Moved

To the very few people who are willing to waste their time to check my blog, I have moved to a new location since 2010. :)

Globe Tattoo on Fedora 11

Finally got my hands on a Huawei E1552 USB Modem (disguised as Globe Tattoo with a cheap sticker). With the help of this article, I quickly got it working under my Fedora 11 (x86_64) machine.

But I needed to make some minor tweaks:

• Change the APN from internet.globe.com.ph to http.globe.com.ph
• Change DNS servers to OpenDNS servers (208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220)

Globe, from my experience, is notoriously "reliable" when it comes to their DNS servers.

My initial usage experience with Globe Tattoo was average at best. According to www.speedtest.net, my average download speed is around 400kbps which translates to 50KB/s. It was far better than I what expected it to be, however, just like the sales personnel had "warned" me, the signal indeed fluctuates, A LOT.

Apparently, the 5 Pesos for every 15 minutes means that you'll ONLY have 15 minutes of stable Internet connection. :P

Alcohol Abuse

Since Kira spends most of the day just lying on the floor, we figured we could take some really funny pictures... :P

Kira with some mini beer bottles

Kira with a bottle of whisky

Cannibalism

Kira just bit off the leg of a lizard...


a rubber lizard... ^_^

Slowdown

I went to back to Line Bank yesterday to try again. Guess what? They're still offline. PLDT never got the problem fixed. This time, however, instead of asking people to wait indefinitely, go home, or look for another branch, they will proceed with the transaction (without the validation step) if the client wishes to.

Apparently, they're not the only ones affected by the PLDT service interruption. My DSL connection has been experiencing a general slowdown for the past 2 days. I guess I won't be working on our Amazon EC2 instance for a while.

Offline

My 2nd attempt to pay my taxes this week failed miserably. Yesterday, the line outside the bank almost reached the end of the block so I decided not to even try.

This morning, I was there before the bank opened, and was 6th or 7th. The bank opened at 8:30AM. When I got to 1-person away from the teller, the unexpected happened.

Their dial-up connection failed. It was 8:55AM. I waited.

And after almost 4 hours, I've finished the book (The Last Samurai), I've learned some new stuffs from Linux Magazine, and they still haven't restored their line yet.

I finally gave up and just headed back home for lunch. Tomorrow morning, I'll be back again (3rd time this week) in Land Line Bank of the Philippines for another "uncertain" banking experience.

Compaq CQ40 ALSA Configuration

... for Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)

I'm posting this for future reference...

Append the following lines to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:

options snd slots=snd-hda-intel
options snd-hda-intel model=hp-m4

Bad Influence

This is why humans could be such a bad influence to cats...

A Screw Up Sounds Good... Sometimes

I was told some TV anchor screwed up during the live broadcast. I never thought somebody will actually publish it.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/abs/20090801/tph-state-funeral-for-cory-no-pomp-for-d-8061bf7_1.html

Attack Mode

Our cat is getting ready to attack after seeing me with a camera...

Cat and Mouse

Working from home could be boring sometimes...

Movie Day: The Accidental Husband

Due to the lack of new and interesting movies, we had to settle with a romantic comedy, The Accidental Husband.

Well, it's neither good nor bad. I was more interested in trying to remember where I've seen one of the supporting characters.

It took me a while (due to deteriorating memory) before realizing that it was the guy from Office Space. The one who played Mr. Samir Nagheenanajar (yeah, try pronouncing it as fast as you can).

Watching him in his short scenes was more entertaining than the rest of the movie. :P

Graft Monkey in Action

You've probably heard of U.S. President Barack Obama's recent visit to Ben's Chili Bowl. It was really interesting and admirable in some ways.

Well, yesterday the Great Monkey of Asia (from the Banana Republic), reportedly visited a McDonald's (an American fastfood chain) branch in Makati, ordered a longganisa meal, sat down with a bunch of call center agents, and had a chit-chat with them. Mostly about their personal lives and other stuffs like their request to extend MRT operations (and breakdowns) to until 12 midnight perhaps.

If I was there, I would probably have stuck a plastic knife on her neck...

but then I'm not really fond of eating at McDonald's... He he he... >:)

Shake

I decided to delay my call to my boss today because our good neighbor is playing the "Body Dancer" song from the 80's. Yes, the one popularized by Maricel Soriano. >:P

How am I supposed to explain that to my boss?

I definitely need to find a new place... :)

Mixed Up

A week ago, I contacted Emerald Headway about my Linux Magazine subscription. I asked Helen, who is in-charge of my account (Franklin Chua), to change the delivery address from the office (Makati) to my home address (Tondo).

Since I couldn't remember the last time I paid for the subscription, I asked her when my subscription ends. She told me that it's going to end this February. I recall her asking me about a "PC Magazine" to verify my subscription, to which I failed to clarify, because I assumed that I'm the only subscriber with the name "Franklin Chua".

It turned out that I was wrong... partially...

When the courier came (2 days late), he showed me a receipt with the name "Frankie Chu Ang". I immediately informed Helen about the mix up. I even wrote the correction in their copy of the receipt. I thought that was the end of it.

Yet I was wrong... again...

Today, I was surprised to see a copy of "C! Magazine" (Not PC!!!) on my desk, with the name "Frankie Chua". I should have told her "Wrong Person" instead of "Wrong Name". Ha ha!!!

I just inadvertently stole a magazine subscription from another person. Technically, I paid for his 2009 subscription and got his last copy for free. :P

Anyway, I should contact Miss Helen tomorrow to fix this confusion. :D

P.S. Perhaps this is a sign for me to consider getting a car... >:)

Thought of the Day

MNG = MANGO = MAN + GO = MAN GO... AWAY

He he... >:D

Strange Dreams

Normally, I would have a hard time remembering my dreams, but these dreams from weeks ago somehow managed to get stuck in my head.

Dream #1

I was walking along the corner of Tayuman and Jose Abad Santos street when I notice someone following me. I immediately realized that he's a mugger (holdaper in Tag-lish). I pulled out my pair of red scissors (pointed edge, same one that I'm using at home) in order to scare him off. Then all of a sudden, he appears behind me with his knife pointing at my side (kidney area). At that moment, I instictively swung the scissors towards him.

And to my surprise, the scissors disappeared, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground. Then the guy stabbed me. I woke up before his knife could even touch me.

Dream #2:

I was trying to catch a last train. I started inside a mall, most likely Park Square I. I was dashing through people, objects, and various obstacles before jumping and sliding through a tunnel.

When I reached the end and got out, I found myself in a room, with lots and lots of bats. Suddenly, they stared flying (chaos) and the whole room started to fall apart (more chaos). I woke up wondering what happened.

Dream #3:

I bought an Apple MacBook online which costs around 75,000++ php. I woke up feeling happy and guilty at the same time. :))

Big Binondo Food Wok

We (Me, Jas, and my youngest sister) got the chance to join Ivan in his Big Binondo Food Wok, Chinese New Year edition yesterday.

Ivan shared with us his favorite foods and places in what's considered to be the oldest Chinatown in the World. Aside from stuffing our tummies with delectable treats which originated from different parts of China, he also fed our minds with his intimate knowledge of the town's history and origin.

Most of which I never knew until now. And for someone (a local Chinese) who's living outside Binondo, and always getting associated with the place, it felt nice to be in touch with the history of the place and the Chinese community who has been an integral part of the country's history.

Overall, the tour was interesting and enjoyable, both for our minds and our bellies... :)

But the most unforgettable moment in the tour is when one of the street kids approached Jasmine and started poking her, asking for money. Jasmine said to the (dirty) street kid, while trying to avoid him:

"Excuse me kid!"

I was hoping the street kid would respond something like:

"Duh!"

That would really be funny... Ha ha ha... :)

Box of Styrofoam

I paid $11 for a box of useless styrofoam balls "minus" the DS Lite Protector I bought from Play-Asia. It seems to me that someone from the Postal Office (around 99% probability) stole the content even before it got delivered to me. It's just a plastic case for God's sake!

I wanted to call the Post Office to demand my item but they would definitely deny any knowledge of it. I just hope that Play-Asia would be considerate enough to reship my item.

It wasn't really my fault, I paid them to ship it via FedEx, but since the DS Lite Protector was unavailable at that time, they split the order in to two. The first one shipped via FedEx, which arrived the day after. And the other one shipped via Air Mail.

Unfortunately, it was intercepted. What's more frustrating is the fact that it's virtually impossible to recover the lost item.

I don't want to be evil but... I hope/wish/pray/curse that whoever stole my DS Lite Protector gets devoured by a large predator very soon. >:)

Year (2008) End Post

I spent the last few weeks of the year cleaning common areas of the house, removing cat/rat/roach droppings from the dirtiest corners of the house, dismantling 40-50 year old furnitures, disposing 30-40 year old garbage, and patching the holes in the ceilings in preparation for this day.

I already used up 10+ rolls of 33 meter duct tapes since November, in my effort to cover every crack and hole in our ceiling, and minimize the dust fall when firecrackers begins exploding today.

Because of that, I didn't have much time to prepare/think for this post. Indeed, time goes by pretty fast. :P

2008, for me, was really about "regaining my time". For the past few years, a great deal of my time was taken up by work, business trips, and overtime. This year was different.

I was able to spend more time at home with my family, with my sisters in particular. I had the chance to work, shop, and play with them as well. Some credit goes to my Nintendo Wii and DS Lite. :)

I was able to make some major and minor home repairs and improvements. Like replacing floor tiles, replacing old fluorescent lamps with compact fluorescents, covering tables with vinyl stickers, any many more. :)

My gaming skills were also restored and improved because of the Wii, thanks to my flexible work schedule, I inserted short Wii sessions in between work. >:)

The work from home setup also allowed me to attend tours, events and gatherings with friends without having to worry too much about schedule and location.

And the most important is the time I spent with Jasmine. :)

==========

2008 has been a really good year for me. I got to see a lot of people, acquired some cool toys and gadgets, learned some new stuffs, got my impacted wisdom tooth removed, visited some very nice places, attended weddings and parties, spent a lot but saved a lot as well.

2009 is probably going to be a tough year for me, as the effects of the Global Financial Crisis finally sets in. I'm keeping a positive outlook as we enter another uncertain year, but I must and I will prepare for the worst. :)

Happy New Year! :)

P.S. This post is not possible without Globe GPRS Services. Because some smart guy aimed a firecracker at the power line which effectively killed electricity in the whole block. (at around 12:01AM)

I sincerely hope/wish/pray/curse that the guy blows all his fingers off before this day ends.