My two dragons

No not gadgets, real live baby dragons!

After my mom passed away I had the urge to take care of something. Our dog was demoted to the dirty kitchen because of my wife being pregnant and all. So I went ahead and got me some new pets, Two Bearded Dragons. If you click on the link they should tell you everything about it so I wont explain further.

I have always been a reptile lover all since I was in Grade 5. I almost convinced my dad to get me a Green Iguana at a Pet Store in the states but we had a problem on how to bring it back home here.

But when I got to college, I discovered KARTIMAR. A local "All-in-One" Market which specializes in just about everything, Food, Clothes, Tatoo Shops and Exotic Creatures of all kinds. This is where I got my first Mexican Green Iguana names SPUD. SPUD was so cool, I kept him in the dorm with me. Then when it was about time for me to come home, I brought him back to Cebu. I had to secure a permit in Manila to transport him to Cebu. It was so cool the way he popped out of the luggage conveyor belt at the airport in his little Reptile Handy Tank. Everyone was asking me what it was. It was so funny coz the next luggage that came out was my friends Siberian Husky in a huge portable dog tank. After a few months, my best friends brother and mother fell in love with SPUD and asked if they could buy him from me. So I sold him to them. After A few months, I heard he escaped on their beach property.

I took a rest but still always had the urge for a reptile. But after a year of resting I went ahead and got the local Philippine water Dragon othewise knows as "IBID" People were cruelly handling and selling them in the downtown parts of Cebu. I got a few, some died, a few escaped. Then I also got two hug turtles which I eventually gave up coz they had stinky poo so I gave them to one of our helpers.

Later on my Best friends brother got a new Iguana. But after it grew about 8 inches (15" with the tale) they ask me to take care of it and adopt it. So I did. Then I even got another one to keep it company :-D Together with my last remaining Ibid, they lived happily in this huge enclosure that I made for them.

Just this year, there was an accident. Since the cage was an outdoor one and made of angle bars and chicken wires, one of the sides ripped open, the IBID ran off and the smaller iguana followed. The helpers couldn't find the IBID but they did find the Iggy near the gutter, mauled and bleeding :-( My nephew brought them to me and we waited for it to rest in peace.. Poor creature. Really, I almost cried..

None the less, my 4 foot Adopted Green Iguana stayed in the cage and is alive and kicking. My problem is, I don't live with my parents anymore and I had to leave him there because I yet have to find a good spot for him at our new home. His cage should hit the morning sun directly and it has to be in the garden so his poo and pee would wash out by themselves. That is where the problem lies, and until I find a suitable spot for him, he will stay at my Dad's place for the meantime.

Btw, somewhere in between the timeline above I also got a Baby Burmese Puthon, I think this was two years back.. This little guy use to sleep with me in my Bed. He also met a sad faith, after giving him a bath, she dipped in the mildy warm soapy water. He accidentally swollowed some, and after a few hours she passed.. Dammit!! Her name was Sofie.

Now back to Today. Last 3 weeks back I got me some new pets. Like I said at the start of this BLOG and here they are:








Now the nice thing about dragons is they are very Docile and they most of the time even appear to really like the company of Humans. They only grow to about 18"-22" max ( unless you have the German Giant variant which can even grown up to 30" or the Dwarf Rankin Bearded Dragons which only grown to about 10"-12")

If you want to find out more about the Bearded Dragon here's a link to a very good website all about them:

www.beardeddragon.org

That site contains almost everything you need to know on how to take care of them from husbandry, feeding down to emergency medical care.

Some essentials you need to have:
- a good size 50 gal tank atleast, bigger is better, I have a 42"x24"x20" tank.
- UV light (Reptisun 10 or Mega-Ray MVB)
- Heat Lamp ( you need to maintain 100F-110F on the basking area, and atleast 80F on the cooler area of the tank)
- Water Dish
- Basking Spot, driftwood is highly recommended.
- Lots of CRICKETS! Make sure before you get a dragon you have sourced out all its essential food within your area. They kinda are hard to get by here in the Philippines. I do not recommend garden insects because they mite be contaminated with insecticide which can KILL your dragon.

READ THE CARESHEET before you get one, these guys need to be loved a lot!! Don't be cruel animals and let them be. Getting these creatures need responsibility, if you want a reptile that needs less maintenance, get a snake.


Ill add more pics later, gotta go for now! :-D

(This article has not been spell cheked or proof read yet lolz! )

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Watch our for my next blog, about our little princes who was born 111708 :-D

Image Resizer for Vista

I was looking for a solution for this today. I take a lot of photos in full 12.1 Resolution and I often like to upload them or email them on the internet.

I know that most sites I upload too offer auto converting, like multiply.com, facebook.com, friendster.com, flickr.com etc.. It does take time if you have the site convert it for you.

When I was still on Windows XP Pro, there was a free software by windows Powertoys called image resizer. Downloadable here

It was so easy to use. After installing, you then get an option on your right-click menu to resize pictures. So when you right click on a single photo or a group of highlighted photos on your PC, you can resize them all with a just a 2 clicks. It then resizes them and saves them to a different file name on the same directory so it doesn't overwrite your original images. There are also a couple of options in the settings which allows you to save in different directories, change the default size of the pic you want to resize too and even if you want overwrite the original pic.

I miss this. I miss image resizer. and it is not available on VISTA. Such a simple and useful program somehow got erased on microsofts priority list. I am sure many photo enthusiasts are disappointed by this. Try googling "Vista Image Resizer" and you will see.

Well today I found a solution:
VSO image resizer for vista and what's best is, it is FREE!!

It basically gives you the same comfort as image resizer by windows powertoys.

To explain further, it provides a you tube video link on its site:


Hope this helps!! :-D

Mobile Royal Rumble -What? No iphone?

For clarification, I removed the word "windows" from the title :-D

Well, I have been using my first windows mobile device, the HTC touch dual for quite awhile now and it seems to be give me great satisfaction in comparison with how palm made me feel a long time ago. The Sony Ericsson P800/P900 gave me the same feeling as well but sorta died out when I changed to the SE P990 :-(

The HTC Touch Dual does everything I need on a mobil computing device and has all the software you could ever ask for. It is still missing a couple of features that I WANT to have. It is more of a want really and not a NEED, but WANT most often times tips the scale and makes us upgrade faster than expected lolz!

Here are the mobile wrestlers!
- HTC touch pro
- HTC Diamond
- Samsung Omnia
- SE Xperia X1 - Also made by HTC
And the latest player which is running GOOGLE's latest Mobile project- Android also housed in a beautiful HTC made Chassis
- Tmobile G1


Now I don't have any of these devices so just link your self to each of the products site to get the details and google reviews.

What I would do though is rank them according to which I think would sell the most:
1 SE Xperia X1 (if it lives up to its hype)- Definitely getting one.
2 HTC Touch Pro - If X1 does not do well, this is definitely my second choice coz it does have all the features of X1 except for the SE GUI and it also comes in a smaller, slicker package.
3 HTC diamond - If you don't like slide out keyboards then this is has everything you need without the KB. It can do everything the X1 and the touch pro can do.
4 Samsung Omnia - This could also be placed in number three but I decided to put it on #4, although it has 8gig built in storage I think its to iphony looking and would just get the iphone if I wanted something looking like this. I have 8 gig MSD SDHC card on my touch dual and I haven't even fully used 1/4th of it.
5 Tmobile G1 - This could even beat number one if it doesn't do what all windows mobile devices do- slow down or crash at least once or twice a month. But this to me is still an experiment, let us wait and see for first impressions before we tackle this device.


Sorry guys, iphone is not on my list as of the moment, until I try it myself I will not recommend it because of all the horror stories I have hear about the IPHONE 3G. If I want to enjoy the Iphone Experience though I think the 32GB Itouch will do for now.

Logitech DiNovo Mini- Ultimate HTPC Accessory

All I can say is I want one. The DiNovo edge was really cool but this is more practical. Definitely an addition to my to-buy list :-)

Specs wise I am loving it. Bluetooth, back light, full keyboard and mouse functionality, size is perfect for the home theater room.


System Requirements

o PC with Windows® XP or Windows Vista®
o USB Port
o This product is compatible with PLAYSTATION®3.

Technical Specifications

o 25 mm (.98-inch) dual-purpose ClickPad. Works as a touch pad and a 4-way directional pad
o Thumb-operated keypad design
o 63 backlighted keys
o Backlighting for two modes—orange for touch-pad mode, green for media-center remote mode
o Ambient light sensor measures current available light and turns off backlight, if necessary, to conserve power
o Troy gloss silver with midnight black design
o Dedicated Windows Media® Center button
o Range: up to 10 m (33 feet)

Connectivity

o Bluetooth® 2.0 wireless technology
o Point-to-point technology pre-paired with DiNovo Mini keyboard. (Does not act as a hub.)

Power and Battery

o 30 days (battery life)
o Full-charge: Takes about 4 hours.
o Fast-charge: Takes about 10 minutes for 1 day of use
o 950 mAH lithium-ion battery

Dimensions and Weight

o 152 mm by 90 mm by 27.5 mm (cover closed) (5.98-inch by 3.5-inch by 1.08-inch)
o 152 mm by 152.8 mm by 65 mm (cover opened) (5.98-inch by 6-inch by 2.55-inch)
o 170-175 g (with battery and receiver) (5.99 – 6.17 oz)
o 59.5 mm by 18.5 mm by 9.1 mm (receiver size) (2.34-inch by 0.73-inch by 0.36-inch)
o 7 g (receiver weight) (0.25 oz)

Package Contents

o Logitech® diNovo Mini™
o USB Mini-receiver
o Power adapter
o CD with software, comfort guidelines and help center
o User’s guide
o Cleaning cloth
o 3-year limited hardware warranty
o Full product support


I don't have it so I'll let these guys show you how it works:







The DiNovo Mini Rocks!

Google's G1: Android is Finally Coming to town

Google's G1:Android is finally coming to town, and hopefully it will hit the shelves here in Asia by December! :-D

Android is the name of the software that google has been developing to power their new mobile phone. The hardware is manufactured by one of todays leading PDA/Mobile phone manufacturer, HTC, famous for there Windows Mobile Devices. The name of the device will be G1 (I think it means, Google 1)

Bluetooth, GPS, Accelorometer, 3.0 Mega Pixel, track ball similar to blackberry. These are just some of Google's G1 Mobile contraption.

Here is a demo of the software in action:


android is open source, like linux. Here is the development site:
http://code.google.com/android/

Industry Braces for Google G1 on Android
Print All Articles Letter to the editor Podcast Listen to this article. Powered by Odiogo.com
on 22 September 2008, 18:21
by Lalee Sadighi

T-Mobile on Tuesday will release the first mobile phone to use Android, Google’s mobile operating system, in a launch that could win the search giant 4 percent of the smartphone market.

The T-Mobile/Google phone, dubbed the G1, is the newest agitator in a fast-moving U.S. smartphone market so far dominated by Research In Motion with 16 million BlackBerry subscribers, followed by newcomer Apple, who in 15 months has already sold over 10 million iPhones.

“T-Mobile could sell 400,000 phones this year, giving Google about 4 percent of the U.S. market for "smart" phones,” research firm Strategy Analytics wrote in a report earlier this month.

The G1, which is expected to retail for $199 and carry the Google brand, should be available for sale in a few weeks. Details are scarce--other than the obvious web browsing and e-mail capabilities--but the phone is expected to be an iPhone/BlackBerry hybrid of some sort, with a touch screen and a full tactile keyboard.

The release comes less than a year after Google lifted the veil on Android--an announcement that pushed Google’s stock to a record $747.24.

In a then unique move, Google had announced a free software platform and operating system for mobile devices based on Linux, which would be available to mobile carriers under the Apache free-software and open-source license. The Android OS now has the muscle of the Open Handset Alliance, a group of 34 software, hardware, and telecommunications companies.

The enthusiasm for Google's mobile plans was evident and analysts predicted that the Mountain View, California-based company would use the platform to dominate the world of mobile advertising, just like it had with web advertising. It also came as the search player was making moves at FCC spectrum auctions to open up a swath of airwaves for new rivals.

"Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in November of last year when the company applied for the FCC auction.

That same month an analysts at Oppenheimer & Co predicted that Google would make nearly $5 billion in revenue from the mobile market within three years after Android's debut and stuck a whopping price target of $850 on the company’s stock. A few weeks before the release of the first Android phone, the search king’s stock is languishing at $430.14.

But since Google started its Android effort the industry has seen the launch of two other free, open-source mobile software platforms, heating up the competition for web advertising domination.

Symbian, the world's largest supplier of software for smartphones--with 57 percent market share--was bought by Nokia in June, and like Google the Finnish company decided to make the software available to other phone makers for free.

Mobile Linux developer LiMo is another Google rival. The LiMo alliance counts founding partners Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, Panasonic, Samsung, and Vodafone. In May, Verizon Wireless said that starting next year LiMo, would be the software of choice for its phones.

But Google remains the undisputed king of web advertising, a precious advantage over any rival, and it already counts T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel on its side.

AT&T, the leading U.S. phone carrier and distributor of the iPhone--which runs on Apple's operating system--remains undecided if it will sign up an open-source mobile operating system.

Waiting for Apple CEO Steve Jobs to offer an open-source version of his operating system and license it to others might be a long wait.

Taken from here

BAB- Back and Busy

Well, here I am, back and busy. While my mom, our angel, passed away, my wife got hospitalized.

My brain went on a roller coaster ride really.. I swear, I have never been so stressed out in my life. Non the less, I am back.

WARNING: DO NOT EAT AT MANA STK AT SUTUKIL Lapu Lapus Monument in Mactan Island (Near Shang Rila).

I have yet to call up the owners. My wife, 7 months pregnant got infected with a gram-neg bacteria. An Intestinal Bacteria. She Had LBM, then on the next day, she had serious chills with her fever going up to 39+. We immediately admitted her to Cebu Doctors, a day after she had Anemia, her hemoglobin count was dropping fast. 9.0, down to 8 then down to 7.. all the doctors were scared, they ran all kinds of tests on her, and imagine her being pregnant with out first baby and my I could not go to my mom's wake :-( They searched for signs of internal bleeding, but non was found. We were in the hospital for almost about two weeks. The Bacteria was so strong that it caused all of these. Good thing the baby was not affected. All her ultra sound showed that she was ok and everything was normal. I know for sure that my Mom was there protecting her.

My Aunt and her Son from the US also got sick with LBM accompanied by Nausea. They ate there together at the restaurant. Apparently, it was because of a seaweed called "Lato" which only the three of them ate.

I tell you they are going to get a taste of ME. A REALLY BAD TASTE OF ME.


I wonder if I can sue them? Sigh..

My wife now has to have complete bed rest until she gives birth..

That is it for now.. Remember DONT EAT AT MANA STK SUTUKIL.

Blog Break- May She Rest In Peace..

My mom passed away yesterday, Sept. 10, 2008, 9:50AM.

What better way to go to heaven than within a mass. We were all complete as a family and close friends. Just after the first reading..I noticed her catching her breath.. and then she left us with a smile.. Everything seemed to be all planned. Our mass was supposed to be in the afternoon, but one of my mother's favorite priests flew in from Manila, Fr. Sonny Ramirez, so we have a special mass for her. Fr Ramirez also brought in a relic from our Lady of Manaoag and placed it over my mom while having mass. The cross of St. Benedict was also on her chest.. On her hands were placed a Rosary from Rome from our cousin, Fr Jun Yu and a Rosary Bracelet from a famous healing priest, Fr. Suarez.Like guiding lights on airport strip, God planned out the way my mother should go to heaven..

She was a perfect mother, an angel to my dad, the best grandma to her grand children..

She is a Saint in our hearts.

It's nice to know we now have a direct contact person in heaven ;-) Mom, you are there, closest to God, Jesus, Mary and all the angels and Saints in Heaven. We know you are praying for us always.

We love you. Thank you Mom.

God Bless You, Mama Mary Loves you.