Friday, December 31, 2010

Burn Notice

There's an interesting idea coming from the TV series, Burn Notice, about team work.

Special-forces squads are built around the skills of the individual members. But no matter how good each member of the squad is, every mission comes down to one thing, how well they work together. Because in the end, you don't need a hero to succeed in the field. You need a team.

Good stuff. Food for thought.

12/31

Every episode leaves me wanting to see more. The way it goes is, it finishes a story but starts with a new lead for the next one.

When you work as a spy, it's easy to think of people as assets. Resources to accomplish a goal. Because you don't have a personal relationship with an asset. You don't care about an asset. You don't miss the scent of an asset when she leaves the room.

13 Jan 2011

Some serious strategy right here. Exactly what you would expect from good players of StarCraft, or any strategy game for that matter :D

For a spy, there's no shame in retreat. When faced with a more powerful enemy you're trained to get out of the way and keep moving. It's not about running away or giving up. The goal of any retreat is to find the right place to marshal your resources and make a stand. Military history is filled with stories of small forces taking on larger ones. Whether it's David fighting Goliath or the French Resistance fighting the Nazis, the strategy is basically the same. You have to choose the right ground, deploy your resources carefully, and remember that the greatest weapon in any battle is surprise.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

merry christmas!

wala lang. merry christmas. thankful sa lahat.

happy new year na rin! :D

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Changing desktop location (Windows 7)

Recently, I had to reformat my windows partition in order to fix a crash with my OS, booting up was impossible. I lost a lot of files in the process.

Looked around the internet and found that it is possible to change the location of the desktop and documents folders :D. This is convenient in case you need to reformat your main partition.
  1. Go to your user folder (i.e. C:\Users\chesster)
  2. Right click the Desktop folder -> Properties -> Location
  3. Click Move
  4. Select the new location (preferably a different partition/completely different storage device)
It is also possible to change the location of other folders (i.e. pictures, music, videos)

Globe Internet Promo Super Surf is BAD (part 2)

Kasunod nitong malupit na 1GB per day internet.

Ngayon naman 800MB per day nalang. Sana kasi, sinesend nila yan kapag nagregister ka palang. Huwag na nilang sabihing unlimited, kasi hindi naman unlimited.

Name:
Number: 8888
Content:
GLOBE Advisory: Ur data subscription for today has reached 800mb. Ur remaining browsing hours will resume tomorrow subject to promo validity. U may opt to forfeit ur remaining subscription to browse for P5/15. To unsubscribe text POWERSURF OFF or SUPERSURF OFF to 8888. This promo is guided by Globe Fair Use Policy.
Time: 06/12/2010 00:00:46

Pero ang pinakamalufet sa promo na iyan, may bug siya. At consumer ang magbabayad ng kamalian ng system. Consumer din ang mahihirapan lalo na kung may kailangan siyang gawing importanteng transaction.



Upload Download Total
Dec 4 42835711 759755743 802591454 ~ 802MB
Dec 5 109088468 388222580 497311048 ~ 497MB
Dec 6 746305 122547 868852 ~ 86KB
           32149 42395 74544 ~ 74KB


Nung December 4, umabot ako sa 802MB pero ok lang naman, wala namang nag-message sakin na lampas na ko sa limit. Bigla nalang silang nagpalit ng policy ng walang abiso.

Yung point ko talaga is, dapat na reset yung bandwidth ko for December 6. Mali yung system nila, ni-consider niya na out of bandwidth ako for the December 6, when in fact, December 5 ako naka-consume ng full capacity.

Syempre itinawag ko sa kanila. Ipinaliwanag ko na wala naman akong na-consume na bandwidth, pero hindi ako maka-access ng internet. Yung nakausap kong CSR, hindi magets na since may budget pa ako, dapat makakapag internet pa rin ako gamit yung product nila. Nirerequest ko lang na paki-ayos or i-extend yung promo time ko kasi wala nga akong nagamit, at system naman nila ang may kasalanan. Binigyan ko na nga siya ng malufet na analogy. Kung ikaw pumasok ka sa barbershop, nagbayad ka na para sa gupit tapos hindi ka ginupitan dahil sabi nila sa iyo quota na sila nung nakapag bayad ka, matutuwa ka ba? Sagot niya sakin, sorry daw, lesson learned ko raw, wala raw silang magagawa. Napakamot nalang talaga ko kasi sigurado naman may magagawa tungkol sa simpleng problemang ito. Wala silang ginawa siyempre.

Kaya ayun. Hindi ko marerecommend yung product nila.

Friday, December 03, 2010

actions per minute speak louder than words

How do you increase your starcraft actions per minute (APM)? Want to get 1000+ APM?

1000+ APM

Using the Razer Mamba mouse, you can simulate spam clicking.

Setup a macro that does five right clicks with one right click

Bind the macro to whichever mouse button you want to utilize

Switch to the configured profile when playing. It is also possible to setup auto switch.


This APM method will not win you games, obviously. :D

If you want to improve your game via APM, natural APM is what you want, not spam click APM. This method is just for fun. XD

glhf

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Autumn photos from the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

I had the chance to shoot some high aperture photos in the garden one autumn afternoon (6 June 2010). Here are some of the shots.









Saturday, November 06, 2010

mom's sos

She was diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation between L5-S1 parts of her spine. This means that the "padding" between the two parts of the spine is getting dried. As a result, the two bones are compressing some nerves along the area. This compression causes the nerves to malfunction.

The solution to the problem was to get an operation. The operation cannot be prolonged because prolonging the problem may cause nerve damage.

We took mom to the operating room at 2 in the afternoon.
Right now I am just waiting for the operation to finish so I can hug my mom.

I am doing my best to be strong for my mother.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Saturday, October 09, 2010

chilling out

So, this rainy Saturday na nag-stay ako sa bahay, nasira ulit yung Globe tattoo internet kong napakahusay. Down daw yung system nila and they are working to get it up and going as soon as possible. Well, I hear that quite often enough so ok nalang. Sayang nga lang yung binayad ko para sa unlimited internet. Though, according to the CSR I talked to, babalik naman daw nila pag walang service na naibigay for today.

Last night, I was in a sales motivation training. The speaker was up-Ed, a very successful Usana multilevel marketer. He talked about focus, and priorities, which are the two things that anyone who wants to succeed in anything should get a dose of every now and then. Another interesting thing he talked about was about the concept of “enjoy now, pay later” or “pay now, enjoy later”. It is choosing between increasing income or partaking in the usual juvenile gimiks and trips. It is a hard choice. What wasn’t mentioned and what I’m planning to achieve is the point where I can “enjoy now, enjoy later”, which sounds too good to be true, while avoiding the worst case “pay now, pay later”. Another interesting thought following the concept of the choice between improving income and enjoying life he shared was about choice and discipline. From what I remember, it goes to something like you have to choose to be successful but it is discipline that gets you there.

After the training, me and some friends went out to “enjoy now”.

This is exactly why I stayed home today. To rethink my priorities and to plan my next course of action after my almost 2 year experience filled, nerve crunching, Melbourne, VIC assignment that just finished. I was going to play “a little” starcraft 2 but, as mentioned earlier, the internet broke so I got stuck to writing this post offline.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Globe Internet Promo Super Surf is BAD

Well, wala kasi sa website nila yung info na may limit pala na 1GB per day ang Unlimited Surfing promo nila. Sabay ni-send sa akin itong message.

Name:
Number: 8888
Content:
Globe Advisory: Your account has reached 1GB in usage today. Subject to Globe Fair Use Policy, your internet service has been temporarily deactivated and will resume tomorrow. This promo is intended for moderate use. For heavy browsing, please upgrade to our Tattoo Postpaid plans. Thank you.
Time: 03/10/2010 11:52:29

Wala rin naman sa website yung "Globe Fair Use Policy". Sana nilagay nalang nila na 1GB lang per day para na-budget ko yung bandwidth.

Kaya ayun, hindi ako nakapag-starcraft haha XD

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns (2010)

So I listened to the songs.

This album is not for me. The songs in it have deviated from the band's usual hard hitting rock music. It's like techno and R&B that just doesn't work. I prefer their old hard rock style.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

My Photography Notes

On HDR
Fattal
alpha -> higher = darker
beta -> higher = less contrast

avoid using non-still objects as subjects (unless you can totally "freeze" the motion) because the movement will look nasty when the HDR is generated

All-purpose sharpening: amount=85, radius=1, threshold=4
Sharpening for the web: amount=400, radius=0.3, threshold=0


On Presenting
it's about the photos that you do not show


On Taking Shots
if the lens being used has IS/VR/whatever that compensates for lens motion, turn it off. it causes misaligned images

ignore the rules. if a scene looks good to your eyes, then make the shot.

ano bang gusto mo? yung totoo o yung maganda? XD

On Focusing
For automatic focusing, always focus on edges. This is a good technique especially for photographing people. Focusing on blank areas (i.e. clear skin) will confuse the auto-focus system and shooting those will usually result to out-of-focus images.

It's easier to use manual focus using Live View. Turn on live view and turn the focus dial until the desired focus is achieved.

General
one time you'll be able to see that it is not the gear that matters is when you run out of ideas with the good gear. so yeah, it's not the gear that matters :)

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Clannad After Story (2008)

Masterpiece. Highly recommended.

"Don't lose track of what's important to you."

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Kanon (2006) / Clannad (2007)

Good stuff. Both based from a game. Their plot may be a little too shallow for some but nonetheless I love the direction, photography, and musical score of both anime.

Kanon
drama

Clannad

Kanon clone (characters, plot).

violins

people in a coma interacting with others while in a dream
people who forget their childhood

drama

On fortune telling
"Of course, it's a pity I can't get it right, but I think it's better that I don't. If the results come true, it's as if there's only one future. But if it fails, we can think that other futures exist. We never know how the future shifts because of the slightest change. I want to believe that in our future there are many possibilities waiting." - Ryou Fujibayashi


After watching Kanon, I had a particular fondness for classical music.

Canon in D by Pachelbel is now my favorite classical piece.

On noynoy

Ninarogdaw!!!

Bumibilib ako kay Noynoy sa unang mga buwan niya bilang presidente.

Kasi yung mga bagay na mukhang maliit lang pero malaki ang epekto sa pulitika sa Pilipinas, unti-unti niyang binabago
  • Pagbawal sa wangwang
  • Pagbabawas ng mga opisyal na last minute ng nakaraang administration na-appoint
  • Kapag naisabatas, yung pagbabawal ng paglagay ng pangalan ng politiko sa mga imprastraktura na resulta ng mga proyekto na pondo ng taong bayan ang gamit (nakakagulat na may mga representative na ayaw tanggapin ang konseptong ito)
Natuwa rin ako na ginawa niyang medium ang internet para sa information gathering and dissemination http://www.facebook.com/noynoy.aquino; http://twitter.com/noynoyaquino
May team na pala siya na nagmamanage nung information na nalalagay online. Makikitang nilalagyan ng halaga ng kasalukuyang administration ang opinyon ng mamamayan. Sa malamang yung mga taong marunong lang gumamit ng computer at mag-internet (5 million ata ang bilang ng mga Pinoy na gumagamit ng facebook) ang makakagamit nito, pero mas mabuti na ito kaysa wala. Mas mabuti na ito kaysa sa nakaraang administration.

24 Aug 2010
Sa kasamaang palad, sa administration pa ni Noynoy naganap itong hostage taking incident. Yung interview nga niya, parang nagulintang pa siya. Parang alangan siya sa mga sinasagot niya sa media. Kung sabagay, dun sa interview na napanood ko, yung mga miyembro ng media, kung magtanong parang si Noynoy ang may kasalanan ng lahat. Absent yung confidence na naramdaman ko nung SONA niya. Hindi talaga niya inexpect. Malas lang.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (2010)

Campaign
A secret mission is unlocked by getting the secret documents from the command center in the southeastern corner of the map in the mission Media Blitz.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The A-Team (2010)

Good.

Standard fast action and explosion packed scenes.

Narration of planning is done during the execution.

Rampage was good as BA. But of course Mr. T retains his title as the original badass BA.

Hannibal (Liam Neeson) sounds like Optimus Prime.

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Inception (2010)

Amazing movie.

It's about a guy, Cobb, who can tap into people's dreams for whatever purpose. His team’s specialization is information espionage. They create scenarios within dreams for information extraction from within a target’s mind. Due to his circumstances, he is tasked by one of their clients to do an inception of an idea to a target’s mind. His team believed that it was impossible to do. Further down the story, it is revealed that Cobb knew that inception was possible all along because he once did it.

The movie explores the idea of the omnipotent subconscious mind; that in it, possibilities are endless. Dreams within dreams.

For me, the movie raises the question: If you get wet dreams in multiple levels of dreams or even in limbo (where you are trapped in the dream), what happens to your body in real life? :D

So yeah it is a thinker. I am still really puzzled with the ending. But I think that this is exactly the ending that the creator wanted to get in my head. I am one of the victims of the creator's great idea, his inception.

"Think about it. How did you get here?"

Definitely recommended.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Singapore Logs

Singapore mismo
Ang daming Pinoy
Ang daming bagong construction
Ang daming condo
Mahal ang lupa dahil maliit lang
Ang daming turista

Compared sa Pinas
Mas mahal yung food
Mas mura yung mga prutas
Mas mahal yung pamasahe
Mas mahal magpamasahe
Mas mura yung electronics
Mas malinis
Mas cheezy yung infomercials
Mas mababa yung humidity
Mas mabaho yung MRT
Mas kaunti ang tambay
Binaha lang ng konti, na-threaten na matawag na third world

24 July
  • Nag-ikot sa Orchard at Bugis street.
  • Unang MRT.
  • Singapore laksa
25 July
  • Marina bay sands
  1. Ok siya na hotel. Milyon ang kita nila per day. Premature daw ang pagbukas niya. Hindi pa completely tapos yung project binuksan na nila kasi milyon milyon ang nalulugi bawat araw na sarado ito.
  2. May mahusay na string quartet na Russian chicks
  3. May swabeng swimming pool sa rooftop
  • Bawal mag-swimming pag kumikidlat
  • Konti lang yung chlorine
  • Ang daming turista na makakakita sa iyo habang lumalangoy
  • Ang ganda ng view of the city lalo pag gabi
26 July
  • Sentosa. Ok yung parang racing. Songs of the sea. Meron yung lift na pang snow board pero walang snow.
27 July
  • Universal Studios
  1. Masungit yung Fiona. Hindi pa tapos yung tanong namin kung pwedeng multiple shots ang kunin sa kanila ni Shrek pinapaalis na kami after nung shot. Gusto lang naming makunan ng litrato si Shrek e, di naman namin talaga gustong kasama siya sa litrato hehe.
  2. Naalog yung utak ko run sa Revenge of the Mummy. Na-feel kong airborne ako nung nasa peak bago bumaba yung roller coaster. Parang naiwan yung utak ko tapos biglang rumagasa pababa.
  3. Under repair yung main rollercoaster
  4. Nakarinig ng authentic Asian "What the hell?!" dun sa ride na mababasa ka. Bale pag bagsak nung gondola sa tubig, "What the hell!?" Buti nalang napangunahan na kaming mag-short at slippers lang kaya ok lang kaming mabasa.
  • Nakapag MRT na kami lang. Weird yung machine ng ticket, ayaw magsukli ng mas mataas sa 4 SGD. So kung may 10 SGD kang buo, hindi ka makakabili ng ticket, kailangan mo pa magpapalit sa customer service.
28 July (pauwi na)
  • Nakita yung difference ng terminals 1 to 3 ng Changi airport. Dun kami sa budget terminal (terminal 1).
  • Delayed yung flight namin ng 1 hour. May nakalimutan daw iinstall na piyesa.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Date Night (2010)

I don't get it. It is Tina Fey and Steve Carell in a movie that tried to be funny and failed hard.