I'm normally not very geeky here on this blog - I tend to save all that up for my entries on the Geeky Guide, admittedly. So let's change that up for a bit and let you all get a taste of some of the stuff I'd write about over there...

I finally finished reading Star Wars: Survivor's Quest, which is the last of the recent Timothy Zahn contributions to the Star Wars Expanded Universe...at least in terms of my collection, that is. This means I can finally start re-reading my older books from the Star Wars: New Jedi Order series for the sole purpose of reviewing everything that's happened before reading the last books in the series, which I acquired in recent years but have yet to read. It's somewhat weird and hard to understand, I suppose, but for those more driven geeky readers out there, I think you can relate. I mean seriously, wouldn't you want to review all the books at the beginning of a series before reading the ones at the end if more than a year of time has passed between reading the first book and the last one?

My "conversion" to using Google Chrome is going pretty well - the browser is amazingly fast even compared to Firefox and as long as you don't start with pre-loaded tabs, its start-up time is next to nil. I'm trying trying to work around the limitations of the new browser, overall I'm pretty impressed and am liking how things go. Given that, the need for smarter alternative solutions is essential.

I'm thankful for multi-platform IM client Digsby, since it's a lot prettier than Pidgin ever was and it allows me to connect to Twitter and Facebook chat. This way I can keep up-to-date on all the status updates of everyone without needing my Firefox extensions like Twitterfox. Plus the simple added feature of being able to auto-hide the main window and to be able to post replies in the pop-up notification you get when a message is received is just brilliant. They're too features that really maximize my desktop real estate and make sure that my IM activities don't get in the way of what I'm working on in the main window.

Lastly, I'm considering experimenting with Windows Live Writer as an standalone blogging tool. I currently use Semagic to update my LiveJournal entries while I update the Geeky Guide (hosted via Blogger) directly at the website. With my attempt to migrate everything to Chrome, needing to have Firefox open just to update my blog is an added drain on my resources and probably not the best solution to things. Given that, I'm looking for a way to update the Geeky Guide another way while still having access to Zemanta, a great blogging tool that adds relevant links, images and other possible related blog entries to your dashboard so it becomes lot easier to add more value to your entries. Since I already use an offline client for LiveJournal, I might as well try one that works for both blogging platforms, supports Zemanta and helps me avoid needing Firefox just for blogging.

Decisions, decisions...

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Oh poor Alice! LOL

Firefox 3 Download Day is wrapping to a close at 01:00am later tonight so in case you haven't downloaded your copy of the latest version of Firefox, you better get over to the site now! They've already resolved the server issues that were experienced right after the gates opened last night / early this morning. Beyond the appearance and the supposed Awesome bar, I'm loving the increased speed and reduced memory load. Ah Firefox, you're finally on the path to becoming a leaner, meaner piece of software instead of the bloated beast you've become over the years. Don't worry, I'll always love you! =D

There've been a few developments of interest lately at work that I have mixed reactions to, but overall I'm optimistic about the changes. I'm pretty excited about the potential for positive change that seems to be in the air these days with the infusion of new talent in the company. It seems somehow fitting that all this is happening as my fifth year anniversary draws near. Imagine that - I've actually been working at the same company for nearly 5 years now. It's certainly been an interesting ride and who knows where the future is going to take me.

Weather has been a little weird as of late. You can definitely feel the rains wanting to come in earnest and just walking through the ambient humidity is like wading through pea soup at times. Still, it's hardly raining for a significant period of time and we're usually left feeling even stickier and more uncomfortable in the period after the brief shower. Still, at least it's cooler than how it was in the summer and that has to be something to be thankful for, right?

Everything seems so expensive now that I really think about it and I feel tempted to start tracking the prices of individual commodities so I can start analyzing pricing trends. Yes, sometimes I get this anal about things and as much as I know that information may be potentially useful, it's going to be a horrible drain on my time. There has to be an online resource that I can tap to better determine how the prices of goods are going and when it might be better to seriously consider cheaper alternatives. It's hard to balance off the increase in costs with my greater desire to become "greener" in terms of energy efficiency and waste management. Unfortunately, being greener tends to cost more in the short term in our present market environment although the potential longer term savings and positive effects are more than meant to pay off.

Coincidentally as I write about this, Brian |kitchengod| just showed me our latest electricity bill. Thankfully, it's lower by about P200 compared to the last bill, which means that my attempts to control our energy consumption by rushing to close all unnecessary lights, turn off all power strips connected to appliances not in use and unplugging all others has to be working out for the best. It's not the most amazing way of trying to save energy and thereby the environment, but every bit counts, right?

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I am sooo going to use this.

Yes, I'm updating from work again. Bad rOckY.

Today is yet another Friday the 13th, and as fun as it is to say that, it doesn't really mean anything. In fact, things have been going pretty well for me, I think. This entry is going to sound a little more random than usual.

First, I discovered that I actually have limited installation rights here at work. Thus, I now have Firefox 3 RC3 installed just for the heck of it so I can test it out here and not ruin my home setup. It certainly feels a lot faster, but then with most of my usual extensions not yet compatible with this release, the true test of speed will have to wait. Once I have all my little tweaks and "enhancements" installed once more, only then will we be able to determine if this version of FF is really "faster."

Internet was down at home for most of the day, so I had to run to an internet cafe just to secure an online order my sister and I were trying to force for Father's Day. I would have been able to run it sooner had my card not been maxed out earlier in the week. Yet again, Bad rOckY. Can you really blame me? we just came from Boracay! Thankfully just before leaving for work, internet came back at home so this weekend won't be overly depressing. Another small thing to be thankful for.

Since internet was down, of course it meant quality time in front of the television and what better movie to greet us upon coming home than Breakfast at Tiffany's, right? Oh Audrey, you were one truly classy dame. As sad as the movie gets at certain points, Brian |kitchengod| and I still sat through it and enjoyed the classic, Moon River-y goodness.

Hopefully today won't be too heavy a work day. I have a few meetings to get through - not many of them particularly pleasant, but what can you do, right? Work is work. The weekend promises to be busy (one way or another) and perhaps we'll actually manage to bring the house back into order.

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What? How on earth can people NOT be excited about these movies? =P

Destiny cable is down in our area of the city, which sucks. It's a good thing we didn't drop our unlimited dial-up plan with PLDT just yet - I still have a back-up method of getting online in a pinch. The representative that I spoke to, Maan, let me know it's a general outage in the area that is currently being worked and the techs project they'll get systems restored by tomorrow. Oh well.

While waiting for the computer to connect the internet via dial-up, I started sorting through the computer and ended up playing The Ur-Quan Masters, which is the open-source port of the 3DO version of Star Control II. This game may be rather old, but it's still amazingly fun to play and pretty challenging as well. I realize that I still such at controlling the smaller starships in melee combat, as its called in the game, and thus far have managed to lose 2 Earthling Cruisers to those damned probes. At least I've made my first encounters with the Zot-Fot-Pik and the Melnorme along with getting the Spathi Captain, Fwiffo, to join my fleet. Then again, it never was a challenge to convince a cowardly Spathi to do anything if you manage to show sufficient force.

Sorry, I'm really getting into a gaming rant.

Given the lack of broadband connectivity, I imagine this is how I'm going to spend my Saturday night. I'm not really up to hitting the club scene again this weekend so I suppose another night at home is in order. It's more than likely that Brian |kitchengod| is going to head out with Ryan and whoever else wants to join, which is okay. I have loads of books to read, games I can play or movies to watch. Oh, and of course I have some adorable cats I can cuddle and play with. As always, Smoke and Mist are here with me as I type this entry. Mist is at her usual spot on the stool to my left while Smoke has contented himself with resting by my feet. I swear, the cats have gotten so attached to me as of late, haha.

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Every company needs someone like Alice given her unique talents...

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Believe it or not, I'm surfing the web using IE 7 for now. It's somewhat an experiment for now - I've customized our copy of Firefox with so many bells and whistles that loading time has suffered when connected to the web using a measly dial-up connection. It's not that repulsive an experience, at least. Thank god Microsoft finally woke up to the joy of tabs. It still loads a bit slower than Firefox would without the luxury extensions installed and I'm not entirely comfortable with the arrangement of things. Plus it keeps asking me if I'm sure about this and willing to do that, especially for sites that I already classified as part of the trusted zone. What's up with that? Isn't that the reason why we put things into the trusted zone? The joys of Microsoft approaches to security, eh?

I spent a ridiculous amount of time on Shelfari yesterday and today. I never thought documenting and classifying the books I own to be so much fun. Then again, I'm such a filing geek that I suppose this was inevitable. I'm almost done adding all the books we currently own to my Shelfari bookshelf and I'm now moving ahead with adding all the books I've ever read but no longer have copies of. Once I have all the books uploaded, the next step is exploring the site to see if can discover more books of interest while adding my own opinions and reviews to those books I hold most dear.

I sent invitations to those people in my address book I felt would most appreciate a site like this - I figure most of you have already received those invitations. You definitely won't regret joining the site, I promise you. It can actually become fun copying all the ISBN's of the books in your library just to make sure you add the correct version to your Shelfari bookshelf. I'm interested to see what else the site is capable of and what they might be planning in the future. This is perhaps one of the smartest social networking sites I've encountered in a while - no offense to all you MySpace and Friendster fans out there, hehe.

At least Shelfari is managing well enough despite our being on dial-up right now. I still have more books to bag and tag after all...

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You can never be too smart to enjoy the simpler things.

I had some extension conflicts in Firefox - I think a bad uninstall of the Google Web Accelerator caused it. I couldn't install new extensions or themes and I couldn't uninstall them either. Darn. So I had to uninstall Firefox, delete all user settings, then reinstall. Of course with the release of version 2.0.0.2, a lot of the extensions aren't going to work anyway, so I have to way. Drat and double drat.

So now I have to rebuild my bookmarks and my saved password settings and a thousand other little tweaks I had done here and there to optimize my browsing experience. Urk. It'll be a while before I get everything back into order - I wish I had synchronized my bookmarks with one other those extensions, but of course since I couldn't install any new extensions, the point is moot. I can't seem to get the Google Toolbar to open searches in a new window - dagnamit, what did I do before to tweak that? *sigh*

I've just given myself a new project. It's not one that I really wanted to be doing.

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Alice may be right about there being a store for everything...it's just a hard theory to prove.

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It's been a busy weekend - I was awake for more than 36 hours starting at around 06:00pm last Friday. I'll try running through the events really quickly - I'll get around to more detailed rants maybe tomorrow morning. After shift on Saturday morning we had a full day. What started out as a plan to just do some grocery shopping ended up as a very busy day. First we popped by Time Zone and I totally splurged on the classic-style pinball machines they added. I love pinball! We then had breakfast at Fish. Initial plans of possibly watching a movie or just going straight to Walter Mart ended up as a long coffee session with an old friend - Ryan Robert Flores - whom we had bumped into totally at random. He's a 100% bear-lover, if you know what I mean, and a theater person at heart. Talking with him always feels like a test of your theater knowledge and general speed of your wit. I dunno, really, I just feel smarter talking to him, haha.

We did get our shopping done, eventually got home and stayed up watching TV. We had been out long enough to get past the initial need to sleep - much in the same way you tend to lose your hunger if you don't eat too long. It's not a permanent thing but a weird postponement of your bodily needs. Ryan popped by to play on the PS2 and join us for dinner since Brian |kitchengod| made nilaga for us - yummy! In time plans shifted to the possibility of going out and while I've been rather against the idea in recent weeks, I relented and went along since both Jayson |kukuripupu| and Perry were pretty insistent that I go out. It is rather rare that we're all out, so it was a good idea when you get down to it. So it was another Bed Saturday and a number of us got more than drunk, haha. How fun.

So Sunday was all about sleeping for me. I've been dozing on and off ever since we got home, watching TV and eating and cuddling with Smoke and Mist in-between. We might go visit John's place in a bit - in the meantime I'm going to see how much of the restoration work I can do for the computer.

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Unrequited love at its best (or worst).

We went to the Salcedo Square market today with Adrienne |papermoon623| and it was loads of fun. It was her first time to visit the organic market and given her love of food in general, she had so much fun picking up this and that whether for her family in general or specifically for her kids. Of course Brian |kitchengod| and I also got a few things like some ham, pre-packaged salad and some chocolate treats for me, hehe.

We also got ourselves from breakfast and sat down to eat before leaving. It was really fun - Adrienne is always fun to have coffee with and is such a nice, bubbly person. I really get along with her, which is not always common with people outside my immediate circle - maybe liking the ducks at Greenbelt helps, hehe.

I've maxed out most of the stat values for the costumes of my primary team in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, which is a fun thing. Ryan had mentioned plans of visiting tonight, so that means we're going to have a Marvel session for sure! Hehehe

Best things for today - while checking out my Google start page, I normally take a look at the Interesting Items for You module since it features websites, other homepage gadgets and videos that might appeal to me based on my search history. Today what greeted me in the videos section was a complete video of Wicked the Musical from someone's camera sneaked into a performance! *Wicked is LOVE*

So now that I'm back home, I'm downloading the entire flash file via Video Ook, an extension for Mozilla Firefox that allows you to capture videos from video sharing sites like YouTube and Google Video. Don't you love these modern web browsers? With luck, I'll finish downloading the file in time for Ryan's visit later so we can all watch it, hehe.

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Leveling up your characters in MMOs is either the most fun or the worst thing ever in gaming life.

Sorry folks, this entry is going to be somewhat technical again (as have many of my recent ones), so if that's not your cup of tea, you're better of checking out what's topping the Viral Video Chart or something.

In recent days I've been talking about my interest in open source initiatives like using OpenOffice.org versus MS Office or using GIMP instead of Adobe Photoshop in order to support their efforts for free software for everyone along with making Fuzzy, our computer, a bit more legal.

Despite that, there are just some things you can't get around.

My officemate Ogre (that's what we all call him) helped me download a set of executables that help resolve the problems around the Windows Genuine Advantage program that verifies if your copy of MS Windows is legit or not. Without clearance from WGA, you lose access to downloading the regular security updates and patches released by Microsoft along with certain upgrades like Internet Explorer 7 or Windows Media Player 11. The files Ogre sent me don't just disable WGA so the annoying "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting." message that appears every time you start Windows, but it tricks the tool into thinking that your copy is authentic and proceeds to re-enable all automatic Windows updates.

I followed the instructions last night before work and it seemed things worked fine - I was now getting a status message indicating that my copy of Windows was no longer secure since I did not have Service Pack 2 installed (mainly because you needed to be WGA-certified to get it in the first place). So you can imagine how excited I was when I got home to see if it really worked and proceeded to attempt to download all the needed security patches and such.

So far, it has been a smashing success! We're now up-to-date in terms of getting our Windows XP Pro up to SP 2 and I'm still in the process of downloading all the updates released after SP 2 until today (which is several years' worth when you get down to it). I'll finally be able to get away from IE 6! Hahaha!

It's funny using the tool for setting Program Access and Defaults since pretty much all of my default settings avoid Microsoft applications. I don't use Internet Explorer, I use Firefox. I don't use Outlook Express, I use Thunderbird. Windows Media Player is not my default music player - WinAmp is. I don't use Microsoft Firewall - I use ZoneAlarm. And I don't want to venture into Microsoft anti virus options - I use AVG Anti-Virus for now.

I may not have a legal copy of the OS, but everyone else is pretty much okay since they're free anyway.

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Percy (the cat) is cuter than Catbert, but in many ways meaner in contrast to Pooch (the dog).

I'm at work right now. Some would say that it's too early for my Friday night shift while others would think I'm too late for Thursday. I might just pull a double to make up for both days, who knows? It's been a rather difficult 24 hours.

I didn't really realize there was a storm coming until I received an email from Workforce Management reporting the status and predicting a 20-30% staffing impact across all accounts, which got me worried. I guess it's my fault too for not keeping tabs on the local news as much as I should have - I'm too stuck on foreign things. It's ironic that I was following the story about the hostage drama in Bailey, Colorado, the issues Bush's government is facing while squaring off with Clinton and other democrats and even the impact of Tony Blair stepping down but had no idea there was a storm on its way.

I mostly read the news via RSS feeds directed to my Google start page. I once tried to add the INQ7 Breaking News RSS feed but it seems to be stuck on items that are months old. I guess I need to add the discipline of checking the website regularly now at the very least. Or I can re-install the Forecast Fox extension for Firefox. I used to have it but uninstalled it due to bandwidth issues (I'm still on dial-up at home) and initialy compatibility concerns when Firefox 1.5 came out. At least it'll give me some heads-up to the weather.

Anyway, despite the initial rains I managed to get home after yesterday's shift. The weather wasn't that bad at that time, although given Makati is really a nice-looking shallow dish, flooding was rampant around the Buendia-South Super Highway intersection along with the surrounding areas. There were moments I was sure that the cab I was riding was going to stall given the flood waters, but thankfully that was not the case.

Of course given the weather, the power was out back at Matilda. At least it was a generally cool day so I wasn't that uncomfortable although the lack of access to the internet did have my fingers itching slightly. I never realized how dependent I've become on the web and my ability to surf the internet. I a blogging addict! Hahaha!

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Whether its tigers or house cats, it amounts to the same thing, hehe.

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It took several hours before Brian |kitchengod| managed to find someone who could take him home past the flood waters. By then I think more of the metro was in darkness given the rapidly spreading power outages.

Back at home, there was still no power and no water to boot - the pressure tanks that help keep the building we live in irrigated, so to speak, were of course inoperable without current. We had phone service for a while and I made some futile attempts to call the Meralco hotline (16211) for a status report and eventually gave up. It's just as well - the phone cut out a few hours later.

Cell signal at home also rapidly degraded such that my phone was telling me I had full signal and yet less than 5% of my sending attempts succeeded - a figure that dropped as the night progressed.

Thus in the gloom of multiple tea lights, we decided it was best that I not go to work that night for my 12 midnight shift. Not that I really felt like it - it was pitch black outside and I had no desire of walking around in the dark in Pasay City in the vain hopes of getting a ride that would be willing to go into Makati given the flooded state of Buendia and the lack of power. Work could wait, after all. There are more important things.

In the meantime I slept away most of the time at home given nothing else to do. I made some attempts to read by candlelight, something that I'm sure has helped the degredation of my eyesight even further, and to play with the cats despite the gloom.

It's not that the storm was all that fierce in terms of amount of rainfall - it actually stopped fairly early on. What really got us was the strength of the winds that had trees and tin roofs flying this way and that. Oh bother.

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And who says the beautiful aren't that unintelligent? Hehehe

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When we got up this morning there was still no power. Our landline was still dead and there was no water either (thank the stars we have a rather large water bin for hoarding precious H₂O. Both are mobile phones were dead - our limited battery life had drained away during the night as the devices vainly attempted to acquire signal. Little known fact - you burn more battery power in areas without signal, something we learned at the CCP when they announced they had signal jammers in the theather, thus it's best to turn phones off rather than silent since it'll drain battery life.

At moments like this, one realizes that there is no instant coffee in the house. Being the caffeine addicts that we are, we settled for hot cups of Milo to while away the hours until Brian's shift at noon. Rather than staying home in the dark, I opted to go to the office as well so that I can at least get online to check on things as well as report what needs to be reported.

We stopped by Starbucks first to have some coffee to get through the day and then made our way to our respective offices.

So here I am, alone for the most part at work. There's nothing urgent to do so I'm probably just going to surf and blog some more. I already called PLDT to report the phone being dead - an essential step to getting an adjustment for the outage period later on. My cell is charging and I have coffee, which is always a good thing. There are a few other things I want to write about but this entry is long enough and there's always later, haha.

I just found out there's free food at the pantry for everyone in the office, which is always a good thing. I'll probably have to stay here at least until about 03:00am because of a conference call but otherwise that's about it.

It beats waiting for the power to come back on.

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Urk! Talk about food being too rich...