Owner: Quaere Verum URL:http://ronallan.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2006 06:07:01 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: Online journal of a man on the verge of a mid-life crisis... Site statistics:Click here
Between a rock and a hard place.... 2007-09-11 06:29:00 Tomorrow, after a long drawn trial which has lasted for almost six years, the Sandiganbayan is finally scheduled to render its verdict on the plunder case of former President Joseph Estrada.Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.Acquit Estrada, and EDSA II will be reduced to nothing more than a sham political event, an example of how extra-Constitutional means were adopted for removing from office without due process what would amount to be a President innocent of any wrongdoing.Convict Estrada, and earn the ire of perhaps millions of Erap (and even FPJ) supporters who believe their idol to be innocent of all charges, convicted only as a sacrificial lamb if only to justify his removal from office and the "unlawful" assumption of then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the Presidency.Damned if you do, damned if you don't.And it's all happening tomorrow.Watch the news tomorrow people. Whatever happens, whatever the consequences, it will be history in the making.
September again.... 2007-09-01 19:20:00 September again. The first Sunday. The first day of the Bar exams.*sigh*Maybe next year.Good luck to everyone taking it this year.Wake me up when September ends.
Read more:September
Laws of Life 2007-08-31 19:13:00 Law of Mechanical Repair:After your hands become coated with grease your nose will begin to itch or you'll have to pee.Law of the Workshop:Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.Law of probability:The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.Law of the Telephone:When you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal.Law of the Alibi:If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.Variation Law:If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will start to move faster than the one you are in now. (works every time)Bath Theorem:When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.Law of Close Encounters:The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you won't want to be seen with.Law of the Result:When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.Law of Biomechanics:The sev
My letter-complaint.... 2007-08-30 18:25:00 As promised, here's the text of my letter-complaint discussing the unscrupulous practices of certain online game proprietors. I have promptly sent copies of this letter to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).Now if only they stop sitting on their asses and see the letter for what it represents, that is, uncharted legal territory, as far as consumer rights is concerned.The undersigned would like to respectfully bring to your attention certain possible abuses and violations of consumer rights as well as possible abuses in the use of an information and communication infrastructure in a commercial field which does not seem to be regulated much if at all. I am referring to MMORPGs, or Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games.A MMORPG is basically an online video game, a game played over the internet where the players are represented in a virtual world as characters of their own design and choosing.The typical scenario for th
57 channels and nothin' on.... 2007-10-28 18:37:00 If you're my age you may just remember a song by Bruce Springsteen way back in the early 90s with the same title as this blog post. More or less, this phrase happens to be an apt description of my life at the moment.Things happening (or not happening) all over the place...but nothing really of import taking place in my life.I guess that explains why I haven't been blogging again for the longest time. Just the same old things to blog about, day in, day out, month in, month out, year in and year out.And coincidentally, I now know what Bruce Springsteen was talking about in that song of his. Ever check out SkyCable lately? How may times have you found yourself flipping aimlessly through what seems to be hundreds of channels
, and not be able to find anything worth watching? It's been happening to me more often than not lately. Either I just developed a case of adult attention-deficit disorder or the quality of cable TV programming has gone down the drain. I guess I must have watched mor
e-Games-PLDT DSL problems.... 2007-11-02 04:37:00 After talking a number of times with different e-Games
support personnel and browsing a number of different forum sites (like this one), it turns out that the reason why I couldn't log on Ran Online or any of e-Games' websites is because e-Games is having connection problems
specifically with subscribers of PLDT's myDSL service. Apparently subscribers of different ISPs are not affected, as far as I know.So, the bottom line is, if you want to play Ran Online, or at the very least log in any e-Games website and your ISP is PLDT myDSL, tough luck.I've tried refreshing my connection so my router can obtain a new IP address, but it still doesn't work. Nothing does. And it's strange, because other than the fact that I can't seem to access e-Games' web servers, my internet connection is perfectly fine. If it weren't for the fact that I play Ran Online, I probably wouldn't have noticed.I can log on on virtually any website in the world, and yet I can't connect to a number of website
Happy Halloween! 2007-10-31 08:51:00 Disembodied spirit? Malevolent spectre? Actually it's just my son Aaron, proving that a digital camera, Adobe Photoshop, and a flashlight up one's nose can turn out to be a remedy for boredom. :-)
Read more:Happy
, Halloween
, Happy Halloween
What the heck happened to e-Games? 2007-10-31 01:42:00 For almost two days now, Ran Online, and the rest of the other e-Games
titles, portals and forum pages remain down.Any attempt to log on Ran Online simply results in the following message being displayed:Logging on any e-Games website only generates a browser time out error and a blank page, as if e-Games simply did not exist on the web.What gives?I have always been critical of the shoddy service e-Games has been giving its customers lately (see previous posts here and here), but this recent development takes the cake.Without any advisory or warning, e-Games' web presence has mysteriously disappeared, just like that.It reeks of unprofessionalism and incompetence, and to my mind, simply unacceptable and definitely a perfect example of the wrong way to run a business.I also find it a bit disturbing that most newspaper and magazine articles I read about local MMORPGs are filled with little more than hyperbole and unending praise, with nary a mention of the "dark side" of online gaming, t
Makes Me Wonder 2007-10-28 02:41:00 Note:Turn off the background audio first at the bottom of the page before clicking the play button.Makes Me WonderMaroon 5I wake up with blood-shot eyesStruggled to memorizeThe way it felt between your thighsPleasure that made you cryFeels so good to be badNot worth the aftermath, after thatAfter that, try to get you backI still don't have the reasonAnd you don't have the timeAnd it really makes me wonderIf I ever gave a fuck about youGive me something to believe in'Cause I don't believe in you anymore, anymoreI wonder if it even makes a difference to try, yeahSo this is goodbyeGod damn I'm standing hereDecisions that made my bedNow I must lay in itAnd deal with things I left unsaidI want to dive into youForget what you're going throughI get behind, make your moveForget about the truthI still don't have the reasonAnd you don't have the timeAnd it really makes me wonderIf I ever gave a fuck about youGive me something to believe in'Cause I don't believe in you anymore, anymoreI
Wheresoever Ye Turn.... 2007-11-05 04:54:00 Its been a quite a long while since I blogged about religion, so I was pleasantly surprised when blogger Sadiq Alam sent me the link of his latest post through email.You can read it here.The message is simple. God is always with you, whereever you are.You can read the rest of his blog here.Maybe I should blog about religion again. :-)
Top ten reasons to quit RAN Online.... 2007-11-03 20:51:00 And the top ten reason to quit playing RAN Online, from 10 to 1, are:10. Availability of newer and better online games.Frankly I don't have much experience with other MMORPGs, but I've heard and read lots of positive reviews over some newer online games, such as Perfect World, Lineage II, and Granado Espada. Yeah, it may be hard to give up RAN Online after all those months, but you never know. It may be about time to move on to some other MMORPG. And who knows? The service and support may even be better.9. Poor return of investment.You play for hours on end, for months, perhaps even years, and eventually you get that high level character you've always wanted. Now what? You could try selling your account, but not only is that prohibited by e-Games, you'll only get a small fraction of the money you invested into making that character in the first place.Well, you do get bragging rights against lesser characters, but the satisfaction doesn't last. No matter how high your character's
e-Games giveth, e-Games taketh away.... 2007-11-03 18:14:00 I guess I spoke too soon. Less than 24 hours after I was first able to log on RAN Online and the other e-Games
websites, again I am plagued by the dreaded connection error dialogue box: Well, I knew it was too good to last.I don't know. The urge to quit playing is becoming so strong I'll probably succumb sooner or later. Actually I'm already what they call "semi-retired", that is, I only play when I get the itch to do so, and whenever time and opportunity permits. I was only compelled to go out of semi-retirement so that I could level my INT swordsman all the way to 127 and learn the newly launched 127 skill. Thankfully, during the brief period with which I was able to connect yesterday, I was able to succeed in achieving my goal. But now that I have accomplished what I set out to do, and with e-Games being plagued with connection errors, I wouldn't be surprised if I just disappeared from the RAN gaming community.Such a shame really.To be perfectly honest, RAN Online is truly a gre
Finally! I can access e-Games sites! 2007-11-03 05:52:00 After almost five days, I was finally able to log in e-Games
' web servers.While I'm definitely relieved that I was able to access my e-Games accounts, the experience nonetheless has left a bad taste in my mouth. The bottom line is, the less than stellar service and support of e-Games to its customers still leaves me extremely disappointed.Apparently, a lot of other e-Gamers feel the same, as my posts relating to e-Games' troubles have seen higher than average traffic lately, indicating that dissatisfaction with e-Games' quality of service has grown beyond its internal forums and has spilled over into the internet at large.I'm taking this topic to heart for several reasons - firstly because of my personal stake as player of RAN Online, and secondly, the perpetual complaints against e-Games' services represent virgin territory as far as our local legal system is concerned. As an advocate of the legal profession and soon to be (hopefully) a member of the Bar, there are a lot of circ Read more:Finally
What's wrong with this picture? 2007-11-09 18:28:00 What's wrong with this picture?I guess we Filipinos were never really good at following rules.
Text scams.... 2007-11-08 17:21:00 I've won! I've won! - NOT.The past several months I've been getting quite a number of text messages on my cellphone informing me that I have won a sum of money in some sort of raffle, and instructing me to call back and look for the person whose name was mentioned in the message.If it sounds to good to be true, that's because it is.This is what is known as a text scam.Text scams first came out a number of years ago, with the rising popularity of cellphones with SMS capability (and consquently the number of suckers who own one). Presently, with approximately 30 million cellphones all over the country, scams like these are quite common.This message is obviously bogus, and was designed by some unscrupulous souls to appeal to the avaricious and gullible among us for the purpose of scamming them into giving up hard currency, for processing or facilitating the release of their so-called "prizes".Sadly, a lot of people have already fallen prey to this modus operandi, no doubt overcome by
Upgrade unrest.... 2007-11-23 05:41:00 If you're wondering why I haven't posted anything new lately, it's because my computers at home were all down until only a few days ago. Went through a couple of hardware upgrades which, unfortunately, didn't really go as smooth as I was expecting them to turn out.The first upgrade involved the video card of the PC my son uses to play games with (Athlon XP 2400+, 1.5 GB RAM, 256 MB Radeon 9550). He started complaining over the slow frame rates he was getting with some newer games, particularly the resource-hungry RTS World in Conflict. The game is actually playable when using low graphics settings, but there's nothing quite as pathetic as playing a computer game with all the settings turned down to low.After some research, I figured the GPU with the best bang-for-the-buck was the NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS, with its 12 pixel pipelines, 5 vertex shaders, and a core running at 400 MHz. All I need now is to find one, particularly one which runs on an AGP bus.I soon realized that AGP vide Read more:unrest
Fix my phone! 2007-11-25 19:44:00 The past few months my son has been having problems with his Sony Ericsson K310i, specifically with the unit shutting down intermittently even though the battery wasn't discharged yet. "Automatic shutdown" was my son's term for it.Over the weekend, the cellphone
finally decided to give up the ghost, showing nothing than a continuously blinking white screen when powered up.Not wanting to be stuck with a high tech paperweight, and with unit still under warranty, I promptly called up Globe Handyphone for advise on how to have the cellphone serviced. As it turned out, the closest service center to my location is the Sony Ericsson Concept Shop in SM North Edsa. The following day, my son and I were off.I was never a Sony Ericsson person, as I've always preferred Nokia cellphones instead. The thing with Nokia is, if you know how to use one model, then you wouldn't have any problems using any other Nokia model, thanks to its semi-standardized user interface. Sony Ericsson cellphones also
Dancing with...inmates.... 2007-12-08 06:26:00 The inmates
of Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitiation Center (CPDRC)strut their stuff. And they're actually pretty good. Only in the Philippines. :-)Note:Turn off the background audio first at the bottom of the page before clicking the play button.Michael Jackson's Thriller.Queen's Radio Gaga.I Will Follow Him, from the movie Sister Act.Hail Holy Queen, also from the movie Sister Act.I'm all for second chances and everything, but this gives rehabilitation a whole new meaning. :-) These inmates have several other videos dancing to other tunes, just look them up on YouTube. :-)
Read more:Dancing
Shell V-Power Ferraris.... 2007-12-07 04:46:00 After weeks of refueling at Shell
service stations, I was finally able to complete my collection of 1:38 scale Ferraris. Shell is selling the model Ferraris for P50.00 each for every purchase of P500.00 worth of Shell V-Power fuel, or for P100.00 if you buy P500.00 worth of other Shell fuels.The models are made by Hot Wheels and the quality and detail are pretty good. Unfortunately, they're only made of plastic and not die-cast metal. At only P50.00 though, I'm not complaining.Completing the collection isn't as easy as you may think. First of all, I don't really travel all that much, so I had to be a bit patient as I waited for the needle on my fuel gauge to go down before I could refuel again. Secondly, not all Shell service stations have the complete model line-up in stock, so I have to ask what models they have available before I refuel. If they don't have the particular model I'm looking for, I look for another Shell station. Thirdly, have you noticed how high gas prices are
Tips on how to tell if an N95 is fake.... 2007-12-03 02:53:00 Here are a few of the things you should watch our for when shopping for a Nokia N95, so you don't get duped into buying a knockoff:1. A real Nokia N95 doesn't have a touchscreen, a small touchscreen menu at the bottom of the screen, and a stylus;2. A real Nokia N95 has a 5 megapixel camera. Fake N95s either have a lower quality camera or sometimes even no camera at all. The built-in LED flash is also smaller on fake N95s. A real Nokia N95 also has a lens cover. Some fakes don't. Note that a genuine Nokia N95 8GB variant doesn't have a lens cover as well;3. A real Nokia N95 has a two-way slider. Most fakes either slide down only or don't slide in any direction at all;4. A real Nokia N95 boots up a lot slower than most fakes. The built-vibrator also momentarily activates when booting up a real N95. Counterfeit N95s boot up almost instantaneously, with no vibration, and sometimes with a different startup sound;5. The battery of a real Nokia N95 mounts on the lower rear of the unit. S
How to tell a real N95 from a knockoff N95.... 2007-12-02 06:43:00 Saw this video on YouTube. It compares an original Nokia N95 with an imitation N95.While it's fairly simple to tell a knockoff from an original, a lot of people have already been fooled by the fake N95, particularly those who bought it from eBay or from some unscrupulous retailer, thinking they got a good deal.While the fake N95 is sold significantly cheaper than the original, it simply isn't worth it at any price.Caveat emptor.Note:Turn off the background audio first at the bottom of the page before clicking the play button.
Nokia's latest and greatest - the N95 8GB.... 2007-12-01 01:51:00 Presenting the Nokia
N95 8GB.Note:Turn off the background audio first at the bottom of the page before clicking the play button.Nokia N95 8GB commercial.More than a year after I last upgraded my main phone, I'm at it again, and my cellphone of choice now is none other than the flagship of Nokia's Nseries, the Nokia N95 8GB.While my old Nokia N70 was a mere evolution of the venerable Series 60 platform, the N95 takes mobile phones to a whole new level with a feature list significantly longer than any other high-end phone on the market today.For starters, it's a quad-band 3G phone. No, make that a 3.5G phone. It supports the High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) standard, which enables it to transfer data at 1.4-1.8 Mbps, around three to five times faster than 3G or 384 Kbps DSL. And HSDPA is not a standard that's still waiting in the wings. Globe Handyphone already supports it. With this speed you can make smooth video calls and browse the internet faster than even most wired c
Commonwealth Ave. lot for sale.... 2007-11-29 03:38:00 Reposting this for whatever good may come out of it. :-)Anyone here interested in purchasing a plot of commercial land located along Commonwealth
Ave. in Quezon City? It's my father's property, and it has a lot area of 2,844 sqm., with a number of residential improvements. The frontage is a bit on the small side, at 14 m., but it directly faces Commonwealth Ave.The lot has been on the market for quite a while, but since the real estate market has been down for some time now...well you know how it is.Just in case you're interested, or know someone who is, please feel free to leave a comment or to email me at ronallandottk@yahoo.com. To cut the hassle, would prefer to deal with direct buyers only. Sometimes it can be quite hard dealing with a multitude of brokers and middlemen...you know how that is too. :-)You can also call 9315575 if you have any inquiries.Siteplan of the property.Aerial view. The road at the top of the photo is Commonwealth Avenue.Here's a tighter aerial shot. The
Repossession obsession.... 2007-11-27 17:06:00 I observe with mild interest and amusement as a number of men manhandle a locked Ford Expedition into a parking space just behind the building I work in. Checking the time I figured they spent more than half an hour jacking, tugging and pushing at the shiny mass of metal, with their strains finally coming to an end with the large SUV being coaxed into one of the parking spaces.Querying one of the security personnel, I was told the the vehicle was forcibly repossessed after the owner failed to make the payments on the vehicle. Apparently the owner wasn't happy about his SUV being repossessed, so he neglected to unlock the doors, much less give them the keys.As if it really mattered whether he gave them the keys or not.It's a tad ironic, don't you think?A towering 4x4 such as a Ford Expedition, in the vast majority of cases, is really nothing more than extravagant status symbol, an expression of affluence, an utter display of the triumph of decadence over practicality. Weighing in at
It's been a while.... 2008-03-11 17:52:00 It’s been a while.I’m not really sure why I haven’t been posting anything lately. It’s not as if I’m having a dearth of things to blog about, on the contrary, I have a lot of things on my mind that I’m eager to commit to keyboard.But I just haven’t gotten around to it. I guess I just have too many things on my mind right now.But since this blog is not going to update itself, might as well go back to business.The truth of the matter is, I’m facing a blank wall. I’m not particularly sure what I want to do with my life. I have a job, a son, myriad responsibilities and obligations but frankly, nothing much else comes to mind as being important or significant at this point in time.I have a head full of dreams, but I may have to face the inevitable truth that perhaps some of th
Where was I? 2008-02-13 05:26:00 It's been a while I guess. More than a month to be exact. I've been a bit busy lately, and somehow I seem to have had a lot to think about. I'll be updating this blog soon enough though, and I hope you people bear with me as I enter into one of my "blank" blogging phases...:-)
Nice guys finish last.... 2008-01-11 20:21:00 Hmmm...what's that posted above the whiteboard?Ah yes. Well, it happens.I've been working in government for the past 12 years or so...And the experience is not the sort of thing I would wish on even my worst enemy.While government service pays pretty well, especially if you're working for one of those high-paying government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) or government financial institutions (GFIs), the sad truth of the matter is that unless you have friends in high places, opportunities for ascending the corporate ladder are few and far in between.In a perfect world, government service should be a meritocracy, that is, you are given responsibilities and compensation in relation to your capabilities..."merit and fitness" in government parlance. Sad to say, this hardly ever happen
Late even for half-day.... 2008-01-11 09:38:00 I was feeling out of the weather early this morning, so I decided to report for work at around noon. Unfortunately a convergence of circumstances forced me to abandon that plan, despite my efforts to make it.I left home, and went my normal route of going through Tandang Sora towards Pasig via Katipunan. Tandang Sora was jammed, so I backtracked and tried going via Kalayaan and Aurora. It was also packed but moving. Eventually I made my way back to Katipunan just before entering White Plains. White Plains was packed, so I took the underpass going towards Libis. For some reason it was also packed. Diverted through Green Meadows but again, it was jammed as it entered Ortigas.It was almost 1 PM. I should have been at the office 30 minutes ago.At this point I gave up and turned around.What a wa
The case of the missing EXP event.... 2008-01-07 02:07:00 So, how many times has this happened to you?e-Games announces a 2x or 3x EXP event
. You're looking to level up your character, so you buy a training rosary, log-in your character and start looking for a party.After what seems like hours of trying to look for a party, so finally get to join one. Unfortunately, you're only a temporary member since one of the permanent members was disconnected (which is a normal thing when it comes to playing Ran Online nowadays). After a while the disconnected player doesn't seem to be returning, so you're told that you're now a permanent member. You put on your training rosary and lure for all your worth (or cast buffs if you're a support shaman). When the the mobs have all been killed, and as the dust fades from the battlefield...You get perhaps half a per
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