mov (%rdp),%rcx

... that would pretty much sum up my long weekend... o_O

I ran into a serious assembly code bug when I tried building and running a month's coding changes under 64-bit openSUSE Linux.

Good thing that Rajah provided me with some very useful GDB debugging techniques before he went to Bohol for a vacation. :P

I spent most of the weekend, debugging, thinking, learning assembly, shopping for PC components, playing Guitar Hero, and more debugging... :D

And for some side stories...

My Inno3D video card fan stopped again, for the nth time this month. I took it out and went to PCX to have it checked or possibly replaced, but the tech support guy told me that they don't do replacement if the item was purchased more than a month ago.

Although the warranty still applies, the shop won't replace it right away, they had to ship it back to the supplier for testing, which would probably take 4 weeks, at the very least. o_O

He suggested that I check the IT shops in Gilmore to find a replacement fan, which I'll probably in the coming days. :D

Since I was expecting something like that to happen, I just bought some upgrade components for my desktop. Additional 2GB DDR2-800 memory modules. :P

==========

When I got home from PCX, I took a quick shower and prepared for a message massage session. The old masseuse was referred by my sister's boyfriend. Gene's family is a regular customer of the old lady. She was also here last week but I declined because I had to do some work.

After almost an hour of joint twisting, muscle bending, bone cracking, I was feeling relaxed and energized again... :P

The masseuse discovered my injured ankle which I myself never noticed. Although it's been aching from time to time, I just kept on ignoring it.

==========

Back to my work area, I installed the 2GB memory modules and booted my machine just to be greeted by a black screen and 100% CPU usage. I tried reinstalling the Linux NVIDIA drivers several times using different methods but all of them failed. :(

I resorted to re-installing Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04) then installed the NVIDIA driver. But it failed again. :(

I spent another 2 hours searching for possible solutions in the forums. Tried several BIOS configurations like suggested in the threads, but they all failed. :(

With no concrete leads, I decided to revert back to my original configuration, then put the memory modules one at a time. The 2GB and 3GB configurations worked fine, so it's 4GB configuration that really screws my setup. >:(

I continued to search through the forums, this time with a specific issue. One thread mentioned something about upgrading the BIOS. Although it's for a different motherboard, I figured it might just solve my problem. O:)

After bumping my board's (GA-MA69GM-S2H) BIOS firmware to F5, the NVIDIA driver for Linux miraculously worked. Ha ha ha!

7 Missed Notes

My current addiction and lifetime frustration...


My best record so far. Too bad, I never had the talent to this on a real musical instrument. :D

But who cares... I would gladly settle with my Guitar Hero... >:P

Restoring My Left-Click

With help from some old friends, I was able to restore the left-click button of my mouse. Good thing that I kept some of my defective mice, which all suffered the same left-click problem.


When the symptoms started to manifest, I tried poking around the left-click mechanism, which ended getting destroyed by me. :P

I tried putting it back but I had no idea what it looked like before I punched a screwdriver into it. :D


Then I thought that I may be able to take a similar part from another mouse and replace the broken one. Luckily, both mice (A4Tech and Logitech) used similar parts for the click button.


So, I desoldered the right-click button (probably in better condition than the left-click) from the old A4Tech mouse and soldered it to my Logitech mouse.

Now, my mouse is back to its left-click-able state. :D

Crazy Day: Part 2

August 8, 2008

The second part of my story happened at the wedding reception. As I've mentioned in my previous entry, it just kept getting weirder and funnier.

When Carlo started calling names of the guys to join the garter game trap, I had a feeling that something is going to happen (to me), and it did. :D

As you might have guessed, I was the one who got the garter. The game started with all the guys given a balloon to inflate. My battle plan was to make sure that my balloon is not the largest nor the smallest. I even tried to distract Bert so he won't be able to inflate his. >:)

However, it was never about the size. It was the color of the balloon. It was all about the PINK balloon, which I was holding from the very beginning. o_O

What happened next is more bizarre. Each girl was given the end of one of the laces wrapped around the bouquet. The idea was, whoever picks the one strand which was actually tied to the bouquet gets it.

And guess who won? It was Jasmine! :D

Mathematically speaking, the chances (6 guys and 6 girls) that we will get picked as a pair would be around 2.7%. But then again, the fun factor won't be that much if someone else got picked, right? :P

Overall, it was a memorable and fun event, not only for the newly weds, but for everyone as well.

Again, cheers to our new couple, Carlo and Sheila. :)

Floody Friday

The sudden and heavy down pour of rain late this afternoon caused a lot of trouble for commuters like me. I tried to avoid as much delay as possible by avoiding the seemingly never ending line of commuters in our *&^%$#@! MRT.

My first choice was to take the Baclaran-bound bus to get to LRT in Edsa-Taft station. When I reached the loading bay, there were a bunch of people standing and waiting in the "supposedly" restricted area. It was a bad sign.

I ended up walking towards Ayala Avenue (across Rustan's) to take a Buendia-bound bus. Normally, the buses would pick up passengers in the unloading area, but since it was still early and there were traffic enforcers in the unloading area, bus drivers didn't dare to stop.

I have no idea when those guys would leave so instead of waiting for them to leave, I went on to walk towards the official loading area, which happen to be 4 freaking blocks away!!! I don't get the whole point to separating the loading from the unloading area. It's been there for quite a long time and yet it has never resolved the congestion problem in Ayala Avenue.

After a few minutes, I reached the loading area and got inside an almost empty bus. Then, I spent the next hour or so seated inside the frustratingly slow moving vehicle before finally transferring to the shuttle service to Moriones.

The shuttle avoided the Buendia - Roxas Boulevard route and took the Taft - Intramuros route. We reached Juan Luna street in under an hour, however, I was faced with a terrible obstacle.

The streets were flooded, ankle-deep, I had no way of getting out of the van without getting my shoes, pants, and feet soaked in dark water. The inevitable happened.

It was frustrating, I decided not to take the jeep anymore and just walk home. I walked at least 7-9 blocks before finally reaching home. I tried to avoid the flooded areas as much as I could but in most areas, I had no choice but to dip while trying to avoid open manholes. At one point I was literally in the middle of the road, tailing some jeep or with another car tailing me.

====================

The best part of the day, however, was not the rain nor the flood. It was the time when I punched a stupid kid in the street after he made fun of me. Most of the time, people make fun of Chinese people like me by uttering some random phrases which basically makes fun of the Chinese language.

Normally, I would just ignore them, even though I really find it offensive and disrespectful, regardless if it was being done for fun.

This time it was different, the timing and the place was perfect, he never saw it coming, the stupid kid thought I'm gonna let him get away. He got what he deserved. Ha ha ha. After that I walked way and he continued his bullsh*t, I wanted to turn back and punch him harder, but my "kindness" prevailed.

He was lucky because it was a very weak punch. I only intended to scare him off. If I was serious enough, he probably might have bled or something. He he he.

Happy long weekend everyone! :)

Crazy Day: Part 1

August 8, 2008

Sometimes bizarre things happen when you least expect it. And if you're "lucky" enough, they would occur one after another. It seemed that someone up there wanted to make fun of me.

Before I continue, I would like to congratulate the new couple, Carlo and Sheila, and wish them a wonderful married life. :)

It started like a regular Friday, I woke up at around 6:30AM, still tempted to go back to sleep, but I had a wedding to attend to.

Good thing than San Agustin Church was relatively near from my place so I didn't have to get up very early. Since I wasn't sure if I could still remember the place, I alloted an hour to get there.

I reached the San Agustin a little past 8, and met up with Jasmine and some old NSP friends. We waited for a few minutes until Carlo and Sheila arrived.

Everything seemed to be OK until Jasmine asked me (after Carlo asked her) if I could do the 1st reading for the mass, to which I "willingly" agreed.

When I received the copy of the missalette, I was shocked to discover that it was in Filipino. Not that I don't speak the language fluently, it's just that I'm not used with the selection of words.

Some of them are really difficult to pronounce even for a native speaker. I was worried that I might laugh or utter something stupid in the middle. Anyhow, I went on to silently rehearse the lines, and identified the proper location of pauses and places of emphasis. :-S

After a few more minutes, the church/wedding assistants told me to take a seat in front so I did. I waited anxiously as the bridal entourage marched down the aisle. Clueless of the things to come.

The moment the priest started the mass, one of the church assistant approached me and asked me who will be doing the Salmong Tugunan (Responsorial Psalm, not a kind of fish). I told her I don't know. :-?

She consulted with the Namumuno (Leader, not a logger), then went back to tell me that I should also do that part. I was shocked, for the second time. o_O

Although shaky at first, I did manage to complete the 1st Reading and Responsorial Psalm without laughing or doing anything stupid. Whew!

I'm beginning to feel a little relaxed until the church assistant approached me again and asked me to do the Intercession (Is this correct?) part as well. It just keeps getting better and better. o_O

And that was the last of my attempts to embarrass myself, inside the church. Unfortunately, it did not end there...

To be continued...

P.S. I don't regret my participation in the wedding rites, it was actually fun. I even got a nice view of Carlo and Sheila, and the rest of the guests seated in front. I just find it a little weird and funny, that someone who never goes to church got involved in this kind of situation.