Life's Fullest!

Undas Random Notes

2009-11-03T00:05:00.000+08:00

I was awaken early morning by a loud "clamor" by my sisters for me to "shell' out for our departed's "puntod" repainting. This has been the case for 3 years now and before I can even open my sleeping mouth to mumble, I was already digging deep into my shallow pocket. Then I thought (just thinking) maybe we should paint it yellow or something to make it more unique. They actually did as if they read my thoughts! Everyone is happy, to my surprise.
I was used to "celebrating" undas with my Ligaya since last year. Since she wasn't home this year, I was kinda a bit more lazy dragging myself to the cemetery. Luckily I did, and saw the yellow puntod of my dad, my lola and my nephew. There, a grin on my face.
I was able to visit and light a candle on both my dad and Ligaya's dad tombs. Funny but I felt my papang and her papang knew each other and is probably talking about us already. A different version of "meet the father"..
My family, despite our long held tradition of preparing food at home, suddenly decided we eat outside for lunch. Thus we went into an eating binge of hito and tilapia dishes at The Exit. We capped this with ice cold, sweet buko halo and we felt like bursting gastronomically! Another pleasant undas twist indeed.
My nieces and nephew invited me to join them go "night outing at the cemetery" "you mean this time?At night? What will you see there besides the undead?" I didn't go. They were home in less than 30 minutes. "I told you so".

Flirting with OS'es: Windows vs. Linux in my early days

2009-10-21T22:14:00.002+08:00

I'm windoze user ever since MS DOS came into this world. My PC and laptops all have windows OS installed on them now because most people I work with use them also. But my share of frustration with Windoze security holes and instability is never ending. I grew accustomed to that blue screen of death (BSOD) or the keyboard shortcut ctrl+alt+ del if my windows freezes. Not once did I reformat entire hard drives to clean up viruses targeting machines running windoze. Since windows upgrades and applications became heavenly (in prices that is), I decided to try (again) a free, open source OS that's just about anything but Windoze.

Several years back I once dabbled with Linux distros that offered functionality as windows. The obvious advantage of Linux is its stability, security and above all, it is free. Red Hat, a debian based Linux package was my first guinea pig. During those times however Red hat Linux employs a terminal command line interface unlike the graphical user interface already popular among windows OS that time, which is windows 98. But the main problem was installing your devices and peripherals and getting them to work just like how these devices run on windows 98. For a non techie guy like me back then, this was Linux' biggest drawback. it takes you hours to hack device drivers just to run a single card. This prompted me to search another distro with an easier device driver installation . I'm sure with the growing community support for open source software, there must be a development towards this end.

I tried several other Linux distro such as Cadera, open linux, and many others but when Ubuntu came into picture, I became interestingly hooked. A close friend got into Ubuntu first and introduced me the basics about this OS. What follows next is the free Canonical CDs "appearing" in my doorsteps thanks to my friend Dino. I tested Ubuntu 6.04 LTS on a Pentium III 1Ghz with 512MB RAM and I was impressed with the OS. What's even more surprising was that all of my peripherals device drivers were installed out of the box! The graphical installation smoothed the installation process I was wondering if I was installing a windows clone! What was once ran from command line and terminal can now be exactly run point and click. This significant development enticed me more.

In my next post, I will be sharing about my first experiences with ubuntu.

I don't understand, but I kinda like it.

2009-10-03T01:48:00.005+08:00

We've been "us" for more than a year now, but I never has had a sweet surprise in a subtle way. Me and my Ligaya is in a constant "mind duels" nowadays, those sort of discussions that can go on a rampage in one wrong sms message. It's somewhere close to a "misunderstanding' but a bit less of a "love-fight (duh, no better term) in a sweet, hateful way.

Ever since we started seeing each other, we both knew that while our personalities were mostly similar (geez, Geminis, ack!) in many aspects, that similarity will also cause occasional havoc to our relationship. Imagine "boxing-in" two bullheaded, dominant and smart people and you'll see both haggling for each other's neck (err lips). On top of that, pitch in our previous not-so-goody experiences that made us both wish each one is far better courteous than him/herself. The "I's" and "you's" were two separate people during these duels.

Kind of weird for me, but I'm beginning to like some of its post mortem.

I begun to discover a lot of things about her not previously shown affront and on "normal conditions" and it ushered a lot of understanding of her for me. She, like me, was yearning to be heard also, but not necessarily converted to my beliefs. You will discover that at some point, there's no conversion needed but only understanding. The true value of this saying "some phrases are better left unsaid" rings true more than anytime in our relationship. And that "second thoughts" about saying something sarcastic is after all a virtue. We can go to great lengths of debate but somehow we knew that at the end of our herculean duels, we both are left with no other but each other. "I will be for her always and she for me" Is our common "love raft".

So while I'm a bit surprised (and often stressed) I'm kinda happy re affirming my love for her, of knowing I was right in choosing her and that I can stand by our promise and decision made before.

Loving is actually a decision to love at all times.

Calamities, on any given rainy day..

2009-10-02T13:02:00.000+08:00

No, I'm not going to post any goryfying "post Ondoy" macabre. Go "google" yourself. I've seen enough of our countrymen post Ondoy suffering. If you can even eat or sleep seeing those disasters, or even smile on it, I suggest you get a tinsmith to hammer your heart.

Knowing this, H-E-L-P!, is expected. We give. No fanfare. There are as many channels for helping as those people who wanted to help. No excuse for not helping. Google, Facebook-ing, twittering etc, etc...find the search box, type "help" "ondoy" that should give you a humongous clue.

Now if, the upcoming category 4 hurricane (winds.>150kph) "Perma" does not make you scramble for emergency supplies. Better have you mind "repaired" first.

I hope and pray our country and fellowmen will survive this "nature's wrath" (is it?), then we can move on repairing our lives and correcting our past mistakes.

Goodbye colorful friend...

2009-09-29T11:16:00.000+08:00

While you're color brings life to what I write, it became so complicated to even just write. Updating the features and links take a whole lot of my time.And, someone actually got you..

No, I'm referring to my old blog design..."Live Life"..

I'm designing a new one. ..and coming up soon...

Confessions of a true wanna be coffee addict

2009-08-23T12:35:00.001+08:00

That I like coffee in the first place is a given. But if you'll ask me which coffee I like best or which one of those "coffee stuff" I rather have right now, I simply don't any idea. In fact, I don't know what coffee is for me now.

Coming from the 3 in 1 coffee generation, and into coffee tasting in some i-thought -was-some-coffee shops, I'm pretty humbled in the fact that what I knew and what I tasted so far is really the "black roasted" segment of this predominantly market driven industry. In short, I'm in some sort of coffee concept crisis right now, and I'd be pretty darn happy to start off learning what fits my coffee taste.

Big thanks to "pushers" Bobby Timonera for introducing me into travel style coffee drinking and to Bob Martin, for that home style coffee roasting marathon we had just last night. This two passionate specialty coffee roasters are nothing but sort of hooked into this addiction. Their drug of choice is coffee.

I'll probably start with those two styles taught by my pushers, not only because its cheaper, but I kind of like the romanticism that goes with the roasting style. And from the coffee beans I've so far tasted, I'm definitely addicted.

So, pretty soon, I'd be hooking everyone else in my circle of friends too. Then I get to be named a "pusher" too for this "drug".

Apologies and bravery

2009-08-13T18:05:00.001+08:00

"Bravery doesn't only belong to those who fight. It takes courage to accept you're wrong "

Realizing I made use of a picture in my blog without his explicit permission, an artist wrote to me private and informed me of my negligence. At an instant I realized my glaring mistake. Intentional or unintentional, without so many excuses but with sincerity I promptly apologized and deleted the picture as the artist requested. I then made a note in my blog of my mistake, posted the link and full credit to the artist as a sign of gratitude for pointing out my mistake.

The artist felt my sincerity and readily accepted my apology. He also gave me permission to use any of his photos as long as I give due credit to him.

I admire this man's attitude. He has mastered an art only a few could even practice. I pondered how far my attitude is compared to this person's heart.

How many of us can say sorry? How many will willingly accept an apology?

Now I say, that if saying sorry is a brave thing to do, accepting one is gallantry.

The love fight

2009-07-29T23:38:00.000+08:00

Let me say the more courageous thing to do after a love fight is a sincere apology. Accepting our shortcomings squarely is a talent fit for the brave only. It takes more gall than serendipity.

There are times when more talk do harm than good and step back is a step forward. But essentially, a commitment to love and be loved is all that is important. The rest, are "icings on a cake".

Ma-Ligayang Kaarawan!

2009-06-15T11:49:00.003+08:00

Who would have thought that the common likeness for the outdoors, proved to be a nidus for this oozing love for Ligaya?

Well, we've been together to countless outdoor nooks only our dreams have imagined before. From the idyllic Mt. Province (Sagada, Bontoc, Ifugao) and enchanting Lake Maughan to the smothering beaches of Samal (Cannibad, Isla Reta, Kalinawan), Saranggani (Gumasa) and Zambales (Anawangin). She cried haughtily going down Virgin falls, shrieked her way zip lining in Sabros, cat walked in Agong House and burned her skin in Nueva Vida.

Ironically, I brought out some of her hidden gems (patience with me, is one of them) with my obsessive passions. Like dragging her to Wordcamp 2008 and MBS2 for my blogging hobby, taught her badminton on court, and lately "coerced' her into a gadget geekness with the coming of her MSI Wind 100lxp.

She cook best mind you, and is a walking encyclopedia of in between meals food to eat. A great mom with her patience and "I have no choice" attitude for me and Rain. The super uber smart and likeable Princess rain is a living testament to this. And so am I.

The nurse in her is just waiting to explode, as she seem to get acquainted with my ORs and gross close reductions. The best part of her is upcoming still, as she learns now about...yeah, farming our creme dela creme ultimate career. We love to have our dream retirement lives in our farm. Love to hear this from her always.

And uh, did I tell you that her waistline is 27 inch?She is my sexiest, all phenomenal hormone riser margarita and model, anJOYlina JOYlie? My Ligaya!

Happy birthday hunee!I miss you so much.

The never ending saga of self quarantine for the not so AH1N1 Flu.

2009-06-13T00:42:00.000+08:00

Continues today, despite feeling a bit okay. Again, not A H1N1, but my darn allergic rhinitis.

I stayed all day in front of my laptop doing everything and nothing.

Ate something foody to fill my gut. Like a banana cake and green magoes in sauteed bagoong sauce. Yummy!

For the most part watched Lakers beat the hell out of the clueless Magics. They never learn don't they?

Uh, I love the video chat with Ligaya (interspersed with princess Rain popping in and out of the cam)even if the mic echo is a bit annoying. Talking about technology in the 21st century of Tacurong.

I'm impressed!

Weird things on my birthday

2009-06-11T14:39:00.002+08:00

Some actually bordering ironic more than weird.

Like I'm fighting off seasonal flu right now (not Ah1n1). I feel dizzy since last night. Now, my allergic rhinitis is acting up. And my taste buds sucks, while I'm dreaming of Japanese food. Whats ironic is, I really don't like Japanese food ever since...

My phone signal sucks also. Kinda hard to text or call. There's no internet connection either, no thanks to that landslide that leveled one tower in Bukidnon.

Uh, buti nalang nandyan si Ligaya ko. Sarap ng may nagmamahal...

Random thoughts on not so random things

2009-06-07T00:05:00.004+08:00

"In love si Doc"-says my stateside cousin, Daisy. "Nakahanap ka rin ng katapat". If she living miles away from here, can smell "love" in the air, I don't think anybody can contest her fearless forecast. I just love my Ligaya so much.
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I'm still undecided about how to go to my work place given the current peace and order and the skyrocketing gasoline prices. Commute or not to commute. Risk vs expense. Nothing beats a dilemma that doesn't promise any returns soon. My life as an academic...
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Then there's this yearning to learn, study some more. Computers? Hand surgery?Shoulder? Ack, what am I?An undecided geek?
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Then there's out of nowhere text messages from long ago friends, expressing hellos and warmth. I'm a sucker for sudden "uh, kumusta na?" reminds me of the days when I'm still the agitated friends maker. Warms the heart, and personalities I guess.
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Lastly, I'm not sure why I'm making these daily random notes thingie now. Perhaps to rekindle with my emo self? There's this well known saying among doctors that while we were trained to handle health and emotional issues of our patients, we tend to veer away from our own personal issues. We were never trained to handle them ourselves. Thus the MD therapists. But I'm not yet in that situation, yet.

Random notes no. 1

2009-06-06T00:58:00.001+08:00

I missed my Ligaya so much. Nothing compares to times when you are in her tight embrace.

Finally, after multitudes of sweats and frustrations, I was able to make my wifi router (Linksys WRT54G 2.2 on DDWRT firmware) work. Now I can use my laptop (Acer Apire 4270Z) and make my house a "hotspot" of some sort.

Uh, still those career choices. I have one (or so I believe) now but I still feel I'm not pushing my abilities yet. For me, boredom has been the greatest inspiration for acquiring new challenges. So far I am contended and happy. Should I wish for more?Who knows.

I'm a bit overweight (okay some 10% above my ideal body weight) now, partly because of the eating binge I plunge into this summer and partly, I wasn't able to play my sweats out in badminton for what, maybe a month? What a shame!So I went to the gym early today and played to exhaustion. I lost both my games and a few ounces of fats!Yey!

There were rumors going around, that businessmen and docs will be targets of kidnapping nowadays here in my place. But aren't they the targets for the longest time?? Whether that is true or not, I'm concerned. But who will be interested in me?Eh?

That's it. tTidbits and nut bits dude.

Happy anniversary, again!

2009-06-04T14:54:00.003+08:00

It's terrible missing someone when just yesterday, you're locked in arms with her. And then suddenly, you are reminded of your...what??? Uh yes, our anniversary!

That's why yo still hear her sms ring tone even if they're miles away. Or that you felt you wanted to drop by their house when in fact they are not there already. Missing my joy, my life.Again.Temporarily....

Happy Anniversary Ligaya!!!!

I have my new Acer Aspire 4720Z, asap!

2009-05-28T23:20:00.001+08:00

Serendipity beats oddity.

Just when I finished "fixing" a routine autopsy request for a nearest kin, someone brought in an Acer Aspire 4720Z for sale. In less than 10 minutes, the laptop is happily seated in the backseat of my car.

Spur of the moment? Maybe.

Since my old Vaio sr 33k (an overrated Celeron 600 lappy that lived long enough to see its grandlappies) "died" a few months back, I was constantly in the hunt for a new mobile pc. I said hunt because almost all my search ended up with me demonizing great laptop finds because of one thing- I don't have that moolah!

My bang for the back new laptop is just around the corner I believe.

The UMPCs (Ultramobile PCs) were more than tempting. The less expensive "lappy" younger brother may well fit for my netsurfing and mobility needs, but it ain't the full featured fast lappy I need. So I usually bite my finger whenever I saw one of those cheap UMPCs in stores just so I wont catch the buying spree bug.

Going back.

When a former patient suddenly appeared begging us to buy her new Acer aspire, I wasted only 5 minutes to close the deal. Admittingly, its hard to buy a good notebook with good features, belonging to a good brand and here's the catch- excellent pricing. So when she offered to sell it for almost half the amount of its original store price (as shown in her receipt) I got really interested. After making sure the lappy is legit and acquired through a reliable store, I bought it ASAP.

Yup, ASAP!

Thanks for that autopsy request I was following up. Gave me a nice deal indeed.

First Amihan Reunion: Starting a blast to the past tradition

2009-05-19T21:30:00.004+08:00

Hugs, fun, eat, drink and more fun -that's exactly what the Amihan Clan did on its two day long summer reunion. Bent on making this first ever family reunion a success, the clan wasted no time enjoying each other's presence and then vowed to continue this tradition henceforth.

Our reunion theme on stage and as planned!

Outpatient Clinic: "Salamat Dok"
I and Joy V started with a free medical check up for folks in the area. Some twenty plus patients showed, including a few of my relatives. Luckily, I haven't forgotten my general medicine stuff. Surprisingly, no one actually sought consult in my field of specialty-orthopedics. But I think I did more of educating my folks about health issues and their basic remedies. I felt really good to see patients understand more about their health concerns.

Getting to know us
Despite the heavy rains, more and more of my clan trickled and mingled with our relatives in the area. Aunt Cresencia was already there when we arrived, while Aunt Baling who despite her health condition, traveled all the way from Bukidnon to attend the reunion. My mom Helen, the youngest among the Amihan siblings, has been in the area since two days ago supervising the reunion preparations.

The three surviving ladies of the eight amihan siblings, Mamang Helen, Yaya Cresencya and Anding Baling

Family members of my mom's siblings who passed away, where also there to join us. By nighttime we did have a program to socialize and introduce each and everyone of the clan members. It wasn't surprising that even me, a second generation Amihan, lost track of the who's who in the family. Bad me.

Some of the so many first generation Amihan clan and their partners.

Amihan vs. Amihan
The games pitted everyone against anyone, in all age group. The camaraderie and good laugh made us even more closer and livelier. The family sack race jolted our spirits while the trip to Jerusalem ended elsewhere but Jerusalem. A caterpillar joust loosened our shirts while the hep-hep hoorays made me think I was a whinny looser. Nah, it was all for the sake of fun and bonding.

Too small a sack for a family???

The caterpillar joust that almost took off our pants-by grappling

Tribute to those who went on ahead of us
Inko Osias as well as yaya Conrada and cousin Niel, all passed away ahead of us and we paid tribute to their tombs.I was a huge admirer of Inko Mias- a strong built, kind man that sports a happy grin everytime. He lived well beyond the age of 90. Yaya Conrada was our surrogate mom before, not only because of her soft spoken, cool headed attitude but also because she had this unequaled maseur skill. When she massages your tired muscles, you wouldn't know you fell asleep already. Inko Mias, yoyo Joel and Manoy Henry (my mom's elder brothers) also passed away but was interned somewhere else.

We made a side trip to an old stream somehwere near Inko's Old House. This was a favorite place for us before, frolicking on that pure spring water ad libitum!

Tracing our Roots :Blast to the past
Genealogy was never my forte but that night, I felt a strong bond with my past. Tracing the family lineage-our roots was like a journey to lively past. Family stories lived on while new legends are layed. I sat in awe listening to stories, old time family jokes and traditions revisited. Truly amazing in deed. The musical rendition by aunt Cresencia of Matud Nila, as well as the various songs rendered by family members, reminded me of the Amihan's golden musical voices that was somehow not expressed in my own DNA. The impromptu reenactment of yaya conrada and lolo iko's massaging routines, by her daughter Maribel and apo DanDan, welled my tears to a near fall. We terribly missed her.

Matudnila, the original version by Yaya crris

New Generation Amihan with their rendition og "Magasin"

"Let this be the start of a new tradition"
It should be and it will be. Thats what each of us promised ourselves after this first reunion. Though we had obstacles to hurdle, we made it through nonetheless. Our next reunion will be in Bukidnon, Home of Aunt Baling and was slated on the last saturday of May.I'm pretty sue this will be another fun filled family get together that will go beyond expectations-just like what happend to this first ever Amihan Clan reunion!

To all of us,who prepared, prayed, came and went on, thank you!

First Ever Amihan Clan Reunion!

2009-05-06T23:15:00.003+08:00

Right, and will happen exactly on May 16-17 at our ancestral place, Nueva Vida Mlang North Cotabato. Our theme? Back to our "mountain roots"...

Yeah, sounds like fun. But I guess my mom (who happens to be the youngest sibling in their family) wouldn't like the idea of an outdoor type of reunion. Understandably, hiking two kilometers just to take a bath down stream is too much to endure. And did I say each family will be sleeping in tents around the old house?

So, us-the first generation sons and daughters of nutlandia will have to think of some other reunion theme fit for all ages. But a dance party on a corn drier turned open basketball court???

Wait till I find some nuts to seed the clouds and rain!

More on these later!

Spare radiator fan, anyone???

2009-03-22T22:01:00.005+08:00

My car's radiator fan broke yesterday it almost fried my car's engine and killed (~~eight~~) four hours of our (me and Chris) Gen San time! Another one of those old car owner perks.Tsk, tsk,tsk. We're just lucky the smoke billowed of my hood with our car just 5 meters from our destination. We were 10 minutes ahead of my scheduled meeting also!

Thanks to Avel M.(GenSan.com) and Ariel L (Homeward Bound) who came to our rescue and we got one mechanic (Jun Rhey) fast. I thought it required only minor repairs, but lo and behold it took a full 4 hours our time waiting in front of Gen San City Hall! Well, I don't have a choice but to wait for our mechanic to troubleshoot and replace the needed parts. Then maybe learn something new- like how the radiator fan works to protect my car's engine. It was only that time also that I learned some anti Carnap switch is present underneath my car's dashboard! As if, someone else is interested in my new, old egg!

Cost and perspiration spent, plus the ominous four hours wait, I think the Mongolian Barbecue dinner fiesta was all the more yummy! Thanks to Avel and to Alan Sanidad the owner of Mongolian Barbecue place, Tiongson Arcade Tiongson St, Brgy. Lagao Gen Santos City !

Haberday Ate Rain!!!

2009-03-20T10:35:00.001+08:00

We love you so much!!!

How to keep your blogger template visually appealing

2009-03-15T23:14:00.006+08:00

For a frugal blogger like me, migrating to a self hosted Wordpress blog is still expensive. I don't have to spell my reasons for this but despite Wordpress' superb features, its free version at wordpress.com simply limit the users' "freedom" to meddle with the layout styling leaving you craving for more. Since a self hosted Wordpress blog is out of the equation for now, a free Blogger blog becomes an attractive alternative.

The new (free) Blogger platform gives its users greater degree of freedom working around their templates. Thus it is possible to improve visual presentation of your Blogger blog-a feature extensively limited on free Wordpress.com blog. There are quite a number of glitches and bugs of course (so are other blog platforms) but the fact that Blogger is totally free, the users create "workarounds" (or Wordpress style copycats) around this bugs and templates. Until you get enough money to buy (and maintain) your own domains and hosting space for your self hosted Wordpress, Blogger will be a free worthy alternative.

But why concentrate on your blog visual zen when "content is king". If content is king, your blog lay out is its queen. An appealing layout attracts first time visitors while content make these readers come back to your blog. While I particularly put premium on blog content, I don't subscribe to blogs that stings my visual taste.. Ultimately, a visually appealing Blogger blog brings in more traffic than just pure content alone. Thus, if you plan to set up a Blogger blog , here are some general tips that may help you find (or create) a suitable Blogger layout.

Plan ahead
Choose your target audience (niche) and characterize their general "likes". Teenagers for example, want a highly colorful, visually vibrant layouts. Browse as many templates as you can and pick the features or design you want. Then sketch, draw or if your knowledgeable enough, create your layout using Photoshop first.

Keep your layout simple.
My rule of thumb is to browse the simplest layouts first, pick the layout I want and then start building up from there. Or if I like a particular complex theme and couldn't get hold of its styling, I look for the simplest layout that is similar in structure to that complex layout and buildup from there. If your CSS savvy, you start from a scratch and create your own layout. But that is too time consuming for me.

Keep it light.
Complex CSS styling, tables, javascripts and external links slows the loading of your blog. Such features hogs you blog search engine optimization (SEO).Keep them to bare minimum. If you're forced to use pictures, trim it to the lowest size and resolution that will fill your need. Again, Photoshop's save for the web option comes in handy.

Keep it alive.
Choose vibrant, visually appealing colors but don't overkill. Balance spaces and colors. Make sure your design and colors highlight your content not your layout. Catchy layouts should point your readers to your content, not distract them.

Make it unique, as much as possible.
If I see another blog using my exact template, I would be flattered. But be wary of "production line" templates. Most readers are turned off at first glance if they knew some other blogger uses your exact theme. If you can't make a totally unique template, modify them all to suit your (and your audience) taste and need! Just don't leave your layout an exact replica of another blog!

Optimize.
Streamline your style sheet and widgets taking into consideration the previous tips I gave. Discard all that you don't need. If it doesn't look right in your eyes, chances are it wont look pleasing to your readers. So ditch those features!

Criticize but constantly improve your layout.
Don't worry, you will change layouts more often than you can remember. Have someone, presumably a profile representation of your target audience, criticize your layout. Continually improve your layout, trial and error style like me, if you want. Although a bit time consuming, you'll learn a lot (with lesser time needed as you along) in the future.

Lastly, give credit where it is due.
Respect ownership and privacy of materials you're using by asking permissions and giving due credits to its original owners. Even with minor modifications , the original owner a deserve credit on layout you're using. Above all, if you came up with a self gratifying layout yourself, give yourself a pat on the back. Creating your own Blogger layouts, though may seem time consuming, is actually gratifying when you get a beatiful layout!

What Facebook tried so hard at failing, friendster gloriously flunked as well

2009-03-15T20:00:00.006+08:00

That is because both social networking site keep filing up APIs most users rarely use. At some point, I find those APIs downright obnoxious!

Friendster for example, keep revising and revising its updates page it now looked like Facebook in color! It tend to be obtrusive since rather than giving the user "freedom" to select only updates he's interested into it rams the long updates into your strained eye when you land on your profile page. So be prepared if, hundreds of your "friends" updated 3 days ago, you will be surprised by the long list of updates on your landing page! While Friendster has improved loading of its pages, the frequency at which your logged in or not logged in status errors occurs frequently. Lastly, I still don't know why, my new comments notification is always "active" when no new comments is seen when I open my comments folder. I suspect it's another telltale signs of "hijacks" but Friendster has yet to offer one working solution to this.

Then came Facebook. Who with their recent TOS fiasco gladly revealed their sinister greed for privacy infringement. It's understandable why they wouldn't protect their users' privacy rights against those who harbor ill intention towards other users. They themselves wanted that loophole to be exploited later on opportune moments.

Whew, just as we are liking this social networks so much.

Lifes Fullest Podcast #1: Music and Driving

2009-03-06T13:06:00.006+08:00

Look what music and traveling brought me into- a podcast!

I really don't know how I ended up recording my voice and mixing it up with some music that I like. One thing though, I was totally awed by music compilations (like Hermione's 1in20 Minutes Podcast on ABC Digg) I stumbled upon while searching for a play list. Now, I'm speaking in front of my PC!

Five years after I acquired this PC I'm bit stunned that my sound card and mic actually worked with just minor tweaking! Dumb-o! So I read my previous post, Music and driving, recording and experimenting with it using a free software Audacity. Yeah, I know my voice sucks (kind of nasal) but my eureka is pretty pervasive.

So here it is again, Life's Fullest Podcast 1: Music and Driving. You can listen/download/browse or subscribe to my (future) podcast here at my PodOmatic podcast page. Enjoy this podcast and comments or suggestion are most welcome!

Music and driving

2009-02-24T23:43:00.010+08:00

Music isn't my forte ever since. But I often drift into music's embrace to soothes my longing spirit. It's not once were music saved a lot of my sanity from plunging into a oblivious boredom. Today is not an exception. Music will again wake up my sleeping soul.

Connecting music to my travels made it even more attractive and exciting. Bringing in the love bug (with my travel buddy Ligaya, I miss her so much ) definitely didn't helped as it pushed my soulful music auditions into my sleep bed. The coming of a car, brandishing a thunderous audio set up, jettisoned this musical urge and sealed my affliction for rediscovering music..

So I started out with browsing heaps of music files sleeping in my hard drive. Wow!It proved more complex than difficult, and is outrageously time consuming. I wanted to listen to all of these music, but that will take months! I tried narrowing them to music genre, to artists and to era that befits my age, but it will still take days for me to finish! I am surprised too that my taste for music spanned across a spectra of moods, genre and era. With the so many mp3s to listen to, it was not so much of help really.

So I went to the net for help. I tried browsing for play lists that will give me a feel of my tastes and likes in the music world. Car driving music seem to be an attractive first search, and it spewed out some really interesting, mixes that span various music genre. The fast upbeat and tempo will make your driving tight like this play list I got from one car audio forum. I burned it on cd and played it on my car. I liked it since then. I even played it twice during my recent trip. Here's the list:

Highway Star - Deep Purple
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
Break On Through - The Doors
Start Me Up - Rolling
StonesDreams - Van Halen
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Vertigo - U2
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Helter Skelter - The Beatles
Pretty Vegas - INXS
Evenflow - Pearl Jam
Enter Sandman - Metallica
Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins
Highway To Hell - ACDC
Life Is A Highway - Rascal Flatts
Route 66 - Chuck Berry
Shakedown - Bob Seger
Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple

One movie, Elizabethtown (starred by Orlando Bloom as Drew Baylor and Kristen Dunst as Claire Colburn) also inspired me about compiling travel songs. It was a sort of CD travelogue and directions for a desperate man made by the flight attendant Claire. The intricate thoughtfulness of creating that travel music compilation struck my imagination

But this podcast and blog (One Hour of Music in 20 Minutes) struck me the most. I accidentally stumbled on it while browsing for pictures of a compilation cover. Very cool. Here's an excerpt of her blog's post about the compilation.

Driving is one of my favorite things to do. I love being on my own in the car listening to a nice selection of music and enjoying the flow of movement.-Hermione Drive in One hour of Music In 20 Minutes

Here is her unabridged track list of this compilation. It will make your driving really soulful and soothing.

Drivin' On by The Breeders from Last Splash
California by Phantom Planet
24 Hours from Tulsa by Gene Pitney
La Femme D'Argent by Air from Moon Safari
Music is Math by Boards of Canada from Geogaddi
Cherry Lips by Archie Bronson Outfit from Derdang Derdang
The Wonder by Figurines from Skeleton
Starsigns by Underground Lovers from Ways T'Burn
The Sunshine Underground by Chemical Brothers from Surrender
Fighting in a Sack by The Shins from Chutes Too Narrow
Death Defy by Motor Ace
The Riddle by Nik Kershaw
A Lady of a Certain Age by The Divine Comedy from Victory For The Comic Muse
Thursday by Asobi Seksu from Citrus
Two Trains by Gareth Dixon
The Drive Home by Chicane from Far From the Maddening Crowd

I can't describe them all, but listen to Hermione's podcast on Digg and you'll understand what I'm trying to tell you.

I was traveling in and out of my city more often than I could remember. It is this very boring routine which ushered me compiling my own car and travel music- something I can listen to while driving without having to burn my eardrums. I hate the road humps and cracks, they crack my brains out! I curse at drivers who wantonly disregard road courtesy. But I hate cursing too and the boiling blood pressure! Music often saves me thousands of wrinkles. Thus, compiling music for my travels just made it to my priority list of "nearly important projects to do".

Hopefully, I will come up with my own compilation soon.

In love with your doc?Learn this first!

2009-02-09T18:12:00.028+08:00

(UPDATE: The Blog Rounds, 29th ed or The Love Boat by Pulse is up already! It is still open to contributions.Read it here.

Some of my non-med, non-blogger but obviously 'showbiz' readers (boy they're really interested) asked me to share something about the (secret) love life of docs. I'm not the expert on this topic that's why I'M MAKING THIS A VIRAL POST, tagging my fellow med bloggers to write TEN THINGS UNIQUE about doc lovers or lover docs. I'm not pushing everyone to write (I hate being tagged also) but then, maybe we can find some pearls from their thoughts!)

One insightful question:

how come many doctors are struggling with intimate relationships despite being so attractive to their opposite sex?"

A lot of people are interested and entertained by the kind of relationship physicians have. Some of these "relationships" rival the glitter of showbiz personalities (like this famed plastic surgeon). While physicians strive so hard to dissociate their personal lives with that of their work (for pretty obvious reasons) it is not surprising that patients and kibitzers take those glamor as a real in the lives of doctors!

I couldn't be ballsier, but yeah we'll take it in a stride and laugh about it. Here's some humorous ( horrific, in reality) reasons why it is doubly hard for docs to plunge into relationships- dates and excuses notwithstanding. An early warning though, none of them are results of evidenced based research! Feel free to laugh at the absurdity of my advices:

We love our patients (=work) more than anyone else. Significant others, in laws and everyone else who couldn't accept this reality run the risk of daily relationship shootouts with their physician most of the time. That is our curse for playing the "hands of God". Insane advice: Don't try the "patient approach" or prod him to change professions.
We cannot just pick anybody and everybody. We're rarely good at choosing apples over lemons anyway. Soon everyone will discover that the so called "physician magic" works on their patients only.
If you came into his/her life via the "patient approach" better understand fact number two.Transference rarely happen between physicians and their significant other. It's likewise unethical too. Clue: Be the golden apple but better learn David Blane's tricks. Works especially after a 48 hour ER duty.
Our common excuse for not going out is-"I am busy with my patient/work". In reality, we don't know any other excuse. Advice: Don't call the OR to check if your fiancee is actually doing a surgery. If I gave an excuse we're hearing mass on Tuesdays, you wouldn't call the priest would you?
Thus, corollary to number 4 is : we rarely have time for "dating". Even "loving stares" runs the risk of you inadvertently cutting a major artery or pushing the wrong medications. So, "retract please and don't tell me where the appendix is!"
If on rare occasions we go out on date, we love to share our bill. Doctors are not filthy rich as many thought us to be. If he's/shes talking about his/her last patient not having the money for the lab work up, don't ask for a fillet Mignon.
We rarely date our colleagues and competitors. Nobody hates the grand rounds outside the hospital more than we do! Of course, we don't have much information on any other topic too. Hence we just update you with the latest scandals in the hospital corridors.
Logical reasoning don't work on relationships. In reality, most doctors who are good at logical reasoning fail on diagnosing relationship problems. Thus, you don't expect them to succeed at treating relationship problems as well. Specialty referrals don't exist in intimate relationships also
Such "fiancee job"of preparing lunch, bringing in fresh clothes or scrubs to the hospital isn't so attractive to any person (including us) actually! So please stop the complaining if your fiancee doc ask you.
The fact that many people flirt with doctors doesn't automatically constitute evidence of us reciprocating those flirtatious moves. There are far too many flirts and we don't have time to respond to everyone of them. We're prioritizing sleep first and then taking bath thereafter.
Most doctors are bad patients and are not used to reversal of roles. Thus if you run into a physician who needed your advice, just give the placebo. He/she won't take the medicine anyway.

I can think of so many other insane thoughts on this topic. I'll be making this an unfinished list for the time being. I'll leave it to my readers to add something or disagree with my perceptions!But don't shoot me.

(This is my contribution to The Love Edition of Blog Rounds, to be hosted by Em Dy of Pulse. Thanks Em Dy)

On what makes some people special

2009-02-07T20:06:00.003+08:00

"Some people just don't fit inan environment even if they try so hard to. They attract attention but they couldn't seem to handle the attention they get. But that what makes them special. And you can just resist loving them" -Doc Martin, in Doc Martin (TV Series)