The DJ who's not a DeeJay

Earlier today I attended "The Click Five Happy Birthday Party" event. I admit that I didn't know much about the band. I even thought they were a '60's or '70's group with the likes of similar names such as "The Commodores", "The Supremes", "The Cascades", "The Beatles" and all those other names that started a "The (insert word)... " trend.

I had to research on them and so I visited their official website and at least realized that some current hits I've been hearing on the radio are theirs. And it's Kyle and Joey's birthday, 2 of the members of the band, hence the event theme name.

Anyway, when I got to the venue, I thought it was going to be one of the usual press conference events where you are served food, you mingle with press people, wait for the artist, listen to the artist perform a bit followed by a panel discussion or open forum type of format.

Instead, I was greeted with a registration desk presenting me with the things I could do while inside the venue. The sponsors each had their own sections offering something for the attendees. There was makeup at the Faceshop booth, free self-portraits at the Clique Booth and Sony booths, different kinds of candy at The Candy Corner, face painting at Skechers (the only booth that didn't appear relevant to their product) and food booths like It's Cool! drinks and Yoshinoya.

Aside from this, majority of the people present were female and teens or to be more specific, screaming female teens (that's the effect The Click Five has and you gotta love 'em for that). Thanks to friendster.com, a lot of the teens knew each other from being part of The Click Five friendster fan pages.

As I was feeling the culture and mood of the event, it suddenly hit me... it felt like a school fair during my teendays. School fairs had different booths like the jail booth, kissing booth and all other kinds of activities and entertainment for all. The average age during the event further made me step back and smile as to witnessing something similar to what I had experienced during my high school and college years. The girls were screaming each time the members of The Click Five were mentioned or shown on video. I wonder who was the "in" band during my teen years ? hmmmm... I'd like to answer "NSync" (to hide my age) but I think it was Color Me Badd... ok it was Menudo, but that was like before my teen years.

It was all fun and I had a good time lining up at some of the booths. I skipped the make-up booth for obvious reasons. The face painter said that he could paint the hand but I was afraid that when I perspire, I'd accidentally wipe it on my forehead and it would smudge like I had charcoal on my face and look like I'm in guerilla warfare or worse, taong grasa (grease person).

So The Click Five is coming to Manila for a concert on May 30. If they were there during the event, I'd ask them to have a pic with me at the Clique Booth...then we could be known from thereon as The Clique Six.... (Click here for after soundeffect)

Rock on !

I had my mobile phone theme for a couple of months and I think it's time to use a new one.

I was browsing online for some Sony Ericsson themes for my celphone. I browsed through different categories like games, people, brands, sci-fi and computers. When I searched for wrestling themes, I found this strange theme. Why it's Manny Pacquiao ! In front of a huge Batista ! I'm not too keen on using this as my celphone's wallpaper but perhaps the other 6,636 people who downaloaded it are.

If you want to add to that number, you can get it here:
http://gallery.mobile9.com/f/319727/

Do you still use mouse pads ? I don't anymore. Especially with the popularity of optical mice, you don't need a soft flat surface to use a mouse that a trackball needed to scroll.

Last week though, I saw this mouse pad at a computer shop which was described as a "Lady Gel Pad".
I was surprised to find out that it's a mousepad with a picture of a sexy lady with a voluptuous rack. I didn't get to check it out but I figure the "gel" in the item description was situated right on her boobies.

I guess this would cause men to use mouse pads once more...or just plainly get distracted from working. Who knows, may be you won't be holding the mouse anymore but the mouse pad instead.

I just got my Metrobank credit card statement today. I had some additional earned rewards points from heavily using my card lately and I wanted to check out what I could exchange the points for.

So I checked the footer of the billing statement looking for a website. They have their website www.metrobankcard.com listed.

I visited the site only to be greeted by a "Under Construction" note. Not a good impression especially for a bank in my opinion. Looks like I have to go through their customer service via phone... sigh.

I was originally searching for the name of the body of water beside Davao. I wasn't sure if it was the South China Sea or Pacific Ocean or some other name. My geography seemed to have failed me so I researched about it on Wikipedia, which didn't mention much about the ocean and instead about everything else about Davao. So I went to google to find an asian map, and clicked from one link to another and finally got to a section of "Philippine Maps" links.

I clicked on one of them and wound up at this website. It's the University of Texas at Austin website. I couldn't have imagined they would have Philippine maps on their website but I checked it out anyway.

I was very surprised to find maps of the Philippines and key cities dated back to 1898. and with an original scale of 1:10,000. It's like opening a treasure vault. You suddenly see these maps from decades and centuries back readily available. I looked at the huge map of Manila in 1898 and you could see the original names of streets. Sooo cool !

Out of curiousity, I also opened the Cebu 1944 map and it was published by U.S. Army Map Service in 1944. The header of the image file had the text "For use By War and Navy Department Agencies Only". Isn't this during World War 2 ? Wow ! I just used to read about these in history books. I didn't realize I could possibly be looking at actual maps from that era.

I just had to share my personal revelation. Check out the other maps there too.

This is EDSA passing the bridge entering Guadalupe in Makati City. These are where most of the biggest billboards are placed. You can see a huge ad for Coke. Compared to the one beside it, Kris Aquino's face covers a wider area than the angel in the Coke ad.

My weird imagination was thinking that it would be creative if the bottle of coke had a straw and it would extend past the rectangle ad area towards the direction of Kris' mouth. I saw a similar ad (Visa I think) with Jacky Chan jumping out of the billboard.

It's an instant double endorsement for Coke. Of course, I'm sure the facial care ad would be furious.

The rainy season is nearing and I hope these billboards won't be causing any hazards to motorists like what happened sometime last year. I certainly wouldn't want Kris Aquino's nose to fall on top of my car.

This afternoon, I was stressed out. I appointed a consultant to work on some tasks over the weekend. However he waited till the last minute and crammed today on deadline day.

So after trying to manage some damage control, I decided to take a break to relieve me of the stressful situation.... so I visited my favorite Timezone branch.

My favorite game is the Elvis Presley Pinball machine. I usually play this game three times a week. However today, the machine was missing from its regular spot. I thought they just moved it to another location since they rearrange game machines from time to time. When I couldn't find it, I asked the manager where it went. He told me that some Elvis aficionados rented the machine for one month for personal unlimited use. Huwwwwat !?!?!?! My stress reliever is gone !

And so I'm going to have to settle for Tekken or visit another Timezone branch.
To those who rented the machine, feel free to beat my score. I have the top 2nd and 3rd score with 180 million as my highest score. Practice well and you can challenge me anytime afterwards.

Goodluck !

The past few days have been events coming in two's. Last Saturday was iBlog4 and 88db.com party both geared towards the bloggers. Then a 2 day Manila tour with the Davao bloggers followed. All of this was sandwiched by a 2 part food tour sponsored by spot.ph.

I've been taking pics, video and audio recordings for almost all the events. I need to make some space for all this digital content on my desktop. Stories and pics to follow in the days "2" come.

Meanwhile, here's a pic of a semi-sunset at Manila Bay.

Yesterday felt like a Philippine National Blogger Day as there were 2 major events specifically geared towards bloggers.

iBLOG4, an annual blog summit was a whole day affair held at the Malcolm Theater at the UP College of Law. The event included a series of topics discussed and presented by distinguished, experienced and noted speakers. One of my favorite talks was about the legalities of blogging as this is an interesting and current issue. With the emergence of bloggers and the popularity of blogging, this topic is timely. It was basically a legal "do's and don'ts ". I also enjoyed Aileen and Coy's presentation on vlogging and podcasting. I was part of the video crew (translation: tagahawak ng digicam with matching personal moral support for sweetie). Ria's talk on the history and emergence of a blogger culture in Davao is uplifting and a real success story. Positivity , teamwork and a common goal for the good are their keys to success.

The evening set a social mood for the bloggers as 88db.com organized a blogger's party with the theme "Come as your blog". The party had bloggers representing their blogs as batangyagit.com, pinoyblogero.com and chickenmafia.com proved to be worthy finalists to faithfully represent their respective blogs. I was rooting for batangyagit.com but majority backed up chickenmafia.com for their cartolina human chicken costume. They even have a tutorial on how to make it if you feel the need to dress as a chicken someday. I was dressed up as a DJ equipped with headphones, sporting a turntable and mixer shirt, and an autobot blingbling. I even had to dig up a vinyl record from my dusty bodega to use as additional props. But it was all cool and fun for a change representing my blog instead of my website.

Overall the day was a blast for all bloggers. Nice to have seen the faces of those people behind their blogs. Mabuhay ang Pinoy Bloggers !!!

(pictures to follow, tinamad ako magdala ng digicam kasi. Aileen has all the photos).

Finally !
Cafeterias serve it, carinderias offer it.. it's about time fastfood joints follow.

Now you can order half a cup of rice for half the price of a full cup.... for those who feel "bitin" with a cup of rice. It usually happens when you still have "ulam" (viand) left yet you've consumed your rice. This is for those who feel that one cup of rice is not enough and two cups of rice is too much.

Available currently at Tropical Hut and KFC.

Woohoo !!!

I'm referring to my ballpen which I was able to consume to the last drop of ink. The Barry Manilow song comes to mind cause "we made it." To put it in a clearer perspective, I have a higher probability of misplacing and eventually losing a pen than consuming its entire ink capacity.

My ballpen ran out of ink while I was at KFC earlier today filling out a bunch of government forms. I had to buy a new one immediately. Too bad there wasn't any pen like the one I had... only some puny ballpens which I was forced to choose from.

The other day though, I remember using my pen while brainstorming for lyrics. And so I dedicate this to you, my beloved pen. Forgive me for I have to replace you. Do not despair, you have served me well.

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Pampanga and exited at one of the reststops located along the North Luzon Expressway stretch.

After taking a break, I noticed that there was a small pond near the other side of the parking lot. Exemplifying the usual exploring tourist, I went there to take a picture. From afar, I saw the sign "drop a coin, make a wish" which got me excited. When I got there, I saw this murky, greenish colored water. It must have been filled with lots of moss underneath that you couldn't see any coins on the pond's floor. If there were any fish here before, I'm sure their skeletons can be retrieved by CSI on the bottom floor.

I wonder if your wish counts if you toss it into a dirty wishing pond.
But I did anyway... tossed 3 25 centavo coins and a one peso coin.
My wish ?

"That someone have mercy and clean this pond".

I bet if you own a laptop, you'd cringe with this video even if it's not yours.

I usually don't post anything very technical here since it's my blog outside of work. But this commands immediate concern for all website owners since this trojan spread like wildfire on the internet over the weekend.

The trojan can modify all php pages of a website and add iframe codes to redirect and retrieve content from cdpuvhfzz.com. (DON'T ACCESS THAT SITE!).

It hacked one of my websites and I found out about it when it messed up a configuration on my image gallery. It also uploaded code in the form of a jpg file and a zip file posed as an image. I thought I had restored that section until my friend called me up to tell me that my website is being reported as having a virus. She used Avira anti-virus and the virus reported was Javabyte verify g.3, JS/Openconnect J.3 and HTML/Rce.Gen. My website doesn't have any java so I checked the scripts afterwards. After researching on the virus, I found code attached to some recently modified pages. It attaches this code to your page:

h t t p: / / c d p u v b h f z z . c o m / d l / a d v 9 8 . p h p

I later found out that I wasn't the only one hacked. Over the weekend, there has been a considerable amount of discussion, concern, and panic a lot of webmasters regarding this. At first it seemed that it targeted users of the Coppermine Image Gallery. But I've read that even online communities such as Wordpress, Vbulletin forums, phpBB forums and other websites have been infected. One site had to modify 10,000 php pages to remove the code which was attached in each and every page.

The domain which is included in the malicious code was registered via a Chinese registrar just last March 31, 2008 to a certain Mark Arnold.

Technical Contact:
Mark Arnold
+13.193387549 fax: +13.193387549
201 East Benton Street
Iowa City KY 522401
USA

I wonder if he's the culprit or if he's also a victim and someone's using his name and contact.

For more details, you can search for it online here.
Hope no one else has been badly hit. I'm sure this has kept a lot of webmasters on their toes for some sleepless nights.

I regularly visit local money changers whenever I need to have US dollars exchanged to Philippine peso currency. It's usually a quick process. Give your dollars to the teller, get a receipt for how much the peso equivalent is based on their current exchange rate, and get your pesos. It's that simple.

However, recently, I've been frustrated with the fact that some money changers are a bit picky when accepting dollar bills. They seem to be particular about the "series" clause usually found on the front of the bills. If I'm not mistaken, this stands for the year the bill was created. The text says "Series" and a year next to it or below it. Most bills range from 1990 to the present.
I didn't give much notice to this until the teller told me that they won't accept my bill cause it's a "Series 1996" bill. I had two other bills which they accepted. I asked what year did it have, and they showed me my other two bills had a "Series 2003" text. I even told the teller that these bills came directly from the States (My visiting aunt gave it to me). But it doesn't matter to them.

So now, I'm kinda stuck with some Series 1996 bills and trying to have them exchanged. I learned from my aunt that money changers in the provinces are not very particular with the series. In Manila though, it's not the case. If I can't exchange it, my last option would be to deposit it in a bank. But my original intention was to spend it, not save it.

And so I'm more aware when receiving US dollar bills. Always check for the series.

Nowadays, the prices of gas are really expensive and it seems that it's not going down in the near future. Unleaded gas in the Philippines goes for around P45.00 per liter, which is more than 1 US dollar.

I think that instead of trying to find sources for inexpensive gas or hope the prices go down, it's practical to own a car that in itself can conserve fuel. That's why when Honda launches the VCM 643, it's pleasing to know that this new car conserves fuel while maximizing its use. It's fuel economy and efficiency is a great feature for those who dread spending for gas.

It seems like it's the main feature of this Honda Model because the letters in the VCM 643 model stand for Variable Cylinder Management, the technology used in maintaining power and optimizing fuel economy simultaneously. The number 6 represents the powerful V6 engine while the 4 and 3 represent that in these cylinder modes, it can produce both power & fuel efficiency, and fuel saving respectively.

I'd say this car would ease the worrying about your gas budget especially when strapped for cash.

I had to do some researching the other day on the Centennial Terminal, also known as Terminal 2 of NAIA. I had to send off some family friends there and I am only familiar with The Domestic Terminal and NAIA Terminal 1. I read up on Wikipedia about Ninoy Aquino International Airport before going there and asked some directions from friends. Here are my 10 personal discoveries.

1. Terminal 2 is home to Philippine Airlines and Air Philippines, its sister company.
2. It looks like NAIA Terminal 1, only better.
3. It seems less crowded since other airlines are not bunched up here.
4. The parking lot is cleaner. The restrooms are more presentable.
   
5. There's a building that appears to ba a control tower right in the middle of the parking lot.
6. Departures are on the upper level while arrivals are at ground level.
   
7. There's a Figaro coffee shop at the North Wing near international arrivals.
8. There's a separate entrance for 1st class, business class, diplomats and VIP. I wonder when I'll be any of those any time soon.
9. Getting to this airport means having to go through traffic caused by both domestic and international terminals.
10. Because of No. 9, get there as early as possible to avoid panicking car passengers who keep on checking their watch in fear they may miss their flight. (I blame C5 traffic due to the elevated flyover construction).
    

And while I was reading up on Manila's airports, here's an interesting tidbit I got:

"The original airport that served Manila, the Manila International Air Terminal, was opened in July 1937 on Nielson Field, the runways of which now form the Makati Triangle of Paseo de Roxas, Ayala Avenue, and Makati Avenue. In 1948, when the airport ceased operations in Makati to relocate elsewhere, ownership of the airport’s permanent facilities was passed on to the owner of the land, Ayala y Cia." (Source: Wikipedia)


No wonder that triangular block seems so straight.

1. Listen to podcasts on your mp3 player.
2. Look at what's happening in other cars beside you.
3. Clean the insides of your car. (You can clean the outside too if traffic is really bad).
4. Initiate a honking war with other drivers bored.
5. Scratch every part of your body.

And if you're really bored, how about this ?

I've always been a fan of computer modding, the art of transforming a boring computer case into an interesting form of art. Whether it may be character or movie themed like Alien vs. Predator, Finding Nemo, 101 Dalmations, Counterstrike or a kick-ass original design like infusing a lava lamp and aquarium in your cpu case, the possibilities are endless.

I found this mod designed for a keyboard, simulating a manual typewriter. The keys were actually taken from an old typewriter and fastened to a steel-plated keyboard. I just find it a cool concept.

You can read more about how it was built here.