MUSGLE

Not that I don't have respect for intellectual rights, but I do admit I am addicted to downloading music files from the internet for free. Rest assured though that if I do like the track I make sure i do get an original copy whether through download or a CD. Formerly I use P2P clients like Shareaza or Soulseek, but recently my computer has been acting up for the longest time and I am left with my phones only to connect to the internet. Luckily, I always get very fast connection from our house using Globe Telecom's 3G/HSDPA network. It is amazing to know that I am able to download at least five full tracks ranging from 3 to 7 megabytes in no more than 15 minutes.

 

There are a lot of ways you can download from the internet without using P2P clients. Mostly it is by using free online storage/file sharing sites such as 4Shared and eSnips, but it is a tedious process mostly and you are limited to only to that network's inventory. I have since found a site called Wuzam, which is able to pull a search online on these storage sites and file sharing networks and just simply list them on the search results. You can just then click to download the file. And then again there also are limitations to what Wuzam can find.

 

An online friend indirectly taught me a way to hack into sites using Google by just searching for media indeces with some codes that instructs the Google spider or search engine to look specifically for these indeces. These indeces are otherwise not available for public viewing as websites or webmasters simply choose to present them in more user-friendly interface rather than just bare texts. The codes are flexible so that you also can search for videos and others with specific file types.

 

While using the process one day, I found a site which offers exactly the same process without having to go through typing the search parameters or codes manually into the search field on Google. The site is called Musgle (www.musgle.com), and it does exactly what the search code do. For people like me who are not that good in computer logic it is a big convenience. The way I do it before I found this site is that I have manually configured the codes to look for specific file types, leaving just blank variables such as artist names or song titles, and saved them on an online note so that I can just copy and paste it on the search field. Although I have kept copies of the notes still, I have since used the site to pull the searches for me.

HOME SWEET HOME

With the daily rat race I am on, it is not very impossible to miss home. For all the two years I have lived here I still don't feel I'm cut out for the big city life. I miss the simple and laid back life at home. I don't know. Even back then I have never stopped working since after college, the same nine-hour jobs and sometimes even more, but still it seemed more tiring to work here in Metro Manila. I guess there really is no place like home.

True. My work here allowed me to earn more and acquire more material things; and my wife and I should be living comfortably now. There even was a thought before that in time we'd get over missing home, but I have seen otherwise with most people I know who have migrated and lived here from the countryside. There always will be a yearning to be home for at least a few days at a time.

It's not that we have never been home those past two years. I am allowed four weeks' worth of vacation each year by my employer and we have twice gone home for vacation since. The only reason I am a bit more missing home now is that because we have planned a vacation some three months ago, and the leave I filed at the office was not approved then. The next time I can file for a vacation will still be in December, which is still some months away, and still it is subject for approval. With each passing day I miss more and more the feeling of having white powdery sand in places I can't mention, the freshness of morning breeze, soaking away beneath a waterfall, trekking in forest and mountain trails, and eating my ever favorite home-made "suman sa ibos".

Those simple things that may not amount to any endearment or attachment to if you're back home are seemed the ones you tend to miss most. Even things as simple as your old house clothings and your favorite spot in the house-- when you're away it creates a huge gap that can't be filled in by anything else.

Well, you may argue that I should have stayed home instead if I didn't want to be away from them; take into account, however, the fact that there are more opportunities for financial and career growth in the big cities than in the countrysides. As for my case, the money I am earning now from my job is equal is a little less than the worth I am earning with my day and night jobs back home and also that of my wife's job altogether.

On my commute to work early this morning, the bus I am on was picking up passengers from the bus stop when I noticed this homeless man sitting in a corner with his belongings in two large bags. He seemed cold and hungry and was all grimy as you would expect from those living off the street. From his looks he seemed to be in his forties. As I do usually whenever I see homeless people, I felt very sorry for him. It came to my thought as the bus moved on that he could also from the countryside, like most people here in the metropolis, and also wanting to go home like me. He must have failed to make a success here and now is wanting to go home but have got no money.

Somehow, I though I should feel better having known that there are other people who are more unfortunate than I am. I simply don't have the time to go home, while others don't even have the money for it. Still I feel terrible and quite worried about the man. I should have boarded off the bus and at least bought him something to eat, or even a cup of hot coffee as he was cold. He sort of stirred something inside of me that makes me want to do something about people like him. I always have felt sorry for homeless people and have sworn that if only I am financially well-off I could have helped some. Our parents have taught us to always have respect for others and much more for others' dignity. Certainly, people who are living off the street must be feeling a bit less dignified than most other.

Stories of failure are very common in the big cities from those who came from the countryside for the proverbial greener pasture. There could be many of them who are stuck here and are without the financial capability to go home. Perhaps some have found a way to survive on their own, while some have already given up and went to live begging for alms on the streets. I can't picture myself in the same situation as I have a few relatives here who could readily assist me. During the whole commute to work, I kept my mind occupied on picturing myself in a similar situation. I came to a resolution that I should at least do something about it and make a campaign to help those people in need assistance to go home to their hometowns. For now I don't have the capabilities nor the time to devote myself in such a commitment, but I have since sworn to myself it will be one of my goals to learn and find ways to be able to help them in little ways. I'm starting it with this blog entry and I hope to write to foundations, television stations, politicians, and hopefully I also get to publish an article about this on a major newspaper.

Dead Tired

My wife is one of those people who couldn't exist a few minutes without doing anything. She has to have something to do or else she'd feel worried of not being useful enough. My mother is very much the same. I am not sure if it is hyper-activity or something that needs some kind of a professional attention. It is sometimes tiring just to see her go about as if everything are on same-day deadline. I just let her be, though, as it seems that it is the only way she can get fulfilled with day to day living- just like my mother then. At the end of each day, it is my pleasure to give her a gentle massage just as we are about to sleep, and tell her how lucky I feel to have her and her love.

PROOFS THAT FILIPINOS ARE GETTING MORE STUPID Part I

A few days ago, me and my wife are in Quiapo to buy pirated DVDs for our planned DVD marathon, since it was my restday. We normally just go for pirated DVDs and buy original compies if we end up liking the movie. It is a different story though with CDs, as I would prefer to buy original copies or download legally from the internet. We thought it was a novelty when we saw a stall selling full albums in micro-CDs only. So, we entered the stall and looked for artist that may be of interest. As it ususally goes, a saleslady approached to offer us assistance. "Ano'ng hanap nyo, sir? (What are you looking for, sir?)" I answered I'm interested in some electronic dance music like house or trance. The lady replied, "Meron kami dito, sir, Bob Marley (We have Bob Marley over here, sir)." Me and my wife chuckled, as we perfectly know that aside from the Club Remix of Sun Is Shining, Bob Marley has got nothing to do with dance music. I retorted to the lady exactly that information and further informed her that Bob Marley's music is called reggae, not electronic music. I also added that I wouldn't be much interested into Bob Marley as I already have most of his songs and that he has long been dead. Aghast, the saleslady said in Filipino- "What? Bob Marley is dead? Since when? Oh God, he is really a good singer!" We hurriedly left the stall. The lady even has dread locks and rasta-style shirt and hat on.

2- We live inside University of the Philippines campus (our landlady is a distant relative who is a university employee), so usually on my way home I get to ride jeepneys full of university students. The University of the Philippines is considered the county's premier higher education institution where the brightest of minds come to learn. One afternoon, I happen to be on a jeepney when a group of Korean tourists boarded accompanied by two university students. They must be giving the foreigners a tour, with the students, looking all smart and nerdy, giving them infos about the various places in the campus. Apparently, the ride was sort of a quick preview as they still will be given a tour of the campus on foot. When the jeepney stopped near the famous sunken garden to unload some passengers. One of the students took the opportunity to inform the tourists about it, and in full American accent said proudly-- "That is the UP Sunken Garden, it oftentimes is the venue for concerts or fairs held by the university. One quick fact about it-- it is called the Sunken Garden because it has been sinking for an average of a foot each year." I nearly fell off my seat upon hearing it. I mean, it could be sinking by the meters but certainly it wouldn't be called sunken garden because of that fact. Sunken gardens of course are an economical provision for a sort of open-air stadium and has been used from way back in history. We have a sunken garden in our university back in our province in Bicol and I know of at least ten more with their own sunken gardens, and then there are the famous sunken gardens like that in San Antonio in Texas, the one in UWA in Australia, there is one in the Olympic Green in Beijing, there are a few in New york, and many more. If they have been called sunken gardens because they are sinking, as the UP student claims, this should have been a phenomena worth of investigation by geologists. Apparently, the student from the premier university is dumb enough not to know this. I also have lived inside the campus for more than ten years and there is no indication it has sunk at least five feet.

3- Like most here in Metro Manila, I use the public transportation system to and from work, and it is air conditioned buses I mostly prefer. Due to the nature of my job, my schedules sometimes leave me with very little sleep and I use the opportunity to take a nap on the bus ride home. I do need to feel comfortable, that's the reason I choose to ride airconditioned buses, but usually I turn off the vent as it makes me hard to get some sleep. And then there are some stupid Filipinos who couldn't figure out how to turn off the vent and just direct it somewhere else, and worse they could direct it right in somebody's head. It happens every day and not just once but at leat three to four in every bus I get to ride everyday. I mean how simple could it be to figure that the know in the center of the vent is a way to regulate the flow of cold air on the vent. They were able to figure out how to redirect the vent, didn't they? Could it be that they really know how to turn it of and simply opted to just direct the vent to others? That's really idiotic. Don't they respect other people? Even to ask somebody if they want your aircon vent directed to them is idiotic, what more if you direct it to them without their permission? It's not rude, it's stupid. Any normal human being would know that you don't do to others what you don't want other do unto you. That's a basic ethical knowledge called the golden rule and regardless of race or religion every human being should know it. Are Filipinos really that stupid to not know about this?

That's it for the moment. I still have a few more proofs and am gathering more and I will be sure to post them here. If you are a Filipino, get a life or better yet some education! If you are from another country or another race, get as far away as you can from a Filipino or from the Philippines.