Quaere Verum

Happy 10th birthday son!

Ebony (wearing black and white) is a jujutsu expert who uses jabs to the face and the guard position to lure her opponents in. Boo Boo (in black and red) is a shootfighter who likes to intimidate and wear out his opponent with his quickness. Who will win? :-) This video is shared on YouTube .

As a computer gaming enthusiast, I have played and still continue to play a variety of games in different genres in my leisure time, such as first person shooters (FPS) and real-time strategy games (RTS). I have also played online games, multiplayer games, and role-playing games (RPG), but I must confess I haven't really played a game which combines the latter three catergories, that is, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). MMORPGs have been steadily increasing in popularity since the introduction of the internet, and with the increasing widespread availability of broadband internet access, have started to really hit their stride. Despite its growing prevalence however, I haven't really gotten into it. Well, that is, until now. Until I discovered this game. And the funny thing is, it was my son who introduced this game to me. He told me all about this MMORPG he had been playing, called RAN Online . I didn't really take heed at first, thinking it was p...

Instructions for Life written by the Dalai Lama Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. When you lose, don't lose the lesson. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self Respect for others and Responsibility for all your actions. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship. When you realise you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. Spend some time alone every day. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past. Share your knowledge. It...

Some time ago, on impulse, I decided to move on up to a semi-"prosumer" type of digital camera. "Prosumer-lite", if you will. Actually I've been planning on the move for some time now, triggered by the apparent demise and resurrection of my old Canon PowerShot A300 (see earlier posts here , and here ). Incidentally, that camera has itself moved on to my parents, who are just now discovering the technological (as well as economic) benefits of going digital after virtually a lifetime of reliance on conventional film-based cameras. After my two-year relationship with the A300, I had a brief stint with a Canon PowerShot A410 (see earlier post here ). While pretty good for basic entry-level picture taking, it had somewhat less features and flexibility than I was accustomed to, taking into account my rising interest in digital photography. My son made some pretty good use of it though (see the posts on his blog here and here ). Then, a few months back, I gave in ...

Could it be that after a run of almost two years, I'm actually losing interest in blogging? Maybe. I used to be a prolific blogger, regularly making two posts everyday. Now I'm lucky if I can muster one a week. I wonder. It's not that I don't have anything to write about. There are indeed a lot of things that I want to air my opinion on, and yet, for some reason, I haven't really felt like committing them to keyboard. And it's not as if I'm busy. After my recent "adventure", I now have more than enough time to blog, if I choose to. But for some reasons unbeknownst to me I choose not to. Perhaps it doesn't present much of a challenge to me anymore. Maybe I need to something else different to do. Maybe I've grown weary of it over the past several months. Maybe I need a blogging hiatus. The irony is I don't believe in hiatuses (believe it or not, that's the correct plural term). I've grown weary of other bloggers going on hiatus, ...

During the weekend I dropped by an officemate's house to fix his computer which had been working excrutiatingly slow to the point of uselessness. Two days after his DSL service had been installed, his PC, which had nothing more than a barebone Windows XP installation, had been virtually swamped by viruses, trojans, and malware/adware. Using a broadband connection on an unprotected Windows PC can certainly do that. While reformatting would have been the easiest way to tackle the problem, there wasn't really enough time to do so. Instead, I managed to return the OS to a workable state by removing the mediocre antivirus program currently installed (actually, it didn't want to uninstall itself, so I had to muck around the registry to get rid of it) and cleaning the hard disk of viruses and malicious software using the free version of avast! antivirus and Spybot Search & Destroy . As a final touch for enhanced stability and security, I also installed Windows XP Service Pa...

Every second Sunday of the month of October, Catholics from all over the country converge in the streets surrounding the Sto. Domingo Church to participate in a procession honoring Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. This year, as suggested by a friend and former colleague, I was there along with my son to observe, pray, and pay our respects. A couple of pictures: The number of participants this year was certainly in the thousands. The statue of the La Naval of Manila making its way among the faithful. Prayer: La Naval de Manila, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary of the Philippines, Mirror of Justice, help us to pray for the greatest victory, the victory of Your Son's Peace in the Philippines and the entire world. We ask you to help us remember that one of your most blessed titles is Queen of Peace. Links: Our Lady of the Rosary of the Philippines: La Naval of Manila

Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at the church, the Pastor and his eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel Tracts. This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside, as well as pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, "OK, dad, I'm ready." His Pastor dad asked, "Ready for what?" "Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out." Dad responds, "Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring down rain." The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, "But Dad, aren't people still going to Hell, even though it's raining?" Dad answers, "Son, I am not going out in this weather." Despondently, the boy asks, "Dad, can I go? Please?" His father hesitated for a moment then said, "Son, you can go. Here are the tracts...

I've been reporting to work for only two days, and yet I can't help but feel somewhat out of place. I've been gone for more than five months, and it seems that in that time I have lost my ability to relate with the goings on at the office. To put it another way, I've lost touch...out of sync if you will. Either that, or I just don't care anymore. Or both. Is that bad? A lot of things have happened, but deep down the office doesn't seem any different from how I remembered it. Goals and objectives may have changed as far as the office is concerned, but it all boils down to doing the very same things I've been doing since I first got this job. And there's still the gossip, the intrigue, the controversies, the illogicality, the senselessness and thinking that seems out of this world, all the characteristics of your typical Filipino government office. It's just like in Scott Adams' Dilbert cartoon. Only worse. And yet, recent developments in the offi...

Another bad case of last song syndrome. For some strange reason I can't seem to get this song's infectious and catchy melody out of my head. And the video's not bad either. :-) Note: Turn off the background audio first at the bottom of the page before clicking the play button. Tara Lets Imago Taralets tara tara taralets 'di ka na mabibigo Taralets tara tara taralets 'di ka na mabibigo 'wag kang mabibigla Isasama kita 'wag ka magtanong Basta sumama ka lang 'wag mong unahan Abonado ang pagasa Mabilis ang palit Ng tula ng mundo Minsan isisigaw Minsan ibubulong 'wag mong pigilan Sulitin at sumama Taralets tara tara taralets 'di ka na mabibigo Taralets tara tara taralets 'di ka na mabibigo Kung sigurado ka na Anong hinihintay mo? Sumayaw sa tuwa Pasabugin ang saya 'wag mong pigilan Abonado ang pag-asa Itaas ang kamay Hanapin mo ang tulay Bitiwan ang duda Bigla kang sumabay 'wag mong pigilan Sulitin at sumama Taralets tara tara taralets ...

While I was on my way to work, I had a rather lengthy and animated conversation with a cab driver regarding complaints he has for the cab company he's been working in for several years now. The cab company he works for has its main office in Quezon City, and has more than a hundred units plying Metro Manila's thoroughfares, each one emblazoned with the initials of the supposed owner and operator. His wife recently gave birth and he wasn't able to claim his PhilHealth benefits since it isn't really clear if his company had remitted the premiums which supposedly form part of the regular boundary payments he makes. He suspects that the premiums hadn't been remitted. If true, the company, in effect, would be deducting premium contributions from the employee, and pocketing the amounts instead of remitting them to PhilHealth. Needless to say, this would be a gross violation of the implementing rules of the National Health Insurance Law , and the company could be held civ...