Still here

Just trying to keep the site active since it's been dormant for almost 3 months. Let's call it a very lengthy vacation. How 'bout that?

A True Work of Art

Check out this guy's "weird-but-cool" art work

Mark Jenkins: Street Installations

The Geeks

We had a nice 4th of July this year. Theresa got off work early and we were able to do some bbq'ing. Nate got his first soccer goal set and I set it up in the backyard so he wouldn't break anymore of Mommy's China collection. His grandpa Andy also got him a baseball set last Friday. Boy, he might turn into a Bo Jackson or a Deion Sanders someday. I know these two players are non-existent in the world of sports anymore, but they were awesome during their heydays.

*Nate is wearing Mr. Potato Head's glasses.

Get Rid of the Annoying WGA Message

I found this article directly from Microsoft. It's a quick registry mod so make sure you back up your registry before perfoming the hack. If you do not have a genuine copy of Windows, Microsoft allows you to at least download the critical Windows updates, but not IE and Defender updates. How nice on their part.

How to disable or uninstall the pilot version of Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications

Happy Father's Day

Kudos to all the dads out there. You know our day is coming up. Someone has said that the dad is the "person in the background". For example, the bride gets the most attention during the wedding. In the delivery room, the mom gets the most attention as well, (of course since she did all the hard work).
My perspective is that it's should stay that way. After seeing my wife give birth to our son, I believe that a woman has more tolerance to pain than a man and that she's much more willing to suffer all for the sake of love. In addition, the time she spends cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the kids is sufficient to bestow upon her a lifetime of complement and gratitude.
I'm not demoting the role of a father, honestly I believe that the father should always remain the head of the household in contrary to Hollywood's portrayal of a dad, which is very demeaning and pathetic.
Great men do not seek credit and attention. They do their job honestly and with passion and they say in the end, "Just doin' my job, maam!" Happy Father's Day.

Father and Son on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Access Denied No More

This page describes how to install the "Circumventor" program, which can be used to get around all Web blocking programs.However, Please Note!! You don't actually install the Circumventor on the computer that is blocked from accessing Web sites. You, or a friend of yours, has to install the Circumventor on some other machine which is not censored.For example, if you want to get around Web blocking at work, don't install the Circumventor on your work computer. Install the Circumventor on your home computer. When the installer is done, it will give you the URL for your new Circumventor, and then you write that URL down and take it in with you to work, where you can use that URL to bypass the Web blocking there. Similarly, if you're in China and blocked from accessing certain sites, don't install the Circumventor on a machine in China; instead, get a friend to install it outside China, and then they can send you the URL that you can use to access banned sites.

Instructions for getting around blocking software

technorati tags:Circumventor, Internet, access, at, work

Life Takes...

Food

I've been craving for something "stir-fried" lately. I had teriyaki vegetables and white rice for dinner tonight and that didn't quite hit the spot. I'm trying to get myself back into working out, or at least do some quick exercises everyday to become physically active. Staying consistent is the biggest challenge. I have the necessary tools for working out and it's a shame that it just sits there in the basement collecting dust. Nathan is more active than me. I might ask him to teach daddy how to stay active.

Theresa is on her 2nd week of the "Special K" diet, which consists of 2 bowls of cereal - morning and dinner - and a sensible lunch w/ fruit snacks in between. I truly admire my wife for doing this. She is so disciplined. I tried to entice her to eat outside of her diet menu, but I tell ya, she's one strong-willed gal. On the other hand, that just leaves me more food to eat and more food means more calories, extra pounds, and a jelly belly. I think I need to go on a Special K diet. Maybe not. I'll just exercise.

More to this life

Okay. I got the title of this posting from Steve Curtis Chapman's "More To This Life" song. I'm not trying to steal his line. Listen to his song. You'll like it. Enough for the plug.

I believe there's more to this life than just waking up everyday and going along life's predicaments. Yes, life can be brutal and unforgiving, but just realizing the fact that there is more to be thankful for than just griping and complaining about every single thing should be enough to free someone from going absolutely insane. During breakfast this morning, I told my wife that I'm glad I didn't wake up worrying where to get the next meal, or feeling depressed due to a job loss, or feeling more depressed because my doctor has revealed that I have an incurable disease. My point is that we complain and worry about so many things that we tend to overlook the blessings that we already have, such as good health, our children, our families, our jobs - even if it's less desirable, thank God you can bring home a paycheck, house, cars, food, etc.

Just by realizing this small thing, it's good enough to get me through the day without being a grouch in the end. Life's miseries and unfortunate events will always be there waiting for us with welcoming arms. I just take a different path and hug someone close to my heart.

The Praying Nathan

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

On a hill far away...

To some people, this week is called the Holy Week. People tend to get very religious around this time of the year. This coming Sunday, the Easter Sunday, churches will be filled, children will go egg hunting, women will show-off their hats and new outfits, and a big and festive lunch will be served at homes and restaurants after the service. All of these sound nice, but really, what are we celebrating?

As a Christian, the resurrection of Jesus Christ should be celebrated in our hearts all year long. Just as the song goes, "He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus live today. He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way...", we must remember what Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary every single day of our lives. The blood that He shed for us was enough to wash away all our sins and made us righteous in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. However, the hope of eternal life is for only those who accept Him as their Lord and personal Saviour.

If you die today, are you 100% sure that you will go to Heaven? If your answer is NO, click this link and you will find out how easy it is to have God's free gift of eternal life.

The Ultimate Gamer

Nate enjoys playing Fight Night. He created his own character and named him "Rubber Ducky". I don't think that's a good name to give a boxer especially when you've got guys named Ali, Holyfield, Frazier, and Duran in there.

He's definitely moving up the playing field. Before the PS2 craze, Nate loves to play w/ the free handheld game that came w/ his Happy Meal. That game is now nowhere to be found. Hope my PS2 doesn't disapper when he decides to move up to computers.

6 minutes to go

I've got 6 more minutes of lunch time before I go back to work. It's pretty nice outside (46 deg.) but I've decided to eat my mac & cheese @ my desk. I usually go out and sit at my car and watch the geese play in the pond. Sometimes I'd see a body floating by, but I just ignore it. I figure someone's going to see it and call the cops (j.K).

Hey, two more mins. What else can I say, or type? Nah, I'll just go back to work.

See ya.

Hooray!

Hey, I passed my test. Sorry for the 1-wk. delay of my post. I was trying to recover from my lack of sleep due to preparation for the exam. Now that it's over, I can go on and live life normally again. I really have a lot of catching up to do and sleep is on the very top of the list.

I will set up my recording kit down at the basement and start recording songs again. I haven't played my guitar for more than a month now and the callouses are starting to wear thin. I'll take a picture once I'm done setting it up.

Get Wired

I've been studying for my A+ OS exam for the past two weeks and let me tell you, I just can't wait for this to be over with. I'm scheduled to take the test this Thursday, 02.16 @ 9:oo a.m and there's only a 2-hr. time limit to complete it. I passed the Hardware part a few weeks back and as soon as I pass the OS... drum roll please... I'M A+ CERTIFIED!

What is A+ certification you may ask? Just Google it. I don't have time to explain because I'm ready to crash into bed after 5.5 hrs. of studying. Not to mention I have to wake up @ 6:30 to get ready for work. I will definitely be substituting caffeine in place of water throughout the day today.

Podcasting

If you don't have a clue what a podcast is, I suggest you step out of the cave you've been living in and start exploring this wonderful world of free, downloadable Internet audio. Who needs radio when you can download your favorite show and listen to it whenever and wherever.

Check out Wikipeda's definition of podcasting.

Here's a sample of the many podcasts that I listen to:

1. Making Much of Jesus
2. Geek News Central
3. TWIT - This Week In Tech
4. Security Now! With Steve Gibson
5. Josh in Japan
6. Tech Renegades
7. Herro Flom Japan

How to find these podcasts and many more? Here's a list of the podcatchers per OS.

Til' next time. Sayonara.

Happy New Year! (better late than never)

Okay. I'm back in business. Once again, sorry for the almost 2-month long break. As a way to make it up to my faithful readers, I've posted this humiliating picture of mine for your viewing enjoyment.

Christmas season is way over and I'm still trying to lose those extra pounds. Looking forward to a great year and I'm planning on posting short-clip videos to my blog as soon as I get my hands on a cool MiniDV Camcorder. The project that I mentioned a few posts back is still up in the air. Will keep you posted as soon as it's ready for prime time.