Fixing Cars

I have been helping my friends fix cars that were ravaged by super typhoon ONDOY which has affected thousands of families and killed hundreds of people east of Manila. Some are not salvageable already because of the mixed water and mud that penetrated engines because of the flood. I checked the ac compressor and saw the need for me to change these units so I could get ample amount of air flowing through the auto mobile while purchasing stuff for the other broken down cars. I would like to get more into detail but some are not even English to me because of the technical nature.

My cousins helped clean the hood; and did it for free because these people really need help. Sometimes I wonder how they were able to survive without food and drink for two days and manage to keep afloat when the flood waters reached over 6 feet. Imagine some of the heavily damaged vehicles floated to other streets and was found a couple of days later. I need contacts; and people who know where to get discounted air conditioning parts. I should consider purchasing them on line so I would be able to get a better deal. They need my help and the last thing I would need to do is charge them outrageous prices. I will take a look on how I can save precious money so they can start rebuilding their lives. Going to work would require them the need to have their vehicles fixed. I will help them.

In the News from Where I am

There were around 2000 families displaced from a fire in Paco Manila. It was where I shot the photo above. I kinda am sad today because of that. =(

Mayon Volcano alert is now down to 2. A lot of the people from evacuation centers returned to their homes. I just hope they have something to return to.

The RFID sold by LTO is now being sought for recall and refunds. Graft and corruption charges were filed today. I wonder where the money for that went.

The older and younger Ampatuan were pointed to as masterminds in the killing of 57-200 journalists. Now who will write that story if they are all dead. I hope bloggers are not next! LOL

Sugar prices increased to 50 pesos per kilogram. I still remember selling drinks when I was a kid and I only bought a kilo for around 20 bucks or less. Just don't ask me how long ago that was because you will get an idea about my age.

4 Peace keepers from the Philippines are still under the rubble as indicated in the latest news. I am now confused who to believe because yesterday they said no one was hurt. No communication still from Haiti people.

List of official candidates will be brought out today. I wonder how those who will not be in the list would feel. Specially those who were asked to be stricken from it a couple of weeks ago.

Partial solar eclipse will be seen in the Philippines tomorrow. How soon can we hope for a sunshine after all these rain of problems we have! Have faith! Have faith!

Start Over Dating Again

One of the most horrific day of the year is coming (pardon the sarcasm) and I have not got a clue where and how I am going to spend it. Actually, I do not even know who to spend it with in the first place. Filipinos has this thing about celebrating cheesiness when February 14 strikes the calendar and by hook or by crook they need to celebrate Valentine's Day. Oh how I wish it never happens this year. I know I am single; but one of the greatest parts of being in this status is getting to date people whenever and wherever I want to. Maybe in the last few years of spending it alone, I might as well join the bandwagon and get a date for what humane purpose it is for. Before I got into photography, I was involved in a very bad breakup that almost got me lost and off track. My career began to suffer, I was not finishing anything. To make matters worse I was not really that happy. Though this time I think I need to be optimistic and start dating again because I am really not getting any younger. I think I need a kid too. This coming February seems apt enough to start and do this so I think I have to get gifts first. I have this girl I like from the fashion shoots we have done previously and I know how hard it is to date a model. Not that I am breaking the boundaries of the etiquette set by photographers; but since I am gunning for improvement of the race, why not involve a pretty one for pro creation right?!

Now how did I do this the last time I went out with someone you ask?!... Ahem... let me count the ways. I am a little generous when it comes to gifting people so the one I got for this pretty lady I once had was a bottle of her favorite fragrance. I went out of my way and asked a couple of her friends what to give her because I really wanted it to be special. I also wanted it to be memorable because I wanted that one to last. Even if we did not end up together, I guess I kind of still made a mark because of that. I hope I do not sound bitter; but I might just do the same for this new prospect I have. Maybe I will give her that and a bouquet of roses too. I hope my photographer friends do not get to read this new entry otherwise they will probably launch an investigation on which model I am going to date ha-ha!

Save Water

A widespread information campaign has been sought by Malacanang because we need to save water in the event EL NINO phenomenon hits the country this year.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that President Arroyo has directed Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) to finish the projects in preparation for Summer. I am quite afraid to have to make rounds again just to have ample amount of water for taking a bath. I need a lot of water most of the time that is why I take almost an hour inside the shower.

We need to make sure there is ample amount of supply of water for drinking in Metro Manila and urban cities. The water level in Angat Dam which supplies most of Manila’s water is 19 feet below the expected level and it will be hard to expect rain in the beginning of 2010.

Malacañang also hurried the water projects in the provinces so that there would be no problems with farming since we are importing most of our rice supplies from Thailand still.
There also should be some way they can repair dams that have leaks. A lot of them just go to waste and will not end up on our homes. I hope it does not happen!

PNP contingent in Earthquake stricken Haiti are all OK!

Photo by ABC news

All 15 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Forces are okay in Haiti after they have experienced a 7 magnitude earthquake at around 5PM EST. This has been confirmed by PNP Spokesman Leonardo Espina in a press conference held in Camp Crame.

Espina said that Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Fuentes headed the PNP Contingent and among them are 5 officials and 10 Police Non-Commissioned Officers. There was a huge difficulty in getting information even on satellite phones on that day.
They have re established contact through e-mail around 3:30PM that confirmed all 15 policemen are fine in the midst of that strong earthquake which is the strongest they have felt in around 200 years.

Espina also added that with his talk with Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Public Affairs Office that out of the 155 soldiers that were there, nobody was hurt.

Earlier this day, there were reports that they were trapped under the rubble of the United Nations office in the said country.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on the other hand is finding it difficult to have information on Filipino conditions in Haiti. DFA Spokesman Attorney Ed Malaya said that the primary lines of communication on the said island have totally been disabled by this catastrophe.
Even the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York, USA, could not contact the Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent in Haiti.

Aside from the Philippine troops, there are around 447 Pinoys that have not been still contacted.
Malaya said that the DFA and their people from the Philippine Embassy in Cuba have been sent to check on the conditions of the Filipinos there. I wish they and the people in the island are safe.

A New Discovery!

Ha-ha! I know what you are thinking! I am a PHOTOSHOP fanatic; and if you see most of my work I have been painstakingly doing it for hours just for a single photo. Today however, I have taken my photos for a spin and got funny pictures effects on it. How easy was it to do these pictures you ask?! What if I told you that it only took a few seconds to get this effect? Yes ladies and gentlemen, it is as easy as that. There are more online funny photo effects out there that you have not discovered yet. You will be the envy of your friends if they see that you have different profile pictures on social networks.

If you want to make your own, try to visit PICJOKE that makes fun photoshop effects in just a few seconds. There are other sites that also do this but they force you to register and use email addresses then spam you for a lifetime with ads that you do not want. They however are different and do this for free. Your friends will never find out that it took you a few clicks to get that old photo jazzed up. Make sure you try it out and visit it everyday for a different version of you. Tell your closest friends how easy it is and I'm sure you will have lots of fun cracking jokes everyday!

Philippine Government Websites Hacked Again

Defacing a website is a form of hacking and it seems that people have done it again. Malacañang is up to it again because there are several government websites that have been defaced just a couple of days ago.

Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas Chua III of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) was tasked by the palace to investigate this incident in the 5 government institutions that were affected.

The first one was the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the last one was the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). All of them were defaced and there are still no leads of who had done these activities.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said that the palace only wanted to know how these hackers were able to infiltrate the government institutions website and put an end to this mess that happened also a couple of months ago. There must be a permanent solution but no one knows why this is still done on the sites.

Malacañang wants CICT to issue recommendations as soon as possible so this would not happen again. They say that the next world war will be in cyber space and we must be ready for it. Oh my oh my let’s put up our firewalls and encrypt them! =)

Dad's New Toy!

There are tons of files in the Internet that can be easily accessed by simple downloading programs like TORRENT. I know you may have used this application once or twice so you could get music torrents, movie or free software applications gradually or easily seeded and leeched as their terms for sharing. It has proven beneficial for people who could not download things in a single sitting. I was trying to do the same for games on my PSP console and it is taking me quite a bit of time since I like titles from way back.

Now I have to also download music files for our media adapters so I can play and hookup my songs from a server and broadcast them wireless to any place in your house. It is a pretty neat gadget from a networking company and I tried it out just for kicks in the laboratory. I liked what it had so I also bought one for my Dad. I am setting it up so all the hardships normal people encounter while installing this media adapter also was on my list throughout the weekend. It was nice when I finished though because the only thing that I had to attach on the unit is just the speakers and power chord. Imagine all the music on my laptop is playing everything in the house. Dad was impressed and that is important. After all I bought this for him.

Maybe next time I will have to purchase the one with videos. Then a media server for GAS (Gadget Acquisition Syndrome) affected people like me!

Gun Ban Arrests 47 Peeps!

Sorry for the pic, I meant GUN BAN not TOP GUN! LOL

The Gun Ban in the Philippines started January 10th of this year.

Three out of the 47 people who were arrested for violations was dealt with in court by the Philippine National Police. In a press conference I watched thru ABSCBN PNP Deputy Spokesman Inspector Kimberly Gonzales said that they will be investigating the other ones also and file the corresponding charges as well. There are 5 police men, 3 soldiers, 3 government officials and 36 civilians all in all.

The area of Calabarzon or Region 4A Police had the most number of arrests numbering to 17 and there are 15 guns that were confiscated. Next is Metro Manila where 9 were arrested, 8 in region 6 and 4 in region 2, 3 in region 5 and 2 in regions 12 and 13. One arrested also in regions 1, 8, 9, 11 and ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

This happens every time the election nears in the Philippines but people still forget about it.

Now who’s next?! LOL

Are You Safe?!

There are pretenders among us and there are those who do not get caught. Just yesterday, I was trying to access my public email address and there was a notice from the provider that my account may have been compromised. I was surprised because at this day and age where portals like them spend thousands of dollars advertising that they are fully secured come to a point where they are vulnerable to attacks like these. I am extremely disappointed about them suddenly making my email a spam bot. It was troublesome because everyone suddenly emailed me back disgruntled that I was doing adult email spamming when all along someone else was using it other than me. A few days ago before that, there were people calling my friends asking for money; telling them that I was in a serious accident and needed it for operation and check up. It was a good thing they know the MODUS OPERANDI of these criminals and never fell into their trap. In a span of a month, I got to be twice a victim of identity theft. It was definitely time to make necessary actions to secure myself from these unscrupulous individuals. I really thought I was safe.

Entities like LifeLock Command Center could have helped me eliminate this from happening. But I am 10,000 miles away from the US right now. With professionals and former hackers helping me out on securing data when I was in data base management, it was really easy for me to manage networks at work. The difference is; they should have employed people who could have been better at this. I shall reclaim my identity and change all my codes now. I will not let them win! Be alert!