Techie Vendo

Found this inside Macy's. A vendo selling iPods and accessories!

This one goes to the resume

How cool is this. You can actually put 2006 - Time Magazine Person of the Year as an achievement on your resume.

Sure, as long as you're reading this blog entry, you are qualified - or listening to mp3s, watching YouTube videos, or whatever you choose to do on your time online. (Hey, I'm not here to judge).

A lot of people have criticized Time Magazine's choice. Sure, there might be other personalities who deserve the award. But nobody can deny the impact of the common people in today's world. Blogs have put the common person's opinion some weight, social networking has connected people continents apart, entertainment has become more personalized (because cable TV's 500+ channels isn't enough).

Personally, I am proud to the honored as one of the person's of the year. Sure, I share the award with 6 billion other people, but who am I to complain.

O Holy Night on Studio 60

For those who watched the latest episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, NBC has put the song O Holy Night as perfomed by New Orleans musicians on their website as a free mp3 download. This is a really good and touching version of the classic holiday song.

They showed this on the episode with pictures of New Orleans in the background. It is really sad to see these talented people out of work until now because of Hurricane Katrina. It is weird that the US Government until now is not paying that much attention to rebuilding the city and most of the rebuilding is being done by private or non-governental orgs.

The musicians who played in the episode are really musicians from New Orleans displaced by the hurricane.

Download the song, close your eyes and listen.

Smoke-free for 3 years!

I am proud to say that it has been 3 years since my last cigarette. I can't say that I don't miss it, especially when there is a cup of joe around.

But I sure am glad that I kicked the habit, I just can't imagine having to go out of the house to smoke, as it would be bad for Matmat and the fact that I have to shell out more than five bucks for a pack!

So let's see, at a minimum of a pack every 3 days, thats 121 packs of cigs a year! So theoretically, I have saved $605!!!

Well, well, well... Now I know how I can justify getting a PS3! :)

Philippe Noiret (1930-2006)

This actor played in two of my favorite movies, Cinema Paradiso (as Alfredo) and Il Postino (as Pablo Neruda).

He died last week from cancer.

May he rest in peace.

Media Evolving

In a few years time, the term "TV shows" will be a misnomer, a term associated with the older generation.

Why do I say this? It is because of the fact that you can watch these shows in all types of medium - computers, cellphones, media players, etc. TV's have become so last century. Gone are the times that the whole family will wait for the exact hour on the exact day to watch their favorite show. Although I admit, it wouldn't hurt to have a 50" plasma TV in your house.
Major networks have even raised the ante. Now, all their major primetime shows can be watched online - wherever you are in the world, with less commercials than watching on TV!!! NBC, CBS, Fox and ABC have now put up their shows on their respective websites and is available the entire week after it airs.

I mentioned this because this is a huge step in curbing illegal downloading of shows from P2P, especially Bit Torrent. Now that everyone can watch the show online, without having to download a 300Mb file, these media outlets have, at least, minimized downloading of the shows from these sites.

Which brings me to my next question. If they are offering these shows for free, is it still illegal to download them from Bit Torrent? It seems illogical to still deem it illegal because they are offering the shows for free now. Well, we have to wait and see what happens there.

My two cents on the nursing exams leakage in RP

First is, WTF?

This sh*t only happens in the Philippines.

Secondly, why are these examinees so afraid of retaking the exams? Would you trust a nurse that would not even retake a test to prove that they indeed deserve to help sick people? Or that their first exams are not tainted? Or are they just scared that people would realize that they just fluked on the exams?

I know that its not the nursing students fault but it would help if they just all take the exams again and put this all behind them and let the PRC rot in hell.

I wonder if the students who flunked the exams want a retake? :)

If I am a hospital administrator from a foreign country, I would not even consider hiring Filipino nurses EVER after this. Who needs this additional burden?

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dishwasher

You gotta love technology.

Coming from Manila and used to washing dishes, utensils and glasses manually, the dishwasher is an appliance that I thought I would never use - an unnecessary luxury. Well, we didn't use one (even though our previous and current apartment has one) for the first year that we were here. I would labor every night washing the dishes with a sponge and liquid dish detergent.

The one time I tried using the dishwasher last year, I used the liquid dish detergent. I thought, "What's the worse that could happen". Well, I found out soon enough, bubbles (and water) started emanating from it and I had to scoop the water (and the bubbles) up for more than an hour.

How would I know that dishwashers use a separate type of detergent?

And thank God, now I learned how to use the dishwasher. It is heaven sent. You just leave dirty dishes in it and after an hour, viola! Clean dishes!!! Dry dishes!!! It's like magic!!!

I know it is mababaw but I am really estatic about it. Nothing can compare to the happiness of knowing that you have one less chore to do.

Now if only there's an appliance which can clear the table...

Two Very Different Worlds Separated by 3000 miles of Interstate Highways

We're finally back in Sequim after a week's vacation in New York City. A part of me misses New York because it is The City. No other city in the world can compare to what you can see or do in NYC. You can practically do anything there - whether you like art, theater, music, books, etc, etc. You can spend the whole day in Central Park and forget that you are in the middle of it all. It doesn't matter what you want to eat, you will surely find a place in the 2 mile by 11 mile area that is Manhattan.

Then there is Sequim, where the streets are empty after 7p.m. (no kidding). It is the ultimate small town, where people are nice and everything is laid back. Of course, there is almost nothing to do here unless you're into hiking, golf or fishing.

We will, in this lifetime, definitely move and live at least a year near or in New York. There is no question about it. City life is for me and KC likes it there too. Maybe when Matmat is old enough.

Our Week in NYC

This past week had been a lot of fun for KC, Matmat and me (as evidenced by the pictures here). I just want to list down where we went day by day just to have an account of the trip.

Day 1 - Sept 25

Train No. 7 to Grand Central Station
Walked along 42nd St to 5th Ave
Saw the New York Public Library, Empire State Building
Went to Rockefeller Center and went up to the Top of the Rock
Walked along 5th Ave for shopping until we reached the corner of 59th St
Walked to Time Square
Took the No. 7 train back to the hotel

Day 2 - Sept 26

Train No. 7 to Grand Central, transferred to No. 5 to the Metropolitan Museum
Walked to Central Park
Spent a few hours there

Day 3 - Sept 27

Train No. 7 to Grand Central (again), transferred to No. 5 to Bowling Green Station
Went to Battery Park
Took a ferry to Liberty Island
Hopped to Ellis Island (didn't disembark the ferry)
Returned to Battery Park
Walked to Wall St.
Saw Trinity Church
Saw Ground Zero
Saw the New York Stock Exchange
Took No. 2 to Pellham Parkway in the Bronx
Took No. 2 back to Time Square (45min)
Watched Beauty and the Beast in Broadway (Wow!)
Took No. 2 back to the Bronx to fetch Matmat
Drove from the Bronx to the hotel (in Queens)
(Whew!)

Day 4 - Sept 28

Drove from the hotel to the Bronx
Went to the Bronx Zoo
Ate at Hop Kee in Chinatown
Bill took us to a nighttime tour of Manhattan
Drove around the East Village, Greenwich Village, SoHo, South Street Seaport

Day 5 Sept 29

Took the 7 train to Grand Central, transferred to No. 5
Went down on 59th and Lexington
KC went shopping
Went back to Central Park
Walked along 5th Ave. (again)
Ate at East Japanese Restaurant at E 44th
Took the 7 train from Grand Central back to the hotel
Typing this blog entry

Day 6 - Sept 30

Tomorrow
Be back for updates


A week in New York is just about right considering just visiting the top tourist attractions here. But for a more in depth tour and sightseeing and immersing in the whole New York experience, 2-3 weeks is probably just about right.

Coup d'etat!

A few hours ago, the Thai military ousted the Thai PM in an apparent coup while the Prime Minister is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. This is a long time coming. The (former) Thai PM is a dictator comparable to Ferdinand Marcos and is corrupt as hell.

I'm sure this will send ripples across the region and I am almost 100% sure that the Philippine President will declare a state of emergency. Not because there is a threat of coup in the Philippines (I hope she gets ousted though), but just to grab headlines. You all know GMA is a KSP.

Hope all goes well in Bangkok.

Well, as for Manila, hint hint. ;)

Pope condemns Canada's gay marriage OK

Reference: VISITA "AD LIMINA APOSTOLORUM" DEI PRESULI DELLA CONFERENZA EPISCOPALE DEL CANADA-ONTARIO

What's in a word?

This debate about gay marriage has been going on for quite a time now and it is really getting very irritating. The church obviously has been against it and probably will be until the very end but I sincerely believe that this whole topic has grown out of hand. Before I go on with this rant, I will just clarify that I am for gay marriages.

The whole thing stems, I think, from the use of the word "marriage" in describing the union of two people of the same sex. The church thinks that they have a monopoly of the word marriage and would like to reserve it for the union of a male and a female who vows to stay together and as one under the eyes of the Lord.

This premise is the stand of the church, and moralists (I hate it that they call themselves that). They believe that a couple should be a man and a woman, whose sole purpose in getting married and by the way, in having sex, is to make children. See what good it did to the Philippines. :P

But I believe that this argument is wrong. People are supposed to be free, free to make their own choices and stand for them. If they want to marry to somebody from the same sex, let them be, its not as if they are doing anything bad. They just want to be happy - like you and me. They just want to be acknowledged the same way that male-female married couples are acknowledged. They want nothing more. So what's wrong with that?

The church is up in arms against it because it goes against everything that the Catholic religion stands for. Just imagine negating the very first book (Genesis) in the Bible (that God created man and woman and that they should be together) and cave in to the idea that anyone can marry anyone. That would make the very foundation of the whole Catholic belief system crumble.

Remember when the church excommunicated Galileo when he said that the earth was not the center of the universe? Or Darwin when he theorized about evolution? This may be the debate that would define our generation, our era, and our existence.

My advice, forgo the church. Just wait for politicians and the government to figure out what the people want. Or else don't vote for them again!

This is a very important time in the history of man, and I truly believe that future generations will look back and talk how primitive our ways and beliefs are. The union of two people is not just a union of the physical, but also the spiritual. And on the spiritual plain, there are no differentiation of sexes.

3 more weeks!

I can't wait to buy the new NBA Live 07 for the Xbox 360. After seeing all the preview videos and pictures, there is no way that I will not buy this game as soon as it is released!

I am done with playing NBA 2k6! The game has lost all its appeal to me (I could kick all the opponents asses at the highest level blindfolded! :) )

Michael Schumacher retiring?

If reports are to be believed, Michael Schumacher will announce his retirement this coming Sunday during the Italian Grand Prix. I got hooked on the sport primarily because of Ferrari and Schumi about 10 years ago.

Say it ain't so. C'mon, how about another year?

The night we watched a concert

Well, we tried.

Two nights ago, we went to the Tacoma Dome to watch the American Idols in concert. KC has been waiting to watch the concert for a really long time.

It took us only less than 10 minutes to realize it was a lost cause.

Matmat started crying as soon as people started screaming and shouting and we had no choice but to leave our seats.

We stayed in the refreshment area just outside the concert hall until intermission and decided that we might as well leave (it's a two-hour drive back to our house).

And no, we didn't get to see Taylor Hicks (or Catherine or Elliot or Chris).

Not that I really care.

Steve Irwin

It's either you love him or you hate him. But no one can discount what he had accomplished in getting people understand more about wildlife.

The world needs more people like him - fun and passionate about the stuff that he cares for.

May he rest in peace.

Pluto no longer a planet?

That's what the world's leading astronomers have decided today in a conference in Prague.

This is not the first time astronomers have "demoted" a heavenly body. Ceres, the biggest rock in the asteroid belt, was considered a planet until the 19th century.

So how does this affect us? Diddly squat.

I guess the foremost geeks in the world just wanted some attention.

circa 1992, Taiwan

Last time I saw him was at our wedding. He looked strong then, even though I'm not sure he knew who I was or why he was there. He nevertheless aknowledged me and KC when we said "hi". He knew that I was one of his grandchildren but that was far as it went. And that was enough for me.

Me and my brothers were the lucky ones. He used to stay with us (I think it was for more that 5 years), and he stayed at my room while I camped out with my brothers in their room. Come to think of it, that made me closer to my brothers during our teenage years and I am glad of that. We had lots of memories of being with him and a lot of funny anecdotes and stories that our cousins didn't have. (Who could ever forget, James Bond - bang bang bang).

The clan had a big falling out during my high school days. I distinctly remembered when my Dad told me that angkong won't be living with us anymore (This happened the day after he left and my dad is driving me and my brothers to school and we were in front of UST in Espana). He went to China and will stay there with one of my uncles. I was kinda glad during that time because that meant that I regain possession of my room. I didn't get then that everything was changing. It was then the whole extended family didn't meet during the holidays that I realized what was happening.

Me and my cousins were close before, we played in the big V. Mapa house and forged a bond with each other which we still remember to this day. But now, I only see them during chance encounters at bars and night outs and just to exchange pleasantries. It's sad that I don't even know some of them, as I didn't see them growing up and would not recognize them in a lineup.

And now, it's the beginning to the end of an era - an era where angkong is the head of the family - the Tan clan. Now is the only time in the last decade or so that the whole family is together again, not to celebrate but to mourn. Angkong is hanging tough, he is a fighter, it runs in the family. But as he wins each battle, we know that he will eventually lose this war with cancer. Every time he stands tough, it is another reason to thank God, another reason to believe.

I'm sad that I won't be able to see him before he goes. I'm sad he won't see Matmat ever. I'm sad that after this is over and done with, the family will not be together again. I'm sad that I won't be able to say goodbye.

I guess that's life. However how fragile each and every one of us are, we have to enjoy every minute of it. Building memories that will touch us for a lifetime. I'm just glad that I have those memories with angkong, that I will always have them with me.

How pathetic

How pathetic.

I love basketball. I love every aspect of it. I love the NBA, I love college hoops (both UAAP back home and NCAA here), I love watching international hoops. Heck, I even watch the WNBA.

What irritates me the most though is how the Philippines can't get its act together with basketball. Politics always gets in the way of the sport. The country can't compete internationally because of the selfishness and the ineptitude of the officials who are supposed to run the sport in the country in the first place.

The World Championships are starting in a couple of days in Japan, and Filipinos have no choice but to sit back and watch other countries compete for the glory.

I am not saying that the Philippines has a chance to win, or be in the tournament. But wouldn't it be better to know that at least we sent a team to the qualifiers? That we tried? That the country's obssession is not destroyed by a bunch of coats who are fighting over who should oversee basketball operations in the country and in process pocket some sponsors cash?

We lost even before we had the chance of suit up, tie those shoelaces and hit the hardcourt. We lost because those fat selfish bastards running the politics of basketball did not consider the 70 million other people who live and breathe the sport.

How pathetic.

Sidenotes:

Billiards is not a sport. It is a glorified bar game.

Much like shooting darts and playing poker.

It doesn't mean that if they show it on ESPN it is a sport.

Another terror threat

Another terror threat, another reason not to fly - or do anything for that matter.

What has become of the world today? It seems that our lives are being ruled by these so-called terrorists. Think about it, we have given our freedom to these people without us even knowing it.

We have to endure long lines at the airports - which means that you will now probably spend more time in the security line than in your actual flight.

Back home, security lines whereever you go - malls, the light railways, moviehouses. Maybe they should do security checks before entering churches and schools too.

Telephone calls are not private anymore.

Your bank accounts are available for anyone to view.

And those were just the tip of the iceberg.

With all these disruptions because of the fear of being terrorized again, we are letting these bastards win. Think how easy it is for them to put entire industries out of business. Worst hit of all obviously are the airline companies - a few of which are already under bankruptcy protection. Let's say that Al-Qaeda decided that, hmmm.. I will use a pig to blow up the next target. NOw, does that mean that we have to kill of the pigs just in case? (I know, bad example, but I just want to illustrate how stupid everything has become).

No more liquids and gel-like substances in carry-ons. You can't bring your own beverage to the airports. Hmmm... have the terrorists bought majority shares in airport concessionaire stands? Because in my opinion these are the only guys who stand to benefit from all these chaos, don't you think? Now, they can prop their prices even higher. A bottle of water for $5!!! Fuck off.

We are just letting these a$$#0les win!!! Stop making up restrictions everytime something like this comes up. If the next time these terrorists plot to use pilots in their plans, should we cancel all of the flights?

I think we have lost this battle. Time to nuke the bastards.

I am pissed off.

I just found a big scratch mark (about a couple of inches long) in my computer case after the pull -out keyboard part of the table fell off (again!!!) hitting the CPU and thus leaving this unsightly mark on my otherwise pristine computer.

I just hate scratches. Be it in the car or my 20D, but this one really hit a nerve. I like everything to stay the same condition as they were the day I bought them. Sure, if they breakdown, its an excuse to upgrade to a new and better model but I haven't arrived at that point yet with my computer. In fact, I believe I will stay with this setup for a long long time (maybe another year, at least).

After almost a year, I have finally found a place to play basketball here. Sure, I have to play $6.50 everytime I go to the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center but at least I get to sweat a little and let my body hurt.

That's such a relief. You just have no idea.

American Arrogance

Shootings in Seattle... again

This month has been very bad for Seattle as at least 10 people have been murdered in at least four separate incidents. The most recent of the murders happened earlier today in Downtown no less as an American Pakistani Muslim started to shoot people inside a Jewish office. One was killed and six others were hurt in this unnecessary bloodshed.

Has the war over in the Middle East now starting to spill over to the United States? Is this incident an isolate case of "hate crime" or is this organized by a terrorist network?

It is scary to think that Manila now sounds like a much safer place to live than here in the US.

San Francisco

Kiss my a$$

Union Square

It's just sad that people here don't care.

A couple of days have went by since the Sonics were sold and the news that they might not be staying here after next season will surely put the gloom back in the city.

The worst thing is people don't seem to mind.

Sure, I admit I'm not a diehard Sonics fan, but I am an avid fan of basketball. Having a team in the state gives you something to cheer for, something local and something reachable.

But now people in Seattle don't care.

They will probably riot in the streets if the Mariners or the Seahawks were sold, but the Sonics? Who cares. They're expendable.

Are they really?

When we moved here almost a year ago, I was estatic that now whenever we are in the mood to watch a live NBA game, its possible. Just click on ticketmaster.com, print the tickets, drive (a couple of hours) and viola, we are where at the Key cheering amidst 10,000 plus fans as Ray Allen sinks another 3 pointer.

But after next season, winter in Seattle will just be a little gloomier, a little sadder.

At least I got to enjoy a season being a Sonics fan.

Sonics SOLD!!!

News reports indicate that the Seattle Supersonics were sold today to a group from Oklahoma City. Now, it is unsure whether the team will stay in Seattle or be moved to OK. That just sucks! So does that mean that when we are in the mood to watch an NBA game we have to drive 5 hours to watch a team worse than the Sonics???

Anyway, no sense in beating a dead horse. I guess I'll have to wait another 40 minutes for the press conference to make everything official. At least keep the Sonics in Seattle until their lease ends in 2010. PLEASSEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I already miss San Francisco.

After spending a long weekend in SF, its kinda nice to be back home but it also reminded me how I miss living in an actual city. Staying in a hotel right smack in the middle of the city didn't make matters better either. I miss being able to go out in the middle of the night to grab a bite, or going out and checking out the stores not because I want to buy stuff but because I can!

It's also nice seeing a friend whom I haven't seen for more than a year! (I guess two years would be more accurate). Hi Car! :)

Anyway, I just realized a few things about traveling during this trip:

1. I have always enjoyed flying but for some reason I was scared this time. Maybe because it was the first time KC and I were taking Matmat on board a plane. It just scared the heck out of me that something might happen to us onboard the plane.

2. Traveling with infants is not recommended. Okay, Matmat was well behaved almost throughout the flight but the logistics of it is a nightmare with the stroller and the car seat. Sigh...

3. I don't like staying at hotels. Well, at least this hotel is better than the ones we stayed at during previous trips but still you don't know what you'll find under the beds or if you are sleeping on clean sheets.

4. I miss the big city!!!

That's way too cool...

C'mon, there are some things that are impossible and I used to believe that this is one of them. This is one of those you have to see to believe things...

I've seen it but it is still hard to believe.

See for yourselves... Damn!

So it's the French versus the Italians...

Not what I would expect or want to see in the finals but I guess they will have to do.

Next up in South Africa for 2010.

Make sure its a merlot

When was the last time you finished a bottle of red on your own alone at home?

I highly recommend it.

Great view optional.

How well have you thought about your future?

I admit, I am not as young as I hope I am. Five years ago, fresh out of college, I haven't thought that I had to start saving for my retirement. That's right, I am now concerned on how I am going to live post-retirement. It is a big thing here in the US that you have to save up for your retirement as early as possible. You have to worry about 401k, bonds, stocks, mutual funds, blah, blah, blah.

One reason KC and I decided to move here is that we see the US as a better place to raise our children (or presently just "child") and save money and probably one day go back home and have enough money that we don't have to worry about our financial future. Just save a few hundred thousand dollars and go home and live off the interest. Sounds great, right?

That plan still sounds realistic but what if somewhere along the way we decide to stay here for good? Where will that put us financially? Good advice is that you put aside at least 5% of your income to your 401k and maybe another 10% on savings and other investments, that way when you reach 65, you have enough money to live comfortably until you reach 95 years.

But is saving money mean that you don't enjoy your money? Or is it to leave to your children and let them enjoy the fruit of your hard labor? Or will you be like Warren Buffett and just leave your money to charity?

Right now, thinking about all of these options and decisions are a big load on our backs. Sure, we would like to spend some of the money we earn now and maybe leave some for the future but risking that we would not be ready financially when we retire. But on the other hand we can save as much as we can and just enjoy it when we're 65.

Crap! I miss having my parents just handing me my allowance and not worry about this.

I guess I'm just growing up.

Things observed from the NBA Playoffs

1. D-Wade is the best player in the league right now.
   
2. Shaq isn't as dominating as he once was. Actually, at 34, most players would not even play the number of minutes as he does.
3. Dirk Nowitski is the greatest flopper in the league. He would fall even if nobody was touching him.
   
4. Kobe Bryant is still an ass. He will never win an NBA title ever again.
   
5. The referees have gone soft. Never had I seen as much offensive fouls called ever.
6. Watch out for Lebron and the Cavs next season. They were a game away from beating the Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals and go against Wade and the Heat (In my opinion the best matchup in the league since Larry and Magic).
7. The league needs somebody like Mark Cuban to keep things exciting. That is what the league need more of - owners who really like their teams and not just the dollars and cents.

Cleaning it up

It's been a while since I did anything drastic to this blog and I felt that changing the whole template might liven things up a bit here.

Right now, I have just installed both Windows XP Home and Office 2003 to my computer and got rid of all that Vista crap out of my system. It is not worth loading your computer with beta software as things just mysteriously crash and hang up on you. Although the new OS does show some promise, I wouldn't load it up again on my system until they come up with the first service pack for it.

Tonight, it is Game 6 of Miami against Dallas for the NBA Finals, in case you live in a cave and didn't follow that last 3 games in Miami, you missed the Jordanesque performace of D-Wade (or probably in the future you can call it Wadesque? :) ). I haven't seen anybody perform this well on the Finals since Jordan, and back then, I always rooted for the Bulls' opponents to win but now, I hope the Heat brings it all back to Florida, barring a total meltdown of D-Wade!

Speaking of meltdowns, anybody saw Phil Mickelson choke on the final hole of the US Open? Bwahahaha! Serves you right!

Ghana 2 - Czech 0

Wow! What an unbelievable match! It always feels good to see the underdog win in such a huge tournament as well as see the white boys get their asses whipped. The game is a lot more lopsided than the score represents as Ghana had a lot of chances to score more goals (including a missed penalty shot) but the Czechs goalkeeper did an outstanding job.

I still liked Senegal beating France in the last World Cup better though.

Testing Windows Vista

I have just finished installing Windows Vista on my computer and everything looks good so far - although there are some drivers and software that the OS won't let me install and thus I am unable to use.

I could not install Adobe Flash for some weird reason (is it because Adobe has recently filed a suit against Microsoft? Hmm...) and Zonealarm's installation also hanged midway. My new webcam has also refused to work and so on and so forth.

Microsoft has recently installed a WGA which verifies if the user uses a legal or pirated copy of Windows and is pinging Microsoft servers and locks in your IP address. So just in case you become paranoid that MS might catch you using pirated Windows or Office software, using the beta version (of both Vista and Office 2007) might be a good option for you and gives you enough time to save up for the new software instead of buying XP and Office 2003, both which will become obsolete faster that Windows boots up.

I read this article on this week's Time Magazine and it kinda strikes a chord with me. Being a new father, it raises the question, "Does it really make me happy?"

Does Fatherhood Make You Happy?

By DANIEL GILBERT

Sonora Smart Dodd was listening to a sermon on self-sacrifice when she decided that her father, a widower who had raised six children, deserved his very own national holiday. Almost a century later, people all over the world spend the third Sunday in June honoring their fathers with ritual offerings of aftershave and neckties, which leads millions of fathers to have precisely the same thought at precisely the same moment: "My children," they think in unison, "make me happy."

Could all those dads be wrong?

Studies reveal that most married couples start out happy and then become progressively less satisfied over the course of their lives, becoming especially disconsolate when their children are in diapers and in adolescence, and returning to their initial levels of happiness only after their children have had the decency to grow up and go away. When the popular press invented a malady called "empty-nest syndrome," it failed to mention that its primary symptom is a marked increase in smiling.

Psychologists have measured how people feel as they go about their daily activities, and have found that people are less happy when they are interacting with their children than when they are eating, exercising, shopping or watching television. Indeed, an act of parenting makes most people about as happy as an act of housework. Economists have modeled the impact of many variables on people's overall happiness and have consistently found that children have only a small impact. A small negative impact.

Those findings are hard to swallow because they fly in the face of our most compelling intuitions. We love our children! We talk about them to anyone who will listen, show their photographs to anyone who will look and hide our refrigerators behind vast collages of their drawings, notes, pictures and report cards. We feel confident that we are happy with our kids, about our kids, for our kids and because of our kids--so why is our personal experience at odds with the scientific data?

Three reasons.

First, when something makes us happy we are willing to pay a lot for it, which is why the worst Belgian chocolate is more expensive than the best Belgian tofu. But that process can work in reverse: when we pay a lot for something, we assume it makes us happy, which is why we swear to the wonders of bottled water and Armani socks. The compulsion to care for our children was long ago written into our DNA, so we toil and sweat, lose sleep and hair, play nurse, housekeeper, chauffeur and cook, and we do all that because nature just won't have it any other way. Given the high price we pay, it isn't surprising that we rationalize those costs and conclude that our children must be repaying us with happiness.

Second, if the Red Sox and the Yankees were scoreless until Manny Ramirez hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth, you can be sure that Boston fans would remember it as the best game of the season. Memories are dominated by their most powerful--and not their most typical--instances. Just as a glorious game-winning homer can erase our memory of 812 dull innings, the sublime moment when our 3-year-old looks up from the mess she is making with her mashed potatoes and says, "I wub you, Daddy," can erase eight hours of no, not yet, not now and stop asking. Children may not make us happy very often, but when they do, that happiness is both transcendent and amnesic.

Third, although most of us think of heroin as a source of human misery, shooting heroin doesn't actually make people feel miserable. It makes them feel really, really good--so good, in fact, that it crowds out every other source of pleasure. Family, friends, work, play, food, sex--none can compete with the narcotic experience; hence all fall by the wayside. The analogy to children is all too clear. Even if their company were an unremitting pleasure, the fact that they require so much company means that other sources of pleasure will all but disappear. Movies, theater, parties, travel--those are just a few of the English nouns that parents of young children quickly forget how to pronounce. We believe our children are our greatest joy, and we're absolutely right. When you have one joy, it's bound to be the greatest.

Our children give us many things, but an increase in our average daily happiness is probably not among them. Rather than deny that fact, we should celebrate it. Our ability to love beyond all measure those who try our patience and weary our bones is at once our most noble and most human quality. The fact that children don't always make us happy--and that we're happy to have them nonetheless--is the fact for which Sonora Smart Dodd was so grateful. She thought we would all do well to remember it, every third Sunday in June.

The World Cup is back!!!

Germany just dismantled Costa Rica for the World Cup opener.

Wow, it has been 4 years since the last World Cup, the first one i actually followed and where Asian teams actually did good. This World Cup, I am still routing for the Asian teams to do well but there is a side of me that wishes England to win. I remember during the last World Cup, with beer in hand in the middle of the workday where some colleagues and I went to a pub (yes, it was an actual British-type pub in the middle of the red light district in Makati) and watched Brazil ate the English up.

Whatever happened to Senegal? Are my eyes deceiving me or are they not part of this year's Cup? They did a very good job the last time that I thought they would be a shoo-in for this year. I guess there are a lot of good teams from Africa that the competition is stiff.

It is also a good thing that the US did well in the last Cup as they are broadcasting all the games live in 3 separate channels (ABC, ESPN and ESPN2).

Time to go to the grocery later and pick up that Guiness 6-pack.

Free Phone Numbers

I just found a very cool website by AOL which offers free US local phone numbers - www.aimphoneline.com. This is very useful for people outside the US to have a "local US number" in which friends and family in the US can call at no extra cost to them. This is VOIP at its best. All you need is a broadband connection and an AIM screen name (which you can easily obtain on the website) and viola! A local number will be supplied to you instantly.

There are however a few downsides to the service. One is that you have to register a valid US address, so put your friend's or family member's address in there. Another is that you have to install yet another instant messaging software into your already crowded taskbar. But other than those 2 minor inconviniences, it is a very useful product, if you ask me.

So instead of paying an extra $4.99 for the same service in Skype, just download this and save that money.

Pardon for the recent lack of posts as time has become a luxury.

Taking care of Matmat has become a 24 hour job. With breaks only coming when he is asleep (which is becoming rare during the day as it seems that all he wants to do is play). Good thing is that he enjoys watching TV and is quiet when we are watching the NBA Playoffs.

Speaking of the NBA Playoffs, is it just me or this year's playoffs is one of the most exciting ones in recent memory? Teams has been so evenly matched that all the games are fun to watch. Some of the most exciting matchups had been James vs Arenas and Kobe vs Bell (eat shit KOBE!!! BWAHAHAHA!). I haven't watched this much of the Playoffs since the Bulls beat Barkley and the Suns more than 10 years ago.

I see Matmat starting to stir from his nap. 'til next time.

Da Vinci Code

Yeah, I admit. I have been raring to see the movie ever since I finished reading the book 2 years ago. I also had actors in mind who would be perfect to play the parts (I think Dennis Quaid would have been a better choice to play Langdon. But it is being touted a a summer blockbuster film, so financially speaking, Tom Hanks was the better choice). But for the life of me I don't know why the Philippines would make a big deal about it showing in the country.

Sure, I know that it is a predominantly Catholic country. PREDOMINANTLY!!! The adminstration have been trying to integrate other religions and not alienate them. We have celebrated Muslim holidays (well, it's an extra day off from work), and now we are back to square friggin' one just because the Church and some Cabinet member (get your facts straight, mister, separation of Church and State, assmunch.) wish to get some publicity and display their ignorance.

Religion in films being banned in the country isn't all that new. Remember The Last Temptation of Christ? It was banned in the Philippines because, as in The Da Vinci Code, it showed Jesus being married.

I just wish people in our country grow up. It's really frustrating reading about it in the newspapers and it just shows the ignorance of the people. And the bad thing is that it is that ignorance that the Church and the politicians use to control the masses.

Well, ban it if you want. Most people would just buy the pirated DVDs anyway.

We have finally finished unpacking our stuff in our new place. We love this house! It is a two bedroom (plus an extra den), two baths, huge kitchen, huge living room and a jacuzzi in the master bedroom's bathroom!

Our backyard has this incredible view of the Olympic Mountains.

Huge kitchen with KC's mom.


As you can see, we are now nowhere near a big city. Seattle is now a couple of hours away and the nearest shopping area is back in Silverdale. Good thing they have a reliable internet connection here, cable TV is crap! They have less channels here than we used to have with Comcast.

Watch out Sequim!!! Here come the Tans!!!

It feels eerily like the time we first moved to the apartment, except that now there's this little guy crying all the time. Yes, the movers have almost emptied our apartment in preparation for our move on Monday to Sequim - about 60 miles or an hour away from our place here in Silverdale.

Honestly, KC and I have been kinda torn between moving or not, doing pros and cons since January and finally decided that it is better for the family to move. It has been a tough decision for us as Sequim is in the country! I mean it is as far as I am willing to go outside a city. Our house there is close to dairy farms, cows, horses and the like.

I think moving there is one of those grown up decisions that, as Calvin's dad would put it, "builds character". It's a decision that although I am not particularly entirely happy about but I know is the best choice for us. And who nows, maybe we'll love it there.

Binyag

Matmat was christened during the Easter Vigil Mass in the Star of the Sea Church in Bremerton, WA last Saturday. We had to have his pacifier during the ceremony but he still managed to belch out a few whines during the two and a half hour Mass.

Good Friday

Holy week is fun in Manila, be it going to the beach and get wasted or just staying in Manila and wandering around the city to find a bar that is open and spending 4 days drinking. Cable Car in Makati has always been the staple - as it is considered to be the middle ground for people coming from QC and those coming from the south.

Here, people don't have the concept of holy week, it's not a long weekend. All they look forward to is Easter, which I guess makes more sense. Why celebrate (or dwell on) the bad things (the crucifixion) when you can just look forward to the good (the resurrection).

Matmat's baptism is tentatively set on Black Saturday, which I find weird. Oh well, we are just following the Church's schedule. I don't even know if the Church allows baptism during the only full day when Jesus is dead.

On a lighter note, I am very very thankful that South Park has regained its humor that made me watch it in the first place. For the past few seasons, it seemed that Matt and Trey just churn episodes to collect the money (with the exception of last season's "Trapped in the Closet" episode", but for the first 4 episodes this season, it has been hilarious!!! In the first 4 episodes, they have managed to kill off Chef and create a controversy by showing (while not actually showing) the "likeness" of Mohammed. Seemed like Comedy Central chickened out.

The house has been awfully quiet for the past few days - except for Matmat's crying. My brothers and mom went to Los Angeles earlier this week and Syd went back to Manila last Friday. Now, it's just the 3 of us plus KC's mom here in the apartment.

Brothers and mom are coming back here on the 15th to attend Matmat's baptismal on the 16th, Easter Sunday. Just skyped with Syd and he is back safely in Manila - missing Denny's and McChicken sandwich with bacon.

List of Matmat's godparents (too bad only one can attend the actual baptism)

Godfathers:
Mitchell Tan
Jason Drilon
Leo Malapo
Syd Cayton
Michael Vicencio
Mico del Rosario


Godmothers:
Tina Derecho
Celine dela Cruz
Cathy Batallones
Carmen Yujeco
Babits Guadarrama
Janelle Ysrael

Just send your gifts to our address here. You will all be missed! :p

Finally playing with the Xbox!!! Graphics are excellent, although games are hard to buy - not becasue of a shortage but because of the price! Games start at 49.99-59.99!!!

Right now, all I have are Project Gotham Racing 3 and Madden 2006. Still waiting for NBA 2k6 to arrive. Got the games off eBay for about 35 bucks each.

Finally!

Finally got the chance to buy the Xbox 360. Got the package at Costco for 489.99 (plus taxes!!!) and it came with the Premium edition, another wireless controller and Play and Charge kit (still don't know what that is for).

It also came with Project Gotham Racing 3 and I just bought NBA 2k6 off eBay.

Problem is I still haven't opened the Xbox and set it up. I'm still thinking if I want to keep the console or return it. It's a lot of cash for just a game...

I got Tiger running on my AMD!!!

You gotta love interoperability!!! It started when I read an article which teaches how to install WinXP on a Mac. Curious about Macs now running on Intel chipsets, I have decided to try and install Mac OS 10 on my PC. It took my less than an hour and a half from start to finish and now, I can dual boot Windows XP and Mac OSX.

Some problems:

Network is not working on the Mac OS. Will figure it out soon.

Sound also not working. Read that somebody wrote a driver for that already.

Display resolution at 1024x768 only.

If I get to figure out how to work the internet on the Mac OS, then it is a good bet that I will be surfing using Safari soon just to sidestep all those viruses and spyware that Windows machines usually get.

Full instructions located at Tech Recipes.

They're almost here

My mom and two brothers are now somewhere over the Pacific Ocean on their way to Sea-Tac airport. We are all very excited to see them and I am sure that they are also eager to see us. Well, maybe not us but definitely the newest member of our family, Matthew.

They are scheduled to arrive a little before noon later. Too bad Dad is staying in Manila.

Formula 1 Season again!!!

I've been so worried that I would not be able to watch the F1 season here. It is just now that I found out that a cable station will be airing it live!!!

Can't wait for Ferrari to come out of the "poor season" and kick some serious ass again. Too bad Rubens is not with the team anymore... GO FELIPE!!! :)

Proof that the Philippines is just a puppet democracy

Might as well be communists.

Press freedom not absolute — Palace
By Paolo Romero
The Philippine Star 03/11/2006

I can't believe that the administration is so stupid to say this. Isn't freedom of speech the most essential element of a democracy?

The Palace wants media to report only essentially what it wants the public to know. Wow... bad move. Hope this bites you in the ass... and spit it back out.

The Music of Spring

Went down to dispose of the garbage earlier (sidenote: We now have to take the garbage out daily instead of every 2-3 days ever since Christopher Matthew came about) this afternoon and I heard something that I haven't heard since we arrive here - the sound of birds chirping.

For almost three to four months all you can hear here are the gwaking of the crows but today, you can hear real birds.

That is what is nice about this place, you can relax and notice things that you would just ignore in a major city. Well, actually its a totally different case in Manila where just going outdoors would kill you.

People always say that when you go home to Manila after a long time overseas, it is almost certain that you would get sick because of the polluted air. That makes for another compelling reason to hold off going back home.

What a bitch!!!

Power tripper. Ass.

Even Erap never declared a state of emergency during his downfall. He believed that the Filipino people always has the last say in deciding who they want to lead.

GMA is not a leader. She is nothing but a bully. Let history decide how bad this "leadership" is.

Though I am not in favor of replacing her though violent nor non-democratic means, she should realize that what she is doing is not good for the country and further alienating the people from the administration.

What she is doing now is "pakitang-tao" - just showing the business and international community how "improved" the country is through economic numbers. But all it takes is 5 minutes in Tondo or Pasay or anywhere else in the country to see how miserable the populace is.

State of emergency. What a farce. Instead of concentrating on the Leyte landslide and other national concerns, she is so selfish just to look after her own ass.

Bitch.

iPod Hifi, Mini

After more than a week of rumors and hearsays, Apple finally unveiled its new products this morning. First off was the new Mac mini with the Intel processors. These new Minis are mediacentric, meaning that Steve Jobs want these to be the center of your living room. I wouldn't mind having one of these babies next to my setup.


Next off was the iPod Hi-fi. Now, these is a product that is worth considering. If its performance is as good as the initial reviews from those invited to the announcement, then this will be very popular. Although personally I have no use for this (I connect my iPod directly to the A/V receiver and then to a 7.1 JBL surround sound setup), this will be a welcome addition to a small apartment, loft or bathroom.

I am somewhat disappointed that they still have not announced an iBook with an Intel processor.

On a totally unrelated subject, Microsoft will announce a new gadget dubbed "Origami" this Thursday. It is said to be a small, affordable tablet PC. Is this the iPod killer people are worried about? It is said that Microsoft will sell a portable media center for next to nothing to convince people to switch from iPod and its very profitable iTunes store to Microsoft and its crappy wmas? Let's see this Thursday.

Canon has also announced a new DSLR, the EOS 30D. And to think that I had just bought the EOS 20D. Crap!

Apple and its big announcement

Apple is set to announce a new exciting product in less than an hour and I am so excited to see what they are to put forward. Personally, I hope that it is not another new iPod but instead a new consumer electronic product - maybe a cellphone?

I'll be back shortly to see if Apple makes all the excitement worth it. Though they have never failed to whet a person's appetite to spend loads of cash before. :P

"Once it hits your lips, it's so good!"

Named as the Greatest Movie Drinkers in this month's Maxim Magazine. Frank the Tank surely is someone to look up to.

Why I love Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy is one of those rarities - a series brought in last season to replace a flop mid-season and somehow made it big. No big names were in the cast (Do you consider Patrick Dempsey a big name?) and to me, just a hodgepodge of characters put in a hectic environment trying to cope with every day life problems while at the same time saving peoples' lives. So what could go wrong - or right?

I love watching this show which I just stumbled upon while watching Desperate Housewives (Yes, I also watch that) and quickly became hooked to it. Watching these two shows have become sort of a Sunday night ritual to both KC and me.

I dare you to watch an episode. And believe me, you'll also become a fan.

RIAAsses

Lifted this from gizmodo.com. Sigh... When will they ever learn...


The RIAA seems to be changing its annoying tune these days, saying that ripping a CD that is lawfully yours to your own MP3 player is no longer fair game. During the US Supreme Court Grokster case, the RIAA made sure to tell us that this was OK and that they loved us. However, they’re currently arguing that it’s illegal and should stay that way forever and ever. I have a feeling this isn’t going to stick, but it’s not against this association’s history to try to destroy anything that might help the consumer when it comes to digital rights. More on this when we get it.


What this actually means is that you cannot copy music, which you legally bought in the first place, to your portable music player. So, I guess for those who want to be straight with the law, it's back to lugging that huge collection of CDs and reinstalling that 12-disc CD changer in your car.

Zero Below

Temparature this past few days have been well below freezing, going as low as -7 degress C. It was so cold out the bottle of water we had in the car froze.

Think different

At least there is still a company with a sense of humor. Eat that Sony Music!

Your karma check for today:
There once was a user that whined
his existing OS was so blind
he'd do better to pirate
an OS that ran great
but found his hardware declined.
Please don't steal Mac OS!
Really, that's way uncool.
(C) Apple Computer, Inc.

This poem is embedded to copies of Mac OS X to try and thwart pirates. Although I believe that this karma check would do little to stop the piracy, at least people who do pirate the software will have a laugh.

I am in no way supporting piracy.

/Seriously.

Let us pray for all those affected by the Leyte landslide.

I have NBA League Pass recently activated so that I can watch all the good NBA games that local TV don't broadcast. It was a good deal considering that I have signed up for the rest of the season for a little over a hundred bucks. One the the reasons I suscribed was to see all of Houston Rockets' games. Although they played poorly in the first half of the season, I have reason to believe that they can still make the playoffs.

They have been on a pretty good streak lately, winning 6 of their last 7 games (losing only to the Lakers) and is now in the process of losing to the Phoenix Suns. I was excited to watch this game but when in the second quarter they were down by 20-something, I know that it's best to just turn off the TV and wait for their next game.

I think I found out what's wrong with this team. Nope, it's not about their age (Houston players has the oldest average age of any team in the NBA) nor about talent (Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady are both All-Star starters) but it is about the coaching. FIRE JEFF VAN GUNDY!!!

OK, that may be blaming all the team woes into a single person which is not fair but let me cite these points:

• He has always relied on defense to win ball games ever since his Knicks' tenure. But he knows jack shit about offense. T-Mac is one of the league's most explosive scorer and he has to do everything on his own giving opponents the chance to double team him while the other four guys are just looking and waiting to see what he will do. For God's sakes, run offensive plays!!!
• He sucks at rotating players. Key players are not given enough rest during the first half so those players are dead tired when it comes to the crucial part of the game.
  
• He does not know when to call timeouts. Just for the record, when your team is down by 2 then suddenly your opponent strings up 10 consecutive points, call a timeout! You don't need to save timeouts when in the end you are down by 20 because you won't need it.

I'm just glad the All Star Break is coming.

Babylog

All baby related posts are now at http://cmdtan.blogspot.com. Please bookmark that page in order to get all information regarding Christopher Matthew.

It came, it went, and still we're waiting

I had a banner up in this website since around August that counted down to Valentine's Day 2006. It is not because I am a hopeless romantic but today is the due date for our baby. Well, I guess the stork express is not as efficient as DHL because as of 1:08am PST, the baby is still tucked comfortably inside KC's tummy.

These next few days will go on very slowly for us, as the "Will he or won't he" game wears on. We hope that Christopher Matthew will come out sooner rather than later. We are very excited to meet him now.

My new toy

I got a new toy!!! I got a Canon EOS 20d yesterday and I'm loving it! Can't wait to go out and take some pictures with it. I got the camera with the basic lens kit (18-55mm lens) and am just waiting for the others lens that I ordered (a Tamron 75-300mm) to arrive.

Now I'm really bummed that I didn't take that photography class in college. But I have invested in a few books to learn a few tricks with my toy. I will post pictures as soon as I get the chance to take some.

Bud Light Superbowl ads

Here are a couple of ads from the Superbowl that I really enjoyed. I put up links for the ads in my Multiply videos page and you can download them from there. Both ads are taken from www.budlight.com. These are really funny ones especially "Save Yourself". But "Secret Fridge" is like every man's dream (that doesn't involve women). See for yourselves.

To download all 49 Superbowl adverts. Use Bittorrent to open this torrent file. I haven't checked the file personally and not sure about its actual content so take the usual precautions.

Bummer!

Seahawks lost the Superbowl. 21-10. Crap!

How I am caught up in an American sporting event

Before we arrived here in Seattle, I wasn't even aware of the Seattle Seahawks, well maybe I have heard the name before, but I had no idea who were playing on the team - just like almost all the residents of Seattle.

The Seahawks started the season with an unremarkable 2-2 record, and most people dismissed the team's chances again, like the past 30 years. But somehow, by talent, luck or a mix of both - they began winning and people started noticing. Qwest Field was full of people again, and it was named as the NFL's loudest field, contributing to a league best 20-something false starts by the opponent.

Now, I am caught up in the middle of all this frenzy. Never has a Seattle pro team won a championship since the 70's when the Supersonics were good. Not only do I know the players by name (first and last, I might add) but I can recognize them if ever I saw them walking along Pike Place or Pioneer Square.

I know I'm new here and I know I haven't experienced and can't relate to the failures of the team and the fans before but I am definitely a fan now.

I do hope they win. It would definitely put some much needed sunshine on this rainy city.

Seahawks win! Seahawks win!!!

Whoa! I never thought I would be this excited over football. But the Seahawks are good, real good! I have been watching every game since Week 7 where they defeated the Dallas Cowboys on a come from behind win. And now they are going to the Superbowl!!!

Can't wait for another 10 days for the Superbowl! I hope they win, I hope they win... Seattle really needs a winning team. The Supersonics are crap!

I just realized that it has been ten years since I graduated high school.

How time flies.

Ten years ago, if you told me that I will be married and be a father in ten years time, I would laugh at your face and tell you that you're out of your mind. Ten years ago, there was nothing more I wanted more to be than a successful, career-oriented person. I would probably own a startup company and earning seven figures annually. Marriage and settling down would be the farthest thing in my mind. Live free! would be my battlecry.

Four years of college and 5 years in the corporate world later, I am a stay-at-home (would-be) dad in an apartment in suburban Washington.

If I had the chance to change anything in the past ten years, I wouldn't. Life have been very good to me.

Don't believe technicians at retail stores - they're just salesmen

I've tried to connect my PC's soundcard to my Yamaha A/V receiver before and I kept getting this irritating humming sound in the background. So instead of trying to fix it, I just got my computer a basic Logitech 2.1 speaker system. Through the sound that comes from the speakers were fine for basic internet telephony or system sounds, I find it lacking for music and games.

One of the reasons I bought a Yamaha receiver and JBL 7.1 Surround Speakers was to enjoy music, thus it really bummed me out to find out that I can't get rid of the humming. At first I thought the problem was with the cables I used (I used a basic minijack to RCA cables) but when I tried plugging the cable to the iPod, it didn't belch out the hums, just the tunes.

I thought of many ways that I can bring the music from the computer to the A/V receiver like getting a D-link Medialounge or Buffalo Tech's Linktheater. (PC World gave Buffalo Tech Linktheater the thumbs up between the two.) But the thought of spending more than 200 bucks for this is kind of daunting.

When I went to Circuit City early this afternoon, the guy who assisted me said that the problem is my soundcard (I have a Creative Soundblaster Live! 24-bit). He said that the technology used in that particular soundcard is more than a decade old, etchetera, etchetera. He told me to get the Creative Audigy soundcard (which would have costed me $199.99).

Stupid tech person.

When I got home, I fired up Mozilla and googled "sound card humming receiver" then the solution came up. The problem was not with either the soundcard nor the cable nor the A/V receiver but a thing called earth loop. Earth loop happens mostly when you connect a myriad of components to the receiver with different grounding. To make a long story short, I disconnected all the components from the receiver and just left the PC connection - and surprise! No humming! Then, I connected the DVD player and the cable box. It is when I connected the cable box that the humming returned. Thus, I have isolated the problem.

For more information about earth loop and humming, visit http://www.jaycar.com.au/images_uploaded/humloop.pdf.

Now, I just have to buy a $16 cable earth loop isolator (from eBay) to fix the problem. Saved me a couple of hundred bucks! :)

This past weekend was perfect.

For the first time in 28 days, the sun briefly came out and ended the second longest raining streak here in the area. Believe it or not, the last time the sun shined through the clouds here was in mid-December.

KC and I took advantage of the sun by going out and went to Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island and looked around the neighborhoods. We also tried our luck in a casino and I won $16! :P Not bad for a few minutes of work (and a $4 startup).

Well, I guess we are starting another long wet period as it is raining since we woke up this morning and is forecasted to stay that way for a while.

Last weekend also broke another streak - the Seahawks finally won a playoff game after 21 years! Seattle was in a frenzy Saturday after the Seahawks beat the Redskins to set up the first ever NFC Championship in the city next Sunday. I tried my luck on getting tickets for the game online, which went on sale 10am this morning, and after refreshing the browser for five minutes, I finally connected to the Ticketmaster site only to find out that the tickets were all sold out - in less than 5 minutes!!!

The good thing about that is that I can watch the game at the comfort of our home in all its HDTV glory - on my birthday!

MJTan.com is now up and working. There's nothing much in there now contentwise but I hope to move everything there including this blog in the near future.

Phone Home 2

Found a device that could actually work. It is made by a Chinese company that uses Skype as a gateway to relay your call via a normal phone line connected to the box. It's actually cool how somebody thought of making something like this.

Here's how it works. You connect the device "between" your computer and the phone line. The box has 3 connectors - USB (to connect to your PC), line out to connect to your phone and the last is to connect to your phone line. User in another country can call up user with Skype box in Manila or whereever the box is and after a few unanswered rings in Skype, call is forwarded to a number of the caller's choice via a simple numeric code. Call is from the local phone connected to the box which makes all calls to Manila free!

In theory, the voice quality should be the same as a Skype to Skype call - which is outstanding if both users are using broadband. Box is being sold in eBay for about 50 bucks plus 15 shipping. My brother informed me that a similar box is being sold in Manila for about P4500.

Phone Home

I've been scouring the net for more than a month now on how I can call up friends and family in Manila from here in Washington without having to shell out at least 0.18 cents a minute per call. Phone cards don't work as well as advertised as they charge a connection fee everytime you call and thus end up using a $5 phone card for just under 20 minutes.

We subscribed to Vonage and loving how VoIP works. The concept is that they give you a phone number not tied to the locality where you live which means that you can have a number with a New York area code and use your phone anywhere in the world with broadband internet access.

Now, this is where I got the idea that if there is a Philippine-based provider that offers the same kind of service, I can just order the phone adapter and have somebody bring that when they come here, thus, I can have a working Philippine-based VoIP phone with a Manila virtual number and eliminate the need for us to spend a lot of money on long distance calls to the Philippines - and our friends can actually call us and not having to spend a fortune just to say "Hello". That was the plan... and that is where it became apparent - Philippine telcos are the most idiotic and selfish sonsofbitches in the world (well, next to music companies, anyway)!

Bayantel offers VoIP service that actually cuts long distance rates from Manila to the US from the traditional 0.40 US cents a minute to 0.10 cents a minute. That works! But imagine, if you can bring that Bayantel phone adapter and connect it to your broadband internet access in any part of the world and be able to call Manila-based landlines for free, or even mobile phones for P6.50 a minute! (aside from the monthly flat rate of about P400).

I guess a lot of people had the same idea. I read forums after forums of overseas Filipinos also looking for a cheaper way to call the Philippines and failed. Bayantel blocks non Philippine registered IP addresses from accessing its VoIP servers which means that their VoIP boxes would not work outside the Philippines. Assholes!@

This is one of the reasons why most overseas Filipinos just lose touch with friends in the Philippines and are not aware of stuff happening in their homeland - it's because of the selfishness of the Filipinos themselves. Rather than help out OFWs or OCWs or whatever you call them, who by the way contributes hell of a lot to the corruption of the government officials back home, they try to milk as much money out of them as possible. (Cases in point - this and the outrageous taxi fares from NAIA, nowhere else in the world does the airport have the monopoly on how you can get home.)