Yahoo! talaga!

So I'm using Ubuntu at the office. (I COULD say it was because I support the open source movement and am defiant against indiscriminate profiteering. But really, I'm just too cheap to shell out money for Windows OS.)

While running on Linux is great. (No more anti-virus programs! Whoopee!) There are some drawbacks. For one thing, I can't run the YM client anymore. The last version Yahoo! released for Linux is soooo old, it's pathetic.

And since there is no more YM client, there's also no more Launchcast applet.

I can't even run Launchcast via a browser, because I'm on Firefox. Yahoo!, in all its wisdom, has decided to run Launchcast on IE only (I'm not sure what the situation is for Safari or Opera, though).

DOES NOT LIKE

BIASED.

BUSET.

Now for those who survive their office hours by listening to internet radio, to be told you can't use Launchcast anymore is like being told you can't use the toilet.

EVER.

You have to give me some credit, though. I DID try to go cold turkey. For a while, I survived on Last.FM and Live365.

But I kept going back to all the time I've spent rating my favorite songs and artists on Launchcast.

All that hard work! There's got to be a way! It's just GOTTA!

This afternoon, the symptoms were SOOO bad, I spent a good part of the afternoon looking for a hack.

And to rephrase the much loved saying "Walang di nagagawa sa Recto."

My new mantra is:

"Walang di nagagawa sa Google."

After much keyword searches:
IE emulator on firefox linux
run launchcast on firefox
user agent switcher
Error 32 Launchcast

the answer came simply enough:
launchcast on linux (gee... why didn't I think of that before?)

I was able to find this solution:
http://playker.info/launchcast/

Now after some configurations on CLI (that's 'command line interface' for you GUI-only users), I'm happily listening to my playlist that's not seen me for a good 8 weeks as I write this post.


And what have I got to say?
One word:

Yahoooooo!


And now, back to your regular programming.

"I can do all things"

At the risk of sounding like a trite piece of inspirational prose, I dare share this little piece of introspection.

Anyone who's been around Christian "stuff" and paraphernalia may have come across Philippians chapter 4 verse 13 which says:
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Many people interpret that passage to mean that because they believe in Jesus who gives them strength, they're essentially Superman (or that everything that they set their minds to will happen).

One colorful example would be some of the contestants in those early evening game shows on TV: Some guy claims he'll get the jackpot prize because "will ni Lord!" or some lady prays to the high heavens and keeps invoking the Holy Spirit to win that house and lot.

In less dramatic situations, some firmly believe they will not experience hunger or sickness; their careers or businesses will always flourish; they will never be in dire need.

I'm not discounting anyone's faith but still I wonder, if they don't win the jackpot, or if theire business is failing, or if they can't make ends meet?

Who's at fault then? God?

Which leads me to question: who are we to know what God's will is? I mean, are we supposed to be clairvoyant or something to assume that WE KNOW what He wants? To assume we WILL get that million dollars because to quote the verse: "I can do everything" ?

Then I read the entire chapter. Here's what verses 11 and 12 say (I've added verse 13 as well to pull everything together:

(v.11) "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

(v.12) "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."

(v.13) "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

It's interesting how when put into context, the passage takes on a entirely different meaning.

We were never promised an easy life.
It never says we will always get what we need and want.
We were never promised prosperity
We were never promised perpetual success.

What we were promised with was grace.

Grace to be content in whatever state we are in.
The grace to know how to behave when full and when suffering need.
Grace to know that the strength we use to be successful or the strength we draw on to endure dire distress is not from ourselves, but from Him.

I just thought I'd share it with you guys.

Shalom.

Porn for Art Directors

There is probably no guy in the world working with graphics who doesn't drool for a Mac. Sure, some would play it cool and pretend they're fine with their PCs. But in the secret enclaves of their cubicles, you'll see them

indulging their deepest,
darkest
desires...

...to acquire the sickest, upgraded Mac EVER.

So when I came across adhack's Creative Beef and how 3 of his Art Directors came out with the ultimate pimp'd out Mac Pro, they came up with these specs:

2 units, 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
8 units, 4GB RAM
1 unit, Mac Pro RAID Card
4 units, 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
1 unit, NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB
2 units, 16x SuperDrives
2 units, Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
1 unit, Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse
1 unit, Apple Wireless Keyboard (Western Spanish) + User's Guide
1 unit, AirPort Extreme Card (Wi-Fi)
1 unit, Quad Channel 4Gb Fibre Channel PCI Express Card
1 unit, Apple USB Modem
iWork '08 preinstalled
Final Cut Express preinstalled
Aperture preinstalled
Logic Express preinstalled
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll
Mac OS X Server (Unlimited-Client)
1-year Family Pack subscription
Xsan 2
HP Photosmart C7280 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier

====
And for the low, low price of ONLY


Yep, for the price of a very decent new car (PhP 1,227,997.22), you can have this baby.

Or at least until the next Keynote Speech.

"Congratulations! You're the Number One.... Loser"

So I was doing my usual thing every Saturday morning, that is, vegetating in front of the television and catching up on my channel surfing. I happened to flip over to the promotional clips for the Summer Olympics.

Then, in true scatterbrain fashion, that mass of gray matter I call a brain accessed this Jerry Seinfeld bit about the Olympics.

And I'm paraphrasing here...

"If I was an Olympic athlete, I would rather come in LAST than win the silver.

Because if you win the gold, that's great!
You get the bronze, you think 'Well, at least I got something.'

But when you get the silver... it's like...

'Congratulations! You.... almost won.'

'Of all the losers, you came in first.'

'No one lost ahead of you.'

'You're the Number One Loser.' "
















Something to think about when August comes around.

CLICK.

The Doctor is IN --- sane.

So I had my annual physical examination. Something I have as much excitement over as an ingrown toenail but religiously observe nonetheless given my family history. (Heart diseases on the mother's side, cancer on dad's side. Happy, ain't it?)

It's not that I was surprised or anything with the results. Experience and a lot of self-help publications has taught me that A+B=C.

That is:

A = sedentary lifestyle
B = incorrigible eating habits
C = stern, disapproving looks from the family physician (this conclusion is entirely mine, though)

And if you've seen our family doctor, a slightly stern look can already make you want to seek asylum in Switzerland.

Case in point: No more than 2 hours after my last appointment with her, she texted me asking, no INSTRUCTING!, me to text her back my food intake for that night's dinner.

I know I'm on the hefty side, but jeeeez! I'm not THAT big!

I suppose it doesn't help that being the family doctor, she's seen all the ailments that members of my family have unnecessarily gone through given their lifestyle. And professional concerns notwithstanding, she's been like a second mom to me.

I suppose things could be worse.
I could have a doctor who didn't care.

So despite all this bitchin' and moaning, I'll take everything in stride. Like just this Saturday night, she called me up and asked me how many minutes of exercise I've logged in that week.

Does walking to the kitchen for extra helpings of honey roasted peanuts count?
HAAAAAAY.