30.6.04

stormy weather musings

the weather has steadily gone from bad to worse here, with gusting winds of high velocities (around 160kph think) and the occasional downpour of rain. with floods and landslides everywhere, plants uprooted and billboards collapsed, and thousands of common folk troubled in its wake, sooner or later, it's bound to affect even the most secluded and privileged people.

the President must have consulted a crystal ball, and saw the impending condition that prevails over us now, thus deciding to move her inauguration a couple of islands south. it's a good move, and one that would allow her to bask in all her glory.

i think that her inauguration, and in turn, the electoral proceedings that put her in her position now, must be just like this one big windy storm for her, with all the allegations of fraud, and destabilisation plots like attempted bombings and road spikings. i'm not inclined to take sides (though i did vote for her), but i am aware that, like all storms, they will come, they will go, but in its wake, things will definitely remain to haunt her.

two important values: trust and confidence - she may have already been lost from lots of people already.

i suppose she has made like a storm chaser (just like in the movie Twister) these past few months, avoiding the path of impending doom, but despite her cunning in avoiding the path of doom, she had better be ready to face all the damage it has introduced to her term.

if storms were still named after women, this one should have been called Gloria.

good luck, Ms. President.

28.6.04

so you forgot to hear Mass...

... well, here's a link you could visit to keep yourself abreast with what's happening to the Church. heheh.

of course, i don't condone just reading the Homily of some priest in Dublin - celebrating the Mass with your community is still the best way to praise and worship His greatness. =)

27.6.04

shopping spree!

my family and i went shopping today, and here's what i got to bring home:
- a trench coat (for P700)! heheh. i honestly don't know when it would be good to use this, but whatever the case i have one now. maybe i'll bring it to the office for our cold room experiences... =)
- a bottle of Lacoste pour Homme and a small tube of Lacoste Facial Wash (of the same scent) for P2.7k... cool! just the scent i want!

that's about it... that's already around P4k as it is! i also treated my family to lunch at Sake-san in SM Megamall...

hmm... one thing i noticed about them is that they charged us for the moist paper towels that they gave us at P3 each! that's paltry, but i can't believe they'd charge us for something without informing us ahead! maybe i should rat on them with DTI... =\

26.6.04

lots o' postings!

not here though - on my Yahoo! Photos page. =)

i got a huge bunch of new pics there now - have fun taking a look at them! and do feel free to comment on the pics i made, especially the creative shots. =)

FYI, the only editing i made on practically all these images are resizing and rotating. =)

Intel recalls recently released chipsets

bad news for Intel and early tech adopters - a recall has been ordered!

thank goodness i didn't get a computer just yet... heheh.

trigger happy!

(i just realised that i'm generating so many hits for this post of mine.

the reason? it's ranked #2 on Google when searching for the term "cliepet". cool!)

it was raining quite a bit these past few days, and since i had my digicam with me during all that water, i got loads of creative pictures, i think... i'll have them posted in my photos page soon.

24.6.04

blogging off PS2 Linux

this is fun - i'm actually posting a blog message from PS2 Linux, thanks to lynx. the interface is cumbersome and all, plus there's no graphics, but at least it works.

i'm going back to the workstation as soon as the DVD burning job there is complete. makes me kinda wish that we could just buy one of those faster DVD writers in the market right now. or we could probably wait for BluRay technology.

hmm... on the other hand, being an early adopter might not be so good all the time.

23.6.04

road accident!

i witnessed a bizaare incident early this morning, but it's too darn tough to explain without visuals. =(

suffice it to say that i saw a man on a motorbike hit a plastic barricade, sliding sidewards onto the pavement. it looked like he wasn't seriously injured, but i wasn't able to get a clear look.

i wonder if it would have been rude to take pictures of the man while he was down...?

22.6.04

more lessons learned from rolling maki

my sister and i rolled some more maki last Friday, and since my earlier post got mseesd up somewhere in transit, i'm posting this message again... some more lessons i learned from the experience:
- learn to value the use of a wet rag to wipe off a knife prior to use. i got a few cuts on my fingers by not doing so.
- also learn to value the use of a damp, wooden spatula to spread the rice onto the nori.
- 1 1/2 cups of japanese rice yields approx. 6 rolls of maki
- tighter packed rolls do not always mean better yield. our california maki had their mangoes splurting out the sides every time we pushed a bit harder down on the roll to shape it better. they do become more packed, but the mangoes also become more mushed up in the process.

20.6.04

Mr. BoomBa

talk about nutty Flash animation!

many thanks to Trissie "camera nut" for this. =D

funny bumper sticker #2 and other nasty stuff

i saw this bumper sticker on a car today as i was driving to my grandmother's place in Tondo, Manila:

People who plan to seek God at the 11th Hour - die at 10:30

strong words for those who haven't accepted God into their lives...

i also found out that if you're a newbie driver wanting for some hardcore road experience on the road, drive into the Manila area, like say, going to the Tutuban Mall. i can assure you that you will never experience driving quite like any other at that area. cars and jeepneys stop anywhere, run through red lights like they weren't there, overtake on opposite lanes like they were on one-way streets, and soooooooooooo much more. and don't forget the stubborn people who choose to cross the streets like they expect cars to stop for them, and stop at the center of the road like helpless deer when cars meet them (like what i experienced today - shame i couldn't get a snapshot of his face).

i'm glad i survived my drive there.

19.6.04

LucasFan Games

one of my very first games on the PC was Maniac Mansion, the fun adventure of a couple of teenagers on a mission to rescue their friends' girlfriend, who was abducted by a mad scientist into his crazy mansion, hence the title.

in this day and age, 3D graphics seem to be the main selling point of all things, though hopefully companies would realise soon that killer graphics can only go so far.

anyway, now i'll get the chance to relive every funky bit of the past in full color, thanks to LucasFan Games's faithful recreation of the game.

give it a whirl - you won't regret it.

Gmail Machine

okay, i'm getting desperate with email. heheh... i've decided to try my luck with the Gmail Machine, and while i can't count just how many times i hit the Refresh button, i'll be updating this blog if ever i actually get a Gmail account doing this.

16.6.04

TheTechLounge - Beyond Megapixels

for those just planning to buy a digital camera, read this, this, and this to help you decide better. =)

lessons learned from rolling maki

after rolling my own maki (with my own choice of ingredients), and having it taste-tested to my very critical panel, comprising my siblings, i have learned the following lessons:
- ham, cheese, sweetened egg omelette and cucumber do not make a good maki roll, according to my panel, of course... in my case, i kinda liked the taste...
- clamp, then press. my rolls looked like big letter D's.
- make sure to calculate the proportion of rice against the ingredients, and vice versa. i ended up using a mix of sushi rice and plain rice for my last roll. heheh.
- more practice! =)

now what the heck am i going to do with the other two rolls in the ref (which equates to 16 rolls)? i guess i know what i'll be having for the next few days... =P

15.6.04

introducing: the Sony Vaio U50 and U70

how i wish these babies were cheaper - at that cost, i'd just get a VAIO notebook! =)

13.6.04

my Yahoo! Photos page

i'll add the link into my page later - for now, do check out my creative shots so far on Yahoo! Photos. =)

free Palm-based guitar tuner

technically free, this app _should_ help you with guitar tuning, but all i can make of it is a bunch of bars moving up and down - not really as intuitive as the one i'm using now...

but, then again, it _is_ free.

photo challenge

i think i'm going to give myself a weekly "photo challenge" based on an abstract artistic theme that i want to focus on. (if people were to actually send in suggestions, i'll probably consider those entries too. *hint* *hint*)

anyway, i bumped into this guy's PBase page a couple of months back, and remembered that i tried a similar experiment after i saw it.


this was the result of my initial attempt.

so maybe i'll give myself a macro challenge over the next few days. if anyone wants to participate, drop me a comment and let's discuss how we can trasmit your pic over to me, and then we'll see. =)

TuSSH - HiRes palm ssh for Palm OS4 and Above

this should be adequate for my server monitoring concerns here at home, without breaking the bank or hurting my eyes. =)

(in case you didn't know, we have a Linux machine acting as our broadband router and firewall.) =)

11.6.04

a portable "portable keyboard"

if you've ever wanted to bring a portable musical keyboard with you to a simple gathering or something, this has got to be the most portable of the lot, hands down. these crazy Japanese sure know how to innovate.

and boy, i'd love to have one of these...

DIY for photography links

this is great - DIY links for all sorts of photography projects. even digital! =)

10.6.04

Modern-Clie-Audio by CliePet (for NX/NZ/TG)

back when i was using a Tungsten T, i had this program called Perfect Pitch that i would use to tune my guitar whenever i would use it. after i had switched over to my NZ90, it now refused to work.

now, thanks to CliePet's project i can finally run my guitar-tuning program again! =)

fun stuff

some fun things i noticed today on my way to work...
- sticker read off the bumper of a car: Thou Shalt Not Steal. Politicians Hate Competition. ("must be an activist," my friend commented)
- sweet deal! if you're within the vicinity of the Jollibee outlet along the President Diosdado Macapagal Avenue (near Blue Wave), and in need of a copy of the Philippine Star and some breakfast, head right in and order a Tuna Pie, and voila - today's paper. i have no idea how both companies make money from this deal, since Tuna Pies sells for P16 apiece, and the papers sell for P15. i wonder if this same deal is valid across all branches of Jollibee?

8.6.04

stuff to do... (round 2)

(reminder to self: be extra careful when blogging from linux via links - javascript support sucks here!)

i still need to do these things for my blog, so let's hope for the best.
- post more pictures!
- write more articles
- be more active!

looks like i have my work cut out for me now... =P

6.6.04

Man sends 80,012 text messages in protest

... if you thought your text addiction couldn't get any worse, try beating than this record.

5.6.04

introducing, nasubi...

i bumped into this link some time ago... very interesting concept.

who ever knew reality TV could get this weird?

4.6.04

Build a solid-state mini-ITX Linux audio recording studio!

oaky, so maybe not everyone will have the luxury of creating one of these these babies, but at least here's something everyone can start with.

now if only someone would come up with a mini-ITX linux _video_ recording studio...

3.6.04

freedom!

now that i've dealt with everything that kept me busy for the past few days, i'm back with a few posts...

i'm going to compile a basic list of video camera tips (for the video editor) sometime - but at the very least, i will must surely mention that the camera person should have a pair of ear/headphones and a microphone handy. the microphone is a more obvious addition, but headphones? well, using headphones will allow the camera person to assess the sound the camera is picking up (via its omnidirectional mic or a microphone he'd have), thus allowing for clearer speeches and less noisy videos.

i also remembered taking a shot of the sun the other day via my T610, and remembered a tip that i read from a digicam forum sometime ago. it mentioned that to reduce glare from very bright sources (thus creating weird exposed pictures or fringing artifacts), a simple pair of shades may be used. i'll post two images later that will differentiate a shot of the sky with and without the "filter".

anything else in mind right now... nope, maybe later or tomorrow.

1.6.04