Sunday, November 30, 2008

That Time Of The Year Again

"Whereever you are.. There you are." - Dickerson Moreno


Happy Noel Singidas Day, everybody!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Comments On Naruto Shippuuden Episode 70

..or basically the current story line.

*** SPOILERS BEGIN ***

First of all, I think the Naruto animé's idea for fillers have been, in general, bad.

Then there's the resurrection jutsu -- is it that easy to do? Orochimaru must have sucked if he had difficulties trying to do it himself!

They're reusing the Kyuubi?! You can take the Kyuubi's leaked chakra and make a pseudo-Jinchuuriki? W.T.H.!

They're reusing the monster vs. monster conflict: Naruto vs. Gaara, Naruto vs. Sasuke with level 2 cursed seal, Naruto vs. Orochimaru -- now Sora's a monster too?! I want to watch NINJAS, for crying out loud! I want to see ninjas fiiiight!

They're reusing the Jinchuuriki loner problem: Naruto, then Gaara, then Sora?! Forcing the drama.. tsk..

They're underestimating the Kyuubi's power -- Naruto pushed back the Kyuubi by sheer willpower?! Maybe they're overrating Naruto.. But it looks like Naruto will "save" Sora (*rolls eyes*)..

Fuuka, the multi-chakra girl -- kills the surprise of multi-chakra Kakuzu! W.T.H!

Filler trademark: too many bystanders! Just standing! Doing nothing! They immobilized Sora and they didn't even think of placing the First Hokage's necklace on Sora so Yamato can do the chakra containment thing -- it should have been over back then!

Filler trademark #2: the close combat scenes are ugly!

Filler trademark #3: poooor pacing, takes toooo long!

*** SPOILERS END ***

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Ping!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Free The Steak

Last Saturday was my 3rd visit to GameCrab (http://gamecrabcafe.com/). I particularly wanted to go back because of something I saw in their website:



How could I NOT take them on? =D

And so I did!



The rules of the challenge are:

  • The game of the month is Super Boggle (a 5x5 letter board).

  • Declare a challenge, and pay P15.

  • Play 5 rounds of Super Boggle, where only 5-letter words and above are counted.

  • Scoring, per word:

    • 5-letters: 2 points

    • 6-letters: 3 points

    • 7-letters: 5 points

    • 8-letters and above: 11 points



  • Beat the GameMaster's total score.

  • Claim your FREE steak! The steak regularly costs P99!

  • One challenge per person per day.



Upon arriving, I was already feeling nervous (as I always do, before competitions). I couldn't get into my "word-finding mindset".

After quite some time (of looking around and sizing up the GameMaster from afar), I overheard someone else asking about the challenge. I was panicky, thinking that someone had beaten me to it. I watched as the GameMaster explained the rules to some guy -- who, lucky for me, was really just asking! The guy left right away -- and I approached the counter soon after!

We took the tables at the center. It was a bit chilly and my hands felt really cold. They were shaking, too. The cold was a welcome excuse for the shaking.

Round 1. As the challenger, I shook up the blocks, let them settle and handed the set to the arbiter. The arbiter puts it down, opens the cover and flips the sand timer. It's on! And I couldn't find any 5-letter words! It took me until one-third of the timer had elapsed before I could write my first word. At the end of round, all but one of the handful of words I could jot down was cancelled. GameMaster Sef, 6. Nikki, 2.

Round 2. It was almost the same story, only slightly worse. GameMaster Sef, 10. Nikki, 2.



Round 3. I was all "What the heck! I suck! I lose!" I didn't quite absorb the rules earlier. I thought that it was a best of 5 match, and if I lost this third round, it was the end of the challenge. I was muttering, "Arrrgh, last round.."

Yes, I am scowling. I got pretty distracted, when I noticed the gang watch. I waved them away, and at one point I even covered my face. I try to excuse myself, saying that I was distracted. GameMaster Sef try to call back the gang, in jest.

I'm sorry, peeps -- I'm at my most anti-social when I'm under pressure..

It ends. GameMaster Sef, 13. Nikki, 6.

I let out a sigh of relief -- relief that it was, at least, over. Then I was told that we weren't done yet! It was explained once again that we were to play out all 5 rounds, and the winner was to be decided based on the total points over those 5 rounds, that I could still catch up! I was saying that it was hopeless anyway, that I had no chance of coming back. But I still played.

Round 4. I forgot about the scores. I forgot about what round it was. I was just.. ready. The timer is flipped, and the game starts. As before, I couldn't figure out any words. I was merely staring at the letters. Until, when almost half the timer had passed, I started tracing a word that snaked across the board. Then, the words just came out.


Behind me are Chester and Edge, spotting lots more words

True relief!

GameMaster Sef, (something). Nikki, 20.

My first word was THIRTEEN -- an 11-pointer!

I couldn't believe it! It was all going too fast!

The score was recorded every round, but I didn't know the running totals. I didn't know how much more I needed. The next and final round started too soon.

Round 5. Again, I didn't start writing early. But after some time, like in the previous round, the words, they just came out. When the round ended, it strangely felt that it ended at just the right time.

We had almost the same number of words written down. Mine were scored first. I had barely cancelled anything on his list. But, it turned out that most of his words were not on the dictionary they were using (most being colloquial words)! I was feeling really hopeful at this point. The scores were totalled.


At the left are GameMaster Sef and Mikong Aguilar (from PhRUG!)

GameMaster Sef, 42. Nikki, 44!

I closed my eyes, tilted my head back and raised both my arms. Aahhh, yes. I missed that feeling.

We shook hands, and he asked me if I was open for a rematch the next time I visited. Of course, I was! =D

I learned that it was his first ever loss. The other Super Boggle GameMaster had already lost once. That made me the second person to win the challenge.

I was told that I had to write on their bulletin.



He pointed at the lower-right corner of the page, and I wrote my name. I was almost finished, when I was interrupted. It seems that I wasn't supposed to write my name! Just a tick on the tally. I felt really dumb.



So, there's the long tally of challengers who lost (lower left), and just two ticks for the challengers who won (lower right) -- and, look at that! That's my name right there!

(photos courtesy of Tin, http://blackstrung.multiply.com/)

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Google Reader Friends List Is Gone!



Where'd the friends list go?!

Now I can't just check what Randell shared. Now MY Friends' Shared Items will be flooded by Mike's! And my FRIENDS' Friends' Shared Items list will be flooded by MINE! XD

Oblé On My Money!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Old Cartoons

Bananaman Intro --- didn't really watch this (it didn't get aired here), but I remember reading a couple of issues of the comic book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNknWT-agT0

SuperTed Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZg74STOfig

Danger Mouse Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BouKBkQAGA

Inspector Gadget Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKeE3saeguY

Fraggle Rock Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSDeoO-j3G0

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI0FbYe3lRE

Thundercats Theme --- I've always thought something didn't look right about Tigra's retracted whip..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x443KKm4Uk

Ulysses Intro --- "Ulysses, UlysseeEEees.. ... UlysseeEEeeEEeeEES!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijzs6_CbvQM

Jem Opening --- I remember catching this just for the intro.. >_<
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20BZID081Vk

---

Anybody else miss the FILMATION intro clip? (I did something like that for our very first CompSci project for TurboBASIC.. ASCII animation FTW!)

He-Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEsHUel04dY

She-Ra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quzY7ONePM4

---

The Disney stuff kinda stand out to me mostly because, not only were they plainly fun to watch, but for kids' shows they were really well-rounded and the stories were (relatively) well-told. I mean, I'd really feel sad during sad parts, and I'd really get excited during action scenes. The conflicts were much more compelling than in.. Thundercats!

Gummi Bears
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loUNoy0Qub0

Duck Tales --- "Duck Tales! oooOOOooo!" Gizmo Duck FTW! "Blathering Blatherskite!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34Sb0hGUNIQ

Darkwing Duck Intro --- "Let's get dangerous!" I also liked how Launch Pad (and, occasionally, Gizmo Duck) crossed over from Duck Tales!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czCqMWRFVg4

Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers Intro --- "Ch-ch-ch-Chip N Dale! Rescue Rangers.." I was most affected by this show's dramatic moments, where one of the characters would go off on his own..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e5q6ubDlZE

Tale Spin --- did someone just fire a GUN?! in a Disney cartoon?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIl5YwcO72g

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh --- Just the most adorable theme song evar!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHcOPcM0hJU

Man, I hate the crappy new Mickey Mouse cartoons in Disney Channel (House of Mouse?! WTH)..

---

Top Cat credits --- My favorite among the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons! The theme and the stories were pretty much grown-up..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEv29oPtCbY

---

A bit off-topic, just something I stumbled onto in YouTube:

Power Rangers VS. TMNT Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSFHCwlDRw

Power Rangers VS. TMNT Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1cPakKLcGQ

..ninja turtles too goofy, clulmsy, jumpy -- like they're clowns or something..

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Plurk

Micro-blogging is interesting.

I used to be a Twitter-er, but some (unrelated) technical problems lead me away.

I am currently enjoying Plurk.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Who Watches The Watchmen?

WE DO!

I mean, "We will!"

See the first full-length trailer at http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/07/17/must-watch-zack-snyders-watchmen-trailer-absolutely-stunning/.

The world will look up and shout, "Save us!"

And I'll whisper, "NO."


---

(UPDATE, 1 minute after posting) I'm baffled by the stand of the original author Alan Moore that he wouldn't watch any film rendition of the Watchmen..

---

(UPDATE, 3 minutes after last update) How many times should you see that trailer before you'd get tired of it?? I'm guessing-- YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET TIRED OF IT AND YOU'LL KEEP WATCHING IT UNTIL THE MOVIE COMES OUT.

Friday, July 18, 2008

My Eyes..

..they're trying to leave me!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

My Spider-Sense Is Tingling

Ominous.

Foreboding.

I've felt it coming for several months. A lockdown of some sort.

Thus, I am rethinking. Reconsidering.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Spinning Around

Mark and I did the escalator spin!

Leaving Miggy's kiddie party and the high school batch meeting right after, Mark asks us if we knew about the online video of someone spinning on a pair of escalators.

I didn't!

So we tried it out for ourselves. :D

It was really, really fun! I didn't know what to expect, and I was really surprised at how it felt. I also had a hard time getting off the escalators. =p

Mark has a longer video of himself spinning -- hope he uploads it, too. :)

Here's my video: Nikki Spins on an Escalator

Waste of Space



I've griped about this for too long: I think that the new lobby at the Smart Tower is a huge, huge waste of space!

They have no seats and there're these large mirrored columns.. It's quite a looong stretch of tiles that doesn't even get that filled up!

Pic of a Pic


Kei and myself with Gary Valenciano!

Sometime last June, in Glorietta. =)

Friday, July 11, 2008

Ehem

Why does Rick Astley still look like how he did 20 years ago?

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Sad Story, Comic Comments

I don't follow the Hans Reiser story, and I'm not really familiar about Reiser himself.

Mike shared a link to a Slashdot article and noted that there were very interesting comments.

And I found some funnies:



The link to Wikipedia shows:

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Installing Gnome2 IPMessenger

IPMsg (http://www.ipmsg.org/index.html.en) is a staple application here in the office. When I was given a Linux workstation, I then had to run IPMsg for Windows on Wine. However, it pops up a series several error messages on startup.



It was annoying the first time. But I somehow got used to it. But, still, if I could get rid of it, I would.

Then, yesterday, Randell thought of running IPMsg on his laptop which was on Fedora. He said that he downloaded IPMsg from its site, to be sure that he had the latest version. I was also reading around about running IPMsg on different LANs and I found out that IPMsg is open-source and cross-platform! So I took a look at the official site.

There were indeed various versions for different platforms (and languages! there's a Tagalog version?!)! I readily picked GNOME2 IP Messenger, as it was the UNIX version that was most recently updated (2008 at that! version as of writing is g2ipmsg-0.9.5).

A few things about GNOME2 IP Messenger (g2ipmsg), though.

Make sure you have all dependencies installed:

  • libxml-parser-perl

  • libgnomeui-dev

  • libpanel-applet2-dev


(UPDATE 2008-07-06 2:35AM -- additional dependencies)

  • gettext

  • intltool


How to install these depends on the Linux distribution. The easiest way is to use the graphical Package Manager.

(MAJOR UPDATE 2008-07-07 5:27PM)
Randell reported that he couldn't find the dependencies in Fedora -- I was surprised! I did a search and found out that libxml-parser-perl was perl-XML-parser in Fedora! I suppose that the rest of the dependencies are only for Debian-based distros. Randell said that he'd look up the rest, and post a Fedora instructional soon. With that, I'm slapping the apt-get command back into the list below.

After assuring that you have the above dependencies, you can do a conventional build and install from source. Assuming that the current working directory is where g2ipmsg-0.9.5.tar.gz is located:

$ tar zxf g2ipmsg-0.9.5.tar.gz
$ cd g2ipmsg-0.9.5/
$ sudo apt-get install libxml-parser-perl libgnomeui-dev libpanel-applet2-dev gettext intltool
$ ./configure
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo g2ipmsg

Make sure to execute sudo g2ipmsg right after installation. You'll only be able to run it without the sudo after a reboot -- I don't know why, though.

I suddenly posted something like this because while researching specifically about this, the search results with definite instructions were non-English sites.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Diablo 3

Diablo 3 is looking reaaally sweeeet!

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/

The cinematic trailer didn't tease well enough, but -- man! that gameplay trailer is drool-worthy!

The 3D graphics looks and feels a lot like that of StarCraft 2 -- 3D engine abuse! But I can't complain about how it looked..

Just watch it!

Does This Not Suck?



Especially when you only have less than P1000 in your account and almost all the ATMs in the mall already ran out of P100 bills and you really, really need the cash and you don't have any left in your pockets.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I'm Back, Beaches!

Had a wonderful at Cagayan de Oro and Camiguin! I'm currently in LB..

Now I have to go back to work -- will be at the office in around 3 hours.. >_<

Thursday, June 19, 2008

It's My Day!

I'm still awake!

And I need to be up and ready by 3am!

It will be my first time on an airplane.

CDO and Camiguin, we're coming for you!

(Maybe I should try NOT to sleep anymore.. :p)

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Would You Like To Know..

..my current address?

*hint hint*

Maybe you'd like to send me something?

*hint hint*

I'd be happy to receive something..

..when I get back next week!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Rightfully Mine

I HAVE RECLAIMED CONTROL OVER MY ORIGINAL YAHOO! ACCOUNT!!!



YAHOOOOOO!!!

ToyCon 2008!

Went to ToyCon 2008 last Saturday, June 14.

Link list for pics 'n stuff! :D



Immensely enjoyed myself, though I can't say much now.. was occupied for the rest of the weekend until a bit earlier -- yeah, I didn't go to work today.. :p

---

UPDATE (2008-06-24 1:34PM)!

More pics!


---

UPDATE (2008-06-29 2:35AM)!



---

UPDATE (2008-07-06 2:46AM)!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Heavy Rain

I welcome you!

COME! SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Some Holiday

In Dependence Day, huh?

=p

Hey, Araneta..

..guess what?

You just got RICKROLLED!

No To Plastic

Maybe one of you guys might know who to give a heads up to, coz I don't know.

Kei and I had lunch at Food Choices at Gateway earlier. We noticed that most of the shops served their food on STYRO. We hadn't been there for months, so we decided to go for a safe choice: Jumbo Japs. We saw right away that they had stacks of styro bowls, which they handed to us for our rice. We asked for plates instead --- they gave us styro plates. Kei asked for a spoon and a fork and they gave us plastic spoons and forks. We asked if they had stainless steel utensils, but they said that they didn't. We were surprised.

We hadn't started eating yet when we noticed that some other shops also served their food on styro plates and bowls.

After eating, we walked around and saw that most of the shops had stacks of styro plates and bowls.

Was it a policy of Food Choices? Were they trying to save water and were willing to splurge on plastic instead?

Wasn't it only around 3 years ago when Gary Granada was heading a movement for McDonald's to reduce their styro usage?

Not that I've turned environmental activist, but I REALLY HATE EATING ON STYRO and I REALLY HATE PLASTIC SPOONS AND FORKS.

---

P.S. I cringe at the sight of the website GaryGranada.com, but I was curious about what he has to say when I saw a link to an article "How come some songs in this site are freely downloadable?" and I found it witty when he said at the end of it, "So why are the mp3s in this site accessible and some even downloadable for free? No, they’re not. We're just charging zero pesos."

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

It's Magic!

Cel showed be a very interesting toy of his. It's a plastic ball that MORPHS and changes colors when you toss it!

We learned that it's called a Hoberman Switch Pitch -- toss it with a spin, and it turns inside out!

Hours and hours of amusement!

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Kicked Out..

..of my PC!

Times like these, I am thankful for the pampering I allowed myself.

PSP + Wi-fi router = relief

I am still wanting, though..

(posted via e-mail)

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Mice Can't Draw

Or, rather, I can hardly draw with mice..



(Yeah, nose is red: optical mouse)

Death Note Live Action Movie 3?

There is one?!

L: Change the World

Definitely non-canon, but I still wanna watch it!

It's..

..June! =D

New Writer To Stalk!

Sam Hughes' writing is brilliant.

Pieces of note are his on-going novel Fine Structure, Ed Stories, his other short stories and even his commentary (on mass media, math, video games, etc)!

Just read the whole darned site!

Also: Take that terrorism! How to fight terrorism

Friday, May 23, 2008

TEKKEN MOVIE NEWS!!!

YES.

The Tekken movie has reportedly finished filming and is now in post-production. It's due next year, 2009.

First Tekken Movie Images! (via SDTekken)

They listed the cast as:

  • Jonathan Foo as Jin Kazama -- don't know this guy, but he looks.. young for Jin; did a wushu movie

  • Luke Goss as Steve Fox -- seems alright.. this guy played Nomak in Blade II so, I guess, he can be vicious :p

  • Gary Daniels as Bryan Fury -- don't know this guy, but the nets say that he's a real-life kickboxer, which Bryan is (sort of)..

  • Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Heihachi -- wahahaha! Shang Tsung!

  • Darren Henson as Raven -- don't know this guy.. (Wikipedia says: Darrin Dewitt Henson (born May 5, 1972 in Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.) is an American choreographer, dancer, and actor.) he's a.. dancer? they really should've gotten Wesley Snipes..

  • Ian Anthony Dale as Kazuya -- an American plays Kazuya?! oh, he's half-Japanese.. whew! I thought they casted this guy on account of his eyebrows..

  • Cung Le as Marshall Law -- THIS GUY, I'VE SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT LATER

  • Kelly Overton as Christie Montiero -- don't know her.. IMDB says she was an athlete, so, okay..

  • Candice Hillebrand as Nina Williams -- a singer?

  • Marian Zapico as Anna Williams -- don't know her..

  • Roger Huerta as Miguel -- a top UFC lightweight contender, yeah!



I've scanned through the comments and someone mentioned that two other major characters were listed in other sites:

  • Chiaki Kuriyama as Ling Xiaoyu (from IMDB) -- the girl from Kill Bill

  • Nathan Jones as Craig Marduk (from the Tekkenpedia site) -- bad-ass strongman!



Here's a page that puts the actors' pics side-by-side with images of the characters they play: http://pc.pcgames.com.cn/movie/news/movies/0804/1044428.html (Chinese site)

I'm loyal enough to the Tekken name to not take it against them that King isn't hinted anywhere.. =p




Now. Cung Le.

Cung Le (which I've heard pronounced as "Lee") is a relatively new mixed martial artist. He's a kickboxer of some sort, and he now has a mixed martial arts record of 6 wins and 0 losses. His last match was with Frank "The Legend" Shamrock. Yes. Shamrock. And Cung Le won. Because he freakin' broke Frank Shamrock's arm with his kicks.

Fight fans, you gotta watch this:

Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le (VIDEO)
Cage Cam! (camera on referee)

Here are post-match interview vids:
- with Cung Le
- with Frank Shamrock

AWESOME.

The Hobbit Movie News

Mortensen, McKellen & Serkis Returning for Hobbit?

Viggo Mortensen? Aragorn wasn't in The Hobbit! But I read the comments and someone pointed out that the article said "The Hobbit and its sequel". Oookay.

This would be fine, I guess, with Peter Jackson and friends back behind the scenes. Guillermo del Toro? *shrug*

Friday, May 09, 2008

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Gmail Error



(Just wanted to document this. =p)

UPDATE: After 5 minutes or so, Gmail is up again. Was it just me?

Monday, April 07, 2008

Mean And Green

"Which Superhero are you?"

2006

2007

2008


*drumroll!*


Your results:
You are Green Lantern
























Green Lantern
80%
Spider-Man
65%
Catwoman
60%
Robin
50%
Supergirl
48%
Superman
45%
The Flash
45%
Iron Man
45%
Wonder Woman
43%
Hulk
40%
Batman
35%
Hot-headed. You have strong
will power and a good imagination.


Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test



At least, I'm more Spider-Man now than Catwoman..

(Re-)Got this from Mike.

I Was About To Post Something Else (Useless), But This Called For Some Urgency

Balisawsaw == Strangury, Strangury, Strangury, etc.

That's for the benefit of some poor soul trying to research the term. Because I know how much it hurts.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Testing Tekken 6

Am at Glorietta and I went to Timezone to try out some Tekken 6. I didn't really study for this, but I could still recall the stuff I wanted to try, albeit only for King.

King didn't change much!

Of course, having a Bound-juggle is cool, especially if it's the f+2+3 shoulder ram! =D My basic juggle is uf+4 (new hop knee! =p range nerf what-the-hey), df+2,1, f+1, b+2,1+2, (B!) f+2+3.

I'm not really a fan of the new df+4,3 string, but it's nice to have additional okizeme options.

I played against a Wang player, "ImpongButen" (Wang with baseball cap, talisman on forehead, powdered face), losing 2 games then winning the next 2. He didn't seem to want to play with me. =(

My next opponents were.. kids. I made that we won alternate rounds. Until I tried using Yoshimitsu, and I inadvertently won 3 rounds straight, because I was just mashing, and trying out whatever came out. I lost the next game on purpose.

What surprised me was that those kids, they were rich! The first kid I played against had a data card for Lili, and when he swiped his Powercard for his second game, I saw that he had 800+ pesos left. Ugh. The next kid--errr.. a teen-ager, a girl, had P1400+ on her Powercard! Another kid (the one I beat in straight rounds) had 300+ on his. *sigh* I'm just really surprised.

Taga-UPLB Ka Kung...

At dahil Ginawang Sarbei ito ni Seth ay sasagutin ko na diiin!

[X] 1. Kilala mo si Mang Pogs.
[X] 2. Nalilito ka kung saan nakalagay ang banga ni Mariang Banga.
[_] 3. Tubig na lang ang tingin mo sa gin.
[_] 4. Ginamit mong reviewer ang mga old exams para sa mga midterms, prefi at finals sa bio, math, stat, chem, physics, eco etc.
[_] 5. Hindi ka sumasagot ng UP (yupeee) kapag tinanong ka kung saan ka graduate.hahaha! sagot mo elbi.
[X] 6. Taga-elbi ka kapag kilala mo yung professor na nagbi-bike ng naka-barong na kupas. (Si climax! kalahating albert einstein, kalhating mang pandoy)
[X] 7. Ok lang pumasok sa mga klase kahit naka pambahay/pantulog attire ka.
[X] 8. Pag nagtanong si manong driver ng “may animal ba dyan?”, at may sumagot ng “meron po” ay di ka natawa.
[X] 9. Pag nagtanong uli si manong driver ng “may mens ba dyan?”, at may sumagot uli ng “meron po” ay di ka natawa.
[X] 10. Di ka nahihiyang magbitbit ng malaking payong.

iskor so par: 7

[X] 11. Taga-elbi ka kung pagkatapos mong magbakasakali kay Mang Pogs, diretso ka na kay Mr. Midnight
[X] 12. Bumibili ka ng blue book sa Coop.
[X] 13. Alam mong hindi pwedeng ibato ang Batong Malaki.
[_] 14. Nung pinanood mo ang movie ni aga at regine na shot at elbi (sa may gaygay gowns) at nagtawag ng taxi si regine e nagtawanan kayo ng mga taga-LB at clueless ang iba. [di ko napanood yung movie, pero nadaanan namin yung shooting! dun pa kasi sa Lopez nakatira sina Cel nun.. =p --nik]
[X] 15. Alam mo kung nasaan ang White House.
[X] 16. May tanline ka ng tsinelas.
[_] 17. Alam mong mas masarap ang pancit canton na niluto sa ‘heater cup’
[X] 18. Sanay ka maglakad.
[_] 19. Thursday night ang gimik night mo.
[X] 20. Alam mo na ang pinakamalaking banyo ay ang Ellen’s Fried Chicken, at Sizzler’s ang initingalang kainan.

iskor so par: 14

[X] 21. Kilala mo sina Saniano Boy at Saniano Girl. [hindi by face tho -> ako din --nik]
[X] 22. Alam mo kung nasaan ang “Johnson”.
[X] 23. Alam mo ang kaibahan ng dalawang Flatrocks.
[X] 24. Kaya mong pumasok ng hindi naliligo.
[X] 25. Alam mong si Carasus at Pegabao ay iisa.
[X] 26. Alam mong okey lang na pumunta sa Maahas.
[_] 27. Tumatambay ka sa APEC para mag inom.
[X] 28. Alam mo kung nasaan ang Fertility Tree, Kwek Kwek Tower, at ang Templo ni Bruce Lee.
[X] 29. Tuloy ang klase kahit signal number 3 na.
[X] 30. Alam mo kung saan ang pilahan ng jeep papuntang IRRI, Forestry, o kaya ay Jamboree

iskor so par: 23

[_] 31. Hindi ka kumakain ng buko pie.
[X] 32. Alam mo na bago pa man nauso ang unli rice sa Tokyo Tokyo, marketing strategy na ito ng Salad Country.
[X] 33. Hinahanap-hanap mo ang chocolate cake sa Mer-Nel’s.
[X] 34. Alam mong bawal tumawid sa UPLB Gate(main), mula Guard House papuntang harap ng Carabao Park [nahuli na ako dito once -> ako din! =p --nik]
[X] 35. Alam mong may oras lang na pwede kumain sa IRRI pag di ka IRRI employee.
[X] 36. Sanay ka maglagay ng Knorr Seasoning sa kanin.
[X] 37. Alam mong ang hanging bridge ay di talaga naka-hang.
[X] 38. Alam mong hindi lang dalawang pulgada ang layo ng Bayog sa Anos.
[X] 39. Kapag nate-take mo na di magpalit ng pants hanggang ilang araw.. hehe..
[X] 40. Alam mo kung nasaan ang tatlong Ellen’s fried chicken sa LB.

iskor so par: 32

[_] 41. Apektado ka sa pagsasara ng ic’s.
[X] 42. Pag may sakit ka, hindi ka pupunta “infirmary” except lang pag kukuha ka ng excuse slip. [mm.. hindi nga dinako kumukuha ng excuse slip, e.. --nik]
[X] 43. Marami kang alam na ghost stories, sa ilag’s, sa men’s dorm, sa faculty village, sa may social garden etc…
[_] 44. Pag umihi ka na sa gilid ng SU (tuwing feb fair).
[_] 45. Alam mo na ang tunog ng pillbox. (rambol!)
[X] 46. Taga lb ka kapag kilala mo si “Manang slow”..
[_] 47. Hindi mo na naabutan ang Vega mall at Robinson’s.
[X] 48. Taga elbi ka kapag mas gusto mong tumambay pag feb fair kesa manood ng kung anuman sa stage.
[_] 49. Kaya mong i-identify ang species at subspecies ng bawat punong nadadaanan mo.
[X] 50. Alam mo na ang shortest way sa papuntang St. Therese chapel from Humanities ay ang dirt road

iskor so par: 37

[X] 51. Taga-elbi ka kapag alam mo kung baket maraming natatalisod sa raymundo gate.
[X] 52. Hindi mo kailangan ng rason para uminom … hindi mo na rin keilangan ng mesa pag iinom (… hindi mo na rin minsan kailangan ng baso ).
[X] 53. Alam mo kung nasaan ang Soils.
[X] 54. Mas trip mo mag-redhorse kesa mag San Miguel Light.
[X] 55. Kung di man natuloy ay binalak mong umakyat ng peak two ng Mt Makiling.
[X] 56. Taga elbi ka pag nakakita ka ng snow pag summer (yun yung bulak na nagkalat sa campus… kapok).
[_] 57. Taga-elbi ka rin pag handa mong gawin ang lahat pag nag-peprerog ka makakuha ka lng ng slot sa subject na yon (lalo na pag GE). [nyaha! hindi ako desperado sa subject! =p --nik]
[X] 58. Alam mo kung saan makakabili ng masarap na proven at chicken skin–> dun malapit sa white house. (PROVEN!!!!!! =P~)
[X] 59. Alam mong ang devcom ay dating under ng CA.
[X] 60. Mas enjoy mo ang gimik sa apartment compared to bars and restos.

iskor so par: 46

[X] 61. Alam mong ang “audi” at DL Umali Hall ay iisa.
[X] 62. Alam mong may gasolinahan sa loob ng campus (sa likod ng CEAT).
[X] 63. Sineryoso mo na kailangan may kasama kang date pag drill night.
[X] 63. Alam mo kung nasaan ang Ilag’s, Raymundo’s at Catalan.
[X] 64. Dismissed ka na pero sa elbi ka pa rin nakatira. [opo.. na-dismiss ako once.. pero sa LB talaga ako nakatira =p --nik]
[X] 65. Alam mo kung nasaan ang Batcave.
[_] 66. Gusto mong pasabugin ang PhySci building.
[X] 67.Alam mong ang LB Square ay dating vacant lot na puro talahib.
[_] 68. Nakapanood ka na ng sine sa Agrix.
[X] 69. Hindi ka gumamit ng calculator nung in-add mo yung iskor nito.

tutal iskor: 54

w00t!

Friday, April 04, 2008

Defensive?

Mike shared a news article: House panel OKs bill criminalizing mimicry

The article reports:

A bill that seeks to criminalize mimicking or imitating a person's way of speaking particularly his peculiar accent or diction in an insulting and degrading manner has been approved by a committee at the House of Representatives.


Now, this, I find reasonable:


Dumarpa's bill seeks to prohibit religious or racial discrimination against Muslim and other members of the cultural minorities.

...

Aside from mimickry or imitation, the proposed legislation also penalizes those who would subject any person to "unnecessary, unjustified, illegal and degrading search because of his manner of clothing, religion, color, creed, and ethnic identity."

"Discriminating a person who is applying for a job just because of his name, religion or ethnic background might also be a ground for imprisonment," Dumarpa said in a statement on Thursday.


But the part that says "seeks to criminalize mimicking or imitating a person's way of speaking particularly his peculiar accent or diction in an insulting and degrading manner" is a bit too vague.. I can already imagine this being used against comedians copying some popular/political personalities.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Crash And Burn

I'm getting really annoyed at how Firefox (2.0.0.12/13 on both WinXP and XUbuntu ) has crashed on me more frequently this past couple of weeks.. What annoys me the most is that most of the crashes occur when I'm cleaning up my current session and I'm actually closing a lot of tabs.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Newly-discovered Skype Icons

I forgot to post this right after we discovered it.

Skype has special animated icons for typing status! Before, we were already amused that it didn't just have the scribbling pencil icon, but also a flipped-over pencil erasing!

A few days back, we discovered:


which appeared when you just hold down keys, and:


when you hold them down a bit longer!

=p

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Another Fanboy Wish Comes True!

I learned from Jamie that there finally is a Blade of the Immortal animé!!!

This deserves another: "IT'S ABOUT TIME"

Update:

It's yet to start on April 27. I also forgot to note that the manga is still ongoing (at least, the English version being published by Dark Horse)..

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Brainwashed

Saw this in the bus this morning, on my way home from Makati..



Young Jennifer Connelly FTW!
Young Jennifer ConnellyYoung Jennifer Connelly

The vid in the bus had subtitles of the lyrics -- which somehow mesmerized me into nodding to the beat.. and almost lip synching! @_@


Maybe it was because they sounded like girls, and I had trouble putting it together with the sight of the blonde mullet guy's creepy smile..

A YouTube comment: "Can u get more g-- then that ? like lord of the g--?"

The limp arm waving a pointed finger (1:06)
Brother Louie - Waving pointed finger

"Brother Louie, Louie, Louie! Oooh, Doin' what he's doin'.." ..this guy has a creepy smile.. (1:22)
Brother Louie - Raised fist

"Forever.. EVER.." ..creepy stare! (1:59)
Brother Louie - Looking away

Tag team creepiness.... ..and blonde mullet guy is still doing his fist-thing.. (2:48)
Brother Louie - Taking turns


While taking screenshots, I didn't try to seek to the exact frame.. I went back for, not just a couple of, but several seconds before and re-played it again and again and again... gaaaaaahhh!

I have it on Firefox, on IE and on a downloaded FLV version at the same time....


@_@

Monday, March 17, 2008

Laughing Out Loud

DM of the Rings!
http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612

A moderately-long running webcomic, this is one of those rare ones that never failed to make me laugh at almost every other strip (I embarass myself when I laugh uncontrollably and I'm alone!)! The only other ones I could recall is SMBC and XKCD..

Sunday, March 16, 2008

I Will Spoil You!

*** SPOILER ALERT! (expires at around 2pm later today) ***

Pacquiao won his rematch over Marquez on a surprising split decision!

We at home were quite relieved that Pacquiao still won, after his very shaky performance and his lack of aggression in the 12th round. Marquez's cut over his right eye was ugly, but it was started by a headbutt. We thought Pacquiao's attempt to "counter [punch] the counter [puncher]" failed miserably! Marquez was obviously the more accurate puncher, landing punches on Pacquiao's cut with great timing. I was actually scared for Pacquiao after his cut opened up, and especially when he seemed to careful about it.

We also sympathize with Marquez when he expressed disappointment that Pacquiao did not want a rematch. And I winced a lot during Pacquiao's interview (an extra wince for Chavit's presence).

We watched the match on our local cable provider's channel, live with no commercial breaks! Aaand I don't think I'm spoiling it for anybody else, since I'm expecting those who are watching the delayed telecast to still be glued to your TV sets.. or not.. =p

Friday, March 14, 2008

Dumbing Down..

I really need to kick my brain and get it started..

I couldn't load my Blogger Dashboard a while ago, and kept getting this page. So I clicked on the link to the Help Page, and I deleted the browser cookies from blogger.com.

I refresh the page a dozen times.

Until I look at the URL and realized that I am indeed reloading the same gosh-darned page!

Ashamed and defeated, I click on the Blogger logo..

What is your..

..short term goal? Finish Patapon and God of War. =p

..mid term goal? Get started on my pet project!

..long term goal? Uhhmm.. get rich?


From JAm!
*feel free to answer the same questions on your blog. (yes meme time!)

Monday, March 10, 2008

YouTube Gripe

There is no immediately available RSS feed for my own favorites?! What the hey! My first idea was that it should be really simple and therefore it might just be a particular way of constructing a URL.

And in my searching, there are a lot of other users who are looking for this same feed. I found several solutions that go deep into parsing the XML result of a REST request using the YouTube Developer's API or *gasp* the actual My Favorites page!

Fortunately, I found a solution done using Yahoo! Pipes. I took a peek into how it was done. And it WAS simple!

http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/users/<insert username>/favorites

Now I just have to test if it works on the PSP's RSS Channel! =D

(UPDATE 2008-03-10 7:52PM -- Awww, man! It's an Atom feed, not RSS!)

(UPDATE 2008-03-11 12:03AM -- Before Jaemark posted his FeedBurner comment, I was already playing with Yahoo! Pipes plus a bit more research.. aaand it seems that you just can't get video direct from YouTube onto the PSP.. there are a lot of PSP-compatible video sites, but YouTube still has the bulk of the videos worth sharing.. oh, well..)

Something Wrong..

..in my head?

I.. I don't have Tekken in my PSP..

(In the rush of packing my stuff, I moved Tekken out of my memory stick in favor of God of War: Chains of Olympus and Patapon..)

Sunday, March 09, 2008

CAPTCHA Is Broken?

Says this article: CAPTCHA is Dead, Long Live CAPTCHA!

The most reliable CAPTCHA implementations were announce to have been defeated.

I don't know much about CAPTCHA, but couldn't they somehow mimic the "salting" done in password hashing? Maybe split the CAPTCHA images into random partitions: "gh9p3845" for example could be posted as two images with "gh9" and "p3845", or maybe even 4 partitions with "gh" + "9" + "p38" + "45" or, better yet, one image per letter -- what's important is the partitioning being random.

The article suggests "Distinguish pictures of dogs from cats". Since this might boil down to a somewhat a multiple choice question, bot could possibly get lucky. I'm thinking we could extend the salting to use a picture: CAPTCHA phrase "lk2s" + dog picture + some instructions that it should be typed as "lkDOG2s"..

Dunno..

Friday, February 29, 2008

Jump!

Jump! Jump! Jump!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Cheap?

"iPod shuffle. Now just $49.", says Apple. Cool. I was willing to buy the thing when it was twice as expensive.

I hope they drop iPhone prices again soon! >:)

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Time Lapse

I did a double take on my personal time logs.

I've been tagging the dates since Feb. 15 with the year 2005.

@_@

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Blank Stares..

..are what my monitors get from me..

Yeah, monitors. I have two workstations here at work (WinXP and XUbuntu), and I like it! Supposedly, my teammate and I should be working on Linux, but our old Windows machines haven't been revoked yet. I hope we do keep them. The load per machine has considerably lessened, and it feels really great to no longer wait for Eclipse or Aptana to respond!

Anyway, my brain doesn't want to work. I try to rev my figurative engines, but all I get are sputters.

My teammate and I are expecting a bulk of work to be assigned to us in a while. I would have enjoyed it last week, when I could still think.

I hate it when I can't work despite wanting to.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Yyyyyup, Still Alive

Almost 3 months since I last posted. =p

Most bloggers try to avoid bullet points -- but I don't! Bwahahaha!

What's up?

» Mark mirrored his blog in Multiply?!

Although I already reacted (quite aversely -- his Blogger blog had over 300 posts and my Multiply account had email notifications turned on, so just at the time when I was checking my mail on my cellphone, I had 369 new messages in my Inbox! A dozen of those notifications actually fell into Spam.. Nice one.. =p), I haven't asked him why. I don't think stuff like that needs to be justified.. Hehehe..

» Mike shares A LOT OF STUFF from the intarwebz..

His blog is quiet -- his Google Reader Shared Items ROOAAARRR!!!

» I have a new job. I started way back in November, marked by a very annoying, almost negligible and lame post. =p


  • I finally convinced Caesar to give our company a chance! =D

  • Randell, whom I worked with in my previous job, is back to being my officemate! =p

  • When I first joined the company, I was the only one from UPLB. Now there are 4 of us! =D

  • I've been into Java since way back in college. This year, I'm hitchhiking on the Ruby on Rails bandwagon. =p

  • PhRUG (Philippine Ruby Users' Group) held their last meet-up at our office! It was cool! There was pizza even! =D


» With the new job in Bonifacio Global City, I actually survived 2 months of commuting to work -- from LB! >_<

And after those 2 months, I finally have a place to stay in Makati!

» A-ha! I join the likes of Mike, Kaye and Randell..

I bought a PSP last week! Serves me well, since I'm away from my PC at home.. =p Free wi-fi at Burger King Glorietta, yey!

» I still like (fake) tennis..

But the live action Prince of Tennis movie was disappointing (except for seeing the special moves "in real life"..).

So, I reeeaaally like Virtua Tennis 3 for the PSP.

  • Federer was beatable in the World Tour compared to a Very Hard Exhibition match.

  • Juan Carlos Ferrero was a nightmare for my player! I couldn't beat him! His description in the game was Strong Forehand, if I recall correctly, but it should have been Technical Player! I hate his drop shots and stupid lobs. Despite my animosity, I learned a lot from his play style.

  • My preferred doubles partners were Nadal and Hingis. Because I also prefer them in real life. =p

  • I like how the game had special dialogue to the player I beat the most (Nalbandian, who emphasizes that he hasn't beaten me yet =p).



» Tekken 6 was released in the Philippines -- earlier than in North America and Europe!

Thanks, Namco! =D I've only tried the game one night/three games, but the only thing I didn't like was how the characters were too shiny. But Nap said that that was how we saw the PS2 version of TTT, so we would probably get used to it soon. Yoshimitsu (punch costume) scared me!

» I have a new nephew!

Ate gave birth to Ash last week! =) (I didn't bother visiting during the long weekend?! :-o)

» New puppy!

Ma named her Jenny. She's hyper!

» This is an old pet peeve: I can't post on Blogger on the Opera Mini!

So when I wanted to post something, I had to do so via email. Not that I've been blogging much recently. =p



These aren't even good bullet-points!

I KNOW I missed a lot of stuff (intentionally? subconsciously? =p), but this is already a lot for a comeback post! Not a lot of details but still a lot of: BULLET-POINTS!

Yarrr..