[News] California Fires Started By Boy

the matches by Maddie Digital.

What's the point of having all these informative mascots if we never listen to them? Doesn't that mean they're being largely ineffective? Today's failed messenger appears to be Smokey the Bear, who has been telling us for ages that we're the only ones who can stop wildfires.

The recent California wildfires had ravaged more than 2,000 homes with the Santa Ana winds just starting up for the season. The sad irony of things is that while the arson card was played early on as one of the possible causes for the wildfires, some of the worst ever in recent history, recent reports seem to indicate the fires may have been caused by a boy playing with matches.

The boy, whose age and name remain undisclosed, apparently confessed to the crime recently and the DA is still considering whether or not to press charges. I don't want to jump to conclusions just yet and depending on how young the boy is, perhaps this is just the case of an overactive imagination coupled with a guilty conscience that's causing him to believe his action was directly related. Although the sequence of events are closely linked, this could be a case of the logical fallacy known as post hoc ergo propter hoc, which refers to someone linking two events because they happened in chronological order such as linking singing in the shower to rain that happens right after. As much as you want to stretch the possibilities of chaos theory to link two disaparate events, you just can't do that. I assume the fire investigators will still need to verify if the boy's actions were in fact related to the fires as a whole.

I'd hate to be that kid now - imagine the weight on his shoulders in terms of property damage and lives lost. I think that alone is enough punish, of course this depending on how old / mature he is.

With the ever-increasing population in the state of California, the seasons getting drier and drier and homes encroaching further and further into the wilderness, these fires are becoming almost unavoidable with the human impact growing with each new household. Something has to be done to curb the development or perhaps limit the growth to more secure areas to leave nature to its natural course of purging through fire.

In the meantime, someone better talk to Smokey about sending a stronger message. Maybe he needs to be buffer or perhaps better dressed - Smokey, put on a shirt!

[Viral Video Chart] Cheerleader Gets Run Over By Football Team

I may not be a sports fan, but this video certainly had me interested for a change, hehe. Given it's currently at the top of the Viral Video Chart, you know it's not a serious video at all.

Oh yeah, you probably read the title of this entry by now, hehe. Just watch the video already!


#1 - Cheerleader Gets Run Over By Football Team

You just have to love the Instant Replay videos...

[Social Networking] First Look at Flock and the Multiply Toolbar

Infinite photo by mirsasha.

While waiting for the new Gmail to reach me, I decided to finally spend some time for some initial testing of Flock, which is being called the "Social Web Browser" by its marketing group. At the same time, I also opted to test out the Multiply Toolbar. What can I say, I'm an avid Multiply user! =P

For now this is just an initial look at these two products and I promise to post a lengthier review once I've field tested them a bit more.

First up is Flock, our social friend. Now please note that ironically, I am not a social networking person so perhaps I'm doomed to underutilize this browser. However they have been talking a lot about this being a browser for bloggers as well, so let's see. Given that it's based around the Firefox engine, I'll be making a lot of comparisons between the two.

First up is speed. Given that my current setup for Firefox is pretty loaded as it is and this was me dealing with Flock "fresh out of the box" as it were, load times were similar with Flock being a tad slower. Given how many features already come integrated with the program, I suppose that's fair enough. Page loads were a bit awkward and a lot of the Flock-specific links for popular services were a bit buggy and would time out.

Because of my initial browser page loading issues, I ended up typing in the URLs of the various sites directly in order to log in. Once that was done, at least Flock was smart enough to detect my settings and realize that I had logged into an affiliated account with sites like Blogger, LiveJournal, and YouTube. Offerings are limited at this point while people still built more options into it and sadly my lone social network Multiply was not part of the compatible sites. Neither was Picasa Web Albums so I had to resort to Flickr and Photobucket that despite my having accounts there, I hardly use them.

Once that was done, I didn't really know what to do. I mean, what was the big deal? I tried blogging using the built-in tool and it was okay for basic WYSIWYG editing but I have to admit I'm a stubborn HTML who still likes to tweak a few tag attributes here and there. The blog editor loads in a separate window and when you try to use their integrated tools for media like clicking the Blog This link for a video you're watching on YouTube, the way it loads in the editor is a bit cumbersome and so I find myself needing to edit it further directly on the site.

I've yet to really test out the Media Bar function or to explore the limited extensions library that will hopefully grow over time. They claim to be compatible with most Firefox extensions but a few have already been reported not to work like the All-in-One-Sidebar. Sad.

So far, I'm happy with my tricked out Firefox as my total blogging platform. Perhaps Flock will make more sense when more extensions come out or if someone manages to convince me to sign up for Facebook.

As for the Multiply Toolbar, it's one of those add-ons to Firefox that might it the best "social browser" for me. Based on my initial inspection, the initial release isn't quite yet revolutionary.

First off, the features are simple enough and provide you quick links to the various parts of your Multiply page and key places like My Multiply, where you view network updates from your contacts and those related to them. It also provides quick links to all posting options for blogs, videos and other content instead of having to find the Post link, waiting for the image to load then clicking on the type of content you're about to create or post. Not bad.

However if you don't really read every single network update, you might not really care about the main feature of the toolbar, which is to periodically check with the site to see how many personal messages, contact updates and group updates are considered "new" on the server. Also, you can't "store" your login credentials in the toolbar - it waits for you to log in at the website directly as compared to the Google and Yahoo toolbars which make keeping you signed in easier.

Speaking of Yahoo, the Multiply toolbar comes with a search feature that allows you to search all of Multiply, or perhaps just certain types of content. It also provides a way to search the web however this is solely via Yahoo, which sort of cheapens the entire tool and makes it just another Yahoo marketing ploy like not checking what you're installing when you download CCleaner.

I still need to do more extensive tests with the integrated photo uploader, perhaps the one feature that might save this toolbar for me since I upload loads of photos and I hate their Java uploader for Firefox. I usually end up using the ActiveX uploader available only on IE, which I hate using. I did a few tests and sometimes the uploader does not show up successfully and tells me that I need to install the toolbar to use it - which doesn't make sense since I clicked the link directly within the toolbar just to get to that error message.

I hate early versions. They force you to take in more salt that you need just to try them out. Expect to hear more from me about these two tools once I've put them through their paces.

[TV] Pushing Daisies - Extended Preview

I didn't realize this was on TV already considering I am so wanting to see this show! Perhaps you could say that I'm dying to see it, haha (pun sadly intended). Pushing Daisies is yet another somewhat wholesome ABC offering this time about a man who can bring dead back to life with a single touch but if he touches them again, they're dead forever. A certainly unusual power in these Heroic times, you could say.

Oh, and did I mention that Kristin Chenoweth is part of the show? Garn, I suppose I need to resort to...alternative sources for the show. The curse of living outside the US.


Pushing Daisies - Extended Preview

[Entertainment] I ♥ John Barrowman

John Barrowman by jamiedecesare.

Earlier today my partner and I caught The Producers on HBO and I was surprised to see John Barrowman of Doctor Who fame singing "Springtime for Hitler" as lead tenor.

Of course it's understandable that I'd have missed him the first time around since it was only recently that I acually watched the first season of the new Doctor Who, where Jack Harkness as introduced as a character. Of course to confirm my assumptions, I decided to run a Google search or two and ended up discovering a lot more about Mr. Barrowman than I had expected.

As always the search brought me to my usual reference sites when it comes to actors - IMDb and Wikipedia and eventually his official website as well. As I was going through the information, I did in fact verify his appearance in The Producers along with a performance in De-Lovely. That lead me to actually reading up on his life, noting the fact that he's already 40 (but still looks fabulous) and how active he's been as a theater actor.

Oh, and there was that bit about him being openly gay and involved with archtect Scott Gill since 1993. And there was that item about the two of them signed a civil partnership last year to boot. He even had a shot at the role of Will in the popular show Will & Grace but didn't get it since he was "too straight" for the part. Talk about irony!

Gah! I'm such an idiot for not checking sooner. You'd think a Google geek like me would automatically check on any TV show, actor or item of interest right away but even I have limitations I guess. It all just goes to show than there's no point in not checking the web about these sorts of things sooner, hehe.

As much as I liked John Barrowman before, I love him even more now. He is officially my favorite openly gay actor to date, although I realize that there aren't too many of those that come to mind right now. Still, I'm sticking with this statement. Given his strong beliefs on what partnerships should mean and of course how he happens to be rather attractive given his age (and his partner is quite the looker too!), he's definitely pretty high up there in my book, hehe.

[Google] New Gmail Going Live

Gmail by cinefil_.

As discussed during the Google Analyst Day and announced on the Official Gmail Blog, a new version of the perpetually in-beta Gmail is being rolled out to Google Accounts around the world.

The main focus of the update as it stands is speed thus features like prefetching messages in the current view have been added to make the experience better but largely this is more of an anticipatory update for other features to be released in the future. They've also added nice bells and whistles like aligning their email editor with Groups and Page Creator and adding in a more universal Contacts manager that will be made available across compatible Google products.

I'm eagerly waiting for my Gmail account to get upgraded if only to test the new features out, although the Gmail blog post warns that some third-party applications (i.e. Firefox extensions and Greasemonkey scripts) may stop working initially with teh new version until updates can be released.

[Viral Video Chart] Tokyo Dance Trooper in Shibuya

Yoinks! Tokyo Dance Trooper is back and of course is once again making his way up the Viral Video Chart as he styles his way through the streets of Shibuya.

I love the fact that this time, people actually tried to dance with the trooper, hehe.


#8 - Tokyo Dance Trooper in Shibuya

[Browsers] Testing Flock

Flock Represents! by phatbuddhaz.

I just downloaded Flock, what is being touted as the "Social Web Browser" given its highly integrated social networking tools for sites like Facebook and Flickr. There's been a fair amount of buzz about the browser as of late and I've been wondering about trying it. When Webware released a Newbie Guide about the browser, I definitely got curious.

Flock is based around Firefox and so a lot of your usual Firefox extensions may still work with the new browser. I'll post future updates about it when I've had more time to test it despite the fact that I don't do social networks apart from Multiply. It's also supposed to have a rich set of blogging tools and features like Drag and Drop and such so it might not be that much of a stretch for me to use.

Wish me luck!

[Mobile] P11's menu in landscape orientation?

Last week, something happened on my P1i. The programmable key at the right of the phone was set to Main Menu (meaning, when you press that button, the Main Menu is displayed; default is Web browser for this button), and while I was taking some camera shots, I accidentally pressed on that button. What happened?

The menu did appear. In landscape mode.

I regret not installing a screen shot app for the phone. I cannot replicate it now, though the fact that it did happen means it can be replicated somehow. The menu was in grid mode, and the Back icon was on the bottom of the screen (since it was in landscape mode, bottom is the left edge of the screen). The Status bar and the soft keys were not visible. But when I get back to standby mode, the screen was restored to the usual portrait orientation. Going to the main menu, the screen shifted to landscape again.

When I restarted the phone, the main menu is in the usual portrait orientation.

Has anyone experienced the same?

[NWA] The New Worlds 5 Convention

This is a Tri-Blog entry that will appear on all three of my blogs: The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything, Beyond Dinobot Island and Moonbase 8.


For Multiply users, go here instead.

Last Saturday, I did manage to go to New Worlds 5, the annual Philippine science fiction and fantasy convention as hosted by members organizations of the New Worlds Alliance. While this may have been the fifth event of its kind, personally it was my first real convention apart from the New Worlds: Transformed event earlier in the year, which was more of an exhibit than anything else.

Overall, it was a blast for a geek like me and I don't understand how I've consistently managed NOT to attend these events for the past five years.

First off, I'm glad that a sizable number of people decided to brave the bomb threats in order to attend the event. Most of the member groups were in full force with some unable to attend due to security concerns. While as much as they were missed, the rest of us made due as best as we could and as you look at the pictures above, you can see things went pretty well.

The were loads of fun events - my favorite being the two sets of Jedi Academy sessions held throughout the day - and even if they weren't quite the same activities previously announced, still it was loads of fun and it seems a lot of the visitors also enjoyed as well.

My primary allegiance remains with Via Astris and I hung around their booth for most of the day. It was in a prime spot near the entrance and regardless of its location, the mock-up of the original Enterprise bridge was more than enough to attract hardcore geeks and curious spectators alike. The bridge now features a replica of the Captain's Chair and the Helm, which even had loads of lights and switches that actually worked! Strangely enough, I did not actually take a seat during the entire day. More likely I think I don't think it right to take a seat until I get my hands on a science officer's uniform, hehe.

The event was made even better with the number of folks who came in costume. It's one thing for the member organizations to have their members in costume (and changing costumes throughout the day to show cause with their other groups for those who are part of multiple fandoms) but we had a good number of outside folk who had just come to act out as their favorite characters or to compete in the costume competition. My heart goes out to the pair who pulled off the Goblin King and Sarah from the original Labyrinth movie - that so rocked! We even had a Thor and Enchantress pair vying for the top prize against the likes of Ultraviolet and Davy Jones.

I was there starting around 02:30pm and didn't go home well past 10:00pm. I ended my day with a Tribble in tow, a fake ID card ala-Supernatural and having accomplished several tasks like signing up for my NWA Library card and watching all the Star Wars footage of international members of the 501st trying to whistle after eating polvoron. Very evil indeed.

I'm glad I finally got to go to a "real" convention, as it were, and am definitely looking forward to the next one. The only question is...what costume should I wear next time around?

[Google] Search 101

Here's another hour of your life worth spending watching a YouTube video from Google. Similar to the previous Innovation at Google, this time Douglas Merrill, VP for Engineering and CIO for Google, talks about the basics of web search at the Technical University of Prague.

I really love his lectures.


Search 101

[Viral Video Chart] Zombies in Plain English

Here's something right in time for the Halloween holiday this week - a witty instructional videos about Zombies! In the grand tradition of the wide range of "plain english" videos that have sprung up on the web these days.

Be prepared! LOL


#9 - Zombies in Plain English

[World Affairs] Centerstage: Iran

Prepare for War by danny.hammontree.

International politics are always a muddy affair where so much happens at the table as part of diplomacy and in the background may it be covert military actions, political posturing or economic manipulations. No country is better equipped in the area than the US, which is probably the source of a lot of international resentment towards them. Let's face it - the US is pretty much the last true superpower and in recent years under George W. Bush the world has been reminded of that strength more than ever.

After the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush has made it perfectly clear that Iran is the next big bad guy to be dealt with one way or another in his so-called Axis of Evil. In a somewhat surprise move, the US has recently increased sanctions against Iran and those who support or do business with them in an effort to curb what they perceive to be a growing nuclear threat.

Here we go again.

The sanctions against Iran are the harshest yet in its history - a sweeping measure that will penalize anyone who does business with key Iranian institutions and individuals following the logic that ultimately, the groups contribue to the continued success of the IRGC. As always, it seems to be in line with Bush's traditionally brute force approach to international politics.

Given their previous inability to push the UN Security Council to impose greater sanctions against the state, they've taken matters into their own hands with this unilateral action. While the move is generally supported by allies like Britain and France, the move also opposed by other nations, namely Russia, China, Italy and Germany who are all known for conducting business with Iran.

Russia remains the key player in this conflict given their ability to stave the Security Council while also deeply involved in supplying Iran with weapons and building a nuclear power plant at Bushehr. Russia has been repeatedly coming to blows with the US in recent years in what sometimes feels like the beginning of the same sorts of actions that led to the Cold War between the two nations nearly 20 years ago. What can one do - Putin is a traditionalist in many ways and has been taking some pretty hardline stances with the US as of late.

Despite the mounting sanctions from the US, Iran remains defiant as always. I've always found that interesting in terms of Iran since you have to give them credit for now sweating despite the big bad wolf that the US bearing down on them. It does say a lot about their confidence in themselves and in their political allies. Just because Russia and China have made no overt moves against the US in recent years doesn't mean they don't have the muscle (military or economic) to do so if needed.

I wonder how far Dubya is going to push this - with his presidency at risk of ending in a lame duck fashion, he seems intent on ending things with a bang. The US is stretched thin as it is and I don't think he can really win any real concessions nor can he support another military offensive within the remainder of his term. Given those limitations, what else is left for him?

The US has done little more than some pretty significant political posturing with this move. Let's see what Iran (or its allies) does to counter things now.

[Philippines] Glorietta - One Week After

Police Dog by Dan Shouse.

It's been one week since the incident at Glorietta 2 and we're still trying to figure out what happened. 11 people died because of the tragedy and with the investigation still on-going, we have no idea why these people had to die so needlessly. Some still insist that it was a bomb while others are pushing that this was just some sort of industrial accident.

Over on the PBS mailing list, they were calling for today to be Blog Action Day of sorts for the Glorietta victims, as inspired by the recently concluded global Blog Action Day for the environment. While it's important we send the best of intentions to those affected by this tragedy and to their families, I'd like to take things step further by also looking at what's changed since then and the potential lessons we may still need to learn.

Back in March I wrote a piece about the non-security of Makati offices as a sort of critique of the faux-security culture that has developed after all of our terrorist events in the country. Despite how security conscious we claim to be, we are really just going through the motions, more often than not in order to show the world that we're doing something.

If the Glorietta incident was some sort of a bomb or terrorist act, then we only have ourselves to blaim. As I said before, if the secuirty of a top-notch Makati building was so shabby, what more our shopping malls and public areas that have to deal with significantly larger volumes of people. When it comes to security, the challenge of any commercial establishment is to balance customer comfort, ease of getting into the facility and of course their store security policy all at once. As much as we, as consumers, want to feel safe, we also don't want to spend 15 minutes in queue just to present one's bag for inspection.

Right after the Glorietta incident, everyone put their best foot forward. Police checkpoints where everywhere and even here at my building the number of K9 units patrolling the area even at night increased by more than 200%. Heck, even the 24-hour McDonald's stores in the area were inspecting people's bags before letting them in. Seriously - security checks at fast food chains.

At least, that was for the first few days. One week later, we're down to the usual inspections and one sleepy dog standing by the entrance to the vehicle drop-off at the most. The police cars are at the curb and the cops are back to taking naps during the wee hours of the night. So much for security.

I'm a big believer in bomb-sniffing dogs and even metal detectors - such passive security tools are great for processing large numbers of people efficiently while still being somewhat meaningful. I'm not very keen on visual inspections and some guard inserting a stick into your bag, trying to pretend to be looking for something. They have no clue what they should be looking for anyway. At least the dogs are trained.

If it's one thing we owe the victims of Glorietta, it's the ability to truly learn our lessons and not just resort to political posing and pandering to the social psyche of the community. You can't just up security for a few days then heave a sigh of relief and let your guard down. That's just wrong. While I understand that we can't resort to maintaining a near-constant state of caution and wariness since that only leads to longer-term mistakes and general emotional fatigue, a line has to be drawn wherein we acknowledge the mistakes and opportunities of the past and change the way we do things for the better - permanently. Not just for a few days or a week.

My heart goes out to the families of those affected, those who died, those critically injured and those who need to live with the horrors they experienced on that fateful day. It's been seven days since the event and already it feels like people are beginning to forget. I'm not saying we should hide in our homes in fear. I'm saying that we need to never forget and we need to learn. We owe them that much.

[NWA] New Worlds 5 Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, October 20, 2007, is the big day, ladies and gentlemen. It's finally time for New Worlds 5, the Philippines' biggest Science Fiction and Fantasy event for the year! Despite recent troubles and fears, the NWA has decided to push through with the event to show everyone the strength of our beliefs and our faith in a better world for all of us.

It'll be at the Glorietta Activity Center all of Saturday so feel free to drop by and geek out for a day for your favorite fandoms! Whether it's a movie you saw as a kid, a book you read in college or a TV show you've gotten into recently, I'm sure that as long as they push the limits of the imagination, you'll find something you'll like at the event.

Here's a list of the participating groups and those who will be unable to attend this time around:

Alliance of Eclectic Gamers and Interactive Storytellers (AEGIS)
Anne Rice Philippines
Arkham Philippines
Pinoy Harry Potter
Via Astris - The Star Trek Club of the Philippines
Star Wars Philippines
Science Fiction Philippines
Cyberton PH
Philippine Highlander Society
Supernatural PH
Heroes Philippines
Cosplay.PH
Lost in the Philippines

Guest Groups:
Black Pearl Philippines
Talecraft Community
Thought Factory

The following groups are not participating in New Worlds 5:
Battlestar Galactica Philippines
The Philippine Order of Narnians
The Philippine Tolkien Society

See you there!

[Web] I Hate Snap

I really Snap shots, those annoying flash-based previews that a lot of bloggers and website owners seem to cater to these days as some cheap way to make their site look more technical. Sorry if I'm coming off a bit strong here, but it's a personal opinion that I can't quite shake off right now.

The purpose behind such preview panes is simple - to give readers a glimpse of where the external link leads to in a small pop-up window that appears the moment you hover over the link. The previews can also help provide contextual information about the item such as references in Wikipedia and other sites. In theory, it all sounds peachy keen.

But they're not. Allow me to get into this somewhat briefly.

However, the buggers slow sites down. A LOT. Where it not for the fact that I now surf behind the screen of Firefox extension NoScript, I'd be bugged by them even more. With each external link turning into a flash hotbed, sites that link extensively, like say the Geeky Guide will be even more of a nightmare to surf when I'm not going video-embed-crazy!

But more importantly, it's just darned inconvenient. Sure, call me old school for thinking this way but when I move my mouse purposely towards a link, I want to go to the site the link leads me to. I don't want to trigger all these pop-ups along the way and have to deal with a needless graphic before getting to click efficiently. Plus as a Firefox user, I'm a middle-clicker, since I like loading external pages in new tabs. It's tricky enough to do that with a scroll wheel in place but with dealing with a flash-triggered Snap Shot too? Come on!

If you like Snap, that's fine. Get the Snap add-on for your browser so all external links on all websites you visit get the Snap treatment. But as a website owner or blogger, don't force these things on all of your readers. Believe it or not, a lot of us hate dealing with them!

Why the Snap-rant all of a sudden? Well it's simple really. LiveJournal, my personal blog host, has just enabled Snap previews for all basic and plus accounts by default. Urk. So I had to go to the rarely-visited Viewing Options page just to turn the darned things off. Good riddance to bad rubbish!

[Google] Page rank a-diving

While I was sleeping, the entire blogosphere (ok, most part of it) are buzzing with interest (and irritation) as they see their Google PageRanks dive by a notch (minimum). Most affected are blog networks who are dependent on page ranks for advertising purposes. Most of the bloggers see this as Google's attempt to control the advertising space, since most of those who are affected are selling link ads, too, in combination with Google's AdSense.

Not only is it time to rethink the metric tools used to determine advertising rates, I think it is time to de-monopolize the Web advertising market. What Google had shown from this episode is that it can control the Web advertising space, and that it will do anything to protect its dominance of the market. Most blog networks must be thinking now of how to counter this Google action. There must be another metric that they can use to entice advertisers. Or maybe advertisers should be finally convinced that page rank is not the only way to measure a site's popularity.

AWBHoldings.com managed to retain its low page rank (I am not sure about the Geeky Guide). I wonder what will happen soon.

Were you affected by the page rank downturn? Do you think Google's action is fair?

[VoiP] Vonage vulnerable to call divert hack - report

Another potential legal woe for Vonage is in the works.

Currently fighting it out with giant telcos (ehem, Verizon, ehem), the VoIP company will be in another legal trouble if it fails to address calls being diverted by hackers. Reuters reports:

Without proper security measures, Internet phone providers risk exposing their customers to such attacks from far away as hackers use the Web to access their networks, said Krishna Kurapati, founder and chief technology officer of Sipera.

"This guy could be in Russia and Vonage thinks it's John Smith. People think they're calling John Smith and instead they get this guy," he said.

Matthias Machowinski, an analyst who follows corporate networks for Infonetics, said that while Internet phone systems are vulnerable to such attacks, it is possible to prevent them.

Sipera claims that they have informed Vonage of the problem more than a month ago. Vonage has not responded to Sipera's information, and Vonage declined to comment when asked by Reuters.

If Vonage is not careful, they will have another headache-inducing case in their hands, which they don't need at this point.

[Digg] The Mom in Credit Card Debt Who Spends $400 on Starbucks Every Month

The oldest Starbucks in the world by CCNZ.

Here's another item of interest I gleaned off of Digg, this time a Consumerist article about a woman named Felice, who appeared on Oprah who despite being more than $135,000 in credit card debt continues to spend like there's no tomorrow.

Based on the article, she's been reported to spend at least $400 per month on branded coffee, $60 a week on tanning and manicures along with continued clothing purchases. All this without bringing in more than $5,000-6,000 a month! Why do people like this even exist?

Call me a stick in the mud if you wish, but given I tend to manage the budget here at home - okay, perhaps it's more like a spending plan - I just feel appalled by such wanton waste. The situation is further compounded by the fact that she has children and even sells their toys if she doesn't like them. WTF?!?!

Wake up and smell the credit card bills! Managing your finances isn't that hard as long as you're willing to make some hard decisions. Clearly some of us are far less mature than others.

[Web] Resisting Social Networks

Tipping Point + Social Media Network by undersound

These days, social networking sites seem all the rage. I have to admit that in the beginning, I did my fair share of exploring such sites. I was out and about on the web early enough to experience SixDegrees.com, what many consider to be one of the first social network services on the web. While it died out by 2001, the framework was pretty much there.

For a time I had a number of profiles - I had accounts on Friendster, Downelink, Orkut and even defunct local GLBT network Fabuloush for a time. Heck, I even had an account on the notorious hook-up site Guys4Men for what it was worth. As the number of social networks grew, I got more and more saturated and eventually in mid-2005, I decided to clean up my online accounts and get rid of the clutter. I left all those social networks behind.

Most of my friends could never understand why I did that - having a Friendster account in the Philippines seems almost like a requirement for the online generation of today. I guess I got tired of all the people claiming to be friends with me and so it just felt too weird. Throw in all the people at the office who knew of me but did not know me personally, and it all just seemed overly weird.

These days I only have Multiply, Shelfari and Flixster. I liked Multiply since it's a great place to host photos, videos and a back-up of my LiveJournal plus you have better relationship definitions and viewing controls. Shelfari is really just an online version of my library and Flixster plays on my love for writing reviews. The last two are keen because of how focused their natures are.

Now that doesn't stop people from trying to get me back on the social networking bandwagon. Friends and family alike keep sending me invites for this network and that. I doubt I'll ever go back to Friendster - it just seems overly cluttered as compared to the modern offerings these days. I don't feel at all tempted by MySpace given how public it seems and more often than not it has become a haven for sexual predators, haha. Don't even get me started on LinkedIn since I think I spend enough time with my officemates so getting into a social network them doesn't make sense to me.

Facebook seems to be getting a lot of attention these days and there's been a significant increase in invitations for the site that I've been receiving as of late. A friend arguing for the site pushed how the applications were really what made Facebook different even though it started just as a college-centric social network service. Still, I don't see a big reason why I should just yet.

Even though I like the more focused networks, I don't feel inclined to join either iLike or iMeem anytime soon. I like my music but I don't see myself hanging around a website built around music since I'm never any good at remembering artists, albums or song titles.

Others argue that it's a great blog-promotion tool to get into one of these things but I don't know if that's the track to go. Is there really a significant rise in traffic brought on by social network activity? I don't think it would be enough to merit all the spam and bacn that comes with it.

So what do you think? Am I just being a stick in the mud for keeping out of the bigger social networks for now? Do you need to be sociable to really enjoy these sites? I'm really looking for your comments and thoughts on the subject and wondering if you can explain why you continue to support these sites. Do you have a particular social network you feel especially strongly about? Why would you recommend it to someone like me?

Let the comments fly!

[Lifehacker] Muli-Platform IM Client Instantbird

Digg is great for attracting attention to items of interest on the web but is also notorious for overwhelming servers and shutting websites down in what is know as the Digg or Slashdot effect. Perhaps more moderate in impact but certainly still significant in long-term effects is getting featured on Lifehacker, which is one of my favorite tech lifestyle blogs.

Instantbird was recently featured on Lifehacker and so far it seems pretty promising. They're positioning it as an open source multi-platform IM client, which translated means it's a chat program that is meant to connect to all networks and systems like Yahoo Messeger, MSN and even IRC. Take this it's only at version 0.1, so it's really early in terms of development and might be of more valuer to more tech-savvy users at this point.

What makes Instantbird so interesting is that they're trying to take the Firefox approach to development by opening it up to the community. Interested developers can create extensions and other add-ons much like how they're created for Firefox while it's core technology is similar to that of IM client Pidgin, which I currently use. With luck, there'll be enough interest in Instantbird to help it develop fairly quickly and address opportunities clients like Pidgin have not like audio and video chat interconnectivity.

Still, this is one project that remains more than worth keeping an eye on.

[Movies] The Dark Knight Teaser II (unofficial)

Sort of related to Q's earlier Geeky post about the official Dark Knight teaser video, I thought I might up the fanboy ante a bit further with this second trailer which shows a lot more glimpses of the amazing movie coming out next year.

Get your drool buckets ready!


The Dark Knight Teaser II

EDIT: Darn, I hadn't realized this is actually a fan-created teaser using clips from other fan films. Still, it was pretty good, huh? (Thanks to Azrael for correcting me!)

[Digg] Robot Chicken - 1776 Spoof on 300

Digg is one of the many ways I try to comb the web for the latest and the greatest to be used as features here on the Geeky Guide. Given how the social bookmarking / voting service has grown over time, it's no longer just about interesting websites but also images and videos.

Currently #1 today on Digg is this funny video taken from those crazy guys over at Robot Chicken. This time around, they're feeling a little patriotic...

EDIT: As expected, the video got pulled pretty quickly. Darn.


Robot Chicken - 1776 Spoof on 300

[Books] So Dumbledore's Gay...Now What?

dumbledore and lockheart by jahansell.

When J.K. Rowling shared Harry Potter secrets at Carnegie Hall last October 19, 2007, one of the most striking revelations from the talk was her announcement that Albus Dumbledore was gay, much to the delight of the assembled crowd. Given the positive response at the time, Rowling was beyond pleased and remarked, "if I'd known it would make you so happy, I would have announced it years ago!"

But she didn't, and there's something in that for sure. As much as I love the Harry Potter series, I can't help but feel that with the end of the last book, Rowling is continuing to milk the series for all it's worth. It's a tad convenient to throw in a statement like this for now with the last book safely released and the last 2 movies bound to be created and will continue the commercial success of the franchise instead of earlier on when it might have had more impact. As a out and proud gay man myself, I'm still not 100% sure about how I feel about this announcement.

Of course the news has been met with mixed reactions. Many are pleased, especially those who write slash fiction involving many of the Potter characters while others are naturally against it even more. Groups like the religious right were of course against the series long before, denouncing it as a pagan showcase of sorts and some going as far as declaring it was tied to the Christian devil. Phooey.

Today I came across this TIME Magazine article by John Cloud poses a different reason to be displeased with the announcement. What's interesting is that he doesn't take the side of the conservatives but instead shows why Dumbledore isn't quite the gay role model science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts should be looking for.

Ultimately, he does have a point. What we've just established is that Dumbledore is not quite a hero for queers across the world since he was a man who chose to remain in the closet rather than be open about his sexual nature, if this was truly the case. Sure, originally it was a children's book but towards the end many of the scenes were not meant for children alone. The characters had grown up so why couldn't Rowling take a stand for diversity by having any of her characters be openly gay in the same way she tried to address ethnic diversity just by describing characters to be diversely black, white, Asian, etc.

While I don't expect everyone to agree with his point of view, however it makes for a read worth Digg-ing at the very least.

[Videos] The Official Dark Knight Teaser

Remember the leaked teaser I posted months ago? Well, Warner Bros. has finally released the official trailer, which will put you at the edge of your seat in anticipation.



I can't wait for the movie.

[Philippines] Glorietta: Now Just an Accident?

Oops! by loverfishy.

The on-going investigation of the Glorietta 2 bombing accident incident is enough to confound the best thinkers and news watchers among us. After the initial bold statement last Friday that the cause of the blast was a bomb, the investigation has moved more towards this being some sort of industrial accident, which brings the "blame" back on the Ayala Malls administration.

What's up with that?

Admittedly, I initially had my hesitations about the whole bomb thing. While the scene itself did make me think that it was too strong to be just some ordinary LPG fire, the lack of other concurrent events like a strong public statement from one of the local terrorist groups or perhaps other attacks / bombings at other place. Also, the date didn't make sense - even if it were targeting the barangay elections (and who the heck targets that on the national level?), it was pretty far from the actual event.

Investigators are currently looking at the fact that (1) the blast started from an underground tool room that contained septic tanks and diesel tanks, (2) there is no blast crater from a bombing perspective, (3) there are hardly any traces of nitrates in the area and (4) evidence of RDK alone isn't enough to indicate a bomb depsite some earlier reports. More and more this seems a lot less like some horrible terrorist attack and more and more like something you'd see featured on Seconds from Disaster.

The PNP is making a pretty good case for some sort of gas explosion, which theorizes a build-up of methane gas in the basement, a significant enough rise in temperature and so on and so forth.

Of course this is where the conspiracy theorists will enter and challenge that this is all a government plot to draw attention from the Administration's never ending issues, which while possible seems just a bit to contrived to be believed fully. While I don't totally discount the possibility that GMA is capable of invoking a sort of Swordfish scenario in using acts of terrorism to somehow "protect" the State, this just doesn't make 100% sense in that regard. GMA for all her faults is a lot smarter than that and if she were going to use terrorism as a tool for managing public opinion, then she would have used a more symbolic event, something that would strike a true chord with everyone. This incident is rather ineffective as a political tool since it lacked symbolic value, of course not discounting the loss of life, mind you.

Bombing or accident? Who can say really while the investigation is officially tagged as on-going. For now I'll try to remember to refer to this whole thing as just an "incident" for now until the investigation's findings are final. This is still a tragedy, don't get me wrong. However we need to know what kind of tragedy it is first.

[Mobile] Mossberg: Free my phone

Walt Mossberg, one of the well-known pundits on things tech, finally called for open phones. What he meant is that carriers should stop locking up phones.

The same model is currently being employed by Philippine mobile telcos. For example, Smart has a retention program, where you can get a free handset (or discounted handset) with a 24-month lock-in period (that means you are tied up to Smart's service for 24 months; ending your contract prematurely is subject to pretermination charges); Globe has a similar program. I got my Sony Ericsson P1i that way (and before that, a Sony Ericsson K300i) from Smart. So the phone is locked, and I am locked to Smart.

Why lock phones in the first place? I think the main reason is to prevent a consumer from using a subsidized phone with another network. Makes sense, right? Wrong. This doesn't deter the consumer from SELLING the phone, even if it is locked; and they will earn much more from it, specially if the phone is free. Just browse the forums and see what I mean (like BNC or PinoyExchange). While the phone remains locked, there are unlocking options available anyway (except for latest s60 phones, which are unlockable at the moment).

His most potent argument against locked phones is this:

The carriers defend these restrictions partly by pointing out that they subsidize the cost of the phones in order to get you to use their networks. That's also, they say, why they require contracts and charge early-termination fees. Without the subsidies, they say, that $99 phone might be $299, so it's only fair to keep you from fleeing their networks, at least too quickly.

But this whole cellphone subsidy game is an archaic remnant of the days when mobile phones were costly novelties. Today, subsidies are a trap for consumers. If subsidies were removed, along with the restrictions that flow from them, the market would quickly produce cheap phones, just as it has produced cheap, unsubsidized versions of every other digital product, from $399 computers to $79 iPods.

Do you agree with Mossberg? I sure do.

[Holidays] Mole Day

IMG_1461.JPG by dirtymouse.

In the US, October 23 is celebrated by chemistry teachers across the country as Mole Day, to celebrate the life and contributions of Amadeo Avogadro as best seen in his main contribution to the world of science - Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 10^23).

This holiday is celebrated annually on October 23 starting at 06:02am until 06:02pm - you do understand why that is so, right? Just look at the formula again, haha.

This year the Foundation has opted for a double theme - Moles are Forever ala-James Bond and Remember the Alamole. Happy Mole Day everyone!

[Pink News] SC vs Trannie

Photo from Zudzowne's photostream.

If I hadn't been combing Inquirer.net for more information about the Glorietta 2 bombing incident and to keep my casualty / injured list up-to-date, I probably would have missed this article. I can't find references to it anywhere else other than the Inquirer, so I guess I should count myself fortunate about seeing it at all, which sort of makes it even sadder.

The article talks about how the Philippine Supreme Court denied the request of a post-operation transsexual to have his name and gender status changed so that "she" can get married to her fiancé. While technically a complete woman, she has been denied given several reasons, which only reminds all of us of the state of GLBT rights in our country today.

The crux of the argument of the Supreme Court is that inasmuch as they want to grant the request of Rommel, the transsexual in question, to change his name to Mely, they can't given the nature of the laws of the Philippines at this time along with the interests of public policy cannot allow for it. In their 22-page decision, they even went as far as acknowledging that the Civil Register Law remains largely unchanged since the early 1900s but it's not the Supreme Court's place to change the law.

I'm not at all mad at the Supreme Court in this case - they're just executing the law in its present form. However What does disappoint me is that as a country, we continue to tread upon the rights of GLBT members for things even as basic as being recognized for the gender that they've become through sex reassignment surgery. I'm not even talking about the big things like gay marriage or the right to adopt children but just the fundamental things like being recognized in the eyes of the law for who we are and allowing us to change status to reflect changes like sex reassignment.

The plight of Mely, as I choose to address her by her "true" name, is significant since it's one of the few instances when someone has actually tried to push for their fundamental rights as human beings within the Philippine legal system. It may not seem like a roaring protest and even now will go largely unnoticed as just another news item but still it means something for gay rights advocates out there. It shows all of us that we do have rights and they're worth standing up for and we can't just forego trying since we expect to fail. While Mely probably has a long legal struggle ahead of her should she push to continue her case, still this is not a failure but a success in a manner of speaking. For the case to reach all the way to the Supreme Court and to be recognized thus is important for future dealings with the Philippine Government System as we have many legal battles ahead of us if we're to get the rights that we deserve as human beings.

I applaud you, Mely! I hope against hope that you find the happiness you deserve and that somehow your modest action will help remind all of us of the inequality we silently acceed to today.

[Digg] Monkeys Kill Deputy Mayor

Photo from dæxus' photostream.

I've never really liked monkeys. While I know they're theoretically our closes relatives from an evolutionary perspective, but the sight of them just unnerves me. I guess it's because of how close they are to seeming human given their ability to stand upright and their significant intelligence as compared to the rest of the animal kingdom.

So when this story from Delhi hit Digg, it really made me pause. I quote the header thus:

The deputy mayor of the Indian capital Delhi has died a day after being attacked by a horde of wild monkeys.

What a way to go. And I thought the Temple of Rats was disturbing. What complicates matters even further is that their religious beliefs prevent them from taking stronger action against the animals since they potentially represent relatives and ancestors in terms of the reincarnation principles of Hindu.

In the meantime, remember not to feed the monkeys.

[Viral Video Chart] Windows Sounds and logos- never before seen!

Currently making its way up the Viral Video Chart is this interesting walk down Microsoft memory lane. It's scary that I can actually remember most of these startup screens, which means at one time or another I've had to deal with each version of the OS - yes, including the dreaded ME.

How many do you remember?


#8 - Windows Sounds and logos- never before seen!

[Viral Video Chart] Blues Darth Vader

As another classic example of a viral video that has been meet with worldwide success despite making pretty much no sense whatsoever comes this piece which is still on the Viral Video Chart and has been going around since September. I guess it's because it relies on the large number of Star Wars fans around the world, eh?

Here's a video that gives an unusual explanation for Darth Vader's breathing equipment...


#19 - Blues Darth Vader

[Pinoy Gay Blogs] The Return of Oboids

By the time the original review for 'Kwir 'A-thE-ist (then oboids.com), the blog soon disappeared and we were left with a horribly garish "Account Suspended" message.

Thankfully, shortly after I posted the Where Are They Now? feature, Oboids started to make himself felt once more. First he announced on MyBlogLog that he was involved in a new blog entitled The Bhloom Project.

Eventully, he made the announcement we've all been waiting for - the return of his blog. After a change of domain hosts and even a change in URL, he's finally settled down as simply Oboids™ (http://oboids.net/). The blog still features a lot of great queer comic goodness for everone to enjoy so make sure to update your bookmarks, favorites and RSS readers with the new location of this fun and quirky blog.

[Games] A Tribute to Bullfrog Productions

In recent weeks, I've gotten into this nostalgic craving of sorts to play some rather classic games. Eventually, I figured out a common thread between all of them - they were all games created by the now-defunct gaming company, Bullfrog Productions, now pretty much part of what is now know as EA UK.

So similar to what I previous did for the Terminator series of movies, I thought it might be fun to take another stroll down memory lane and pay tribute to some of my favorite Bullfrog games.

The first Bullfrog game I ever played was the god game Populous. The game was pretty cool in concept - you played a god in the grand style of the Greek pantheon of old and you shaped the destiny of your people. It's no wonder that one of the prime people behind Bullfrog later on helped spawn Black & White under the masthead of Lionhead Studios. Black & White was another game I heavily got into given somewhat latent messianic tendencies in my deeper psyche, haha.

I have to admit early on I was a scared gamer of sorts - the greater the action and risk, the more I felt intimidated to continue on. However the concepts and stories behind the games continued to push me to try harder. A great example of a game that tested my limits was Syndicate, a strategy game that had you controlling 4 cybernetically-enchanced assassins that you sent on various missions as you tried to take over the world. It had everything - a cool cyberpunk-style backstory, a wide arsenal of weapons and lots and lots of violence. The game always made me nervous, but then it was addicting.

Pushing my tension envelop further was the action-packed simulation game Magic Carpet. It was a game that tested the limits of our 486 computer at the time given its dynamic graphics set in a 3D world. This was not kiddie game despite it's misleading title - you played a wizard trying to restore the world to equilibrium by gathering enough mana to do so. This involved killing creatures and enemy wizards while collecting them via hot air balloons. Despite how strange that sounds, it was an amazingly fun game for its time.

Amidst the strategic simulation game mania dominated by Maxis at the time, Bullfrog made its own bid of sorts with the rather whimsical Theme Park where you play a theme park owner who is determined to create the penultimate amusement park chain in the world. You start out with several thousand dollars and a tract of land in the UK and slowly you build a worldwide theme park empire. The game was fun for a variety of reasons although it took me ages to master despite its rather comedic appearance. Games like this helped set the lighter tone Bullfrog took in terms of sim games.

One of my favorite Bullfrog games of all time remains to be the Dungeon Keeper series. Amidst the popularity of games like Diablo, Bullfrog turned the tables and instead of putting you in the role of the adventuring hero, they placed you as the dark demonic presence that runs the dungeons the heroes invade. The game was amazingly fun and well beyond just being a sim game given the diverse elements in the game. You had to manage resources, attract minions and defend against noble heroes and opposing Keepers.

Last notable game apart from the various sequels and such was Theme Hospital that taught me that while I didn't want to be a doctor, I was capable of becoming a hospital administrator, haha. The game is simialr to Dungeon Keeper but instead of the dark and dank stone walls of an underground dungeon, you are in charge of a nice and clean hospital. You manage the continued development of your facility while trying to research new cures and diagnostic tools, battle epidemics and meet your bottom line.

So you see, Bullfrog brought a large number of really good games to life and it's a shame that they're no longer an actual entity and just largely absorbed by their publisher, EA Games.

Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go back to Theme Hospital now.

[NWA] New Worlds 5 Pushing Through

Despite the recent bombing at Glorietta 2, it has been confirmed that the New Worlds 5 science fiction and fantasy convention will push through as scheduled on October 27, 2007 at the Glorietta Activity Center.

The management at Ayala Malls has assured everyone that security will be tightened for the event and the security of the patrons is their top priority. In line with this, anyone coming in costume or bringing equipment or fan gear to the event should be prepared to have your bags and boxes searched. It might also help not to bring props that look too much like actual weapons to avoid issues with the mall management.

Lets show them that we're not afraid! See you all on Saturday!

[Geeky Guide] Ending Paid Blogging Options

I've decided to cut my relationship with both SponsoredReviews and PayPerPost for many reasons. Some may welcome this news with limited joy while most probably won't care either way. Still, I think it's important that I write about what I was thinking in deciding to stop working with these sites.

Who knows, it might change the way you think as well.

Deciding to stop SponsoredReviews was easy enough - while it was faster to get approved for the site, it's a lot harder to get an opportunity cleared. You need to get approved first before writing the entry, which is subject to the individual screening processes of the advertiser. There's just so many listings that I bet a lot of them are already dead.

I gave more of a chance to PayPerPost since when they did approve me, they had a lot more tools to play around with. I tested each and wrote my first sponsored post and waited for it to get approved. Apparently that side of things took longer and in the meantime most of the opportunities were about garage storage cabinets. Now that sucks.

The longer I waited for approval, the more it felt strange and awkward to even consider taking any of these paid opportunities since the topics seemed to be pretty far from the usual things I write about here on the Guide. And of course, that just seemed wrong.

So today I filed the needed tickets to close my PPP account and I removed all the ads and widgets I installed. I think the past "Review My Post" images will be left behind since I'm a tad too lazy to dig through the past entries but eventually I should be able to get rid of them, too. It was an interesting experiment while it lasted, but at the end of the day I blog because I think I have interesting views and ideas that I want to share with everyone and it's not about the money. Sure, I have AdSense and I may still try a few more options in the future, but something as blatant as paid blogging in terms of entries and topics just feels wrong to me.

So ladies and gentlemen, allow me to assure you that the Geeky Guide will remain independent and will not take on any future paid blogging jobs. I promise.

[Viral Video Chart] October 14 - 20, 2007

It's been another interesting week in the real of viral videos and as always I continue to rely on the interesting statistics provided by our friends at the Viral Video Chart to find some of the more interesting pieces that have floated to the top of the charts for one reason or another.

Here are some of the top videos of the week:

Our first video is one of the more intelligent pranks I've ever seen involving identical twins, a clear piece of glass and human nature...


#2 - Absolutely Hilarious Bathroom Mirror Prank

Now here's another piece to make you think in the grand tradition of previous that have made the chart due to similar content...


#5 - Information R/evolution

On the lighter side of things is this cute little video about a cat trying to wake up his master - a must-see for all you pet-lovers out there!


#9 - Wake up cat

Our last feature is an ecology piece related to just how green the Apple iPhone is. Definitely something to think about as brought to you by Greenpeace:


#10 - Has Steve really reinvented the phone?

[Philippines] Listing of the Dead and Injured from Glorietta 2

For those concerned about their loved ones, I'm posting a partial list of the dead and injured from the Glorietta 2 bombing and will continue to update this page as new information become available.

The following is based primarily on Inquirer.net reports of those confirmed dead by the PNP and the Philippine Red Cross thus far and those confirmed rushed to the Makati Medical Center:

Casualties (as of 10.21.07 1856 MNL)

1. Anthony Marius Arroyo
   
2. Maria Celeste Cruz
   
3. Jee Ann De Gracia
   
4. Jose Allan de Jesus
   
5. Maureen De Leon
   
6. Janine Marcos
   
7. Liza Marquez
   
8. Lester Peregrina
   
9. Ricardo Petras (died at the Ospital ng Makati early Sunday)
   
10. Rainer Tan
    
11. Cesar Nino Vidano

Injured (as of 10.21.07 0646 MNL)
Admitted at the Makati Medical Center and mostly released:
1. Cecilia Alfonso
2. Melanie Arroyo
3. Ma. Isabel Aruyal
4. Ma Rebecca Aruyal (confined)
5. Cesaria Bajar (confined)
6. Jerick Balandrez
7. Sherley Bolano
8. Jeffrey Burcer
9. Christine Calope
10. Jennie De Asis
11. Evangeline De Leon
12. Christopher John Dela Cruz
13. Sarah Jane Dela Cruz
14. Teresita Dela Cruz
15. Kristina Dungca (confined)
16. Carmen Enriquez
17. Bonnie Escoto (in serious condition)
18. John Kenneth Estiller
19. Ma. Generosa Estiller
20. Ma. Natividad Estiller
21. Maria Melissa Marilou Estiller
22. Mailou Gallien
23. Rolando Elvis Gannaban (confined)
24. Mabini Garcia Jr.
25. Mayflor Garcia
26. Alberto Gonzales III
27. Sally Honopre
28. Kristine Kalone
29. Hae Won Kim (confined)
30. Irene Layo
31. Elizabeth Liboro
32. Greald Florence Liwanag
33. Custodie Magdale Jr.
34. Rosalino Mappala
35. Maricel Marcelo (in serious condition)
36. Ma Corazon Molet
37. Henry Montenegro
38. Melvin Montenegro
39. Regina Reyes Montenegro
40. Grace Montines
41. Queena Ngo
42. Lolita Ogad
43. Roman Ong
44. Robinson Orlando (in serious condition)
45. Ludivina Orna
46. Atea Rose Ortiz
47. Lailani Pableo
48. Red Pamplina
49. Mylene Pasamba
50. John Henry Pascual
51. Airesh Lou Peregrino
52. June Lester Peregrino
53. Christopher Pineda
54. Aileen Punzal
55. Agnes Ramilo (confined)
56. Mary Grace Raymaro
57. Ma Cecilla Recella
58. Jina Regachuela
59. Fely Reyes
60. Wilson John Rodriguez
61. Mia Therese Romasanta
62. Raphael Antonio Romasanta
63. Stephanie Romasanta
64. Erwin Sampiano
65. Donald Santos
66. Josephine Santos
67. Lady Khristine Santos
68. Annabelle Sapitan
69. Robby Ross Serrano
70. Angela Marie Soriano
71. Silvestre Talingting
72. Shiela Marie Tingson
73. Anna Patricia Villareal
74. Thiela Marie Yap

Admitted at the Ospital ng Makati and mostly released:
1. Tex Nombrado
2. Jean Barbosa
3. Michelle Manzo
4. Anjobelle Dinoy
5. Randy Nayve
6. Mario Em Jr.
7. Rodriguez Erving
8. Angela Nina May Rodriguez
9. Terry Rodriguez
10. Sophia Ybon Padua
11. Christopher Delos Santos
12. Francisco Nelson Grey
13. Angelika Cortez
14. Lea Imbon
15. Carlito Abella
16. Juniel Arienza
17. Monie Amabag
18. Yvonne Canada
19. Jeremy Mijares
20. Ricardo Petras
21. Allan Escote
22. Gemmarie Claudio
23. Lyndon Villanueva
24. Aileen Ardanza
25. Andrea Mina

Updated as of 10.21.07 - 1856 MNL.

[Philippines] Bombing at Glorietta 2

This is a Tri-Blog entry that will appear on all three of my blogs - The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything, Beyond Dinobot Island and Moonbase 8.

---

At around 01:40pm local time, an explosion rocked the shopping complex of Glorietta 2 in Makati City, normally touted as the city's core financial area. I was at home at the time, totally unaware of the entire situation, just busying myself with my uploads and downloads. I went to bed at around 02:00pm.

Brian |kitchengod| woke me up closer to 03:00pm - he hadn't slept right away - in order to tell me the news about the explosion. I was having trouble with my asthma and I found that I couldn't get back to sleep despite the obvious lack of it. It's always the way with me. Eventually I went downstairs to join Jayson |kukuripupu| in watching the news.

It's a chilling sight - a place we'd normally pass through on our way to other stores and such. From the images shown on the news, clearly the center of the explosion was somewhere near that particular atrium, a normal high-traffic point for people to go through, people like us. Initially they didn't want to jump to the conclusion that it was a bomb, but of course it was obvious. No LPG explosion could do that kind of damage unless gas was leaking out into the mall for the entire morning.

It's pay day for us at the office and I'm certain there would have been agents who decided to head to the mall to enjoy their salaries. I can't help but wonder if we've lost anyone at the office given how many employees we have. Heck, that applies to any call center - who else would be at the mall at 01:40pm when most people are stuck at work?

Reports are mixed - it shows that there are around 80 wounded with somewhere between4-8 of those confirmed dead. The numbers keep shifting around since they've been transporting more critical cases from the Ospital ng Makati over to the Makati Medical Center and so on, thus some cases are getting counted twice. It's all madness. Eventually the police have ruled out the possibility of an LPG explosion - they've confirmed that this was caused by a bomb

This is not the first time we've had bombings in the Metro - it seems to happen time and time again. Naturally we'll get all security conscious and the alarms will sound and political statements condemning the attacks will be made. It's all been done before. I feel bad that it has happened and that it's probably going to happen again. It seems like we never learn from the mistake of the past. When you raise the level of security, you don't relax after a months of peaceful bliss. You don't scrimp on security checks and you don't stop having bomb-sniffing dogs roam public areas. That's the nature of these things - you can't relax once it's happened since it will make them confident in the knowledge that they've had some level of success and that they can try again and again and again.

Now what? We wait for the results of the investigation and perhaps for a terrorist group to step forward and claim responsibility. We will mourn for the dead and we will celebrate the tales of chivalry and heroism. We'll find comfort in the knowledge that our loved ones have survived and we will regret the passing of those who haven't. In the end, life has to go on or they win. Who's they, you ask? Sometimes I don't even know anymore. All I know is that someone felt that human lives aren't valuable, that there was something greater that justified these deaths in their heads. Why do people like that exist in this world?

We're supposed to have a General Assembly for our Department tomorrow, a sort of team-building activity at a bar also in Makati, since our office is in the area. I have no idea how that's going to go. I dread going to work later tonight not because of my lack of sleep but more because of potentially hearing grim news or having to deal with clients panicking about all this. It seems so wrong to go to work on a day like this since they may be other attacks but then if we allow fear to rule our lives, then in the end the infamous they still win. We must persevere.

Then there's the New Worlds 5 convention next weekend slated to be held at the Glorietta Activity Center. I wonder if even that will be able to push through. I really hope it does - we need something more to smile and celebrate about.

And things were going so well.