#157: Retiring early

I've always been a night person. There's something about the quiet night that makes me awake. I think better at night and sometimes decisions are made at this time. But for a change I am retiring early. Interesting day tomorrow,the first day of December and a big decision to make.

Oh by the way, the new abrenian.com is now live. Check it out!

#156: On Holiday mood

All in all it was a great 4-day weekend. I haven't had such a productive break for a while. I was able to achieve my goal with the turkey, spend most of the time with the kids plus I finally finished setting up the new abrenian.com site (which will be launched on Dec. 1, 2009).

It's back to work tomorrow. As in previous years, Our IT Department will be on the look-out with our Internet Traffic as it's going to be Cyber Monday (a day where staff would shop online).

The long Thanksgiving weekend is over. That means it's a start of countdown to Christmas. Already Christmas songs is playing on the air waves. Holiday mood is here.

#155: Finally some rain

For a change, today it's raining in San Diego. I can't remember when was the last time it rained in San Diego. I always read in the news the we need rain as our water supply is on dangerous low level.


I always love when it rain. It brings back the memory of my childhood (every kids love to play in the rain) when I would pester my parents to play in the rain. There's nothing better than feeling the cold raindrops soaking my body.


Today, I felt the urge of playing in the rain but that would be embarrassing for an adult running around half naked for all eyes to see. That's not good for anyone, is it?

#154: Maybe just a smile...

I mostly listen to rock music but in my college days  I had some favorite Filipino Music too. I remember those days we commonly called them OPM (Original Pilipino Music).

One comes to mind this song by Jam Morales. Okay not that Jam Morales but this Jam Morales. Why can't they make songs like this anymore?



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#153: How to tame a turkey - The Finale

In my earlier post, I promised that I'm going to tame a turkey. Today's the day and here's the blow-by-blow account of my battle with the great bird:

9:30am: I woke up a little sore and nursing a slight cold. Ok I'm trying to find a way out.

10:30am: Ate Breakfast (bacon and egg) with Nadire. Deirdre and Josh as usual has already eaten much earlier.

11:30am: Run out of drinking water. Quickly swing by refilling station.

12:00pm: Review my game strategy (Ok the recipe I should say.) Took a quick shower to take out some tensions building inside me.

12:30pm: Lay down the 12 pound Turkey on a tray. nothing fancy, just glazed turkey with some olive oil and sprinkle with just enough salt (NOT to much sodium- Deirdre). No stuffing too. what the heck is a thyme

1:00pm: "I'm hungry" - Deirdre. Whoa! turkey won't be ready in 3 hours? No worry, I brought a backup. Fully cooked Ham

1:30pm:We started to continue watching the Korean Soap Opera Glass Slippers.

2:00pm: Turkey is ready for the chamber. Oven is heated at 400F

2:30pm: Continue watching soap opera (episode 9 is playing). Lower oven temperature to 350F

3:30pm: Deirdre and Joshua seems to want to eat Nadire.

4:30pm: Is it done yet? No!!!. Eat some more Ham. Lower down oven temperature to 225F.

5:00pm: Come On! It must be ready now? We want to eat Nadire's lips now! Continue watching Episode 11.

 5:30pm: Ding! Timer's done! Voila! Here's your Bird! Hot, crisp, brown and juicy!

Yes I know. My carving skills sucked!

Prime parts for the cook. Leg, wing, neck and the tail! Can't find the gizzard and liver!

The Cook: Come on guys be honest! How is the birds? Kids: Perfect!

6:30pm: Drove to the movie theater and watched Ninja Assassin. A fitting finale for a great day with my kids and a sweet victory for me!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

P.S. Did I mention there was a slight bobo on my part! the gizzard and liver were left inside the turkey with the plastic still in-tacked! ooppppssss :-( . alright it's my first turkey so give me a break, will yah?

#152: Test drive the new abrenian.com site

I started abrenian.com back in 2002 as a hobby to learn web technology. Little that I know, that the site would become the most widely (even controversial) read website for Abrenians around the world. The site has become a major source of information for Abrenians living abroad.

Through the years, the site had undergone a couple of make-over to keep up with the technology at hand. And for the past few weeks, I have been working (on my spare time) on a completely redesigned website. The new site is currently accessible at group.abrenian.com and it's still on beta testing.

The new site uses elgg, an open source social networking software with features similar to popular sites such as facebook, myspace or friendster.

I invite everyone to test drive the site and would appreciate your feedback. 

#151: Monsters

The world is zeroing in on the Philippines with the shocking massacre of at least 52 people in Maguindanao which according to the news is politically motivated. The victims are known supporters of a politician who's planning to run for Governor.

Most of the victims where shot point blank execution style and dumped in a hollow grave. And to top it all, the victims are mostly women (there were signs of rape as well) and journalists. But why are these monsters so brazen in their acts? Well for one thing they are Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's hardcore supporters (check this photo of Arroyo being so cozy with the suspects). Why not, this Political clan delivered the Coup de Grace and gave Arroyo presidency in 2004.

 This news is so horrible that it was even mentioned in a local radio station in San Diego. The announcer asked this question "What's with the Philippines? "What's so special being an elected official in that country that you kill 52 innocent people just like that?, What kind of people would do such a thing?".

Only in the Philippines that you see monsters in power.

#150: Thanksgiving rush

As Thanksgiving approaches in the U.S., One can't help but notice the sudden rush of people going to the groceries. I was in the grocery and took me 20 minutes just to reach the cashier.

Evidently everyone is in a Holiday mood. Frozen turkeys and hams and the usual stuffs are in everyone's cart. Thank God, I had my turkey a week ago safely tucked in my freezer. Big question is if my turkey will ever make it to the dinner table come Thursday.

I wasn't in the mood to look around. The girl behind the counter was all smile and seems to be wanting to engage everyone with small talk. But I feel sick, it's cold and I need to make dinner tonight. I just wanted to pay my $2.00 light bulb and get the hell out of there.

#149: Songbird

One of my favorite instrument is the saxophone. I don't know how to play the sax (I wish i could) but there's something about the music it produce that makes my ear sings. One of my favorite sax player is Kenny G.

Kenny G played romantic jazz music such the Silhouette, Going home or this duet (What a Wonderful World with Louis Armstrong. But definitely my favorite is Songbird. What makes his music great is you can listen to it if you're madly in love or just got dumped big time. Either way you'll still enjoy it.



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#148: Glass Slippers

Today I made a mistake watching Glass Slippers, a Korean Soap Opera (with English subtitle) with my daughter Deirdre. This 21 episode drama was lent to her by her Korean Taekwando Grandmaster.

We have watched 4 episodes so far and now am hooked. I guess I still have the sentimental side of me.

#147: What a fraction of a second can do

I had expressed my frustration about elastix VOIP PBX System on this post a couple of days ago. Not anymore because I finally solved the puzzle.

It took just the letter "w" that made the difference. A "w" when dialing a phone number from a handset translates to a 0.5 second pause before dialing the rest of the number. 

0.5 Seconds is eternity in technology when you think of high speed computers running millions of processes in seconds. Or when you have to have 99.9999% system availability. So it's not surprising that a fraction of a second can make or break this PBX system.

I spent more that 30 hours trying to figure out the solution. It wasn't a waste of time though, because I also learned more about the core asterisk codes which is the underlying platform of this amazing open source PBX System.

Lesson learned: Sometimes complicated problems can have very simple answers, you just have to know where to look for it.

#146: I was young once

I have a deadline tomorrow. I've been banging the keyboard for the past 3 hours. I was in a zone, until I started searching some files on my 450 GB NAS (Network Attached Storage) and got distracted by this:

 

I don't know how old I was here, but looking at these pictures makes me want to be young again!

#145: Did you know?

Grilled Chicken, vegetable stir fry and eggs for dinner. I can cook this combination with my eyes closed. What makes it so easy is how my kids would entertain me with our usual "Did you Know" banter. I'm savoring the moment because in a few years, I would still be cooking this food while they soon go and build their own lives...

#144: Tech Challenge

Elastix without tears so they say. Instead I found myself wrestling with this complex system. Technology is great if it works, otherwise it's just a piece of dumb box wasting precious real estate.

#143: Change in the offing?

Today I got a surprise call that could change my career path. It's early to tell if this opportunity is something I am looking forward to or something I want. But if this chance becomes a reality, I would seize the day.

#142: Food, Taste and Hunger

This was sent to me by a friend of mine. This video is hard not to pass along. It shows the reality of what our country is suffering from. This film entitled Chiken-a-la-Carte was written and directed by Ferdinand Dimadura.

Synopsis: This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who live on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people.

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#141: What I saw (learned) from the Pacquiao fight tonight

5. This is the best fight I've ever seen since the classic clash between Tommy Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Although I was a bit distraught when the fight went on despite clear indications that Cotto is in alot of trouble. They should have stop the fight in the 9th.

4. It's been a while since I heard someone really sang the Philippine National Anthem so well.  This group La Vida (who are they?) was much better (and prettier) than Martin Nievera (he sang the National Anthem during the Pacquiao-Hatton fight).

3. Boxing is a savage sports. Children should not be allowed so close to the ring. I'm sure everyone noticed when the camera focused on Cotto's wife (Melissa) and his kid grimacing in pain as if feeling every punch Manny throws at Miguel. Melissa was wise enough to take her son out to spare the kid from the horrors of the sport. Melissa should have defied Cotto's corner and throw in the towel herself.

2. Manny should retire now. He has nothing else to prove. He has his millions that will last him two life times. Take it from Mohammad Ali or his trainer Freddie Roach who are both suffering from Parkinsons as a result of too much beating during their boxing careers.

1. Events like this gives us a very good reason to get together and re-connect with friends and family.

#140: Why don't you stay?

At some point in ones life, we experience people close to us leaving. Friends, families or love-ones leave for reasons we can't explain or control. All we can wish sometimes is for them to stay just a little bit longer.



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#139: How to tame a turkey?

Thanksgiving is in two weeks. This will be our10th thanksgiving since moving to the U.S. And each year, I never had a chance to cook anything since we either get invited or someone would cook for us.

Not that I don't want to cook. I know how to cook (I guess). However the mere site of an imposing turkey makes me think twice of even trying to shove it in an oven. All these years I was able to evade such situation.

But this year, the inevitable is about to happen. I decided that we are staying home for thanksgiving. This means I will be confronting the great bird in my kitchen.

I have two weeks to prepare for war. I've though of some strategies. Maybe a run and gun technique like the Phoenix Sun or a triangle offense from Phil Jackson. I could open using a Sicilian Defense or a rope-a-dope like Mohammad Ali. I would still have time to read Sun Tsu's Art of War or borrow Miami Dolphin's Wildcat offense.

Too many options at this point. Obviously I would need to decide my right move quickly. A little help here!

#138: The Suns are rising again

I posted a question earlier on who's going to be our NBA team this season. I've caught some games for the past weeks and I wasn't sure who it's going to be.

Until recently, I checked the team standings and was surprised a quick start by the Phoenix Suns. Right now they are at the top together with the Boston Celtics.

The Suns was my team for a couple of years because of their high-octane playing style. The Suns would run and gun for 48 minutes. It was an awe watching them. Until they acquired the Big Shaq last year, who not only slowed down their style of play, but also affected other players because of his antics.

Today I made a point to watch them play against the New Orleans Hornets. And boy I was amazed how they played. Led by the two time MVP and most popular Canadian point guard Steve Nash, the Suns run around the Hornets with back breaking fast-breaks, pick and rolls (with the rejuvenated Amare Stoudemire)  and booming triples.

By the end of the 2nd quarter, Suns had scored 75 points and midway in the 3rd, the game was already decided. They went on to win by 20 points.

The Suns are back and they are running and on the rise again. And I'm back cheering on the side line. Now if I can only convince Deirdre

#137: Free Wi-Fi what's the catch

Google is playing Santa early this holiday season by offering free Wireless Access to major airports around the U.S.

"We're very happy to extend our Holiday Wi-Fi gift to the millions of people who will spend time in airports over the next few months," said Google vice president of search products Marissa Mayer. "We know that this is a very hectic travel season for people, and we hope that free Wi-Fi will make both traveling and connecting with friends and family a little bit easier."

 But what does Google gets in offering such generous gift?

Travelers who log into free wireless networks will be invited to reciprocate by making donations to one of three charities, with Google promising to match contributions to a maximum of 250,000 dollars.

Many travelers probably are armed with an iPhone, Blackberry or the Driod already connected to the Internet. But if you are tired of looking at the miniature screen, then using the free Wi-Fi access is a good option.

But not so fast. Keep in mind that open systems like these are vulnerable to hackers. So here's some good tips you might want to follow in case you get tempted.

Have a worry-free and safe traveling during the holiday season.

#136: Old and Wise

I was reminded of this song from a post from my sister Nanette when she considered me Old...and wise.

Old and Wise is a song by The Alan Parson's Project. The lyrics is haunting as it speaks of someone's leaving and appreciate everyone who shared his darkest hours:

As far as my eyes can see
There are shadows surrounding me
And to those I leave behind
I want you all to know
You've always shared my darkest hours
I'll miss you when I go 

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#135: It's not you it's me

Here's a tip for you out there. When you're about to get dumped and she/he started to say the "It's not you it's me" routine. Here's a good come back.

This was taken from my favorite sitcom Seinfeld . In this scene, Goerge Constanza was about to get dumped.





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#134: It's about time

Yes, it's about time. The U.S. House of Representative just passed  a comprehensive Health Bill called the "Affordable Health Care for America Act," The Bill was pass  in a 220 to 215 vote.

You can read the the full text House bill here. All 1,990 pages of it. It may not be as dramatic as a Sydney Sheldon or a Danielle Steele novel, but this is very important for everyone. There are many key provisions of the bill but I specifically like:

 Creates a public health insurance option and a national exchange for the uninsured and small businesses to purchase health insurance. The Secretary of Health and Human Services would negotiate rates with doctors and hospitals on reimbursement rates.

This is a sigh of relief to have an option instead of being locked with an HMO.

 Insurance companies are prohibited from denying coverage based on a pre-existing condition. There are caps on deductibles and annual out of pocket spending is capped at $5000.

Again this will force HMO to give coverage to all individual regardless of their medical condition.

You can read more about this key provision here.

I've been working for a non-profit clinic for years. We see more than 20,000 patients a year of which more than 60% are either uninsured or under-insured. For the past years, that number have shoot up due to people losing their job and consequently lose their medical coverage. I've seen funding from the State and Federal Government reduced so much that it caused a heavy burden to Community Clinics. But we have no choice. Our clinic has a standing policy NOT to refuse patient regardless of their ability to pay.

This bill, (despite vigorous opposition) is a positive step towards fixing a broken system.  Is it perfect? maybe not but it's better than continuing what we have right now.  Of course this bill still has to pass through the Senate and expect a full throttle lobbying from the HMO's to kill this bill.

If nothing is done about the U.S. Health Care System then you either not allowed to get sick or move to Canada or France where they have universal health care.

#133: My plate's full

I'm having a hard time deciding what to write. It's one of those days that I feel like doing nothing after a hard day's work.

As always, my day starts by dropping off Nadire to school at 7:30 AM. My work doesn't start till 9AM so I had all the time to prepare.

My plate is full and projects keep piling up. First order of business in the office on fridays is a teleconference with our developers in implementing ClearHealth in our Clinic. Next is a new project to develop an online survey system based on LimeSurvey to be used by the sdAPI project. Another is a VOIP implementation of Elastix for a small business. Elastix is a tough nut to crack.

Later in the afternoon is another brainstorming session for my SimpleTransactions project which will soon be launched in December.

In between these craziness, I caught a glimpse of a scene from the movie "Erin Brockovich" (fast forward to 6:27)

Ed Masry: What makes you think you can just walk in there and take whatever you want?
Erin Brockovich: They're called boobs, Ed.

By the time I was done, it was 6PM and I have to rush back home to have dinner with the kids. Josh is out watching his school's football game. Nadire's out with her friend. So it was just me and Deirdre. We decided to go for Vietnamese food this time.

So many things to do, so little time. Can't wait for the long thanksgiving break.

#132: Livin' it up

As I was busy doing serious coding for a new website, I suddenly found myself humming this song. It goes:

I finally got my life together. 
Scraped my heart up off the floor
My attitude is so much better
And I hardly ever cry the way I did before

This song Livin' It Up was by Bill LaBounty released in '82. It's unclear how or who introduce me to his songs but LaBounty's songs are more of an alternative when me and my friends got tired of listening to our rock music. Or at times we end up playing his songs as we are about to wind up our nights. Everyone's favorite also includes Look who's lonely now and It Used To Be Me.



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#131: First taste of Windows 7

I just had a chance to install Windows 7 in my laptop today. I decided I would try it out and see how it fair to the older version of windows.

I wasn't so sure I would like Win7 so I installed it on a different partition to make my laptop dual boot with my Windows XP.

Preparing to do a dual-boot install is straight forward. First I  need a tool to re-size my original partition to make room for the new operating system. I used a free tool gparted - a linux based live CD to easily create a new partition.

Next is to pop-in the CD installer (I was using the Ultimate Edition) and like installing any other operating system, the waiting time is quite annoying. After 5 or more computer restart, I completed the installation.

I must say that Windows 7 is much improved that Windows Vista, particularly on the way it was able to detect most of my hardware devices. I admit that I felt like I was installing a Linux distribution. Speed is also noticeable. There's some slight changes on where to find what but generally easy to figure out.

All in all it was an easy setup. Probably because my computer was originally loaded with Windows Vista (until I downgraded to XP) so most of my devices are able to handle windows 7. Also I am using the Ultimate Edition so I'm not sure the other version will run as smooth .

So if you have a computer with Windows Vista, it's worth it to upgrade to Windows 7. Although I suggest you get the full version of Windows 7 and install from scratch. Rule of thumb before doing the upgrade or clean install, check with your computer manufacturer if your hardware will be compatible with Windows 7.

So far I have XP, Win 7 on my laptop. My next project is to add Ubuntu.

130: what if...

Today I was reminded of an event that happened almost 30 years ago. This was during my high school days.

I've been pursuing her for weeks and it was that day when she would say yes (at least that's how I believed). But lo and behold it never happened. That was the end of it and the rest was history.

Now it suddenly came back and the real question what happened that day? Frankly I really don't know. I keep trying to remember but it was so long ago.

Thinking back makes me realize that things happened for a reason. Although sometimes you can't help but think the what ifs.

#129: Are you a soda drinker? think again

I used to drink soda or soft drink everyday. I couldn't eat without soda on the table. It's certainly refreshing specially if it's ice cold. But that was three years ago. Since then I have taken out soda in my grocery list.

So what wrong with soda? Here's a good article on that.

Soft drinks contain little to no vitamins or other essential nutrients. However, it is what they do contain that is the problem: caffeine, carbonation, simple sugars — or worse, sugar substitutes — and often food additives such as artificial coloring, flavoring, and preservatives.

A lot of research has found that consumption of soft drinks in high quantity, especially by children, is responsible for many health problems that include tooth decay, nutritional depletion, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and heart disease.

 What if you just drink diet soda? Well it's just as worse:

Diet soda is filled with artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin. These artificial sweeteners pose a threat to your health. Saccharin, for instance, has been found to be carcinogenic, and studies have found that it produced bladder cancer in rats.

  So what the best thing to drink? Ever hear of water. Yes the good old water is your best bet. In our household we drink around 30 gallons of water each week. I know because I go to the water refilling station every to days to fill up my container. Another alternative is to drink tea (green tea is a favorite) or low sugar juice drink.

So next time you chug-a-lug your soda, think again.

#128: Power Failure

I couldn't use my computer today due to some power issue. I need a new one. Maybe this time a Mac is an option. Let's see.