SKYLLO HACKS

Travel Light

2010-10-10T13:02:00.000+08:00

When I had a trip outside of the country for the first time, I packed too much. I brought shirts that I were not able to use, and I even forgot to bring an adapter so that I can charge my video camera.

The second time I went outside of the country, I packed clothes that I were not able to use (again!) because I was able to go shopping for clothes anyway. My own clothes + new clothes = disaster. Thank goodness, I didn't have to leave anything behind just because I had no room left in my bag.

I found a site called One Bag and its motto is Travel Light With One Bag! It's a very helpful site to guide you to packing for leisure and/or business. I'm not a seasoned traveler so I have yet to learn and master the art and science of it. There are so many benefits of having one bag to carry when traveling. It just gives you more focus on the trip itself because your luggage has been well thought out that you don't have to worry so much about it anymore. It saves you time, money and your sanity. I do recommend this to everyone because the tips found here are very practical and, dayum, they just make sense.

Plixi RSS feed (LOCKERZ)

2010-10-06T12:45:00.006+08:00

TweetPhoto, a photo service meant for Twitter, recently renamed itself probably to avoid any future problems with Twitter for the word "tweet" in their brand. It is now called Plixi and it has incorporated more features in their site to become more of a standalone social network (although it still associates itself with Twitter and Facebook).

I follow some people's TweetPhoto pages on my Google Reader and when I learned of the changes TweetPhoto made, I decided to check out the Plixi pages I'm interested in. I learned that there is no RSS feed link anywhere in personal pages and I was like WUUUUUUT. Anyway, I went back to Google Reader to get a clue. It seems that the TweetPhoto RSS feeds are still alive despite the rebranding because the feeds I subscribed to are still active. So if for some reason, you need to follow anyone on Plixi but you couldn't find their RSS feed, just use this link to subscribe to them:

http://tweetphotoapi.com/api/papi.svc/rss/users/INSERTPLIXIPROFILENUMBERHERE/photos

/edit: May 11, 2011
Plixi is now Lockerz.

Blocked Facebook and YouTube

2010-08-20T10:16:00.005+08:00

The keyword here is LOCAL.

If http://www.facebook.com or http://facebook.com are blocked, you can try using the other local site addresses for Facebook, like English (UK). The link to this local site is http://en-gb.facebook.com and almost works the same way as English (US). I frequently use http://zh-cn.facebook.com (it's Chinese) but whatever works for you, you know. When browsing and you stumble upon a dead end because the link redirects to http://www.facebook.com or http://facebook.com, just insert the language code in the link and you'll be able to access the page.

For YouTube, instead of http://www.youtube.com or http://youtube.com, use http://il.youtube.com. I still haven't figured out what the "il" is for but it works so no big deal.

Make avatars online

2010-04-07T08:35:00.002+08:00

Yay! So I use http://www.sherv.net/icon-maker/ previously to crop and resize photos into avatars but the avatar size is only 96x96 so I'm not satisfied. Well I found this site: http://avatars.qkype.com and it's easy to use and can crop avatars into 100x100. :)

It's All About The Honey

2010-03-23T14:34:00.003+08:00

I got this free notezine (notebook + magazine) at the book store. It's called 10.0. There's a page there allotted to 8 do-it-yourself beauty recipes using honey. I thought I'd share them:

FACE TIME

HONEY LIP SCRUB

1 tsp honey
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp white granulated sugar
A dash of lemon juice

Say goodbye to dry, flaky lips! Simply create a sugary paste with these ingredients and sweep the mixture back and forth with a finger or a toothbrush.

PAPAYA FACE MASK

1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp blended papaya
1/3 cup oatmeal

Fight wrinkles and other signs of aging with this alpha-hydroxy miracle mask! Blend ingredients together then smooth mask on and leave for 5-10 minutes. Rinse with warm water.

FRESH STRAWBERRY MASK

2 tsp honey
1/2 cup fresh strawberries
1 tbsp sour cream

Rich in salicylic acid, this edible mask reduces stress-induced blemishes and acne. Mix ingredients together using a fork or blender. Smooth over face and neck and let sit for 20 minutes. Rinse with cool water and pat skin dry.

HAIR DARE

HONEY HAIR PACK

1/2 cup pure honey

Massage the honey into your hair and leave on for 15 to 20 minutes. Cover with a plastic shower cap or warm towel. Rinse well with warm water. Even just on its own, honey is perfect for treating hair that has been dried and damaged by the sun, wind or styling. It will add body and bounce to your luscious locks.

AVOCADO OIL CONDITIONER

1 tsp honey
1 tbsp avocado oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 egg yolk

Mix ingredients together and stir until smooth and creamy. Massage into your hair and scalp then cover with a shower cap or warm towel and relax for 15 minutes. Shampoo and rinse hair well. Similar to many hot oil treatments, this rich conditioner contains avocado oil, which keeps hair soft, radiant and flexible.

BODY LOVE

SKIN SMOOTHER

1 tsp honey
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp lemon juice

Mix and rub into hands, elbows, heels and anywhere that feels dry. Leave on 10 minutes then rinse off with water.

MILK & HONEY BATH

1/2 cup honey
1 quart warm water
1 cup dried milk powder

Mix honey into the water and gradually stir in the milk powder until everything is completely dissolved. Add to bath water.

Optional: Add 1 cup of baking soda with dried milk powder for very dry and/or irritated skin.

HONEY OIL BATH

1 cup honey
1/4 cup of olive oil

Combine and pour into bath under running water.

(Photo source)

If You Were The Last Person On Earth, What Would You Need To Do First?

2010-03-18T15:35:00.003+08:00

Someone from Reddit came up with a survival plan if he became the last person on earth. These details stuck with me:

Write about what you've done. Every day. Write your thoughts, your transgressions, your hopes, your angers. As you fill books, put them in some permanent enclosure of sorts, sheltered from the elements.
Gather up Atlases, Medical Books, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Put them all in the same place. Who knows what evolution has in store? Perhaps in a couple hundred million years, some badger learns to make fire and read. It's your legacy and you can't accept the fact that this is the end of intelligent life. Write for them. Explain what transpired. If only to keep your mind busy and your heart steady.

It reminds me of the book I found on sale called The Last Book in The Universe by Rodman Philbrick. I wrote a blog entry about it before I made it private. Here's an excerpt of said entry:

I like how the part where Ryter gets taken away and he was like "You are the last book in the universe!" So dramatic! But why of course, that made sense. The last book in the universe is absolutely a person who has a story to tell when others don't have anymore.

I don't remember where that book is. I probably gave it away to spread the love. Or I was just being generous. Or stupid.

Anyway, if I were the last person on earth, I probably would spend the first few days of my lone existence in great great great denial and in hopes that I find someone who has survived whatever it is that wiped out people. I'd really look out for survivors. Then when the thought finally sinks in that I'm all by myself, that's when I'll come up with a plan. It's hard to figure out what exactly I can do in such situation because who knows, some resources I thought I'd need have already been destroyed. I don't know. It would suck if I were the only one left in this world. It would not be worth living in it anymore, I figure. I hold on to the fact that there will be ALWAYS, and I stress on that word so much, ALWAYS be someone better than me -- in strength, intelligence or anything else that is ranked and I can't just accept the thought that I'd be the last one standing. It just does not compute...

The Fastest Shoelace Knot

2010-02-23T12:24:00.000+08:00

It's called an Ian Knot! The instructions can be found here. Here is a demonstration:

What Adapter To Use When Travelling

2010-02-19T12:17:00.000+08:00

I got this from Tumblr. James Nord says it best:

Let’s be honest. Figuring out what adapter to use when you are traveling is a bitch. Do I need Adapter B Plug 6? Or is it Adapter E Plug 11? Well Josh and I worked together and launched a new feature at FLIGHT 001 where you can just type in the country you are traveling to and we will pull the adapter you need. Your life, simplified.

Check it out.

Karaoke / Instrumental

2010-02-16T12:06:00.002+08:00

Here are some ideas on how to get karaoke tracks or instrumentals of your favorite songs online for free:

Go to Youtube and search for the karaoke tracks. Then download the video and convert the file into an mp3. If you do not know how to download the video and convert the file, then you can just go over to sites like http://www.video2mp3.net/ and follow their instructions on how to download the video as an mp3.
Personally I think it's just a matter of persistence sometimes. You can go over file storage sites like 4shared and Esnips and search from there.
Torrents. Sorry I'm such dumb person to understand torrents, but they're everywhere online. Make it work. But anyway, here's someone who knows torrents.
Register an account in karaoke sites, look for the track you want and leech them by downloading the file (as instructed by the second item of this list!) or record it manually with the use of an audio recording program like Audacity.

Hope it helps!

Cucumber Water!

2010-02-14T11:48:00.004+08:00

I drink water a lot but why not put fruits in my water?

Pic Source: The Kitchn

I was first introduced to cucumber water recently because of this post. I thought it was odd but intriguing. I'm going to try it at home then.

Many people on Twitter are enjoying it too. (/edit: And I've read that cucumber water is offered in some spas.) Here's someone who put slices of cucumber in a pitcher full of cold water and ice and liked drinking it. Other things you can put in there are orange peels and lemon slices. If you're going to try it, just make sure you wash the fruits very well especially if you are not using organic fruits.

It is said that cucumber is made up of around 90% water so if you do not drink enough water, cucumber is good for you. However too much of it can cause bloating. But if you're drinking cucumber water, you don't really eat the cucumber because you're just after the taste anyway so drink up!

How to eat sushi

2010-02-13T07:26:00.002+08:00

I love Japanese food! Before I found this photo on Tumblr, I thought the way I eat sushi was alright. Boy, I was wrong.

I dip the rice in soy sauce. The fish doesn't touch my tongue first when I eat it. I use the same ends of the chopsticks both for eating and for taking food from a shared plate. I dump wasabi into my soy sauce. MY SUSHI ETIQUETTE NEEDS SOME WORK!

Clutter-free

2010-01-30T14:12:00.006+08:00

I'm not really a very organized person but I have my ways of putting things in order and found them effective. I'm probably the most organized in my family and my room is the most organized in our house. Is it a disease or something? LOL. Well I stumbled upon 2 sites while exploring in Google Reader.

Here's one of them: Organizing Your Way - http://www.organizingyourway.net. The articles written here are addressed to parents, but I'm pretty sure that everyone can relate to the tips and information provided. Right now, I'm going through their post called 31 Days of Organizing for A Better 2010. A small change in your lifestyle can make a difference in the long run. I hope this article helps you figure out what else you can do to make your life clutter-free if it still isn't. :)

On a different note, I'd rather follow a list like this than make vague near-to-impossible New Year's resolutions like be happy or stay healthy or be more sociable, like come on now.. They are usually just a bullet list of goals, but no little steps to achieve them. At least a to-do list is more active than passive towards self-improvement.

Here's the other site: Zen Family Habits - http://www.zenfamilyhabits.net/. Again, this site is parentally oriented but who doesn't want to have a simple but comfortable life? Zen implies a relaxed and collected way of living and one way to achieve this is to make it a habit to be organized. This is the article I'm currently reading: 43 Simple Ways to Simplify Your Life. I'm quite surprised though with the second item on the list: Process email only twice a day. In my case, I don't have a obssessive and compulsive behavior regarding email checking. I just open my inbox on one tab the whole day and just close it when I'm done surfing. There is a number on the tab of how many emails I have not read. If it's down to zero, then why bother checking it ever so often? I also make sure that if I receive an email and it needs a response, I reply as soon as possible or else the chore will just drag on. I don't need the pressure when it's simple to get it done with while it wasn't that much of a bother in the first place.

Okkkk so that was too serious and that last train of thought wasn't really about organization but whatever, haha. So yeah, keep in mind that if there is something you can take control of, THEN CONTROL IT. There is so much unpredictability going on in this world like calamities and nuclear reactions but you're not entirely helpless. Not at all.

Delete LiveJournal Memories

2010-01-24T09:29:00.003+08:00

This FAQ page from LiveJournal helped me clean up my LiveJournal. This bit of information helped me the most:

Editing or Deleting Memories
You can edit an existing memory by attempting to re-add it (using one of the methods above), or by finding the entry in your Memorable Entries page and clicking on the [edit] link next to the memory's description.

On this page, you can edit the memory's description, keywords, and security level. You can also delete the memory. This does not delete the original entry; it only removes it from your memory listing. There are several ways to delete a memory:
Deleting a Single Memory: Erase your description, then click the submit button. If the entry has been deleted, you will see a button which will allow you to delete the memory.
Deleting Multiple Memories: Click on the specific memory category that contains the memories you want to delete, and add &multidelete=1 to the end of that URL in your web browser's address bar. Check the box next to each memory you wish to delete, then click the Delete Selected button.

New Year Contest! Win a complete Kérastase minis set

2010-01-02T14:35:00.004+08:00

WHAT A BEAUTY! THIS IS A CONTEST GIVEAWAY FROM HAIR IN MANILA! The prize is a complete set of Kerastase minis. Look at that, omg.

Create animated gifs from YouTube videos

2009-12-22T11:37:00.005+08:00

I've seen this a lot on LiveJournal so I thought of sharing this site on here. It's called gifSoup.

You will need an account though but it's free so don't worry. You can follow the instructions when you're already logged in to your account. :)

Win a Free Boracay Vacation Package by WOW Philippines Travel Agency

2009-12-20T09:54:00.002+08:00

I've never been to Boracay. Who knows I could get lucky. Heee

WOW Philippines Travel Agency, Inc. is celebrating its 5th year in business during July of 2010, and we would like you to have a chance to celebrate with us, so we have decided to give-away a FREE Boracay Package complete with 5 Star accommodations at the luxurious Le Soleil de Boracay Hotel on Boracay Island. The lucky winner will win the following Boracay vacation package.

Vacation Package Inclusions:
- 5 Days / 4 Nights Luxury 5 Star Accommodations at the Le Soleil de Boracay Hotel

- Flights to Boracay from Manila to Caticlan Airport on Philippine Airlines

- Island Transfers - Door-to-Door from Manila to the resort and back to Manila Domestic Airport

- Three (3) Meals each day, Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

- Boracay Activities - Horseback Riding, Island Hopping, Glass Bottom Boat

- PLUS - 5,000 peso Spending Cash

Read More Information: http://www.boracay-packages.com

I had to search for the contest link on the website. I finally saw it. Here.

I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence - Amy Sedaris

2009-12-19T11:20:00.007+08:00

I bought a copy of this book called I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence by Amy Sedaris from a book sale. For a hardbound book, I got a good deal. Basically this book is about planning and throwing parties in your own place. I've never read a book by Amy Sedaris before so I didn't expect she'd be quirky in this book. It's a visually refreshing and educational read especially since I don't throw parties a lot.

While reading this book, I actually dreamt of being on my own, having the house all by myself and cooking for myself (FREEDOM!!!). I once told my dad that I actually like to cook if only I'd be the one eating the food I make. But he disagrees that I'd be able to enjoy the food alone. Sorry but not everyone eats my food at home whenever I cook, not because my food does not taste good but because my peeps are picky eaters (I hate you all). So it would be a change for me to prepare and design the food I make only for myself. I could even control the leftovers. Moving on, here's a preview of the book:

(photos thanks to AmySedarisRocks)

Create a box where friends can ask questions anonymously. Post your responses to Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or your blog.

2009-12-13T10:36:00.002+08:00

I spend a lot of time on Tumblr and I see a lot of people I follow use this service called Formspring. It's a contact form creation site and people can just ask other people questions without naming themselves. Then what happens is anonymous messages are posted on the form then the owners of the form will repost the questions on Tumblr together with their answers. It actually gets tedious. So I think this spin-off is clever. It's called Formspring.me:

When you register for an account, you'll get a personalized URL (unlike the long ass address Formspring.com provides) and you can post the questions you received and your own answers on the page as well. It's like Twitter, but for Q&A and can only be updated when there are incoming questions. I guess Formspring the company felt that they needed to provide a service that leans towards social networking as their site has become popular on Tumblr. I think it's a really good move.

Is Formspring.me for me (no pun intended)? I think not. It's a fun site but it's not my cup of tea because I am quite nervous of what kind of messages I might get, plus I have many sites to attend to. But if you tend to get lots of attention, then why don't you give it a try? You can have fun answering the questions people post on your page.

Share your email in a safe way. Get less spam.

2009-11-03T13:45:00.004+08:00

I saw an online friend of mine use this service so that he can share his email address publicly but still be assured that it's not going to be harvested by spammers. He used this service called Scr.im which is currently in Beta.

To use the service, you type in your email on the site, set a URL that you can easily remember and distribute, and voila, you have your own scr.im address. You can share this link online as a substitute to posting your actual email address which is harmful in the long run.

How does it prevent spam from getting into your inbox? Basically when someone clicks on your personalized scr.im link, they are asked to answer a captcha question which, i say, is quite tricky. it's not the usual "type in what you see" kind of captcha. It's more of matching the same captchas which is challenging especially if you're the lazy kind of person (what a shame). Afterwards, the email address is displayed. But yeah, spambots can't bypass this kind of captcha so it makes your email address safe from them flooding your mail.

Try it! Very helpful if you advertise your email address a lot.

blogger page views post view hit counter to count views of post/page

2009-10-19T14:53:00.000+08:00

blogger page views post view hit counter to count views of post/page

check that page out. it's a simple counter you can use for your blogger account.

Create newsletters!

2009-08-29T09:19:00.002+08:00

My brother needed a software with templates so he can make a newsletter for his homework. We needed the software immediately so I searched online and downloaded the first free software I could find. I stumbled upon this publishing software called Publish-It.

The main website where this is from looks HTML- challenged because of the lack of design. But I got the software from Download.com. Here is the link: http://download.cnet.com/Publish-it/3000-6675_4-10046724.html

It's only available for a 21-day trial but my brother and I figured it's good enough for him. The interface reminds me of Microsoft Word so it wasn't that hard to navigate.

Anyway for freeware, I found this software on Download.com again. I haven't tried it though. It's called Serif PagePlus. However if you go over to this site, it says it's not free.

I didn't bother to check out PDF creators anymore because it might get too complicated for my brother. He was already able to make his project on Publish-It already. The only problem he has now is he ran out of paper.

AVS Video Editor - alternative to Windows Movie Maker

2009-08-22T13:09:00.005+08:00

/edit (February 5, 2010): Wow so I was on subscription all along and my copy expired. So now whenever I save a movie file, a watermark is generated right on the middle of my file which FREAKIN SUCKS. Sorry guys, it's NOT A FREE ALTERNATIVE. They ask you to pay 59 USD for a no-expiry subscription, while a one-year subscription costs 39 USD. NO. I'm keeping this entry though to remind me how AVS Video Editor was such a great alternative for me. THIS REALLY SUCKS.

Last time, I wrote about possible Windows Movie Maker alternatives. And one of the video editors I mentioned was AVS Video Editor. That time, I had the beta software which I got from GiveAwayOfTheDay last year.

I thought of running the software a few days ago and saw a prompt saying there's only 23 days left for the trial. WHAT TRIAL?? I thought it's supposed to be free? So I went to the AVS4YOU official site and checked out the video editor download page for any changes in the software. I found out that there's a new version of the software. So I downloaded it and installed in my laptop. I LOVE IT. It has more video effects and transitions and the interface looks sleek.

Here's the link to download AVS Video Editor! http://www.avs4you.com/AVS-Video-Editor.aspx

Don't Eat This Page

2009-08-10T13:10:00.005+08:00

I am currently reading Morgan Spurlock's "Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America" which I got on sale. I'm halfway through and I have to say that now I find fast food more disgusting than ever. We know it's bad for us, but most of us still eat fast food anyway! OM NOM NOM DEATH!

Here is an excerpt of the book. This book made me realize just how important my decision was to shun soda forever. I haven't drunk soda for 8 months now. Not that I've gone cold turkey because I'm addicted to it. I used to drink it occasionally and just thought it's something I don't need in my life. I grew up drinking lots of water. Besides I didn't enjoy having hiccups when drinking carbonated water. Not to mention that soft drinks is caffeinated and when I was kid, I didn't drink coffee. I think coffee was a bit unfamiliar to me until I went to college to see if it would help me pull an all-nighter.

I pass by a lot of fast food restaurants going to work. And today is a different story. I saw a Burger King poster which has photos of a big ass burger, large fries and a bucket of soda and felt revolted. I will do my best to get back the discipline I had when it comes to food. (Trust me, I'm not even a good example of discipline. Me? When I was at the peak of my health, I had bad food choices, but at least they're in moderation.) I can't go vegan because that's just insane. I love the taste of meat, but if the meat I have right in front of me doesn't have the slightest resemblance, smell and texture to the animal it came from, then it's not good and I shouldn't eat it. We think drug overdose is bad. We detest it, but why do we enjoy bingeing on food that is processed with lots of chemicals? And too much is bad. If a regular burger already packs in hundreds of calories, why do you have to Go Large to take in more calories? Are you athletic enough to burn that much? Athletes don't even feast on fast food!

The book is a nice but alarming read. It's educational and you couldn't help but ask yourself if you know enough information to take care of your body. Morgan Spurlock is humorous too. Check it out.

edit: Right after I posted this entry on Twitter, my online acquaintance posts this link as his update: Just found my new favourite i’m-hungry-at-2am-website http://fancyfastfood.com.

How to stop animated gifs from "moving"

2009-08-09T10:15:00.004+08:00

Is this gif hurting your eyes? Want it to stop but you'd like to continue browsing this page?

If you answered yes, then this keyboard button is your friend.

ESC. Try it.

Embed cover art to MP3

2009-07-18T17:35:00.006+08:00

Some of my mp3s in my collection have incomplete information. It's not a big deal when I play them in my laptop, but I also have MP3s in my phone and it would really be nice to see their respective cover art on my phone screen. The thing is I can't do it manually ala right click > Properties blah blah blah. I googled and found this website called Mp3tag:

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

I want to give it a try. The software download is small, less than 2 MB! And it can do other things too.

Next: I'll probably look for a software that can regulate mp3 volume, because everything in my collection does not have the same volume. It's annoying to adjust the volume just because a song currently playing is soft only to get ear blast from the next song which is loud.

Extract files from zip/rar files ONLINE!

2009-07-09T20:51:00.003+08:00

Someone sent me a .rar file and I couldn't open it with Adobe Reader for some reason. I can't install a different reader on here so I searched online and found this site:

http://www.wobzip.org

It's very easy to use. Just browse for the file from your computer and click wobzip! You will have an option to download each file in the zip or rar file, download all or delete files. The website looks clean, is direct to the point and not populated by annoying ads. Try it!! :)

Links!!!

2009-07-04T16:19:00.005+08:00

Hello there. Here's another update because I really feel sorry for what this blog has become, lol. Lemme just list the sites I've stumbled upon previously.

Counter Measures [http://countermeasures.trendmicro.eu/] - I've seen this mentioned in BBC Click's Webscape. It's a blog about "Security, Privacy and Trust." Interesting read.
Nest Unclutter [http://nest.unclutterer.com] - It's a nifty site for mass-removing and -blocking spammers from your followers list on microblog Twitter.
Pic Fog [http://picfog.com] - Twitter is all the rage this year, duh. This site is handy for searching pictures hosted on Twitpic.com [/edit: also pics hosted on YFrog.com and Twitgoo.com!)
TwitLogo [http://twitlogo.com] - Another website referring to Twitter. You can generate your own logo using "Twitter font" on here.
What The Trend [http://whatthetrend.com/] - Damn, I think I should have made a separate post for Twitter-related links, eh? Haha, ok, so this site explains the current trending topics on Twitter with user-generated blurbs.
Splicd [http://www.splicd.com/] - I've written an entry before about linking a specific time frame on a YouTube video. I tried it a couple of times but it doesn't seem to work? Whatever. Anyway here's a site that does just that and more. You can specify both the start and end time of the clip you want to isolate on here.
DuckDuckGo [http://duckduckgo.com/] - It's a search engine with a clean interface. Try it!
Wunbar [http://wunbar.com/] - The one bar (get it? One bar, Wunbar?) to search the world wide web.
BlogPatrol [http://blogpatrol.com] - I've been using this blog statistics tool for some time now and I'm happy with it. Woooo!
NutshellMail [http://nutshellmail.com] - This email service is awesome. Basically it consolidates your social network updates and email accounts in one place. I use it for Facebook because it's blocked at work, and email accounts I rarely log in to. What I like about it is that I can send Facebook status updates and comments by email!
KnowEm [http://knowem.com] - It's another user name checking service. It has included many services for checking, what I just don't like though is that when I have the results, I only know which sites where the username I entered are taken. There are no actual links of the profiles registered.
Namechk [http://namechk.com/] - Another user name checking website.
HelloTxt [http://hellotxt.com/] - Update your social networks with one site.
Dollar Store Crafts [http://dollarstorecrafts.com/] - A blog for cheap craft-making.
The Fucking Weather [http://thefuckingweather.com] - Weather forecasts with vulgarity, haha.

I think that's it for free Google juice. Bye!

Spokeo | Defraggler | Online Armor Personal Firewall

2009-06-26T17:20:00.002+08:00

I'm so sorry, I really haven't thought of this blog for the longest time! (BOO ME!!) But I have found a nice site for your e-researching needs, hahaha. Spokeo.com! For full results, you will need to pay but I think it's worth a shot. :) Let me just say that it is completely wise to have more than 1 email address. Probably one email add for your emails, another for signing up to social networks, another for signing up to websites you are not sure of, and another which is a TOP SECRET! I've read somewhere that if you use Gmail, you can use both @gmail.com and @googlemail.com addresses. I say, use them to your advantage!

I've also stumbled upon this tool for disk defragmenting. It's called Defraggler, from the same company that launched CCleaner and Recuva. I think this is easier to use than the built in defragmenter in Windows.

Now I'm looking for a free firewall that I can replace Comodo with because Comodo is getting annoying. The last time I tried to update it, I got an error on my computer, like this prompt that just won't quit. Ugh. So I had to restore it back to when it was still working fine. So now I'm hesitant to update it even if I get prompts that I should. I've read that Online Armor Personal Firewall is great. I'll probably check that out.

SEE YA (NOT SO) SOON!

Facebook Konami Code

2009-05-09T20:39:00.000+08:00

On Facebook.com, try this series on your keyboard:

UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A ENTER

Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred download

2009-05-05T13:08:00.001+08:00

I love The Biggest Loser and my favorite trainer is Jillian Michaels. Heard about her workout video called 30-Day Shred and people say it's really effective. I looked for a link online. Here's what I found from a forum. It says there that you have to combine the clips using HJSplit.

PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6
PART 7

Good luck and good health!

Bardot album download [MP3]

2009-04-29T16:01:00.000+08:00

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG so today I saw this post on ONTD about 90s bands like 5ive, B*witched and M2M and I was like, when will I find a copy of the song called I Should've Never Let You Go by an Australian girl group called Bardot? Then I decided to search for it on Google this time even though I wasn't hoping I'd find a link. I mean, I tried it so many times before and I failed. Luckily someone recently uploaded the whole mothaf*cking album online! OMG.

http://singinstars.blogspot.com/2009/04/bardot-bardot.html

And the whole album is here: http://www.mediafire.com/?i5mto1ffnan

Thank you so much, whoever you are!!!

Google Trick

2009-04-21T20:07:00.000+08:00

Got this from bitchville:

1. Go to Google
2. Click images
3. Type “flowers, cars, bikes” or any other word.
4. You will get a page which is having full of images
5. Then delete the URL from the address bar and paste the below script

javascript:R= 0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI= document.images ; DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i

Enjoy!

Find Alternative Software

2009-04-18T17:46:00.000+08:00

Find alternative programs here!

http://alternativeto.net/

AlternativeTo is a new approach to finding good software. Tell us what application you want to replace and we give you suggestions on great alternatives! Instead of listing thousands of more or less crappy applications in a category, we make each application into a category. Think of it like forever evolving blog posts about good alternatives to the software that you're not satisfied with. And the "blog posts" are generated by you through suggestions, comments and votes.

Enjoy!

Organizing pictures in my computer

2009-03-15T21:46:00.001+08:00

I'll tell you how I organize mine, and maybe you'll have an idea about what to do with your photo collection:

FOLDERS. They are friends, I tell you. Don't leave folders untitled because it will take you 2 extra clicks just to find out what that folder is for (one, to know what's inside. two, to go back to where you were).

I keep a separate folder for photos I take with my camcorder. And I make a subfolder for each set. I also have a different folder for photos I took using my camera phone and photos I've transfered using bluetooth. When I don't have to see these photos regularly, I compress them in zip files so they're easier to move around if I have to. Any personal photos (family, friends, co-workers) should go in folders too.

I have a LOL folder. I'm serious. This is where I keep photos I've stumbled upon online even if they're not even LOLworthy, just because all these entertain me. And I put the photos in their respective subfolders: wallpapers, really funny shit, lol wat or photos that show a reaction or facial expression (for LiveJournal comments, haha), gifs, icons... If there are too many of the same kind like comics, Harry Potter, Twilight shoops (i keep the funny ones), The Dark Knight (i keep the funny ones too), or celebrities like lol Obamas (they're dope, check them out), I also place the photos in their own folder.

I also have a separate folder for things I've drawn. And a different folder for photos I've used for slideshow or video projects.

That's just for my laptop.

I almost have the same setup at my work computer but everything personal is placed in one folder while everything work-related is in another. Of course, I have to be careful of what I save in my workspace computer because it is not mine and it's possible that it would be inspected.

Too much folders is bad though. Just be wise on how you categorize your stuff. Find what really works for you.

How to delete Technorati account

2009-03-14T17:33:00.002+08:00

For some strange reason, Technorati has not incorporated a delete function in Technorati accounts which sucks. But they can manually delete it, according to them:

Go here and choose the following based on the screen crap below:

Then a message below will appear:

We have not yet incorporated an option for a user to automatically delete their Technorati account. To close your Technorati membership, submit a ticket via this Support Contact Form with Support Type of "My Account" and include:

Name of the account to be closed
The email used to set up the account
Why you'd like to close the account (so we may better serve our users in the future)

A form can be found below the message. Fill it in and submit. And wait.

Update (March 24): I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY RESPONSE FROM TECHNORATI SINCE I HAVE FILED A REQUEST ON MARCH 14. THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS.

A day after (March 25): I just received a letter from Technorati. It reads:

Hello ,

Please accept our apologies for the delay in getting back to you. Per your
request, we've gone ahead and closed your account

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions. Thank you
for using Technorati!

Best Regards,

Janice Myint

Customer Support

Technorati

Thank you. Finally.

The Language of Love

2009-02-02T13:59:00.001+08:00

I picked up this book called The Language Of Love by Gary Smalley and John Trent in a book sale months ago. Pretty cheap for a secondhand hardbound book, actually. It was just 25 pesos, approximately 50 cents (USD). I have the one with the white cover. I thought it was a corny book because it has "love" in the title but I bought it anyways. I just started reading the book last night. I'm on Chapter 3 already, I think, and it's pretty riveting. I am surprised that this book is listed as inspirational or Christian, but I don't think it's any of those types. It's more like self-help. Or even a language book.

The book teaches readers how to communicate effectively, if not more, with the use of "emotional word pictures." It's like in order to break a certain communication barrier with someone, you have to provide an example that this person can relate to; a metaphor, if you will. People are not in the same wavelength at all times so you have to understand this difference. This is why you have to appeal to the person's feelings; emotions that are actually universal in nature, like love, frustration, guilt, et cetera. It is then that you would be on the same ground. It is even possible that the image or story you tell this person would have a lasting impact that they would carry it for the rest of their life!

I think story tellers are the ones who are familiar with this technique as they know how to attract and capture the attention of their listeners/readers. Why don't we take the time to paint a mental picture for our loved ones too? Adults used to draw with crayons and markers when they were little to express their feelings, wishes and aspirations. Why do we forget to do the same when we grow, minus the art supplies?

Paint a picture. Don't stop loving.

Do not unsubscribe from spam messages.

2009-01-09T21:52:00.000+08:00

(Photo source)

LOL I'm back, but not for long. Anyway I've been reading stuff online and I found this tip:

Do not unsubscribe from spam messages sent to your email.
Iknorite, it kinda sounds odd that you want to stay 'subscribed" when actually you want to stop spam from being sent to your email, but really, if you do unsubscribe to these messages by clicking the "Unsubscribe" link these emails have provided, it just assures spammers that your email is valid so they can send you more spam.

SO DON'T DO IT! DO NOT UNSUBSCRIBE! DO NOT CLICK LINKS FROM SPAM!

DO NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS FROM SPAM!

DO NOT REPLY TO SPAM!

DELETE SPAM!

BLOCK EMAILS THAT SPAM YOU!

PRACTICE SECURITY MEASURES ONLINE!

Have a good day. :D

Was good while it lasted.

2009-01-06T14:39:00.000+08:00

This blog is almost a year old and I didn't regret setting it up. It makes me glad that I can help people with little things. Also I learned a lot from other people which I appreciate very much. It has been fun, but I'm running out of things to write for this site, sad to say. :/ I've also slacked in writing for my personal blog (and I pay for it? Eek) so I think I should pay more attention to it. I'll still keep this, do not worry, however I can't promise it to be updated regularly. Maybe if I encounter some problem or things I find interesting to post here again, then I can write a new entry.

May I suggest these links? I have them on Google Reader:

http://lifehacker.com/ - I wouldn't have started this blog if not for this site. Very informative, educational and practical.
http://litemind.com/
http://unclutterer.com/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...click_online/default.stm - BBC Click
http://bloodycomputer.blogspot.com/ - A very helpful site I found on Entrecard.
http://www.downloadsquad.com/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
http://www.techcrunch.com/

I also recommend using Twitter to be up to date with current events and news. It's not just for vain people, you know. ;P

Thank you for your time. Happy New Year!

Photo source: Localwin

Vacation

2008-12-20T15:10:00.000+08:00

Will be gone til early January!

Synchronized YouTube videos

2008-12-12T19:27:00.002+08:00

I've been seeing video makers on YouTube synchronize 2 videos so that when you play both at the same time, it creates a very interesting viewing experience. If you attempt to make one yourself or with a friend, it can only mean these: 1) you'd like to experiment with online video, 2) you are testing your editing skills, and/or 3) you are flaunting your editing skills. If you still do not understand what I'm talking about, just imagine 2 YouTube videos put next to each other and the videos are about a phone conversation. Person A is on the first video, and Person B is on the second video. By playing the two videos at the same time, it would look like they are actually talking to each other on the phone and you can hear their conversation. But if you just watch one of the videos, it's only one person talking and it probably wouldn't make sense if you do not hear what the other person on the line is saying.

Anyway, I've seen a website dedicated to this. Nope, it will not help you with the production. This is just so you can nicely put the YouTube videos side by side and stuff. Look here:

http://www.youtubedoubler.com/

But I hope someone dares to sync 3 YouTube videos.

http://www.you3b.com/

If only my editing skills are teh awesome and I have good video equipment, I'd like to do 3 videos that would somehow simulate what I call the 'N Sync Bye Bye Bye effect, LOL. It's that performance they had in one awards show where they sang behind television sets.

Customer Service Skills

2008-12-03T20:23:00.000+08:00

I needed to write a long piece for a company. This is a part of the draft I'm busy working on. Hope you find it useful somehow. LOL. Note: LivePerson is a chatting and email program used by many companies for customer relations.

A Customer Service Representative (CSR) should be able to understand that communication between CS and the customers heavily relies on written text with the use of the LivePerson chat program. There is a lack of facial and vocal cues to fully convey a certain message so it is advised for CSRs the following:

1. Be articulate. Find the most appropriate words to express your thought. Sometimes the customers chatting with us are not good in their language so it would be best if we do our best to communicate clearly or else, nobody will understand each other anymore.

2. Be formal. We talk to customers, not our own friends. Chat with customers with proper typography, grammar, syntax and choice of words. Avoid abbreviation and write in full sentences as much as you can.

3. Be patient. Your role is not only to instruct customers on certain things about the website, but also to educate them when needed. This is to lessen contact between CS and customers because customers will then be more informed on certain processes regarding the website that they do not have to come back to the Live Chat to ask the same questions over and over.

4. Be polite and sympathetic. Even if customers get irate, they are still our customers and we cannot act disrespectful towards them. Let them vent if they want to and do not take their frustrations personally. If you had a bad chat session and you feel awful about it, let these unpleasant feelings go. Do not let it affect your next chat. It does not make sense to dwell on a certain chat session because it’s already finished and it’s just a part of your work.

5. Take control of the chat. We treat our customers with respect but it does not mean that they can take over the chat and intimidate us. Be firm but within reason.

6. Be creative. A set of messages has been placed in LivePerson but it does not mean that you can use the messages at any chance you can get. If that is the case, then it is better off for customers to chat with robots. Use the canned responses at your convenience but not to the point that you do not chat with your own words anymore. Understand the thought then construct it into sentences with your choice of words.

7. Know what the customer is asking. Pay attention to questions. Do not be afraid to tell the customer that you have not understood. Ask them nicely to rephrase the question if they can. Do not leave their questions unanswered as much as possible.

8. Entertain questions only about the website. As mentioned earlier, we talk to customers, not our own friends. Customers only need to know about the website and nothing else. Private company information should be kept within the company for our own use. The customers do not need to know how our company operates as a whole, let alone how you work as a CSR. Therefore, personal questions asked by customers should not be entertained such as age, nationality and off days.

9. Be accurate with providing information. Be careful! It is wise to ask your team leader or supervisor at times of uncertainty.

10. Be direct to the point. Time is of the essence when it comes to pretty much everything. Do not let your customers wait for unnecessary reasons. If you have to make them wait, you can tell them to hold for a moment, but do not leave them the whole time without an update. It’s safe to update them about the status of what you are doing at the moment every 2-3 minutes.

11. Imagine yourself as the customer. If you do, then you would have an idea of where the customer is coming from. It would be easy if you can visualize how a customer’s mind works. And you’ve been a customer in your life as well! Just try to imagine how you would like to be attended by a customer service representative and apply it to your own work. As the golden rule goes, “Do unto others what you want others to do unto you.”

Dumprep.exe

2008-12-03T20:13:00.000+08:00

Hello there! Sorry that I have not updated this blog frequently as I wanted to, but anyway, I'm here to write about dumprep.exe. I'm pretty sure that you've experienced "illegal operations" with a program or browser you are using at least once in your computer-related life. And when you go press CTRL+ALT+DEL to use the Task manager and end the processes, it's still not enough to remove errors on your computer. Sometimes it even freezes, wtf. Anyway, what you can do is to go to the Processes tab and check if there is any dumprep.exe written there. If you find one, click it for it to get highlighted then click "End Process". JUST DO IT! I've learned this trick from an IT personnel here in my workplace and it's effective especially when I use Firefox or Media Player Classic! Hope that helps!

Use your own pen!

2008-11-24T11:22:00.000+08:00

I am currently reading this book about colds and flu (I forgot the title, sorry! I'll edit this entry when I do.) and one of the tips given by the author (who's a doctor) to avoid getting colds/flu is to use your own pen! I know that it seems a bit of a hassle to bring one when you go outside and you'd think that you can just borrow one from other people but this is how bacteria can spread easily -- by borrowing and lending pens! If you have your own pen, you can use it at your convenience when paying bills or filling in forms without the concern that somebody who has not washed their hands properly has touched it before you. You don't even fumble and look like an idiot doing so. And when you're sick but you use your own pen and not lend it to anybody else, you lessen the chance of other people getting sick like you! At the same time, if you have a sudden random thought that you'd like to hang on to, you can jot it down right away before losing it. That's how some people in the advertising industry work! They bring their own pen (and paper)! So... don't hesitate to bring your own pen because it can save you from contagious illnesses and even preserve your brilliant ideas you just thought of. :P

Blog Backup

2008-11-16T16:51:00.001+08:00

Here's a blog backup site I use:

http://www.blogbackuponline.com

I registered a free account, indicated the blogs I want with a backup, then I left it behind for future use!

Free accounts, (or "freemium" as called by the site) however, are limited and it only supports a number of blogging platforms but I write a lot and it's great to know that the things I have written have a backup. :P

Here's an idea. If you have a favorite blog and you'd like to keep a copy of that blog and it so happens to be compatible with Blog Backup Online, then why don't you register the blog in your account and back it up? :P

Don't give out your user name+password to random sites!

2008-11-13T12:28:00.000+08:00

Today it was discussed in tech blogs that Twitterank, a website that checks your Twitter Page rank "ala Google PR", is out to get your account information for hacking. Whilst it is not true according to the owner of the site (check the site for the disclaimer), it is still not wise to give out your user name and password to a random site.

In relation to this news, another website named Twitterawesomeness appears. This site is supposed to tell you how awesome you are on Twitter. I really don't get why you have to know this piece of information. It's probably to stroke your ego, no? Well, to spoil the fun, this is just an experiment to find out if people will willingly give out their user name and password for the sake of generating some ranking for their Twitter account. Here's a note from the owner of said site (Damon Cortesi?) (Note: this is found on the page source):

I wouldn't really put your credz in here...it's just a bad idea - I don't actually calcuate anything, this is a joke.
This is an exercise in seeing how many people will willingly give out their Twitter credentials to a random website
And if you're reading this, then congrats - you're more savvy than the average twitter-bear!

LOL at congratulating me. Don't mention it.

The point is, don't provide your account information to some random site! If you're not even sure about a website, research about it first! You might find something useful when you do that!

Also it is best to have a different password for every account you have. This way, if your Twitter account was hacked in to, then it won't be easy for the hacker to get into your other online accounts. Another tip is to change your password every now and then. I know it's really hard to keep up with lots of passwords, but I guess it's good to use a mnemonic device to help you remember! :p

For your stalking needs

2008-11-12T09:25:00.000+08:00

For your stalking needs, may I suggest this link?

http://usernamecheck.com/

You're welcome.

HBO Asia Flight of The Conchords trailer contest

2008-11-06T15:14:00.001+08:00

OK I'm deviating from the usual post at this moment because I'd like to have a Mac Book Air, thank you very much!

This is my entry for HBO Asia's Flight Of The Conchords trailer contest. And I hope you vote for my entry on this page: http://www.hboasia.com/fotc/video_contest_voting

"VOTE FOR JAMIE, V33!" Yeah, I think that should be my campaign slogan.

Anyway, since this is sort of a tech blog, I might as well discuss some technical aspects of the video.

I used Windows Movie Maker for editing the video. I know a lot of you are fed up with its occasional crashes. Me too, dahlings! So your vote for my entry counts. I can get a Mac Book Air if I win! Possibly with iLife a.k.a. with iMovie!

I used Audacity for recording the music. The song, by the way, is entitled "The Humans Are Dead" by Flight Of The Conchords. Basically I sang each voice, placed each track at a specific time on the time line, adjusted the volume and saved the track as MP3. I didn't use any special effects to make me sound like a robot. It was all just me! That's how weird I can get. The arrangement was just random as well. I didn't plan it that way. Also since it's a 30-second clip, I have to make the most out of the song because of the given time so I kind of rearranged some of the lyrics in there. A reprise, if you will.

My camera is a Sony Handycam. My firewire is broken so I cannot transfer videos from videocam to computer, so video is out. I had to settle with photos, but no regrets, people. I think the video looked more raw when I used photos and I got more creative freedom taking them.

I think one of the most important elements of the video was timing. I know the editing is kinda off but that's because it was hard for me to put the cuts at the exact time especially if you're using Windows Movie Maker. The timing I was actually referring to though is the timing in the music. I am just one person, but I think I managed to make the music sound like there are people singing together. Synchronizing the voices was a challenge, but I've done it before so that gave me a head start. It was the arrangement that threw me off though because I don't really arrange songs and I thought it might go batshit crazy because I can really go off the wall with this one if I got dared by the ~devilz~ or something.

My favorite scene is where the CDs were laid down on the floor. It had that futuristic effect and I thought it looked nice.

Hope you get entertained? I don't know. You decide. :D

Music Search Engines part 2

2008-11-03T11:05:00.000+08:00

Saw this post today about turning Google into an Mp3 downloader. They say that downloading music from Google is much safer than let's say, P2P clients because it is not tracked.

Here are some URLs I found in the comments that you might think are interesting:

Link to a specific time frame on a YouTube video.

2008-10-28T09:29:00.000+08:00

Another YouTube URL trick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[UNIQUE YOUTUBE CODE]#t=[NUMBER OF MINUTES]m[NUMBER OF SECONDS]s

The URL example I just posted is messy but it will somehow look like this if you want to link to the 1 minute and 28th second of a specific video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXXXXXX#t=1m28s

Get it?!!!!!! It's just because sometimes you just have to skip a few minutes. For instance, Scarlet takes a tumble.

Refreshing the video stream on BlogTv

2008-10-28T09:14:00.001+08:00

Stumbled upon this tip. I don't hang out at BlogTV (as if Stickam wasn't too much already) but hey, if you find this useful, hurrah for you.

If you'd like to refresh the page of the channel you are watching, you'd probably click the refresh button and the whole page will reload. Not cool if the channel you are watching has many viewers. Chances are, you'll be redirected to the waiting room which sucks ass. To refresh the video streaming without the page reloading, you can just enter this javascript code on your browser's address bar:

javascript:liveShowBegin()

Oh by the way, just for the lulz and extreme mental retardation:

http://www.blogtvdrama.com/ | http://www.blogtvgossip.com/

Learn basic photo editing skills for your own sake!!11

2008-10-25T10:15:00.001+08:00

I saw this gem today c/o an online friend and it just shows that it pays if you know a thing or two about basic photo editing... and also if you know where to turn to if you need help with photo editing. Definitely not in this forum.

Larger pic: http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/2215/favourfromfacepunchqn4.jpg

Heyyy

2008-10-18T14:09:00.001+08:00

Sorry I have not written here for around 2 weeks now. Been spending more time in real life, hehe, and I got sick. To be honest, I actually don't know where this blog is going, you know, if I can really keep up with it. My main purpose why I did set up this blog though is to share what I know, and so far, these are what I can share and I guess it was a small success; small but alright. I have no idea who's still following this blog. If you still do, I'm sorry if you've been expecting lots especially since I've been called an idiot on my own blog, haha. I've just been busy lately and hopefully something interesting comes along so I can post it here. I don't plan to delete this blog at all, don't worry. I mean, it's not like I just copied and pasted everything. I still write my own commentaries and stuff unless specified, so it's still a personal blog that I'd like to keep. Besides it was an effort to put this up so why waste this, right?

Anyway, it was Blog Action Day on October 15. I knew about this movement and the theme for this year months ago, but I didn't join. To be honest, I just don't get it why you should pick a day to have a say about poverty. What just happens is we exhaust every idea we have on one day then move on to things we think are more interesting the next day. If you really want to do something, if you really want to say something, you just... DO IT, I'm just saying.

My stand on poverty is that it's not just about who has money and who has none. There is a social structure in our society that we can't seem to break at all. If it were that easy, then we could have broken this structure a long time ago. Gawd, we can't even control if our would-be parents are rich/poor, let alone who our parents would be when we are born!

I've heard of this anecdote in school. It allegedly was from a priest. He said, if we want a better Philippines (that's my country), then we should get all the poor people killed. What would be left are the rich people who would then constitute 100% people residing in the country. 100% rich people = no more poverty. NOT HUMANE, right? But think about it. It's a drastic measure and it definitely changes the social structure in the society. That's the kind of solution we need. It doesn't have to be morbid though, but I hope you know what I'm trying to say.

I do believe that education can defeat poverty if all are given the chance to study. More educated people = more help and resources available to everyone. And of course, to have a healthy mind, one must also have a healthy body so basic needs like food and shelter should be met first. I do hope our current and future leaders can address these issues since they are all connected to each other.

This entry is really getting serious so I guess it's time to end this now. I say, hack (in a good way)! Ask questions! Don't settle. The more you know, the more you can protect yourself, in this case.

We7

2008-10-07T14:29:00.000+08:00

I was looking for this song that was a bit tricky for me to find that I stumbled upon this site called We7. You might want to check it out!

http://www.we7.com/

It looks interesting! In case you were wondering what song I was looking for, it is "Presence" by Ty Burhoe:

http://www.we7.com/public/trackDetails/Presence?trackId=393074

It's not even a 30-second streaming sample, it's the freakin full song! :D

Get more points in Yahoo! Answers

2008-09-29T11:16:00.000+08:00

I use Yahoo! Answers for fun and the lulz. I usually answer questions in the Computers & Internet section. Anyway, if you like earning lots of points, you can earn more by going back to the questions you've already answered. Go to the questions with the status "In voting."

When answers are "in voting", members from Yahoo! answers can vote for the best answer for that question. At the same time, the names of the people who have contributed answers to that question are hidden during this stage for fairness. If you remember your answer, then look for it and vote for it as the best answer. Most of the time, you will get "Best Answer" and you can earn 10 points for that, not to mention the point you earn simply for voting. :P

Easy Twitter Hack

2008-09-28T12:52:00.000+08:00

If you're a stalker on Twitter, listen up. Haha. Well if you would like to get a picture of someone whose Twitter account is set to private, you can easily leech the photo by tweaking its address.

Are you there on your stalkee's profile now?? Right-click on his/her photo thumbnail. Get the URL of the photo. You'd see this:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitter_production/profile_images/[UNIQUE TWITTER ID NUMBER]/[PHOTO FILE NAME]_normal.[JPG, GIF or PNG format]

Now just remove "_normal" from the URL and you'd be able to access the original size of the photo. Voila, you're officially a creep!

Sarah Palin Email Hack

2008-09-18T22:50:00.000+08:00

It's in the news, but I don't even know much about US politics. I just know Sarah Palin is the running mate of McCain, that's all. Anyway, Gawker posted the screen shots of the hack. And here's the Rapidshare link I found in one site. Anyway, in that RS link, there is a text file:

PROTIP:
account recognizes
b-day 2/11/64
ZIP code 99687
for password change.

The account is still locked, obviously, but if anon gets there 24 hours in the future when the account unlocks and the newfags have lost interest, he can get in w/o knowing the password.

Sarah Palin's personal emails were Yahoo! emails, right? Eek. Since she's a public figure, the hacker can find information about Sarah Palin easily online.

On the Yahoo! Mail page, there is a link there for Forgotten ID or password. I don't know how the hacker got both email addresses of Sarah Palin, but let's just say both are floating somewhere online and the hacker got mad skills in Google search. So he will use this link to get into her inbox.

The first few steps for this process are easy, as you need only to key in the Yahoo! ID and skip the part where Yahoo! asks you if you have an alternate email. Then this is when it gets skeerrry.

Sarah Palin's birthday is February 11, 1964.

Sarah Palin's country of residence is United States of America, obviously.

Sarah Palin is the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and the zip code of Wasilla is 99687.

[I found this article after I wrote this entry.] Wired reports that the hacker found out that the secret question for Sarah Palin's email was "Where did you meet your spouse?" and the answer is found online upon research. It's Wasilla High

After answering the secret question, you can set a new password for that account.

As a safety precaution, I f*cked up my zip code for my account.

Sarah Palin doesn't deserve to get hacked but she is famous and it became very easy for her to get pwned. :(

Update: Got back online. Not only does Wired talk about these information, BBC news also reported about it but with less detail. Yahoo! Mail has also posted tips for protecting your Yahoo! Mail account.

Take 5 [boyband] - album download (MP3)

2008-09-17T17:21:00.003+08:00

OK I am seriously in memory lane for the past couple of weeks. In fact, I have just found the time to clean my 1-year old/2-year old MP3 player (I don't remember much, lol) and load it with old pop songs. I can't deny that I hit puberty back when gimmicky boyband music was in and it seeped through my veins.

Anyway, for some reason, this old boyband called Take 5 suddenly came to mind today. They were big in Asia back in 1998 and they even visited my country, the Philippines. I tried to look for their songs online but it was actually a hard task and I don't know why. Were they not popular enough to cause nostalgia on today's adults and urge them to upload their songs whilst disregarding copyright infringement? Seriously, I can't find more information about them aside from their almost-empty Wikipedia page, like they don't have a fan site or whatever. They're not even listed on the boyband page of Wikipedia! Poor guys, no one bothered to add them to that list. Where are their "loyal" fans???

Lou Pearlman f*cked them up.

So... I'm writing this entry because I've seen some people looking for their songs from their debut album called Take 5 as well (how original is that!). It took me a while to look for links, but I got them, don't worry. Take note: I didn't upload any of these, k? Here they are, and thanks to whoever have provided these online!

TAKE 5 - TAKE 5

I Give
[Full Radio Edit] - http://www.mediafire.com/?8xmvdzstyjb
[Main Mix] - http://www.mediafire.com/?fn9zyjzmwyz
[Veit Mix] - http://www.mediafire.com/?8bpg1kgmmgd
[Instrumental] - http://www.mediafire.com/?fuult1zmndg
Credit: It's About Music

Sunrise Goodbye
http://www.mediafire.com/?8cogje9mmn3

Deeper Love
http://www.mediafire.com/?5t3xnye0zly

Jump Up
http://www.mediafire.com/?0xnm0dbl9xz

Please Stay
http://www.mediafire.com/?8c9c3zbjk3p

Easy To Love
http://www.mediafire.com/?c5iqd2umbws
update: broken link :(
1/21/11: new link! http://www.mediafire.com/?xosahd7xeb1o1uw

Get Down Tonight
http://www.mediafire.com/?3jzlj3qbl2j
update: broken link :(
1/21/11: new link! http://www.mediafire.com/?idvxif9oz9poxf7

All I Wanna Know
http://www.mediafire.com/?fwz2xtlcbem

The Tide Is High
http://www.mediafire.com/?01dcwl1giin

Girl of My Dreams
http://www.mediafire.com/?6mxysdyeui3

Never Had It So Good
http://www.mediafire.com/?1nbnyy2tmvh

Baby I Can't Let Go
http://www.mediafire.com/?dedotvdbqbm

ENJOY.

How to Capture Screenshots from Windows Media Player

2008-09-09T16:08:00.000+08:00

I previously wrote a post about free screen capture programs. Well, here's a related post. I stumbled across this entry:

http://www.quickonlinetips.com/...windows-media-player/

Basically, you just want to get past the overlay Windows Media Player has so you can take a screen shot of what's on the screen. Here's what you have to do on Windows Media Player:

Tools > Options > Performance Tab > Advanced > Video Accelerations > Uncheck Use Overlays

You can also refer to that post and the comments for other ways to take screen shots from a media player.

Free screen capture programs

2008-09-03T18:21:00.001+08:00

I was obssessing about screen capture programs one night so I made some notes about 3 programs I've tried. "Notes", OK, take note, pun not intended. They're "as real as they get" because I have no time to make cohesive paragraphs for this entry, haha:

1.
Wisdom-soft ScreenHunter 5.0 Free
Website: http://wisdom-soft.com/sh/index.htm

F*cking free, of course
Clean interface
Easy to use
BMP, JPG, GIF
No watermark
Can set automatic file name
System Tray icon
Can capture in grayscale
Around 6.05 MB
Have to open to run it, but if you keep a thumbnail on desktop = no prob

2.
Zeallsoft Super Screen Capture
Website: http://www.zeallsoft.com/super-screen-capture.html

Trial for 7 days. After 7 days - still works
Watermark on photos "www.zeallsoft.com" - Upper left hand corner, small though you can crop it out using its own editor or MS Paint if you have the time
Video/audio recording - 2 minutes (Can do without it if you have Camstudio and Audacity)
System Tray icon
Basic Photo editing, can also open MS Paint
LOL can put border on screen capture, it gives that "Ripped page from a book" effect
Cannot set automatic file name
Small window displaying all the buttons
BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG
Around 3.60 MB
Can run on Startup

3.
Etrusoft !Quick Screen Capture
Website: http://www.etrusoft.com/#!quick%20screen%20capture

Free
Will bug you with message prompts if you did not get a registered version
Photo editing - somewhat like MS Paint but more interesting
System Tray icon disappears when program is closed
Can capture DirectX
Can set automatic file name
BMP, JPG, GIF
Around 1.70 MB
No watermark
Can run on Startup

+++++++++

So my verdict:

Straightforward - ScreenHunter
Most Versatile - Super Screen Capture
Most Serious in capturing screen - !Quick Screen Capture

I can't choose which one I'd stick to, but oh well, it's not a bad idea if I keep all three. :P

/edit: I found another program called FastStone Screen Capture. It's shareware. Check it out here.

Flickr tag RSS feed

2008-08-26T17:09:00.000+08:00

If you want to subscribed to a tag RSS feed on Flickr, you can go its page first:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/[ONE WORD TAG]

For example, I'd like to keep updated on the latest uploads on Flickr with the tag "sunset", then I go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/sunset. If you scroll down the page, you will see an RSS feed link. This is what you can use on your RSS reader:

http://api.flickr.com...sunset&lang=en-us&format=rss_200

But if you want to get the RSS feed link without having to check the actual page on Flickr, then just change the tag on the URL accordingly:

http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?tags=[PLACE TAG HERE]&lang=en-us&format=rss_200

So far, I can only use this on 1 tag. I will update this if I find an RSS feed that can be used for two or more tags.

Windows Movie Maker alternatives?

2008-08-24T22:51:00.002+08:00

I use Windows Movie Maker and the program crashing every now and then is not news anymore. Some people would like to try other alternatives. I am not sure if you can call these alternatives but maybe you'd like to give them a try?

VirtualDub
http://www.virtualdub.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VirtualDub

Jahshaka
http://jahshaka.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahshaka

Avidemux
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avidemux

Kino
http://sourceforge.net/projects/kino

Cinelerra
http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinelerra

ZS4
http://www.zs4.net/

Microsoft Photostory
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/.../photostory/default.mspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_Story
http://www.windowsphotostory.com/

Debugmode Wax
http://www.debugmode.com/wax/

ABC Video Roll
http://www.google.com/search?q=abc+video+roll

Avid Free DV used to be available here: http://www.avid.com/freeDV/
but it's not anymore. You can still download a copy somewhere though but you have to crack it, I think, like what this person did.
http://www.google.com/search?q=avid+free+dv

Open Movie Editor
http://www.openmovieeditor.org/

Colorful Movie Editor
http://www.colorfulsoft.com/

ONLINE:
Jumpcut
http://www.jumpcut.com/
(edit: Yahoo killed this service.)

One True Media
http://www.onetruemedia.com/

Digital Films
http://www.digitalfilms.com/

Dvolver formerly Dfilm Movie Maker
http://www.dfilm.com
(Looks good!)

Hope this helps. Check if the program you are downloading is compatible to your computer's operating system, of course. I still think Windows Movie Maker is fine. iMovie is much better, I guess, that is if you have a Mac.

Update:
I just installed AVS Video Editor Beta. So far so good!
http://www.avs4you.com/AVS-Video-Editor4.aspx

(/edit [February 5, 2010]: it's not a free alternative... JUST GREAT.)

I also found out that Videopad Video Editor is free too!
http://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/index.html
I saw it on the cover of some PC magazine.

Music Search Engines

2008-08-21T18:31:00.001+08:00

Here are some of the things I do when I want to find a particular song online:

Run a Google search. If that fails, there's always Yahoo! search.
~~Go to Imeem and look for it there.~~ (edit: MySpace merged Imeem to itself.)
Go to YouTube and look for a video with this song.
Go to MySpace music and search for the song's artist's page.
Go to Esnips.

And of course, there are music search engines out there. My favorite was Singingfish.com but this beauty of a site was taken down a few years ago and now redirects to http://video.aol.com/. :( Here are the others I use or have tried:

Update (Sept. 14, 2008): Here are 2 more.

Beemp3 (Thanks Brad!)
Tagoo
8box
We7

* I will update this page when I find new links that I think are helpful. :P

For Dummies series

2008-08-16T17:58:00.000+08:00

Wow.

http://www.picardianos.com/index.php?showtopic=79954
http://www.jingpinweb.com/Technical/For-Dummies-Collection...
http://www.jingpinweb.com/Technical/For-Dummies-collection...

The links have not expired yet.

cfpress.dll

2008-08-16T17:05:00.000+08:00

For some unknown reason, I encountered an error when I tried to update my Comodo Firewall. I could not uninstall it because Comodo cannot find this DLL file called cfpress.dll. It might be a bug? I don't know. These are the only complaints I've seen online:

Comodo Forums - February 2008
Comodo Forums - May 2008

What I just did to fix my firewall is to do System Restore. Thank goodness I was able to create a restore point a day before! My firewall is now back to normal and I don't intend to switch firewalls for this moment.

15-Minute Security Guide: Windows XP Lockdown

2008-08-06T18:11:00.000+08:00

This information came from johnny.ihackstuff.com. Intimidating domain name, right? Well he has a PDF file available for download that can help you run through your Windows XP's security settings. Click here to download. It's safe, I promise. It has been downloaded more than 50,000 times. Here's the download section URL of his site: http://johnny.ihackstuff.com/downloads/task,cat_view/gid,15/

[rant]
~~WTF I can't upload photos to Blogger.~~

There were errors during upload.
The following images were not uploaded.

* Microsoft_Windows_XP.jpg : This image could not be uploaded due to an internal error.

FIXED.[/rant]

Hashtags

2008-08-04T21:22:00.000+08:00

If for some reason, you want your tweets on Twitter to have more exposure (that is if you're a Twitter wh0re or you're innit for the marketing campaign) , then you might want to try Hashtags:

http://hashtags.org/

Hashtags categorizes tweets according to how they were labeled. Still don't understand it?

Basically, you just have to follow Hashtags on Twitter then for every tweet you post, you will have to write the # sign then a keyword that describes your tweet anywhere on the tweet. For example:

OMG I poured juice on my laptop. I think it's dead. HALP. #mac

Then Hashtags will index your labeled tweets like other similarly labeled tweets here: #mac.

You might think that http://search.twitter.com or other big shot search engines out there are already enough to index your posts, but who knows, other people are looking here too to read discussions relevant to your tweets.

People Search

2008-07-30T21:32:00.000+08:00

Here's one search engine I use to find people on the Internet:

PIPL

http://pipl.com

I just have to type in the first and last name of the person I am looking for. Putting the city, state and country is optional.

Their search engine coverage is quite comprehensive because they give importance to the deep web, the reason I like this search engine because the results also include pages from social networking sites, which is really smart. Also you can use this site to check information about yourself. You can learn here what the people from the Internet can find out about you.

Read their privacy policy if you are curious.

YouTube feed

2008-07-30T21:24:00.000+08:00

You can subscribe to a YouTube channel using RSS! Just use this address:

http://www.youtube.com/rss/user/[INSERT YOUTUBE USERNAME HERE]/videos.rss

You can also keep track of videos tagged by a certain keyword by RSS:

http://youtube.com/rss/tag/+[INSERT KEYWORD HERE].rss

I will have to update this entry when I learn what the address will be if you use more than 1 keyword.

Troubleshooting: internet connection

2008-07-29T17:00:00.000+08:00

Some things to check when you are having a problem with your internet connection:

The modem. Check what lights are turned on/off and/or blinking.
Cables: Are they properly connected? Are you connecting the right cable to its respective port?
IP address: Is it valid? Invalid IP addresses are the ones that start with 0 or 169.
DOS prompt: Start > Run > Type /cmd > Type ping google.com > If all packets sent are also received, then your connection is fine.
Some of the programs you have installed on your computer such as your anti-virus program or firewall have an Updates function. Try updating these programs. If you really do not have an Internet connection, the programs you tried to update will provide error messages.

If you think you have a good Internet connection but you can't just explore anything on the net, maybe it's your computer that has the problem and not your Internet Service Provider.

Restart the computer and the modem. Then try to connect to the Internet again.
Are you sure your internet browser is working properly?

This has happened to our home desktop. Thank goodness I have a portable Firefox application stored in my flash drive: http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable. I ran this and it worked just fine. I tried reinstalling Mozilla Firefox (not the portable one, k?) and I still experience the same problem. Chances are... THERE'S A FREAKIN VIRUS CAUSING MISCHIEF IN THE COMPUTER. :( I still do not know why it happens, but anyway, if you are having problems with your internet connection, panicking is not the best reaction. Troubleshoot. Try to isolate the problem. Sometimes you would know right off the bat what the heck is wrong when you just look at the modem lights.

DSL light turned off - No sync (meaning there is no connection)
DSL light flickering - Trying to establish connection
LAN light turned off - Cable problem
All lights are turned on - Must be a routing issue or something else in your computer

Hope this helps.

Protect your future Photobucket uploads

2008-07-23T20:39:00.000+08:00

Do your photos' file names start with DSC- or IMG- (then with numbers) and you upload these directly to Photobucket without changing the names? Chances are some looney might hack your private Photobucket account by trying out possible file name combinations and get access to your private photos without even using a password to see the whole album. I remember there was even an add-on for Firefox that does this for you. :-O And a website too. Double :-O.

OK I am establishing the fact that you've already uploaded files in your Photobucket and changing their file names might lead to broken links (unless you're really diligent to edit the URL of the files in places you've posted them as well). What can you possibly do to protect your future uploads from this simple hack? Here you go:

This is what you see on your Photobucket page. Click "more options."

Then choose "Scramble filenames so nobody can guess your links." Once you select this option, every time you upload a new file, it will be given a new file name that is garbled.

If you don't want this feature turned on, then don't name your files as 1.jpg, 2.jpg, 3.jpg... or a.jpg, b.jpg, c.jpg... then upload these to Photobucket. You get the point? You just don't want your files to be named like they're in a series because it will be very predictable for a hacker to find out how you name your links. Be random.

Taking a Screen Shot

2008-07-21T16:48:00.000+08:00

Oh I found this website for taking full page screen shots of websites.

http://superscreenshot.com

You just need to provide the URL of the page you want to take a screen capture of, then wait for a minute then tada!

Here's a sample of the screen shot I got of Skyllo Hacks from Super Screenshot. There are no watermarks!!!111

I was also able to resize it on the website too.

Little Brother

2008-07-15T22:27:00.000+08:00

Wow I just finished reading this book called Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. It was teh awesome! This book is about how a teenager saved America from its own Department of Homeland Security with the use of technology. Not only did I like the plot, I also like the message from Bruce Schneier who talked about security. It was actually very inspiring for me:

The world is full of security systems. Hack one of them.

It's not a negative message even if there is the word "hack" there. The word "hacker" has a bad meaning for most of us because the hackers we know try to hurt us. But there are actually hackers who hack for good. This kind of hackers is smart, and can test just how secure our security systems are.

A hacker knows a certain system very well. He knows details we just take for granted. If he doesn't know a system inside out, how can he even find loopholes to begin with?

Hackers, the good kind, are important. In order to build a good security system, someone from a different perspective should take a look at it, try to break it apart, intrude, and make it fail. That way, an improved security system can be established.

Hackers can inspire us to be more inquisitive. Look around you. We're surrounded by security systems. Are we really safe? Can we do something to make these systems safer for us?

Going back to the book, I mean, I even read the bibliography. HOLY CRAP. When was the last time you read the whole bibliography of a book? Like, NEVER??? Seriously you should read this book.

Be careful what you Tweet for.

2008-07-15T16:09:00.002+08:00

Ever posted a "Tweet" then decided to remove it? If you did, you were thinking it's gone forever, right? WRONG.

Twitter search engine Summize logs at most 5 pages of results recently generated by your user name. This is pretty good to keep track of conversations over there but if you do not engage in conversation with others, or if others don't converse with you, chances are you would see most, if not all, of your Tweets on those 5 pages, including the Tweets you posted recently but have been deleted afterwards if you perform a search using your Twitter user name as the keyword.

YIKES.

Update: Summize has been acquired by Twitter! http://summize.com is now redirected to http://search.twitter.com.

Twitter search doesn't archive very old Tweets anymore.

No One Cares What You Had for Lunch

2008-07-09T18:23:00.001+08:00

If you've been reading my main blog, you would know that I have a bad habit of buying books without finishing the other books I bought earlier, so currently I'm collecting ebooks. Henry just blogged about this book he read (See, you have a subscriber!) and I wanted to read it. It's called No One Cares What You Had for Lunch by Maggie. I know this book is not for free, but I live in this place we call the jungle so online shopping is still shunned, so I don't know, lame excuse, but if only I can buy it for a cheap price, I probably would. It was such a bitch looking for a download, you have no idea. Nothing helpful comes up in Google that I even had to use Yahoo! search. Haha. Anyway, I found a link: http://www.flazx.com/ebook8500.php which led me to this link. Enjoy the book!

LiveJournal Comments Stats

2008-07-07T21:45:00.000+08:00

I tried this one. It's quite interesting:

http://katewillaert.com/ljstats/

Get a list of users who've commented to your journal, ranked by who has commented most!

That's the web version but if you would like to download the program, check out this page:

http://scrapdog.livejournal.com/67028.html

NO.COM, I HATE YOU!!!

2008-07-06T16:44:00.000+08:00

I tried to open my flash drive today but I couldn't. There was an error message window which asks me if I want to send or not send a report for the error, and it says no.com.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

This is what I did. I right-clicked on my flash drive icon and selected "Open as Portable Media Device." Then a new window will appear and I will see my flash drive icon there again. I clicked on it then I went to Tools and chose Folder Options. Then I selected the View tab then under the Hidden files and folders category, I chose "Show hidden files and folders" and clicked OK.

I saw the culprit. There was an MS Dos application called no.com and it's about 170 KB. I tried to look it up on Google. Here's what I found:

http://www.prevx.com/filenames/3805989557389003-X1/NO.COM.html

The filename NO.COM was first seen on Jul 2 2008 in PHILIPPINES. It has also been seen in the following geographical regions of the Prevx community:

* POLAND on Jul 3 2008
* The UNITED KINGDOM on Jul 2 2008

FECK, that was just a few days ago! So it's a new kind of malware.

Now what I did is I copied all my files from the flash drive to my computer, then I had my flash drive formatted by right-clicking the flash drive icon and selecting "Format" (I forgot what to do next, but I'm pretty sure the next command will be there) because by doing this, it erases every damn thing in there, including that stupid no.com trojan.

July 10, 2008
Update 1: My laptop got infected. SH*T. I've pretty much observed what the malware can do. Basically I cannot see hidden files on my laptop whenever I try to. My Ad Aware program from Lavasoft and portable Clamwin antivirus porgram do not work too. I'm currently running Spybot and Prevx CSI now. I won't be able to sleep without this thing getting removed. SH*T SH*T SH*T.

Update 2: Prevx CSI wants me to buy a license. Hell no. I'm going to try the Windows Live Onecare safety scanner now. http://onecare.live.com/site/en-au/default.htm?mkt=en-au. I might have to check this forum I go to. Maybe someone has the same problem.

So it says there I have other disgusting things in my laptop. Argh.

Update 3: I figured that I must have deleted a component or two from my portable ClamWin antivirus so I deleted it and will download a new one. Checked out the forum I was talking about. Nope, no one has encountered the same problem, although I found someone on a different forum. My internet connection is so bad I cannot continue the live scan from Windows. I've updated my Spybot though and did a full scan. It got rid of some stuff, yay! So that is probably why Ad Aware is now working. Hmm I probably should update my firewall too. Maybe tomorrow.

Those things scanned by Prevx earlier, they're hidden files. That kxvo.exe thing is a process that runs as a Startup. That no.com on the other hand infests local drives. I know that my C:, D: and F: drive are all infested by no.com. I just don't know how I can get rid of it since the malware I have in my laptop stops me from viewing hidden files. I need to ask somebody about this. God.

Update 4: I've been advised to shift anti-virus programs. I'm going to try AVG.

July 11, 2008
Update 5: I should have realized that if my old antivirus program could not detect this problems, then it's time to use a different one. I downloaded the free version of AVG (Get it here: http://free.avg.com/) and ran a scan for my whole computer. It actually detected more stuff than I imagined. My computer is now clean. Yay.

Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook

2008-07-04T14:06:00.000+08:00

This book might save your life. Download the e-book here.

MySpace Song History

2008-07-01T21:42:00.001+08:00

Check someone's MySpace song history using this address:

How to Save Photos from a Naver Blog

2008-06-15T21:16:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I stumble across Naver blogs with photos I'd like to save, but the problem is right-clicking is disabled. When you click a photo, a flash based photo viewer will appear and you will see the photo there, but again, you will not be able to save the photo. Aigoo... Wen il yee ni!!

My friend told me that I can save the photos if I just save the whole page. Hahahaha! So I did:

File > Save Page As

Then if you go to the location of the saved page on your hard drive, you will see a file folder for it. The photo you were trying to save will be inside that folder.

P.S. This how-to page for Naver is helpful. You might want to check it out if you are not familiar with the site.

(Photo Source: Metropolitician)

Update: I think you can also hilight the photo you want to save and drag it to your desktop or whatever folder you have opened at the moment. The photo will automatically be saved on your computer.

Cyworld MiniHompy Popup No More!

2008-06-04T17:54:00.000+08:00

I hate it when I go to a Cyworld site (It's Korean) and the actual page would be a pop-up window. So here's what I do so I can view it as a normal window.

For this entry, I am using my favorite actress' Cyworld:

http://cyworld.com/hyogirl24

By the time you go here, a pop up window would appear. Disregard that first. Click View on your Internet browser then select Page Source. A Notepad window will appear. Now look for the code that says "frame name="domain" src="/pims/main/domain2.asp?tid=" and so on. You will have to get the number that comes after tid= and in this case, it's 45887216.

Now insert that number code after tid= in this new link:

http://minihp.cyworld.com/pims/main/pims_main.asp?tid=

For the example, it will be

http://minihp.cyworld.com/pims/main/pims_main.asp?tid=45887216

That is now the direct link for the minihompy (or mini-homepage), or the popup window that appears when you use the Cyworld URL of the page.

Well that is for the Korean version of Cyworld. I don't know about the international versions if this trick would work.

Bye bye Popup window!! :P

Whois and IP lookup

2008-06-02T19:15:00.000+08:00

These are some of the websites I go to to check the following:

Whois (Domain registration info blah blah blah)

http://www.domaintools.com/
^ This one was formerly known as http://whois.sc.

http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp

Own IP address

http://www.ip2location.com/
http://whatismyipaddress.com/

IP Lookup

http://www.ip2location.com/demo.aspx
^ Alternate address is http://www.ip2location.com/1.2.3.4

Well you can actually check your own IP address using the DOS prompt:

Start > Run > Type cmd > Type ipconfig/all on the black window

You can also use the DOS prompt to check the IP address of a website:

Start > Run > Type cmd > Type ping [domain address] on the black window

For the domain address, don't include http:// or www.

Damn spaceball.gif!

2008-05-24T19:49:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I Flickr-hop and find an interesting photo that I'd like to save but lo and behold, when I try to save the photo, all I get is spaceball.gif! It's some sort of photo overlay when the owner of the photo disables the photo from being downloaded.

This is what I do when it happens. It's kinda messy but if I really really really want a certain photo, this works for me:

Click View from the menu bar. Then click Source (Internet Explorer) or Page Source (Mozilla Firefox, or for the keyboard shortcut: CTRL + U).
A Note pad window should appear. Press CTRL + F so that the search prompt would appear.
Type in the word ?v=0 on the search prompt and look for the term on the document. "?v=0" is located at the end of the URL of the photo you are trying to download so copy the URL where "?v=0" is found. Voila, now you have the direct link of the photo. Goodbye, spaceball!

Update: There is an easier way if you are using Mozilla Firefox. Just highlight the picture, right-click to "View Selection Source". A text window will appear and a part of it is also highlighted. The direct link of the photo is found there. :P

Be in the know.

2008-05-24T19:13:00.000+08:00

If you'd like to know which topics are most talked about on cyberspace at the moment, you might want to check popurls:

http://popurls.com/

It's an aggregator of the "latest web-buzz". What makes it very functional is that you see everything in one clean page.

Since the page is filled with many external links, it would be convenient if you just open the links you like in new tabs on your browser. You can do this by holding the CTRL key while you left-click the link with the mouse. The links will open in new tabs but you are able to stay on the popurls page. (I assume that you won't open all links on this page unless you have no life.)

You can change how you view the page using the commands found on top of it. There is also a search engine in case you need to find anything.

How to get more information about a photo

2008-05-11T16:22:00.000+08:00

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. In the digital word, this is true. It's possible that a photo holds so much more information aside from its properties.

Keyword: EXIF.

The exif metadata of a photo can tell information a lot of us take for granted (Go to the link so you can get a brief idea of what kind of information an exif file holds). You can use a viewer to read the exif file. I think there is even a plugin for that, just do a search. :P Sometimes you can actually tell if an image was edited, you know, like FAKE!, or not, using a viewer. I did use this for a photo I downloaded once and I read that that photo was created at around 2 a.m. and I was like, lolz the author haz inzomnia!111

Not many of us realize how helpful exif is. In fact, a school bombing was prevented because of major pwnage.

There is also an exif remover which also comes in handy in terms of security. :D

Multiply Music Search Engine

2008-05-11T16:12:00.000+08:00

Here is a customized Multiply music search engine an online friend recommended to me during the Multiply music drama episode. Go here:

http://multiplymp3search.googlepages.com/

This is where you can learn how to use this search engine: http://multiplymp3search.googlepages.com/tutorial.

Why don't you try it RIGHT HERE! :P I used the code to embed the search bar here.

ENJOY!

Update (June 30, 2008): There are no more search engine results for music pages on Multiply, apparently, as the Multiply staff has patched this loophole.

How to log in to websites without an account

2008-05-05T11:33:00.000+08:00

I stumbled upon this website the other day when I was searching for something and I thought I'd give it a try. This website provides account information for websites where you need an account to navigate in.

Check this out:

http://www.bugmenot.com/

A while ago, I needed to view a profile at Classmates.com but you'll have to log in to view it so I tried BugMeNot and it worked.

Not all the time do the account information work so there is a poll for each account which indicates its success rate. You can also contribute login information for everyone to use as well.

The only issue here is that some visitors use the logins then change the passwords. Not cool.

Where to get live scores

2008-05-05T10:36:00.000+08:00

Here are some sites I know where you can get live scores:

http://7m.cn
http://spbo.com/live.htm
http://tbvvsport.com/?2
http://www.livescore.com/
http://www.nba.com/scoreboard
http://www.flashscore.com/
http://www.xscores.com/
http://espn.go.com/
http://www.tennis.com/livescores/p1.aspx

How to read a blog that is offline at the moment

2008-05-04T14:31:00.002+08:00

I wanted to read StickyDrama today because I got nothing to do and I have not read it for a few days, but it's inaccessible right now. OMGARGHWTF, yes? Well, what I did to read its latest entry is to go to TECHNORATI!!

If the blog you are reading is pinged to Technorati, chances are you will be able to see the blog posts from there. For StickyDrama, this is the URL:

http://technorati.com/blogs/stickydrama.com

I checked out its latest post, and voila, it says there that they are having server problems so they are settling it right now.

I could have also done this. I could have typed the URL of StickyDrama on Google search then check the cache!

Livejournal prank

2008-04-27T16:55:00.000+08:00

Confuse your ELLE JAY friends! Post an entry with an image using this link:

http://www.livejournal.com/misc/mogupic.bml?size=200

This is actually a link to one of their icons, most likely the one they have recently uploaded. What you'll see from that link is your own icon, but your friends will see something else of course.

Just write in the entry that you own that icon, which is actually true. Then your friends will accuse you of stealing their icons. Internet drama FTW!

'Multiply' private my butt. LOL

2008-04-27T16:44:00.000+08:00

Are you sure your Multiply account is private when you have made all your posts for contacts only? Are ALL your photos really private? Check again...

If

http://images.[INSERT USERNAME HERE].multiply.com/logo/

is supposed to be the link to your current avatar on Multiply, then

http://images.[INSERT USERNAME HERE].multiply.com/logo/1

would be the first photo you have uploaded for avatar use because it's marked "1". "2" then would be your second photo, "3" is third, et cetera.

It's gross when I found this out. One of my avatars is available online (I found it using an image search engine) and it creeped me out a bit. Well, the photos for the avatar are small, but still, it's gross. It's supposed to be hidden from view if I'm using my default photo, right?

No more sticky hands

2008-04-27T15:41:00.000+08:00

Ha. I just learned this from a cooking show before. The info got stuck in my head because I like sushi. (Yes this post is related to sushi.)

If you make sushi by hand, rice can be such a bitch and stick to you like a clingy girlfriend. So you wash your hands with water and try again, but rice will keep sticking to your hands. WTF factor, y/y?

Don't use water! Moisten your hands with vinegar.

++++++++++

I wonder if anybody has used this line to pick up a girl at a sushi bar: "Baby, lemme roll your raw sushi." Geez f*ck off. LOL

Hospital video

2008-04-20T16:36:00.000+08:00

How to get an NBI clearance

2008-04-20T11:01:00.002+08:00

I think getting an NBI clearance is one of the "easiest" documents you can get. By "easiest," I meant you can get it within the day. Go to an NBI clearance center near you. :P Stay away from fixers because I assure you that you can do this on your own.

You will need an identification card. A cedula is fine too. And a pen of course.

First you will have to get an application form. You already need to pay at the cashier. It's around P115, if I remember it correctly. Definitely more than a hundred pesos. Fill in the form.
Line up for the piano session aka thumb marking.
Have your photo taken and sign on the tablet.
Line up for assessment. If it's "no hit," it means no one shares your name and you can get your clearance later in the day. If it's a "hit," it means they will have to double check so it might take longer to release your clearance, perhaps the next day.
When you're claiming your clearance, present your receipt.
Upon release, there is another thumb marking session, but this time it's for your actual NBI clearance, not your application form obviously.
GET THE F*CK OUTTA THERE ALREADY. :D

Update: You can now buy a renewal card so you do not have to go over the whole process when you want to have a renewed clearance. You simply get a form, show the card then pay. Then wait for your new clearance to be released!

Another MySpace photo hack

2008-04-15T17:42:00.000+08:00

LOL FAIL. Sort of.

This website promises to be able to display private pictures hosted in MySpace accounts:

http://myspaceprivateprofile.com/

It must have worked previously but now it doesn't. Bummer, right? Well this site isn't THAT useless.

Let's say you are viewing a public MySpace profile and you want to view the pictures. In order to view the pictures, you must be logged in. If you do not have a MySpace account OR if you just don't want to log in, you will not be able to see these photos...

...unless you follow the instructions on that website. Get the MySpace ID of the profile and do what it says on the site. :D

MySpace is the devil!!!11

An easy MySpace photo hack

2008-04-14T13:48:00.000+08:00

It's always a bummer when you want to view a MySpace profile but it's set to private. The only thing you can see on the page is the profile owner's default photo and a bunch of text.

There is probably an instance when you want to get a good copy of the profile owner's default photo but you can't because only a thumbnail is available. Boo-hoo. Well, here's a trick:

Right-click on the photo then click Properties and copy the location of the photo.
Now look at the URL. Do you see a part there that goes "m_"? Replace the "m" with "l". The new link is now the link of the actual photo. YAY! Just to be geeky, photo links with "s_" are for thumbnails you see on comments and blogs (s = small). Then "m_" is for the profile page (m = medium), then "l_" is for the original photos (l = large).

Happy stalking! Oh yes I said it.

Taking a screen shot

2008-04-14T13:30:00.000+08:00

You don't want this to happen to you, do you?

Source:

What happened is it was too late for him to realize that when he made a screen shot, his task bar was shown. You can definitely crop the image when you have taken one using the Print Screen (Prt Scr) key but what if you were in a hurry and didn't notice this? Besides, if you are taking screen shots that you want to post online, you really don't want other people to see what windows you have opened, more likely, yes/yes?

Use this shortcut instead: ALT + Prt Scr.

By using this shortcut you just capture the window you have on at the moment. A screen shot of your task bar is not captured.

Oh and puh-lease, renaming your pr0n folder/s with unsuspecting labels isn't so hard to do.

++++++++++++++++++++++
Not related to hacks anymore but whatever.

OMG I just read about the guy in that screen shot. So his username is aztrex and people were digging up information about him because his 'character' is a joke to them. (He's the bro rape napkin and BBW guy.) LOL dude, don't pull shit like this especially if you have a strange fetish and you're all over the Intarnetz because you're gonna get pwned. The thread is now closed but I'm a troll so... my share:

His name is Michael Mcphee. http://www.xfire.com/profile/aztrex/
MySpace: http://myspace.com/180098248
And he calls himself "Mike the Teddy": http://www.technorati.com/blogs/blog.myspace.com%2Faztrex

3 interesting Twitter tools

2008-04-07T11:15:00.000+08:00

I've been using Twitter for quite some time now and once in a while, I stumble upon Twitter related sites. Here are 3 that I found interesting:

TWITTER100
http://twitter100.com
Basically this website displays the most recent update from 100 contacts you follow. This really helps if you follow a gajillion people on Twitter, but if you follow less than 100 people, I think it's quite refreshing to see everyone on one page.

TWEETSCAN
http://tweetscan.com/
It's a Twitter search engine. You can search for posts using keywords. The search function in Twitter can only search for users but not posts so this one really helps.

TWEETSTATS
http://tweetstats.com/
Basically this website gives you statistics of your posting behavior on Twitter: how much you post, when you post, who you talk to and what platform you use.

Oh additional information, y'all.
Twitter does not let you see a "Twitterer's" followers which is weird but it can be dealt with by using Google search: key in "[username] site:twitter.com".

/edit:

I just tried TWITTERFOX and it is dope! It is compact and doesn't take much space on your screen when you are online. :P Awesome. Try it: http://www.naan.net/trac/wiki/TwitterFox!

"The Intel PRO/Wireless Network Connection is disabled."

2008-04-07T10:14:00.000+08:00

I was annoyed when this happened to me last night. I have wireless connection at home but I noticed that the connection was turned off. I tried turning it on the normal way by choosing "Wireless On" but it won't work! Ugh. Here was the message that popped up whenever I tried to turn it on:

The Intel PRO/Wireless Network Connection is disabled. Use your hardware switch to enable it.

WTF. Initially I thought of the software I was using. "Maybe I should repair it." So I used the disc for the program and repaired the installation thing but I still could not turn on the wireless connection!! I decided to connect to the Internet using cable so I can look for an answer. I found out there really is a hardware switch found on your computer. One suggestion I read from a forum was to press the Fn key together with another key on your keyboard. I didn't know what the other key is but it must be one of those Function keys with numbers on them. So I started experimenting and accidentally had my computer on stand by mode. Argh.

So I read the manual then (LOL). I found out that Fn + F11 is the wireless power toggle for my computer. Wow I didn't know this because my wireless connection was fine until that incident. Problem solved. :P

How to search for music in Multiply.com

2008-03-26T14:38:00.000+08:00

I made a post previously about this using Shareminer.com but the website has had a makeover and one of the changes is Shareminer removed search results from Multiply.com. So I bahleted the post. What's an alternative method to search for music in Multiply.com then?

Tip: USE ASK.COM!

Type this on the search engine: "[keyword/s] multiply.com/music".

/edit: Don't click the links provided by the results page. Instead, just copy the URLs written in green then paste 'em on the address bar of your browser.

Happy listening!

*If this method does not work anymore, I will not delete this post. I will just update it. :D

Update: (July 29, 2008): This does not work anymore as music pages of Multiply do not appear on search engines. The Multiply staff has patched this loophole.

How to download music from Esnips (NEW!)

2008-03-11T02:22:00.001+08:00

OK I deleted my old post about Esnips because Esnips has changed their music player to flash based. Don't fret, you will still be able to download music there. It's just a matter of knowing where to get the link.

1. Go to the page where the song is.

2. Go to its Mp3 Widgets section.

3. Get the code in the code box.

4. You can open Notepad then paste the code there. Now get the URL that goes right after "theFile=". The URL should end right before "&theName=". The URL you now have is the playlist link. Play it on your Media Player.

5. On your media player, right-click on the song and click on Properties. Get the URL location of the song. THAT IS YOUR DOWNLOAD LINK.

*If this method does not work anymore, I will not delete this post. I will just update it. :D