I didn’t realize I have writer’s block until I decided to write a few entries in my blog. Well, one of the ways I know of getting over said block is to keep writing, even if it doesn’t make sense, although one can hope it does. I sure hope so.

One of the things that keep popping up into mind, which reminds me to install a pop-up blocker up there, is the socio-economic status of most of my fellow Filipinos. Everything revolves around money, and I can’t fault them for that simply because my world revolves around it too, though not as tight of a grip it has on others.

The truth is, the Philippines is a poor country. Most of the people live in sub-humane conditions. More people are out begging in the streets if statistics are compared year-over-year.

There are a number of possible causes as to why the country’s condition continues to deteriorate. One of the ones I can think of is overpopulation. The city is bursting at the seams with too many people. But then again, you can’t fault people for that. The Filipinos’ favorite line quoted from scripture is “go forth and multiply.” And with a predominantly Catholic country that encourages sex, well, you can’t argue with that. The meaning of morality, however, is lost. The Church might be partially to blame for this as they keep a firm stand on contraception. And please, don’t get me started with abortion. Also, people can’t help it. We’re humans. We will fuck. And fuck the consequences, it feels good. It’s a fact, AND a truth.

But the consequences are real, like unemployment, overcrowding, and poverty. The more people you have in one place, the more the place needs to scale to provide for those people. Also, the more people there is, the more garbage gets produced, the more plastic gets manufactured, disposed improperly, and impacts the fucking environment.

So essentially, I’m not blaming people for fucking around with the devil-may-care attitude towards un/wanted pregnancies and STDs. Let their genitals fall off, see if I care. And people who want big families with no particular plan on how to raise them is, in Baddie’s words, “just begging for some face-kicking.”

Yes, people are stupid. No exceptions. It’s a fact, AND a truth.

But some people are more stupid than others. Like those people who voted AND will be voting again for the same dickhole that had his hand caught in the cookie jar. I’m looking at you, Erap supporters.

The solution I am proposing is for politicians to have a heart transplant. Get a new heart with responsibility, accountability, and transparency bundled in. I heard the price was half-off. It now only costs half a moral sense. Also, you get a free moral compass if you buy now. Promo ends just the moment before you realize you’re going to die.

Seriously, though, here’s what I think would help, if not solve, the Philippines’s problems with unemployment and poverty. (Fuck overcrowding. I like brushing up to greasy, sweaty, smelly men in public transportation.) And this would also help make the country a little bit greener in the end.

Recycling Plant. Two words that might get some of the shit done on the epic to-do list for the country’s improvement, and might be noticed by other countries and be used as a revenue-generating model for other developing countries.

So how does this work? I’ll tell you how. Fuck. I’ve been watching too much of Craig Ferguson lately that I’m starting to think like him. Bad or not, I don’t mind.

So it works like this. You get someone to fund the government… wait… I think it just failed there. Oh fuck it. Since this is my blog, entries can be fictional.

So in my world, which has cheap gadgets and without a corrupt government official, other entities, sentient beings or otherwise, will provide funding to the government to build a big-ass recycling plant. This will provide jobs for the construction industry. And why stop at just one plant. When it picks up and is self-sustaining, construct more recycling plants as needed. By the country or by the world, it doesn’t matter. People will still be consuming stuff, dumping stuff, etc. These stuff need recycling. To motivate people to segregate trash for recycling and proper disposal, every one who does just that gets thru the day without being kicked in the face. Good enough? No? Okay. Everyone who does this will get to kick those who didn’t in the face. How’s that for motivation? *wink*

Of course, plants need workers. And no, robots shouldn’t be employed to simplify the process. No offense to the future robot overlords, but this is self-preservation, nothing personal. Besides, people are becoming overweight anyway. Humans need the exercise. So employ as many hobos as needed, even the coffee machine guy. Salaries will be paid commensurate to the amount of work output. No executives here with bloated salaries and “special” bonuses. Fuck you and your status fuckin quo.

For this to work, scientists will have to come up with a way on properly disposing both biodegradable and recyclable stuff. I heard plastics can be made into carpets. Whatever, just make something from crap. Investors should also foot the bill on this one.

Now, why will investors put their money on something without getting guaranteed of a return on their investment? How about I put my foot up their ass? No? Too much extortion? Okay. Well, whatever is recycled should be sold to some other industry. This is where the marketing industry comes in. This should create a positive cash flow simply because the raw materials / recyclables costs next to nothing. Investment returns are assured. The question is how soon. Outside my world, if this plan ever came this far, there is no return of investment. Aren’t you glad you’re in my world?

This plan addresses some of the employment deficit, hopes to alleviate poverty, and make the country a little cleaner, greener. This plan is not new, but in my world, it works. My world looks better than the real one. If only the government would start listening to its people instead of their own voice, things would be a lot different.

Hey, Noynoy, Villar, and other presidentiables (except Erap)! Are you listening?!

I dreamt of flying chickens.

No, that’s not the weird part.

Their eyes weren’t the usual small, chicken-y eyes. They were as big as a humans. Their feathers were colored, not the usual white, or brown, or whatever you call those colors, but it was bright yellow, blue, red, and orange. One by one, they landed on rooftops of two-storey houses, mostly my neighbors across the street. They landed on their four legs, two attached to each thigh. Their wings had hand-shaped flaps that they can control individually. And yes, its plural. Most of them had two hand-shaped flaps on each wing. Their leader, I presume, had three on each. I presumed it was their leader since it was the last to land. And it waved at me as I hung out at my gate, staring in awe.

Then I woke up.

It was just too much of a weird thing for me to handle. And as I write this, the dream slowly fades into oblivion. But before I got up out of bed and started writing, a few thoughts came to my mind.

First, I thought it was evolution, that this is what chickens will look like after a period of time. I wasn’t expecting it to happen in my lifetime, but there it was. But then, I remembered of J.J. Abrams and what he’s doing with his TV show, Fringe. If you haven’t seen an episode yet, please see one now. Anyway, the chickens were a failed experiment by KFC trying to breed mutant chickens that had more wings and legs. To produce cheaper chicken wings and legs. Yeah, one of those conspiracy theories. Of course, KFC will deny the claims and would try to cover it up. But the chickens were able to escape. Enter Agent Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, and the mad scientist, Dr. Walter Bishop, Peter’s father.

It was like I was dreaming an upcoming episode of Fringe. A shiver suddenly ran up my spine as I thought Mr. Abrams thinking exactly the same thing I was. That I dreamt what he was dreaming. And that Fringe is, actually, true and happening right now. After all, science fiction is based on fact. But later, I dismissed it with a shrug. Yeah. Right. Like J.J. Abrams would think of put flying chickens in his show. Like I’m special enough to have witnessed how his creative mind works. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m plain ol’ vanilla.

And then this got me thinking about the latest Heroes episode. Hiro going back in time to undo the wrongs he had committed in the past is practically a big retcon, like trying to save Charlie in season one by going back six months in the past (lets peg this timeline with Charlie-6M). This time, he goes back three years in the past (this timeline with Charlie-3Y). What I think will happen in the next episode will be Hiro trying to keep joy and dignity alive in the life of a terminal Charlie-3Y recently finding out of her illness, thereby giving the Hiro that will try to save Charlie-6M the chance to fall in love with him (again? maybe?).

Confusing, I know. My head hurt, that’s why I got up out of bed and started writing all this down here.

I should be sleeping right now (I work nights), and I’m slowly realizing how pathetic my life is. That thinking about TV shows’ upcoming episodes take up most of my waking hours. I think I need a new hobby.

Here’s something that I would like to have before I die, but financial and economic status is cockblocking me from doing so.

So what’s new to the table? For starters, there’s a 16.1 megapixel APS-H CMOS sensor, ISO range of100 to 12,800 native, up to 102,400, 45-point area customizable autofocus with 39 high-precision cross-type focusing points, dual Digic 4 processors, 1080p HD video, and an option WFT-E2 IIA wireless file transmitter for connectivity over 802.11a/b/g and ethernet. – from Engadget

Totally ball-worthy.

ball-worthy, adj. to give a testicle to something that is worthy of its sacrifice.

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WANT.

One of 25 Off The Wall custom kicks.

(via Holy Kaw! from Pop-ology)

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Can't. Stop. Staring.

(via noisyman)

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Apple recently acknowledged and offered condolences and their sympathies to one of Foxconn’s employees that committed “suicide” a few weeks ago. Foxconn, as some may have already known, is the manufacturer of Apple’s market-shaking device, the iPhone.

Normally, I would let this type of news simply blow-over without even batting an eyelash, but this recent news from Engadget has compelled my inner conspiracy theorist into overdrive and now I must share my delusion. With all due respect, this is not a post to humor the victim or their families. This is, pure and simple, a speculation of sorts.

Anyway.

A young male Foxconn employee initially received 16 prototypes, and after a few days, one went missing. He reported it to his employer, and it was all downhill from there. His house was searched without warrant, was detained, and allegedly, abused. Soon after, the young man jumps to his death from his apartment window. The apparent reason was, of course, the loss of an iPhone prototype that may have been slated for next year. It was all a rumor then, until an Apple spokesperson confirmed the incident.

“We are saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee, and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death,” Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet told CNET on Tuesday. “We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity and respect.” (Source)

Everything is vague at this point, but the news from Engadget about this incident made me dig more. The Hon Hai Group, a company with a 72 percent stake in Foxconn, suspended and turned over to Chinese government authorities a security official suspected of harassing the suicide victim.

Alarm bells, I hear them ringing. If I were an employee in a company that allows me to be a witness, front and center, to new technologies that may shake up the market and start a new golden age of technology, I would never fuck around with something as mundane as stealing a prototype that, in time, will be changed radically before it is released publicly. A prototype is a proof-of-concept, at best. And although it may see the light of day of being mass produced, there’s still the off-chance that it will be shelved permanently. It’s not worth it. And to commit suicide simply because douchebags who consider an Apple partnership is more important than an employee’s self-worth? Fuck that. Being a young man at the forefront of technology is something to regard highly, especially at these challenging times. Nope. I call foul play in this “suicide” case.

Apple should reiterate with their manufacturing partners that devious tactics in keeping NDA’s enforced will have consequences. Of course, Apple nor Foxconn will admit that someone got killed because of a lost iPhone prototype. It’s just plastic and silicon, for crying out loud. I suspect the next headline that will NOT be published will be that the family of the “suicide” victim gets very-well compensated to keep them from talking.

I can almost smell a movie off of this case.

Related Reading:
Chinese Employee Commits Suicide Over Lost iPhone Prototype [Switched]
Apple confirms and expresses sadness over death of Chinese iPhone prototype handler [Engadget]
Apple confirms death of iPhone worker in China [CNET]
Security Guard Arrested in iPhone Suicide Case [Switched]
Security official suspended, turned over to authorities in apparent connection to Foxconn employee’s suicide [Engadget]

Earlier today, Google announced that it will start, or has started, developing an operating system dubbed Chrome OS. The web giant finally confirmed the rumors that have been floating around for a long time.

Last September of 2008, Michael Arrington of TechCrunch stated that Google Chrome, the browser, is going to be the future of the operating system and that it will be a Windows killer. I agreed with his statement, but not entirely, since an operating is more than just software, or in this case, a browser, running on a computer.

But still, it quite made sense, especially when Google introduced Android, the operating system for mobile phones. Android ports for MIDs, netbooks, and other devices started popping up everywhere on the web. I thought to myself that Google has done it without everyone noticing that they released their operating system for computers. One can only imagine how I felt when I read the announcement in Google’s blog of Google Chrome OS.

The announcement indicated that the new operating system will be fast, lightweight, and secure. That, in any case, is the holy trinity of what makes a great operating system.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. (SOURCE)

First off, let’s differentiate Android with Google Chrome OS. Android was developed with mobile phones in mind. Chrome OS is going to be developed for computers, netbooks, AND smartbooks. If a netbook, with low processing power and a single core, can boot up a Linux distro in 10 seconds, how would a Core i7 computer fare with the same distro? I. KNOW. RIGHT?

This made me wonder how I would develop Chrome OS if I was given the chance. An operating system, to my understanding, consists of two parts: a kernel, and applications. There is no doubt that a Linux kernel will be used, since it is one of the most readily available kernels going around. First part of the OS: DONE. As for the applications, one that would allow me to run Chrome without any hitches, I would then need a robust, yet lightweight GUI or window manager. There are a number of options here: xfce, fluxbox, blackbox, window maker, etc. GNOME and KDE are out of the question since both window managers are a lot heavier than the previously mentioned WMs. Xubuntu comes to mind, since it is Ubuntu using xfce as the window manager instead of GNOME.

Anyway, another factor that should be considered is how to make Chrome, the browser, work in Linux. Pre-alpha and Alpha releases of the browser are showing a lot of promise with regards to speed and stability. I’ve tested the Pre-alpha of Chrome in Linux and it simply is fast. Making Chrome work in Linux is one thing. Making Chrome work WITH PLUGINS is another. So far, Chrome for Linux still doesn’t have support for Flash, nor Silverlight. And with rich Internet applications relying heavily on one of those two plugins, it’s going to be one heck of an obstacle. And Chrome, the browser, has to be updated for HTML 5 support, to be able to do what Firefox 3.5 is capable of. To make it future-ready, in other words.

A question that bugged me was if the new operating system will support external devices, such as cameras, external drives, and mp3 players, or simply put, “will it be able to detect, support, and give me options to sync my iPod/iPhone?” Maybe not initially, since Google will be focusing first on netbooks and devices that rely more on cloud services. I respectfully think that they should, and I sincerely hope they would. And it maybe sooner than I might think, since Debian, as far as I know, is including support for installing and running Android apps.

All in all, Google’s operating system, Chrome OS, has been a long time coming. And based on the company’s track record for releasing quality products, it’s going to be one heck of a wait that is well worth it.

Other worthwhile reads:
Google Chrome: Redefining The Operating System [TechCrunch: Michael Arrington]
Google Drops A Nuclear Bomb On Microsoft. And It’s Made of Chrome. [TechCrunch: MG Siegler]
Google Releasing Chrome Operating System [Lifehacker: Kevin Purdy]
Google announces Chrome OS, coming to netbooks second half of 2010 [Engadget: Ross Miller]

I recently decided to reinstall my operating systems, both XP and the recently-released Ubuntu 9.04 codenamed Jaunty Jackalope. The main reason for doing this was the release of Jaunty and that XP was getting sluggish because of all the bloat of the updates I was installing unknowingly.

At first, I tried installing Vista lite, the one that floated around the torrents and is a stripped-down version of Vista Ultimate that fits in a single CD. It was fast, but after a few updates it went sluggish and started warning me that my copy might be a pirated one. Heh.

I then proceeded to install the 64-bit version of Jaunty, letting Vista lite sit in there for a while. I ran into an issue where grub, a Linux boot manager/loader, wasn’t able to find the Jaunty installation, so I decided to reinstall it and made sure I installed grub in the hard-drive where Jaunty is also installed. It worked, and after a few minutes of tweaking Jaunty, I decided to check out my Vista lite install. Grub started spewing error messages one after another basically telling me that it can’t load my Vista lite installation. After doing some fixes that I know of, it left me frustrated.

This issue wouldn’t have happened if my IDE drive had a jumper that placed it in Master mode. I don’t know how it happened, but I lost that jumper and was running my operating systems while the IDE drive was in Slave mode. I decided to make a jumper of my own so I can set my hard drive to Master. It worked. I then decided to reformat and reinstall my legal copy of XP as I realized that Vista lite was going to cause me trouble in the long run.

After loading all the drivers for my desktop, and making sure I installed all the software I needed, I then proceeded to install Jaunty Jackalope, but this time, I decided to use the 32-bit version, because Adobe AIR apps, and more particularly, Adobe AIR, still has issues running 32-bit libraries installed in a 64-bit environment. I simply just can’t let go of my AIR apps. Maybe in a few months, Adobe AIR gets updated and have 64-bit libraries for 64-bit Ubuntu releases. Here’s me hoping Adobe does something about it.

For now, all is quite well, and so far, Jaunty is living up to the hype of being a more performance-oriented release of the much loved Ubuntu distro. Hats off to Canonical for another great release.

A week passed by with me not exerting any obvious effort to go online and check my social network sites and updates. Well, it was almost no effort as I checked in once, just once, using my mobile phone but not bothering to post any status updates. Now that I’m back online and on an almost regular update schedule as I’m still trying to shake off the cobwebs of a week-long and very unproductive vacation that hampers any ability to get back into the groove of a working corporate drone, some interesting, non-work related stuff happened while I was away.

TV Shows
As I am very delighted, and grateful, that Fringe is back with its 15th episode and that they will continue its first season with 22 episodes in its roster, Kings and Dollhouse suffered their respective setbacks as the networks decided to give them the axe. But of course, you already knew that. The reason for the axing was the low ratings it received. Considering the shows’ timeslots, I’m not surprised. Although I wish Kings gets picked up by HBO. I’m a little bit indifferent with Dollhouse. Good for them if the axe gets stayed, but I really couldn’t care less if it doesn’t as the show doesn’t really present any oomph story-wise. At least, for me. Whedon might have something up his sleeve, but all anyone can do is wait.

Comic Books
Batman: Battle for the Cowl issue 2 of 3 is out, so is Green Lantern #39, with the former having great art and story and the latter raising a lot of questions and has become very intriguing.

Intrigue goes up a notch as to who will eventually replace Bruce Wayne as Batman, and I would very much like the idea of Dick Grayson taking up the mantle, however reluctant he may be. In my opinion, he really has no choice but to become Batman, even though he failed in his first outing and let Azrael become Bats. And Tim is just too young and too inexperienced to replace Bruce Wayne.

As for Hal Jordan wielding two power rings of different colors, it really is intriguing to see how it plays out as the writers have added politics into the mix, with the Guardians becoming control freaks more than they were already. I became quite confused, though, on how Agent Orange functions and its corps. It’s not quite clear, but it will be soon enough, just in time for Blackest Night #1.

I’m still eagerly awaiting the conclusion to Neil Gaiman’s Whatever Happened to The Caped Crusader story arc. It will definitely give closure to the question on everyone’s mind, or at least mine. Would it bring Bruce Wayne back to DC continuity, only one can speculate. Okay, I can only speculate. I know other fans have more information about this, but I wouldn’t want to spoil the intrigue that’s been brewing since Final Crisis #6 and the last page of #7.

Miscellany
A friend lost a relative, to whom my condolences go to. Another friend finally took a path that hopefully leads to a better tomorrow. All I can do for him is hope. All he needs to do is get over it and focus and what he thinks is important. Both friends can be assured that this observer is here if ever they need someone to listen.

Back to Reality
It has been a week that I was away from work, and never, not even once, did I think about it. Now that I’m back at work, it’s been quite a challenge for me to get back into the groove I was in before my week-long sabbatical, but I’m slowly, reluctantly, getting there.

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend, or whatever atheists call it. Oh right, they call it a weekend.

A brief background of Adobe AIR
AIR is Adobe‘s way of merging the web and the desktop by letting application developers distribute their, well, applications without thinking about the platform. Applications developed using AIR runs on all platforms, and I mean ALL platforms. For Adobe to release AIR and making it available on all platforms makes the company admirable, almost noble, in my eyes. What makes them look like evil pigs is that they don’t want to release their other applications, specifically Creative Suite, in a Linux-flavored version, though I don’t know why or how it can be so hard to do since OS X is Unix-based already and they have a version for the said operating system. For me, this is another revenue stream Adobe is deliberately neglecting. I mean, we all know operating systems such as Windows and OS X costs a pretty penny, and Adobe software is not different. In not-so-good times, people are looking for cheap, or free, alternatives. A free operating system is a godsend for bargain-hunters, and free software more so.

Remember the Task
Remember The Task is an AIR app that lets you add, edit, and mark tasks in your Remember The Milk task list. As you may well know, Remember The Milk is a web app that lets you manage your tasks. It is far better than GMail’s Tasks feature, though I hope that someday, GMail’s Tasks will allow importing and exporting tasks between the two web services, and vice versa. However, if you have added the RTM gadget in GMail, the app essentially lifted that same gadget and simply put it on your desktop. Simple, familiar, and super-useful for those wanting to deviate from the browser every once in a while.

MePing
Ping.fm‘s web service, which lets you update social network services with your status updates and microblog posts, is something I consider very indispensable. It makes it very easy for me to update all my social networks in one go. MePing lets you use Ping.fm’s web service without a browser, and so far, it is the better looking AIR app that I have seen amongst other Ping.fm-related AIR apps. The only thing lacking in this AIR app is a notification that tells you that your message has been posted. Another feature that might be a good addition would be the capability to post videos, in addition to uploading pictures and adding geolocation information. Those familiar with Ping.fm’s service will surely be comfortable using this AIR app.

twhirl
twhirl is one of the apps I immediately launch after logging in on my desktop. It has support for various microblogging services like Twitter, Friendfeed, and the Twitter-clone Identi.ca, among others. It basically helps me keep up with the various updates on services I currently subscribe to. Other services that I wish twhirl adds in the near future would be Facebook updates, which resides in a walled garden, and Plurk updates, which doesn’t have an official API. If twhirl adds those two services, which is when hell freezes over, there will be no need for me to log in to those services using a browser, except for account settings-related reasons.

Primarily, I use Ubuntu as my weapon of choice. I seldom log in to my Windows install. These AIR apps help ease the transition from using Windows to Linux for those wanting to save a few bucks with their operating system, at least, in my opinion. Hopefully, Adobe’s AIR let people break away from proprietary operating systems and consider better and cheaper alternatives. “It doesn’t run on Linux” shouldn’t be used as an excuse. Not anymore.