Tuesday, December 30, 2008

I'm a Chuck Addict!

Hehehe.. Couldn't sleep much after waking up at around 3PM. So I just logged in to Facebook and checked out the "I'm a Chuck Addict" app, which I haven't actually been looking into since I first accepted it.

Well would you look at that!

I just worked my way up to 2000 points in the trivia game. Each question is worth 10points. I made some mistakes along the way, so that's definitely more than 200 questions I answered in one sitting. Geez!

Hehehe.. Just can't stop answering the trivia, espcially if you know the answers to most of the questions.

Anyway, I decided to stop at 2000 points with the Enthusiast ranking for now. Maybe next time when I'm not doing anything important such as... uhm... scrubbing the drawers to get rid of the smell of mildew mixed with varnish. Ech! :))

Monday, December 29, 2008

About Psychic Predictions for 2009

As is the common practice, countless psychics and fortunetellers are making many brave and bold predictions for the New Year. They would claim that they have correctly predicted events the previous year, so there is no doubt that their new predictions will come to pass as well.

Personally, I have a couple of problems with this notion.

First, nobody remembers in completely the many predictions of most psychics, much less the onbes who made correct predictions. I particularly hate the ones who announce that they predicted certain events -- the 9/11 attack being one of the favorites -- after said event occured.

Another thing is that many of the so-called predictions are not far-fetched, unforeseeable predictions but are actually expectations. Case in point, predictions of terrible storms that will hit the Philippines. Every single year, there's always a prediction about a big storm claiming the lives of tons of people. Don't want to sound harsh here, but duh! For a country that gets an average of twenty tropical storms a year, is this really, really, REALLY a great prediction? I'll make a prediction now then: there will be at least one storm hitting the Philippines between May and August. How's that? :))

Well, I guess there's only one way to weed out "real" and the bogus psychics: list down all of the said predictions online, say, in this blog -- or any other blog for that matter -- them review them next year.

Funny thing, though, I have not seen many online predictions lately for the coming year. Fishy? Nah... Maybe the TV networks are simply too lazy to update their sites. :))

Anyway, I managed to watch one episode of TV Patrol on TFC and I remember distinctly a prediction about Philippine President GMA and her spouse; GMA will remain healthy throughout the year but the First Gentleman Arroyo may be hospitalized sometime next year. Sorry to say I forgot who made that prediction. Anybody saw that?

Ah hell... I'll just post more 2009 predictions stuff as I get them... :)

Work, Sleep, Repeat

Hate to admit it but this shifting schedule is starting to finally take its toll on me. Sleeping at weird times is one thing. Losing track of time is another.

I was "coerced" to cover for my sick colleague last Saturday evening. Whatever plans I had for that day was ruined. And learning much later that I can actually say no to the Ops Manager made it even worse for me. Anyway, see my last post for more on that.

So I got home on Sunday morning, dropped on the bed. I didn't wake up until it was 3:00 PM! I sooo wanted to do lots of things but losing more than half of the day... well, there's simply not enough time. I'm still trying to adjust.

Aw hell... I just feel robbed of my time. I didn't get enough R & R this week. I'm supposed to be enjoying my time, not trying to recover from my lack of sleep. It sucks.

Not to mention, the old clothespins keep sliding down the bamboo pole... I guess I better buy a new set... Yep, I was doing laundry today, because that's the only thing I can do with the time I have left.

Then tomorrow, I'll be back again in the office... In the evening... Again... For the next four nights... Including New Year's Eve... Oh well...

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas 2008: What we've been up to...

Can't seem to find enough time to post anything here. I'm either too tired from work... Or I'm too tired playing Vampire Wars! :)) Anyway, let's see what we've been doing the past week.....

A New Home....
The days before Christmas Day was very tiring for us because of the moving of our stuff from our old room to our new flat. The good thing is that our new home is only a few blocks away. The bad thing is that we have some things which are too heavy and bulky to carry -- case in point, our cabiet of five drawers, among other things. Luckily, we managed to acquire a trolley which, although quite small did the job just fine.

Transporting things was one thing. Reorganizing is another. Even after disposing a lot of stuff we don't need anymore, we still had so many things that it practically which are filling up our new home! I still can't get over the fact that we managed to stash all of these things in our much smaller room before! Maybe we have a pair of pants with bottomless pockets or a magical bag of holding somewhere. Hehehe :))

Work, work, work...
Unfortunately, though, I have work during Christmas and New Year. :( It's the sad part of being in the customer service industry AND being a newbie in the company.

Well actually, it's not that bad... I am on day shift during Christmas week, so I still managed to attend the Noche Buena with our friends here. The bad news is that I'm on night shift the entire New Year's Eve week... Which means, no food, no celebration, no fireworks... Not that there's any fireworks here... Well, actually, there are, but it's nothing compared to the "chaos" of New Year's Eve in the Philippines -- they simply can't do New Year's Eve the way we do them! So nothing much to miss really... At least that's what I tell to myself... Next year would be different! I'll make sure I get my vacation! Hehehe :))

And to top it off, I didn't get the straight four-days-off we normally would get; the Operations Manager called me up to cover for one of my colleagues who got sick. No one else was available so I thought I had no other choice. It's only later that I learned that I'm not obliged to cover for my colleague since I'm not the designated 24Hr Standby Person for this day. Oh well, just charge it to experience. I just think of it as a way of helping our team out. But next time, I know what to do. >:)

Well, there's one good thing here though: since it's the Holiday season and we are currently in a "change freeze", aside from the oocasional emergencies and emails, I have a lot of free time here at work. Where and when do you think I wrote this post, huh? :))

Watching more TV....
As per my last post, no new episodes to watch, so that's when marathon reruns come in handy. Just like this Friday: with nothing else to do, we watched the Monk Marathon in Star TV. We did not watch it straight, though. Every now and then, we switch to other channels such as TFC and AXN, so that we don't get, uhm, over-saturated with the Monk theme "It's a Jungle Out There". :)) It's actually a great show. Not sure why I didn't watch it all the time like I do with House, Heroes, and Chuck. I always find it fun to watch the not-so-perfect good guys trying to be, well, the good guys. Anyway, it's good to be able to watch the OC Adrian Monk again. That's another one in my list of favorite shows. :))

Well, in TFC I watch -- just like in Channel 2 back in Manila -- Deal or No Deal. It's only recently that I learned that they removed the cases containing more than 1M. Instead, they opted for the 5 cases containing 1M. Still a good deal -- best case scenario is if you reach the late game with all of the five 1M cases still up for grabs... Not sure if this scenario occurred already: the last two values left on the board are two 1M. Whoever get's that has got to be the luckiest guy out there!

And my favorite Discovery Channel show, Mythbusters! I never get to watch it on evening primetime -- usually it's because we're watching abother show in another channel. Well, during my dayoffs, I can always catch them at noon! I guess I missed a lot also -- didn't know that they replaced Iwahara with a girl -- sorry, didn't catch the name.

Christmas day itself and onwards...
Well, since there are only a few of us here left in SG -- most the others went back to Manila to spend the Holidays there -- we decided to have Noche Buena, potluck, gift-giving, etc in one place. I was the last one to arrive since I had work but still we managed to pull it off. I felt drowsy though, and I slept through most of it. :))

Also, Friday evening -- I guess since it's a weekend and everyone's still in a Christmasey mood, Cel and the gang visited us and they brought along their Magic Sing. :) Hehehe. [Note: Obviously, I didn't know at this time that I'm going to be on shift the next evening.] I was actually conscious at some point because we were really making a lot of noise; I'm not sure if we're disturbing our neighbors. Then again, it's Christmas, our time, our celebration. I don't mind them when they do all their stuff when it's their festival... I don't mind them when they make all that racket on some evenings whenever they play Mah Jongg. :)) Anyway, that's why we closed off our doors and windows anyway. :))

Play and Fun with the Laptop...
Well, I've finally signed up with Facebook, originally for the sole purpose of playing Vampire Wars. It was later when I learned that many of my colleagues -- particularly the ones who were once from Fujitsu -- are all in Facebook. :))

I also signed up for other similar games as well, but by far I enjoy Vampire Wars the most. I guess it shows, too; my character in Vampire Wars have much better stats than the other games. I have way more wins than losses and I have acquired all of the abilities and minions that are available on my current level. That's a good sign, I think; if ever you find yourself have trouble acquiring a minion or an ability, you are mostly doing something screwed up that you should not be doing. :))

Then when we can't do anything else -- i.e., we used up all of our character's energy, me and Che play a random map in Age of Mythology. Yep, the (not-so) old school strategy game. And in the newer laptops, the graphics is simply marvelous! :)) I guess it's been a while since I last played because I can't remember the build order to do a "rush" -- for the uninitiated, that's building a superior force to overpower an opponent in the early game, say, in the first five minutes. All I can remember is that you have to reach Age 2 ASAP -- that's the only age where you can actually create military units. Oh well, I don't want to look into GameFaqs or anything... I'll just play it over and over again to rediscover how that goes. :))

That's that, I guess. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

And as my shift is about to end, I'll get prepped to go back to sleep... :)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Christmas with no new episodes....

Well, it's that time of the year again in which the whole world -- or at least most of it -- is celebrating the Christmas season. Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas. I just don't like the downside of it... No new episodes...

I guess in the spirit of Christmas -- or more appropriately, the Christmas vacation -- most of the shows are taking a long break themselves. This is a severe drawback of the season for couch potatoes such as myself. :) Well, in my case, the shows that I'm gonna really miss are House, Heroes, and Chuck.

Anyway, not to worry though: this simply means it's time to get try new stuff. Maybe I'll finally do what Che always wanted me to do: join Facebook! :)) Heard of some great online games similar to the vampire game I used to play about a couple of years ago.

Of course, I can always watch some old reruns, episode marathons and whatever. I can also get in the Christmas spirit and try to enjoy the season with family -- most of whom are back in the Philippines -- and friends -- many of whom are also going back to the Philippines. :))

BTW, I'm not really in a foreboding mode; I'm just thinking out loud -- or rather writing it in print. Better let it out than keep it to myself, right? Hehehehe :))

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

House M. D. - Season 5 Episode 11

Dr. House: Why are Foreman's breasts suddenly starting to droop.

Dr. Hadley: Large breasts are a classic symptom of you letting Foreman take vacation days so he can finish his FDA reports before the end of the year.

Dr. House: Why aren't you taking a vacation?



Dr. Cuddy: I'm bringing in a case. You may have noticed I've been doing that before.

Dr. House: I've noticed you a lot recently. It's almost as if you have a sexual interest in someone here. Let's say, Taub.

Dr. Cuddy: Well, Taub might think I like him if I stayed which is why I'm gonna do this. [Cuddy walks away.]

Dr. Taub: Somehow I don't think that was really about me...



Dr. House: When did teachers ever know how to motivate their students?



Dr. Kutner: This place actually smells of evil.

Dr. Taub: Where do you work again?



Dr. Taub: Why would House throw out a book worth hundreds of dollars.

Dr. Kutner: To make you ask that question. Can you really put a pricetag on screwing with people?



Dr. Wilson: Irene Adler. Christmas 2001. Sarcoid symptoms, but, she didn't respond to methotrexate. I've never seen him so obsessed. He saved her with a last minute Wegner's diagnosis, but the hours he put in, I though it would kill him. And then... Well, he fell for her. But, it was too soon after Stacy and... It sounds so silly, but Irene was the one who got away.

Dr. Kutner: Really?

Dr. Wilson: No you idiots. House is just screwing with you. You think there's some woman with mysterious green paper wrapping trademark?



Dr. House: And you... Standing there... Beseechingly.

Dr. Cuddy: Yes, I was gonna stalk you at home, but it was a busy week and your office is closer.



Dr. Taub: Just tell her how you feel. If you won't, then I will. I'll walk right down there. Damn it... Love like this needs to fly free.

Dr. House: You talked to Wilson?

Dr. Taub: He has very girly handwrriting, by the way.



Dr. Wilson: It's too bad you can't just be nice to people. You can get a real present that way.

Dr. House: If I wanted gifts, I would just look deep into my patient's eyes and act like you: Oh I'm so sorry, you're dying, Mrs. Moron. Of course, I'll sleep with you. What I lack in skill, I can make up for...

Dr. Wilson: You'd just wind up insulting her. Perhaps, calling her Mrs. Moron...



Janice: He told me, "Get over it." With or without these drugs, I don't have a long time. I'm not gonna spend it as his guinea pig.



Dr. Hadley: You're not acting like House. You are like him.



Dr. House: There was a reported case of a civil war soldier. Shot in testicles and... the musketball carried the... non-musketball into the uterus of a woman working in a neighboring field. Nine months later, miracle child was born.... Also, maybe she cheated on you.



Whitney: We do other stuff in bed. Could some of the sperm have made it up there somehow?

Dr. House: More likely it came from the guy whose penis made it up there somehow. But... Sure, anything's possible.



Dr. Cuddy: Remember when you asked me if I had kids? I don't. And I don't know, maybe it has nothing to do with it, but I was good at school, good at work, lousy in life. I screwed every relationship I ever had. I thought why would I want to bring a child into this. But then I got older. And... How you feel now will pass. Don't let it screw up your whole life.

Natalie: It's already screwed up.



Foreman's Partner: You can't see the patients as people. You can't even see them as patients. They're numbers.



Foreman's Partner: Any personal stake we have seduces studies. Science is not about human relationships. It's about results. But you know that. You work for House. Why do you think I brought you in as my partner?



Dr. Cuddy: You faked a scientific miracle just to win a bet with Wilson?

Dr. House: More an argument. I realized it would have been simpler if I just faked the maternity test. Hey, Christmas spirit and all that.

Dr. Cuddy: I think you're confusing nice and evil again.



Dr. Kutner: Jonathan?

Jonathan: Yeah.

Dr. Kutner: I'm Lawrence Kutner.

Jonathan: Why are you here?

Dr. Kutner: I wanted to apologize for all the hurtful stuff I did in high school. I'm sorry.



Dr. Hadley: I heard Janice is back on the trial.

Dr. Foreman: My Christmas gift to you.

Dr. Hadley: I was wrong. You're not House.

Dr. Foreman: Yeah, well, that's my Christmas gift to myself.

Dr. Hadley: We should go to the party.

Dr. Foreman: We should....

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Pacquiao vs De La Hoya - What a win!

We watched the De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight earlier via sopcast and wow, we were blown away by the performance of the Pacman! Saying that the bout was lopsided is a very very big understatement.

BTW, we watched it the fight at MMA-TV channel in sopcast, so better take not of it, in case of any upcoming events. :)

In case you missed it, during the break after round 8, De La Hoya's side turned in the towel giving the Pacman a TKO victory. This is very, very good for the Pacman; wins via decisions are always clouded in intrigues; a knock out victory means a win beyond a shadow of a doubt.

From the get-go, Pacman danced around the ring throwing jabs and hooks, most of which caught by the Golden Boy on the head. De La Hoya wasn't throwing punches like I remembered in his last match about six or seven years ago. I would have wanted him to trade more punches, like he used to. Among the different boxers, he is one of the ones I looked up to for a long time.

Pacman's speed is the key in his success. He keeps to the middle of the ring and darts in and out, landing punches at De La Hoya then just as quickly keeps distance to avoid counterpunches. Whenever he gets to the ropes, he quickly turns and retreats to the center, to prevent from being pinned and become a stationary target for the Golden Boy.

I remember around the sixth -- or was it the seventh? did anybody record the fight? -- round in which Pacman landed a powerful four-hit combo: a hook, a hook, a straight, then another hook. The replay showed the effects on De La Hoya, as his face quite literally bounced off of Pacman's fists left and right. That, for me, was the turning point that finally drove Pacman to pummel De La Hoya down to the point that the ringside doctor had not choice but to recommend to stop the fight.

Tough decision on the part of De La Hoya, forcing to submit. Still, everyone can tell that, even if had enough gas to last four more rounds, there is really no point; Pacman was way ahead in points and the only way for him to win was via knockout -- which is not gonna happen, since he cannot even land most of his punches.

You can also tell from the interviews that, while De La Hoya's face was swollen, Pacman's face was clean and unbruised. Just shows how much he dominated the bout.

More power to Pacman! Now dominating several weight divisions, he showed that his weight gain is not a factor in his speed. If anything, I think he was even much faster now than in his last fight a few months ago. I guess that just goes to show the intensity of his training and his determination to become better, stronger, and faster fighter.

As for De La Hoya, I wish he can still continue to compete in the ring. This is, after all, his first fight in years... It's practically a coming-out-of-retirement match. And it is not just against any fighter; it's against the so-called best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. No shame in losing to a champion. And the cliche about it's not how many times you fall but how many times you come back up applies here. Hope we see more of him in the future, before his age really catches up to him. Come on Golden Boy! You can do it!

Saturday, December 06, 2008

House M. D. - Season 5 Episode 10

Dr. Cuddy: That's it? You're not gonna argue why this case is beneath you?

Dr. House: No point. We're in an elevator. Can't run away.

Dr. Cuddy: You can't run away anyway.

Dr. House: That's just mean.



Dr. House: Why are we still together?

Dr. Cuddy: We are going into our office.

Dr. House: Pronoun confusion. Starts kicking in when you pass the child-bearing age.



Dr. House: Wow! Muscles AND curves. My penis is so confused.



Dr. Cuddy: Can you do this outside?

Dr. House: I could but that would defeat the purpose of doing it here.



Dr. House: Forget the bypass. Treat her like a fat girl.

Dr. Taub: We treat her like a sixty year old Asian man, too? She's not fat.

Dr. House: Not on the outside. But on the inside, she's still tons of fun.



Dr. House: Have you seen my balls?

Dr. Cuddy: Can you hold on a second.

Dr. House: My balls? Have you seen my balls? The giant one and the red one?

Dr. Cuddy: Your plan isn't gonna work.

Dr. House: Of course it is. I try to make you miserable to make you leave. You deny that it's making you miserable. You try to make me miserable, so I'll stop making you miserable and eventually you will leave. Citing reasons that had nothing to do with misery...

Dr. Cuddy: You're not bothering me.

Dr. House: Step one complete.



Dr. Cuddy: Hey. Yeah, I just had to explain to him that I had his balls and he's not getting them back.



Emmy: My body was like a prison. When I got the surgery, I got healthy. And when I got healthy, I got happy.

Dr. Taub: I'm not sure you're happy. But if you are, being healthy didn't do it, being pretty did. Poop in the bedpan.



Dr. Cuddy: Other doctors actually use their offices for crazy stuff like seeing patients, not throwing a ball against the wall and calling it work.

Dr. Wilson: It's his process. That ball saves lives.



Dr. Wilson: Don't take his office and pretend like all you're doing is taking his office. You chose his room because you want to be there. But, sitting near him and hoping isn't gonna get it them.

Dr. Cuddy: Leave here now, or I'll take your office.

Dr. Wilson: No, you won't.



Dr. Kutner: It's not funny.

Dr. Taub: It is. You just can't appreciate it because it's gonna destroy your career.

Dr. House: What happened? He called Foreman clean and articulate again?



Dr. Hadley: Appreciate the life lesson, but fifteen minutes, give or take, isn't gonna make a difference. Get started on your other patients, I'll be down there when we're done here.

Dr. House: Way to know where your bread is buttered, sister. Up high!



Dr. Taub: Give me your arm.

Emmy: You can ask nicely.

Dr. Taub: I learned at med school that you don't actually cure with kindness.



Emmy: My helping people, my clients are making themselves healthy, better lives. Can you honestly tell me you've never done anything hypocrtitical? [Slight pause.] I'm sure you had good reasons.

Dr. Taub: Give me your arm, please?



Dr. House: I had the weirdest dream. You guys did the test in a reasonable amount of time and came back here before I had the time to fall asleep. You guys still smell that?

Dr. Kutner: Maybe you should just let her have your office.

Dr. House: Or... She sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of hers to the morgue.



Dr. Taub: I don't think sabotaging your boss's office is a wise kind of attack.

Dr. House: All that is needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.



Dr. Hadley: I'm well aware of what's gonna happen to my body over the next eight to ten years. I do not need a visual reminder everytime I walk into that place.

Dr. Foreman: It's understandable. It's human. And you need to get over it. You show up ON TIME tomorrow, or you don't show up at all.



Dr. Taub: Why aren't we doing this in your office?

Dr. House: Obviously because it would be stupid to do this in an office without furniture. Cuddy... overreacted to my overreaction.



Dr. House: ... And why are you leaning on a 45 degree angle away from Foreman?

Dr. Hadley: I'm sitting straight...

Dr. House: Trouble in the land of false hope?

Dr. Foreman: Everything's fine. Austrian syndrome.

Dr. House: Nice deflection.



Dr. House: You want to know what happened to the toilet?

Dr. Wilson: She'll be with you where you claim to not want her.

Dr. House: I smashed it with a sledgehammer.

Dr. Wilson: I think in some ancient cultures, that was actually considered a proposal of marriage.



Dr. House: Does Foreman schedule your appointments by numbers on the clock? Or just when I'm in the middle of something?

Dr. House: Sorry, if I'm dying in a bad time for you.



Dr. House: You're not stopping me for medical reasons. You're stopping me because you have the hots for me.

Dr. Cuddy: You're still here because you have the hots for me.

Dr. House: Evidenced by the fact that I'm the one who moved in to your office.

Dr. Cuddy: It's the biggest office, and I'm not the one...

Dr. House: Why are you dressed like that? Why are you trying so hard to get my attention? Are you screwing with me?

Dr. Cuddy: Are you screwing with me?

Dr. House: That depends on your answer.

Dr. Cuddy: Everybody knows this is going somewhere... I think we're supposed to kiss now.

Dr. House: We already did that... [House touches Cuddy's breast.] Seemed like the logical next step.



Dr. House: When you were philandering with impunity, how did that feel?

Dr. Taub: Superficially, I loved it. But, deep down, I think I was miserable. Why? What's going on?

Dr. House: You weren't miserable. You gave something away to make relationship work. You rationalize when you're getting something back.



Dr. House: Sick people don't spontaneously get better.

Dr. Hadley: Yes, they do. It's called the immune system.

Dr. House: Sick people who are sick enough to make it to ME don't spontaneously get better. Not as pithy, but, yeah, technically more accurate.



Dr. House: The best you you can be is a lot more you.



Dr. House: I understand. Not many people have the guts to admit they'd rather be pretty than healthy. Income's better and you get more action.



Dr. Hadley: I wanted her to die. She just yelled so much. With no reason, she just screamed at me in front of my friends. My father tried to explain to me that her brain was literally shrinking, that she didn't mean it; that it was the disease, but I didn't care. I hated her... I never said goodbye... And she died with me hating her.



Dr. Taub: House is gonna kill us.

Dr. House: Slowly... And painfully. You're not only idiots, you're frauds. Fraudulent idiots. Fraudulent idiotic killers, as it turns out.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Our new Lenovo S10 Ideapad

Well, our trip to the Sitex a couple of weeks ago netted us a new laptop, the Lenovo S10 Ideapad. Safe to say, it's exactly what we've been looking for in a second laptop. Although, IMHO, it is not necessarily for everyone out there...

First let's get down to the basic specs:

Processor: Intel Atom N270 1600
Video Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
Display: 10.2", 1024x600 pixels (Max)
Dimensions: 9.8" x 7.3" x 0.9"
Weight: approx. 2.2 kg
Battery Life: approx. 2 hrs.

Memory can be upgraded to 2GB; same with the hard drive, up to about 160GB. Great amount of space for something so little. Ideal for massive transfers while not giving up mobility. You know, something that I government spy will find useful.

The packaged OS is Windows XP SP3, although according to the manual, it should be able to support Windows Vista as well. However, knowing how much Vista tends to hog all the resources, I think it is much more prudent to go for WinXP.

Under WinXP, the S10 boots up really fast and can run many memory and CPU-intensive intensive applications -- that is, games, hehehe -- very smoothly. Not bad if you ask me. Top notch performance in one really small package.

The feature software is the OneKey Rescue System, supposedly for backup and recovery. I haven't exactly seen this at work, since I haven't been in the situation in which the laptop crashed that I needed to recover it. Anyway, at the very least, its good to have that feature.

BTW, take note that the maximum resolution is only 1024 x 600. You might have some problems with some applications. In our case, we tried installing our old-time favorite Age of Mythology -- a fairly old Microsoft Game, so you would not expect any problem when installing it in a Windows OS, right? Well, when we tried to run it, we got an Initialization Failed error. Turns out, it has a problem with the resolution; tried running the "Safe Video" version of the game, then everything is running smoothly after that.

Portability is no sweat, thanks to its small dimensions. You can carry it literally like an actual writing notebook; it's smaller than an A4 paper. :)) BTW, it comes with a reversible slim case, which you can easily place inside your bag. Not sure if there were other available colors though; the one that came in with ours was gray one side, and pink on the reverse... not really the ideal colors that I can be proud of.

Of course, because of the size, the keyboard is a little cramped up than what I am used to. Also the touchpad is only about half the size of those in other laptops. Then again, I'm not really a touchpad person, that's why I almost buy a separate optical USB mouse.

That brings me to the other issue I have with it: it has only two USB ports; one on the right -- which is where I usually attach my mouse -- and one on the right. I would have preferred if there were at least one more USB port. IMHO, three USB ports would be ideal, especially now since tons of USB devices are out in the market. Then again, all I have to do is attach a USB port on the right USB port, then problem solved. :)

People also have some issues with the battery life being limited to only about 2 hours, depending on the applications running. Personally, I'd prefer the laptop to be plugged in anyway, so not an issue for me there. But others should take note of it.

Aside from that, it has the most usual features like the built-in webcam and microphone, built-in bluetooth and wireless, plus an ExpressCard for WWAN. :)

Lastly, this laptop does not heat up as much as the other laptops out there. I can have it sit on my lap and I barely felt it. You can place it comfortably on your lap and really call it a laptop.

So would I recommend it? Hell, yeah! Just think about some of the tiny little caveats I have here as well as in other reviews. I think its strengths are its portability and performance. For the most part, if you're looking for a really light yet relatively powerful laptop, you should really consider Lenovo S10 Ideapad.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Manny Pacman Pacquiao vs. Oscar Golden Boy De La Hoya - Tale of the Tape

It's that time once again: another Pacquiao fight. This time, the perhaps the greatest dream fight of all time: Manny Pacman Pacquiao vs. Oscar Golden Boy De La Hoya. Can't wait this Sunday! (Saturday in the US.)

Well, with all the fuzz about the glooming economy and Mumbai, I guess a little bit of highly anticipated boxing match should uplift the mood of the people.

And here's our favorite part, the tale of the tape:



Manny Pacman Pacquiao

Tale of the Tape

Oscar De La Hoya

29 yrs

Age

35 yrs

135 lbs*

Weight

154 lbs*

5'6"

Height

5'10"

67"

Reach

73"

52

Total Fights

44

47

Win

39

35

KO

30

3

Loss

5

2

Draw

0


*Exact weight to be determined on official weigh-in.




According to some *ahem* critics, the winning odds are more or less even.

Well, who can really tell which of the powerhouses has the edge over the other? Who will ultimately win? And, I guess for the betters, will it be a knockout win? And if so, which round? Just a few more days and we'll all find out... :)

BTW, some important notes:

Weigh-In: Friday, December 5, 2008, 2 P.M. E.T.
PPV: Saturday, December 6, 2008, 9 P.M. E.T.

Monday, December 01, 2008

On Wolverine and the X-Men - Episode 01 to 12

When I first heard about this, I was like "what, Wolverine again?" Like I said before, I have nothing against the short guy, except that I think he's over-exposed. Sure, he's one of the greatest superheroes out there, but he was taken to such a level that he's practically everywhere; two Wolverine comics, appears in several X-Men comics, and now, is even the star of his cartoon series.

The Good: So far, this series at least tries to be as close to the current X-Men in the comics; the "staple" characters of the "X-men universe" are there, such as, well, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Beast, and Prof X -- well, sort of. Then, there's also Emma Frost -- I guess the first incarnation of the X-Men TV franchise that ever included her -- at least the first time as part of the team.

Also, tons of the traditional X-Men villains are there: so far, there were Magneto and the Brotherhood (Ep2, Ep3, Ep10), Mr. Sinister and the Marauders (Ep12), Master Mold and the Sentinels (Ep3, Ep9), Shadowking (Ep4), Sabertooth (Ep11) -- although he's more of a "Wolverine" character.

Many of the episodes are nods to actual storylines, such as the Hulk vs Wolverine angle (Episode 7), the Sentinel saga "Days of Future Past" (Episode 9), and Weapon X (Episode 11).

The Bad: Well, Wolverine being at the helm of the X-Men. I see him more of a squad leader, more on a per mission team leader -- like the current incarnation of the X-Force in the comics. Not the overall strategist and head of the X-Men.

That burden of leadership should have fallen on the shoulders of Cyclops who, disgustingly, is depicted as a lovesick, out of control brat who is all about Jean, Jean, Jean. Sure, he got an episode solely focused on him (Ep 12) but, again, it's all about Jean, Jean, Jean. His character -- like the live-action X-Men films -- is not fairly nor accurately depicted. And with Wolverine taking the lead title, there's little chance that Cyclops will ever take the the leadership of the team.

Also, there is no continuity so far. With the exception of the first three episodes, you can watch the other episodes in any order you want without affecting the main story... Oh wait, there IS no story here. No continuity. No main plot. No nothing. what do we know so far? Prof X is in a coma and the remaining X-Men are trying to reform the team again. Duh! Ah well...

Sure it's a kids show, but hell, does that mean that the continuity is practically nonexistent?

The Verdict: Well, the X-Men comics is very, very promising so far and so I'm still hoping for the same in the TV series version. Only 13 of the 26 season 1 episodes have aired so far -- at least the ones dubbed in English. I'm still hoping that the remaining episodes will be much better than the last ones.