Twice we thought we were doomed with our day ending up without the road trip. However, luck must be on our side because twice, the traffic enforcers let us pass. It was quite a good sign for us to embark whole-heartedly on the journey.

However, as people say, life is never without a drama.

About fifteen kilometers away from Tagaytay, our ride overheated. Our fancy of seeing the Taal Volcano with the sunset as a backdrop was gradually ebbing. But as it turned out, it was only a short detour and we were back on the road in a few minutes.

It was then 18:30 pm and the fact that it was still bright filled us more with every excitement to see the smallest volcano. The sun was holding up for us. Eveything was flowing smoothly.

Until we stumbled upon some fog. But we were immediately relieved to find that it was the making of a trike belching a cloud of smoke. A mile further and we were able to catch a glimpse of the lake....

...And it was incredibly unbelievable!

The fog wasn't just the making of a trike. Instead of a picturesque scene, everything else was foggy! It was quite a huge disappointment to see the Taal Lake covered with clouds. We weren't lucky after all.

After unloading our misfortune over dinner at Leslie's, we headed home. At that moment, we were just exhausted and dismayed to talk about anything so we just kept silent.

But as people say, life is full surprises.

Right at the middle of the journey at the middle of the road, our van broke down. It is pretty complicated to delve into the details now but we hit the road after about two hours of getting stuck at the place. Good thing a karaoke bar was nearby we were able to sing out our miseries a bit.

So I ask you again. What would you do if you found out that your planned activity of shopping for some things, does not suffice to end your day?

Try an impromptu road trip.

Take note though that when you get passed two traffic enforcers in a matter of minutes, you better think again.

Mailboxes

2007-07-22T19:32:00.000+08:00

The motion picture The Lake House has one item, aside from the lakehouse itself, that is significant to the lovers - the mailbox. It is their portal in communicating with each one. But more than being the conduit to make possible the exchange of letters to communicate, with it, they are able to transcend time so that in the end, an unsual love story falls into place.

With today's phenomenon when phones have become the dominant way of communicating, it is quite unconventional for a mailbox to serve as a means to be in touch, more so, a means to manipulate time. Nevertherless, we take a look at how it brings us convenience.

Mailboxes, be it residential mailboxes or commercial mailboxes, can be of benefit to the letter's recipient in two ways. First, if the person is doing some house chores, he'll never have to be bothered, except when a break is needed, by the postman when a missive or a parcel arrives. Second, if the person is out to the office or perhaps to the market or mall, he'll never have to worry about missing his letter.

Mailboxes can be beneficial to the postman as well. Because mailboxes are present, the postman will never have to worry about not delivering the letters just because the recipients are not around. He will never have to wait for the recipient taking time to get interrupted from a house chore.

From a certain perspective, it can be said that the internet has adopted this kind of concept. When a person emails another, he'll never have to go through the hassle of waiting for the receipient to go online. He can send emails anytime even if the recipient is not around. Same with the recipient. He can receive emails through his inbox, which is the mailbox of the internet, anytime without waiting for the other person to go online.

Mailboxes then have introduced us to a convenient way of communicating. And perhaps they actually have introduced us to a way of transcending time as well. With them, the recipient will never have to waste time getting interrupted. And the postman will never have to wait for the preoccupied recipient.

The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007

2007-07-20T07:18:00.000+08:00

In line with the Writing Project of the Digital Filipino, here is the list of blogs that I regard as influential to the reader and blogger in me.

1. Seth Godin - His marketing points are very direct and concise.

2. Anitokid Chronikos - It was the picture captions that fascinated me. With the captions, the world is seen at a different perspective. Like a thousand words, they convey more than what is illustrated by the pictures themselves.

3. OFW Life - His posts are always about the new things. One is simply thrilled by new discoveries.

4. Dilbert Blog - Aside from the posts being so humorous, they are also quite philosophical.

5. My Extra Dirty Mind - Creative imagination are the words for this blog.

6. Punditocracy - The blog provides a differentiated information about the cool things in life such as the iPhone, Google, product brands and more.

7. Gaya - This time the pictures themselves are cooler.

8. Kikong Kalikot - Formerly Shamanism, the blog is about light-to-the-soul posts with focus on music.

9. Beccary - I love the cyan lay-out.

10. Penniless Fat Guy - It is remarkable to meet a penniless fat guy with a blog. What more if he becomes the millionaire fat guy with a blog?

The Best Classic Images of the Day

2007-07-19T17:56:00.001+08:00

Played like a Fiddle

The Simple Life

Found thru Your Daily Art.

On the Haptic Clock and Lazy People

2007-07-18T18:31:00.000+08:00

I've come to the conclusion today that there are always business opportunities when lazy people are around. I shall be telling more about this later. But here's a perfect example.

The Haptic Clock.

According to Future Feeder, it is a clock program for Java powered mobile phones that conveys time through a sequence of vibrations. Perfect for meetings, dates and lazy people. Wrist watches may not be worn again and mobile phones may never be pulled out to check time.

But here's the thing about it in relation to having business opportunities, lucky for the lazy people - it is free.

Something to Kill Time Part II

2007-07-18T18:01:00.000+08:00

Nafurai points us to The Flow.

On Blogs and Haikus

2007-07-17T15:12:00.000+08:00

The Anitokid's fixation on haikus is somewhat contagious that I've often caught myself haikuing as well.

Here's my haiku.

Bloghaiku

Blogs are like haikus
Create a five-seven-five,
You're ready to post.

Haikus are like blogs
Summon the words together,
Voilà! You have this.

According to Creative Writing (which reminded me of link trains), haikus have three lines with 5, 7 and 5 syllables respectively. Traditionally, they contain a reference to time or the seasons and a bug.

The Best Dinosaur Allegory of the Day

2007-07-17T10:53:00.000+08:00

Earlier, I posted about the anecdote of flying dinosaurs as represented by the modern-day Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Recently, I found another dinosaur allegory.

"Some believe that the largest dinosaurs, sauropods, were so big from head to tale that when they hurt their tale, it took them a few minutes to even realize they were injured."

The statement is an analogy about Ford rumored to be selling its Volvo. Should the Swedish brand be sold, Ford would only realize the deed and perhaps the hurt after some time.

Transformers: Optimus Prime Versions

2007-07-16T22:12:00.000+08:00

For some unfortunate reason, I have not watched the Transformers yet. I have only read a couple of blogs about it. And it is almost all about Optimus Prime. Faye for instance is convinced that Optimus Prime is the most gorgeous robot. I'm fascinated though with the Autobot that bears my favorite color, the Bumblebee or the Goldbug.

Anyway, I believe that there are various versions of Optimus Prime. Here are some findings.

1. Mr. Potato Head Transformer, Optimash Prime

Found thru the Key of N.

2. The real life Optimus Prime

Found thru Gaya.

3. And the prototype Optimus Prime (perhaps!)

Found thru Gaya.

If I Vanished

2007-07-11T06:58:00.000+08:00

What would you say when a woman you love asks a silly question like "What if I were to vanish?"

You might answer that there must be a reason, or at least a context of it, like for instance being kidnapped, or being abducted by aliens, or falling down a rabbit hole, or having amnesia. Then she would say that the answer lies in the motion picture Open Range.

You watch the movie and realize at the credits roll that the question didn't pop up. So you don't have the answer.

She then rephrases the question and asks, "What would you do if I vanished?" You would answer that you'd find her in places that she said you wouldn't be able to find her. Then she finally says that the context of her vanishing is her meeting someone else.

You are left wondering if it's her literary way of either giving you a hint that she's breaking up with you or just testing you how much you love her. So you simply answer, "That's a different question."

Read If I Vanished by Stuart Dybek.

Here are some excerpts from the story.

"Characters in American movies are just poor excuses to watch movie stars. Can you remember the name of any of the characters Marilyn Monroe played? They’re all Marilyn Monroe. Charlton Heston isn’t Moses, Moses is Charlton Heston."

"If it were true that Eskimos have a hundred words for snow, there’d be a word meaning snow-that-makes-the-familiar-unrecognizable."

"He hasn’t heard “Pictures” in years, and it occurs to him that sometimes one stops listening to a beloved masterpiece in order to continue to love it."

"...Her face was so lovely to him that he hadn’t yet allowed himself to gaze at her with the full force of recognition. That was true of her nakedness, too; it dazzled him, and he found he could take it in only in glimpses."

"If the myth about a hundred words for snow were true, there’d be a word for snow-erasing-its-own-memory."

On iPhones and Apple Products

2007-07-10T07:13:00.000+08:00

I find the following postscript of Brandon McGee's blog entry about KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) in Mobile Banking as the best analogy of owning an iPhone and other Apple products.

"The iPhone does live up to the hype....I can't tell you the number of times...I felt like Batman loading up my utility belt with a personal phone, blackberry, camera, and iPod to head out for the day."

Speaking of which, the iPhone seems to work with the SMART network in the Philippines as this post says.

Meanwhile, the fake Steve Jobs points to the cheaper version of iPhone. And Seth Godin tackles about the sloppiness of Apple in naming its products.

The Stroop Effect

2007-07-09T18:32:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, reading can be compared to the soul-sucking dementors. It does not take away the soul of a person of course, but it blurs one's concentration. Take the following image for instance. The goal is to identify and say the color of each word as quickly as possible.

Easy? Not quite.

Psychologists call it the Stroop Effect. Readers are simply hooked to read the words, which makes color identification difficult in the second column.

Reminder of Life

2007-07-09T07:52:00.000+08:00

[If] by evening you will die...
...Drink a glass of juice,
Bite an apple,
Contemplate at length an ant that has found its food...
...Put on the latest fashion in Italian shirts,
Parade...in an entourage of Spanish violins,
And walk to the grave!
- Mahmoud Darwish, Remainder of Life

I still can't get over the ability to experience the next two minutes of your life before it actually happens. What if you are able to stretch further that ability and you are able to see the next 24 hours?

I'm pretty sure you could use some help from this skill especially when you happen to be Jack Bauer.

But Jack Bauer aside, what if you see the next hours and by evening you will die?

Would you try to evade death? But what if you might have more sensible things to do than evading it? Or would you try to do every worthwhile thing you must do before your time comes? But what if you are just too young to die that evading it is the only way that you could do more worthwhile things?

So much about what if's. This must be the effect of reading Dilbert's philosophy of thinking the opposite.

Anyway it was the poem Remainder of Life that got me wondering about all these.

The Best Anecdote of the Day

2007-07-08T00:40:00.000+08:00

Here's a good anecdote of Dilbert on Boeing's newest jetliner, the 787 Dreamliner.

"Once upon a time there were dinosaurs. They died and decomposed and turned into oil. Millions of years later, humans turned that oil into plastic. Recently, plastic became the major building material for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. There’s your proof that dinosaurs can fly."

For Dilbert, the 787 is a new form of life.

The Next 2 Minutes

2007-07-07T18:37:00.000+08:00

What if you're given the ability to see the next 2-minute window of your life? Imagine how cool that is! Since like a chess master you have predicted or more accurately have actually lived all the possible scenarios and have chosen the best move, you know for certain that you would not screw up the first time (which is the "official" first time) for instance you would meet the love of your life.

This is what the motion picture Next starred by Nicholas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel is all about. One of the parts I like about the movie is the segment when Cris Johnson (Nicholas Cage) is about to kiss Liz (Jessica Biel) and sees the future. He says, "That was incredible." Liz asks, "What was?" To which Cris replies, "This." then kisses Liz.

Another highlight is when Cris quotes an Italian painter Carlaty on the definition of beauty. It goes like this. Beauty was a summation of the parts working together in such a way that nothing is needed to be added, taken away or altered.

Lastly, I find what Cris says about the future at the end part of the film as the gist of a previous post, Stocks Analogy. He says, "Here's the thing about the future. Every time you look at it, it changes because you looked at it. And that changes everything else."

On Haikus and Pictures

2007-07-07T09:53:00.000+08:00

I laughed like a drain when I read Mauricio's funny haiku.

Haikus are easy
but sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator

You see haikus are quite interesting since they follow the hemline theory of writing. They have a semblance of pictures that paint a thousand words.

Like this one I found from Carlocab.

Impossible Is Nothing

2007-07-06T18:57:00.000+08:00

I noticed that I've been posting about blog addiction lately. And I've been thinking, "How about those who just can't get themselves addicted to blogging like for instance my brother?" I could have linked his blog already with the tag "my brother" but since he hasn't got one, the words just stay black.

Coincidentally, a friend kidded about something on my previous post, All You Need is Blog. He inquired, "How can you 'just blog it' when you simply can't?" Because I was occupied then, I quickly brushed aside the matter by replying, "Impossible is nothing."

On a deeper note however, the question bears a certain degree of significance. I can't help but to be reminded of self-assuring poems such as You can if you think you can. And ironic as it is since I just uttered "I can't", I wonder what makes a blogger say that he or she simply can't blog it.

I reckon that there are basically two causes of it.

The first one is mañana habit or procrastination. A blogger is said to be procrastinating when photos are left unuploaded and uncaptioned, thoughts are unblogged and feeds are unread or unskimmed. Though constantly uttering "so little time, so much to do" is a sign of procrastination as well. Lifehacker points us to the ten reasons people procrastinate.

The second one illustrates an image of a blogger sitting in front of a monitor just staring at a blank page with the blinking cursor, aka Sandman's Richard Madoc. It is the image of the dearth of creative ideas. The blogger needs to capture Calliope so as to draw inspiration from her presence.

Fortunately for this matter, Blogozine has some uncomplicated solutions to the predicament.

Sometimes in life especially when you are a procrastinator, a nagger is all you need. You are lucky if you have a "nagging" partner. But if you haven't gotten one, Hassle me is one way of getting around to things.

And since Calliope isn't usually around nowadays she must have gone fishing at the world's end, you might as well take the hard work and learn the five steps of becoming a genius. Capture the fleeting, tap the full power of your free time, seek challenges and expand your world.

Otherwise, as the Ilocanos would say, stop blogging and plant camote.

Something to Kill Time

2007-07-06T07:10:00.000+08:00

Bobo points us to the following:

The Red Button

91% Blog Addict

2007-07-03T07:11:00.000+08:00

Aileen points us to the blog addiction test. I got the following result.

91%

All You Need is Blog

2007-06-27T06:32:00.000+08:00

I'm absolutely sure that everyone has a say about something or has to say something. If you think that it is important to say it, then say it. Write about it even if it's only about a tiny red paperclip. Or better yet, blog about it. If Nike were a blogger, it would have said, "Just blog it!" Or if the Beatles were bloggers, they would have said, "All you need is blog. Tadada tadada."

Seth Godin's advice is: blog even if it is just one post.

And when you start to blog, you may need this blogging manifesto. Perhaps after a hundred days of blogging, you'd know every word in this blogossary.

After which, you may want to take a little step further and consider making some quick buck through blogging. I say Bloggerwave gives you that opportunity. Visit its FAQ site for further clarifications then you may get started right away by signing up. Log in, look for open opportunities, and start posting.

Bamboo Jeep in Boing Boing

2007-06-25T19:28:00.000+08:00

Apart from getting my pop's bamboo jeep featured in the popular Boing Boing, I finally got my blog linked in the site. And I was really ecstatic when I saw it. It was only a couple of days ago when I posted about daydreaming about links from Boing Boing and here it is now!

Thanks to Cory Doctorow for posting!

Feeding the Mind

2007-06-24T18:21:00.000+08:00

Aside from blogsearch and technorati, I have often used bloglines as a search tool when doing research. I never thought that the tool is pretty much useful in terms of enhancing blog traffic and page rank. So introducing another collaboration scheme which is funny at a certain level since it is patterned after the Viralink and ViralTags but definitely remarkable, here goes the ViralFeeds.

***Start Copying Here:***

Here are the rules:

1) If you don’t have a bloglines account, as many of you may now, sign up for one, if you do have a bloglines account sign in to your account!

2) For bloggers, you can write a short introductory paragraph about how you found the Bloglines list and include a link to the blog that referred you, (i.e Founders Cafe, in this case) to the list.

3) COPY the Rules and ENTIRE List below and post it to your blog. To avoid duplicate content and increase the amount of keywords your site can be accessible for, go ahead and change the titles of the blog. Just don’t change the links of the blog.

4) Take the “My New List” and move them into the “The Original List”.

5) Add 3 Blogs that you’ve just added to your Bloglines List to the “My New List” section. Remember to also add the “List the Site link next to your new blogs (i.e. http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.theblogurl.com/feed)

6) Add Everyone on this list to your Bloglines List by clicking on “List the Site.” Those who want good kharma will list you back. If not, you will for sure get the benefits of readers from the bloggers who continue this list after you.

***My New List***
Anitokid Chronikos - List the Site
Mindtrick - List the Site
Feedget - List the Site

***The Original List***
The Broken Bow - List the Site
SEO Internet Marketing - List the Site
BlackYard dot Net - List the Site
Dumb Little Man - List the Site
Cheezmizan with Chuva - List the Site
Founders Cafe - List the Site
Darin Carter - List the Site
Big Rayvin - List the Site
Agloco Hours - List the Site
Affordable Graphic Design - List the Site
Story-Story Dot Com - List the Site
Telenovela Love Garden - List the Site
KellyCho - List the Site DerekSemmler - List the Site
CashForComments - List the Site
Nice4Rice - List the Site
Derrich - List the Site
Ms. Danielle - List the Site
Search Engine Marketing - List the Site
Mr. Gary Lee - List the Site
Dosh Dosh - List the Site
David Culpepper - List the Site
Jon Lee - List the Site
pyxlb0mb - List the Site
Samanathon - List the Site
John Chow - List the Site
IdiotBrain - List the Site

***End Copying Here***

C+ Traveller

2007-06-20T19:11:00.001+08:00

It is not down in any map;
true places never are.
~Herman Melville

Kingkong Kalikot points us to the Lakbayan Test which basically tells one how much one has visited the Philppines. The site was created by Eugene Villar. I got the following result.

My Lakbayan grade is C+!

eeHo or YaBay?

2007-06-20T17:02:00.000+08:00

Running after the trail of the Best Analogy of the Day, I find the following as the most amusing words of the day.

"eBay needs the Yahoo brand which is why I believe the combined companies should be called Yahoo, not eeHoo or YaBay or some other iteration."

Quoted from Blog Utopia in its post on why the Yahoo and eBay merger is quite reasonable.

Yeba!

Symptoms Of A Blog Addict

2007-06-18T18:22:00.000+08:00

Sue points us to the 50 signs of blogging too much. The following is a short list of the signs of blog addiction, some parts modified.

1. You have daydreams about links from Boing Boing or Guy Kawasaki.
2. Brushing is not actually the first thing you do in the morning but checking your blog stats and technorati ranking.
3. You think Nike should make a shirt that says “just blog it”.
4. You would buy it if they did.
5. As opposed to a normal person chagrined when caught in an expressway traffic, you get excited by the phrase “heavy traffic”.
6. You keep a blog ideas notepad with you.
7. Work is the little time you spend in between writing on your blog and AIM or YM.
8. You’ve got more “blog friends” than “real life” friends.
9. You turn down invitations to go out because you haven’t yet written your post for the day.
10. You think the 3 Rs are Reading, Writing and RSS.
11. When asked to feed a dog or a cat, you think of “RSS or Atom”.
12. Your lifetime goal is achieving a Page Rank of 10.
13. You’ve used the term “blawg” in coversation.
14. You start getting withdrawal symptoms when you go a day without posting.
15. After reading this, you make a post similar to this one with your own additions.

Something for Father's Day

2007-06-17T21:43:00.000+08:00

My brother sent me a amusing text message in relation to today's special event. I looked it up at the internet and found it.

The following image was created as a condom ad by a certain Jason Kempen last 2001.

Found thru Adverblog.

A Different Kind of Evil Blogging

2007-06-15T09:04:00.000+08:00

And it keeps getting better.

—Copy and paste the VIRAL-ICONS and instructions below this line—

Instructions:

Important Update - Please read here!

1.) Copy and paste the matrix of “Viral Icons” below courtesy of Ilker Yoldas from The Thinking Blog.

2.) Upload your non-animated favicon (GIF image of size 16×16 pixels) to ImageShack, a similar free image hosting server or to your own server provided by your hosting service if you have one.

3.) Substitute the Host Icon and one of the “Viral Icons” in the matrix with your ALT text of choice and your blog’s URL. Maximum of 3 specific keywords for the ALT text are best for it to be effective.

Here is an example:

4.) When you get a ping back from someone that has your icon in one of their “Viral Icons”, practice good karma by copying his/her Host Icon’s code (automatically the associated ALT tag will also be copied) and paste it over one of your “Viral Icons” below.

5.) Invite your readers to do the same and soon this can grow virally.

Host Icon:

Rules: No Porn Sites, Only 1 icon per person (i.e. don’t hog the ViralIcons!), and please don’t tamper with other people’s ALT tags, URLs or favicons.Important: Once I get a ping back from you (I promise to do the best I can), I will add your favicon and the associated code you designate as “Host Icon” here, replacing one of the “Viral Icons” from the matrix above. As more and more bloggers copy and paste this matrix, the more backlinks you will have with your ALT text. If everybody who copy and paste from your blog does the same, pretty soon this will spread and go viral. So, the sooner you participate, the more links with anchor keywords you will receive.

—Copy and paste the VIRAL-ICONS and instructions above this line—

Nothing In Particular

2007-06-13T18:18:00.000+08:00

A few months ago, I discovered a blog of an ex-newspaper columnist admirable for his knack on delivering cheerful and witty sarcasm on himself. I suppose that he does so because he believes in the lighter side of life* such as rumored playboy mansion in the Philippines and free beers**. Which means, seriously speaking, that he sees an equally worthwhile moment in moments of perturbation such as encountering a digital disaster, or getting wet and stuck in a fast food because of a sudden downpour.

And apart from his incredible posts, I find his blog's header icon somewhat interesting.

I was led to believe that the icon was some kind of a thinking chair like the following perhaps.

Found thru Vox's Bookshelf.

I have to say that I'd be more comfortable in this one.

Anyway, click on the site's About page and you'll discover that the icon is actually a rough sketch of an Apple eMate 300.

* Derived from the AnitoKid.
** It was actually from here that I got an idea about beer blogging.

Best Analogy Of The Day

2007-06-12T07:41:00.000+08:00

In my unending calling to tickle my analogical mind (aka Ben Casnocha), if not my blog readers', I've found the best analogy for today.

"The trouble with trophy wives is that they're high maintenance. They make you look like a real player: Rivals are impressed you bagged one, and boy do they look great on your arm. But a few years in and you begin to see that beauty is often skin deep."

Quoted from Bloggingstocks on its review regarding Ford selling its Jaguar and Land Rover.

Feature: EasyToBook.com

2007-06-09T13:56:00.000+08:00

Since a sponsor asked me to write about several stuffs, I will be starting to post various topics that may be totally different from my usual entries. Nevertheless, I'd try to make them at least a bit interesting. So here goes the first one.

EasyToBook.com is a booking service for hotels in top cities offering thousands of discounted rooms. With this, customers can actually make hotel reservations in places like Amsterdam, New York, London, Paris, and more. Few of the service advantages include waived registration fees and wide variety of hotel choices, not to mention the ensured safety of the customers' credit card information. And for those booking in Amsterdam, the site also offers information on Amsterdam travel, restaurants, airport and so on. The service terms and conditions can be read here.

So how does everything work? At the homepage, the customer firstly sets the accomodation destination then chooses the date of arrival and departure. Next, the curreny type to be used (US dollars, euros, or pounds) is decided on. After which the site finds the best available deals and provides a list of the hotels indicating the room type, availability, price, review rating and more. With this, the customer is ready to make the reservation. For follow-up, the customer can always check his or her booking.

And for further information and inquiries, click on the FAQ and Customer Service sections.

More On Evil Blogging

2007-06-07T18:51:00.000+08:00

Evil as it is to several people, I'd say that this is another opportunity to meet more people and to explore more blogs. And of course to reconnect again I guess with the viralink people.

I got this matrix from Jimmy Huen.

Instructions:

1.) Copy and paste the matrix of “ViralTags” below.

2.) Substitute the Host Tag and one of the “Viral Tags” in the matrix with your anchor text of choice with your blog’s URL. Please keep anchor text to a max of 3 words to keep the matrix size manageable.

3.) When you get a ping back from someone that has your link in one of their “Viral Tags”, practice good karma by copying his/her Host Tag’s anchor text (automatically the associated link will also be copied) and paste it over one of your “Viral Tags” below.

4.) Encourage and invite your readers to do the same and soon this can grow virally.

=========== Copy and Paste below this line ===========

Host Tag: The Broken Bow

========= Copy and Paste from Above this line =========

Visuwords and Microsoft Surface

2007-06-05T09:26:00.000+08:00

The world is full of hopeful analogies
and handsome, dubious eggs, called possibilities.
- George Eliot

The Coach's Wife points us to one of the free things in life which is the cool online graphical dictionary, Visuwords.

Reminds me of the Microsoft Surface. Check out a review here.

100 Days

2007-05-29T09:19:00.000+08:00

“I write down everything I want to remember.
That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down,
I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on.”
- Beryl Pfizer

Today marks the hundredth day of my blogging. What could be the significant changes? Did blogging make me a better person? Or have I helped change the world?

I can say that blogging has been an enriching experience. If there is one thing that I learned in the blogosphere, it would be about engagement. Writing an entry has always been about engaging the readers. It is not about simply expressing plain narcissistic idiosyncrasies though I must admit that there are gifted bloggers who can do this. They can write about what bothers them or about their obsessions and readers love them anyway. This may be because they write with the reader in mind. The goal therefore of blogging is always to converse with the readers. And even if you don't have any readers, write anyway or pretend like you have one. Because firstly, that entry will undeniably be read someday somehow. Secondly, because blogging is not just about conversing but about coming up with something brighter as well. There is joy in the event of a challenge because you are driven to be at your best.

As with the technical changes, the blog template has been altered about three times. The layout was arranged on several occasions. About the posts, I've made about 50 already which means that I usually post once in two days. Then about the visitors, sitemeter tracked about 1,150 of them. And let's just speculate that 300 of them would be me since I set my blog as my browser homepage. So instead of yahoo mail, or google search, or the apple homepage, I frequently see my blog everytime I surf. Which finally leads us to the great thing about blogging - the technorati ranking. As of this moment, my blog currently looks like this:

Out of the million blogs, it's already something to be ranked as one of the first two or three hundred thousand blogs. Anyway, as an additional, here is an interesting report of google analytics on the traffic of my blog. It only started April since it was only at that time that I was able to install the tool.
Furthermore, in terms of achieving something in that span of hundred days, a sponsor has already asked me to write some reviews about some stuffs though I didn't have the time yet to do it. Also, I'm quite flattered and honored to be included in the top ten emerging influential blogs of the shaman. As to the feat of changing the world, I think that it's important that I know first what the world needs. And blogging is one way of doing it.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that a lot could happen in those hundred days of blogging. My advice: if you don't have a blog yet, start one.

Interconnectedness

2007-05-29T08:50:00.000+08:00

Just to satisfy my curiosity, I'm indulging myself in this little gimmick on self promotion.

———copy and paste the Viralink and instructions below this line———

Below is a matrix of 120 stars, I have already added a link to my blog onto one of the stars, all you need to do is copy and paste the grid into your blog and add your own link to one of the other spare stars, and tell others to do the same!

Viralink

********************
********************
********************
********************
********************
********************

********************

New Addition: When I receive a ping back once you have added the Viralink to your site I will add your link to this grid, and each person who copies the grid from here will also link to your site!

———copy and paste the Viralink and instructions above this line———

Let's see what happens next.

Lemon Ink

2007-05-19T18:55:00.000+08:00

When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

- Dale Carnegie

A friend has a very remarkable blog called the Lemon Ink.

I was quite surprised at first to see that the blog was blank I thought it must be a splog. I tried saying "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!" but I guess I was just in the illusion that I was looking at the Marauder's Blog. I even tried saying, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" But I realized a blog is not a mirror and even if it is, the blog would only respond "You are" had I been Snow White.

Anyway, it took my low IQ quite a while to figure out that highlighting the blog makes everything appear. I thought my friend must be doing something incorrect so I pointed out to him his error.

But it turned out that I wasn't able to let my ignorance get in the way of expressing my opinion. He pointed me instead to the invisible ink.

Readers may have some difficulties with his blog but it's his. And I think that the invisible ink is quite a clever statement.

Taking a Break

2007-05-17T23:16:00.000+08:00

My blogging has been as frequent as my asking my sister where the tv remote is. To give way to other important priorities like taking comprehensive exams, I have to give up blogging for a while.

Even my asking where the remote control is.

And wish me luck!

Looking For a New Project?

2007-05-16T20:42:00.000+08:00

Try raising your eyebrows separately.

Or twisting your tongue.

Or wiggling your ears.

Or better yet, try looking at the 43 things that you could do.

A Game of Tag and Why I Blog

2007-05-15T19:28:00.000+08:00

If I tell you that I'm disregarding this game of tag because I don't care about my Technorati ranking, that would be a lie my friend. Because even the world of blogging is governed by the economic concept of selfish interest. As Adam Smith put in his Wealth of Nations, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." This game of tag is a classic example of people benefiting because of the want of others to be benefited.

So here's how the tagging game is played.

First, link back to the person who tagged you. Say for instance, "My friend the AnitoKid tagged me!" Then proceed by linking as well the person who tagged the person who tagged you. "My friend AnitoKid was tagged by Blog to Profit."

Secondly, to make life exciting and because people are always almost interested in the philosophical why, list five reasons as to why you blog. Take the following examples.

1. I blog because I want to learn what the world needs. This way, I would eventually know what I would give to it.

2. I blog because I want you to listen to what I have to say. It may be what you are looking for. If not, find another blogger. There are millions of us out there.

3. I blog to pursue happiness or joy. How? Thru these equations or simple syllogism:

tags = higher blog authority,

higher blog authority = higher technorati ranking,

higher technorati ranking = ego boosted

4. I blog to know people and build relationships before I need one. As Susan Roane says, "It's not what you know or who you know, but who knows you."

5. Finally, borrowing from the book Timepiece, I blog to escape the certainty of oblivion...that some unborn generation may know I, or even we, once loved, hated, worried, and laughed.

Then last step, tag another five bloggers then comment on their posts to let them know you tagged them.

The Busy Indolent

Entanglement of All Sorts

Umaantabay

Imperial Blog

CZhaye's Grafitti

* I think this is my first post with a rhyming title.

Salt Shakers

2007-05-14T01:16:00.000+08:00

I previously posted about Seth Godin's terrific nose. As with his post on stinkless durian, I don't quite agree with what he thinks. This is because I still have a durian problem much as I am not a durian eater. Some members of my family though are durian eaters that is why I know the stench of a durian. Perhaps those whom Seth Godin regards as non-consumers must be those who have not heard or seen the durian at all.

Anyway, my tita is very imaginative for tackling the issue on why people only have two nose holes. Nel of Pinoy Big Brother believes that if ever one hole gets clogged, people will still have a spare hole. My tita on the other hand believes that having more than two nose holes would be a disaster because our noses would then look like salt shakers.

Some Valid Issues

2007-05-13T18:05:00.000+08:00

A friend is an admirable augur for anticipating a valid issue.

Recently, two of her guy New Yorker friends walked her home past midnight to her place at Makati Avenue. As she watched them leave, one of them hailed goodbye from the cab shouting, "Thanks for the great night!"

Just imagine how that would look like to local and foreigner bystanders. It is almost such a big bowl of wrong when two white gentlemen walk home a friend who is "tan and almost gusgusin girl" and is living at a red light district.

Of course, it is quite unfair as well or even discriminating for those guys if they are not able to exercise their gentlemanly behavior of seeing a friend safe for the night just because of some misperceptions.

What can I say? Il est difficile mais c'est la vie!

Man in the Mirror

2007-05-12T23:50:00.000+08:00

I'm starting with the man in the mirror.

I'm asking him to change his ways.

And no message could have been any clearer,

If you wanna make the world a better place.

- Michael Jackson

I made a post on narcissurfing previously.

But a friend has a smarter way of doing it. Google this: "(Your name) likes to". Include the qoutation marks.

Here are the results for mine. I kind'a like this name better than the other one.

1. Michael likes to work with people and is very good in math.
2. Michael likes to sing, play the drums, and write his own songs.
3. Michael likes to work with ideas.
4. Michael likes to be around people.
5. When meeting women, Michael likes to tell them that he's Chinese, as a sort of "intelligence test".
6. In his spare time Michael likes to spend time with girls.
7. Michael likes to take a stuffed animal dog around with him because "someone special" gave it to him.
8. Michael likes to get up in Heidi's face and touch her nose or put his palm on her head.
9. When he's not working, Michael likes to spend time with his dogs, Graycie and Clifford

And lastly,

10. In his spare time, Michael likes to nap.

Well, the list really says something about me, except the math and some others.

Hhmm....

Pointer and Pata

2007-05-11T17:33:00.000+08:00

3x+y points us to the pointer.

Meanwhile, I found a blog of one of the APO. I was able to attend one of his lectures before at school about environment and interconnectedness. The topics were part of the curriculum of a fascinating subject, Science and Society.

Anyway I find his post on King Leonidas's pata really funny.

The Hemline Theory of Writing

2007-05-08T12:00:00.000+08:00

There is so much truth in what Seth Godin plucked.

I remember someone saying that a writing, or something like a speech or even a sermon, should be like a miniskirt. Short enough to attract people while long enough to cover the essentials.

Some Lessons on Dieting

2007-05-04T17:27:00.000+08:00

There's something to be learned about dieting. And it's not just about an abstruse concept called discipline. It's not even about a nonconcrete idea on endurance.

The point is that any concept or idea should be narrowed down into tangible real stuff. We take for instance endurance. Endurance itself is an intangible thought. Endurance of what? Whose endurance? It's simply something that can't be executed.

But at least not yet.

If we say "My endurance not to eat the delicious ice cream in front of me," then that my friend would be something that we call as tangible real stuff. Something that we can learn from dieting. But it doesn't end there because the most important question about dieting is not just about the word "what" but about the word "how" as well.

Here are some simple things of the "how" part. Thanks to Guy Kawasaki's ideas.

Always create a context where you can provide yourself with options. You may have heard that for those who are having a hard time sleeping, the very first step to be able to sleep is to turn off the lights or tv. It may not help but it lessens any stimulation of the mind that keeps you awake. In short, lessen distractions.

Same with having a diet. For instance, never place an ice cream, or chocolates or junk foods in you refrigerator (or better yet, never place your ref inside your room). Although it may force you to go out of the house to buy some in a convenience store 3 blocks away, at least it gives you the option not to buy.

Employ delaying tactics. Placing yourself in a position to buy ice cream allows you more time to distract yourself with other things. Who knows? By the time you get to the convenience store, you're sleeping soundly already.

Take things step by step. Rome isn't built in one day so they say. Actually dieting isn't as easy as actually writing about dieting. Dieting is not about not eating at all. It's about gradually lessening what you regularly consume. If you regularly consume a whole rice, try having a half rice instead.

And who am I to write about dieting anyway when I've not done any dieting at all?

Oh well, blogging about having diet may be a delaying tactic since I have not touched my now-cold sugar-full coffee, which more or less would force me go to the pantry to get another hot one. Then again, a lot could happen covering a distance of about ten meters.

I may be asleep by the time I get there.

Shamanism

2007-05-03T13:29:00.000+08:00

There was quite a long lull when everyone was occupied skimming the so called les blogs.

Until the sound of a john flushing was heard. Others claimed it was some type of a ringer tone. Still others suggested it was like the sound of somebody peeing in a quarter-filled arinola.

Then everybody looked at where it came from.

It was the shaman making some aqua concoction in his large sky blue Starbucks water bottle.

Excuse to be Mean and Rude

2007-04-26T17:42:00.000+08:00

I guess there are really times when you have to be mean and rude to take out the stress.

3. "How many times do I have to flush before you go away?"
6. "Don't bother me! I'm living happily ever after."
11. "YOU! Off my planet!"
12. "Therapy is expensive. Popping bubble plastic is cheap. You choose."
21. "Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven't gone to sleep yet."
22. "Back off! You're standing in my aura."
26. "Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?"
37. "If assholes could fly, this place would be an airport."

Read more here.

Novena to the Holy Spirit

2007-04-26T16:49:00.000+08:00

Here is a novena I prayed back in the secondary level when I was hoping to get accepted in a university that I liked. I completely forgot about it afterwards. It was only recently that I found it again by chance in a newspaper classified section after about seven years. It said that the novena should be published once a prayer is answered. I never thought that I could get the chance to publish it since I was thinking then of the newspaper method. But here, I'm glad that there's the orange button.

Holy Spirit, you who make me see everything,
and who show me the way to reach my ideals,
you who give me the divine gift to forgive,
and to forget the wrong that is done to me,
and who are, in all instances of my life, with me,
I, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything,
and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from you,
no matter how great the material desires may be.
I want to be with you and my loved ones
in your perpetual glory.
Amen.

Billboards

2007-04-26T08:40:00.000+08:00

Kate Hudson: Are you still doing well there, Gretch?

Gretchen Baretto: I'm perfectly fine! Do I look bored posing already?

Toni Gonzaga: Aahh, yep? Why don't you just pose like us? Kate and I are completely satisfied lying down. Though she looks more comfortable on a sofa compared to me who is stuck on this flooring.

Kate Hudson: (laughs as usual) You're being funny Ton!

Schnozzola

2007-04-23T10:07:00.000+08:00

Hyperbolically speaking, there must be something terrific about Seth Godin's nose. It finds us topics such as dogs finding pirated DVDs and stinky durian.

So they say, take time to smell the roses.

Driving

2007-04-23T09:32:00.000+08:00

Have you noticed that anyone driving slower

than you is an idiot and anyone driving faster

than you is a maniac?

- George Carlin, thru Reader's Digest

A comprehensive post on learning the subtleties of driving in a place called Manila.

Crash

2007-04-20T13:50:00.000+08:00

"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."

It was from the motion picture, Crash. The question is: does it apply to Filipinos as well?

Consider the MRT ordeal. It is not just about a mere people-brushing-past-or-bumping-into-another sort of experience. Here one gets the chance to have an "intimate" sense of others. Who would not have encountered the pungent smell of sweat? Or the horrible look of a pimple (and the more horrible look of a swelling one)? Or the sticky moistness of the skin? And so on.

The chock-full Ayala northbound platform (notice the other side)

I can't help but to explore once in a while on the possible solutions to this congestion predicament. Is building an MRT subway one solution? Or would the solution be about adjusting office hours? Or would it be about strategically putting the business centers in areas that allow heavy commuter traffic to be minimized? Though heavy traffic is good for business, there must be some way of striking balance here. How about giving responsibility to institutions or structures like employer buildings, malls and others, that cause heavy traffic? Perhaps they could help in the mobilization of people. And there is also the question on a good product attracting traffic volume. I will post more details of this exploration later on.

view from the other side - our perfect strategy

Just a side note, my friend blogged about our pleasant MRT experience. It was rush hour so my officemates and I decided to adopt what we call as our perfect strategy - taking a round trip. We were supposedly northbound but we went otherwise. The only problem was that we rode at the tail section of the train so that when it went back north, it became the ladies' section. We ended up taking the next train since the middle and end sections were jam-packed. So much about a perfect plan!

Click here and here for other accounts.

So to continue, other situations that somehow make Filipinos never lose that sense of touch are:
1. jeepney experience
2. wet market, 168 and others
3. religious feast like for instance the Black Nazarene feast in Quiapo, or even the El Shaddai.

And there could be more.

Spacing Out

2007-04-19T16:20:00.000+08:00

Petter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late,
ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me,
heh heh - and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour.
Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?
Petter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working.
I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too.
I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.
- Office Space

It's pretty ironic that I'm posting something about useless office skills when I got tons of work to do.

It's not that I'm done for the day (perhaps you are, so go play music on your phone). But it's just to ~~space out~~ take a break. A very short one, I'd add.

aka Ituloy AngSulong

2007-04-18T09:11:00.000+08:00

I'll never play in the NHL, and I'll never start a billion-dollar company,
but I could get into the Technorati top ten. Everybody has to have goals....
- Guy Kawasaki

So have I.

In one of my posts, I was talking about wanting to become first or second place in the chicken-mami-definition search.

Guess what?

Try to google the phrase "chicken mami definition".

Next move I guess (call me an ambitious halfwit) is to join the next contest on SEO.

On Violins

2007-04-17T10:06:00.000+08:00

I played the violin before and I had three great mentors. One was a Protestant, the other a Born Again and still the other a Catholic. Anyway, before I amuse myself, if not anyone, with the wala-ka-sa-lolo-ko or American-Chinese-Filipino kind of joke, the thing is that I learned until the second position only. The only piece that I could play decently or I could remember until this moment is Cinema Paradiso's Se.

It never came to me that there's something more to learn about violins beside playing the instrument.

Until this post was written.

It said that trappings and popularity are not the ultimate gauges when looking for something good or something opposite of it.

Halo-halo in a Bowl

2007-04-16T23:45:00.000+08:00

I was supposed to order a classic chicken mami at Chowking yesterday. But since the weather was hot, I went for the Halo-halo Petit instead.

However, I really find that there's something quaint with a halo-halo placed in a bowl rather than in a usual tall glass.

It wasn't really sweet. Or perhaps it was just lacking of sugar (apparently!). And the ingredients weren't really lavish. (I was thinking I should have ordered the Fiesta.)

Or maybe the shaved ice was just too much.

Anyway, I ended up reordering the chicken mami. Only this time, a spicy one.

Technorati Rank 1

2007-04-16T09:14:00.000+08:00

Guess who is rank one in the technorati?

Try checking technorati's rank.

Hhmm....

[Update: technorati placed first last week. This time, it just went second place. Makes me wonder who really number one is.]

Personal and Visual DNA

2007-04-13T13:19:00.000+08:00

Got this from a fellow sofisticat.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

My Personal Dna Report

Why Broken Bow?

2007-04-12T10:20:00.000+08:00

Since this post stresses that anonymous writings have less credence than something that's signed, I shall begin to tell more about myself.

Myself huh?

As Greg Mankiw said, I might become vain in the process but why should anyone, except for some people, care about idiosyncracies?

I shall then start with my blog itself. Later on, my profile.

So why broken bow?

One might gather of it as a spoof of the song Broken Vow. Or even make the assumption that somehow it is connected with the broken Da Mul bow of Jumong.

But here's the story.

I took cello lessons before at St. Scholastica School of Music under Sir Olan Guerrero. I had the goal of learning a favorite, J.S. Bach's Cello Suite No.1, Prelude. The piece is one of the soundtrack of the motion picture Master and Commander. Other films where it is played (although not included in their soundtrack) are Music of the Heart and The Pianist.

Now to proceed, for a feckless dumbbell such as myself unfortunately, I was only able to learn (aside from the progressive variations of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and some other more), J.S. Bach's Minuet in G Major, which is one of the 18 Pieces from "Klavier-Buchlein fur Anna Magdalena Bach".

Anyway, I may already have forgotten the music lessons, but I guess I'll never forget when I broke the cello bow.

I placed it one time on a sofa after practicing. I completely forgot about it until the unimaginable happened. I accidentally sat on it. Afterwhich, it was really dreadful to see a piece of scotch tape on such an expensive exquisite item.

My teacher saw a valuable lesson here. "Never put your bow on a chair, more so a sofa," he said.

And he's right! Because you may sit on it, as I did.

P.S. Elaboration of this to follow.

Narcissurfing

2007-04-10T22:56:00.000+08:00

A while ago, I was trying to google a link for the word chicken mami which was used in one of my posts. I typed "chicken mami" and I wasn't really contented with the results. So I narrowed down the key phrase to "chicken mami definition". It was surprising to see that one of the results was my blog itself, which actually placed fifth!

Call it an achievement eh?

I'm imagining that since I'm posting another "chicken mami definition" here (this one being the third), perhaps I'd place second or first the next time I google the word.

Though I surmise that this is not how it really works. Being a novice blogger I still have a lot to learn.

Like for instance, not looking doltish for prattling on about being fifth in the chicken-mami-definition search.

Seriously, what I'm trying to say is that there is in fact a word for this - narcissurfing. It's all just about googling yourself, which means including a part of yourself, i.e. your blog.

No one belongs here more than you

2007-04-10T11:19:00.000+08:00

Creative.

Found thru Seth Godin.

People Are People

2007-04-10T06:17:00.000+08:00

It's funny sometimes how people are able to categorize people. Starting now, I'll be posting a collection of this classification.

-0-

This is from Jeffrey Archer's False Impression.

When you're a doorman, you have to make instant decisions about people. Do they fall in the category of "Good morning, sir" or "Can I help you?" or simply "Hi?"

-0-

Seth Godin mentioned here about two kinds of people - those parking right out front or those parking down the street. And speaking of parking, I also tackled here about the kinds of parkers.

-0-

Guy Kawasaki also mentioned here about people having two kinds of mindsets: growth or fixed.

-0-

The balut guy usually shouts at night and the taho guy in the morning. So you might just call a nocturnal the former and a morning person the latter.

-0-

Someone I call as the TrueLove Finder once told me that there are two kinds of people that you either end up with:
1. The one you love
2. Or the one who will be there.
You're lucky if the one you love is also the one who will be there.

-0-

The modern psychologists are the bartenders. See a compelling post here. While the modern politicians, especially in the Philippine setting, are the taxi drivers. Ask them about current events and they might just give you a detailed personal political platform.

-0-

And from Laughter, the Best Medicine (Reader's Digest).

Hilarious!

2007-04-10T00:23:00.000+08:00

Some amusing illustrations from Laughter, the Best Medicine (Reader's Digest).

Karate Kid

2007-04-09T09:49:00.000+08:00

Have you ever wondered how the Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso looks like now? He actually appeared in the Entourage HBO series, episode 11.

And what about Mr. Miyagi with his unbelievable fly-catching chopsticks and cute bonsai trees? And the yellow car, a 1950 Chevrolet Convertible (as this trivia site says), he gave to Daniel? Which of course, was used by the Karate Kid, apart from his legendary Karate Pose, to make pasikat to his girl, Ali Mills. How can anyone forget?

Worth remembering are the bully and the evil Cobra Kai sensei as well. It's interesting to note that the bully, played by William Zabka, is in fact an accomplished musician.

Then there were the Japanese in Part II: Chozen, and Kumiko, who is of Filipino descent in real life. I remember hiding behind the sofa everytime I watched the end fight in this sequel.

As a kid, the Karate Kid was my favorite movie. I especially liked Parts I and II. Believe me when I say that I watched those parts like a hundred times. The motion picture was in a VHS tape format then, sent by my titas abroad. Perhaps I'd get to myself an original DVD copy sometime.

The Tipping Point

2007-04-09T08:44:00.000+08:00

Why are some products more popular than others?

It is the question put up by Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.

The answer simply lies in the products' make if it can spread like viruses and create social epidemics. Contagiousness. Click here to read on.

I find the yawning part a really good example of contagiousness.