An Open Letter to BayanDSL (and Bayan Telecommunications)

Dear BayanDSL,

You've been frustrating me more and more as days pass by. What the hell's the matter with you? Why are you acting this way? I've always thought you love me, you know, for being your awesome self for almost a year that I've been a subscriber. You've been great despite the few glitches here and there, which are normal anyway, so I've never held them against you.

But lately, you've changed. And not in a good way.

Annoying lags, frequent disconnections, and --- even worse --- no connections at all....Whatever happened to that amazing service I used to get for almost a year? It's not enough that I'm not getting the speed that I've been paying for, now you just have to abandon me altogether. I've been awfully understanding, but this is just really getting into my nerves.

For the previous 12 hours or so, you seem to have celebrated a "no dial tone" day, which prevented me from calling in and reporting the problems again. More irritating is that earlier this day, I was supposed to have food delivered to our house because the empty cupboard hadn't anything to offer, but then, what could a mere human like me do about it? Magically turn the rats and cockroaches into crunchy, yummy meals?

I'm beginning to hate you. Even if my past blog entry has caught the attention of the Department Head of the so-called CS for Data & IP Services, enough for him to comment on my blog and actually offer to help, the resentment still keeps building up. Nakakainis na talaga.

Sobra.

Buhay Coke Party Part II

It’s time to announce the winners of the Buhay Coke Vlog contest.

What: Buhay Coke Vlog Contest Announcement of Winners Party
When: August 8, 2008, Friday, 6:00 p.m. onwards
Where: Taste Asia at the Mall of Asia
Wassup?: Announcement of winners and just simply to parteeh the Taste Asia way!
How: Register here.

There’s room for 500 people! So kindly spread the word too!

Thanks, Aileen.

Philippine Blog Awards 2008 on September 21

And it just so happens that it will also be the 36th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines by late former president Ferdinand Marcos. So, see, while most people are out on the streets, protesting and/or commemorating the said “event,” some people will be attending one of the most-awaited and bonggang high-class events this year.

Philippine Blog Awards 2008 will be held on One Esplanade. It’s a pretty big and beautiful place — but then, of course, I haven’t even been there before. I’ve seen it via a video made by the organizers themselves, which you can watch on Youtube.

Mark your calendars. Further details will be announced eventually. :p

And thus, I admit my disorder

For almost 10 years I kept this to myself. My family was only informed last year about this sickness, but they knew the problem since the start. Thanks to the TV show Emergency, we found out that I wasn't alone in my plight, and there was indeed a name for this certain kind of psychological disorder.

I have TRICHOTILLOMANIA. Thankfully, though, I don't eat my hair like most who have the condition do.

I'll try to write something more in-depth about it on my blog soon --- maybe on the day I turn 21. Who knows?

Trichotillomania - “trich” - is a condition wherein people have a very strong urge to pull out their hair for whatever reason. It is said to be an impulse control disorder, however, some say that it is an obsessive-compulsive disorder. People suffering from trich may have noticeable bald spots in areas which they pull hair from. In my case, my scalp.

Because of the social implications of this disorder, some - if not most - trichsters have low self-esteem. Hair is often equated with beauty, so the condition can be emotionally painful for the trichsters. Either they shy away from the “normal crowd,” or cover up the fact that they’re “different.”

I've a blog, Trichster.net made especially for my thoughts about my condition, and my "road to recovery." The latest posts are set in private since they involve my family as a whole; I had to do it when I noticed that it's been getting hits from search engines. I'll try to come up with something that can be "consumed" by public, but whatever.

There really isn't much to do than take antidepressants (Oh, Prozac, why must you be so expensive?) and other medicines that might help. I also have to try not to stress myself too much, which is pretty hard because I'm naturally a very stressful person.

Thing is, my family's about to hit rock bottom because of my brother's more unusual condition. While the initial prognosis last year is mild mental retardation, most people disagree with the finding because of...basta, lots of things. He's not fit to go to school (again, because of so many reasons), so I have to be with him every time. Kaya lagi kami magkasama. =D Parehong siraulo. ^_^ We're looking into a good homestudy program, para kahit man lang elementary maka-graduate siya. Tapos he needs to undergo a series of tests that costs P10K per session. Fuck, noh? And it's just so damn hard because people look at my brother differently. He hears what others say, I hear what others say, and it takes a lot out of me not to scratch their faces and shit on them. Sabi nga ni nanay last week, when she asked me to send the request for partial refund sa former school ni Robby, "Wag mo nang dalin ang kapatid mo. Iba na tingin sa kanya 'run." In fact, when my mother told me about the decision to stop my brother from schooling again, naluluha kami pareho. Hahaha. Mahirap naman kahit sa kaninong ina na marinig ang masasakit ng salita ng ibang tao (and the irony is, mga hinayupak na ina rin ang mga lintek) sa anak niya, diba?

NOOOOO!!! I REFUSE TO CRY!!! GRRRRR!!!

*dabs eyes* Shit. I hate emotional scenes and memories. I'm such a crybaby. For the past few weeks, lagi na lang ganitong iyak ng iyak. Nakakapagod na.

Ang dami kong gustong ipagsigawan sa mundo. Daming problemang gustong ilabas, pero sa ngayon, amin-amin na lang muna siguro. My life couldn't be any worse, and it frustrates me so much that I want to just die or something. Depress-depress-an na naman ako rito. Haaay.

Ang daming gastos. Punyetang buhay ito. Sabi nga ni nanay kahapon, "Nagbubunot ka na naman."

But then, I can't help it if my life stinks like hell.

A List Apart Survey 2008

Jiraiya's such a perv. I love it! =D

Forgoing with the anime...This one's here from Chapter 406, pages 8-9.


Funneh. =D

The more I read of Shikamaru, the more I fall in love with him. Goddamn he's such a piece of hot ass. And I detect another prospective "enemy" in the form of a certain decoder named Shiho. I kinda like her though, even with only a few appearance so far (she's new anyway). I'm still all for ShikaTem pairing, but I honestly would like Shikamaru to myself. Harhar.

I've liked Karin since I first read about her. =D

Who else?

Hmm.

My BayanDSL Story, Bow.

I've had only good words for BayanDSL since I became a subscriber late last year. I understand that problems arise at one point or another, from time to time, and --- as I'm a very patient customer --- I rarely ever complain or call in.

Being a dial-up user for years, I was amazed that I could surf the internet for 384kbps and shell out only Php899 for it. Then on November last year, one month of being a BayanDSL user, I was ecstatic when I had a free upgrade to 768kbps, even if Speedtest.net always reports that I've never reached that speed ever --- in fact, my fastest download speed is 381kbps, even with the speed-on-demand thingy. But still, I did not say anything, because, hey, geez, after 6 years in dial-up, bam!, DSL, woosh. Wow.

I've only reported a problem once, and BayanDSL responded the day after, which is actually pretty quick 'cause PLDT normally took weeks to even respond to our queries, even if we constantly follow up on them every other day (it's the reason why we jumped ship more than a year ago). I've been a happy customer, really. Well, I still am, provided that this newly-fixed connection of mine doesn't fuck up on me again today.

For the past 4 days, I've had connection problems that I tried to brush off as huge flukes in the system. I've had numerous excuses in mind just in case I lose my patience: it happens, there's no perfect service, maybe it's typhoon Frank's fault, it's windy today anyway, or whatever else I come up with. I swear, you'd want me as a customer. I'm not demanding as long as you treat me good, and you give me what I want.

Yesterday, I commanded my dear brother Robby to call BayanDSL 'cause I was getting pretty annoyed already. Lags and disconnections are pretty irritating especially when you're directly downloading some huge file --- like, the backup of your whole site, for example. But, lucky me, the latter's exactly what I was doing, and the former's exactly what happened, so....Geez, you get the idea, don't you?

And then came the BayanDSL technician to the rescue. He just left a couple of minutes ago, actually. I asked him about Master Ederic's exciting post last month about BayanDSL's free speed upgrade, which would give my internet connection a speed like Superman's: 1286kbps. He didn't know a thing, but that's fine. I told him I'd call BayanDSL and inquire about it myself.

And so I did. I mean, again, I commanded my dear brother to call the number posted on the website "for details," and the woman with an I'm-better-than-you voice confirmed that, indeed, Plan 899 offers a speed of 1286kbps. "Huzzah!" yelled the little voices in my mind. I did a little victory dance and started to stri---

Oops, erase erase erase. Too much info.

Anyway, so I took the phone receiver from my dear brother and told this woman with an I'm-better-than-you voice that I'm subscribed to the 768kbps speed on Plan 899, and asked her how I can upgrade my speed and if it's for free. She told me something to this effect: "Ah, tawag ka na lang sa *something*something* hotline, number 449---" I told her to wait and wrote down the number as she said it (it's 499 2959, for you BayanDSL subscribers who are interested).

Me: Thank you po!
Her: Okay. *blag*

In case you're wondering, that *blag* is actually the phone being slammed down. Or maybe not being slammed down, but that's what it sounded like to me, because it was so loud, and it was painful, and it was anger-provoking. And after I uttered a very venomous "Bitch!" at the busy tone, I called the hotline number she gave and waited...and waited...and waited....

Okay, so I'm still waiting on the phone write now. See? The recorded voice says I can leave a voicemail, request for a call back, or chat with them. But I'm not exactly into talking with machines, call back is out of the question because my brother will use the phone to connect to the internet via dial-up, and I can't seem to login to their live chat page. I want to talk now. Because if I hold this off, I'd be too lazy to call them again and will eventually forget about it.

Still waiting....

Besides, my dad's taking away the laptop tomorrow. Which means I'll be, well, lonesome again until I enter my adulthood next month. See, in 3 weeks time, I'd have what they call the legal age, and I'd be a very legal hot mama anywhere in the world. Okay, so maybe not a hot mama, but still legal, right?

Ahh, darn. Still waiting.

A Love Letter to Botan (and, coincidentally in a twisted way, KuramaxBotan)

I love you. :)

I don't know how many times I've told you that, but I'm not embarrassed to pull a Kuwabara Kazuma again and again and look like a love-struck fool in front of everyone. I've adored you ever since I saw that oar-flying ball of frenzy with the soft blue hair and eyes the color of brilliant amethyst who helped Urameshi Yuusuke in his missions as a Reikai Tantei. More than 10 years of obsessing over a girl that I know can never be mine.

You are simply the most beautiful girl in all of the anime word...at least, that's what I think and believe. Perhaps there really is some special way that ferry girls cry without always shedding tears, for I can't imagine how long you've dealt with death and still manage to face each day with a smile. You're a loyal and trustworthy employee, a faithful friend, and a brave girl who's willing to sacrifice her whole being for the ones she loves.

People tend to romanticize your character because of your occupation: a Deity of Death, a not-so-grim Grim Reaper, a ferry[wo]man. I can't blame them though; you're a mystery from Yu Yu Hakusho's first chapter up to the last, and the only thing we know about you is your dedication to your job. Everyone is free to speculate what you think, where you're from, or how you feel without contradicting anything canon. You're a chameleon, able to fit right in into whatever world people throw you into.

You've been called bubble-headed. You've been labeled as a ditz. You've been portrayed as stupid. But in my eyes, you're perfect and ever beautiful. You may be a princess to some, a flower to others, an angel to a few, but this I tell you: you're a very special ferry girl to me, and that you will always be.

BUT since you're only a product of Togashi Yoshihiro's genius, I know very well that I can't have you. I'll always be just a spectator of your wonderful adventures with the foul-mouthed delinquent Yuusuke, the sweet yet idiotically dumb Kazuma, the ill-tempered fire demon by the name of Hiei, and the ever-so-polite yet cunning Minamino Shuuichi with his ever-so-cold alterego Youko Kurama. I'll always be just on the sidelines whenever you work side by side with the ungrateful prince of the Spirit World Koenma, his bluer than blue assistant Jorge, and your fiery apprentice Hinageshi. I'll always be just an eavesdropper of your girl-to-girl talks with the Mary Sue Yukimura Keiko, the soft-spoken ice demoness and twin sister to aforementioned fire demon Yukina, the psychic and kickass sister to the idiot Shizuru, and heck, even the pink-haired powerful grandmother Genkai.

I'm just here, content on watching you go about your life without some fat depressed girl making a nuisance out of herself. However, I want you to be happy 'cause you deserve it, so I'm forever pushing you to Kurama 'cause he's perfect for you. You complement each other's personalities. You can brighten up the brooding Shuuichi and tame the spirit fox Youko in him, while he in turn can...well...be his natural self and respect and protect you always. Besides, you two look good together in whatever form. Proofs?


Sighs. What a sight to behold when you two are together. And you even live in the same universe! He always saves you whenever you're in trouble, which is quite impossible for me to accomplish since, well, duh. I'm not even hinting or reading anything into his actions; I'm just stating a fact. He's always there for you, and you for him and his team. You both care for each other. Not like us two, who technically truly don't exist as far as we're concerned.

INSERT: *throws a jealous rage*

I bid my adieu for now, my love. Rest assured that you will always be in my heart, and until such time we can be together, you may play with that gorgeous kitsune however you want. I will take you from him, by force if necessary. Bwahahaha.

Ahem.

Love,
Shari

While waiting for some videos to convert from mpg to 3gp

I'm going to do a YYH meme thiny whatevs. Just because.

First, write down the names of 12 characters. Then read and answer the questions. You can't look at the questions (or click on the cut) until you write down the 12 characters you're going to use.

1. Botan
2. Minamino Shuichi
   
3. Youko Kurama (yes, I'm treating Kurama as two separate people)
   
4. Urameshi Yuusuke
5. Hiei
6. Mukuro
7. Yukimura Keiko
8. Genkai
9. Kuwabara Shizuru
10. Kuwabara Kazuma
11. Yukina
12. Koenma

1.) Have you ever read a Six/Eleven fic? Do you want to?
Mukuro/Yukina? Nope. It's usually Mukuro/Yukina's brother Hiei. Heh. But, hmm, why not?

2.) Do you think Four is hot? How hot?
Yuusuke is way beyond hot, especially when in his demon form. He makes me drool. That's how hot he is.

3.) What would happen if Twelve got Eight pregnant?
Koenma getting Genkai pregnant? Geez. Well, first off, I hope we're talking about the young Genkai here. Anyway, what would happen? Probably Genkai would give birth...don't you think?

4.) Can you rec any fic(s) about Nine?
Sure. They're not entirely about Shizuru, but she has a huge roles in those fics. Nightmare, Nightmare Syndrome (sequel), and I Shouldn't Have Let You Go. They're all in Fanfiction.net.

5.) Would Two and Six make a good couple?
Shuichi...and Mukuro? Nope.

6.) Five/Nine or Five/Ten? Why?
Hiei/Shizuru or Hiei/Kuwabara. Great choices. I like the 2nd one better, but I'm a fan of their rivalry, not anything romantic. Heh! Though Hiei and Shizuru are almost the same.

7.) What would happen if Seven walked in on Two and Twelve having sex?
If Keiko walked in on Shuichi and Koenma having sex, she'd blush furiously and think about pretty boys having sex for the rest of her life.

8.) Make up a summary for a Three/Ten fic.
The prophecy: The fox demon would die in the hands of a human sword fighter who has an incredible amount of spirit energy. In an attempt to stop this prophecy, Youko Kurama leaves Makai to hunt for his future killer. One-shot. Non-yaoi. Not good with summaries. DISCONTINUED

LOL. That good enough? :p

9.) Is there any such thing as One/Eight fluff?
Botan and Genkai. Possibly. Besides, Botan loves Genkai enough to cry for her when the latter died, right?

10.) Suggest a title for a Seven/Twelve hurt/comfort fic.
Keiko/Koenma. Hmmm. "Yusuke's Destiny" hehehe.

11.) What kind of plot device would you use if you wanted Four to deflower One?
Yuusuke deflowering Botan. He'd probably use Botan's oar, and they'd do it floating in the sky. Hahaha.

12.) Does anyone on your friends list read Seven slash?
Keiko slash. Nope, not that I know of. Does it even exist?

13.) Does anyone on your friends list read Three het?
Kurama het. Of course! I think.

14.) Does anyone on your friends list write or draw Eleven?
I don't think so.

15.) Would anyone on your friends list write Two/Four/Five?
Shuichi/Yuusuke/Hiei. HELL YES! Shuichi and Hiei ganging up on Yuusuke. WOOT! LOL.

16.) What might Ten scream at a moment of great passion?
Kuwabara: Oh, Yukina, my love! I am Kazuma, the man who will fuck your brains out! ^_^

17.) If you wrote a song-fic about Eight, which song would you choose?
Genkai? Hmm. Forever Young by Valley of Chrome. Heh.

18.) If you wrote a One/Six/Twelve fic, what would the warnings be?
Botan/Mukuro/Koenma: Bondage, gore, yuri, child rape LOL

19.) What might be a good pick-up line for Two to use on Ten?
Shuichi on Kazuma: I know Hiei always pisses you off, so I was wondering...do you want someone to piss on? =D

20.) When was the last time you read a fic about Five?
I...forgot? I don't usually read Hiei-centered fics.

21.) What is Six's super-sekrit kink?
Her restoration machine thing? ^_^

22.) Would Eleven shag Nine? Drunk or sober?
Innocent Yukina shagging cocky Shizuru? Hmmm. Get her drunk, maybe.

23.) If Three and Seven get together, who tops?
Youko Kurama and Keiko. No frigging way. Most prolly Kurama, 'cause he's a demon, duh. But then Yuusuke would've blasted his head off with the spirit gun even before Kurama thinks of anything.

24.) "One and Nine are in a happy relationship until Nine suddenly runs off with Four. One, broken-hearted, has a hot one-night stand with Eleven and a brief unhappy affair with Twelve, then follows the wise advice of Five and finds true love with Three." What title would you give this fic? Name three people on your friends list who might read it. Name one person who should write it.
Botan and Shizuru are in a happy relationshup until Shizuru suddenly runs off with Yuusuke. Botan, broken-hearted, has a hot one-night stand with Yukina and a brief unhappy affair with Koenma, then follows the wise advise of Hiei and finds true love with Youko Kurama.
Title: The Ties that Bind
Readers: KB fans like me might attempt to read it, but then...the summary's too fucked up
Writer: Hmm. I dunno. And Hiei, giving a "wise advise"? Seriously a fucked up fic.

25.) How would you feel if Seven/Eight was canon?
Keiko/Genkai? Well, there goes Yuusuke with a broken heart and lots of broken bones.

Congrats kina Coy at Xyla

Nanalo sila sa CandyMag Teen Blog Awards. Galing, no?

Best Boy's blog ang blog ni Coy, at People's Choice naman ang blog ni Xyla.

Kahit na ba mahigit 20 na yang dalawa, at technically ay hindi na teenangers. Harhar.

In-update ko na rin pala ang listahan ko ng 10 Emerging Influential Blogs.

WordCamp Philippines 2008…Finally!

Repost from blog; link to sponsors over there

It’s finally happening. After long years of being a WordPress user-slash-buff and exchanging WordPress gibberish with Aja during our late-night geeky chats years ago, discussing articles from the Codex (I knoooowwww…how…geeky…hehe…Aja is my WordPress “mentor,” so all hail Aja and his plugins! heh), and basically being our usual dorky selves, WordCamp Philippines 2008 has “arrived,” thanks to the people behind Mindanao Bloggers. Of course I’m not about to waste this chance. It’s a go!

Topics like Video and Mobile Blogging and Blog Monetization make me wonder why Web Standards and Web Accessibility are not in the list of “considered topics.” They’re not even exactly as “advanced” as vlogging and moblogging are, since they basically deal with correctly structuring HTML documents in the first place. They’re not even hard to do; in fact, documents that are standards and accessibility compliant are hundred times easier to build and manage than documents with randomly placed and unclosed tags. The WordPress Default theme itself takes web standards and web accessibility into account.

Maybe someday PWAG or, errrr, the forever-hiatus Web Standards Philippines group, will be able to present their “arguments” before people who won’t get bored with stuff like those and become “responsible netizens,” whatever that means.

Bloggers' Kapihan: Bloggers' briefing on poll automation by COMELEC

The Commission on Elections will give a special briefing on poll automation to 20+ bloggers on July 19.

COMELEC and its technology suppliers will conduct actual trainings on the usage of electronic voting machines and automated counting machines. Video presentations and tutorials will also be shown. The voting machines will be used in the ARMM elections next month.

The briefing will also be an opportunity to hear the feedback of voters and bloggers about the poll automation program of Comelec.

When: July 19, Saturday, 1:00pm - 3:30pm
Where: COMELEC Automated Electoral System Information Office, ground floor, Palacio del Gobernador Bldg. Intramuros, Manila (near Manila Cathedral)

Program
1:00 Opening remarks - Mr. James Jimenez, Comelec Spokesperson
1:05 Comelec presentation
2:40 Reaction from Bloggers’ Kapihan
2:45 Open Forum

Due to limited seat, we urge the interested participants to send an email to mongpalatino@gmail.com.

I'll Always Love You

Standin' by my window,
List'nin for your call;
Seems I really miss you after all.

Time won't let me keep these sad thoughts to myself
I'd just like to let you know I wish I'd never let you go.

And I'll always love you
Deep inside this heart of mine
I do love you.
And I'll always need you
And if you ever change your mind
I'll still, I will love you.

Wish you'd never left me,
But love's a mystery;
You can break a heart so easily,

The days and nights reveal how much I feel for you.
Time has come for me to see how much your love has meant to me.

And I'll always love you
And if you ever change your mind
I'll still, I will love you.

Time, like a river, keeps on rollin' right on by;
Nothin' left for me to do, so I watch the river rise.

And I'll always love you
Deep inside this heart of mine
I do love you.
And I'll always need you
And if you ever change your mind
I'll still, I will
I'll still, I will love you

Forcing Links to Open in a New Window = E.V.I.L.

Repost from my blog. ^_^

It is, perhaps, one of the practices I’ve long ago chosen to forget, even before I adopted the teachings of web standards

See, this topic is brought about by a couple of fanlistings I’ve joined owned by the same person. In her rules, it is mentioned that the link back to her fanlistings must be opened in new windows. Immediately frowning upon the (in my opinion, ridiculous) rule, I set to explain on the comments box that I’m not about to do it because

• it breaks the Strict compliance of a page, as the attribute target is deprecated in the specifications
• it goes against web usability and web accessibility
• target="_blank" takes up precious kilobytes, and typing it is, quite honestly, very troublesome
• it is of my opinion that if users want links to open in a new window, they’d do it themselves (get acquainted with the yummy hotkeys, people!). I’m not about to force it on them
• to put it mildly, it’s helluva lot annoying and unnecessary

This isn’t from just a point of view of an idealist of a standards compliant web. I don’t give a damn if users leave my site in favor of another; there’s always a back button in the browser that can be used (I’ve developed this amusing habit of hitting the backspace key for every website I visit, ugh). And even if I wanted visitors to stay on my blog and be graced by more of my idiotic rants, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they want to [stay/be]. In the end, I leave the decisions up to the web users. It’s all about their choices. I should know. I’m a web user myself, and I want to have a choice.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not bashing the practice of having the links on your website open in a new browser window. I’m not even saying it’s bad practice (though I do think it’s, uh, awful) just because it isn’t exactly recommended.

However, in my point of view as a web user, it can get pretty frustrating (I don’t want a new window, dammit!). As a Firefox user, it can get pretty annoying (a - I have too many open tabs as it is; I don’t need another one, b - I only need and want one window, thankyouverymuch). As a pseudo-standardista, it’s just plain wrong unnecessary (read first two reasons).

I can’t control the practices of different web designers, but the very least I want is to have some control over my browsing experience. And to have such a rule (heh, so now I go back to the cause of all this ranting) is just plain…well…evil. Of course, I’m no angel myself. Those cute little icons I used to use to indicate external links are now a goner (but if and when I decide a major site overhaul, it will be done again).

And don’t even try to force everything your way with Javascript; I can always turn the damn thing off (and I do it most of the time too, because I hate Javascripts…for the most part anyway), and you’d be a fool in my eyes hahahahahaha.

Ahem. So.

No, I’m not about to write a lengthy article about the topic (awww, and I used to do that too, darn). We have the trusty Google for that one. I’m sure some other people have covered this topic well, and explained why links should be opened in the same window (in most cases).

As a very important sidenote, this is only my opinion. I do not speak for the other 99.999% internet users out there. I want things my way, and they want things theirs. *shrugs*

All I’m saying is that, sorry, but I just don’t want my back button to break.