Yet Another Blog

"How Six Songs Collide" by Norwegian Recycling

2009-03-29T18:15:00.000+08:00

Awesome mashup from Norwegian Recycling. Check it out:

Slideshow of our Bohol trip in 2005

2008-07-18T12:42:00.000+08:00

Took me awhile to track down the CD where I put our pictures from our impromptu trip to Bohol back in 2005. Papa had just retired then and in celebration of his retirement we went to Cebu. No plans whatsoever to go on to Bohol. Anyway, long story short, Papa, in a decidedly indulgent mood, impulsively booked us on a ferry. We spent a day there, seeing the sights and wishing we had more time to visit Panglao beach and explore more of Tagbilaran City. I now wish I'd had the cojones back then to actually let a tarsier sit on my shoulder. Ah, well, next time . . .

Acebedo Family Reunion 2008 slideshow

2008-05-19T16:34:00.001+08:00

New photos are up

2008-03-05T05:01:00.000+08:00

. . . at my Picable gallery. This one is my current favorite:

A Flower in Black and White

2008-02-26T04:32:00.003+08:00

Visit the rest of my pics at my Picable Gallery

pics of our cebu trip to see the sinulog festival

2008-01-22T08:43:00.000+08:00

Pics from our trip to Cebu this last weekend. We almost couldn't make it, because the ship we were suppose to take was cancelled at the last minute. Fortunately, we were tipped that there was another boat that could ferry us to Cebu. It kinda felt like we were on the Amazing Race, the way we had to quickly get to that boat, which was on the other side of the city.

Anyway, here are the pics. These are not all of them, as there were two cameras being used. These were the ones in mine. Pics are hosted by Shareapic:

Just some pictures I took

2008-01-03T03:43:00.001+08:00

bad luck . . . good luck . . . what's the difference?

2007-12-14T16:49:00.000+08:00

It certainly seems like bad luck that my mom won't be able to attend this weekend's big event . . . which is my cousin's ordination. Something the whole family has waited years to happen, ever since my cousin Mark got it into his head to become a priest back when he was just a kid.

She got admitted to the hospital today for appendicitis that was, according to the doctor, fit to burst. Fortunately, my mom decided to go for a check up early this morning (I tell you, she's psychic . . . it's really creepy at times) and while she didn't have a fever and wasn't really showing any symptoms, except for the tummy ache, her doctor decided to go ahead and operate. So, now she's stuck at the hospital for the weekend. Knowing my mom, though, she'll be up and about by Sunday. Stubborn. I suppose it doesn't really matter as long as she's up and about at the hospital and doesn't insist on going home early.

Anyway, my brothers and I will get to attend the event, but will head to the hospital soon after (bearing gifts of course . . . my dad won't be able to attend either). Me? I'm just glad that she went on that check up. Rather good luck, eh?

Hey, wanna earn some money?

2007-12-06T12:20:00.000+08:00

If you haven't heard of it yet, Yuwie is a social network just like Multiply or Friendster, with one slight twist. It pays its users to hang out, post blogs, pictures and any other stuff you can usually do in a social network. Want more info? Just click the banner:

Yay!

2007-11-22T15:05:00.000+08:00

Got my new Ubuntu 7.10 cd today! Am giving it a test drive and so far, I like it. In fact, that's what I'm using now. Just as a Live Cd. I'm gonna install it once I get a better pc, though by that time, there'll probably be a newer version.

i carry your heart with me by E. E. Cummings

2007-11-21T20:56:00.000+08:00

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate,my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Geek Moments: My most used Firefox extensions

2007-11-13T10:11:00.000+08:00

Firefox on its own is already one cool piece of software. But add some extensions and that's where it really comes into its own. If by chance you don't have it yet, what are you waiting for? Go download it!

Here's a list of extensions that I have currently installed on my copy of Firefox, which makes my surfing a real joy. In no particular order:

YouPlayer - this one is for those who watch videos online. You can build a playlist of your favorite Youtube, Google Video, Metacafe, etc. vids and watch them from your browser sidebar as you surf. The only thing missing is the option to download the videos.
Greasemonkey - this one allows you to customize how you like certain websites to appear or act. This is specially useful when you want to download Youtube videos or want to customize Gmail even more.
Stylish - this works similar to Greasemonkey, but is more about customizing how an application or website appears in your browser. It makes use of CSS more than Javascript. I have my Google Reader set to be displayed in a Mac like screen, which is a lot more attractive looking than the default look.
Auto Copy - this one automatically copies the text you select to the clipboard and if you right-click the selected text, you get an option to open it up in a new tab if it's a url. Pretty handy when you want to check out a website, but the url is not set as a link.
Firebug - for the web developers out there, this extension is a handy tool to have. You can edit and debug your website from inside Firefox.

My current fave imeem playlist

2007-11-11T21:33:00.001+08:00

Yes, I'm a huge Idina Menzel fan! I so can't wait for her new album to come out in January.

Cool Finds: Making money online

2007-11-07T18:59:00.000+08:00

Want to make some money online? I've got a few places you can go to that are at the very least scam free and completely legal. Admittedly, the pay isn't much, but if you've got some spare time and don't mind earning a few cents here's some places you can go:

Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) - you basically complete small tasks within a set time. These tasks range from reviewing a blog/website to transcribing podcasts (this one can be rewarding if done right). If your work is approved, then you get paid and if its quality is great, then you might even be paid a bonus. I've already made about $3.15 . . . like I said, it doesn't pay much, but at least I haven't had a work rejected yet. The transcription jobs pay at least 2-3 dollars depending on the length, but you have to have a lot of time to do those.
For the writers out there try Helium and Associated Content. They pay you to write articles on whatever topic you desire. If you're feeling less creative, but still want to write, try writing abstracts or summaries and be paid for it on another website (message me your email addy and I'll send you an invite).
For those with websites, try Google Adsense and Widgetbucks. The latter pays you a $25 dollar sign-up bonus.
You could also try reading email ads and be paid for them. Take The Internet Back is one such website. It looks good so far as I can tell. I recommend that you create another email address aside from your regular one though, if you plan to try this route.
And then there's Yuwie. This is a social networking site that pays you to be active on their network. Try it out. You don't lose anything as membership is free and you get to meet new friends.

I think that's it for now. Try those suggestions and see if you like it. You won't lose anything. Like I said, the sign-ups are free. They won't make you filthy rich, but at least you'd be a few dollars richer.

Geeky Moment: Accessing your PC anywhere

2007-11-06T14:22:00.000+08:00

My mom works several miles away from our home city. She usually just stays there about 4 days a week and comes home during the weekends. Anyway, their office computers are always in need of some troubleshooting or just plain maintenance every other week. Now, my mom is no slouch with the pc. She taught me how to use the computer during my high school days when Wordstar and Lotus 123 were the MS Office of the day. Nowadays, however, whenever their office gets into a spot of bother, she tends to call me ... long distance.

So, wanting to find a solution to helping her out with some basic troubleshooting without her spending a lot of time(and money) on the phone and me trying to fly blind (we end up getting frustrated after awhile), I looked to the internet.

I found this neat web service called LogMeIn.com and it was perfect for my needs. Just a simple remote access service that would help me see what the problem was and actually take control of the remote computer (with my mom's permission of course). It's free, but limited. It works for me though. At least I don't have to travel far, unless needed. I tested it out with my two pc's and it worked perfectly. I actually can't wait until the next time my mom's pc bogs down again.

Cool Finds: Animoto

2007-11-01T20:48:00.000+08:00

While reading through my subscribed RSS feeds, I found this little gem. It was just way too cool not to share.

Animoto is a website that specializes in making what would be an ordinary slideshow into an MTV extravaganza. You basically put in some pics, choose your music either from their collection or upload your own and then hit the submit button. Sounds like any other slideshow, eh? Not. Their software then takes your pics and your music and analyzes them so they all fit together quite nicely MTV style. The basic service is free, but only gives you about 30 seconds of video. For a much fuller vid, you'd have to fork over some cash. However, the free service is fine if you just want to play around. You can even embed it on your website, blog or social network profile.

Here's what I did with my pics:

You take the good, you take the bad . . .

2007-10-29T20:38:00.000+08:00

. . . so the theme song from the 80's TV show "The Facts of Life" goes and I am so hooked. Okay, so, I'm a bit late, but then again, I was just a little kid when this show was on TV. Thanks to Youtube and several of its generous users, who have uploaded most of the episodes, I am now definitely and irrevocably addicted. My favorites of the four are Jo, Blair and Natalie. Tootie is okay, but she kinda annoys me a bit. Mrs. G, of course, goes without saying. Charlotte Rae is a great actress.

I've actually finished watching most of Season 2, 3 and 4 just by going to Youtube everyday. I fear an obsession, LOL. So far, my favorite episodes are mostly from the earlier seasons where Mrs. Garrett was still in the show. "The New Girl", "Double Standard", "The Four Musketeers", "Dear Apple" are just several of my favorites and had me by the stitches at times. Now this was good TV. How come they don't make them like this anymore? It was a comedy show, but it could sure pack a punch in the dramatic arena when the story called for it. I just loved the fact that even though this show was a couple of decades ago, I could still relate to the girls and their stories. Perhaps, despite everything that has changed throughout the years, there are still some things that are forever universal. And learning the facts of life is one of them.

Locked out and strung out

2007-10-29T09:21:00.000+08:00

Funny thing happened last night. We got locked out of the room where the family computer was in. We'd gone out of the house to go to mass and as per standard operating procedure, we usually lock up the doors to various rooms (except the toilet) in addition to doors to the house. So, after a leisurely lunch and an afternoon of family bonding time, we went home and proceeded to mull over how best to unlock a stubborn door.

Apparently the key had gone missing without us knowing. The ironic thing was, my mom, who must have been psychic, explicitly told my dad not to lock the door to that room earlier that day. My dad, on the other hand, thinking: "Eh, we have the key. What's the problem with locking it up?" decided to lock it up anyway. Well, he definitely regretted that action.

It took us several hours to get the damn thing open, only because none of us were too keen on doing it the easy way (i.e. drilling a hole into the door and taking out the knob). Who knew lockpicking was that hard? I made a mental note to myself to learn how to do it. Oh, not for dastardly reasons or anything like that. I simply don't want to experience being locked out accidentally again.

Papa managed to finally get it open by wedging some kind of thin flexible plastic through the door and kicking it. Surprisingly, the knob wasn't destroyed and the door is intact save a few scratches. Man, we have a good lock, hehehe . . .