• Ayuc (my 'as yet unnamed computer, an iBook g4), is horribly underpowered with only 256mb. I've checked around and a Kingston 1gb. pc2100 ddr266 sodimm stick of ram will burn a php4,500+ hole in my wallet, so an upgrade has been shelved at the moment. Sadly, the issue is telling especially when I try to host local copies of my websites for presentation purposes (c/o the excellent MAMP, a terrific utility that lets you do exactly that.

  As a result I spent most of the day today setting up mock versions of KE and BallEx on ayuc. It's not perfect but it'll do.

• The reason I'm setting up the sites on ayuc is to make a presentation tomorrow for a possible sponsor. At the moment I'm not completely ready yet so I might possibly delay the meeting a few days. I seriously don't like doing that, especially since I'm the one who set it up to begin with, but it's better than going in there half - baked. I've always thought that when you have a chance to meet someone who's interested in buying stuff from you, you only have a few precious moments of their time to wow them. So going in there and delivering anything less wastes both yours and theirs' time. I'll get ayuc to cooperate and come in there better prepared.
• Actually I can go ahead and buy that RAM if I wanted to, but recent events have forced me to keep my money with me for as long as possible until I've enough to make a major decision (that obviously involves some money). I know it's useless to hint about it only to leave whoever reads this guessing, but for some odd reason I don't wanna talk about it until things are more concrete. Hence, recent earnings from previous projects, which I'd have thought I'd be spending by now on things like a vacation or a PC upgrade, have remained relatively untouched in the bank.
• Health - wise (and yes, any discussion about me these days will have to involve my health, sadly), I'm doing better. I decided to spend most of Friday asleep and it's done me wonders. It's amazing how we tend to forget how important simple things like getting enough sleep is, or at least I do. And it isn't even a whole lot to begin with, just 2 or maybe 3.5 hours of solid zzz in the afternoon, and I'm raring to get going for a full day afterwards. The day after I got A LOT done, and even had enough energy in store to install a bunch of kitchen stuff my sister asked me to. It took me 4 hours of solid work, drilling and hammering with power tools and a screwdriver, but I got it installed and working. I'll try to get a couple pics soon to show what I'm talking about. They're basically stainless steel things that slide out of cabinets where you put plates in and stuff, I don't know what they're called though which is why I'm kinda vague, sorry.
• The alternative to writing this blog post is to continue reading a book I bought for P50.00 the other day, called Still Wild, Short Fiction of the American West, 1950 to the Present. It's one of those books you take in a piece at a time over a long period, partly because most of those stories are actually kinda sad. One of the stories however, struck me hard especially. By Jack Kerouac, it's called Mexican Girl, and I haven't finished it yet. I first read Kerouac's "On The Road" decades ago and I always envied his style. Yes I use the word 'envied' because for many years, I wanted to be like him. To me, he is the ultimate writer, a man who writes from a special conscience, speaking in an amazing voice I had never heard of. Pressed to think of anyone similar, I don't think of other writers and instead I think of jazz artists, like B.B. King or Wynton Marsalis. His places and his characters jump and move to a special rhythm and you are there, you are completely and utterly there along with him, living and breathing the dusty Western desert he brings you to. His stories are a joy to behold, and I get that wonderful feeling that I'm reading something so utterly special, so wonderful at every turn of each page. Even if he's only talking about bums who get drunk every night, or the lead character making only a dollar fifty picking cotton with no future of consequence in sight, you feel no hurry trying to determine what will happen. Instead you just savor every moment, and what would normally a desperate, uniquely different situation from what and where you are seems strangely familiar, all due to his words and the way he uses them. Words that if you think about it, are just as available to use by either me and you, except he uses them to make wonderful things, whilst we by comparison waste them, if we venture to use them at all. It's the best goddam p50.00 I've spent this year so far. It's been so long since I read On The Road that I only remember the peripherals of that story. It's imperative that I read more of him again.
• After that, what else can I say? I'm sitting here on my desk enjoying the a/c, which I turn on a few hours in the early evening to cool things down before I turn in. It's 9:21 in the evening and soon I'll be on the phone with Jill and getting ready for bed after that. The promise of a not too specific future is in store for me, and it hangs heavy in my mind. It's a premise I partly welcome due to the freedom it will bring, but it partly worries me as well due to its inherent uncertainty. Uncertainty I'm probably over thinking about, and should learn to accept regardless because inside me I know it's the right thing to do.

Right now I'm the personification of a crossroads, standing in the middle, ready to take the next step, but neither happy nor glad about it either. The only thing I know is that I don't like what's behind me, and that liking what's in front is entirely up to me.

I am without a doubt focused on this 100%, to the point wherein I feel I have reached the point where I possibly hinge its success upon that of my own, as a person, that is. A risky, and foolhardy proposition, considering that it is merely, at the end of the day, a website.

Regardless, I like to think of myself as competent in no small way in the making, planning and creation of such things, and therefore am placing a great deal of weight upon its success. To my mind I am convinced I have a winner. There is no hindrance to the top of the heap. No blockage, no a speck of dust, obstructing it from its goals. As long as I perform all the tasks I ask of me, all I envision of it will come true. It all depends on me.

That is the reason of course, why it is taking me so long. That, and, the carrying out of the complex plans I have drawn up for it. It has come to the point wherein I sleep with a PHP reference book in my hands. A coding book. Not one of literature, not of adventure or love or mystery or other fancies of fiction. A coding book, in order for me to get it right.

For if it were only the mere act of putting it up for the world to see, I would have finished by now. But no, I need it to be as near perfect as can be. There is always something that needs fine tuning, always something I need to tweak and twist and turn every which way to point it the right direction.

Finish though, I must, for there must be closure after all this preparation. Onwards, I continue, tomorrow.

1. It is for the most part, a monstrous waste of time - Once you turn the TV on, you will inevitably find something interesting to watch. For example, I happened onto a 60 Minutes feature on the FBI agent who interrogated Saddam Hussein for the duration of his incarceration before being handed back to the Iraqis. The other day, I was also enthralled by a BBC documentary ftg. two nerdy guys trying to make a motorcycle to run on compressed air, in an effort to make a zero emission delivery vehicle for a sandwich manufacturer in London.

2. Vastly interesting as they were - they were certainly an innoportune appropriation of my time. It (my time) being limited and the list of things I want to do with it ever increasing, it behooves me to make proper use of it. Granted, interest in above topics were genuine. Regardless, the abrupt and random nature of these cable watching activities are unwelcome, being as they are, blockages to my attempts at it (my time)'s efficient use.
3. Except for the possible exception of Basketball - which is quite likely the only thing I watch without that tinge of guilt that I'm supposed to be doing something else. Seeing as I am running a Basketball Blog, anything I can absorb in relation to this sport is a plus. Hence, watching basketball seems to be the only thing positive cable has so far, brought about.
4. Hence, I should endeavour to blog about TV shows - which I thought about doing for a while but has since ditched the idea because of two reasons:
   • There aren't any truly worthwhile TV shows to blog about anymore, Sopranos having finished two years ago already. The Sopranos is the only show that has ever held my complete and utter attention for an appreciable period, and nothing comes close to it to date.
   • Blogging about a TV show would only add to the things I have to do, and that list (as I mentioned above), is already overwhelming as it is (unless of course another show comes about that is as compelling as Sopranos, which somehow I doubt).

Well, that's it, that's what I think about Cable TV. From above we can glean that: a.Sure, it's a pretty thing to have around the house, but if you wanna get a lot of things done, it ain't for you. b.I thought about blogging about TV shows but in some roundabout way connected it with how busy I am and therefore shelved the idea. And c. Having a conversation with myself probably makes me look like a raving lunatic, but at least it make something look clearer!

• Nice looking graphics get old quickly anyway - After seeing the graphics load, no matter how fancy, it becomes a pain to watch it load again - and again - and again, everytime you go back to the website. I don't care how pretty it is. Unless you have the memory of a goldfish, after the first ooh and ahh you're likely sated and ready to move on.
• It's a heavy download - This is fairly obvious. That's why Flash designers create all sorts of fancy loading images and hour glass / hour clocks to entertain you whilst you waste away precious moments of your life waiting for the $*#$! site to load. As far as I'm concerned, everytime you put a loader in front of a website visitor there is a 30% to 50% chance he's gonna lose interest and go elsewhere. That alone, to me, is unacceptable.

• It's not Google-able - Even more unacceptable is the fact that, since .swf files are like images, Google cannot index them, hence giving search engines a hard time. Repeat after me: Search engines are your friend. You do not want to give search engines a hard time. Unless your website holds the directions to the Holy Grail, you need to cooperate, not go against search engines. And this in the light of the fact that Google's indexing is already mind-blowingly powerful. I've uploaded articles onto my blogs and Googled them 10 seconds after and they were already available. Yes I know there are ways around that especially with the newer Flash versions BUT the fact it's an extra step does not comfort me.
• It's difficult to make - Flash designers make a ton of money because there aren't many of them, and even less of the really talented ones who can make a site both entertaining, dynamic, loads quickly and is serch engine friendly to boot. The chances you can hire one, assuming you can afford one, are even less considering they're usually busy people.
• It requires your browser to download Adobe stuff - I'm glad Adobe is no Microsoft because given their monopoly over this technology, MS would've sucked every penny they can make off of it by now. Regardless, making a site dependent on any one company / technology is never a good way looking forward.
• Content is King - At the end of the day, people go to a website - any website - for its content. They want schedules, they want articles, they want prices, images, information, etc. The more of it, the more ways to get it, and the easier to get it, the better. Anything that deters / confuses / deflects / deviates / sidetracks you from what you want to get from a website negates the purpose of making a site to begin with, and should be removed immediately.

Flash in my humble opinion, is three things: From a developer standpoint, it's a great way to make extra money. You can get quick jobs adding 'Macromedia Flash' to your resume, or getting freelance work quickly, because lots of people are looking for that.

Second is from a website developer / provider point of view: It's a great way to impress bosses and clients. We all know these are the people who usually know the least about the Internet, but since they hold the purse strings, we pander to what impresses them. And so we make big impressive full Flash websites to get them to say ooh and ahh to make them sign the checks.

And finally Third, from a user and search engine point of view: It's close to useless. Content will be, forever and ever to me, KING of all that makes the Internet work. If you want to make a great website, focus on finding content and delivering it as easily and as painlessly as possible. Make your life simple by believing this: People want to know what's going on, and a website's job is to deliver it - that's it, no more no less.

I'm such a believer in this that I'd bet everything I have on a bet: Any Blogspot site with complete info will get more hits than any full Flash site anytime of the day, day or night*.

* Unless of course it's a Flash based gaming site, whereing the content is the games.

I love how KE's hits grow ever so gradually which means two things for me: A. They're not fluke-ish, having grown regularly over a span of time (unlike, say, when a blog posts something radical which spikes its hits then drops all of a sudden), and B. Our readership is loyal and follows the site regularly. Those details along with the exponential growth given our daily updates mean that we'll be hitting 1k probably by.. oh, Jan or Feb maybe?

But enough about the sites. This is about me, me, ME!

First and foremost I'm really happy that I don't feel 40, and am frankly unsure what 40 feels like at all. There are a number of sites that give advice to '40-somethings' and these usually involve health and talk about doing things like 'lots of walking'. I just played pickup ball the other week with the neighborhood kids and I really don't think I lagged that far behind. So if being 40 means taking advice like 'walk more' from websites with geriatric looking couples on the images, then by God I should thank my lucky stars and am probably luckier than I give myself credit for.

It's very scary to take stock of one's life whatever age you may be, birthday or not, but this tends to happen when you reach milestones like this. I'm sure it'd be valid to express anything from regret to joy at achievements or on the other hand 'dis-achievements' in my life, but at this point I've realized I really don't dwell on any particular step forward nor backward, and its probably healthier that way.

For the most part, since I've turned into an adult I've lived my life trying to make the best decision available at that time. The way I see how it works is: sometimes that gets fucked up, and sometimes that works out. But before you take too much time feeling sorry for yourself or patting yourself in the back, you need to get your shit together because you're dealing with the next big decision. Regardless, the one thing you take out from it is that you've become another level smarter.

How about God? Well I really believe God gets in there a little bit, providing help in bits and pieces. But ultimately, the decision is really up to you whether you're gonna fuck your life up or not. If you find yourself in a situation you're not happy in, the only person who's gonna do something about it is yourself. You have to take stock of your life, just stop what you're doing and ask yourself if you're happy or not, and if you don't like it you have to stand up and get the fuck out. God, Buddha, or the Great Whatever Spirit In The Sky is not gonna do that for you. There's no 'lifeline', no free handouts, no big get out of jail card that you can pull out your ass ad hoc. It's just you and you alone who can determine your path.

Having had such a well - formed idea of how to live life, what then can I show for myself?

Well for the most part, I'm not unhappy. I don't find myself pining to attain some impossible goal, and the marks I set for myself are ambitious, yet realistic, attainable and are actually on their way to fruition as we speak. Oh sure I could use more money, but I think I'd be telling myself that if I was earning 10 million a month or 10 thousand, so that's a given. I thank my lucky stars that during my youth I didn't get anyone pregnant and / or was forced into marriage, because Jesus Christ if there's one thing I know for sure, it's that all my peers who went through that, to a man, is completely miserable. Oh Thank God for the fact that I'm not in a situation where I'd be cheating on my wife yet staying married 'for the good of the kids'. Living your life as a fraud is the saddest, most pathetic life of all in my book. One that no amount of material riches can heal. I could name names but that'd be pointless. I'd just say 'all of them'.

Getting by the years of immaturity unscathed is good, but what makes it an achievement is using the wisdom you learned from it to good use.

And I think I did that too, with the girl I have decided to live my life with.

For inasmuch as its important to leave situations you aren't comfortable with, it's also just as valid to stay with that which makes you feel at home.

So yeah, I think I am lucky. I think I should thank my lucky stars, and that I do not give myself enough credit. Of course, I'm saying that now, being all wrapped in the glow of my birthday with text messages pouring in. And maybe I won't feel as well when I stub my toe on the bedside or Joe my car stalls on me in the middle of C-5 at 1am.

But hey it's my birthday so I'll let myself feel good today. Today I'm a lucky guy.

I've worked all day on MomEx and finally got some semblance of the Yahoo! Answers like system I've been saying I'm gonna implement for such a long time. Only thing I didn't get done was to put a voting system for the comments so that the person who posted the question (or the people) can vote which answer is best. I tried using the vote up or down module which can implement voting on nodes and comments. I can turn off voting on the nodes which I don't need, but voting on comments applies to all content types and not just the question content type I created. That sucks because again, I only want voting on comments for the questions, not comments on, say, the blog entries.

The solution apparently is to make comments into nodes, but the problem there is that you'll have to disable the core comment module and therefore delete all existing comments, so that's not gonna happen. It's obviously a good solution for brand new sites, though, so am applying that to the one I'm launching soon.

That's it really, that's the big drama of today.

Ok ok, enough nice talk. A site was compromised, and this means war.

Starting with getting rid of the OS that has, I suspect, let me down.

Then there's applying SSL on the server, and applying a few tricks here and there to make sure it doesn't happen again.

On one hand it's a sign that the sites are influential enough so much as to necessitate the surreptitious and nearly unremarkable manner said attack was performed.

On the other it's a violation of something I dearly love and own, and if I catch the motherfucker who did it I'll tear his heart out.

Whatever. Damage done. Lesson learned. Moving on.

Notice the 'frequently'?

Dang, now comes the regret after wasting hours of my life on that game.

Pretty fantastic though. Finally deleted it.

Can you dig the awesomenesity of that scene? Fucking A right?

Anyway, T-Rex 1 (any one of them, since they all look the same), is problem number 1. T-Rex 2 is prob #2. And T-Rex 3 is, you guessed it, prob #3.

And me? I'm Kong. I'm gonna whup their asses by tearing apart their jaws all while protecting my girl.

Last week I caught one about how Pinoys like music so much and how it is so ingrained in our culture. A few minutes ago I just finished another one about eco - tourism in places like Bohol and some island I can't remember. Both times weren't fawnish or critical in any way. The music one covered showbands and young people joining and getting into bands to use as tickets to find gigs abroad, while at the same time featuring people like Charice Pempengco and a band or two that were into it purely for love of music. They even featured a tv channel in Cebu which shows old people singing ancient Bisaya songs live in a tone and pace unfamiliar to me and dissimilar to Kundiman. People just call a number flashed on the screen for requests and they oblige.

The more recent one I just finished discussed the near wasteland the Rice Terraces were turning out to be because their young people preferred working elsewhere or in tourism related jobs, effectively eroding the reason why tourists went there in the first place.

The second part of the same documentary featured a beautiful island somewhere (I didn't get the name) and a mangrove forest in Bohol, both excellent examples of eco - tourism featuring a community that lovingly and painstakingly took care of the rich environment around them, which in turn took care of them by providing for their needs as well as allowed for sustainable tourism.

There are two things I take away from all this. First is that the old adage about how we tend to trust foreigners more than we do our own countrymen is blatantly true in this case. These documentaries aren't National Geographic material. They are low budget and possibly funded by the Korean government, likely to help Korean Nationals in the country learn more about this place.

Given the budget look and feel, if I didn't know any better I would assume they were Philippine government funded and instantly ignore them, which is probably why it took awhile for me to start paying attention as I have. A documentary done here, see, would feature some actor dressed as a farmer, soldier, teacher or some such hapless victim singing praises for Gloria every five minutes, and in consideration for my health and desire not to throw the TV out the window, the best course of action is to avoid these immediately.

Seeing these aren't therefore, is almost like a breath of fresh air. The people they talked to, complete with translations, are completely ordinary Filipinos living their daily lives all over the country. The idea that I was watching something that was completely real is amazing, almost unbelievable really. It wasn't dramatized, cheapened or made to look anything else other than what it was, and it appealed to me no end. It reminded me of Tiaong, Quezon. It was real.

The second thing I take from this, after having been subjected to that reality, is this: That we who live in the city are by far, a great deal poorer than those people who live in that small Bohol town planting mangroves.

Over here, we stress about money, our things, pollution, our health, social status, consider living abroad and all other idiocy. Over there, their lives revolve around taking care of that beautiful, life - sustaining forest that stretches from into the land and way out to the sea.

Where here we spend thousands of time and money to find things to amuse us, over there they find fulfillment in fish spawning eggs underneath the mangrove trees, assuring the growth of another generation. While we question the quality of our food and the air we breathe, learn about anti - oxidants and eye what we take in our bodies with suspicion, over there they feast on fresh oysters of different varieties, shrimp, various fishes and vegetables picked fresh from the trees, plants and water around them. They take just what they need to make sure there is more for them the next day.

I'm not saying I'm packing up and moving over there asap. But it has got me thinking. I'm gonna watch a few more of those documentaries to find out. But as of now, I'm thinking as long as I get internet, I can probably live anywhere, so why not over there? Thanks, strangely enough, to a Korean docu.

Anyway after the explosion, the lights go out, but only for ten minutes or so, then things are ok again.

Which is why I'm writing this because I'm waiting for it. And I can't start work or anything because I know it'd all have to stop as soon as I hear my UPS beeping, indicating (quite loudly) that I am dependent on it, and will need to shut things down and find something to do till it comes back on.

Which is stupid really.

And.. (no am not yet finished), I experienced that explosion closer once, when I had a haircut at a barbershop near the village gate, and I swear that thing almost made my barber cut my ear off.

And the thing is, it's turning the nearby residents into nervous wrecks, especially I assume the guard on duty at the gate. They've started to anticipate how the transformer would explode, and of course people joke about it (like my barber), but I could tell he was actually nervous talking and waiting for it.

Just as he was explaining it, BOOOM there it went, and I swear to god he almost dropped the pair of scissors he was using, scissors close to my head. I mean, what if he was shaving my neck or something? Damn.

Well ok not exactly. I was still far off both by time and result, but the thinking is the same. In order for Google to roll out the kind of products they want to work in the way they want, they have to deal with the environment their apps work in, and that means working with the browser - which so far makes varied results. It therefore makes sense they make their own browser given the ever higher level of complexity they want their apps to do.

The average Joe is probably aware we developers hate IE, but may not completely know why. Explaining why is not the point of this post, but let me just tell you - IE sucks seriously big time. Anyone who's ever had to deal with CSS, UTF or language standards, or Java for example, will understand why developers have thinning hair or zero social life as they spend too much time trying to get their apps to work on IE. Firefox helped save them a bit with its standards compliancy, but has so far not been entirely reliable imho, and it still lags behind with approximately 30% market share. I love it and support it, but it's been crashing on me recently, and anyone who knows code knows that a crashing browser is serious stuff.

So where's the Microsoft in all this (other than my disliking IE)?

Now that I see Google creating its own computer based program (as opposed to web-based), I am reminded of MS's age - old strategy of creating its own operating environment. On the surface of course, to promote the stable operation of its applications and predictably advertised as for the benefit of its users, but secondarily and rather disguisedly, to kick out everyone else.

The big difference though is the two companies' reputation.

MS did that so often and so brazenly that no one trusts them anymore. Go to any web board, blog or tech news site and every MS move is met by suspicion and distrust.

Google of course still enjoys the high moral ground. 'Do No Evil' says it all, and people like and enjoy that.

But will they still after this?

Controlling the browser is the next step after controlling the search engine. Having such power is akin to controlling the information we rely on on a daily basis. If for example, something is not listed in Google, to many it may as well not exist at all. A successful implementation of their browser would make them even more powerful, at a position of control even stronger than before.

There's really nothing we can do about it. It's just a company that's doing the right thing every step of the way. As such they are gaining ground more and more. The only thing that bothers me is that you could say exactly the same thing about MS ten years ago. The only difference between then and now is the level of trust, but even that can change.

Cause I'm going that's why. And all of a sudden at that (I just found out this morning).

It's hard to explain, to begin with, how important they were to me growing up.

For the first time in a very very long time there was finally a local band with a voice that reached out and appealed to the desperately fragmented Pinoy youth. From the jologs to the sosyals, the promdis and the tambays, everyone loved the Eraserheads. They talked about love lost and gained, typical annoyances, school, folks and what's mostly on young Pinoy's minds but in an irreverent 'wala lang' tone that you just understood like it was someone you know telling you it was happening to him. It just clicked, and I listened and deeply appreciated them. Their songs, their messages, their very existence. I was so glad we had the 'heads.

I think however, there is a general non plussed attitude for most people going into tonight's gig. The reason primarily I think, is the fact that they're getting paid a whole lotta moola to do it. In other words, you have to question their heart. Watching their old YouTube clips, I saw a band that talked about not getting gigs, finding it hard to get signed, etc. In other words, they were united and together, and while they were striving to get acknowledged, they only had their desire to be together keeping them intact.

And now, it's plainly about money, and that's a downer.

But whatever. I've no expectations from tonight. I don't even know if my hair will rise on end as it used to when I first saw them live at a mall tour of all things. It was a free thing at Megamall and to this day I can't remember seeing that place look more packed. People were literally dangerously hanging on to siderails and dancing and singing along in the aisles. It was really a sight and for once, it felt great to see people just having fun and strangers smiling at each other. I truly believe getting Pinoys to trust, or even smile, at each other is a really big thing.

The 'heads has that special ability to do that. I think that's what makes them special.

But then again that's what they are to us. What they are to each other is an entirely different thing, and because they broke up, apparently a negative thing. Nothing that 1M each (reportedly) can't fix though. Sigh.

Still waiting for that day actually. But until then, Fridays will do.

Jesus Christ the gall of this woman to plaster her face all over the fucking LRT2.

Am I, and everyone else I know, completely out of it so much so that this sort of PR actually works? Does the masa lap this up? Do they really believe she represents any interest other than hers and whoever it is latched onto her?

It's almost like getting repeatedly kicked after already writhing on the ground, covered in your own blood from stab wounds. It's like penny pinching every single peso you have and being told there are people who feel that 'ramdam na ramdam nila ang asenso'.

It just makes me sick sick sick.

Sleep Apnea - I know I self - diagnosed this, but I've all the symptoms, including fatigue from lack of sleep, waking up at 3am to take a leak, deep set eye bags again from lack of sleep, waking up in a sweat every so often at night (because my lungs were struggling to breathe), and finally the most damning of all, dreams of drowning. The particular recurring dream is fairly vivid. I am on a white sandy beach with some rocky breakwater hills in the distance, which I investigate. While doing so, I enter small caves and whatnot, and before I know it the tide is coming in strong, so strong that I cannot go back to the sandy beach. I struggle to climb higher, but the strong waves start lapping at my feet and upward. At this point I assume I wake up.

Scoliosis - which isn't a big deal for the most part, but of course becomes a nuisance and actually starts hurting when I gain weight.

High uric acid - runs in our family. The fatter I get, the higher that gets, and it affects my kidneys, which eventually produce kidney stones. I've already suffered a gout attack twice. It is not fun.

So you see, being me isn't fun, that is, if I don't control my weight. Hence, those Gold's GCs we scored are a gift from Heaven, telling me I should take better care of my sickly, overweight ass.

Today I did a few drills at the basketball court, because I couldn't go to Gold's (it really is way too far, requiring a 40 - 60 min bus trip, and no i dont wanna bring my car). I did a few basketball drills where you put the ball on the floor near the hoop, hop and skip alternating lateral steps around the painted area, pick up the ball and power layup (bounce the ball hard with both hands then shoot it), then put the ball back on the floor and do it again the opposite way. It's supposed to help your lateral moves obviously, plus your concentration because you can sometimes forget the count and forget to alternate. And when you miss, you start counting over again. I did 5 sets of 10 of those.

I also did 5 windsprints, which were more like windwalks. At the end of these, I was sweating and panting like crazy, and the humid weather (there were rainshowers coming), didn't help. I looked like I took a shower in my clothes.

Then finally I jogged the way back to the house, and I promise you going up our steep hills is no joke.

So the point of all this is not to impress upon people of my monk - like discipline and make people think I have a magnificent physique (I am overweight by, oh, probably 30 pounds). The point of this post, I think, is that I need to convince myself that working out is good for me, so that when the time comes (and oh yes, it will come), when I am too lazy to walk let alone do windsprints / walks at the ball court or go to Gold's, then I will again have desperate dreams of drowning whilst holding on to dear life by a rocky hill, the ocean's angry waves crashing against, and eventually, taking me.

Yeah I think that's the point of this post. I will go to sleep now, I'm dog tired.

When will all this stupidity end?

We live in a country that suffers through 3 or 4 storms a year, and every year, thousands die. Re above, you'd think that with centuries of experience with storms plus being surrounded by an ocean, we'd at least know when to send a ship out to sea and when not to.

Especially people who run a shipping line. Especially when that shipping line sends out ferries several times a week. Especially when this sort of thing has happened before.

Does it really take all that much? Does it take a genius to run a ship? To look out the window and say 'hey, it looks bad', and turn towards the wind, or not go out at all?

The sad thing is, we're so fucking used to this sort of thing that 700 people dying a horrifying death seems just as bad as gas hitting P58.00 / liter. If Pacquiao loses tomorrow it might even be deemed as a greater 'tragedy' than this.

I'll go ahead and say this, even if it seems unnecessary, only because someone needs to say it. No, it is not as bad as gas hitting P58. It is so much WORSE, because I just can't see how it could'nt have so easily been avoided.

Mind you, this isn't a pro - Linux or pro - anything rant. I don't own a Vista PC to begin with, and like I said in a previous post, I don't find anything wrong with it either. I'm using Vista Home right now on Jill's PC, and I'm doing just fine. Some isues here and there, but mostly, it is, albeit superficially (primarily because most of it's 'improvements' are cosmetic) can be considered a step up above XP.

Having said that, one might assume though that there was something wrong with XP to begin with, or at least missing a feature that'd necessitate an upgrade.

By now however, after Vista's been around for a while, the answer to that is no, N-O, there is no truly compelling issue to 'upgrade' to Vista. You might be compelled, just because you wanna see your computer do this:

Above is a screenshot of me doing a 'Windows key + Tab' maneuver, which lets me switch to another application in a very fancy way. Or you may be interested in doing this:

A screenshot of Vista's Parental Controls.

But I'd be lying to you if I said that the Compiz isn't as impressive, screenshot here (and more jaw dropping effects here):

or that Norton can't do Parental Controls better or at least similar to Vista.

The point of this post is moot. People who have already bought Vista have bought it, period. It's money spent, money you can't get back.

But if you were happily using XP before Vista came along, that announcement is basically saying that it's money you shouldn't have spent in the first place, or at least until 2014.

It runs Vista, which is funny because at the start of this month, I started out to use Ubuntu. After trying out the Chief's Nvidia 7300 GL video card, which he kindly sold to me for a much discounted sum, I then tried my hand at Kubuntu. Then before you know it, I am now using Vista. The PR folks at Microsoft couldn't possibly write better copy than that.

At any rate, my mobo fried not because of aforementioned venture into other Operating Systems, but plainly and purely because it's old. As in old, slapped full of band-aids old, and had been teetering along the edges of the foreboding abyss of wherever dead motherboards go for years. I credit my own McGyver like skills for keeping it alive all these years, but even my desperation inspired abilities to revive old things has its limits. Once I inserted the new vidcard, it caused a mobo heart attack, and slowly went in the ICU.

And now, it is a hunking dead piece of metal, its spirit no doubt freely surfing in in that big motherboard heaven in the sky. A better place for my long suffering mobo.

A review of Dagny is probably forthcoming, knowing how I like doing that sort of thing. Same as well for Vista, which inspite of what people might think, I've never really had a problem about. I actually *gasp* kind of like it, and understand why MS made it the way it is. But then again I've not used it for long, so we'll see.

Also, gotta buy a new mobo, AMD processor and RAM in the next week or two. I've been checking and it doesn't appear to be as painful to the wallet as I thought it'd be, or at least, way less than it used to be.

Later then. For now, back to work.

At a place I can wholeheartedly recommend BUT wholeheartedly NOT recommend at the same time.

Wait for my review at Kikay :)

dang. Or maybe its just because it's a bank app, which basically means we expect zero errors. Yeah, probably that's it. Quite dispiriting, this.

Obviously I've even less energy to go to the gym and its almost two weeks now. The result? I feel guilty about not getting work done and not going to the gym, so not only do I have a pounding headache, I am super annoyed at myself as well.

Sigh.

Times like these I try to channel Karl Malone. He said in an interview once that his 'secret' is that he works out more than anyone else in the league. While everyone is out partying and living the life of a superstar - athlete (this was the 80s when physical training was considered either gay or faddish), he was in the gym pumping weights, getting himself bigger and stronger so by the time the season starts he's pushing 40 points while everyone's just shaking off last night's hangover.

Then there's Larry Bird (and also Chris Mullin), who practically lived in the gym. Back in the 80s his training regimen was to just 'run and shoot hoops all day', while his specialized diet was 7-up and popcorn, to lose 20 pounds before the 1987 Playoffs. 7-up and popcorn. Jesus.

Anyway, he realized something was wrong, so his physical therapist gave him a notebook full of flexibility, cardio and strengthening exercises and nutritional guidelines. The result? 47 points at the 2nd game of the 1987-88 season, and a 44 point, 22 rebound game against the Pacers.

And you wonder why our Dads idolized him?

A decade ago I could dunk. I know thats hard to believe now, and I don't blame anyone if they don't. But I could, and I didn't even think anything of it, thinking I always could.

Now, I'm pushing 220lbs., and going through emotional ups and downs due to whatever the fuck chemicals going nuts in my system. Is it too much sugar? Too less? Is it what I ate the other day? Did someone slip some monosodium glutamate in my food while I wasn't looking? It feels like I'm having a fucking period. From one moment, super productive, to the next, wanting to sleep all day. WTF.

Well, here's what happened.

About 3 weeks ago Jill and I were interviewed by QTV's Fit and Fab, a beauty - wellness - fashion tv magazine type show hosted by Theresa Licaros and Maggie Wilson (no they didn't do the interviewing). Topic was primarily the Kikay Shop for an online shopping segment.

At any rate, it took a half day off of a workday (and a very hot one at that) at Jill's house. I shared my supplier's contacts as well, all of whom were Multipliers and engaged in selling on their own.

Wednesday came along (the 14th) and with bated breath we waited. Finally the show started (10PM), and we watched, waited, watched and waited some more. Finally the segment re online shopping came. I watched one, two, three of my recommended suppliers' interviews! They looked great and I felt happy for them (because they really are great). We waited, watched and waited .. and waited.

Until finally the segment was over, and they moved on to commercial and another topic. Could it be our own interview was scrapped? We waited even more until finally, the show was over, and there it was, our names on the credits. But unfortunately, no interview.

I couldn't stop thinking about it that night, but when my head cleared the day after I realized what happened was, basically, we just wasted our time. I could've just shared my supplier's contacts even before we met, and not have to do that interview. It'd have spared all of us so much time and effort. Not to mention Jill's time and effort as well, and also her sister Krissy's.

In other words it was a whole lot of effort, excitement and waiting for zero result. For nothing. And afterwards I wished they just didn't contact us at all. I know it sounds vain to want to see ourselves on TV, but truth is, I felt used. Like a dunce. A loser.

Of course, how they write their show is none of my business, but remembering all those years writing for publications I don't think I've ever inconvenienced people so much to come up with nothing. We didn't even get an explanation - although looking back maybe it's better that way, since the time's been wasted already and there's no way to get it back anyway.

Looking back, the only thing I think I'm taking away from that is that I should be more careful with future interviews, and also, that I don't think it's a good idea to disappoint the people behind Kikay Exchange. Of course, we're not going to 'retaliate' or do anything stupid like that. It just feels like a really bad move to get on our wrong side, you know? Not a smart move at all.

Thank God Cuz's wedding yesterday was terrific. Happy Pics to follow.

Just wanted to say things have been so super hectic that I missed an important appointment yesterday, completely forgetting about the fact that we rescheded our meeting for Monday when all along I thought it was still for Tuesday. I turned off my cell in the AM yesterday so it wouldn't bother me during something important we were doing, and when I turned it on I got a message saying they 'were at le coeur', apparently waiting. I think I turned white.

I called, apologized (they said it was ok), texted and apologized again (no reply). These things rarely happen to me, in fact I'm one of those eager beaver types who typically show up an hour before meetings. So when it does I'm completely thrown off the f*king high horse I put myself on and am reduced to a nervous wreck, wondering what the hell's wrong with me that I would let a thing happen.

The verdict? I think I'm stretching myself again, which happens every few weeks. My sched's packed and I got stuff left and right I wanna do which equates stuff left and right I need to worry about. I haven't finished a book or enjoyed a movie or even had time to watch a complete NBA GAME for weeks. Even weekends are spent doing something or rushing off somewhere.

The result? Opportunities missed, plans derailed, missions unaccomplished, cemented agreements left unexecuted, MEETINGS MISSED.

Will make up for it. Will resolve issue. Will execute plans decisively. Will rest.

POSTSCRIPT: They just texted and postponed till Friday. I apologized again to no reply. I imagine they're really pissed. Damn.

Primary purpose of which is to increase content and content sources, and consequently lessen our loads so we can concentrate on newer, exciting stuff.

But hey if it helps weed out a few budding writers out there, why not, right? This is my hope I think, secretly. The country's lack of focus on education over the past decades is starting to show. Where once we produced some of the highest touted, well educated people in Asia, the kids I encounter these days are near illiterate, and can't tell a book from a paperweight.

It's up to us, really. I'm older now, and I know better. I run websites that get read by a lot of young people who are exactly in the demographic whose communication skills have suffered.

I'm gonna start a program that'll try to increase people's reading and writing skills. I'll tie up with someone (I have three candidates) who can help me do this. I've laid out the groundwork and I think it can be done.

And finally, I will never pander to idiocy, just to increase hits and pageviews. It's so easy to dumb down your content so that the current generation which does not read and prefers YouTube rather than a good book would 'enjoy' it more, but hell if I'd feel any satisfaction from that. It's akin to insisting on making intelligent jokes than going slapstick, even if your audience doesn't 'get it'. I think you just keep on trying, keep on trying, and if they don't get it, so what. At least you tell the few people out there who do get it, that they are not alone.

I will try to increase their numbers. I think it's how best I can help.

 
A fire at the open lots behind us, a large Sta. Lucia Realty housing development.

 
These pictures don't do justice really, and were taken by my 14 year old niece as an afterthought (amidst pics of our dog and her goofing around). That pitiful garden house was our only defense, along with sad attempts by our neighbours to hurl pails of water towards it. I was using it mostly to get the surrounding area wet.

There was a time when the flames were roaring 10 feet away from me, and I could feel the heat and choking smoke and ashes rush to my face. Our neighbour two doors away had it worse, almost scorching a tree inside his lot which, if it had caught fire, would definitely had spread towards his roof and likely beyond. It didn't matter if the fire had green fresh looking grass or trees in front of it, everything pretty much burst into flames the moment the fire got to it.

The saving grace, really, was that the wind started to blow North East (I think), away from our houses. That really was the key. If it had kept on going towards us we only had a concrete wall, a green garden hose and a tankful of water to keep us safe. No thanks to panicking neighbours which I pretty much ignored much to their irritation I think. Truth is, I was focused on the fire, and didn't wanna deal with them. They came and went in droves to 'try to help', which essentially means talking my ear off about how shocked they were, and how whoever started this should go to jail while asking me if I knew who it was (heck if I knew). Fine all and good, but can we deal with the fire please?

By 4-ish everything was normal. Firemen came and doused what needed to be doused. I tried to sleep but the adrenaline and dreams of fire consuming everything kept me half awake. I told my nephew to wake me up in case things went crazy again and I kept imagining every sound I heard was him knocking, or that it was so bad he couldn't even knock. Screwy.

Postscript:

Anyway, to get back to normalcy, I resolved to start my own fire, via a 3 step process. First,

 
Second:

 
Third:

:) Whew.

BTW, Mia, my niece who took those pics, loved the chicken and had 2 pieces. This from a girl who only eats toasted bread with butter (seriously), and nothing else, so getting her to eat anything is a miracle. Recipe:, 1 drumstick per person sliced in several areas (for the insides to cook through). Marinade in mixed Kikkoman, sugar and ketchup for 3 hours. Cook 20 minutes slowly around charcoal. No I didn't get the charcoal from the fire.

So goodbye Movie Exchange?
Goodbye (gasp) Basketball Exchange?

Sigh. I dunno. It feels lousy that I'm stuck with the bill after projects didn't push through. But what the hey, better they had failed now than in the future I guess. In the meantime, I'm sure this blog has to go too.

Oh well. Decisions have to be made. Nobody said it was gonna be easy.

Ok let me clarify that last statement down in three phases: First, how you're gonna spend the money: In a situation like a Malacanang meeting, being given cash with no receipt by a cohort of the President indicates that she wants you to align yourself with her. You can spend it to feed the poor and homeless ala Mother Teresa, or you can go on a month long cruise in the Bahamas - it doesn't matter.

Second, where it came from: Obviously the large sums of money didn't come with a receipt. It was put in an envelope and handed out to them like so much hor's devours at a dinner party. This indicates that efforts were made to detach the money from any sort of accounting and doing so, given the amounts, is already suspect. How could red flags not rise when you're being given such a large amount? How could it not surprise anyone, or at the very least make it to the news if it weren't for Among Ed's almost casual remark about it? I'd suspect that if they received a P1,000.00 peso bill it should already have come to the press' attention immediate, let alone P500,000.00

And finally, the argument of whether they asked something from you or not. This is the most amazing argument I've heard from the governors - which is that it was given with them without any commitment on their part. That is the most amount of whollified bullshit I've ever read in my life. When you receive that kind of money, then by God Almighty sooner or later that person is going to come calling on you to collect. It doesn't matter how long it might take. In fact, this administration might not even be the one to collect. See, you took money from a person and by sheer receipt it means you are for sale to the highest bidder. Again, sooner or later, either the administration or someone else is gonna come offering you more and more, and you accept and accept, until they will finally ask you for a favor. It might seem nothing, it might not necessarily be an outright compromise of your values either - maybe they're gonna ask you to turn your head away for a mere few seconds as they do something in your province or municipality. Maybe it's an adjustment in your provincial courtroom records, or a seemingly harmless 'modification' of some evidence they're gonna ask you to please not to take a notice of. It can be a hundred million things, and you will agree.

Why? Because you took their money.

Evil takes many forms and variations. Just the argument of why it is right to accept envelopes of cash is already proof of this. 'it does not come with any commitment'. 'what they are asking for is harmless'. 'i will use it for my (insert worthwhile endeavor here) projects'. 'it comes at a time of great need in my province', etc. etc.

All you really need to remember is who it's coming from, and the suspicious manner with which this seeming gratis is being distributed. The moment you accept that, then you are considered sold. The property of the buyer. You can scream and shout arguments against it and claim to be your own man, but the proof lies in the thick brown paper bag you have received.

It is amazing how our LGU leaders are unable to discern such a basic thing as a bribe. Considering the fact that not one of these (hundreds is it?) recipients of these cash giveaways have raised protest is indicative of their lack of maturity in a basic matter.

Above is an excerpt from a longer post that I decided to publish earlier than the rest because I basically lost my train of thought with the longer one and focused on the above instead. So if it looks like an excerpt, it is.

Here's a screenshot of Aug. 30's mysql issues. WordPress serves that up when it can't connect to the db. I emailed Rimuhosting about it and they figured out I was having issues with one of my favorite WordPress plugins called Counterize, which allowed me to produce those interesting stats at the footer of KikayEx which says 'x number of visitors visited today, xx number the past 7 days. xxx number total since forever, and so on...'. We activated an option on mysql to produce a 'mysql-slow.log' which lists down all the mysql queries that take more than 2 seconds to complete. The results were stunning, as Counterize apparently had queries that take as long as 20 seconds, and at a given morning (not even a whole day), there were 40 queries already. Here's how it looked:

/usr/sbin/mysqld, Version: 5.0.22-Debian_0ubuntu6.06.3-log. started with:
Tcp port: 3306 Unix socket: /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
Time Id Command Argument
# Time: 070904 6:30:17
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 12 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57768 Rows_examined: 690442
use kikaydb;
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 6:30:20
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 11 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57768 Rows_examined: 690444
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 6:30:23
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 11 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57768 Rows_examined: 690445
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 6:32:09
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 19 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57769 Rows_examined: 690450
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 6:32:16
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 20 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57769 Rows_examined: 690452
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 6:32:22
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 28 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57769 Rows_examined: 690451
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 6:32:23
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 33 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57769 Rows_examined: 690450
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 6:32:25
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 21 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57769 Rows_examined: 690453
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 6:32:28
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 14 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57769 Rows_examined: 690454
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 7:41:52
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 16 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57775 Rows_examined: 690535
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 7:41:55
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 22 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57775 Rows_examined: 690535
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 7:41:56
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 25 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57775 Rows_examined: 690533
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 7:41:58
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 21 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57775 Rows_examined: 690535
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 7:42:01
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 28 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57775 Rows_examined: 690535
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 7:42:06
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 11 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 1 Rows_examined: 632760
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM wp_Counterize WHERE timestamp >= '2007-09-04' AND IP = '58.71.15.98';
# Time: 070904 7:57:52
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 13 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57776 Rows_examined: 690554
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 8:09:36
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 11 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57776 Rows_examined: 690563
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 8:10:29
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 11 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57776 Rows_examined: 690565
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 8:10:32
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 13 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57776 Rows_examined: 690565
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 8:12:59
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 19 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57776 Rows_examined: 690569
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 8:13:02
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 17 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57776 Rows_examined: 690570
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 8:13:05
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 23 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57776 Rows_examined: 690570
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 8:19:28
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 11 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57776 Rows_examined: 690579
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 8:19:35
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 17 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57776 Rows_examined: 690579
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;
# Time: 070904 8:19:36
# User@Host: kikay[kikay] @ localhost []
# Query_time: 15 Lock_time: 0 Rows_sent: 57776 Rows_examined: 690580
SELECT DISTINCT referer FROM wp_Counterize;

At any rate, I got rid of the inefficient Counterize and replaced it with Firestats, which still provided me an interesting footer (you can check it out at the bottom area of KE), but certainly not as entertaining. I still haven't done the same with BallEx and MomEx as of today, so if you wanna see how it originally looked you can check the sidebar of each and compare it.

Firestats was a great improvement and didn't take as much of a mysql hit, so I basically got my cake and ate it too. Well, at least for another two weeks till today. This is because the site speeded up so much better that hits exponentially increased, bringing Kikay to an almost 50% increase in readership, almost 600 unique hits a day. While that's big, BallEx regularly hits 800 unique hits a day, but has less pageviews than Kikay. Kikay's unique hits + pageviews means that people go to it and 'leaf' through its pages, meaning they hang around a lot to read everything.

So as soon as the mysql inefficiency was fixed, I was now running out of RAM just from serving up pages. I had only 3 services running, namely Apache, Mysql and Named, which we quickly turned off since it was useless. I have a total of 4 WordPress sites plus 2 phpbb installations, and didn't even have email so I could save from installing spamassasin which I knew was a mysql hog. 484mb was apparently not enough. Here's a screenshot of it at 9am, which again happens at approximately 5pm later in the day.

Keep in mind the fact that I probably should do things like remove Counterize from the rest of the sites and find other inefficiences, but doing so requires a lot of time and effort which I'd rather spend on, say, more profitable ventures like trying to get Kikay Shop to earn more. Besides while I'm sure the WordPress Plugins are the ones that are giving me pain, I like the sites the way they are and really dont wanna remove any of them. For example, I really liked Counterize, and if I hadn't found Firestats I figured I'd rather take a mysql hit than remove it.

Rimu has replied with three things I could do. First, install a php caching app called eaccelerator. As of today, this has already been done. Another is to tweak mysql. I really don't have time to do that I think. I'll read through it a bit and if its something I can finish in an hour maybe I will, but I doubt it. The last thing is to move to a different webserver, and they recommended lighttpd or nginx, of which I think lighttpd seems to have a better user base. Lighttpd also happens to be the one used by Youtube, so that's definitely a good word for it as well.

Of course, I understand changing one's webserver midstream is like changing your house's foundation while still living in it. But at the same time I need to act like the boss here and insist it get done no matter how hard it is. Rimu has, like all good geeks will do, implemented the changes piecemeal, starting with eaccelerator. But I've already told them I want lighttpd as well, and am asking how much for them to do it. I don't wanna meddle in the details anymore, a big difference from what I'd have done in the past. A year ago I'd probably be all geeky and installing these on a spare server already just to get a feel of it, and maybe attempt to do it myself. But I'm over that now. I NEED KIKAY EXCHANGE TO GO FASTER. There is nothing more important than my sites loading properly like they should. At the moment, 600 kikays aren't happy, and so therefore I am unhappy as well.

At any rate, these changes, I assume, will probably be good enough to improve the site to handle approximately 500 more unique hits. Any more than that, and I dunno what else to do because I really dont wanna spend any more money on RAM. At that point, I probably need to start looking into managed hosting, or, like Migs said, shared hosting, but I'm assuming the costs to be astronomical. That's fine really, as long as there's business to back it up.

Sigh. Need to get things done fast.