The Facebook - Micheal Phelps Relationship
The Baltimore native swimmer Micheal Phelps along with NBC, has been giving facebook.com a lot of mentions lately after his historic 8 gold winnings. I think one of the first questions Bob Costas asked Phelps was something after mentioning how he has surpassed Obama, among other huge brands/names on facebook. Then in another interview Micheal Phelps brought up how he's receiving friend request from former schoolmates that disrespected him then and what not. So now I guess facebook is returning the favor by making an announcement box on top of everybody's newsfeed congratulating Phelps (and a ll the U.S athletes).
Couple of great movie quotes
I remembered the scene in A Beautiful Mind in which Nash and Alicia were chillen under a tree. I thought it was very funny and wish more people can be as direct lol. It goes something like:
Nash: I find that polishing my interactions in order to make them sociable requires a tremendous effort. I have a tendency to expedite information flow by being direct. Often I don't get a good result.
Alicia: Try me.
Nash: I find you very attractive. Your aggressive moves toward me indicate you feel the same. Still ritual requires that we continue a number of platonic activities before we can have intercourse. But all I really want to do is have sex with you as soon as possible. Are you going to slap me now?
Alicia: (kisses Nash in the mouth): How was that result?
And then, recently I finished watching Into the Wild. Some nice quotes from that movie I thought were:
"When you forgive, you love."
"Happiness only real when shared."
Nash: I find that polishing my interactions in order to make them sociable requires a tremendous effort. I have a tendency to expedite information flow by being direct. Often I don't get a good result. Alicia: Try me.
Nash: I find you very attractive. Your aggressive moves toward me indicate you feel the same. Still ritual requires that we continue a number of platonic activities before we can have intercourse. But all I really want to do is have sex with you as soon as possible. Are you going to slap me now?
Alicia: (kisses Nash in the mouth): How was that result?
And then, recently I finished watching Into the Wild. Some nice quotes from that movie I thought were:
"When you forgive, you love."
- The old man Ron Franz
"Happiness only real when shared."
- Chris wrote in a book as he was about to die.
Now I don't how important it is to forgive and love someone, but I think it's definitely true. The one Chris wrote about happiness being real only when shared is true too. The whole movie was given you the idea that you can be happy in solitude. The lesson is that no, happiness is only real when shared. I thought that was brilliant. I kind of wished (and still think) one can be happy in solitude. Just maybe not for long.
Plurk: An anti-micro blogger’s perspective
Here's a nice and balanced review of the new micro-blogging service Plurk I came across by google's blog search of plurk. Just felt like xposting my comment on the review here as well: I love plurk even though I dislike twitter or just never got the big deal with twitter. I find it confusing.I also don't care about the Karma system. I try to plurk for myself really, I am still not sure who to invite. In part because I don't have many so called "friends" and I'm not sure how I'll feel about people I see and know personally stalking me. So when I plurk, it has to be slightly interesting for me at least.I feel it is also time wasting but doesn't that depend on how bored/boring you are. I know I had activities like reading blogs, digg, youtube, etc all on the back burner back when I had classes granted I procrastinate with all those things but on my own will. I do wish the plurks of people could be more interesting for those time wasting sessions where I browse the site. I really wished there's a search feature with RSS capabilities. Something like tweetscan. Also wish a person doesn't have to be friends with someone to send a private plurk to or at least leave that up to the user. Like you said the positives do outweigh those negatives. Especially extending relationships. Now I can see real benefits of adding your friends, heck, the thing is almost useless without them. I do wish plurk will communicate with it's users better. There's a comment-disabled blog and a contact form that you never get feedback from. Come to think of it, that's how facebook operates even though facebook's learning and now involving the users from the beginning (ie the upcoming profile changes have a facebook page with weekly updates). The creator of Plurk, Amix, did create todoist.com which uses http://todoist.uservoice.com which I just love, so maybe we'll see a http://plurk.uservoice.com some day.read more | digg story
Summer 2008 Movies To See
Mongol | June 6, 2008 (Status: Nevermind, I'll wait till it comes to netflix)
You Don't Mess with the Zohan | June 6, 2008 (Status: watched, it was eh)
Get Smart | June 20, 2008 (Status: not sure anymore... netflix maybe)
Love Guru | June 20, 2008 (Status: nevermind, hear a lot of bad things about this one)
Hancock | July 2, 2008
Dark Knight | July 18, 2008
Bangkok Dangerous | August 22, 2008
College | August 29, 2008
I don't know if I'll be able to watch them all but I will sure love to.
Last Saturday of the Spring 2008 Semester
Today turned out to be fun actually. I had brunch with my good friend Territa who's getting ready to graduate. We talked about things, life, etc.
Then I went out to Patapsco Valley Park with my old Grad School boss Nick Yeates. and I've experienced the true outdoors: running through the woods across a muddy terrain, jumping across water streams/falls. It was a new and fun experience. I was barely able to keep up though I did, haven't exercised in a month or so.
We stopped by his and my old professor - Roy Rada's house which was somewhat interesting in that he gave me a C and thus I now have to retake that damn annoying IS300 class. But I balled up my feelings and enjoyed a beautiful view of Baltimore on his rather large properties. They had a huge back yard, an abandoned bathhouse/shack, it was wild. Now I'm back chillen, trying to study for an Accounting Final that does not matter.
Loved this quote from the movie:
You haven't me yourself yet, but the advantage of meeting others in the meantime, is that one of them may present you to yourself. Examine the nature of everything you observe.
and also this about the nature of the universe + time from the last scene I believe:
There's only one instance - it's right now, it's eternity. An instance in which god is posing a question... do you want to be one with eternity? Do you want to go to heaven? We're all saying nnnno thank you, not just yet... so time is this constant saying no to god's invitation. That's what time is. Narrative of everyone's life. Moving from the no to the yes... Visit to the life of the dead in a dream.
04.06.2008
Been busy this spring semester. Work, Classes, Work, Classes, Work, short ass weekend, repeat the process. Not to mention my lost of interest in studying. I seriously have a hard time reading assigned materials, it's just pointless. But I have no choice, I got to stay in school, graduate, and pay off these stressful loans I keep taking.
Went to the gym and ran 2.22 miles in 18 minutes! The exclamation point is for that being my best time as of late. I think I averaged 22-24 minutes in the past. Felt good and lightheaded afterwards. Also got on the bike just to past time afterwards. All this before a spending a little bit of time in the weight room. It was either gym or accounting. Accounting sucks, I have no one to help me and it's my worst subject. I might want to drop it and take it at a community college over the summer. Even though I had plenty of time to attack some accounting homework, I passed that up instead to watch Shanghai Kiss, a surprisingly pretty good movie via Netflix Instantly Play feature. Also ordered a small hunan beef with some teriyakis. A pretty good day today.
Also caved and resubscribed to deviantArt for another year. I was upset with the way the company handle itself (still am) but for whatever reason, I am now resubscribed.
Went to the gym and ran 2.22 miles in 18 minutes! The exclamation point is for that being my best time as of late. I think I averaged 22-24 minutes in the past. Felt good and lightheaded afterwards. Also got on the bike just to past time afterwards. All this before a spending a little bit of time in the weight room. It was either gym or accounting. Accounting sucks, I have no one to help me and it's my worst subject. I might want to drop it and take it at a community college over the summer. Even though I had plenty of time to attack some accounting homework, I passed that up instead to watch Shanghai Kiss, a surprisingly pretty good movie via Netflix Instantly Play feature. Also ordered a small hunan beef with some teriyakis. A pretty good day today.
Also caved and resubscribed to deviantArt for another year. I was upset with the way the company handle itself (still am) but for whatever reason, I am now resubscribed.
March Madness 2008
Been on my week-long spring break since Friday. My school had a televised game the next day and they rocked their opponent and went on to win their first America East tourney and got their first bid to the NCAA tourney. And so the madness began. In previous seasons, I've been a casual fan, enjoying the tourney and what not. This year, I took it to a whole nother level. I am seriously addicted to college basketball right now. I tivoed the whole game, uploaded a few clips, and constantly on the look out of any mention of UMBC everywhere. My brother seemed a bit annoyed but hey, I like this feeling. It's going to pass soon so I might as well live in the moment and enjoy it. If I had any friends, I will be willing to take a road trip down to Raleigh NC to watch my Retrievers live. They are taking on a household name: The #2 seeded Georgetown Hoyas. Seeded at #15, we are definitely a humongous under dog. When the so called experts make their predictions, they don't even look at us. Even G'town is barely mentioned. It's all good though, I have a good feeling. I think I mentally prepared myself for them to loose, although after watching them dominate like they did, and watching a few G'town games including their loss to Pitt in the big east title game, I think we have a chance. Well, enough talking, I thought I post my bracket before the first game gets underway.
Facebook makes the amount of friends you have more relevant
Facebook makes the amount of friends you have more relevant now by showing it under your profile picture. It doesn't even allow you to remove it, not that I mind. But I think this promote the popularity aspect of social networks like myspace. Not like you can't previously see this number but it took a few extra links.
Digg's Founder Kevin Rose No Longer Has 100% Popular Ratio!
Facebook Search Now Has A Button
A very minor change I know. You previously had to press enter when searching, and so I think this is a nice small update by the designers. In other facebook news, Mark is becoming quiet the Hollywood celeb. TMZ is now all over him (via Valleywag). Also, be on the look out for a "friend suggest" feature on facebook perhaps similar to something like last.fm's neighbors (via allfacebook). But seeing how this hasn't even made it to their dawdling "In The Works" section of the what's new page, doubt it'll be anytime soon.
Super Bowl XLII Ads 2008
Pepsi: Justin Timberlake (01:03)
Victoria's Secret: In the Mood for Love (00:33)
PepsiMax: Baby Don't Hurt Me (01:03)
There's a lot more of course, but you have to be registered at hulu.com. But because hulu is not available outside the U.S. or if you don't feel like registering, you can watch them at myspace.com/superbowlads. AOL has them as well.
Facebook's Server Room
1. Largest production memcached install?
read more | digg story
Lovely Faces in The Dark
I was doing my own thing, then I took a break in the middle of vectoring. While browsing on deviantArt, I happened to revisit the talented Mireille (aka Colourfool) and her piece titled "Blue Ice." It's been a while since I saw it. Then I noticed how similar their poses are. I liked Blue Ice so much that I can't quit staring at it, and now it's my wallpaper. So I was inspired and I tried to extend the black background to see if I can get a similar effect. It was a fun little experiment. The original image reference I found randomly and have no idea who the lovely lady is (anybody knows?).
Two Seasons of Dexter is 20 Straight Hours of Great Entertainment
That's right, I've been watching Showtime's masterpiece Dexter for almost 20 hours straight, although I had to put in meager amount of sleep in the process. I saw Dexter's DVD covers all over the internet for a while, nothing attractive, just a smiling guy, heck I though it was something from the 80's. I payed it no mind, the title reminded me of Dexter's Lab, ah, those were the good old days of my teenage years. I even read the description on netflix and still passed. It wasn't until I was I guess bored and finished with the Home Movies rentals I had at the time, that I decided why not? Episode one, got me hooked. Things were somewhat predictable and characters were introduced and what not, but I couldn't stop watching. Perfect timing for netflix to lift the hours of their watch instantly feature.The first season was fun. I enjoyed the mind games his brother was playing on him. Dexter still had his anonymity but the writers were emphasizing that theme with every episode. That theme was mostly in the bg though, they were focused on the Ice Truck killer. His brother was a complete weirdo, still like his meticulousness, but still, the theory behind it, his past, just not as interesting and full as Dexters as it should be since Dexter is the main character.
Season 2 picked off right where the first season left. Main theme was surrounding the Bay Harbor Butcher and the thrill level really picked up because Dexter was somewhat loosing it with all the problems thrown at him. That's why the season finale was one of the best closures to a season I have seen. It concluded almost everything I can think of. The only valid speculation I can make is that Lt. Maria LaGuerta will now take place of her lost coworker and friend, Sgt. James Doakes, as being too suspicious. Not sure if I'll like that, it felt uncomfortable to see Dexter's coworkers being too suspicious like that. So, a lost brother that is also a serial killer and a speculation of the Bay Harbor Butcher. What will they think of next?
Dexter is definitely added to my array of great shows like House and Heroes. Good to know the third season will be produced although anything can happen with this stupid writer's strike. There was no way those that know of Jhonen Vasquez's JTHM Johnny The Homicidal Maniac and Death Note couldn't have picked off any similarities. Here's an interesting summary of similarities with Death Note and Dexter. Not that it matters, they are all too different as well. Dexter had some deep physiological life lessons (if you can call them that) like visualizing who you want to be, acceptance, etc. All in all, it's been good fun and hoping to add Dexter along with House next fall.
Broadband in Japan vs U.S
Man, Japan got some blazing speeds! I tested my Internet connection bandwidth and here's my result:
Compare that to Danny Choo at Tokyo, Japan:
Not only do they get a bunch of video games and technology before the rest of the world (usually), Japan also have some of the fastest internet in the world! Not bad Japan. I will have to test the T1 connection at my school when I go back.
Compare that to Danny Choo at Tokyo, Japan:
Not only do they get a bunch of video games and technology before the rest of the world (usually), Japan also have some of the fastest internet in the world! Not bad Japan. I will have to test the T1 connection at my school when I go back.
Entertaining Distractions
What can I say, not happy with where I am currently at and thinking for too long is so draining and depressing, so I am renting a lot of Home Movies. It's such a cool script-heavy cartoon. It looks low budget and wacky but it's somehow one of my favorite piece of animation hehe. Also, I don't watch American Idol but I always find the early episodes hilarious! Check out this guy from Season 7's premiere. I laughed so hard I couldn't stand up straight for a good 2 minutes.
Art Streiber: Entertainment Photographer
Man, this is probably one of the best photographers I've come across. Or at least he has the best gigs. I done prior seen so many amazing photos of my favorite shows like House and The Office, and famous people covering big time Magazines, and these guys are behind them. Just amazing. Must see photography, the site is simply minimalistic and easy to navigate as well.
Found via hellocolor
Found via hellocolor
Annie Vector
Happy 2008 people, was taking a break from the addictive digg website. Not to mention I'm frustrated with them a little bit. So I was browsing flickr and actually opened up AI and did a vector of this really cute pic of Annie. Been procrastinating for a long time. It's about time. I thought it wouldn't take long, which didn't but still longer than I thought, spent about a whole day I think.
