Thursday, March 31, 2005

This is my second day in 15 hour Flash Course.

I arrived 7 minutes earlier this time. Yet, feeling thirsty and saw that we're close to Wendy's Burger, I went there to buy iced tea and macaroni salad. Two counters were just open that time and we're too many in queue. Guess I had spent about 10 minutes just to get a drink and a salad.

As I went back in Informatics, just then I realized I arrived late again. They were all there and as expected, I didn't have the keyboard and the mouse again. Melch assigned me another seat. This time, I got the best location, closer to TV monitor.

We learned today about inserting action script in symbols (vector, graphic, button, and media clip). As part of the exercise, we created different buttons and applied action script to it. We were told that we cannot tween/animate two objects in the same layer.

I might be the fastest typist but I was too slow writing down the lectures. At my age, it's better to write down notes to make sure I will not forget what I have learned today.

Knowing it's impossible to learn all the techniques of Flash in just 15 hours session, I informed Melch my interest to learn more through extended (home service) Flash session. He gave me his business card and his rate per hour.

After signing our Attendance Sheet, I hurriedly left for a little grocery shopping.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

On March 10th, I registered with Informatics Computer Institute to attend a Web Studio Program - Flash MX. Duration of the course is 15 hours.

Yesterday, Pinky of Informatics called up and reminded me the class will start today. I didn't have the intention to take up the course anymore because I ran short of budget this month. However, to my surprise, Randy sent me yesterday some help through XOOM and advised me to go ahead. (Sighed) You're a God-send, Randy. Thank you very much for the sponsorship.

I'm too excited now to attend the afternoon class starting today (until April 5th), between 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. It will conflict with my scheduled bank transaction next week but, this March 30th batch is the best schedule they have.

Playing games on Neopets inspired me to study flash. Let me see if the saying, "you cannot teach old dogs new tricks" applies to me...

The disbursement method Randy made through XOOM was to PICK UP the money. We were both surprise because the remittance should go directly to my Equitable PCIBank account.

For safety reason, I changed XOOM button in this blog to remind generous donors to send me email about XOOM TRACKING NUMBER. Otherwise, I might not be able to get sender's donations.

Please be informed I won't be around between 2:00 p.m and 7:00 p.m. starting today until April 5th.

It was past 3:00 in the afternoon when I arrived in Informatics Computer Institute. I settled first the course fee before I went to the assigned room. I was told we're 10 trainees on this March 30th Batch. Not bad, I had thought.

As expected, since I was late, I got the farthest seat. And not only that, I didn't have the keyboard and mouse. We started the lecture only after CPU, keyboard and mouse were connected to the monitor. Before the technician left, he told me the password was "password". To my dismay, it didn't worked! So, we called again the technician to connect it for me.

Well, my fellow attendees are all kids, even younger than my children. I must admit I was the slowest one in the class. Couple of boys have advance knowledge in Flash MX 2004, I just didn't know why they still have to attend the class.

Today, Melch Valimento, our flash instructor described to us the Flash MX panel's tools, the property inspector features, and all the flash interfaces. As part of the exercise, we created some vector graphics using different tools and colors. This bore me because I know how to use those tools, since I used JASC PaintShop Pro.

After signing our attendance sheet, the class was dismissed at 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

When my virtual pet got stuck in Mystery Island Training School when my vo codestone disappeared off my item's list, it took me about two months before I was able to send my pet back to study. Codestones are harder to buy so since I collected couple of dubloon coins from Pawkeet slots machine, I decided to transfer my pet to Cap'n Threelegs' Swashbuckling Academy where she will complete her courses up to level 40 using one, two and five dubloons.

Randy told me today about the COLTZAN'S SHRINE, where my pet can visit once a day to increase her level up by 1 point for FREE. He also told me about the FREEBIES link earlier where I can get free items and neopoints once a month.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Each time there is DSL internet service interruption and there is no way to connect to the internet nor inform PLDT DSL technical people that I didn't have internet access by calling their busy 172375 direct line, I couldn't help but feel they were cheating all their subscribers by not providing a 24/7 Technical Assistance. Any ISPs nationwide provide Technical Support, be it post-paid or prepaid internet. Only PLDT DSL breaks this protocol. What's worst, they won't e-mail us the reason why the sudden service interruption occurred.

And I am not really happy about this. Infocom handled 24/7 Technical problems before satisfactorily. Why PLDT had taken over Infocom Technical Support and 173 was accessible only during working hours. While 172375 is now available, we couldn't get through this hotline number whenever we had internet interruption problems. Even their website was inaccessible. How can I log a complaint ticket?

Also, I feel we were deceived with a promise of improved bandwidth speed instead of reducing broadband rates. I cannot express well how disappointed I am right now.

Can you imagine how it feels like to blog using a dial-up?

More and more spammers are using this Movable Type's TrackBack pings to get into my blog for traffic. Since two weeks ago, my MT-Blacklist reached the maximum allowed packet size and I had difficulty adding more sites to block. I kept receiving "Could not save your blacklist data: Got a packet bigger than 'max_allowed_packet'" errors when I wanted to delete both unwanted comments and trackback pings.

I logged a support ticket with PlogHost, my webhosting specialist, on this matter but, I got this reply from them: "The MT-Blacklist has reached it's maximum capacity size. I believe it's an inherent limitation of the script. You may need to upgrade it or request support from the developers."

Thanks to Jay Allen for providing this MT-Blacklist special instructions for deleting trackback spam pings.. While its true that everything in this world has limitations, I found a way to delete also some fake URLS in MT-Blacklist text and replaced identical domain names into keywords before removing them off my list. Should you encounter a hard time leaving a comment, chances are, some words in your message might be in my hot keywords. Pardon me for this inconvenience but, blame the spammers for these strict measures I have to implement.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Many thanks to Abe for upgrading ladylaila.net to 20 GB bandwidth today from 10 GB (Plan 500) current size.

For three consecutive days, I had been receiving 'The domain ladylaila.net is about to exceed bandwidth limit' notice. To avoid further inconvenience, I reminded him through Yahoo! IM about his promise last Christmas that he would double my domain's bandwidth for free.

Voila! This site can accomodate more traffic now without worrying of inconvenience of inaccessibility...

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Are you a web addict?

If you believe you want to get a life, I'll recommend that you read this article posted by Raven, 12 Step Recovery Plan For Web Addicts.

Raven's post reminds me of Afonso...

Monday, March 21, 2005

I am not a sports enthusiast and it wasn't my intention to watch WBC International Super Featherweight Championship held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 19th (March 20th in Manila) but my son asked me a favor to record the fight as he was busy playing computer games. Since politicians were riding on Manny Pacquiao's popularity, the more I avoided watching nor following his boxing career.

But, today, I had never thought I would admire him, not only as a sportsman but, also as a modern hero. He had a serious cut above his right eye on the 5th round and his mouthpiece was thrown away on the 10th, yet, he never gave up and stood firm to fight for his country until the 12th round.

While Morales won by unanimous decision 115-113, in the hearts of millions of people who watched their bout, Pacquaio left a very good impression and made him closer to our hearts.

Mabuhay, Manny! Magaling ka palang umilag!

Sunday, March 20, 2005

I have read this morning Erwin Lemuel Oliva's INFOTECH article that Google Adsense now supports RP currency.

Inquirer.net:
Online advertisers currently pay Google and Yahoo to have their ads appear next to Web search results. What Google AdSense allows advertisers is to extend their reach beyond the home page of Google. The search engine firm now pays each Web publisher a commission in exchange for allowing ads to appear on their sites.

According to its website, Google AdSense will convert a website's earnings from US dollars into a local currency that the service supports.

By allowing Google to put ad links to a certain website, one can earn money. Reports from the industry indicate that people have earned from a few hundred dollars a month to 50,000 dollars or more a year. [read more]

I'm pondering though, if I will add Google in here, that would make the appearance of my blog ugly...

I just watched Bb. Pilipinas 2005 telecast over Channel 7 (SkyCable Channel 12). Congratulations to the following winners:

Bb. Pilipinas-Miss International 2005 #2 - PRECIOUS LARA QUIGAMAN
Bb. Pilipinas-Miss Universe 2005 #17 - GIONNA J. CABRERA
Bb. Pilipinas-Miss World 2005 #8 - CARLENE A. AGUILAR

Saturday, March 19, 2005

A certain Matt Thornton e-mailed me early this morning and claimed copyright on difficult answers on Da Vince code Web Quest which I posted on Thursday, August 12, 2004.

Well, in fairness, I did lots of research, too, to get those answers and honestly speaking, if he wrote the answers himself, how come I didn't came across his site when I was looking for any answers to the Da Vince code last year?

Anyway, I hope no one would claim ownership on my Ticke's IQ test result but, since I respect people's work and wish to make everything peaceful, I added a link to his site.

It doesn't cost me a cent and a pride...

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Last night, I instructed my son to keep the meat in the ref before going to bed. Spoilage of foods was common nowadays and proper storage of food will give them something to eat in the morning.

When I got up this morning and opened the freezer compartment to bring out meat, I saw a frozen eggplant. Puzzled, who on earth would want eggplants frozen?

I've waited in the afternoon until kids arrived home. I questioned Sweety Pearl and Paul Denise. The latter admitted he was the one who placed it last night because he wanted to free up the ref some space.

Well... my son is one of a kind...

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

BlogShares Mission #85 has ended. Congratulations to the following winners:

First Place: B$ 1T, PREMIUM UPGRADE, MISSION POT plus Gold Trophy
07 Andy Skelton: Favor For Laila - A Review of A Journey Through Life

Second Place: B$ 1T, 5000 chips plus Silver Trophy
12 Jasmeet Bhatia: Blog Mission: To Review Lady Laila's Blog!

Third Place: B$ 750B, 2500 chips plus Bronze Trophy
08 Nathaniel Hansen: Laila's Weblog - A Journey Through Life

B$ 500 Billion Consolation Prizes:
01 nameless one: I am doing this for B$500 billion....?
02 Scott Anthony Rodriguez : A Journey Through Life (403 Forbidden)
03 tedsta : A
Journey Through Life - Review Mission
04 Rantzalot (Sir): BlogShares Mission
05 Praneet Keni : Blog and review: A Journey Through Life
06 Alan McGourlay: A review of a Blog called “A Journey through Life”
09 Paul V : Lady Laila
10 CntryBleu : Laila's Weblog - A Journey Through Life
11 Adelaine Yeo: Blog and Review: A Journey Through Life
13 Family Man : Blog
Review: Laila's Weblog - A Journey Through Life
14 Marcelle Fabie: A Review: A Journey Through Life, by Laila

Please check out the summary of your review here and kindly display your respective awards on the side bar of your blog under Awards won and link back to this mission #85 page.

Many thanks to all who submitted their entries. Kindly place your respective sell orders of 1 share of any blogs and PM me the link. You are welcome to participate again in my next contest.

My appreciation goes to Ehsany for the trophy image, that won First place in RWO's previous contest.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

I was having negative thoughts again lately. The future scares me but, there's nothing to worry about, I prayed already for strength and guidance...

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Inquirer.net:

FOREIGN businessmen have ranked the Philippines the second most corrupt country in Asia, according to results of a survey conducted by a Hong Kong-based consultancy group. [read more]

Congratulations, Gloria Arroyo, the Philippines almost made it to the top!

O , 'Di ba may resulta?

Sunday, March 06, 2005

I enjoyed watching OPRAH on Star World (SkyCable) this evening and their guests this time were the casts of Desperate Housewives. Those stunning women talked about the characters they portrayed and sex was the hottest topic. They prefer more sex over violence on TV though.

And I had thought, I know I consider myself desperate also... so desperate to be a housewife (again). I'm a single parent and played the roles of mother-and-father to my kids but, if I will only be a battered wife like my sister, I would rather choose to be single and be a devoted mother to my kids.

Am I happy? Honestly, not really... and, only time will tell whether I can still have that true happiness which my heart is longing for...

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Nasser and I finally meet each other today after he arrived in Manila from Taiwan last month. He brought his son, VJ, with him. They picked up mama and I here at home and we went to buy VJ's graduation needs. Then, we dined at Chow King - SM North Edsa but I had difficulty finding Nasser food that has no iodized salt. I ended up with Greenwich grilled chicken square pizza take out for him and his Muslim wife, Jane.

He said he's feeling better now except that he was shy to go out of his house. Big pimples were growing around his neck and torso when he began taking medication. I advised him that he should never worry about what other people might say about his skin. The most important thing is they are visible instead of growing as cysts inside his body.

When I took this photo, I commented that his eyes looked scary. He said, doctor told him that even after radioactive iodine treatment, his eyes will never go back to normal ever again. I felt sad then but, anyway, his son, VJ, will have an audition tomorrow in Channel 2's Going Bulilit.

Let's offer them some prayers, please...

#85 - Blog and Review: A Journey Through Life (CONTEST)

Goodluck to the following entries:

• Andy Skelton :   Favor For Laila - A Review of A Journey Through Life
• Alan McGourlay :  A review of a Blog called "A Journey through Life"
• Praneet Keni :  #85 - Blog and review: A Journey Through Life
• Rantzalot (Sir) :  BlogShares Mission
• tedsta :  A Journey Through Life - Review Mission
• Scott Anthony Rodriguez :  A Journey Through Life
• nameless one :  I am doing this for B$500 billion....?

Please take note that those who wish to join this contest may submit your entry's link here until midnight, March 15th. Thank you.

Friday, March 04, 2005

I was awakened this morning by the voice of Arnold, the young owner of the building. Then couple of seconds, they knocked at our door and handed me a green plastic container.

My eyes were still red and half awake, I was surprised while receiving the container. With questions in my eyes, Arnold explained to me that water shortage is worsening and he sought our cooperation to store water starting at 11:00 o'clock in the evening until 7:00 in the morning. Currently, they have 5 big storage tank that supplies water in third and fourth floor but since water rationing had been limited, he wants us to store more water in case of emergency and tanks had been emptied.

We're in the beginning of summer and yet, the water shortage started even when we newly relocated here in Quezon City last year. We're just fortunate the maintenance of the building was the one fetching water for us and I didn't know there was water problem earlier.

Anyway, I thanked Arnold for his concern because they were too kind to provide us those containers for free. And I had thought, for what those paid TV commercials PGMA broadcast about water projects being done lately in "O, 'Di Ba May Resulta?

Where and what is happening with the water supply in Metro Manila?

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

I had been a Trillian Basic user for couple of years when Yahoo IM program had been a nuisance due to its association with explorer popup ads trojan virus installed in my PC, I guess it's about time to use Trillian PRO 3.0 to enjoy its webcam features for only US$25.00, which I received as a gift, courtesy of Paul.

I love its features because Trillian integrates chat programs like AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC into one contact list window which provides capabilities not possible with original network clients.

Unfortunately, webcam setting preferences was greyed out and I posted about it at Trillian Discussion Forum. I found out later that webcam setting option will only work if it is active and when someone is viewing my video (something wasn't right, anyway).