Aja Lapus

Category: Me

  • Matt is Coming to Town

    WordCamp Philippines

    WordCamp Philippines 2008 is coming! And I have classes that day! It was really a tough decision to make, since I could have quizzes on the 6th of September 2008, which is a Saturday. I really can’t blame the Mindanao Bloggers who organized the event for the schedule. Besides, I really wanted to thank them for having set the event up. But, since Lexie told me, the hell I care, Matt Mullenweg is coming!

    I first heard about this from Shari. She was also planning a meet-up for Web Standards Philippines (a group we set up that has been a little bit neglected for some time because of school), and to finally meet me and Lexie. I do hope WSPh members would participate in this event as well, so as to talk about things, like how we could finally start the group formally. And, most importantly, how we could impart Web standards ideology and advocacy among other bloggers.

    So, yeah. I’ve just registered and this would serve as my fee for the event. In line with this, I present to you the sponsors of the event:

    Matt, will you sign my excuse letter? 😀

  • Blog’s Not Dead

    I’m just too damn busy with everything—organizing my life, school matters, a little bit of work, and, of course, play. Heh.

    For the past month, I’ve been back playing Ragnarok Online since my cousins told me LUG–pRO already has a free-to-play server. I remember the last time I played, Comodo is still new—and that was years ago. While I leave my merchant vending at Payon Town (170, 83), I chat, surf, check my mail, get updates on my online earnings, and download and watch the latest HD fansubbed episode of MS Gundam 00.

    I don’t know if I should blame this to my About page, but my professor in ECE 206, and the coach of UST ECE‘s GIQC team knows I have experience regarding quiz bees. He picked me as one of the team members. Help me God—I’m a bit rusty after 4 years without such mental pressure. And, now, it isn’t only about IT we’ll be dealing with like the last time I entered such contests.

    School itself has been tough, too. I’m just glad even though I couldn’t help but sleep on some—OK, almost all—of my lectures, I could still catch up on the lessons. I currently have a favorite major subject, which is rarely the situation as they are usually hardly fathomable. Guess what subject it is—yep, it’s Computer (Comp 304). Thanks to whoever taught me logic gates during high school. Now, I understand why 1 + 1 = 1 is true—you go figure. n_n

    I think I have one more month to go until I buy my first product of blogging. Earnings are coming steady at around US$200 per month. Should I call myself a problogger now? Not yet still, IMO. I believe I have to improve on my update frequency. Heh. Well, I’m planning to buy an ASUS Eee PC. I know two friends who already have their 4G version. I’m still waiting for the 8G’s release.

    Now, that’s the roundup of the last 1~2 months of my life. I hope I could get back to blogging more frequently. I haven’t even checked my bookmarks in about a month already. T_T

    Partial list of things to do:

    • Read updates within the last month from Engadget, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Slashdot, XKCD, etc.
    • Update my WordPress theme; minimize AdSense clutter—they don’t sell much anyway.
    • Update my WordPress installation—2.4 is coming soon and I’m still not on 2.3. o_O

  • Firefox 3 Gran Paradiso Beta

    Firefox 3, codename: Gran Paradiso, is the next generation browser from Mozilla based on the updated Gecko 1.9 layout engine. It includes many implementations of current, new and future standards, and is the first Gecko-based browser to be released to pass the Web Standards Project Acid2 browser test.

    I’ve been waiting for this version’s release months ago. But since I haven’t much time understanding code, and trying to help determining bugs and fixes to trunk/development builds, I opted to wait for its more stable beta release. The only problem is that my computer is out of reach during weekdays.[1] Tough luck.

    Hmm … since I just had my birthday, I really wish for someone to give me an ASUS Eee PC 8G that I could bring anywhere easily. I’d probably use it as a mobile blogging device and testing platform.

    I know, I know—I already have the new shoes, new JavaScript and AJAX book, and new model cars, among others—but, I really want to have the subnotebook.

    Anyways, I guess the review of the latest Firefox beta would just come later.[2] Just check out the Mozilla Developer News site for more info about the Firefox 3 beta release and how to download it.

    Footnotes:

    1. ^ I’m currently using my cousin’s computer to blog this.
    2. ^ Probably this coming weekend or next week.

    P.S.:

    Thanks to those who greeted me before, during and after my birthday. Here’s some link love (in almost chronological order): Marisse, Mini, Marlon, Tracy, Ate Mayie, Mama, Papa, My Princess, Hershey, Monina, the rest of my classmates, Thea, Bro, Ruiza, Cheng, Peyt, Marj, Shari, Tito Andre and family, Karissa, Dindin, Emilio, Izia, Maple, Auds, Kuya Mike, Ate Lei, Ubuntu Forums, Martha, my uncles, aunts and cousins from QC, Bezy, and Lyka. Tell me if I forgot you, my SIM‘s message memory got wiped out accidentally, and my IM isn’t set to archive messages.

  • E-mushiness: Ham or Spam?

    I have posted here interesting things I’ve received as spam, but nothing seems to get close to appear ham like this one. It was nevertheless caught by my spam filter, but its idea is so unusual, I just can’t let it pass. It even has a companion Web site that looks legitimate.

    Quoting the full message (it’s quite long, by the way):

    A man is trying a very unusual way to propose to his girlfriend. He wants people to forward an email to as many people as possible and he hopes that it will eventually get to his girlfriend. Details here: http://www.proposal-to-mary.com

    Here is what he wants people to send by email:

    You could help me a lot to spread my proposal to Mary – it is important that it is distributed as widely as possible so that it eventually reaches Mary. If you would like to support my proposal to Mary, please send the following text by email to a lot of people 🙂

    ————- SNIP (email text follows) —————

    WHEN YOU RECEIVE THIS, PLEASE HELP TO DISTRIBUTE IT TO OTHER PEOPLE!

    For a long time I have tried to find a special way to propose marriage to my girlfriend Mary, whom I know for five years now. I wanted it very special, romantic and memorable, something our grandchildren would still remember.

    And here is my idea: I will send out the proposal to Mary to 50 complete strangers, people I don’t know – hoping, that they will forward my proposal to many people, which in turn forward it again etc. And some day, I hope, it will reach Mary, after it has travelled a very long way. I know, it will take a long time and I am quite nervous…

    From the poem MY Mary will know immediately that the proposal is for her.

    I have created a homepage (http://www.proposal-to-mary.com) where you can find the current status of my quest. You can use the homepage to check if the proposal has already reached Mary (in that case it is not necessary anymore to forward the mail).

    Once the proposal has reached Mary, I will put a note on these pages. Also I will publish there how many people have read the proposal so that everybody can see how far it has spread and that it is getting closer to Mary.

    And of course you will find there what I am waiting for most: Mary’s answer! I can’t tell you, how nervous I am… Will she accept my proposal? Will she like the unusual way how she got it, through the hands of thousands of messengers all over the world?

    Please cross your fingers for me! And please – help me by sending the mail to your friends to help it spread, so that it eventually reaches Mary.

    And here is my proposal:

    Mary, please forgive me, as you know English is not my native language. And I am not a poet. But I mean it from my heart.

    My angel,

    Five years ago, I will always remember the day
    When fate made us meet, blissful Alaskan moments in May
    Earth spun around us and a journey began
    Love, warmth, happiness, enough the years to span.

    The longer it lasts the more grows our bond
    And with 80 still – of you I will be fond
    Whatever happens, I will stay at your side
    Through good and bad, together let us stride

    No second with you was ever wasted
    You are the sweetest I have ever tasted
    We have spent so many years – why not a life?
    Mary, will you marry me – and become my wife?

    Mary, if you have received that and have recognized me, then give me a sign so that I can continue with the romantic part of my proposal…

    ————- SNIP (email text end) —————

    I do have one friend named Mary, though I can’t see any connections she may have with this German from the United States … or is there, Maple? Heh.

    Anyway, the site claims it makes no money from this, and I could agree—it doesn’t direct emails to a central address, which may then be a harvester, nor does it serve ads on the site.

    So … what do you think? Is this proposal to Mary a real case of e-mushiness, or just a publicity stunt? Or maybe just a new way of creating chain mail that people are (probably) more likely to send? Would you help this seemingly romantic man, if you think other than skepticism? Tell me on the comments below. 🙂

  • No Windows, No QWERTY

    After more than a decade of computing experience, and being stuck with Microsoft Windows along with the QWERTY keyboard layout, my non-conforming self just wanted to be different.

    I’ve learned about Linux[1] years ago (ca. late 1990s), but, even though I was interested to see one running, I was hesitant to try because I was neither a programmer, nor a techie back then. So, open-source applications you compile before you execute, command line interfaces, and gzipped tarballs, among others, were still some things I fear to tinker with.

    Now that easy-to-use Linux distros, such as Ubuntu, have been available, nothing could stop me anymore. Besides, with a more secure system, a much cooler desktop environment, and a free[2] license, who could ask for more?

    The transition to Ubuntu was painless, except for the loss of my favorite text editor, EditPlus, which probably is the only software besides Mozilla Firefox I’d die without. But, I’m trying to learn GNU Emacs anyway. Hopefully, I’d feel more geeky using it. I’ve also tried command line installation of some software,[3] but I must admit Synaptic Package Manager is easier even compared to Windows installers.

    On the other hand, I couldn’t remember when I’ve learned about the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout since I love reading about a wide range of information almost anytime I am not busy with anything. I didn’t care much about it back then, because I thought I did not have the proper hardware. After reading much about health, world records, language, and technological history, as well as software developers (all those topics are related, btw), I became interested with the DSK.

    When I said those topics are related, I meant it. On the subject of health and RSIs, DSK has been said to minimize, if not eliminate, hand discomfort by incorporating a layout designed to lessen hand/wrist movements, which I hopefully experience once I get used to it. World records show that the fastest typing speed of 212 wpm is being held by Barbara Blackburn on a DSK. I’ve measured my peak on a QWERTY at 59 wpm,[4] and I aim to reach higher speeds. Dr. August Dvorak, the inventor, researched letter frequency on the English language to make a more efficient keyboard layout. History proved the (almost) one and a half century old typing layout, QWERTY, difficult to displace, but two famous software developers, Matt Mullenweg and Bram Cohen, whose products I use and love,[5] use DSK.

    So, I made mine DSK, as well. And, it’s hunt-and-peck all over again! Oh, I so love challenging myself.

    Footnotes:

    1. ^ And, Tux, its cute penguin mascot.
    2. ^ As in freedom.
    3. ^ Just for experience, and the fun of it.
    4. ^ Measured using Typeonline Speed test without mistakes.
    5. ^ WordPress and the BitTorrent protocol, respectively.

    P.S.:

    I actually tried to remember my own history with computers as I write this blog entry. Though it remains unclear, I still remember using the Norton Commander text user interface to play DOS-based games probably even before I’ve been to Windows 3.1x—and that was a long, long time ago. I typed this entry using DSK within the span of 48 hours. Tedious, but I’m starting to forget QWERTY, which I don’t know whether it is a good or a bad thing. Heh.