the boredom of ramfree17

[NOTE: A blog entry that started February and posted in March. Very un-procrastinator of me ]

It all started with the desire to minimize the amount of waste we put out so I commandeered a broken laundry tub from our neighbor’s backyard and started a mini-compost pit. All of our food waste went directly to the tub which I covered with some sandy soil that I collected around the village. Decomposing is fun in its own way especially when I can find some worms that I can place in the tub to naturally hasten the decomposition process.

Then one day the chili seeds we threw in the tub started growing that I became so ecstatic. You see I always thought that I have the black thumb: the ability to kill any plant that had the misfortune to touch. When some tomato seeds started growing then that was the time I began transplanting the seedlings to pots and empty biscuit cans.

And here is the first fruits of my labor:

My first fruit harvest

Tomato Plant

Not much but they seem to be the best tasting tomatoes that I have had. The plant gave out around 5 more fruits but they were stunted because the plant itself started to die for some reason. I think it also have something to do with the excessive heat and strong winds that nearly killed and blew down most of my shrubs.

Oh yeah, I also have the following
– 4 Oregano pots courtesy of a single shrub given by my mother-in-law.
– 6 Tarragon pots that I split from a single pot bought from Tagaytay. I still have no idea though where I can use tarragon but these seem to be the ones heavily affected by the gusty afternoon winds.

Sorry tarragon offshoots

– 2 Mint pots that came from the single pot I bought from Tagaytay. We usually pick some leaves to put in a pitcher of Coke. When I become frisky enough, I’ll mix some mojitos.
– 1 pot of Basil that I don’t think are looking tasty enough.
– 1 pot of a Chinese parsley that had no chance of growing properly. The reason is we frequently prepare tokwa’t baboy to which we garnish with parsley.

And lots and lots of chili pepper plants. Some were already being planted on the thin front garden soil. To date I have taken two chili pepper pods from them.

The Chili Pepper Army.

More pictures can be viewed in the Picasa Gallery.

ciao!

Tags: Garbage by Erin
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This morning I was copying some files in my USB drive and I found some peculiar files in the root directory: password_viewer.exe and autorun.inf. These are peculiar because I have embarked in a personal Use Linux-only policy in my home systems so I have no need for Windows auto-run feature and I hate that feature to the core so I disable them. I did some quick searching in the Internet and these are normally associated with the w32.sillyfdc worm.

This got me thinking on where I would have contracted that virus as I am pretty paranoid when it comes to my devices. Then it hit me, I had some photos developed at Picture City Digital shop in Robinson’s Pioneer. Sure, I saw the attendant run a manual AVG scan on the contents of my thumb drive but apparently it was not enough because: (1) the scanner real-time file protection was not activated, and (2) I am not sure when was the last time they have updated their virus definitions.

No big deal for me really because I was already prepared to have my drive infected as I only have the pictures to be developed in there. I think the scanning procedure done in the shop threw me back into a sense of complacency that I didn’t double check anymore if it was infected. The drive was used once more by my officemate on his Vista-loaded laptop but I am confident that he is as paranoid as me and his AVG was able to quarantine the infection automatically. He didn’t even notice it until I brought it up this morning.

My take-away tips for this experience are:

• Convert to using linux as your primary system. Ok, I just have to put that in.
• If using printing shop services for your digital pictures, put them in a read-only media like a CDRW or a SD-card with the write-lock enabled.
• If you are adamant in using Windows, turn-off the auto-play feature altogether. Most of the time it is more trouble than useful.
• When using Windows, keep your anti-virus software and definitions up to date and turn-on the real-time file protection if you have a habit of inserting media used from untrusted places.

ciao!

Tags: Non-FLOSS, Techology by Erin
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Yesterday we went to the Eheads concert held at Mall of Asia concert grounds. Looking back I am torn between liking and hating the event based on various personal reason.

The Positive

• The ticket was free. Technically my wife bought the silver tickets but I didn’t spend a single cent for them.
• The energy of a concert crowd, much more a very passionate one, cannot be matched by viewing a recorded video.
• It was nice to see the ‘heads back again. They already grew old but some of the antics that endeared them are still there.
• Most of the songs in the set were from the Circus and Cutterpillow albums which IMHO are the best albums they have ever released.
• The crowd was singing to every song so the fact that the band keeps on changing the lyrics of their songs adds a refreshing twist to the performances. Marcus’ reggae rendition of “Huwag mong itanong” was very entertaining.
• Since the venue was a reclaimed area, there was a slight breeze that occassionally blows into the crowd area, which alleviates the heat and humidity.

The Negative

• The traffic going to MOA was horrible. The traffic when we went home was even worse. Typical of Manila traffic I can’t figure out the cause of such a traffic jam when every vehicle is driving along the same direction.
• The venue (specifically the silver and bronze sections) was literally filled to capacity. This triggered my utter dislike for places where there are too many people. It is not really agoraphobia but I really, really hate crowded spaces which is why I don’t go to sale events if I can help it.
• Some people are downright inconsiderate. Two notable examples are the people who smoke with disregard that not all people in the concert are smokers, and those ladies who sit on top of their boyfriend’s shoulders and effectively block the view of those behind them.
• The stage was too far from where we were that the people in the stage were like an inch tall. We viewed the concert mostly from the large screens placed strategically around the venue. The effect is like viewing everything from a large TV screen.
• Only the VIP section have seats (or so I thought until Paeng corrected it in the comments ). Which effectively killed all the feeling I have on my legs and lower back. The lucky few were able to indian-sit but when I tried that my ankles hurt more.
• We forgot to buy drinks when we entered the venue and it was neigh impossible to move from our location during the set break. My thirst was already killing me that I found it very hard to enjoy the concert when it resumed.
• The event was too heavy with advertisements. Streamers and banners are one thing, viral multimedia on the wide screens and speakers are another. There is only so much repetition of ads can the audience take.
• As a whole, we spent 11 hours for a 2.5 hour concert.

Personal Notables

• Organizers and sponsors should really think twice about feeding hosts to a bored mob that has been bombarded by the same set of advertisements for hours. MTV fielded 4 VJs (Anne Curtis, Kat, another female VJ that I don’t know and a guy) and the mob was killing them. Anne was relatively unscathe but the guy bore the brunt of it. I can’t even understand what the guy was reading off his advertisement clipboard due to the boo and hoots coming from the audience. A couple of hecklers on the silver area have even started a chant for him: “Wag kang iiyak” (“Don’t cry”). I almost pitied him but for the fact that my feet are already killing me from waiting 3 hours standing up for the concert to start.
• Ely Buendia is not the best vocalist when it comes to live perfomances but still an E’heads concert is an E’heads concert.
• The strain between Ely and Raimund is pretty obvious. Near the end, they had a misunderstanding that was pretty evident especially since there are screens that are devoted to tracking the movement of each band member. Buddy was evidently the mediator of the group.
• Never ever fight the mob. The woman who sat on her boyfriend’s shoulders learned that the hard way when she tried fighting the jeers of the people whose view she blocked. She made the mistake of rationalizing that she cannot see anything because of her height and she paid for her ticket. Those same reasons applies to the people she is blocking.
• I was disappointed that Marcus didn’t smash his Hello Kitty guitar.

All in all, I don’t think I will be going to another standing slot only concert any time soon. But I will always be an Eraserheads fan.

ciao!

Tags: Reviews, Rubbish by Erin
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