Kent wait for tomorrow

Year end

2010-12-21T22:43:00.000+08:00

This past year has taught me a lot of things about myself and my place under the sun. I left my work and tried out new things. I was rejected for not being good enough (hello NYU) but continue to dream on (International Max Planck Research Schools) . I went to school again together with my old habits.

The year is closing. The decade that made me who I am is about to end. Thank you for everything.

Time to reboot

2010-11-30T22:43:00.001+08:00

Last week I sold all my current positions and went 100% cash. Why? First of all, I'm tired of getting whipsawed by the market so I locked in my gains, however small they were after the fall from 4400 and wrote off my loss.

As to my "fearless forecast", ACR and ORE hit my targets while JGS and DGTL disappointed me. As for ALI, I'm still bullish about it even if it hits 15, but what it should not cross is its long-term uptrend line since March 2009.

Right now I'm just waiting the market to bottom and I think it will happen this week. Its even starting to happen already. Today's pre-close was very interesting because it was a forced close - and mind you - a coordinated forced close DOWN. This is exactly but opposite of, what happened during September when index issues ALI and SM were being closed too high. Today, DBP-Daiwa (and Deutsche I think) closed ALI, SM, SMPH, JFC, BPI gap down at the last minute! I was tracking SM retracing 530-540-550 then at the close I thought it was a breakout at 575 only to realize it was 475 and the index breached below 4000 when for the entire day it never touched 4000. Tomorrow will easily be an up day and if we cross 4100 by Friday, I think we have found bottom.

My current positions are very small: a few CEB while waiting for it to break out of the triangle, some MUSX and SOC for speculation. I'll pick up ALI once I have confirmed its third and lowest bottom and its triple bullish divergence is still intact. I think I'll also get some DGTL once it has confirmed that it won't breach its shallow uptrend line since December 2008. Lastly, I'm getting ACR as close to 1.40 as possible.

This is not yet over.

Bloody week

2010-11-10T21:11:00.001+08:00

What a week so far. I'm effin sick and I don't know yet what it is! I feel tired even if I've been in bed the whole day. My back legs, arms and eyes hurt and I'm having an on-and-off fever. It could be Dengue fever but I haven't had my platelets counted yet. I did go to the doctor (at midnight at that!) to get a diagnosis and he does suspect Dengue or perhaps just a flu.

The stock market isn't helping my pain either. The market ate 8k of my trading account and still wanted more. Right now I'm looking at 5 stocks that despite the downpour and the slaughtering held on quite well.

I'm almost certain that JGS will start trending up after this correction since CEB, which has been pulling it down recently, is taxiing towards a second takeoff from 125. DGTL also didn't fall and this is just begging for your attention. I think we are just waiting for Q3 report before any big move.

Two speculative stocks I'm watching are ACR and ORE. Right now I think ACR is ripe for a move after consolidating for a while at 1.38-1.48 especially as its defacto jockey HDI has been supporting prices. Lastly ORE will soon be shipping its first nickel ores not to mention the November 22 debut of Nickel Asia. I think this is just what it needs to drive it up past its 3.95 resistance.

However, for all of these to come true, I believe we have to bounce off the 4188 support tomorrow. We already saw an intraday bounce today. Good luck to all of us.

Short-term fearless forecast:
JGS: 30
DGTL: 1.80
ALI: 19
ACR: 1.60
ORE: 4.00

On the cusp

2010-11-03T14:17:00.001+08:00

Today I repeated my most common and most stupid mistake I commit during trading hours - impulse selling. I sold JGS down and lost a couple of hundreds just because it was making a loss although it had not crossed my stop yet. Worse still, I knew this fluctuation was just a reaction to CEB sinking even further. Right after selling, it continued to rise and close at 26.00. There is a fine line between being decisive and being impulsive and I usually end up on the wrong side of things.

My current favorite stock ORE did something pretty interesting today. Opening higher than yesterday's close but just duplicated yesterday's high and closing higher but within yesterday's range. Volume is still there. The intraday rise and fall of prices is still consistent from the past few days - rises steeply from opening to about 10:00 then prices slowly retrace to an intraday trough near 11:00 and then prices try to go up again but are unable to meet the high for the day. I find this pattern very interesting. Is this because of the jockey of this stock? I find its movement interesting because I have seen this before in another JAP stock... (guess what). The exact same candle formation, similar MACD momentum... heck even the resistance price is the same!

I think tomorrow and Friday will be critical days for ORE. Right now, it is on the cusp of 4.00. Given its usual volatility, it should close at least at 4.00 tomorrow. If I am to base its movement on the other JAP stock, it would open at 3.90 and breach 4.00 intraday. What would be critical is closing on or above that resistance with convincing volume, perhaps greater than 20M? The only difference between then and now will be the expected QE announcement by the Fed and the possible movement in metal prices. Right now I'm of the belief that this will breach 4.00 but will not close the week at 4.00. Maybe this will retrace its trough at 3.65-3.70 until its next move that will coincide with the Nickel Asia IPO. This stock likes to test its resistance first before breaking it. I just hope today isn't already the short-term peak of this stock!

Another stock on the cusp is FLI. I thought it would break its 1.48 resistance after reaching 1.49 but action immediately fizzled out and it slowly went back down to its open at 1.46 and then closed unchanged from yesterday at 1.44. I'm not sure what to make of this candle pattern. It looks like a shooting star with an upthrust at resistance but I'm not sure because MACDH just went positive and MACD lines met today while Stochastic also crossed today. Perhaps my position in FLI is clouding my chart interpretations under the guise of "conflicting signals."

Anyway, we'll see tomorrow what to make of these.

Once in a blue moon

2010-10-28T14:26:00.001+08:00

I forgot to continue my trading diary last night because finishing Angry Birds is more engrossing than blogging. I got to unlock every level already after snatching one of those golden eggs. Right now I'm on the third part of the game with this new type of bird that can boomerang back. But since games on the iPad don't make me any money, trading is still more interesting.

Today I repositioned my portfolio again. I lightened on ACR and ORE and bought some blue chips. It seems that small caps are out and the action is returning to big caps again. I'm guessing this is in preparation for Q3 earnings reports this November. A lot of stocks' momentums have retreated from their stupendous September acceleration and are about to cross up and give a MACD buy signal. Right now I'm watching BDO, EDC, FGEN, MBT, PNB and JGS.

Of these MBT has already crossed after the rally from support. Since MBT seems to follow stoch overbought/oversold, I'd probably enter at 75 or when it is near stoch is near 20. Banks seems to be in play again because BPI, BDO and PNB have joined the party too. Like the property sector, bank stocks seem to rise together. Another stock I'm watching and which I recently bought is PNB.

PNB is interesting because it is about to challenge its recent high. It's interesting because we could either see a breakout and a new high or a cup-and-handle formation that retraces before moving up further. Or we could just see it fail. Right now I'm not sure what the latest candle is supposed to be telling me and I'm also concerned that volume has not been as strong as the first run. I think tomorrow is a crucial day for this stock. Let's see.

BPI and BDO seem ready to go up again but their MACD cross has been less steep that MBT or PNB hence their momentum is still suspect. As for FGEN, I'm not sure whether the current rise is because of something or it's still trading sideways. MACD is looking good though and maybe a breakout from 14 with high volume will be the time to buy.

Lastly the most interesting play brewing I think is JGS.

Why? Well first it's going to be an index stock this November. Second, the CEB IPO is still a developing story and I think despite the lukewarm reception (its down to 125 today), its going to be big. Third, DGTL as a recovery play especially with Sun Cellular. Lastly, its technicals seem to be very enticing. MACD crossing up, stoch crossing up, tall white candle, heavy volume and about to retest its high. I just noticed this today and bought some and probably I'll be adding if it goes up and volume tomorrow is as high or higher.

I hope November will be as exciting and profitable as September!

Trading diary

2010-10-27T15:07:00.000+08:00

Beginning today, I'll be writing down my thoughts and two cents regarding the market and some stocks I'm following. I've always wanted to write down my observations to check later, with the help of hindsight if I called it right or wrong. I mulled on creating a private blog just for this but after thinking this through, I've decided to just write it down here.

The book I read said never to reveal open positions because criticism, constructive or not would lead to second guessing and eventually, that could lead to bad decisions or worse, not making one at all. So don't expect me writing down what I bought, how many and at how much. But I'll probably be disclosing what I bought, sold and what I'm still holding. I'll probably just be sharing what I think on a few stocks I'm following. By the way, since I'm a technical trader, this will be full of charts and signals instead of PE ratios.

When I started, I had a very small trading account and bought three stocks - AP, EDC, FGEN. All power sector and very bullish. My first mistake was getting shaken out because of my 2% loss rule. Since I had a small account, this allowed only to buy in small amounts with adequate slack for a stop or in big quantities but with very little room. If I had the insanity not to follow my money management rule, I would have profited immensely from their previous run: AP from 18 to 26, EDC from 4 to 6, FGEN from 10 to 13. But as I have learned, looking back and pondering your would be profits just makes your decisions worse because it freezes you when you reach that cusp. I have learned that potential profits are just that - potential. Less real that paper profits would ever be to cash, it's no use pondering what could have been. Probably the best thing that came out those few months was my resolve to follow my money management rule. This has allowed me to cut my loss quick (in the case of the recent LC euphoria) and reposition to different stocks.

These days I have learned to be more adventurous with my trading account. Back then I only traded blue chips that have given a clear MACD cross signal and/or an acceptable Stochastic reading. Now I try to preempt the crossing over signals and buy hoping a big wave is coming. I've also dabbled in small caps and at one point I even began trading companies I didn't even know but had very interesting charts.

Ok this post has gone longer than I expected. It has again started to rain and I have yet to prepare for my class. I'll rant some more later.

Connecting everything

2010-10-27T00:42:00.000+08:00

I've finally started to trim my social networks and link them up into a more unified system. The last thing to do is use my Blogger blog as a gateway to my Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Flickr networks. That part I'm not sure I've worked out yet (though I'm getting some idea from evhead.com)

Since I've joined the tumblr bandwagon I've been contemplating the use a full blog (Blogger) versus light blogging (tumblr) and microblogging (Twitter). I've come to the conclusion that they are all different ways of lifestreaming and its best I keep them all. I know that "update" seems not to be part of my vocabulary and I tend to lose focus, but that's why I like to keep my options open.

Do me a favor and add me up in Twitter @kent and at Tumblr kentwait.tumblr.com

It's going to be okay Bastian

2010-07-08T12:24:00.003+08:00

For someone who has played in two World Cup semifinals, to have come this close and yet just to fail and see defeat again, it must be a truly agonizing experience. To be someone who also played against the Spain in the Euro 2008 finals, experiencing the same 1-0 loss must be heartbreaking beyond words.

As I watched Bastian Schweinsteiger pour out his emotions, I felt for him because Germany lost to Spain not only because of Puyol's fantastic header at the 75th minute, but also because it lost its midfield prowess that was so threatening to England and Argentina. Spain had three times the number of attempts at goal than Germany and had dominated the possessions early in the match. Somehow Germany lost the ferocity we saw against Argentina and seemed content to soak up the pressure. The second half was more of the same except that Puyol came unnoticed from behind to head that ball past Neuer's hands. It was not poor defending; Germany had defended solidly. It was a brilliant break for Spain who never stopped trying.

What failed Germany was it didn't get enough tries. It couldn't penetrate through Casillas' penalty box. Klose and Podolski are excellent strikers and the midfield was good, but they knew they had to be spectacular to win. Khedira, Ozil and expecially Schweinsteiger were unbelievable against Argentina. That didn't happen this time. Schweinsteiger couldn't leave the pitch not because he cursed himself for playing badly. He played well, but he just didn't perform beyond expectations.

It's going to be okay Bastian. I just wished this summer's German fairy tale had continued.

New president, now what?

2010-07-01T14:07:00.002+08:00

For the past couple of years, people have always said that a new president will do us a lot of good. Today, after 9 years under the addministration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, we finally have a new face sitting under the that famed presidential seal.

But the question remains, "Will it change anything ?"

The hopes and dreams of a nation now lie squarely on the new president's shoulders. He has ran on a platform of reform and honest stewardship. Though I did not vote for him and it will probably take a while to appreciate his arrogance, I have accepted him. I do sincerely wish that he would do good on all those promises but I have grown cynical over the years. It seems though the faces and the times change, the end is still the same. I can vividly recall how we were all so glad to have Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lead us into the new millennium. Yes she probably did us a lot of bad, though her accomplishments in infrastructure and investment did also help us.

I hope that Benigno Aquino III will be a successful president... for my country and for the Filipino people. We're stuck with you for six years so better do something productive while you're there.

Goodbye Japan

2010-06-30T09:00:00.001+08:00

The Samurai Blue have been knocked out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup after a 0-0 last 16 game against Paraguay in Pretoria.

I was really hoping that Japan would qualify for the quarterfinals after their strong showing against Denmark. They were impressive against Ghana, both offensively and especially defensively and their game against the Netherlands was a convincing show of skill, even though they lost. However, in hindsight, their last 16 game with Paraguay was an exercise in drudgery and Japan suddenly seemed intimidated. There was no flow, no coherent attack, and no consistent pressure against Paraguay. Too often, Honda was left isolated without any support. Japan was nervous. Defensively they did hold up quite well, but that is just half of the game. They didn't want to take any chances and seemed content on holding a defensive line until Paraguay makes a defensive blunder. But they waited too long. After the a scoreless first half, they seemed to have loosened up and finally livened up, going in some more but again, it was nothing sustained. Sending a second striker in the second half did make things more interesting but by extra time, everyone seemed too tired already. Passes were awfully off target and they just wanted to have the shoot out.

The penalty shoot out is always a heartbreaking affair. I didn't want it to come to a shoot out when the glory of winning or agony of losing rested on the shoulders of a single man. I knew Kawashima was a formidable goalkeeper having stopped Rooney penalty once, but goalkeepers get the least pressure because saves are more an act of God than of man. That unfortunate man whose fate it was to miss the goal was Komano of Japan. Shooting third out of five takers, his shot hit the crossbar and ricocheted up to miss the goal. I feel his anger at himself and his agony of failing his teammates which together with him have come so close to reach their dream. For a team that have lost all their friendlies and were in such a disarray just months ago, they have definitely played well and have reached the last 16 well beyond everybody's expectations. In 2014, I know I will again see that Honda, Okazaki, Kawashima and the next generation of the Japan National Football Team in Brazil.

What if that counted?

2010-06-28T12:57:00.000+08:00

Farewell USA

2010-06-27T19:48:00.001+08:00

Clint Dempsey and the US National Soccer Team end their 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign after being defeated by Ghana 2-1.

I was hopeful that with Gooch, Donavan and Dempsey playing great in the group stages, the US had that glimmer of hope to go into the quarter or even semifinals. But you can't go win World Cup games if you always give up a goal in the first 10 minutes of each of your matches. See you in Brazil 2014 I guess.

Japan qualifies for the round of 16

2010-06-25T07:30:00.001+08:00

The CIA wants me

2010-06-13T14:19:00.000+08:00

I have probably watched to much "Chuck" lately because I think the CIA want me. I've been seeing the same thing for the past few days and it has become more frequent!

Evidence!

Delusions of working at the Buy-More and having The Intersect embedded in your brain come to mind. Maybe a hot chick will also just out of nowhere talk to me about her broken cellphone?

England 1-1 USA

2010-06-13T11:39:00.002+08:00

Well congratulations USA! Though you didn't beat England, a draw is probably giving Rooney and co. a smarting. I unfortunately missed watching the much touted England-USA game but thanks to the Internet, I got to watch Gerrard's goal against USA goalkeeper Howard on the fourth minute and that lucky strike of Dempsey against the unfortunate Robert Green.

England 1-0 (Gerrard)

USA 1-1 (Dempsey)

Step 1

2010-06-09T14:55:00.000+08:00

Today at 5 in the afternoon, my graduate school life begins.

After being both a student and a teacher, I probably know by now how to survive and what is expected from me. I hope that I would have the same passion and persistence from today until 700 days after. Given this opportunity to start a clean slate; I pray to have the discipline to be responsible, the courage to make try, make mistakes and learn from them, and to do everything I could to fulfill my plans for the future. Knowing what you want to be and what you wish to accomplish, I now have the burden of performing under the scrutiny of myself.

I want the next two years to be something I can be proud of. I do not want to feel any regret nor do I want to later realize that I could have done more.

I wish to be the best.

Digital Organization

2010-06-06T15:11:00.004+08:00

Because I'm still sick, I'm trying to kill my time by organizing my files and backups. I should have known better than to just dump everything in a single folder... Now I'm stuck with hundreds of documents and other unimportant files to try to classify.

If there is one thing I am learning, I suck at naming my files. What makes this a bigger chore than it is is that I have to open up some files once in a while to check what it's all about. I could have avoided this cumbersome step if a) Windows previews all files, not just images and documents with saved thumbnails and b) if I was better at describing through filenames.

Right now I'm trying to be punctilious in thinking of a standard nomenclature that I could easily use for file naming.

Did I mention that I hate this?

Just finished

2010-06-06T02:08:00.005+08:00

Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest

I just finished reading Stephen Ambrose’ Band of Brothers. Now I think I’ll watch all ten episodes again on DVD.

Hallo

2010-06-06T00:15:00.000+08:00

After two years of silence, I have once again found myself typing in Blogger's composer. I hope that this time around as I rediscover blogging, I can keep a steady stream of updates flowing. I know this will be a challenge especially with the rise of Twitter, Plurk and Facebook, making microblogging short status updates all the more enticing than writing long-winded entries. But I’ve thought of a way out just in case. Since a picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words, maybe I’ll post photos instead? Let’s see how this goes.

New school. New life. New blog.

Welcome and see you around.

A thought

2009-06-13T00:52:00.002+08:00

I think a redesign is due. I wonder when I would be able to accomplish this.

Tomorrow

2009-05-23T22:35:00.003+08:00

I have always believed that aging is a step function.

When I was young I looked forward to my birthday because it would be the day I would finally be one year older. Of course I wanted the gifts and the parties too, but its importance to me was always beyond my material desires.

My recent birthdays have been quite special to me. Two years ago I celebrated it in LA and Japan twice! First in a joint celebration with my mother's birthday and then in Tokyo together with a little get-together with some friends from the University of Tokyo. Last year I celebrated it with my blockmates in a night full of food, drinks and endless reminiscing as we all face our first taste of life after college.

As I turn a year older yet again, I seem to have lost this belief. Why do I have to celebrate the day I grow one year older? I cannot see the importance of such a frivolous event.

Each year, I have treated my birthday as the end of the year and an opportunity to start anew. Perhaps because the past year has been so good, I would rather not have it end. Everything that I set out to do last year has gone as planned except maybe for a few little quirks. I have a job that I interestingly enjoy, I get to visit my friends and have a drink or two once in a while and I don't have anything hanging over my head - I sleep well and I am contented. I was also given the opportunity to meet 29 interesting personalities and they have made me realize a lot of things during the past year. I am grateful that I took this path but restless as always, I am raring to go on an adventure and make a path of my own.

As I cross into my 22nd year of being, I would like to have a different set of goals this year.

This will be the year I set to shake things up. I like stability but it has become monotonous and boring. I have become comfortable in this daily grind that I feel I am settling for something less than what I dreamed of. I am no drifter who wanders about seeking the next adventure, but the most reckless ideas have proven to be the best in the crucial moments of my life.

This will be the year I take on my fears and anxieties. I will stare them down because I know I can do it. I will follow my heart without the overanalyzing straitjacket of the mind. I will be my own man making my own trail.

Boom!

2009-01-01T02:03:00.001+08:00

DSC01008RAW
Originally uploaded by Kent Wait

Happy New Year everyone!

Welcome 2009!

2008-12-31T22:34:00.002+08:00

Freeze

2008-12-31T20:43:00.001+08:00

Freeze
Originally uploaded by Kent Wait

Trying out the DIY macro technique with my kit lens

Stars in the morning sky

2008-12-30T15:46:00.001+08:00

Stars in the morning sky
Originally uploaded by Kent Wait

Addicted to Plurk

2008-12-30T03:12:00.001+08:00

Plurk
Originally uploaded by Kent Wait

What better way to sum up my current day to day activities with this shot?

2008-12-25T01:07:00.001+08:00

クリスマスおめでとう!

2008-12-19T22:48:00.001+08:00

BEST. DAY. EVER. http://ping.fm/6nywt

2008-12-16T23:22:00.001+08:00

wow. posting to twitter, blogger, facebook, plurk, flickr, multiply, pownce, yahoo360, delicious, myspace and friendster all in one go by just typing in in yahoo messenger though ping.fm... that was a mouthful!

2008-12-16T23:12:00.001+08:00

trying out this ping.fm to update my dozen or so social networks around the web...

Watchmen

2008-11-09T14:16:00.003+08:00

Last Friday, I was sort of killing time and roaming mindlessly around Powerbooks. I thought I would get a few magazines and pass time at some cafe while I waited. I ended up buying Time and Newsweek with 44 on the cover. Heading over to the counter, I passed by the comics and graphic novel section and saw a few copies of "Watchmen". I knew little about this venerable work, and only because there would be a Zack Snyder ("300") film about it next March. It was calling me, drawing my hand to its shrink-wrapped cover. With some spare money in my wallet, I grabbed it and made a beeline to the register. I made my impulse purchase for the month.

After being teased by my students along the lines of of "You're still reading comics?" and reading it with little pause to the end, I realized it wasn't so bad. In fact, it was peerless work. Watchmen is beyond the ordinary superhero genre, it is a critique on power, ethics and morality. Unlike the usual comic book good-evil dichotomy, Watchmen blurs everything to gray both morally and ethically.There is no incessant dialogue, instead expect a deep and convoluted discourse. Most of all, it asks the difficult questions of trust, truth, power and destiny using beautiful cinematic comic panels to present its case.

After reading it twice now, I truly believe that it belong in the ranks of "1984", "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Things Fall Apart" - as one of the greatest novels of all time.

Now, I wonder how Zack Snyder will approach the film version...

Resolutions done right!

2008-01-02T20:58:00.000+08:00

Okay. January 1 has passed and its time to start doing those resolutions. While I don't have any plans to stop cramming, I do have plans to start becoming an early riser. It helps me with my schedule, takes away the stress of being in a hurry and keeps my body well-rested.

So how do I actually do this. Well for starters, I'm documenting it. I printed a template calendar for 2008 and on every day, I'll write down the time I slept for the night and the time I would wake up. That will obviously keep me honest. And if you watch Seinfeld, there's this calendar Seinfeld marks for every time he achieves his goal for that day. I think I'll alway be doing that to keep my motivation and also check on myself.

This is just the first of my resolutions. I hope I keep it. I'll tell you again in detail at the end of the month.

Today is supposed to be a glimpse of the entire year?!

2008-01-01T18:21:00.000+08:00

While driving this afternoon, I hear over the radio that whatever happens today would be a preview of the year ahead. I hope that isn't as true as it may sound. Why? Let me see...

I woke up too early (7:45AM is early for me on a vacation) and then missed the time I was actually going to wake up.
When I woke up, my hands were sore and I didn't feel well rested at all.
I wasn't able to get a haircut in the morning, so I decided to do it in the afternoon instead. Going to my regular place for getting a haircut in Katipunan, I found out that it was closed. Not giving up, I went to TriNoMa knowing that I could well get a haircut there. First, the traffic in North Avenue was unbelievable compared to roads elsewhere. When I did get to TriNoMa, even their "underground highway" leading to the parking building was in a jam. You would wonder if carbon monoxide poisoning was an acceptable fate while waiting for the cars to move. Now finding an empty parking slot was a different matter, because there weren't any. And to top it off, I probably was the most unlucky guy looking for somewhere to park in TriNoMa. Well, after 30 minutes, I did get to park in a makeshift slot. Probably the security personnel saw me pass by 5 times and got sick of it.
Did I say I didn't get a haircut because everybody else thought of the same thing. There were no more slots for even a short haircut left for that day.
To at least somehow justify my journey, I went to CDR-King and decided to buy some stuff. This time I did get what I want, after 20 minutes of waiting in line.

And that's my January 1 so far. I hope these are just misgivings stubbornly hanging unto the new year and not something that would be recurring day in day out for the next 366 days. How lucky, I would get an extra leap year day of agony if that were to happen.

New Year's Buzzwords

2008-01-01T01:49:00.001+08:00

Instead of having some resolution, this year's goals will be summed up by words of strategic meaning, aka "buzzwords". So instead of having a todo list, I'll have cool sounding single meaningless contextless words to guide me throughout the year! (corresponding resolution in parenthesis to abstract some meaning at least)

Challenge (Be less calculating and take more risks)
Open (Try not to be myopic and see things for what they can be, rather than just what they are)
Flexible (Be able to adjust to new things and take risks, related to 1)
Task-oriented (Be more productive! GTD!)
Efficient (Stop cramming. Related to 4)

Akimashite Omedetou!!! Welcome 2008!

2008-01-01T00:02:00.000+08:00

Honestly, I don't know why I found that quite funny. But it was sort of nifty anyway. Happy new year everyone, or as they say in Japanese (romanji) "Akimashite omedetou!"

Singing you a Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T22:52:00.000+08:00

Kent through the years

2007-07-09T21:20:00.000+08:00

Motivational poster

2007-06-17T19:10:00.001+08:00

OMG! The Internet works again!

2007-01-08T21:31:00.000+08:00

No more waiting for Google to load.
No more blank Google Analytics.
No more inaccessible Blogger.
No more extremely annoying slow loading bar in Firefox.
No more "Loading" in Yahoo! Mail or GMail or Live Mail.
No more "please wait"
No more WTF!

It seems that my broadband Internet connection is worthy again of being called broadband!
Yeah!

Letters from Iwo Jima

2007-01-07T22:46:00.000+08:00

The other half of the Iwo Jima film saga directed by Clint Eastwood may be the most beautiful film of 2006. Its limited release in Japan and the United States has already garnered outstanding reviews and is the current favorite for the Academy Awards' Best Foreign Language Film.

Letters from Iwo Jima tells the story of the epic battle of Iwo Jima from the view of the Japanese lead by Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi played by Ken Watanabe. If Flags of our Fathers relived the historic planting of the flag of the United States on Japanese soil, Letters of Iwo Jima reveals the harrowing tale of ordinary men drafted to defend and die for their country.

Flags of our Fathers was the film that focused on the propaganda of the planting of the flag on Iwo Jima island. It was not the usual war film; it portrayed its men as fallible mortals not by war, but by the politics and its conflict with the truth. Letters does not veer far from the personal stories of its characters, but unlike its brethren, the toll of war on these young men is the main picture. Critic Kirk Honeycutt on RT comments that if Flags was the "broader, more entertaining film", Letters will be "for want of a better expression, more art house", inspired by the story and not the box office.

I'm very much looking forward to what the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures calls the best film of 2006 and what the New York Times believes is "close to perfect".

I am not a "technically-skilled barbarian"

2007-01-05T23:28:00.000+08:00

While cramming for my MBB 130 exam tomorrow, I heard a very inflammatory remark over the television.

Some news program was doing a story on the growing number of juvenile offenders, using the Philippine Science High School incident in early 2006 as a springboard in their sweeping generalization. It may be quite alarming to know that there is an increasing trend of young criminals, but portraying my high school alma mater as a school for scoundrels and a breeding ground for juvenile offenders is unacceptable. I know this story. A high school girl was the innocent victim of the plot by several people to literally wipe out the competition. Those people made a very grave mistake, and they will pay for it, but I don't see any reason why people need to have to drag the institution and its other innocent students. The report went from bad to worse when the victim's lawyer remarked that the school was producing "technically-skilled barbarians"

When I was in Philippine Science High School, we were like any high school; quite rowdy and full of spirit. Not everybody got along, not everybody may be friendly, but we surely were not homicidal against our fellow students. The school may not be sectarian or may focus on math and the sciences, but is that enough to conclude that this long-standing curriculum suddenly becomes the main reason why one or two students go astray? Is it simply the sole function of the school to teach morality? This is an institution for secondary education which prides itself for rigorous training for future scientists, engineers and leaders. It is not supposed to be the only moral authority for the foundations of what is right and wrong; or else what role does the family have left? What about the other esteemed institutions in secondary education which profess the love of God but have students suffering from drug abuse or big-time gambling? How is it that these private schools are spared from such generalizations and name-calling?

I have all the sympathy for the victim and her family. I'm quite happy that she was able to recover and now study in the same university as I am. However, I do not subscribe to the opinion of their lawyer, and hopefully this is not the stand of the victim and her family.

People may have the notion that we are simply nerds, geeks and know-it-alls. We are not "technically-skilled barbarians". The Philippine Science High School, in Diliman or any other campus, does not harbor "technically-skilled barbarians".

A new year, a new hope

2007-01-01T16:04:00.000+08:00

Just like the Star Wars film yesterday in Star Movies... anyway.

Usually I make a big deal about the new year. It's like turning a leaf or perhaps closing a chapter. You're supposed to do something new or stop being a grinch. People take solace that they can start over a clean slate every 365 days. However, I seem to have missed the spirit this time. It isn't like I didn't welcome the new year, it just seemed less than the usual. The fireworks made their noise and people still did all the silly new year's antics, but it isn't the same. I don't know if these are signs of a more somber year or I'm just getting old.

Meanwhile, let me do the customary new year's resolutions that must be a staple every start of a new year. This time around, my list is quite short and very simple.

Sleep early
Be assertive, take chances
Look on the bright side

It may seem mundane, but these are quite hard to do for me. This vacation, I've once again learned that sleeping early and adequately can greatly affect my demeanor. So maybe, if I just do my work and avoid sleeping late, it would make a lot of other things better.

The next is supposedly a no-brainer; but contrary to what people think, I'm not assertive. I may have a strong personality, but I don't always have the confidence to assert myself. One of my teachers back in high school told me that being assertive is a western idea and is opposite to asian thought. Probably what I'm asking here is to have enough self-confidence and self-esteem, because these usually lay the groundwork for other traits.

Lastly, I would like change the way I look at things. Everybody knows that I'm not a very positive person. I've learned to expect that things ought to go bad so that there won't be a reason to get disappointed. However, times have changed: I know how to accept mistakes and learn from them. Being pessimistic is not bad, nor is being optimistic always good. Right now I believe its time to start thinking differently. Besides, its a new year, with a new set of hopes and possibilities!

Taiwan quake is affecting my Internet connection

2006-12-31T13:07:00.000+08:00

The earthquake in Taiwan may not have directly affected the Philippines, but it surely affecting me. Being in front of the computer most of the time using the Internet, it's quite annoying to wait for pages to load and images to appear especially when you're on a broadband connection. I asked my PLDT why the DSL connection speed has seemingly degraded to dial-up. They said that the South Taiwan quake damaged submarine cable lines that directly connect South East Asian Internet and communications traffic to the US. Because of this, they claim they had to search for other routes, but these will obviously be slower since in networking, more hops mean more latency. And to top it all, these alternate routes which pass by Europe seem to have become congested with the sudden surge of traffic. PDLT said that it may last up to a month before things go back to normal.

So I'm just hoping that Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have mirrors located elsewhere since I can't stand waiting anymore.

Blogger's new way of syndicating RSS is annoying

2006-12-25T14:32:00.000+08:00

When Blogger Beta first came out, I was quite excited because finally, Blogger was getting on the web2.0 wagon. The best feature it had was its "instant" publishing. No longer would you wait until Blogger makes a new HTML file, it now does it on the fly now. It also made things simpler for the novice user by offering a layout and design front end, similar to Live Spaces' drag-and-drop widgets.

After a couple of months, Blogger is now out of beta (I never knew Google had the guts to take anything out of beta, ie. GMail) But it seems that this one was still a little half-baked. The WYSIWYG layout pane still breaks when a CSS-styled wrapper has pixel-set dimensions. And now, Blogger has taken the liberty to tinker with the way your feeds get baked.

Today I found out that Blogger's RSS treats "publish" and "update" as two different things. Back in the old Blogger that now wants to play Warcraft in Hawaii, when you post something, it gets syndicated into the blog's RSS feed in the same order as it appears in your blog. If you edit that post, its syndication order doesn't change. Now in the new "not beta anymore" Blogger, things are quite different. Publishing a post does get it syndicated at the top of the feed. However, try editing an older post and republishing it, and now you get it on the top of your feed even though its dated older than the others. Blogger's new way of making RSS feeds is like making a running list of things, every single time something changes, it gets to be the "newest" thing on your list. There is wisdom in their decision since you want people notified that something changed and need attention. However, not everything works that way. First of all, the RSS feed now uses the date of the "last update" of the post as its "post date", when everyone is acustomed to the fact that the post date means the date it was posted, not last edited. One disgruntled user in the Blogger Help Group had this sentiment:

I use my feed for a podcast, and if I make a small change to a post for a podcast months ago, I definitely DON'T want that episode to suddenly jump to the top of my list in my feed and that could be HIGHLY ANNOYING for subscribers whose iTunes or whatever is set do download the latest episode.

See Blogger, it's not all that simple really. This new way of syndicating feeds also defeats the ability to manually change the post time and date, because it isn't reflected on the feed. Yes, you can probably fake the post date which shows up on your blog, but when people see your RSS feed, things get confusing. Too bad, I can't pretend that I'm posting holiday greetings on time anymore when in fact I'm doing it a week late. Anyway, that's not the point, my biggest gripe is that Blogger's new way of syndicating RSS is annoying. Why did you fix something that wasn't broke Blogger?

By the way, there are a couple of help posts (here and here) in your Help Group that needs attention. I hope you guys take the time to see this quirk. For now, I can live with a little quirk. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

2006-12-24T23:54:00.000+08:00

Back to blogging

2006-12-17T14:30:00.000+08:00

I've been really busy trying to balance everything these days. Actually, I'm trying very hard just to lay of the computer and get a life. Anyway, expect me to blog alot more these days. Hopefully.

CSS Reboot

2006-11-01T22:40:00.000+08:00

Today, November 1 at 1800 GMT, various sites around the world will reboot their site designs for the Fall CSS Reboot.

The CSS Reboot is a community event for web professionals and enthusiasts. Every November 1st and May 1st at 18:00 GMT, Rebooters from all over the world launch their standards based website redesigns simultaneously; bringing traffic, interest and a little respect to their sites. There are no prizes or arbitrary winners, just great exposure and the knowledge that we all participated in something great.
-CSS Reboot FAQ

By the way, visit my page in CSS Reboot Gallery at http://www.cssreboot.com/reboot2025.

Refresh

2006-10-31T20:14:00.000+08:00

New month, new semester and a new design to go with it.

Finally I was able to pull off a slick and shiny layout from scratch in 2 days. But I have to confess, its more of a synthesis of design ideas inspired from various choices rather than something purely and totally from the ground up.

The title is supposed to sit on a reflecting surface, like all those shiny Apple presentations and advertisements. I really like the effect, especially against a white background - no wonder the iPod sells. But of course, we know that this one is just a gradient fake. For the color scheme, it was a real toss-up since I didn't have any in mind. After visiting evhead though, I really liked the idea of using green and yellow, and I built on those colors. After a couple of hours, I settled for a cool temperature scheme of blues and greens, which is quite different from my usual reds.

For the layout, I said that I would use the built-in Blogger Beta "sections" as much as possible. However, as I soon found it, it was truly still in beta. I was actually contemplating on the single column layout Ev was using but I realized it didn't go well with my often short entries. I decided against my old three-column side-by-side navigation layout even if I really liked it because one of my more critical friends said it was too radical and confusing. So, I settled for a blended layout scheme using two columns, one of which could further be divided if necessary.

The real headache was in understanding the new Blogger template system. This probably took one and a half of the two days it took for developing and troubleshooting. The Blogger Beta Help is simply too little to understand it fully. I suggest tweaking and experimenting with an already made template to truly grasp it. However, after understanding it, it seems very much like the old system and is actually far better and will be like second nature. The new template system is really XML unlike the old psuedo-HTML Blogger tags, and with it it brought two very useful and now indispensible tools: the "if" tag and the "loop" tag. This allowed control of various elements from how posts would look to the way widgets are placed. With all this power of customization, the new templating system is obviously better for creative hackery. One quick hack of the standard template gives you the power of differentiating the look of the author's comments from everybody else, together with CSS of course.

Like Blogger Beta, understanding it is also a work-in-progress. The is so many to explore that the possibilities are quite immense. One thing though, the web interface of Blogger beta for its "sections" and "page elements" need a lot of work. I easily broke it after using a large fixed-width wrapper around everything. At least Google is still interested in developing Blogger for the web2.0 generation.

Going beta

2006-10-29T13:04:00.000+08:00

I'm trying to work out the new Blogger Beta template system right now. Even if its radically different and the learning curve is steep, the added value is simply to good to pass. Just wait and see for my new template design with tags and all that web2.0 stuff.

The Chequered Flag

2006-09-10T22:31:00.000+08:00

After winning the Italian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher announced in the post race conference his intention to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season. He will be remembered as one of the greatest, and most controversial, drivers in the history of Formula 1 and motorsport.

"I have decided that I am going to retire from racing. It has been an exceptional time," the 37-year-old Schumacher said.

"What motorsport has given me in more than 30 years has given to me, I have loved every moment of it, good and bad.

"It has been a tough decision to not work at this level. The day has come and I felt this is the moment."

The seven-time World Champion announced his decision after winning his record 90th victory in a career which Schumacher has broken every single meaningful F1 record:

Most World Championships (seven, back to back in 1994-95 and five consecutive times from 2000-2004)
Tops the records at 90 race wins, 43 second places, 153 podium finishes, 69 pole positions, 75 fastest laps and lead 138 times for a total of 5,013 laps from 244 race starts
37 doubles (Pole & Win in same Grand Prix) and 22 hat tricks (Pole, Win & Fastest Lap in same Grand Prix) and converted 40 race wins from pole
Most number of wins in a season, 13 out of 18 in 2004, 7 of which were consecutive and was on the podium for 15 out of 18 races
The only driver to finish the entire season on the podium, 17 out of 17 in 2002
Most career points at 1354
Most wins at a circuit, wining 8 times at the French Grand Prix at Magny Cours and the only racing driver at any motorsport or racing class to win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway five times

Amidst his unrivaled achievements, Michael Schumacher's career is for from unblemished though. He has weathered several controversies from crashing into his closest rival to win the 1994 World Drivers' Championship to his latest antics to impede current World Champion Fernando Alonzo from gaining pole position at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.

From the International Herald Tribune

1969 — Born Jan. 3 in Hurth Hermulheim, Germany.

1974 — Begins kart racing, using a homemade kart built by his father.

1983 — Obtains German Kart license.

1984 — Wins German Junior Kart championship.

1985 — Finishes second in the Junior World Kart championship in Le Mans. Wins the German Junior Kart championship.

1986 — Finishes third in the German Senior Kart championship.

1987 — Wins the German and European Senior Kart championships.

1988 — Signs for the Euphra Formula Ford team. Wins the Formula Konig championship, finishes second in the European championship and sixth in the Formula Ford 1600 series. Signs for the WTS Formula Three team after a test drive at the end of the year.

1989 — Finishes third in the German Formula Three series.

1990 — Wins the German Formula Three title. Finishes fifth in the Group C World Championships.

1991 — Debuts in Formula One at the Belgian Grand Prix as a replacement driver for the Jordan-Ford team. Signs for Benetton-Ford a week later, competing in five races. Finishes 12th in the championship.

1992 — Wins his maiden Formula One Grand Prix in Belgium. Finishes third in the championship, ahead of triple world champion Ayrton Senna.

1993 — Wins the Portuguese Grand Prix. Finishes fourth in the championship.

1994 — Wins his first Formula One world title in the final race in Australia amid controversy. Collides with championship rival Damon Hill taking both drivers out of the race. Becomes first German Formula One world champion. Wins eight races.

1995 — Retains world title, 33 points ahead of runner-up Hill. Wins nine races. Helps Benetton to first constructors championship with Johnny Herbert.

1996 — Joins Ferrari. Finishes third in championship. Wins three races.

1997 — Disqualified from world championship final classification, after driving into titel rival Jacques Villeneuve in the final race of the season in Spain. Wins five races.

1998 — Finishes second in the championship. Wins six races.

1999 — Breaks his leg in the British Grand Prix and is unable to compete for six races. Returns to help Ferrari to constructors championship with Eddie Irvine. Wins two races.

2000 — Wins third world title and Ferrari's first since 1979. Wins nine races, equaling Nigel Mansell's record.

2001 — Wins fourth world title. Wins nine races. Wins 52nd Formula One race at the Belgian Grand Prix, breaking Alain Prost's record.

2002 — Wins fifth world title, equaling Juan Manuel Fangio's 45-year-old record. Wins 11 races, beating Mansell's and his own record. Finishes in the top three in every race.

2003 — Wins sixth world title, breaking Fangio's record. Wins six races.

2004 — Wins seventh world title. Wins 13 of the year's 18 races to finish the season with a record 148 points.

2005 — Finishes third in championship. Wins United States Grand Prix.

2006 — Wins U.S. Grand Prix for the fifth time, becoming the only driver ever, in any series, to win five races at the Indianapolis circuit. Wins French Grand Prix for a record eighth time. Wins 66th pole at San Marino GP, breaking Senna's career pole record. Announces retirement, effective at the end of the season, after winning Italian Grand Prix.

Yahoo!
IHT
Wikipedia: Michael Schumacher, Formula 1 Records

Sick of being sick

2006-09-03T20:40:00.000+08:00

First of all, I don't know how I got sick in the first place, but I guess that's how the flu attacks. At first my doctor thought it was Dengue because of my blood test and the mere fact that Dengue fever is in season. However, I didn't contract any other symptoms like rashes and abdominal pains and my fever has since yesterday subsided. Ruling that out, the doctor concluded it's just the flu.

Well now I seem to be over it but boy was the collateral damage bad. How bad? An MBB exam went down the drain, a missed experiment, a couple of activities, high school homecoming and my energy vaporized into thin air. And by the way, I wasn't able to make anything productive during the weekend so I hope I don't get sick cramming for the next week.

Before, I sometimes wished of being sick just to get a rest from the stress of things, but I never wanted it this way. I don't ever want to have raging fevers that make my fingers numb and my body chill. This is probably a sign that I should change things, like my sleeping habits?

Sexyback

2006-08-19T01:06:00.000+08:00

This is the first Timberlake video that I really dig. I can't quite figure out why, but its probably because of the visual eyecandy!

Feeling good

2006-08-17T01:01:00.000+08:00

Why is the best feeling always associated with love? Can I not feel happy, satisfied and complete without being suspected as under the spell of Cupid? Is being in love supposedly the best feeling you can ever have?

This is the best feeling I've had in a long time. No, I'm not talking of having tons of free time and not feeling the crunch. This is an unfamiliar feeling, at peace, light and not a care in the world.

More on this tomorrow, now I'm feeling sleepy.

No more Beckham

2006-08-13T00:18:00.000+08:00

Apparently, new England manager Steve McClaren left out former skipper David Beckham in his line-up for the game against Greece. He told Beckham that he "wanted to go in a different direction". The new England boss however did not rule out recalling Beckham but it seems unlikely for Becks to add to his 94 caps.

Beckham said in a statement:

"Having spoken to Steve McClaren this week I can fully understand that a new manager should want to make his mark on the team and build towards the next World Cup."

"I'm proud to have played for England for 10 years and my passion for representing my country remains as strong as ever."

ATI would change AMD

2006-08-12T22:15:00.000+08:00

Now that it owns ATI, nothing is stopping AMD from adding an Avivo core in the future and market that processor for media centers or a low end graphics core for budget processors or a physics core for gaming.

read more | digg story

I am really going to change things

2006-08-12T00:47:00.000+08:00

On the verge of sleeping... but I need to review more. I feel that I'm on the edge. Help me.

Next week will be a new week, and things will change. Carve it in stone and strike me with lightning, things will definitely change. You'll see.

Fun Run!

2006-08-08T20:49:00.000+08:00

New Projects

2006-08-05T17:41:00.000+08:00

I'm currently working on two little projects that will keep me busy [when I'm not] that involves some of my limited knowledge on technology.

The first involves blogging, news and IT. By the way, I don't claim to be any expert and I certainly don't have access to any insider information. What I just want is to just share what is happening and what I think about it. I've been thinking of doing this a long time but I'm quit hesitant on integrating it on my personal blog because people who visit it aren't at all interested at the jargon of computers.

The second one will be something about something else, its more like lifehacker, but that is still in the works... I'll update this later on when things are concrete.

101 entries

2006-08-03T04:10:00.000+08:00

This is the 101st entry in this blog. Yehey!

Anyway, I haven't slept and I'm at the edge of reason and almost everything else. Now I know that sleep is actually something necessary rather than something your body forces you to do every day.

I've conquered my lab report hell, 3 reports in 3 days and 3 nights. Boy am I glad this ordeal is over. Next up my list, this Physics report for peer review. At least this one I have notes on, not to mention prior knowledge. And did I mention that it only requires 2 pages? Isn't that a far cry from MBB lab reports...

Gotta go, my eyes and my fingers are giving up.

You can multi-task, but don't expect to learn anything

2006-07-31T00:19:00.000+08:00

If you're going to learn something that won't require conscious effort in the future, like riding a bike, it's okay to allow yourself to lose focus. But if you're hoping to learn a process that's you're going to need to think about, like computer programming, cut the distractions and focus in on the task at hand.

read more | digg story

My Aching Tooth

2006-07-30T13:32:00.000+08:00

Two days of suffering ang I thought it would be over. For the past two days, I've been taking painkillers like peanuts to simply remain functional and not succumb to the pain. So anyway, yesterday, I went to the dentist to relieve me the agony of this fucked up canine, though my MBB exam before that seemed similary torturous. She told me that it needed root canal therapy and that it will probably be over in a week. Although it hasn't been as bad, the pain still reccurs and I still keep pain medications in my pocket.

So if you meet me somewhere, don't expect me to be in a good mood for the coming week.

How Hard is it to Study?

2006-07-28T23:12:00.000+08:00

Reading hundreds of pages of Molecular Biology of the Cell, my tooth is aching and everything is driving me mad! How hard can it get?

We all hate cramming especially when the word takes on a very literal meaning, think 300 pages of molecular biology jargon... But why do we do it? I have no idea. Perhaps this damn book can provide a cell biology approach to cramming.

This afternoon, just when everything was going well, my tooth suddenly started aching. I don't know why, but the timing was quite perfect. Now how the hell am I supposed to concentrate on reviewing?! Damn.

By the way, happy birthday Gerson! All the while I thought it was July 28, but someone told me it was actually yesterday, the 27th. Better late than never!

Second Straight Suspension

2006-07-25T14:13:00.000+08:00

Again, for the second day, classes in all levels were suspended. Lucky for me, I'm no longer stuck inside since my car just got a new battery. Finally I can leave and do something interesting [aside from blogging] and stretch my legs a bit.

By the way, I missed the chance to blog the biggest technology news of the week, or even the year! Microprocessor company AMD just bought graphics firm ATI for about $5.4 Billion. This deal is certainly the dream of enthusiasts everywhere, and is in fact billed as "a match made in enthusiast heaven" by Ars Technica.

I'll try to do my own analysis and opinion soon, but I'm going to go bowling first.

CS Fund Run

2006-07-25T00:23:00.000+08:00

Plugging

2006-07-24T13:23:00.000+08:00

Now before I plunge into full lab report mode, I would like to plug the things that make my blogging a lot easier and more interesting.

First off, thank you Ev for creating Blogger and essentially, push-button publishing that made the web alot more accessible to people who wanted to say something. For my photo sharing activities, I would like to acknowledge Zooomr for giving away 2.5Gb Pro accounts to bloggers like me. Yes I know its a ploy to crack the Flickr mindshare, but its features, like geotagging can easily do that. In the future, I hope Zooomr could have a badge or something similar so that people can put it in their sidebars. I think its an effective way of sends word out also. For the blogroll, there's BlogRolling. Though there's nothing special about it, its really easy to use and its enough for me. Riding on the tag cloud thing, ZoomClouds offers an easy way to make tag clouds for your blog using the RSS feed. Though its not perfect (especially since it picks up alot of irrelevant clutter words) it has promise. For the longest time, my chatterbox has served its purpose and works quite well, so thanks Flooble. Lastly, thank you Mozilla for giving us a browser that works and is standards compliant - Firefox. Boy you just can't imagine how hard it is to code for the IE quirks. Oh and there's also del.icio.us.

Well, that's that. By the way, there's a new Miss Universe... like we care anymore.

New Stuff

2006-07-24T00:42:00.000+08:00

After about 5 months, I decided to improve on the layout of my blog. I wanted it to be more "web2.0", harnessing concepts such as tagging (though this is only for my del.icio.us links) and RSS. Also, I will rely heavily on web2.0 services such as Zooomr for photos, Google maps and even YouTube to make things more "interesting".

By the way, I've decided on primarily using Zooomr for my personal photos and Multiply for pictures that need to be shared with people around me (just because everbody uses it). I'm not closing my Flickr or Yahoo Photos, but I won't be using them [often] from now on.

In the coming days, I will be adding my location map via Google Maps and make RSS more visible. I will also now actively support the things I like or catches my attention; like Zooomr and Firefox (although IE7 on Vista could prove me wrong) Anyway, I'll also start blogging more about stuff I like, but I'll still write inane and useless stuff once in a while.

By the way, my newest project will be finished soon. It sort of has the same look as my new layout except that it doesn't have a fixed width and is a little more serious. Watch out for that thing.

My hands are aching already, need to rest. I still have a lab report to attend to tomorrow.

Testing

2006-07-23T21:20:00.000+08:00

I'm testing several pictures sizes for my updated blog layout.

No Classes Tomorrow

2006-07-23T20:18:00.000+08:00

Again, on the day of the State of the Nation Address of the president, UP Diliman will not have classes. What a surprise.

Me in the Lab!

2006-07-21T22:41:00.000+08:00

Hosted on Zooomr

Why am I not in a lab gown? Who took this blurry picture?! Anyway.

I'm trying out Zooomr again right now. If you read my previous post about my little problem, you know that I'll be picking out my favorite soon.

Too many choices

2006-07-21T21:32:00.000+08:00

I've had this dilemma for quite some time now. Well, it's not the type you lose sleep over, but it's a dilemma nonetheless.

For the longest time, I've always tried the latest and greatest service on the web. From GMail to Flickr to Microsoft Live and other Web2.0 goodness. Now here comes my problem. I have too many photo sharing accounts!

My first photo sharing account is Flickr. It was neat and tacky, with all the features of what is now called "web 2.0" but I didn't plan on paying for the service, so it was quite limited. Then, my friends said to try Multiply because it was free and had little restrictions. It also had this added feature as a social networking portal. I opened an account but didn't bother to upload anything immediately because I still liked Flickr. Although I maintained my Flickr account, I tried different others like Ofoto and that Sony service that I can't remember. I also had a brief encounter with Yahoo Photos, but it was like the worst of all choices. You can't download the original or at least a large version of the file and it doesn't even give you the consolation of having a nice interface. When the deluge of Web2.0 services came up, I tried Zooomr because it featured the relatively new concept of "geotagging". Again, I just signed up and haven't done anything since. Now the last service I used was the new Yahoo Photos Beta. It is certainly better than the old one and actually mimics the Yahoo Mail Beta look, which is quite user-friendly.

The dilemma: I'm currently maintaining a Flickr, Multiply, Zooomr, Yahoo Photos BETA photo sharing accounts. Although I thought of just trying to spread out my pictures, I don't think that will work. I need to settle on just one.

Rocket Launcher for Everyone

2006-07-16T16:16:00.000+08:00

This is the exact reason why I love digg! I found this article on the front page of community news website digg just a while ago.

This kid from the US, together with his friend, built a homemade rocket launcher made out of pipes and a couple of ignitors. This is some amazing bad-ass project. So far, it looks like it works amidst the unstable flightpath of the homemade projectile. It looks like the Department of Homeland Security doesn't have to worry too much since this is no ballistic missile launcher, just the DIY ice cream cone variety.

Interested? Better check out the original article at this forum or maybe the digg.

DSL is up, TV is down

2006-07-16T00:44:00.000+08:00

Finally, after about 24 hours of not being able to access the Internet, the phoneline finally started working again! I was getting tired of hanging out at the Internet Cafe just to send emails, its quite awkward. I'm really sorry to everyone who was affected by this short outage. Don't worry, I've suffered more the you can imagine, especially when you consider that the only times I'm offline are either when I'm asleep or out of the house.

Now, just after the phoneline suddenly came to life, a very short electrical outage occurred (a second or two maybe). When the TV went back on, I found myself staring at gray garbage! Hell, I was in the middle of watching a movie. Let's just hope this doesn't last another 24 hours.

Can't I get what I want? Damn.

Zidane and Materazzi

2006-07-13T02:17:00.000+08:00

Finally I have found video footages of the Zidane-Materazzi incident. I've been raring to see the whole thing again since the live broadcast.

By the way, Zinedine Zidane is right now on a live interview with French TV Canal. He confirmed that he was provoked and it was "very personal". He indicated that it did involve his mother and sister but refused to elaborate further. This is contrary to Materazzi's statement: "I didn't call Zidane a terrorist and certainly didn't mention his mother." In the interview, Zidane also said: "I want to ask for forgiveness from all the children who watched that. There was no excuse for it. I want to be open and honest about it."

The BBC has tried to figure out what exact was said between the two and has come up with two versions.

BBC Radio Five Live asked for help from a deaf lip reader, Jessica Rees, who read the words phonetically to an Italian translator.

She deciphered the insult as being "you're the son of a terrorist whore" - a translation also carried by many national newspapers in Britain on Tuesday.

The BBC's Ten O'Clock News also called in experts to study the television footage of the incident and determined the following:

Materazzi's first word to Zidane was "no" before he then told him to "calm down".

He then accused him of being a "liar" and wished "an ugly death to you and your family" on the day the Frenchman's mother had been taken to hospital ill. This was followed by "Go f*** yourself".

Still no classes

2006-07-12T22:34:00.000+08:00

The Palace earlier this evening declared that classes will remain suspended in all levels for Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, CAR and NCR for tomorrow, Thursday, July 13, 2006.

This will be another long day. Might as well do something productive while classes are out. Sleep perhaps?

Rainy Days

2006-07-12T12:32:00.000+08:00

Well I'm officially stuck inside for today. I was supposed to have a meeting at UP this morning, but the weather seemed to have other plans for me. I woke up early despite it being a Wednesday, got ready and was raring to go, only to be confronted by the news that my route was flooded. I grudgingly asked where and how deep. As it turned out, the parts near the village gate was underwater and that the nearby stream had overflowed.

Thanks a lot. Now, amidst the cloudy skies, I waited hoping that the water would subside immediately. Then again, just so to spite me, the rain suddenly roared like waterfalls. And it roared on. By 9am, local classes have been suspended by the mayor. Probably he realized what a lousy job he was doing on flood control.

After 3 hours, the water did subside. But what use is that when its well past 12? Besides, would I even risk going out knowing there is a great chance that the roads would flood again when I return home? By the way, classes have been suspend just now.

Boy, this is a long day.

Zidane Wins Golden Ball

2006-07-10T22:01:00.001+08:00

My heart goes out to this man.

A hero who handed France its first World Cup on home soil in 1998, scoring two goals in Saint-Denis to foil Brazil's hopes. An icon that went out of retirement to see Les Bleus qualify even though his side was seemingly out of the running. A legend that lead France to the 2006 World Cup finals with his brilliance and experience. And a man crushed with a red card 10 minutes before his last professional football game, all because of a taunt that lead to a headbutt to stop Materazzi in his tracks.

Now, the tale of the great Zinedine Zidane continues as he is awarded the Golden Ball of the World Cup. The midfield genius who seemed to have regained lost flair was voted to win the tournament's best player inspite of his extra-time fiasco.

Up until now, there has been no news as to what exactly Materazzi did or said to have made Zidane transform into a monster. But all will be revealed in time...

By the way, Zidane is surely doing a good job to spoil Italy's party. After a brief period when all news agencies bannered the Azzurri victory, its headline all now read Zidane.

Italy Wins the 2006 World Cup

2006-07-10T04:47:00.000+08:00

It only takes one game to change everything. This statement has been said over and over again, but its meaning cannot be stressed more than in the finals. The match of the titans it was said. France has never lost an International Finals while Italy definitely has World Cup pedigree in their blood.

Just after 6 minutes, a penalty kick was handed to France after Materazzi was deemed to have blocked Malouda. Golden Ball candidate Zinedine Zidane shot a beautiful spot kick that hit beneath the crossbar and fell into the line. France has found their hero in Zidane one more time. However, their lead was short-lived. Italy's Materazzi equalized with an amazing headed from a corner kick. For the rest of the half, the French seemed to have the upper hand but it remained 1-1 at the half-time.

France began the second half with a very threatening Thierry Henry. However, Italy also had its own advantage with their spotless set-pieces. At the 58th minute, France pillar Patrick Vieira left the field for a hamstring injury and was substituted by Alou Diarra. Despite this, France seemed to have the upper hand and continued to pressure Italy. Buffon and Cannavaro however, managed to stop everything the French had. This game looked to be decided in extra time.

Extra time seemed to light up with a brilliant bullet header by Zidane at the 104th minute, but Gianluigi Buffon proved to be master of his goal. What seemed to be a sure goal that would seal France the win was deflected by Buffon over the crossbar. Suddenly, at the 111th minute, the unthinkable happened. Everyone on field seemed to be in disarray as an Azzurri lay down on the field. The cool and reserved Zinedine Zidane first passed by Marco Materazzi at midfield, then backed up, and suddenly burst out of control to butt him head-on in the chest, knocking him down on the grass. Horacio Elizondo, the referee who sent England's Wayne Rooney off with a red card, stopped the play and seemed bewildered, not having seen the action brewing midfield. Controversy still surrounds this, but it is said that the fourth official vouched to Elizondo that he had seen the action and that it was well worth a red card. Who would ever think that Zidane, hero of Les Bleus, would end his professional football career in such a manner. And so that ends the tale of the great Zidane. With France down to ten, Ribery and Henry subbed, Zidane out; France seemed to be hanging by a thread. Amidst the storm, the French stood firm and decided to let it go down to penalties.

I never liked penalties. Unlike England who seemed rattled everytime the word "penalty" is uttered, France and Italy seemed more comfortable and relaxed. The shoot-out went in favor of Italy at the second penalty when France's Trezeguet missed hitting beneath the crossbar, but unlike Zidane's, it didn't fall inside the line. The shoot-out concluded 5-3 for Italy. France's Sylvain Wiltord, Eric Abidal and Sagnol and Italy's Pirlo, Materazzi, De Rossi and Del Piero all saw the back of the net, with Italy's Grosso sealing the win for the Azzurri.

Programming Is Like Sex

2006-07-09T14:21:00.000+08:00

because…

One mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life.
Once you get started, you’ll only stop because you’re exhausted.
It takes another experienced person to really appreciate what you’re doing.
Conversely, there’s some odd people who pride themselves on their lack of experience.
You can do it for money or for fun.
If you spend more time doing it than watching TV, people think you’re some kind of freak.
It’s not really an appropriate topic for dinner conversation.
There’s not enough taught about it in public school.
It doesn’t make any sense at all if you try to explain it in strictly clinical terms.
Some people are just naturally good.
But some people will never realize how bad they are, and you’re wasting your time trying to tell them.
There are a few weirdos with bizarre practices nobody really is comfortable with.
One little thing going wrong can ruin everything.
It’s a great way to spend a lunch break.
Everyone acts like they’re the first person to come up with a new technique.
Everyone who’s done it pokes fun at those who haven’t.
Beginners do a lot of clumsy fumbling about.
You’ll miss it if it’s been a while.
There’s always someone willing to write about the only right way to do things.
It doesn’t go so well when you’re drunk, but you’re more likely to do it.
Sometimes it’s fun to use expensive toys.
Other people just get in the way.

Wasn't that interesting? I found the original at http://push.cx/2006/programming-is-like-sex
It was just too novel to pass up for merely some green humor.

Germany Gets Third Place

2006-07-09T05:06:00.000+08:00

Amid the constant push from both squads, the first half ended nil-nil. The great Oliver Kahn started for Germany, after being second fiddle to Jens Lehmann, and he surely didn't disappoint. Pauleta almost found the net at around the 15th minute, but with Kahn the only man he was up against, he was unable to beat goalkeeper and fired it directly to the him. Germany's Kehl fired back with a dipping shot at goal but shot-stopper Ricardo got his fingertips to it to deflect top of the crossbar. Lukas Podolski had another chance to give Germany the lead, but again expertly thwarted by Ricardo.

At the start of the second half, it seemed that this could go down to penalties. It would have been something interesting to watch with arguably the best performing team on penalties versus the most prolific penalty shot-stopper. However, Bastian Schweinsteiger made sure that would happen with a deceptive shot that passed the arms of Ricardo. Germany 1-0 Portugal. Things went downhill for Portugal after an own-goal by Petit after deflecting a low free-kick from German hero Schweinsteiger. Portugal started to press harder but after a shot from Deco that was saved by Oliver Kahn, the German goal seemed impenetrable. At the 78th minute, Bastian Schweinsteiger again found the net with a brilliant shot from 25 yards. The celebrations errupted with Schweinsteiger forgetting that removing his jersey would automatically give him a yellow card. That didn't matter right now, nobody in the Gottlieb-Daimler stadium in Stuttgart would have cared. Portugal seemed to have grown more desperate, scoreless. Luis Figo showed a flash of brialliance, so often seen from these veteran stars in Germany, to cross the ball into the box where Nuno Gomes headed the ball into goal, leaving Kahn helpless in close quarters. Portugal would not bow out scoreless.

Crunch Time

2006-07-08T12:36:00.000+08:00

My world just became a little bit more busy...

Later tonight, I have a deadline to beat - thanks to some snide suggestion. However, my defiant outlook vanished when I found out the other day that one of my groupmates suffered from too much enthusiasm and didn't mind doing some of my part. Now, I'll just have to fill in the blanks and plug some gaps in the report.

Now, how about the Plant Tissue Culture test on Monday? I wonder when and how I'll review for that especially without a book. I'm not quite sure the handouts would suffice and I hope I can still read my hieroglyphics of a notes.

By the way, my World Cup obsession will come to an end 3:00AM Monday, July 10,2006 when France meets Italy in Olympiastadion in Berlin for the finals. It will truly be a momentous occasion for football especially for the winners. Will Zinadine Zidane have his coup de gras and lead France to a second World Cup or will Fabio Cannavaro hand Italia with its fourth star?

France 1-0 Portugal

2006-07-06T10:12:00.000+08:00

This is probaly the best way to summarize the entire match. Technically, Portugal's Ricardo should get all the hate of English fans for his crunch time skills, but maybe Ronaldo's wink edged him out with his pretty boy antics. On the 33rd minute, Zinedine Zidane displayed a flash of brilliance one more time with a penalty to score the lone goal of the match. Penalty shot-stopper Ricardo, master of the English penalty flops, dived at the right direction, got his fingertips on the ball, but failed to keep Zidane's shot out of the net.

Les Bleus will go to Berlin on Sunday to dream the impossible dream. For Portugal, maybe they'll have better luck in a diving competition. Imagine, if Cristiano Ronaldo could do such theatrics in the penalty box, what wizardry could he be capable of high up a pool? Well, at least they didn't send the French into fits of rage and violence.

My forcast did hold. Next prediction: Germany will win in Stuttgart on Saturday. On Sunday, it's more even but if the French continue their ways, they might just sneak in a win over the Azzurri.

Azzurri go to finals

2006-07-05T09:35:00.000+08:00

So far my prediction is holding well. Italy defeats Germany in Dortmund today 2-0 after extra time. Two late goals from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero crashed the host's dream of going to the final.

Now, just one more team to go...

Beckham quits as England captain

2006-07-02T19:50:00.000+08:00

David Beckham, England captain for six years stepped down today after their heartbreaking defeat against Portugal on penalties.

A desolate Beckham said:

"On 15 November 2000, Peter Taylor gave me the greatest honor of my career in making me captain of England and fulfilling my childhood dream.

"Now nearly six years later, having been captain for 58 of my 94 caps, I feel the time is right to pass on the armband as we enter a new era under Steve McClaren.

"It has been an honor and a privilege to captain our country and I want to stress that I wish to continue to play for England and look forward to helping both the new captain and Steve McClaren in any way I can.

"I came to this decision some time ago but I hoped to announce it on the back of a successful World Cup, but sadly that wasn't to be.

"This decision has been the most difficult of my career to date. But after discussing it with my family and those closest to me, I feel the time is right.

"Our performance during this World Cup has not been enough to progress and myself and all the players regret that and are hurt by that more than people realize.

"I wish to thank all the players for their support during my time as captain as well as Peter Taylor, Sven and all the coaches.

"I would also like to thank the press and of course the England supporters who have been great to me and to my teammates. I want them to know that for me it's been an absolute honor.

"Finally, I have lived the dream. I am extremely proud to have worn the armband and been captain of England and for that I will always be grateful."

I will always be a David Beckham man. He may not have the finesse of Zidane or flow of Ronaldo, but he is arguably the best man for set-pieces. A lot have called for his head after lackluster perfomance at this World Cup, but his contribution to win over Ecuador was undeniable.

Maybe this is right for England. Start on a clean slate. Steve McClaren surely won't have problems finding his next skipper.

Transformers Teaser

2006-07-02T17:39:00.000+08:00

The Transformers (2007) has a teaser trailer available exclusively at their site. As teasers go, this is really vague and not a shot of any integral character was shown. Anyway, just go watch it at transformersmovie.com. For full details, go to IMDb.

Fearless Forcast

2006-07-02T14:38:00.000+08:00

The stage is set for an all-European semifinals. Finals forcast? Probably it'll be Azzurri - Les Bleus at Berlin on July 9. Well, Germany can still prove me wrong though. However, I'm quite sure that if France continues on their form, Portugal won't win, no matter how many cards are waved.

France 1-0 Brazil

2006-07-02T10:02:00.000+08:00

Things seem to have a liking of repeating themselves today. Think Euro 2004, and you'll remember England went out on penalties against Scolari's Portugal. Think World Cup 2002, when England succumbed to Scolari's Brazil in the quarterfinals. Now, think a little harder and try to remember France '98 - France winning 3-0 against Brazil in the finals.

Today, the quarterfinal match between France and Brazil was billed to be the clash of the titans, underperforming titans maybe. Back 8 years ago, an inspired Zinadine Zidane saw France to victory. However, it has been 8 long years since then and Brazil has won the 2002 World Cup and the Confederations Cup. A lot has changed since then.

Then again...

The first half started in favor of Les Bleus thanks to Zizou. However, France failed to create anything, with Brazil locked in defense. Things started to get exciting near the end of the first half with Zidane's pass to a blazing Patrick Vieira, only to be cut by Juan. Two free kicks were given to France; one for Juan's tackle, the other for Ronaldo's hand-ball after the first kick. But both failed to get Dida rattled at the goal. At the second half, nothing seemed to have changed, up until the 57th minute. Zizou whipped in a free-kick to the post, which an unmarked Henry spectacularly volleyed past Dida into the net. This was the moment of the match. Brazil did their best to equalize, but all their efforts didn't even seem to get Fabien Barthez nervous.

In the end, former World Footballer of the Year Zinadine Zidane made the Brazil cry one more time. Ronaldo, Cafu and Roberto Carlos surely know this awful feeling. It would be sublime to see Zidane lead his country to victory one last time. Now if only Portugal would move over...

England is Out

2006-07-02T01:48:00.000+08:00

Penalties did it again for the Three Lions. After extra-time, the game was tied nil-nil. And as we all know, penalties aren't England's cup of tea. Portugal took an early lead with Sabrosa, but Owen Hargreaves leveled off for a 1-1. On the fourth penalty, Postiga of Portugal saw the back of the net. Carragher seemed to have equalized, but alas, the referee calls for a retake - which was saved this time by Portugal's Ricardo. Cristiano Ronaldo sealed the win for Portugal, ending in 3-1 on penalties.

Ironically, though England was in far better form, even maybe their best so far, it wasn't enough to goal in 90 minutes. Things started looking bad right after the second half with David Beckham being subbed for Aaron Lennon due to a slight injury. It went downhill from there for the Three Lions with Wayne Rooney sent off with a red card for stepping on Carvalho.

It seemed that England would do better this time around, especially with Rooney up to full fitness and Gary Neville also back in the game. England still held to the much-maligned lone forward formation, but the players seemed to get the hang of it. For so many times, in the end, this seemed to be another "What if?" scenario. Some would argue on the point of the red card and why Rooney had to start losing his temper; or how about the contribution Beckham could have made on the several set piece after his departure. Let's leave the English press for those, they seem to be really good at it.

This is an end of an era. This is Sven Goran-Eriksson's last for England and may well be David Beckham's last World Cup appearance. You'll have to feel sorry for this man, no skipper would want to leave his team, especially if he knows he's needed and it could be his last.

Maybe it was the heat or the pressure of a stadium packed with England supporters. The team said there wouldn't be any excuses this time. They did well, and even held up nicely with a man down. This match for England can easily be summed up in one picture. And it's not Cristiano Ronaldo crying this time.

Spider-man in Black

2006-06-29T17:02:00.000+08:00

Spider-man 3 trailer is now out. It really spells out what to expect next year. However, the talking point really comes from the black spidey suit. Are we really going to see Venom? Also, there seems to be another villain as Sandman gets some screen time in the trailer. Is there enough room two villains?

Obviously this footage is causing more questions than answers. Other than the point of seeing the black suit, I think there is nothing more intriguing than that.

Check out the trailer at Apple. For more information about the movie at IMDb.

Spider-man 3 Official Site

Speed Needs No Translation

2006-06-18T14:05:00.000+08:00

The plot was as winding as a straight; the characters were as boring as a sunday drive and the acting was a big pile-up. Then again, you don't see this movie for those things.

The latest "The Fast and the Furious" franchise lacks the stars of the previous and got totally lost without a plot, but then again, it tries it's darnest to steer the film with all those shiny cars. You don't buy a ticket to see something like "Crash" or "The Godfather", you expect bling and lots of it. As a no-brainer action flick, it does it job really well, actually. Its trademark racing scenes are still intact, but with the focus on drift racing, the usual nitrous boosting cutscenes are gone. This time it's not just about getting the speed, it's also about the precision.

Maybe you'll miss Paul Walker or Vin Diesel in this film, but don't worry, you'll be in for a surprise.

First Day High

2006-06-12T18:59:00.000+08:00

Nasasabik sa unang araw ng eskwela
Taas kamay with confidence (Let’s do the first day high)
First day of school laging may kaba
Sino ba naman ang gustong mag-isa

Sana may cute na makatabi
May bagong kaibigan tapos ng klase
Lakas loob hanapin ang katropa
Sumabay sa sayaw (Let’s do the first day high)

Chorus:

Nasasabik sa unang araw ng eskwela
Taas kamay with confidence (Let’s do the first day high)

Umaapaw sa talino (do the brainy high)
Kung mayaman si papa (do the sosy high)
Pag mahilig ka sa sports (do the MVP high)
Kung cool ka at astig (do the rebel high)
Pag solid sa bait (do the nice guy high)
Itaas ang kamay (Let’s do the first day high)

First Day High!

Repeat Chorus

Iba’t iba ang hilig
Magkakasundo sa trip
Kung gusto mong sumama
Welcome ka mag first day high

Taas noos wag ka mag-alala
Tiwala sa sarili wag ka nang mahihiya
Kumaway wag kalimutang ngumiti
Sigurado sa iyo na may babati (hi!)
Lakas loob hanapin ang katropa
Itaas ang kamay (Let’s do the first day high)

Repeat Chorus

F-I-R-S-T-D-A-Y (first day high)
F-I-R-S-T-D-A-Y (first day high)
F-I-R-S-T-D-A-Y (first day high)

Repeat Chorus

Injuries

2006-06-08T12:45:00.000+08:00

The FIFA World Cup is just a day away! The favorites are of course Brazil, but Argentina, France and England are always there. And if the world rankings are right, there might be a couple of surprises [like Czech Republic]

So after four years, England's hopes of World Cup success hang on another metatarsal again (then Beckham, now Rooney). What bad luck. Though Rooney has been cleared for the World Cup, its expected that we'll only see him in action after the group stage. On the other hand, France's Cisse will not be taking part in this World Cup after breaking a bone in a friendly with China just days before Germany '06 begins.

I too have my own pre-World Cup injury. My elbow and wrist is at it again, and NSAIDs don't always do the trick. I guess I'll be watching more TV and do less typing in the coming days.

Do You Know Me?

2006-06-02T21:05:00.000+08:00

Take the quiz to find out... And don't worry, I won't take it against you if you scored nil or something. By the way, wait for it to load before you start pressing some "FART" button...

Who's your boss (quiz)

Moving Forward

2006-06-01T21:13:00.000+08:00

Before the first day of this month ends, I would like to grab this chance to lay out my goals for the next 4 months, that is, the upcoming semester.

Now that I know that I accomplish my goals through focus and adequate effort, I know these new tasks would be very feasible. Here's the deal. If I don't accomplish at least 75% of what I planned, I will personally punish myself, one way or another. Perhaps no computer then? [Too drastic!] Here goes:

A GWA of 1.4 or better (with a 1.0 in a GE)
Never skip classes; tardiness is a little OK, but not for my first class
Study, not cram
Make a schedule, this also means calculated time in front of the computer
Get to 140lbs lean, not lard. Maybe get ripped [to pieces?] in the process. No really.
Spend less and be more calculating
Be less temperamental

And by the way, I'll be doing a special World Cup design. See you on June 13!

Looking Back

2006-06-01T17:47:00.000+08:00

More than a month ago, I posted this to carve in stone what I wanted for myself this summer, or summer classes at least. Going back, I seem to have done a great job, actually. Maybe I wasn't able to wake up consistently early, because I found out that arriving at 7 in class would mean waiting for another 30 minutes just for it to fill; or be "less passionate" while driving, since a lot of jerks ply the highway; but I think I did well given those goals.

Let's ennumerate:

I didn't skip any class during the summer! No absences and not a day "late" (whatever my teacher's definition of it is). I didn't cram all the way through, only just the first half. I studied hard for it, and I think even without setting a grade, I got what I wanted.
Albeit late, I was able to go to gym consistently, but of course, it's always second in priority. If only I didn't incur this damn injury. Just some more time, and I'll be back! (no rock-hard gut yet, but I like the way my delts are looking)
The computer thing I didn't accomplish willingly, because I was force to lessen it beause of this damn tendinitis. (why do they have to heal so slowly)
And of course, I hope I'm more open-minded. (not that I wasn't) By the way, being less judgmental doesn't mean I would avoid conflict and its baggage.

It seems the only thing that I have totally no progress in is in my driving. Too bad! (Joking)

Kicking Around

2006-06-01T13:24:00.000+08:00

For the past few days, there has been about zero things to do. I can't go to gym because I can't do streneous wrist activities. That puts bowling out of the question as well. Computer? I've cut back on that too, typing is not tendinitis-friendly apparently. How about sleep... thanks to my worsening insomnia that's not quite feasible. So, for the past week, I've been killing time in the cinemas. But that too is over, the big flick season has ended... Hello DVD!

Although the titles here can last me for a week non-stop, I've kind of grown weary of all the movies, since I've already seen them a couple of times. And then there was football! Even if Sports Plus will only be showing the World Cup Finals, and I don't have sattelite TV, Star Sports has been televising England's International Friendlies. Yeah, maybe most of you don't know it, but I actually like football. Four years ago I almost got my chance to go to Japan and watch it. (but then again...) Now, with about 8 days remaining until Germany 2006, it's just about time to get into the fray.

Well, what can I say, it's a good reason to wake up before 10! By the way, I just watched the England v. Hungary match. Nevermind, people in this country don't even call it right, unlike the rest of the world.

Finding the Rose Line

2006-05-30T19:29:00.000+08:00

Finally I was able to screen the most controversial film of the summer flick season - The Da Vinci Code.

So was I rattled? Did I come out an atheist? What more stupids questions can I come up with, I wonder. Actually it was quite a headache. If "The Last Stand" started killing of people from the first minute, this made my head ache from the first millisecond. The movie wanted to do too much from the start. Yes the puzzles and mind games were fun, but don't overanalyze it or you'll get a migrain. There were a few "pleasant surprises" that weren't in the book but included to spice things up, or maybe just to cut things short.

Overall, it was a good story with an uninspired performance from the actors. Sorry Tom Hanks, this isn't one of your better films.

Not Feeling Well

2006-05-29T18:45:00.000+08:00

Since Friday night, I've reverted back to my old [bad] habit of sleeping after 12. The first night was quite understandable since I was on the phone for about three hours, but for the second and third nights, I just didn't sleep on time. I guess old bads come back quite easily.

Now I feel sick...

Gateway to Paradise!

2006-05-27T11:07:00.000+08:00

This is the second movie I've watched today.

And boy are you in for a wild ride! Dreamworks' new animated flick surely hit the right buttons again. RJ and the gang really rocked the neighborhood in this film about friendship and family. The first thing you'll notice is the eyecandy in this film. Dreamworks seems to have mastered the cute factor! The characters were endearing and the plot was simple and straightforward. Of course, the comedy was great!

It may be your typical friendly outsider deceit plot, but I think it was executed very well. Go watch it, it's really worth it! By the way, you'll appreciate junk food more after this film. Healthy-eating people beware!

One More Stand?

2006-05-27T10:45:00.000+08:00

Remember the clip after the credits roll? Well, if you didn't see that, It'll be worth paying another hundred. Now I wouldn't want to spoil it for you, but I'll leave some clues at the end of this post. Here's my suggestion if you didn't see it or didn't quite get it: Go to a cinema that allows you to watch the end, let you stay, and watch the thing all over again. However, if you haven't seen the flick, don't even try doing it.

The post-credits clip is really tricky to understand if you haven't been tuning with all attention. Let me just say this, when you start seeing Professor X lecturing to a small group of students about ethics, be very very keen on the entire scene. Good Luck!

Follow the trail...

Take The Last Stand

2006-05-26T20:00:00.000+08:00

X-Men: The Last Stand marks the last installment of the trilogy, but it does leave some things to ponder about. From the start, it seems to subconsciously remind you that this is the beginning of the end. Let me simply say that there are a lot of "ends" in this film. The film is fast-paced but sometimes you get the feeling that there's too much to tackle and resolve for it to completely come to a close. New characters abound in this time, like Beast and Angel, but some characters will surely be missed (Nightcrawler). Of the three, this surely is the most conflict-stricken and probably even the most dramatic.

The Last Stand is all about "the cure" that can make mutants normal. Interesting enough, the cure stems from the power of a mutant child called "Leech". After mapping his DNA, they were able to formulate an injectible that can instantly suppress the mutant "X gene" permanently. Though this is the main conflict, a subplot from the from the death [and resurrection] of Jean Grey complicates the story and by the middle of the film, a whole new scenario arises. The plot is a little leading with no major twists to throw you off. However, I wished they started a little more slowly with all the "ending" happening. Then again, it probably is the best way to close things off.

Hardcore X-Men fans will like this a lot, while the casual moviegoer will enjoy it for the action and eyecandy. Make sure you watch until the credits end!