Happy New Year 2012

Happy Chinese New Year

Opened my laptop, my antivirus updates automatically and instead of the usual pop-up, Avira sends out this greeting:

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Happy Chinese New Year everyone !!!

Can't help but be reminded of it this week: Our Hong Kong and Singapore counterparties would be on holiday.

Hmmmm....Interesting

I was watching a Bloomberg show featuring Facebook's Mark Zuckerburg and decided to Google "Mark Zuckerberg is a "... this is what came up:

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And that's from Google's recommendations based on other people's searches... not mine.

My Sims' 2010 Christmas

How I made my sims spend Christmas.

Me on the piano for the first part. Generic Sims 2 Christmas melody for the last part.

If you can't see the video, click: THIS LINK.

New toy: Piano Gadget for the windows side bar

Was scrolling through microsoft.com's gallery of gadgets early this week (or maybe last week), looking for a multiple-clock gadget that I could use to show more than one time zone, when I stumbled across photo-bon's piano gadget. I downloaded the thing and now I've got a new toy when I want to take a break from surfing the net, doing something with a microsoft office program, or some other activity necessitating my laptop.

The piano gadget has the low F to soprano E keys, or basically the whole middle octave and a few more keys higher and lower. You can use the mouse or the keyboard to play it. I suspect anyone who's ever played a real piano would pick the keyboard over the mouse. Unfortunately, you can't play more than one note at once. It serves well to give me a few minutes of fun, especially when I try to oido a melody that decides to pop into my head ... with the lyrics from a website open in a browser window as a plus. My Kawai will get jealous. ha ha ha!

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Text spams and scams

I just cleaned my cellphone's inbox and realized that I've accumulated a good number of text spams and scams which I usually just ignore. I didn't delete them immediately because I intend to report them to my cellphone service provider, which I finally took time to do this morning.

Before finally deleting them, I got this idea of posting them online and maybe help in warning unsuspecting people why these messages should be ignored and the numbers sending them reported.

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GROUP 1 - DEFINITE SCAMS: Why? These people would want you to think you got a message from your loved one saying that they have changed numbers. Notice how the texter does not identify who he or she supposedly is. The recipient will be the one who will make assumptions on who the texter is and respond. If the candidate victim responds by asking if the texter is this person or that, the candidate has just provided the scammer with important information - a name. The scammer will pretend to be that person until the victim is fooled into sending the scammer a cellphone load in order to continue the conversation.

From: +639279148167
Recd: 11/16/2009 18:23
"Mzta n kyo dyn e2 n bgong roaming # k d2 kyo mgtxt miz kn kyo at ingt nlng dyn."

From: +639155313199
Recd: 10/14/2009 19:19
"Kamusta n kyo jan? i2 bgo roaming number ko,n block ang dting simcard ko,mlapit n akong mgpadala nextweek n, gus2 ko sna tumawag ngaun pro ala ako load,loadan nyo muna ako tawag dn ako s agency, mhirap lng mgpaload d2, ingat kyo jan."

From: +639063546657
Recd: 10/12/2009 20:42
"Kmusta na kayo dyan sa pinas nga pala ito na bago kung roaming number."

From: +639166957835
Recd: 09/19/2009 17:06
"Musta na kau lhat dyn,mis kna kau e2 ng bg0 r0aming # q npalit nk0 # next week pa2dala aq pera dyn gas2sin ny0, txtbk"

From: +639165753716
Recd: 09/16/2009 19:51
"Musta n kau jn? E2 n nga pla bg0 q r0aming #. Mz q n kau lht jn. Txtbk."

------------------------------

GROUP 2 - POSSIBLE SCAM: If someone tells you that you won in some raffle or contest that you did not even enter, then there's something fishy about it. In all likelihood, these people are hoping you would call them up, show up at their place to claim your prize, and THEN try to brainwash you into buying some other product/s you don't need or is/are overpriced. They'll be happier if you tell them you've got a credit card. They're also counting that you don't know how to say "NO" firmly.

From: +639167264451
Recd: 10/20/2009 12:56
"COCOPLANS INC.
Last Notification
Good Day!We are proudly informing you that you are one of our lucky recipients who entitled to claim a PERSONAL INSURANCE, FREE SCHOLARSHIP VOUCHER and other Rewards and Privileges. Your claiminng code is NAA-022582. You may claim your certificate on or before OCT 22. in our Binondo business center. For more information pls call us today at 4890375.3096251
Look for ms.pia miranda.
Tnx and Godbless"

From: +639146695315
Recd: 09/07/2009 14:05
"Greetings!
This is Mr. Hector E. Gaylican of COCOPLANS INC. We are proudly informing you that you are one of our lucky recipients who is entitled to claim a two year DATAMEX SCHOLARSHIP CERTIFICATE with a FREE TUITION FEE, PERSONAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE CERTIFICATE and other reward and privileges ABSOLUTELY FREE!!! Your security claiming code is (MVS-26436-CCP) You may claim your certificate on Sept. 08 to 09, 2009 in our Makati business center. For more information, you may call us at 8563170/8563167/8563852 between 10:00am-5:00pm Thank you!"

From: +639151158635
Recd: 08/28/2009 14:39
"FINAL NOTICE!
As part of PRUDENTIAL GROUP OF COMPANIES Agency Initiated:
You are entitled to: A Free REWARD and PRIVILEGES.You need to CLAIM and ACTIVATE@RADA-BRANCH MAKATI.For more details and for your CLAIMING CODE which you will need upon claiming,
Please call at Tel. no.# (02) 8123998, 8128201,. Bet.9:00am-5:00pm.
Look for Ms. YEN ALBERTO..Many Thanks and Godbless!
(DISREGARD IF CLAIMED)"

From: +639263152976
Recd: 08/24/2009 12:22
"CONGRTLTIONS!!You Have Won 300th\TOYOTA AVANZA Last May 30,2009 ur Cell# as Home Partner winner. Call ds # 4details ds is TJ DOMINGO of Phil, Information Cnter."

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GROUP 3 - SMEAR CAMPAIGNS: People sending this type of messages are counting that the receiver will accept the content of the message as correct and not bother to verify them from a more reliable source.

From: +639054003204
Recd: 11/18/2009 10:25
"Sen. Mar, Jamby, Loren & Ping. Dpat bussiin nyo rin ang 250M Luisita Land Scam na gnamit s SCTEX. Mrunong din pla mangurakot ang Cojuangco-Aquino."

------------------------------

GROUP 4 - PLAIN SPAM: Though quite upfront with what they want and quite harmless to the recipient, these messages should still be reported because the senders send these in bulk and clog the servers with the effect of delaying the other, more important messages.

From: +639062767603
Recd: 11/16/2009 17:28
"Cashloan fr Bdo n Chnatrust for as low as 1.2 per mo.Int. CAR FINANCING BRANDNEW N 2ND HAND UNIT!CAR MORTGAGE 'ORCR' ONLY! Truck loan n Property Loan!Interested.You may kol ms.Jinky at,2980645,2970480,2325165.Or email at bc.loan@yahoo.com.ph"

From: +639159863927
Recd: 10/23/2009 14:50
"EDZ MAGANEX here! Avail r No Collateral Personal Cash Loan @ 1.28%...int./month & get up to 2M.For details,U may call 4192344/418440. Tnx!"

From: +639173442574
Recd: 10/19/2009 13:50
"Need cash?apply for Standard Chartered Bank personal cash loan and get 50k up to 2M for as low as 1.38% int.rate/mos.no cash out!!! Call Now (02)4891205 & look for Mr.michael lopez..."

From: +639062240842
Recd: 10/16/2009 17:11
"Get a NO COLLATERAL,NO COMAKER Cash Loan, for as LOW as 1.3% interest per month! NO CASH OUT! Call (02)4180720,4172062"

Cyberzone Gaming Experience Exhibit

Was at Pasay City early yesterday that Jon and I had enough time to hang out at SM Mall of Asia before the show at Aliw Theater starts.  Showed Jon the diorama of combat soldiers near McDonald's, and like me, he wanted to check out the rest of the exhibit.

It took us a while to figure out where Cyberzone was.  It was in the One E-Com Center near the mall.  When we got there, the first entrance we tried was wrong, and the guard told us to walk halfway round the building where the Cyberzone entrance is.  There were only a few lifesize game avatars, and one big model of a ferrari racing car.  What really amused me were the different types of gaming consoles on display ... like the small game and watch, the Nintendo family computer, etc.  I find it funny to note that I happen to still have in my possession, working units of both the Nintendo Family Computer and the Super NES.  The only Nintendo console I haven't bought yet would be the Wii...I'm addicted to the internet and Sims 2 already ... don't want to fuel the addiction by buying a Wii.

The pics I took of the lifesize figures ... plus some Christmas figures from the mall:

Cyberzone XP Exhibit

Some useful, free programs for your PC

When you've got an old PC like mine and have accumulated so much files over the years that you have less than 5 Gigabytes of free space on your hard disk left, you will find yourself forced to clean up your hard disk. That means deleting useless data, and uninstalling programs you have not used in years and will probably not use again.

It would help ofcourse if you know everything that's installed in your computer. This is where a PC auditor like Belarc Advisor would be helpful.

According to its website, the "Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, CIS (Center for Internet Security) benchmarks, and displays the results in your Web browser".

When I ran this on my computer, I was surprised that it still detected programs I have already uninstalled. Which only means that some programs do not uninstall properly. Especially those that do not remove registry entries.

One of the popular tools to clean the registry is the Ccleaner. It also removes temporary files and empties the recycle bin. A word of caution on using this: Do not just click the "Run Cleaner" or "Fix selected issues" buttons. You may end up deleting files that are being utilized by valid programs you are still using. I ended up clearing out files used by Norton Antivirus that forced me to re-install the latter.

Speaking of deleted files, PC Inspector File Recovery is a freeware that is able to recover deleted files. Actually, when in file recovery mode, you might see so many traces of deleted files you have to wonder which one of them is the one you're looking for.

A much more useful feature of this product is finding disk partitions that you cannot access after the boot sector or FAT has been erased or damaged. I lost access to two hard drives when a power interruption happened while they were connected to my computer. The power interruption did not damage the hard drive where the OS was installed, but it wiped out the tables of the other two drives, rendering them impossible to access.

The program is not able to fix the problem, but it enables you to recover data from the "lost" drives and save it somewhere else. You would have to reformat the damaged drives in order to use them properly again. This made me realize it's easier to do file recovery if you only have 40GB of data to salvage. It's therefore adviseable to save your data to CDs or DVDs rather than leave them in the hard drive. I now maintain only 40GB external hard disks and make sure they are disconnected from the PC when not in use... so I don't have to go through the same ordeal.

You may find that there is a NTUSER.DAT file for each user name in Documents and Settings. This file saves the settings for the particular user name it is attached to. It could grow larger than 10MB and you may wonder how you could minimize its size. If you don't care about maintaining your settings, you may log into an administrator username and replace your other username's enormous NTUSER.DAT with the NTUSER.DAT found in either All Users or Default User (this file would be around 200-300KB only). If you log back to the account, you'll find your desktop settings have reverted back to default.

What if you don't want to change your settings but want to minimize the NTUSER.DAT file? You use a registry optimizer program. One of the oldest and easier to use optimizer programs is NTREGOPT by Lars Hederer. Once you've launched it, you only have to click the ok button for the process to start. The program removes references in the NTUSER.DAT to applications that you have already deleted or improperly uninstalled. If you've done quite a good job on those things to begin with, then this program can only minimize your NTUSER.DAT file by a few kilobytes.

What if your computer just slows up for no particular reason, and especially when you are trying to connect to the internet? This means you may have spyware or adware programs in your PC.

Lavasoft's Ad-Aware is one of the oldest, and therefore popular free programs out there that you can download and install to root out those pesky spyware that have taken residence in your PC. If you want a program that actively monitors for spyware while you are surfing the net, then you have to pay to get Ad-Aware Plus.

Another popular anti-spyware program is Spybot Search and Destroy. It has a right to brag about being the best ... based on my own experience, it detected malware that Ad-Aware did not, and for certain malwares that both detected, Spybot S&D was able to delete the malware whereas Ad-Aware could not.

Both Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D could only detect malware that's ALREADY in your computer. You might therefore consider a free program that prevents that from happening by monitoring your internet activities.

Comodo Firewall, which I have just installed and trying out, aims to do just that. It stops malware from being installed and it gives you the option to approve the programs that are trying to install themselves in your computer. It also keeps tabs on inbound and outbound connections. Ofcourse, being the paranoid software that it is, you may have to routinely check the programs pending for review as it also blocks attempts by your antivirus to update its virus definitions.

I mentioned earlier that I mistakenly deleted some files used by Norton Antivirus and that I had to re-install it. However, while doing that task, I realized how much resources Norton uses... and after browsing the net, I have read others make the same complaint. I therefore decided to try another antivirus program, preferably a free one.

AVG is probably the most popular free antivirus program available for download. After reading some reviews though, I discovered that Avira Antivir Personal performed better than AVG, and even some of the antivirus programs for sale, on a number of tests. The only difference between the free software and Avira Antivir Premium is that the latter offers antiphishing, antispyware, antirootkit, e-mail protection, and malware protection.

After uninstalling Norton, I installed Avira and noticed at once how the running programs have been reduced by 4 items. It does not update its antivirus definitions automatically, you have to activate it manually. It also pops up an ad for Avira Premium once you're done with updating. If you can live with that, then this program does fine.

For the last four programs, you have to make sure you have the latest update since new viruses and spyware are being created everyday. Your program's ability to catch them and keep them out of your PC is only as good as the last update. A few minutes a week of updating your software's database of malicious programs and scanning may save your computer. Don't wait for your PC to succumb to a virus or spyware before you learn the value of diligence.

Neopets.com

Jeng told me to check out Neopets.com last year. Since you can't see much of the site unless you sign in, I became a member on June 27, 2007.

This is my profile: http://www.neopets.com/userlookup.phtml?randomfriend=arden_mathy

Arden Mathy is actually my name in Second Life. Arden is the name I picked out at random from a baby name book, and I chose Mathy from the short list of family names available in Second Life (one's family name in Second Life must only come from their list). Since I don't get to use it because I have decided I don't like Second Life, I've decided to use it here.

I found Neopets nice, but since I was still hooked on the Sims 2, I didn't return. Besides, it was high maintenance ... one has to feed the neopets.

That was 8 months ago. By the end of last year, I couldn't play my Sims 2 game anymore, but editing some pictures and videos took my spare time. 30 days ago, I was looking for something to pass the time and decided to revisit Neopets. Below are some of the basics, including stuff I usually do when I sign on to the site.

Neopets and Petpets

A player can have more than one neopet and more than one petpet, but each neopet can only play with one petpet at a time. One can create or adopt a neopet, but can only buy a petpet. One can find stores selling petpets on almost every land in Neopia.

My first neopet was a male, yellow Bori that I called Waddison. I picked a Bori because based on stats, they're a hardy bunch. I think I also gave him a gentle disposition.

After four days, I decided to buy Waddison a Cobrall petpet and named her Schyla. I think Cobralls are useful in battles...plus, Schyla's mean looks gives a nice contrast to the gentle Bori.

That same day, I also adopted a blue female Grundo, and named her Lormula. I realized quickly that Grundos get hungry fast, and Lormula can be quite picky with books ... she refuses to read anything without pictures. Spoiled brat. I had no control when it comes to picking her character traits apart from color and gender. I gave her Waddison's old petpet, Dindin - he's the weeble that came with the Neopets starter kit.

Each neopet automatically has its own homepage where the owner gets hints on what the neopet likes.

This is Waddison's Homepage: http://www.neopets.com/~Waddison

This is Lormula's Homepage: http://www.neopets.com/~Lormula

Neopia

This is the world of the Neopets. The site offers a clickable map of the known lands. Orbiting Neopets is the Virtupets Space Station and one moon, Kreludor. On Neopia itself, one finds 16 discovered lands. Not to be found on the map is Jelly World. This is its url: http://www.neopets.com/jelly/index.phtml

Each land has a theme which is apparent in the games and the merchandise for sale.

Neopoints

Although one could get free food and stuff in Neopia (see the lists below where one can get free food and free stuff), there are items that can only be bought by using neopoints. Neopoints may be earned from scratch by playing games or grabbing a money bag from the money tree (hard to do).

If one already has neopoints, then they could deposited in the Bank to earn interest, or used to set up shop where items in one's inventory could be sold at a price higher than cost.

Food

Neopets need to be fed, but their petpets do not. Neopets won't die of starvation if you don't feed them. They just get cranky. They also are not eligible to fight in the Battledome if they are hungry.

Every land has at least one stall selling food, but food can also be obtained for free from the following:

• Giant Omelette at the Tyrannian Plateau (once a day)
• Giant Jelly in Jelly World (once a day)
• Underwater Fishing in the Ruins of Maraqua (by chance)
• Money Tree in Neopia Central
• Coltzan's Shrine in the Lost Desert (by chance)
• Neopets Fruit Machine at Sakhmet in the Lost Desert (by chance)
• Lunar Temple at Shenkuu (by chance, accept the Gnorbu's challenge)
• Soup Kitchen in the Marketplace of Neopia Central (only people with little or zero neopoints, including what's in their bank account, can get food here)

Beware of poisonous food though. Your neopets won't die from eating them, just get sick.

Health

Depending on the species, Neopets have different maximum healthpoints (HP).

They may lose HP in the Battledome or when they have "misadventures" when exploring Neopia.

Over time, the regain their healthpoints even when doing nothing. If one wants their neopet to heal at once, they could send their neopet to the Healing Springs in Faerieland. The Healing Springs may restore the HP to 100% or even more, but not all the time. One can only buy one healing potion from the fairy per day, but can buy additional potions from the shops run by other players. Depending on chance, a pet may also be healed at Coltzan's Shrine in the Lost Desert.

Neopets sick from poisoned food may buy medicine from Neopet Central's pharmacy. The medicine one needs may not always be available, so one may have to go to the Marketplace. A sick neopet cannot participate in the Battledome.

Games:

I usually like the word games, and the Maths Nightmare game in Faerie City, Faerieland. However, there are two games where one can easily earn neopoints:

Splat a Sloth

All you have to do is wait for the sock to go slide out of the tube and hit it with a rolled up newspaper. Each splat is easily worth 100 neopoints.

Usuki Frenzy

All you have to do is collect the Usuki dresses shown on a list. Each game has 3 short rounds and easily earns you at least 500 neopoints, depending on your speed.

That means that just by playing these games, observing the rule that one can only submit scores for neopoints 3 times for a game in a day, one has already accumulated 1,800 neopoints with little effort. If you are like me who would rather bargain-hunt than spend an hour playing games, this is a good way to earn seed money. I have never withdrawn neopoints from my bank account yet.

Quests:

If one has a big amount of neopoints on hand, then one could try going on a quest. Most quests require looking for at least 3 three items that one ends up buying if they're not already in one's inventory. Visit faeries like Illusen to go on a faerie quest, or you could try the Kitchen Quest on Mystery Island. Visit the Esophagor, Brain Tree, Fetch! and Edna's Tower in Haunted Woods for more quests.

The rewards of these quests could be magical items, or having your neopet advance to a higher level.

Free Stuff

Depending on chance, one can obtain free items from the following areas:

• The Snowager in the Ice Caves of Terror Mountain
• Underwater Fishing in the Ruins of Maraqua
• Turmaculus on Meridell
• Rubbish Dump of Meri Acres Farm of Meridell
• Money Tree in Neopia Central
• Coltzan's Shrine in the Lost Desert
• Deserted Tomb in the Lost City of Geraptiku on Mystery Island (one try a day)
• Tiki Tack Tombola on Mystery Island
• Lunar Temple at Shenkuu (accept the Gnorbu's challenge)
• Qasalan Expellibox (one try a day)

If lucky, one can even win neocash from the Qasalan Expellibox.

Coltzan's Shrine, apart from giving food or healing pets, may also advance a neopet's level (granting extra speed for example).

Some things one gets from these places are useless (dung and worn-out boots for example), and could be disposed of, or sold, or donated. One can keep the useful things in the inventory and the safety deposit box.

Finding a bottled up faerie on the Money Tree gives your pets a chance to advance a level.

Battledome:

Not everyone likes entering their neopets in the Battledome, but I think it's cool so Waddison and Lormula have had some practice. It gives me a reason to collect weapons, replenish health points, and level up my neopets' abilities.

Setting up shop:

Setting up shop initally costs money, but one earns this back once you start selling your items. Some shopowners sell just about anything. Given that I've accumulated lots of extra stuff in my inventory, I could probably do the same.

However, I've decided to concentrate on selling anything related to apples ... and that includes azzles and cheopples. No pineapples though. I usually just keep one of each in stock, unless an item proves to be rare, then I usually keep 2 of them. What I like about this is that it gives me reason to visit each stall in each land, bargaining for the apples I find, then selling them in my shop. To get inventory turn around, I sell the items at a price slightly lower than their tag price but still keeping at least 25% profit. If I find that other shop owners are reselling them at prices higher than tag price, I join suit, since that means the item is rare.

Exploration:

By reading the Neopedia and exploring Neopia, one may "bump into" characters or "stumble" onto things.

These events may lead to quests (not all faeries giving out quests are stationary like Illusen), having your neopet advance to a higher level, or put into your possession rare items.

There are also hidden rooms and games in Neopia:

• Neoquest 3D is accessed by clicking the tapestry near Kayla's Potion Shop in Meridell Castle.
• For a time, a door could be seen below the picture of the Supply deck (or was it the Hangar?) of the Virtupets station. Entering that door would launch you into an adventure that requires going through mazes and decoding messages. You can also get back to where you left in the adventure.
• Clicking the space to the upper left of the main castle in Faerie City will bring you to the Hidden Tower. Most of the stuff for sale there cost at least 1 million neopoints.

Books:

Buying books and reading them to your neopet increases their intelligence level. Some weapons, especially the magical items, require a certain level of intelligence from your neopet before they could use them in battle.

Sims 3

Just realized the Sims 2 website had a mini make-over. I could now right-click the links on their header. About time! I never really liked the old flash header... loads slowly to begin with.

I have yet to upgrade my PC and buy the following:

1. Bon Voyage Expansion Pack
2. Free Time Expansion Pack
3. H&M Fashion Stuff Pack
4. Teen Style Stuff Pack, and
5. Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff Pack

The latter has yet to come out.

But before I buy all that, I need the latest generation PC.

And now Sims 3 is to officially come out in 2009.

Which means, I have yet to get full play time from my Sims 2 and it's already old.

Sigh!

I may have to find out the recommended (not the minimum) specs of the new game, but the website for Sims 3 is currently unavailable. Too much traffic? I need the specs just in case I do decide to transition to the next generation Sims game.

Which could be a futile effort. When I bought this PC, it was way above the recommended specs for the Sims 2 game and the first 3 expansion packs. Now it could barely run Seasons 2, much less the succeeding EPs.

Someone on the Sims 2 forum said it right ... I'd need one of those high tech computers from NASA just to run Sims 2, or the next generation.

A friend even switched back to the original Sims since Sims 2 takes too much space, and more importantly, memory, on her PC.

The Sims 3 website: http://thesims3.ea.com/

New Expansion Pack: Free Time

The main thing preventing me from buying this, Bon Voyage and the latest stuff packs is the fact that I need a new computer! One that will play the game fast and has a good video card.

Ultimate goal: make a story with a video using sims2 to create my characters and sets.

What's bugging me now: The release of Sims 3 will eventually make this game obsolete. As early as January 2006, there have been rumors that EA is already working on a Sims3. That's two years ago.

Sigh!

----- Anyway -----

The coolest clips on EA's channel on YouTube aren't the Sims2 clips. The funnier ones are the ads for Boogie, Rock Band, and Mercenaries 2. Check out my playlist below:



Boogie has some more clips, but they aren't as funny as the ones I included in the playlist.

New Exchange Item: Ford Fusion

I was saying "yehey" with delight like a little girl when I saw this on the Sims2 exchange: a new car for download! Courtesy of Ford again. This would be the third car for the Sims2 game provided by Ford (the previous 2 were the Mustang GT and the Focus). If you count the Ford Pinto that was available for download from the Sims 2 UK site, this would be the fourth. Don't ask me the link ... I forgot how I came across that one (as usual: by accident, as it was technically not announced on the site).

Funny thing: was browsing the exchange and merely hit the "back button"... now I'm seeing the site in French.

There are probably more cars out there for download, but I stick to objects the official sites offer since I'm never sure if the other customized objects will harm my gameplay.

The site finally put a teaser on the latest expansion pack: Hobbies. There's been discussion about this in the forum for some time.

Aieeee! I'm still not ready to buy a new computer!

Speaking of Llamas...

Just realized there's something different on my Sim Page profile...

Community Rank: Professor of Llamology

That made me laugh... especially since it is a fact that any picture or mention of Llamas automatically makes me think of the "Sims".

By the way, I find it amusing that the character Carl from the animated Nickelodeon show Jimmy Neutron lists "Llamapalooza" as his favorite video game.

The Sims Onstage Beta

EA has finally jumped on the social networking site bandwagon by launching the simsonstage.ea.com site. Ofcourse I signed up!!! :-)

They just realized that simmers are a ready made community/social network that just needs transposing to an official networking site... that allows others to join - without having to register a bought game. Ha ha ha!

Fact is, the sims/sims2 sites are already social networking sites ... what with the exchange, the commenting on blogs, the BBS - same stuff you find on other sites.

SimsOnStage is actually a fun site ... I just started looking around and enjoyed the karaoke page ... EA has a list of music you can sing to, complete with lyrics scrolling across the screen. If you think you're good enough or just in it for fun, you can record yourself singing to the song and post it so others can view your clip and rate you. Lovely, eh?

Orkut entry

This is what getting stuck at home during vacation because of bad weather does ... I've managed to look up a lot of Google services .... and since I already have gmail, blogger, YouTube and Picasa ... why not add Orkut? Although I have no idea if someone I know is in this network. Ha ha ha!

Like I said, don't know anyone who's in Orkut ... so I did some searching using keywords like my school, my city, and ofcourse my country. Found something amusing ... if you'll look at my bookmarks, you'll find accounts opened in the name of Philippine actresses. I doubt the owners of those sites are who they claim to be. I could be wrong. I'm probably right.

Decided to join a community instead ... two actually, but the membership for the second one is still pending... they're communities interested in Sims 2 ... the only video game I can say I am addicted to. Before this, the only forum about Sims2 I've visited is the official one (thesims2.ea.com) ... so it's a different experience to actually see a few posts about obtaining the game illegally and using crack codes. He he he!

MySpace and Facebook

Having been invited by friends to sign up to different networking sites (ringo, bebo, hi5, friendster, etc.), I've got too many memberships that I've ignored myspace and facebook. Problem is, to be able to download a Transformers poster, I had to sign up to myspace ... and since the sims2 site has linked itself to myspace via maxoid monkey, I decided to finally sign up. The look I chose for mypace is the Sims2 Pets layout.

As I was looking up the Sims2/H&M fashion contest entrees, I couldn't ignore the link to facebook so I signed up today. I know it's there because Yahoo links to facebook, but I signed up anyway because it's on a Sims2 site on yahoo.

:-) Yeah, kinda silly, I know.

Technorati

Added this blog to Technorati today.

The Gieke Identity

Created By: Orangeade73
Country: Philippines	Created: 05.04.2006
Language: US English	Last Updated: 05.04.2006
Rating: 3.68 out of 5	Number of Entries: 24
A weird costume, a profession he doesn't exactly want everyone to know, and a very nosy neighbor.
Meet Chester Gieke, the guy who bought Old Peterson's house.
The neighbors liked him immediately, for he is a friendly person.
No one really knows what he does for a living. They just assumed that his work has something to do with his hobby, which is making robots.
Some think he likes to gamble, for the notorious bookie, Benjie Long, would sometimes drop by his place.
In reality, Chester is Benjie's boss. He is the criminal mastermind whose identity the police has yet to uncover, and whose capture would make a millionaire of the informant.
Chester often leaves his home at night and comes back before dawn, when most people are asleep and no one would notice his comings and goings.
One day, one of his men called to inform him that their latest project has encountered a major setback. Chester told them he would be right over and rushed out of his house, even though it was broad daylight.
One person, Christy Stratton, saw him come out ... and the unanswered questions about Chester resurfaced in her mind, demanding to be answered. She decided that she'll have the answers within that day.
It was midnight when Chester was brought home by the limousine.
Chester did not hear Christy approach as he checked through his mail.
Christy cleared her throat then called out to him. Chester was a bit startled, and watched warily as Christy came nearer. "Hello Christy. It's too late to be out jogging, you usually do it before the sun comes down," Chester greeted her. Christy saw a falling star and found her reply. "I heard there was a meteor shower tonight so I came out hoping to see it. Hey, look there! Looks like we could see the shower from here," Christy said and pointed to the horizon.
The two of them looked up and stayed silent until the heavenly display was over. "You don't see that every night! Hey, want to come over to have a bite?" Christy asked, hoping she'll get Chester to talk over dinner. "No, thanks, I'm a bit tired," Chester replied as he moved towards his back door. Christy didn't leave at once. When he opened the door, Christy took a peek inside. "What are you doing?" Chester asked, a bit annoyed.
"Oh! There's your robotI I saw him hover down the street earlier, bringing a package with him, he is so adorable!" Christy exclaimed. Chester grabbed a remote control and clicked it at the robot. It hovered to its corner and shut down. "Oh, you didn't have to turn him off!" Christy admonished. "I should have turned him off earlier, so he need not hover out to buy Chinese food for me," Chester said, eyeing the boxes on the table with disapproval. "Erm, if you are hungry, you could ..."
"Thanks!" Christy replied, and immediately entered the house to grab a box and take a seat. ..."take some of them home," Chester muttered the last part of his sentence. As it was rude to turn her out now, he shrugged his shoulders and decided to join her at the table.
"That'a a weird outfit. Where did you go wearing that?" Christy asked the question Chester was avoiding. "I came from a costume party," he replied.
"Yeah right. You go to costume parties every night? This is not the first time I see you wearing that outfit when you leave the house. What do you do for a living? You can tell me the truth, I won't blab to other people," Christy said bluntly.
"Okay, the truth is I'm an actor who's currently in a futuristic play. Our boss picks us up every performance night so I go to work already wearing my costume," Chester explained. "I thought it was something like that!" Christy said, delighted to have guessed something correctly. "Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if you said you were one of those superheroes."
"Don't you think they're a bit crazy to think they must have some kind of costume? If they want to do good and not be identified, it's more sensible to wear clothes that won't catch people's attention. Now take this current mastermind that's giving them a headache ... no one has seen him or her, or know his or her name. That person doesn't need a costume and is smart enough to know it." Christy continued.
"So what's the title of the play? Maybe I'll go out and see it when I have time," Christy asked. "Well, it's not that good. I only accepted the role to earn some money. I don't think you'd want to see it," Chester replied. "Is it x-rated?" Christy asked shyly. This made Chester pause. "What do you mean?" he asked, a bit puzzled.
"Don't be offended, okay ... but every night, a limo comes to pick you up and the same limo drives you home, you say you're in a play where you have to wear this tight costume, and you'd be embarrassed if I see it ... I just thought that maybe, you know, it's one of those private shows," Christy explained. "It is most definitely NOT that kind of show!" Chester said indignantly.
"Oh, I know, you work in one of those gay bars! They put on these fantastic shows where the actors impersonate just about everybody. I could enjoy watching that... hey, is that Benjie your boyfriend? Anyway, just give me the name of the bar and the time of your show, and I'll ring up a couple of friends and we'll watch it." Chester firmly denied he works in a gay show.
Christy would make a few more guesses after that, and Chester would repeatedly say that she guessed wrong. The night dragged on for Chester, I'm sure. Maybe Christy finally guessed right. I wouldn't know about that.
You see, no one saw Christy Stratton after that night.
But we'll definitely hear more about Chester Gieke.

Chester Gieke is a character created by Maxis, and he comes with the Open for Business expansion pack. I played with the character for a while and this story is what came out of it. Christy Stratton is a non-playable-character (NPC) in the Sims2 game. When this story was initially posted it had a 4/5 rating. Someone even wrote me to say she liked it:

Thursday, 04 May 2006
The Gieke Identity
Ive just read your story and I thought it was really good! Lemme know if you decide to do a sequel. Cool avator and Happy Simming! ~ amy300789

Annoying Cashier

Wanted to watch a movie last Friday but didn't want to watch alone so I ended up malling ... and buying the Celebration! Stuff Pack in Datablitz Makati.

The sales clerk asked if I got the original game. I said yes... .. even though I bought most of my Sims2 EPs and SPs there they don't remember me. Then she asked me if my copy is genuine. That annoyed me big time. I asked her if they'd give a prize if I have bought the all the Expansion packs and Stuff packs. She answered no. Now that I think on it, if I wanted to annoy her I should have asked if they sell pirated copies because I bought all my Sims2 stuff from them.

I find it annoying because it is crazy that someone who wouldn't spend for the genuine base game is willing to pay for the genuine STUFF PACK - something a SIMS2 gamer could do without. I know where the pirated Sims2 game, EPs and SPs could be bought, but I DON'T buy my SIMS2 packs from those stalls. I love and appreciate the game. I buy the originals.

But then, I'm talking for myself. Maybe in this world, I am crazy to pay 5x more for something I could buy cheap.

Logged in today to find out there's another Stuff Pack due out - and it is fully sponsored by H&M. Can't help begrudge thinking that Maxis is going to be paid by both H&M and the gameplayers for this stuff pack ... and they know it will sell - it is about fashion and a lot of Sims2 players are women.

Just hope this one is CHEAPER since this stuff pack is going to help advertise the H&M brand.

Using the new Seasons Theme on my simpage ... notice the Seasons logo appearing all over the page? Not much creativity there in my opinion.

Looking for a new PC

Installed the Seasons EP Saturday afternoon ... surprised I could play the game. Neighborhoods take longer to load, but lots load easily. The gameplay is actually smoother than when I first loaded Pets.

Went to two malls yesterday (Sunday) hoping I could upgrade my PC ... but most shops still didn't have Core 2 duo. Some that did won't take credit card payments. I actually have enough money to buy a new PC but I don't like bringing that much cash with me. Besides, I prefer earning reward points from my credit company.

Complink did have the processor and they accept credit card payments. They just didn't have the motherboard, memory chip and video cards I wanted. I could end up buying the processor from them and buying the rest from PC Express, with PC Express doing the assembly for a fee. Their service fee's a bit higher than some shops, but I am partial to PC Express because that's where I bring my current PC for repairs ... they usually have the latest models when it comes to parts, and their tech people tell you which parts should really be replaced. Other shops in the mall would try to sell you more stuff than necessary.

I find it interesting that Ayala Town Center prices are cheaper than Festival mall prices. My friend bought a dual core from Festival Mall's Octagon Computer Store ... for the same price she paid she would have gotten a core 2 duo OR her monitor would be LCD instead of CRT. Actually, the sales person at Octagon didn't even know half the specs my brother and I asked.

Anyway, I decided to wait for PC Express to tell me the parts I wanted are available (hoping that would be this coming Saturday or Sunday). I ended up buying Glamour Stuff and Family Fun Stuff from DataBlitz. A month ago I'd never consider buying the Stuff Packs. Just didn't want to end up empty handed after an afternoon in the malls I guess.

Saw that Flushed Away was still showing at Festival Mall so my brother and I watched it instead of 300 - as we may not be able to watch it in any movie house next week. The Ayala movie houses had already replaced Flushed Away with a newer movie.