Mandrake's Moves

Press release says Mandrake is merging with Conectiva. Says the press release, "Conectiva's technical achievements are also well known in the worldwide Linux community. Among them, the RPM port of apt-get (apt-rpm) and the new Smart Package Manager are just two examples of Conectiva's accomplishments."

Dave, your days of using "urpmi" are numbered. You will soon get to use "apt-rpm" on your favorite distro to get that latest packages. LOL!

Of Turkey Twizzlers and Celebs

I was a bit surprised to find out that one of my wife's favorite celebrity chefs (on Tv, that is) is actually involved in a cause. He wants healthier meals for British kids. Apparently, he was appalled by what schools were serving kids. He made a documentary and then managed to get 271,000 signatures on a petition. Wow. Read more here...TV chef wins school lunch crusade.

People seem to be happy at what he's accomplished so far, but there are those who say what the prime minister promised him falls way below what is needed to curb a growing trend of obesity in Britain. Read more on that here... Like Oliver, children want more

How I wish we could have a similar discussion here in the Philippines. Unfortunately, we're unable provide the most basic of social services to many who desperately need it. Tsk!

The Big 3-0...

I got asked this question a lot yesterday: "How does it feel to be thirty?"

To tell you frankly, I don't feel any different, though I now have better insight about my parents and the older generation. You know, why they did what they did or said what they said when I was younger. I also feel a little less idealistic. My enthusiasm has ebbed. I feel frantic all the time, too. Has anything changed for me then? I guess not. My perspective has changed, but its still the same ole me underneath it all. I guess if you were in my shoes you'd feel the same. You don't really change. It's the world around you that changes. Everything around you changes. And as the world continues to turn, we only hope to turn with it and come out better people as we experience it.

Spyware, again.

I read the comments on my Spyware blog entry. Jajey mentioned Yahoo's toolbar. Dave commented that worked like spyware. Yahoo's blocker ironically does work like spyware. I still prefer using Spybot and Ad-Aware (which by the way was the 1st ever anti-spyware prog). To prevent spyware from installing in the first place, or after the PC's been cleaned by the two, I use Spyware Blaster. Again, all three are free solutions that work better than most pay-for-use anti-spyware products available out there. If all three are updated and run at least once a week, you'll be relatively safe from spyware.

If you really can't live without a toolbar on your Internet Explorer, use Google Bar. I agree with Dave, that the best remedy would still be not using I.E. altogether. It's safer to use Firefox or Mozilla. With Firefox you don't need a toolbar since it already has a search bar built-in.

Ever hear of Hello? It's new software from Picasa. It allows users to share pics, but in an IM-like environment. It's better than emailing or posting directly to websites. There's also a special feature that allows users to post pics to their Blogger blogs. I'm actually using this post as a test. And get this - it's FREE! You can get Hello from http://www.hello.com.  

Tinkering...

I was tinkering with my blog's settings a while ago and happened to see that I can now conveniently change the way comments are displayed. A prominent option is to have them appear as pop-ups, like in the case of my blogger-kamerad Jajey's blog. You better hurry, because she might change the way its set, before you see what I'm talking about - LOL. Anyway, her blog hosts comments from both Haloscan and Blogger.

Back to the settings I wanted to tinker with. Currently my comments link directs readers to a page that looks like my main blog page but only contains the post that they picked to comment on plus the comments already posted. Whew - long sentence. Pop-ups would be nice though, since readers wouldn't be directed away from the main page. However, since a vast majority of websites employ annoying pop-up ads (not to mention spyware-induced pop-ups that manage to sneak into your pc) to spruce up advertising and most browsers now employ at the very least a rudimentary form of pop-up blocking technology, i decided against it. Whew - another long-winded sentence. In short, I'm not changing the way my comments work because doing so might make people think there is something wrong with my comments when it's their browsers that are blocking pop-ups. Feel free to comment now.

Speaking of pop-ups and spyware, you are not powerless. I personally use three anti-spyware programs to keep that junk out of my pc. I use Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware SE, that act like anti-virus for spyware. They weed out the spyware already in your pc. I also use Spyware Blaster, which actively blocks spyware from being downloaded. Kinda works like a firewall or filter for spyware. All three are free and work just as good or better than paid software. To get rid of pop-ups, or at least block them from annoying you, use an alternative browser like Firefox or Mozilla. Again, wonderful free solutions that work, brought to you by the open source community. Both block pop-ups by default. It's easy to add sites you want to exempt from the rules though, if that's what you really want.

Back to my blog. Without anything to tinker, I just placed a Google search bar into my blog for readers to use. Now you don't have to veer away from my blog to look for something. Have Google fetch it for you. Hope you enjoy.

New Playa ...

I downloaded this new media player. You might want to use it too. It's called Quintessential. Plays and rips audio, small lighweight program, free. My favorite words. Unlike other players this one already has equalizer presets, rip and burn capability, cool visuals and plugins (that you don't have to pay for) and supports the ogg vorbis audio format. I'll have to test the rip and burn part though. I have it running music from my reggae folder right now. Don't want to interrupt Burning Spear dubbing.

Life...

When someone asks (usually someone I haven't seen in a while) how I am or the customary, "Kamusta?" , I would almost always say, "Heto..." Not that I'm unhappy or anything. I'm the type of person whose always a little short on words, seems lost, or plain confused in situations that require me to run through the details of my life. I sort of think people wouldn't be interested in the nuances of my life. Well, offline anyway. The internet seems to have given this day-in-my-life thing called blogging such an overblown look. Me? I just blog as therapy - LOL.

Now, what have I been up to lately? Hmmm... Yesterday, we went to our pediatrician for my son's shots. I walked away from the doctor's office some 1,400 pesos poorer. I went home dead-tired, since I had to work the previous night. Last night wasn't great either. This morning, I didn't have the energy to do anything. I just plopped into bed after changing into more comfortable clothing ;-) A ratty t-shirt and an old pair of b-ball shorts. Summer's coming down hard. Really hot lately.

Now, I'm keeping my wife company as she irons this week's wardrobe. I'm blogging while I hang the shirts and pants. I'm typing in between runs to the upstairs closet. Ooops, gotta run...Literally. Ciao.

The company that you keep...

I'm proud to share the following data with you. I checked my blog's counter, a service graciously by the folks over at sitemeter.com . I was surprised at the data, but happy at the same time. A majority of the people who access my site now use Firefox. I sincerely hope that I had something to do with that, having put a download link on my site to GetFirefox.com .



Another surprise came when I looked at the operating systems side of the survey. Clearly, a substantial number of my friends and visitors are linux users. Wow!



Truly inspiring for a Linux and OSS (open source software) newbie user like me.

Finally...

I've managed to set-up Mandrake to run on my computer with internet access. Been busy the last few days downloading and updating stuff. Tinkering has never felt so good. I'm learning a lot from Dave. I admire his patience. Basically, I' still at the learning-to-survive level, still have a lot to learn. But I'm getting there :-) Right now, i'm trying to learn how to use tar balls (if you know what that is, then you know how pathetic I am - LOL).

When will I be totally Windows-free? Well, I've taken the first few steps, that's for sure.

Security Checks

Call me paranoid but I'd like to think my computer is safe from prying eyes. To have a little peace of mind, I used several free tests online to check my computer. Try these free online tools too : Sygate's Security Check, Trend Micro's Hackercheck, Symantec's Security Scan, Shields Up!, Audit My PC, and PC Flank. My personal favorites are Sygate, Shields Up and PC Flank. These three are quite thorough and have articles that inform you about why their tests are important. Going to the sites and reading the accompanying FAQ's has made me more aware about what the baddies can do to ruin my privacy. Try them and make sure your computer is safe from security threats.

Anniversary

I can't believe its been three years already. Today, me and the wife celebrate our third year together. We already had our date yesterday, because many of our favorite restaurants are closed on Mondays. The popular explanation is that there aren't that many customers on Mondays and a lot of them on Sundays. Well, at least the ones expats go to. I still maintain that the best eats in Angeles City are the ones that expats frequent. It's clean, the servings are big and the food tastes great. They aren't cheap though. We ate at this Mexican resto we used to frequent when we weren't married yet. Brings back good memories.

I received a text message this morning from our very special friend Sharon. Haven't heard from her in a while so it was great to finally hear from her (or read from her, since it was an sms
message). She greeted us a happy anniversary, a day only a few good friends would remember. She always manages to make me smile when she does something thoughtful for us, oftentimes unexpectedly. Good of her.

Since we already had our date yesterday, we went out to grab lunch at Shakey's with my mom and our son. It was perfect! Not that many people around, so I and my son enjoyed the mini-playground. As usual, spaghetti stains marred the otherwise perfect lunchdate. LOL.

The last two days were really great. I appreciate things a little bit more , considering how much love I've received. It's my job to love them back, something I haven't been very good at recently. To take the words of Stephen Covey, "love isn't a feeling my friend, it is an act." We often times confuse love for affection. We often think of love as an emotion. Its actually an act. When we serve someone or do things for them or take care of them or look after them... that's love. It's an act, not a feeling. When someone takes the time to tidy up after we mess up or take the time to arrange your dresser...that's love. It's making someone else's burden yours out of the goodness of your heart. So this time around, I'll act as if this anniversary were new year's and state a new year's resolution. I will love my family and my friends. I hope I do well.

Day off, sweet day off..

My day off again. As asual, I've got something to tinker with this weekend. I'm trying to learn how to make my linux side work on the internet. I got as far as making the connection,but I couldn't make any of the browsers work. The Mandrake package has three browsers ;-) not one of them connected. I even tried the Ubuntu live cd. Could get the modem to dial. Since I'm a beginner, I suspect I'm doing something wrong. Either I'm leaving something on by default or I'm changing something I should leave at default. Sorry to sound so vague. I'm really a beginner.

Ubuntu is another variant of linux that stemmed from another major distribution called Debian. Mandrake came from Redhat, theeee most popular linux distro. Been seeing Redhat on internet cafe servers even before i learned to use the internet.

Anyway, to go on I switched over to the windows side to get online and look for people to ask. I just found out I couldn't make my Firefox work. I think I broke it when it was downloading the 1.0.1 update and I disconnected before it finished. After some shut-eye, I'll get tinkering. Meanwhile, I'll see if I could get some sleep.

I hate this. I just had to listen to it one more time. I put the cd on and it brought back a lot of happy albeit depressing memories. It brought me back to a time when depression was a part of my everyday routine. I'm was an emotional wreck back then. Well, maybe I still am. May be that's how I am built.

I'm taking about the Julia Fordham Collection. See, for me most music is related to a time, a place or both. It's like time in a bottle. I open these audible time capsules every now and then. It sort of brings me back to the emotions of that time and place.

Going back to Julia Fordham, It reminds me of the time when I was still courting the missus. I was in a constant emotional rollercoaster at the time. I was always depressed. I constantly wanted to be with her and if that was not possible a state of depression came over me. Julia Fordham was a constant companion of mine during those depressing times that I was alone. Not a few heads turned whenever I told friends I listened to her. Maybe they found it odd that a heterosexual male like myself would find the emotional wailing of a transexual appealing. But I WAS emotional. The songs were filled with emotion. It did not matter to me who it was behind the song. I could "feel" the songs as I listened to them. That was what was important to me.

Anyway,I still listen to this every now and then. It depresses me still, but in a good way. It mellows me out nowadays. I'm always so high-strung i need a little dose of depression. Do I sound like a junkie trying to achieve the elusive balance between downers and uppers?