Sunday, October 31, 2004

Alan Dean of Math Team provided interesting graphs of top players' TRADING patterns prior to BSEC Case 42 Deliberation involving Stan Dandyliver.

Whether or not Stan Dandyliver is guilty of the charges relating to Abuse of system in contravention of [BSEC Rule XIV] Scripts and Bots, I was happy to see my transaction history in a graph. And, the way I analyze the graphs, looks like I traded ideas faster than Raymond, who posted in the forum: "One every three seconds eh? I could maybe give you some pointers on how to speed that up?"

THE GRAPHS: Stan Dandyliver AGAINST BlogShares Richest Players

• mars/iris Securities
• Laila*
• MLT
• RWO
• demonsurfer
• Jim Wright
• Jack A$$
• Larry Fulton
• Gunnar Langemark
• Alan Dean
• Ziggy Stardust
• Island Dave
• jaolx
• jenett
• David Rutt
• DJ Swa Music Productions
• Raymond
• Right Nut
• King Gucci Armani II
• Herbert
• MrPilot
• Just James

Related BS Forum Discussions:
[BSEC Case 42] Stan Dandyliver
The Art of Catching Bots
You accuse me of using a bot??

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Paul Denise arrived this morning from Isabela Province, after spending one week vacation with the family of his girl friend. The first words I heard from him were, "I missed everything in this house."

Smilingly, I was sure he missed my shouting and my cooking, too!

Meanwhile, EX left Manila today to Riyadh, along with my son's luggage.

Speaking of my son who is working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, we received a text message from Junjun this afternoon. He said he had lost SR100 again and he suspected his Egyptian co-worker stole the money from his pocket. It's the third time he had lost cash money in six months!

This Egyptian guy was also taking his food stocks without permission and never bothers to return them, as if my son is working for his favor. My son cannot complain to his employer because there is a big group of bad people working there under the leadership of his employer's brother-in-law. His employer was losing lots of goods because those people were stealing the company. My son is handling the accounting records of the company and he told me about the big discrepancies with the actual goods available.

Anyway, my son warned me not to tell about this with anyone, so, let us keep this a secret. May God protect him and keep him safe from harm always....

Friday, October 29, 2004

My sister Neth, has high blood due to her kidney problem so I delivered the luggage for my son by myself.

My sister was crying while talking with my mother over the phone. She's ill but her hubby had no mercy stealing her cash, glad she woke up on time and caught him on the act.

Get well soon, Ate Neth. I do hope everything will be fine with you and may God protect you from your unemployed hubby. Please learn to hide your valuables and cash before going to sleep!

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Daughter is finally enrolled in UE-Caloocan today for Second Semester SY 2004-05 and she presented to me a 1.8 total average (First Sem.) in her BS ECE course.

She regrets that she did not meet the 1.6 average requirement to be qualified for scholarship but I am very happy she got excellent grades and I am still thinking what surprise to give her. Any suggestions?

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Today, I upgraded my plan with PlogHost, my webhosting server, due to inconvenience brought about when my site was inaccessible for couple of hours due to exceeded bandwidth limit. The damage? Additional of Php150.00 a month will be added to my bills...

Guess it's about time to look for site sponsor...

This afternoon, Tintin and I bought some sweaters, jackets, and a big black Concorde luggage at SM North Edsa. At home, we packed all Junjun's stuffs, including his CD collections, blanket, comforter, HOPE cigarettes and other requested stuffs. My sister, Neth, will take good care of my son's luggage, to be sent via Saudia Airlines this Friday.

These past few days had been very busy for me and I do not even have time to play on BlogShares like I used to.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

The Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) provides an informative tool called Meralco Appliance Calculator or MAC to help consumers make better decisions in buying and understanding appliances power usage.

The comforts of life aren't free. Before thinking of buying additional appliance, check the following tips provided by MERALCO:

• Consumption Estimator
• Appliance Calculator
• Energy Saving Information

My September electric bill was the highest this year and I was hesitant to buy a new flat screen TV or a mini stereo component without worrying about its electricity cost. Besides, we have tight budget for this month due to kids' enrolment for second semester.

Ah! Mother never told me there will be days like these!

Monday, October 25, 2004

Tintin and I did some grocery shopping at North Edsa this afternoon. The same inconvenience with my Allied ATM card occurred - it's OFF-LINE once again and I didn't have enough cash with me. Short of Php2,500 cash, I sent Tintin to take some cash from another ATM just to pay the groceries we bought. While waiting, I couldn't believe I have to pay the same amount each time we shop, total amount of groceries we purchased went doubled since almost two months ago!

Upon payment, I was given 4 complimentary tickets for one hour skating time to FREE Fun on Ice at SM Megamall-South Mall Ice Skating Rink! What a relief!

Sunday, October 24, 2004

EX surprised me with a gift, a new oven, this afternoon! Finally, we can now bake and do some lasagna once again.

The weekend had been quite busy for me. I was in Makati City, the financial district of the Philippines and had an opportunity to take some photos using NOKIA 3660.

The above photos were taken on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. If you know Makati very well, can you guess which building where I had those shots taken?

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Upon Mars/Iris Securities recommendation to BlogShares Admins, I am now informally added to the Who's Who BlogShares page.

Thank you, Macky, that's a very sweet surprise! And special thanks to the BlogShares Admins, for the inclusion of my name to BlogShare's notable personalities!

Friday, October 22, 2004

Paul Denise run away late this afternoon for a week's vacation in Isabela Province with his friends. I didn't allowed him to go and yet, he proceeded even without my consent. He contacted my daughter where he's supposed to stay there and refused to answer my calls and text messages.

My daughter advised me to let him go, afterall, he's an adult and must have free will sometimes to do what he wants. And I replied, "Yeah? You may do that when you're independent and the cost of your actions are all charge to you."

And then, I left the house to attend a dinner party upon my EX's invitation...

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Are you a coffee lover like me? Would you like to try Coffee Alamid, one of the most expensive coffee in the world, which can be found in the Philippines (and, also in Indonesia)?

24 Oras' Jessica Soho reported this evening that in 2003, Coffee Alamid had total production of about 250 Kg. only from all over the world and it costs about US$300.00 per kilogram!

This world's most priced coffee was made from the beans found in the droppings of the Philippine civet, a cat-like nocturnal mammal closely similar to the mongoose!

The beans, which are swallowed, digested, and passed out whole by the animal, are gathered from droppings found at the farm. These beans are then filtered, dried under the sun for several days and then roasted for 7 hours. *

Knowing that Coffee Alamid was made from civet's droppings, would you want to try it someday, if available?

Photos were taken from Channel 7's 24 Oras News Feed.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Looks like I have now a pocket money in case I will win the trip to Thailand or Singapore. I received an e-mail that I won One Million Euros in SPONSOR BINGO LOTERIJ INTERNATIONAL with subject line: SPONSOR LOTERIJ WINNE PRIJZEN. It says:

Ref.IMFD Nnumbe: 042/576/577/SD
Batch Number: 5455-98774-HG 7A
Sir/Madam
We are pleased to inform you about the result of the sponsor bingo Lotterij Winners International programs the held on the 19th of October, 2004. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 007686605- with serial number 6774-582 drew lucky numbers7-16-98-22-20-45 which consequently won in the 1st category, you havetherefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of EUR1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION EUROS)in cash credited to file REF IMFD 042/576/577/SD This is from total prize money of EUR50,000,000.00 shared among the fifty,international winners in this category. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

The above e-mail is unedited to preserve its contents. Then, I googled the subject line and I got some links that connect the mail to Nigerian E-mail Scams. It's wonderful to have One Million Euros, I can send my children to the USA to continue their college education there and I can visit the apparition sites of Mama Mary but, unfortunately, who got the money these days to give away in the guise of lotteries? I know I didn't join any, so, why should I win?

The e-mail was long and I didn't like to bore my friends to read the full details but, if you insist, here is the link to the exact copy of the e-mail notification I received.

I participated and submitted a FinanceAsia's online survey hoping to win a weekend stay at the Oriental, Bangkok and the Ritz-Carlton Millennia, Singapore.

Click Here to go to the FinanceAsia.com Home Page or if you wish to join the survey, click here. You should be a frequent traveller in Asia to participate.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

I had been so unhappy about my weight lately. When I looked at the mirror, I feel awkward with what I see. Something must be done and I promised I won't use any diet pills to suppress my appetite. There must be a serious reason, other than idleness infront of my PC, that triggered these super appetite and love for food.

Every morning, I had that determination to go on absolute fasting but, in the middle of the day, my mind seemed blank and I ended up eating more than what I should eat.

This unhealthy lifestyle sitting infront of computer made most addict surfers gain weight. I just wonder how many women have the same problem like mine.

Monday, October 18, 2004

My sister, Neth Lansang, wishes to offer made-to-order calendars at affordable prices for corporate christmas give-aways.  You may wish to get in touch with her thru her mobile phone number, +639157802504 or e-mail her at bonethl(at)yahoo.com.

Please CLICK HERE for more details.

To Ate Neth, advance Happy Birthday on the 20th of this month!!!

We had a great weekend. My mother and Tintin alternately cooked our meals and I feel so relaxed and obviously, I overate for three consecutive days.

Tintin and I went to Reyes Salon later this afternoon and had our hair cut. I got dizzy from the noise and heat of the blower and, told Tintin I wasn't feeling well. We reschedule my plan to rebond my hair and we hurriedly went back home.

I still have that long hair but, it's 5 inches shorter now.

Another BOT sent me a message this morning:

[10:27] 297384594: Hello Laila* Do you like to play all kinds off games
            on the net? And do you like to chat whit tusind other chatters?
            Then i have a FREE offer for you.. Allredy 87.000 players online..
[10:28] Laila*: no thanks.
[10:28] 297384594: okay, i½m sorry then.. Have a nice day.
[10:28] Laila*: yes
[10:28] 297384594: You can get a FREE version of Icq Games here:
            www.icq.users.whitehat.dk/icq_addon.exe
[10:29] Laila*: how?
[10:29] 297384594: You can get a FREE version of Icq Games here:
            www.icq.users.whitehat.dk/icq_addon.exe
[10:29] Laila*: uhmmm... another bot?
[10:29] 297384594: okay, i½m sorry then.. Have a nice day.

Well? If this bot can send me a message, I'm sure there are bots that can do more things online... do you have an idea what I am thinking???

Saturday, October 16, 2004

The children shall have their semestral break beginning next week but my daughter finished all her requirements ahead of schedule and her vacation starts today.

I had mixed emotions. I was very happy that they finished the first semester without any problems. I was too worried Paul Denise will seriously be involved with his GF. Thanks to God and my prayers had been answered. So far, everything runs favorably with us and they're still within my control. Another reason to thank God for is my daughter, Pearl Leal. She really studied hard to get excellent grades and I believe she's going to surprise me one of these days. And, my eldest son, Junjun, got used with his life working in Saudi Arabia.

To see the children achieved something brings joy in this life!

Honestly, what worries me is whether we can afford to pay this time their full tuition and related fees or, should I pay them on a monthly basis? Of course, it is cheaper to pay in cash but, with the current situation in the household budget, there's uncertainty whether we can cope up with the rising cost of commodities, electricity, transportation and food allowances. In fact, the last time I did my shopping, I paid double of what we normally spent. Items were bar-coded and I can't determine if there are price adjustments unless the cashier charged me at the counter the total amount due.

Meanwhile, my daughter held a party today and I had convenient time playing on BlogShares fantasy stock market. But, what life will be like in the next days to come, I am sure it will gonna be harder for me to take full control of this PC - my computer days are numbered while they are on vacation...

Now, what? Should I get a router and have a home networking station? It's not a practical idea, I know, because I need to upgrade DSL from personal to professional plan, and that's additional burden monthly!

Ahhh! Mother never told me there will be days like these...

Friday, October 15, 2004

This blog was spammed couple of times today but, thanks to Jay Allen's MT-Blacklist, deleting spammers' comments had been easier.

Fortunately, while browsing through BlogExplosion this evening, I came across a blog that pointed out to defeat automatic comment spam bots by allowing commenters to 'preview' their comment before comment submissions.

I removed these post tags from Individual Entry Archive and Comment Listing Template, as instructed by E!, author of Monkey Diaries, in his blog:

< input style="font-weight: bold;" type="submit" name="post" value="Post" / >

hopefully, I will get some rest from those annoying spammers.

Fasting season begins once again for the 1.4 billion Muslims all over the world. May this Holy month of Ramadan brings everlasting peace and unity to mankind.

Ramadan Kareem to all Muslims!

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Smart Philippines has Araw-Araw Milyonaryo Promo from September 25 to October 24, 2004 and we registered to Milyon to 270 hoping to be the next Smart Milyonaryo or just get bonus load for every SMARTLoad purchased.

To join Araw-Araw Milyonaryo Promo, click here for mechanics, or Smart subscriber must register by sending MILYON space REG space [Name]*[Address]*[Date of birth - mmddyyyy]*[Gender] to 270.

Example: MILYON REG Mica Cruz*12 Sta. Cruz St., Manila*03191981*F

Monday, October 11, 2004

Think about it. Find out why George W. Bush should be fired.

Sunday, October 10, 2004

No matter what I do with my son, Paul Denise often escapes on a Friday night with his friends (or GF?) out and spent overnight with them (or with her?). I sent him couple of text messages asking him where he is but, I believe, he's too busy to text back.

We had earlier agreement that he can go wherever he wishes provided he will go home first after class dismissal so that I can take care of the laundry on time. He arrived home an hour late last night after I left the house to attend a dinner party upon my EX's invitation.

When I told my EX about the situation, he replied smilingly, "This is life. I know it hurts not to see your son at home all the time, but, admit it, he's big enough to find other interests outside your home."

Then, he held my hands with full of assurance that everything is normal and nothing is wrong with me either.

Friday, October 08, 2004

We just had an earthquake that lasted for about 23 sec. estimated between intensity 5 and 6. I was eating chicken sotanghon with KFC chicken fillet sandwich for late night's snack when I felt my legs were shaking. I placed it down and rushed myself to finish my food with the impression I just needed some sleep. I looked at my daughter and I saw her drawing table lamp shaking and bookshelves' glass rattled. I looked at my room and its door partially open, swings.

And, I shouted, "Mama, earthquakeeeee!"

Randy received a message today from Save The Children Organization, with subject line: MEET YOUR SPONSORED CHILD:

Field Office: Philippines Field Office Donor ID: 1374025-1
Child ID: 08206304 Sponsorship #: 480115653
Name: Cherry Salentes
Gender: Female
Impact Area: Metro Manila
Date of Birth: September 13, 1994 Community Name: Tramo

Read the entire message: MEET YOUR SPONSORED CHILD

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Are you an ICQ user? Did you ever received a message on ICQ today to update your current ICQ program just like the one below?

[11:49] 261277622: Hello Laila* You need an update for icq! TEAM_ICQ
[11:50] Laila*: why?
[11:50] 261277622: Click on the link to get the update!
            http://portfolio.dotgeek.org/icq_update.exe
[11:50] Laila*: thanks for your concern....
[11:50] 261277622: Click on the link to get the update!
            http://portfolio.dotgeek.org/icq_update.exe
[11:51] Laila*: r u a bot?
[11:51] 261277622: Click on the link to get the update!
            http://portfolio.dotgeek.org/icq_update.exe

Well, I suspected this is run by a bot and I checked the site http://portfolio.dotgeek.org/ and it looks neat but, why they have to spam me to update my ICQ? However, it looks suspicious when I saw COM plugins? And I had thought, is this site one of those spreading spyware worms that resides in a victim's OS? But, WHY?

After I cooked our lunch and I went back to relax infront of my PC, I received again similar message but from ICQ number 292268288! Playing smart, I replied to it with their update message and, the same message was sent to me exactly like the one above...

I verified the domain owner of http://portfolio.dotgeek.org/ and here is what I found:

Registrant:
David Costa
Place de la Poste 4
Delemont 2800
Switzerland

Registered through: GoDaddy.com (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: DOTGEEK.ORG
Created on: 30-Aug-03
Expires on: 30-Aug-05
Last Updated on: 17-Mar-04

Administrative Contact:
Costa, David Linux@college.ch
Place de la Poste 4
Delemont 2800
Switzerland
01141324
Technical Contact:
Costa, David Linux@college.ch
Place de la Poste 4
Delemont 2800
Switzerland
01141324

Domain servers in listed order:
NS.DOTGEEK.ORG
NS2.DOTGEEK.ORG

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Afonso invited me again in Orkut, and I added him once again in my friend's list. I also invited and added Farzad E., to join Orkut. Farzad, 15, is a fellow player in BlogShares whom I complained earlier for moderating industry votes indiscriminately. My complaint was only noticed after a month when many players were affected by his actions. Farzad, on the other hand, never speaks bad against me nor take me personally. Instead, he sought my assistance on how to contact Jay to get his Tag-Board premium membership raffle prize winning. Anyway, since then, he has been added in my Yahoo! and ICQ contact lists. And, oh! Before I forget, to add me in Orkut, click here.

After Farzad's registration, he then referred me to BlogExplosion, for my blog's traffic. Farzad was the one also who invited me to try GMail! In case you want to create your own directory in BlogExplosion, please allow me to provide you this link:

Believe me, there are so many nice blogs listed there, you won't regret it...

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

When I logged in to irc.wyldryde.net, I instantly received some questions about my work and age. This made me feel somewhat embarassed, but I carried on the conversation until Just James began to question my ethnicity.

Our Filipino ancestors were originally descended from the Malay race, however, I have Spanish blood in me as well (my mother is from the Visayas Island). Throughout our rich and storied history, intermarriages and multiculturalism made our country with 7,107 islands wonderfully diverse. There is a unique blend of Malay, Chinese, Spanish, Negrito, and American in our people, much like the population in Hawaii. Nonetheless, each ethnic group is unique and despite our small size there are over 70 estimated total number of native languages and dialects spoken in my country which of the 8 major linguistic groups are: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Ilongo, Bicol, Waray-waray, Pampango and Pangasinan.

Just James is one of the moderators in channel # blogshares whom I consider a good guy. When he asked me questions about my ethnicity, I enjoyed the opportunity to tell him more about my race and my culture. Unfortunately, after I logged off, others criticized me in my absence because they thought I did not adequately answer James' questions:

[12:53] [@JustJames] I know the stories firsthand from mom (vietnamese/chinese) and dad (served in vietnam as a medical advisor)
[12:53] [Laila] i have chinese blood too
[12:53] [@JustJames] really, cool
[12:53] [@JustJames] me too
[12:53] [@JustJames] heh
[12:53] [Laila] my grandparents were originally from Hong Kong
[12:53] [@JustJames] now that is neat.
[12:54] [@JustJames] what is your ethnic background?
[12:55] [Laila] Philippines was under Spanish rule for 400 years, making me have Spanish blood as a filipino
[12:56] [@JustJames] here's my background (vietnamese/chinese) from mom....and (dutch/english) from dad
[12:57] [Laila] mother is filipino/spanish and father is chinese

Being at rank no. 3 on BlogShares Richest Players list, I feel I was being the target of racial discrimination and my intuitive nature tells me that there are some players who didn't liked me playing on BlogShares. I hope I was wrong but, my heart tells me otherwise...

I realize that my english is not perfect, and my grammar is not always correct. However, I am here blogging my thoughts and feelings because the internet is a world community. It is not only for the intelligent, the educated nor the caucasian. It is for anyone who wants to share their thoughts and ideas and place their dot in the blogosphere. We are now global citizens, and no country or language is above another.

We all belong to the same race - the HUMAN RACE: ONE WORLD, ONE LIFE... and, we're connected to one another! And, whether you like it or not, you cannot be you, if I am not me!

Monday, October 04, 2004

While voting industries on BlogShares, I have encountered Internet News Blog @ http://news.iwannablog.com/. To be able to vote, I have to review the blog's entries and I was surprised while reading about this Rbot worm, a web cam virus which 'is able to take over users' web cams and use them to spy on unsuspecting computer owners.' That sounds alarming that my own webcam is watching me!!!

I googled the above title and I found out this worm had been discovered since August this year. Just wondering how I missed this news... it's probably because I slowed down reading newsletters since icqmail stopped its forwarding feature. Also, migrating from info.com.ph to pldtdsl.net have caused me so much inconveniences already.

For those who are using webcams, I recommend these sites to visit:
Tech Encyclopedia: Rbot Webcam Worm
Rbot virus spies on surfers
Internet Security
Virus alert: Rbot sets your webcam to spy on you
Somebody's Watching You

Sunday, October 03, 2004

Randy a.k.a. RWO, informed me that he already selected a child to support in the Philippines through Save the Children Organizations. Due to his excitement, he has forgotten to save the URL and informations about Cherry but fortunately, an e-card has been sent to him, with Cherry's photo! Let's welcome Cherry, the recipient of US$28.00 monthly BlogShares for Charity sponsorship, in behalf of fellow BlogShares players!

Click photo to view Cherry's File photo
OR, view the eCard

We already received from fellow generous BlogShares players US$ cash and, pledges in chips, B$ and ideas will be auctioned on November 1 on eBay to support Cherry's education monthly. If things run favorably, we're planning to sponsor another child, preferably a boy in New York.

We are still discussing whether to put up a separate blog for our BlogShares sponsored children. Save the Children is an exerted effort to put our BlogShares winnings to a worthwhile cause. So, please... wish us all the luck!

Saturday, October 02, 2004

Last Friday, my son and I were not able to use Yahoo! messenger webcams. I couldn't run it without being interrupted with annoying popups each time someone sent me a message or vice versa.

Whoever is the creator of this damaging spyware worms, may you'll get spammed too by the one more evil than you. People like you make money out from tears and bloods of innocent PC users. I know Mac doesn't have this virus and spammers troubles.

Paul, a fellow yahoo webcam user, sent me hijackthis.zip file to help me resolve spyware annoying popups that resides in computer's system yet, the file about: blank page was still in internet explorer as default page. I viewed its page source yet all links were run by javascript. IE option was disabled and so was windows update. My daughter suggested to uninstall IE and reinstall it but, I doubted whether the worm will be removed. This upsets me for many days now and this caused misunderstanding between me and my daughter due to differences of opinions on how to get rid of the virus! I saved the log file of suspected files scanned by hijackthis.

Starapple techies advised me to reformat HDD and could you imagine if I will do that? It will be harder for me to back up all files, go to the computer shop, surrender my PC, and start anew with installations of my favorite softwares? Why there are people damaging people's files in order to take advantage from our sufferings?

This is not funny anymore.

Sites to visit:
hijackthis.net
THE PARASITE FIGHT

Friday, October 01, 2004

Randy and I have been discussing how we can use the massive wealth that we made in BlogShares. It must actually count for something: Why not support a BlogShares child, or two, or three?

We can sell the profits we make on eBay and turn the real cash into a charity!

So starting this month we are accepting donations. They can be B$, chips, ideas or anything else. At the end of the month we will take all that we have collected and auction it off on eBay. We will then use the money to sponsor chidren under the 'Save the Children' fund.

Since we announced it, we have already gained enough money to sponsor two children due to the generosity of one of the fellow BlogShares players. We will post the person's name after Randy ask him if it is ok to publish his name, as some folks like to remain anonymous.

We had thought this is an excellent way to donate to a charity and help some underprivileged folks. We will post on both of our blogs any correspondences we get from our sponsored kids.

Randy will also post his paypal statements after blacking out his personal informations for transparency purposes.

We have placed a PayPal button on our sites if you would like to donate some real cash. We will be adopting these children as part of the BlogShares community, not in our names or anything. It has cost us nothing but, our premium membership to get where we are, why not take some of the game wealth and put it to good use?

Thanks for any support you may give.

Randy and Laila*

Last month's performance was indeed remarkable due to the new pricing algorithm implementation by BlogShares Admin based on Alan Dean's proposal. Fortunately, the bonds sold to RWO placed me at Rank no. 3 among the BlogShares Richest Players, one level up from previous Rank no. 4! With a little dedication on voting blogs into their industries, I finally get the first position in Best Karma with 6,206 points, and currently holding 318,292 chips, next to Anders!

So here is the summary of my portfolio for the month of September 2004:

We wish to support a BlogShares child effective this month and hopefully, we could turn our B$ and chips into a better cause!