Okay, here we go. You may have noticed drastic changes in the site. It looks more crowded than the previous one. Don’t worry, an upgraded version of the old one will return. For now, let me enjoy the pinkish motif. I love the header so much that it compliments the site’s name.
Over the weekend, I finally had my first entry at Tech Blog Philippines. I’ve been looking for a topic for nearly a month and I finally found it yesterday. I don’t intend to write regularly there, but I will formulate a better piece next time I come across an interesting gadget.
This morning, I took my learner’s permit exam for a motorcycle license and I passed. I’m going to take the rider’s course later this month or early next month once I’m fully geared up. I have to do this before the winter starts. Then save for a bike for next summer. I’ve been eyeing a Ducati Monster for a few years now.
Tonight, before catching up with a late entry before midnight strikes, I cleaned up my Friendster list. I deleted a few accounts which are duplicate and/or have been dormant for a few weeks.
August 4th, 2008
We all know that the two World Wars brought stability to dying economies of their era. Before the bombing of the WTC and the war on terrorism, US economy wasn’t so good. George W. Bush was elected and was made a scapegoat for the slide of US economy. So here 9/11 was a perfect opportunity to improve the spiraling economy. On the side note, it’s not being ruled out that Pearl Harbor was of the same opportunity to get out of the Great Depression. The American government was rumored to have known the threat, but created an excuse to halt the isolation and enter the war. Gawd! I love American politics!
Here we are, everything going up. We’re far from another depression, so hold your horses. Why did the war on terror not solve the economic issues of the United States? Firstly, let me explain in a nutshell why war would help a bearing economy. If there is a war, a lot of hardware is needed (guns & ammos). These hardwares have to be built, thus jobs are created. However, jobs aren’t created because jobs were outsourced. The intention was not fulfilled because of the recent surge of labor outsourcing.
America is in the verge of winning the war in Iraq, so let’s look ahead and discuss what we’re going to see. Apparently, oil prices are skyrocketing to the roof because the main source of petroleum is located in the Middle East. With their leaders’ refusal to pump out more petroleum to satisfy the demand, prices of petroleum will keep rising. So did the war in Iraq backfire on America? Yes and No. No in the sense that the intention was not to gain ground on petroleum market. It was to oust Saddam and destroy the haven for terrorists. Yes because inconspicuously, the intention of gaining grounds in the Middle East was there and no one can deny that. It’s not written in paper, but we all know it is there. I have yet to decide on my thoughts whether in the long run, the relationship with the Arab nations progress.
So war did not fix the economic problems of the nation. The country is said to have a huge deficit.
What is a deficit? In layman’s term (because I’m a layman), it’s a negative balance in your bank account. Borrowed money. America has billions of borrowed dollars and the bulk of it is from China. Does that mean that America is poor? No. All nations borrow money from other nations. Borrowing money is a relationship between nations. Most of the time it’s a strategy to hold a nation’s neck. The debtor can put a creditor on a leash if he knows what he’s doing. That’s also the cause of the downward spiral of the dollars, but it’s also part of economic stimulation. Look at Euro, everything must be expensive as hell over there. I’m sensing economic war between the US and EU :)
It sounds like I’m defending the US government, but I am. Also, I would like to conclude that war will not go away because it stimulates every thing that makes the world go round. So if you’re still baked and living in the 60’s, wake up and smell the coffee because it’s perfectly brewed.
July 30th, 2008
I was looking around WordPress for an idea for today and stumbled upon a bloggers iPersonic entry and thought I’d give it a try. I have the results below. Not perfect, but some are sound. Psychological theories are still a long way to go. I really believe that each individual is a diffusion of each other. They are the same, yet different. It’s like Philosophy. I’ve spent a few years searching for my niche in Philosophy, but I can’t completely pinpoint my loyalty.
Independent Thinkers are analytical and witty persons. They are normally self-confident and do not let themselves get worked up by conflicts and criticism. They are very much aware of their own strengths and have no doubts about their abilities. People of this personality type are often very successful in their career as they have both competence and purposefulness. Independent Thinkers are excellent strategists; logic, systematics and theoretical considerations are their world. They are eager for knowledge and always endeavor to expand and perfect their knowledge in any area which is interesting for them. Abstract thinking comes naturally to them; scientists and computer specialists are often of this type.
Independent Thinkers are specialists in their area. 
The development of their ideas and visions is important to them; they love being as flexible as possible and, ideally, of being able to work alone because they often find it a strain having to make their complex trains of thought understandable to other people. Independent Thinkers cannot stand routine. Once they consider an idea to be good it is difficult to make them give it up; they pursue the implementation of that idea obstinately and persistently, also in the face of external opposition.
Independent Thinkers are not the type who easily comes out of his shell. Speaking about their emotional life is also not one of their strong points. Anyway, social relationships are not particularly important to them; they are happy with just a few, close friends who find it easy to share their intellectual world. They find it difficult to establish new ties. In love, they need a lot of space and independence but this does not mean that their partner is not important to them. Independent Thinkers often make a cool and reserved impression on others; but this impression is deceptive: they can hardly bear it if people close to them should reject them. They prefer a harmonious, balanced relationship with a partner who shares their interests and with whom they can realize their visions.
Take the free personality test and determine your iPersonic type!
July 24th, 2008
I’ve been following the Wordpress 2.6 pre-release builds and when I woke this morning, the admin panel was urging me to upgrade. I didn’t have time to do it this morning, but I checked out the video that the people from Automattic made. I didn’t notice any changes that could affect the site, so I upgraded my two sites a few minutes ago. I find that there are outstanding upgrades in the admin panel especially the plugins section. It makes sense to separate the active and inactive plugins because sometimes I’m confused if I’m upgrading (I also like a flag telling me I have a number of plugin updates) an active plugin. Selective activation/deactivation is also an awesome addition. There is revision trail, so that’s exciting. Wordpress is becoming a more sophisticated word processing software it seems.
Anyway, for those who are afraid to upgrade, I’m telling you it’s safe. You gotta love the word count also. Another awesome feature.
July 15th, 2008
It’s Independence Day weekend and for those who will be staying home (like me) during the long weekend, I am recommending the films below. They are all foreign films (not if you’re Japanese or Korean). I have them as part of my tiny DVD collection. They aren’t new. They’re about at least 3 years old already and I’m guessing that most of my readers have not seen them yet. I’m a huge fan of martial arts films especially the ninja and samurai. That’s not the only reason why I’m recommmending them, however. These films possess deeper meaning. I have found those meanings in my own perception. It’s up to you to find for yourself.
I will recommend more films later on.
SHINOBI — The movie contains one of the greatest fight scenes ever shown on film. The hero and heroin possess amazing powers and the fit the actors portraying the characters. Probably one aspect of the movie that made me love it is the cinematography. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
AZUMI I — The first of the two. The history of Azumi; how she became. An excellent display of swordplay. I’m a huge fan of the ways of samurai. I’m a man who adores perfection through simplicity and the samurai way of life is that. Simple, precise, perfect. The pretty face of Azumi is a plus.
AZUMI II — The second installation. The continuation of Azumi’s journey towards cleansing. Aagain, contains a great display of swordplay. Unlike most sequels, this one did not disappoint me. Azumi still looking good especially with a cloak (that’s when she really kicks ass).
SHADOWLESS SWORD — This is a Korean film that I can proudly recommend. Korean films are becoming better and could probably replace Hollywood. The film contains another excellent display of swordplay. A must see.
July 4th, 2008
Readiness and Disaster Management are the recent issues in the Philippines. PAGASA claims that there was a breakdown in the structural aspect of their readiness program during typhoon Frank. There is no such thing as readiness. Nature is uncontrolled that’s why most of us thrive to be unnatural. The only thing a forecast can do is minimize casualties; it’s not a prevention. I guess it’s a readiness to be killed for the dead. I’m a huge fan of the natural and I missed one good nature loving during the typhoon. I miss the days back home when we encounter annual typhoon visits. It’s exhilarating. Now most of you will definitely say that it’s insensitive of me to be thinking that way after many people lost their lives. Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s what we call “natural death”. Sooner or later you’ll die, so why not give your life to something that gave and is giving you life and not to some illness caused by the artificial or ambitions. I want to die with nature’s help or during my sleep. That way there’s nobody to blame for my death.
Disaster Management — I’ve nothing on this one. I don’t have the luxury to think about helping the victims. If it was me, I’d look at this as a rebirth and reset my life. I would disappear and live life anew. I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen to me; especially when I’m traveling by plane. I always wish my plane crashes in an inhabited island so that if I survived, I’d live in solitude. Did I just digress?
June 30th, 2008
Winnipeg, Manitoba — It’s been a while since my last entry and here I am full of expectations for this one. I don’t like Canadians. I have been solid about that for years now. I don’t like them politically, culturally and throw in also economically.
Canadians have been unsubtle about their (except for the Prime Minister I guess) dislike of the United States of America. Canada envelopes the northern part of the US and they are well protected by the US militarily from three directions. Instead of gratitude for this, the Canadians think that what the (US)Americans are doing to keep a civilize world is plain wrong. They are too idealistic for their own good.
Now let’s talk about idealism for Canada. Canada uses two languages — English (British, not [US]American) and French. That means that they are bounded to the British and the French who discovered their neck of the woods. Essentially, Canada has no independence so they should just shut their mouths about the United States and get their shit together first to get away from their monarchs. Trivially, Canada has no president. Instead they have a prime minister because they still recognize the monarchs thousands of miles away in the land called the United Kingdom. If you ask Canadians why they don’t exist as a Republic, they would tell you that they are sentimental about the presence of the monarchy. A stupid thing to say for a could-be-sovereign country.
Culturally, I dislike their attitudes. (US)Americans are liberal, but they at least have manners. Canadians lack courtesy, hospitality and other good manners. Canadians will confirm this. They think they are high up in the food chain to be looking down on people. Here’s a stereotype: if you meet a rude Caucasian in the States, most likely he’s from Canada. One more piece of observation: Canadians look alike. I would like to post pictures, but I won’t. When you visit Canada, pick one face and you’ll find many of them like that…pick the ones with ’stache.
If (US)Americans complain so much about taxes, go to Canada and you’ll wish you can bring your taxes from the States. Generally, they have two taxes: GST (federal) and PST (provincial). Total tax could reach 15% - 20% of your purchase. That’s too much. They even have AST (accommodation) and a GST is also taken from that AST. So if you stay in a hotel, they will charge you two taxes plus an accommodation tax plus another tax off that accommodation tax. What they mean to say is that “pay us double, foo!”
I think that about covers my dislike for Canada and its people. However, I LOVE the music they make. I will also attempt to photographically compare the four provinces I visited when I get back, so watch out for that my dear readers.
June 26th, 2008
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