Wizard's Seventh Rule

Life is the future, not the past.

Terry Goodkind puts it, “..The past can teach us, through experience, how to accomplish things in the future, comfort us with cherished memories, and provide the foundation of what has already been accomplished. But only the future holds life. To live in the past is to embrace what is dead. To live life to its fullest, each day must be created anew. As rational, thinking beings, we must use our intellect, not a blind devotion to what has come before, to make rational choices.”

On the NBA Finals

The Spurs won and the Pistons lost the NBA Finals; it has already past so there’s no need to sulk. Learn through experience (a 2 out of 13 three point shooting percentage won’t cut it in the Finals), comfort yourself with cherished memories (hey, they’ve came a long way from a 0-2 standing), and provide the foundation of what has already been accomplished (need more three point shooting practice).

On Jueteng

..”To live in the past is to embrace what is dead.” We, as a nation, have been haunted by the destablizing effects of jueteng, from the time of Cory to the current Arroyo presidency. C’mon people, jueteng is an old issue. As Tulfo puts it, “Why would Arroyo put her hand into the jueteng pie that caused the downfall of the Erap presidency? She’s either too stupid or too arrogant!” We cannot move as a nation if we continue to haunt ourselves with recycled issues such as jueteng.

Let’s pick up the pieces from our past failures, and move on. Anak ng jueteng naman oh!

IPOD goes boom

was surfing a bit earlier and got by this article... :P there goes an IPOD :p

IPOD goes boom

Don't put your iPod through the washing machine. And if for some reason you do, don't try to fix it with a screwdriver.

That's the advice of fire investigators probing a small explosion that burned a hole in the bed of a Melbourne teenager who tried to perform emergency surgery on his ailing mp3 player.

The boy was treated by paramedics at his Bayswater home for breathing difficulties after ingesting fumes emitted by the device as he pulled it apart in his suburban bedroom about 7.30pm on Wednesday.

Country Fire Authority spokesman Peter Philp said the leaky iPod had been taken away for testing by CFA investigators.

"His mother did the washing and the iPod was in the clothing so it went through the washing machine," Mr Philp said.

"It wasn't working, the young fella tried to undo it or fix it with a screwdriver and at that stage there was an explosion, or more of a pop.

"It was more smoke than fire but it did leave a burn mark on the cover."

Metropolitan Ambulance spokeswoman Lirije Memishi said it was unclear what the teenager had ingested.

"We treated him on the scene for minor breathing difficulties but he was fine and then we scooted out and helped save the rest of Melbourne," she said.

Farewell to the Sakura

Last Tuesday (April 12,2005), woke up very early so that I would be able to take some pictures of the sakura. Had a short stroll near Kiba Park (the park just across my apartment) and took pictures of the sakura trees. Sakura blossoms in full bloom are very pretty. Sitting underneath the sakura tree as the sakura blossoms’ petals are swept by the light spring wind is very fascinating and magical. It’s like watching pink snowflakes falling and being blown by the wind. It’s a very beautiful sight. Though sad that I wasn’t able to watch the sakura trees in full bloom, it just had to do. Every year I try to take pictures of the sakura trees in full bloom, but this year I’m a few days late. You can never turn back the clock in time and hold it in your hands. As much as we wish it, that’s the way things will always be. I just hope that next year if I’m still here I’ll be able to take pictures in time.

New Phone Upsides and Downsides

After getting back from Shinjuku (client), I've been assigned into a new project to which the program coding is only limited to 1 whole week (8 days to be exact). Right now I've been crash coursing on the program so I would be able to finish it on time. I was able to change my phone last Sunday from the old Toshiba phone to the new Sony Ericsson which I'm currently using. Problem with changing phone units, is that you have to allocate some time to learn the features and functions of the new phone, especially since both phones are from 2 different companies. Well I wanted to buy change my old phone to the Sharp 902SH model but I still find that model expensive. It's currently at 17K yen or around 8.5-9K pesos. I'll wait for the price to go lower than 10K yen before I change my phone again. And by that time I'll sell my phone to my brother :P (evil me). I got my current phone at 6K yen or 3K pesos and the good and bad thing with it is that since it is a 3G phone you can use a sim card with it. Good, because I can use it in the Philippines. Bad, because it can be stolen and used by other people. The only thing that I can do to frustrate the person who might steal it is set its language into Japanese only then let them figure out how it works. Once I'm able to buy the Sharp 902SH phone, then it would be a lot safer since there are no Sharp phones in the Philippines at least they would have a bit of a hard time finding support for it. Beyond that the only problem that I'm facing is I don't have time to study my phone's features, functions and programs. Since I'm facing a very tight schedule and other priorities. Hopefully I'll have time to fix my schedule up after this week.

Retiring my phone.

Well it's been roughly two years already since I bought my phone, and now it's forcing me to retire it. It started last december when I woke up to turn off the alarm clock I set in my phone. I turned off the alarm but forgot to close my phone (btw my phone is a Toshiba flip top model). Since I usually go back to sleep when I turn off my alarm, I drifted back to dreamland. While I dozing off, unconsciously I slept over my phone. The end result was my phone's LCD having a slight crack on it's left side, not directly noticeable though. A while ago before having lunch I was using the phone. Afterwards, when I hanged up and started to close my phone there was a sharp crack. I looked at my phone and saw that one of the hinges of my phone broke. Now comes my problem. Currently my phone is still working perfectly except that the casing is starting to give way. I'm not sure if there are casings being sold in Akihabara but eventually sooner or later I would buy a new phone (since I'm planning to get a 3G phone already). I'm a bit sentimental of my phone (also a cheapskate at that). Well currently my phone is giving me signs that I should already retire it. Well it is still one week till payday and I'm still unsure if I would buy a new phone or not. Well we'll just see till next week won't we.

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 at a glance

Save web pages into pdf files, with working links up to the secondary level! What this means is that the links from the original page are also saved so that a user can explore the web page even if he or she is offline.

Save emails into pdf. You can even sort out your mails by date, subject, sender, etc. The emails are saved complete with attachments.

Comes with invoice/billing templates. You can customize and either print the billing and fill it up by hand or you can fill it up electronically on your computer/pda.

Instantaneous loading time.

Automatic file destruct mechanism. You can send pdf files that are only readable for a certain period of time. Ala-Mission Impossible...making "this message will self-destruct in 30 minutes.." a reality! *cue:theme from M.I*

File retrieval system in case you sent a highly confidential pdf file to the wrong person within your company network. If you sent your boss a hate letter in the spur of the moment, and you regret doing so... then the Acrobat 7.0 is for you. Just retrieve the pdf file before your boss has a chance to open it.

Make pdf files that can be commented upon by the free Adobe Reader 7.0 users. Without purchasing the Acrobat 7.0, Adobe Reader 7.0 users can make comments on your work as long as you made the right settings for the pdf file.

CMYK shifting capable. Now, you can edit and adjust images in a pdf file!

That's it for now.

Vodafone 3G Series: SonyErricson 802SE

Features

The Motion Eye™ rotating camera is great for self-portraits and Video calls. The camera rotates to take pictures from any angle, pointing inward or outward as necessary for normal images, self-portraiture and Video calls. A truly convenient design, combining beauty with ease of use.


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With a wireless connection to the Bluetooth earphone microphone (sold separately), you can talk with your hands free, creating a whole range of new possibilities. Imagine making a Video call while displaying the scenery around you. Enjoy Video calls more than ever and widen your mobile communication horizons.


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The beauty and flowing lines of this never-before-seen design makes a strong impact on anyone who sees it. This feature-rich desktop holder offers easy access to all your favourite phone functions, even while it's being charged.


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Use the compatible 32MB Memory Stick Duo to store data such as still and moving images. If you have a printer with a memory stick slot, you can transfer the data and print it out directly.


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Major Functions
Packet Data Communication
Mail-Art
Movie Sha-mail
Mega-appli
Global Roaming
Bluetooth®
Japanese/English Bilingual
1310,000pixel
Sha-mail
Chaku-Uta®/Long Version
Video call
Memory Stick Duo/
Memory Stick PRO Duo
Infrared Data Communication


Auto roaming Available in Japan and in overseas countries and regions with W-CDMA and GSM (900/1,800/1,900MHz) networks.


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Specification
Weight : 128g
Dimensions : W49×H102×E23.6mm (When Closed.)
Talk Time : Max150min(In Japan, Within W-CDMA network area.)／Max600min(GSM)
Standby Time: Max240hrs(In Japan, Within W-CDMA network area.)／Max220hrs(GSM)
Charge Time :120min
The figures shown are the estimated average talk and standby time with a fully charged battery under stable reception conditions. Depending on the usage environment, signal reception and connected network, battery life may be less than half the stated figure.



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Display

Receiving mail
［70 double-byte characters］ Entering a phone number

Number of characters (double-byte) displayable: 70

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Some contents are not available for 902・802・702 series models. Please check availability when you switch your contract to these models.
Station is not available.
Memory Stick PRO Duo is sold separately.
Recommended Memory cards: 32/64/128/256/512MB Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick PRO Duo. Memory storage devices other than recommended ones may be unusable.
When data stored on Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick PRO Duo is used on a mobile phone other than the one you stored on, it may not be displayed or played back properly.
MOTION EYE™/Memory Stick Duo is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation.
Bluetooth® is a registered trademark of the Bluetooth® SIG, Inc.
Screen images are simulated. Actual screens may differ from colors shown.
Packet communication charges apply even when selecting "Back" from the menu when viewing web pages.
Ckaku-uta® or ring tones downloaded from Web cannot be set as an E-mail ring tone.
Video content downloaded from Web cannot be set as a Chaku-video. When playing video with subtitles, subtitles cannot be displayed
As the 802SE uses a different processing method to other models, packet volumes may increase by 57 to 59 packets when downloading Chaku-Uta or Chaku-video from Vodafone live!


Article From:Vodafone Webpage

Vodafone 3G Series: Sharp 902SH

Sharp’s first European 3G* mobile phone offers many fantastic facilities such as Video Calling, downloading / making MPEG-4 movie clips, running Java applications (up to 1MB in size) and has a sophisticated 2 Megapixel CCD Camera with Optical Zoom and Auto Focus allowing you to shoot large pictures easily. With it’s generously sized 180 degree Swivel LCD and dual colour styling the 902 is delightful to look at. This Bluetooth TM compatible mobile phone comes with a 32MB SD Memory Card , an L-Type Video Out cable and bundled stereo headphones.

*3G wireless networks are capable of transferring data at speeds of up to 384Kbps. Average speeds for 3G networks will range between 64Kbps and 384Kbps and it is considered to be high-speed or broadband mobile Internet access.

Camera: 2 Megapixel, CCD Camera, with 20 stage digital zoom, mobile light and delay timer.
Display: Ultra-high resolution QVGA 240x320 dot, 262k-colour 2.inch QVGA TFT LCD.
Sound: 64 chord polyphonic ring tones.
Style: Sleek lines, stunning form factor with a 180 degree Swivel LCD
Bluetooth™: Support for File Transfer from PC or Bluetooth Mobile, Serial Port, Dial Up Networking, Headset & Carkit.
Other features: USB And IrDA CompatibleTri-band. SD Memory Card, Video Out function



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3G Compatible
2 Megapixel CCD Digital Camera
Auto Focus and Optical Zoom
262k colour QVGA TFT LCD
Video Out function
MP3 Player
MPEG-4
SD Memory Card
Stereo speakers and bundled stereo headphones
Bluetooth™ V1.1
USB/IrDA Compatible
WAP, MMS & GPRS
Built-in Flash/Mobile Light
3D Java
28MB Memory
Internal Antenna
Weight 149g
Size: 50 x 102 x 26mm

Article From:Sharp Webpage

PlayStation 2: Silent Hill 3 and Fatal Frame 2 (December 2003)

I've been looking at recent reviews for both silent hill 3 and fatal frame 2 series. I guess everyone has a different taste for horror games and movies. Some liked the Silent Hill series better than the Fatal Frames series. Well I can't blame them, it's like comparing the two versions for the movie "The Ring" some liked the Hollywood version but others prefer the Japanese version. For me the 1st Silent Hill was scary, but the latest (Silent Hill 3) wasn't that scary, it was pretty distrubing and pretty gory. I got headaches playing the game because of the graphics. The idea of introducing horror there is by using gore, lots and lots of gore(lots of blood, bloody corpses and bloody walls). Of course you'd get nervous when your about to meet a monster and your running low on ammo, but beyond that, that much gore is just giving me a headache. I liked the storyline from the SilentHill series, it's just the gory stuff that I don't like. With the Fatal Frame series on the otherhand, gives a very creative approach in the horror genre. It's not the usual shoot and kill the monsters with guns or other weapons. It's using a camera against ghosts. I find this more frightening since when your taking a picture of a ghost you are looking at its picture plus the eerie sound of its attack. Aside from having a zoom in view of ghosts' faces that you are trying to kill, there are also the eerie sounds that could make your skin crawl. The game environment of fatal frame 2 is much better in comparison to that of Silent Hill 3, (well i didn't get any headache just playing the game for 1 hour, but had to stop since it made my skin crawl from taking face pictures of ghosts and trying to make them smile hehehe:P). Another feature that I like in Fatal Frame is the heartbeat function, this function activates when there is a ghost nearby that you could hear a heart beating. Together with the vibration feature of the analog controller it gave off a surprising effect. The only thing I find on the downside regarding Fatal Frame 2 was the character movement. Mio, was moving like a snail even while running. Well I guess that was how the game developers wanted it. Though I wish I could be able to set the run speed to a much higher degree.

Well that's it, I liked both games series and their stories. Both have their ups and their downs. If you like your horror game with much more gore I would suggest Silent Hill 3, but if you like a game with less gore you could try Fatal Frame 2 (Rei : Crimson Butteryfly).