Philippines's IS RICHER than the United States's

Just learned today that the current President of the developing country, the Republic of the Philippines, is richer than the present head of the United States of America. More than twice richer at that.

Blue light can wake you up

Works for me.

Online articles once spread the news about blue light's properties that help reset the body clock and get the human body up from slumber. I was intrigued, more so with this article.

So I bought a blue LED lamp (well I decided to buy many of them later on since they were dirt cheap) from some Taiwanese shop some weeks ago and conducted the tests. So far, so good. I've successfully cut down my sleeping hours to a little over 4 hours daily. I no longer feel that tiredness in the mid-morning and afternoon.

Could also be psychological but as I remember it, since I set up that tiny (at 0.3 watt power consumption) blue light source on my desk, I've never felt more energetic and alert.

Oh Music

Came across this download of a certain Asian movie's soundtrack. It's got ten songs inside a compressed file of around 45+ mb. I was amazed by how that out of the blue download got me a collection of really good sounding songs. And they're in some Asian language!

Of course I don't know any other Asian language other than what I learned from living in the Philippnes, those melodious songs though took me some time to let go of them from my playlist. The lyrics sounded like random pairings of vowels and consonants but the tunes were really catchy and hard to get over with. They most probably were love songs. Well, good thing there's language barrier to keep me off stereotypical cheesy or corny lines and phrases.

I think I'm one of those who would mercilessly bash lyrics but for me, a beautiful melody always saves a song. I remember liking the song Tu Y Yo from over a decade ago. I knew it was from some Mexican telenovela and for someone my age (back then) it wasn't cool listening to a telenovela song. I didn't understand the words so I got nothing to bash; I only had the music to enjoy. The song MMMM MMMM MMMM also haunts me, reminding me of some mysterious points in my childhood. It does not have the best lyrics but the title and how it's sung are enough for some dork like me to call it good music. The very popular (in French speaking countries) "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" also has its special place in my brain...and my heart, sentimentally speaking. French usually sounds weird to me but that song's lyrics and tune sounded like a perfect combination.

Somehow I'm beginning to think that the most beautiful songs for me are songs that I can't sing along with. They are those that have the overall package that puts them above every other ordinary song. Untouchable, one can only remain in awe listening to them and feeling every note gently slipping into the ears. With this recent set of songs I got, I think I'm beginning to develop a new perception of what good music really is and how it affects anyone.

Okay, I'm just ranting here albeit positively. No link to the songs to be given away since I know enjoying music has always been something subjective. Not to invite anyone to judge my musical tastes, the only intention is to share some thoughts and show how the Internet provides all the opportunity I've never had in my younger years.

(I'm not promoting piracy. The set of songs I got comes from a country whose music I guess has the slimmest chances to make it here in the Philippines. Nothing lost for them, they're not gonna make much with that in my Westernized homeland)

Philippines's IS RICHER than the United States's

Just learned today that the current President of the developing country, the Republic of the Philippines, is richer than the present head of the United States of America. More than twice richer at that.

Google Map Maker

Google launches a competition aimed at helping map out important landmarks and places around the world. It uses the Google Map Maker software that can be accessed and used online. This isn't really a contest for personal gain. It can be inferred rather as an effort to jumpstart a collaborative endeavor to build the world's biggest, most comprehensive, most accurate, and most accessible map. Not only does this competition help web users in locating places, it also helps humanitarian and government groups in doing their jobs more efficiently. The prize for the winning entry is a US$50,000 project award from UNICEF along with a VIP tour from UNICEF officials, and an all-expense paid trip to the 2010 Map Maker Global Competition.

Interested participants may access the link below:
http://www.google.com/help/mapmaker/competitions/global/getstarted.html

SuBo is YouTube's 2009 top video

YouTube says 2009 was Susan Boyle or SuBo's year with her Britain's Got Talent video recording over 120,000,000 views. Now SuBo's such a celebrity she's got an album topping the Billboard charts. Imagine what the Internet can do. In this case, the web is weaving a path of success for a public-speaking-challenged but talented Scottish amateur singer.


Here's the sensational SuBo audition:


And the interesting "Wild Horses" revival...

Stupid Complaints

You know one thing I hate about the Philippines? People here just love to complain about very trivial things. Could be funny but it's just annoying.

Saw on TV this evening a group called "Katribu" complaining on how Big Brother housemates wear the "bahag." Too shallow! The "bahag" is a native costume made of hand-loomed piece of long cloth wrapped around a man's middle to cover what needs covering.


Filipino people (at least a sizeable portion of the population) complain about how the national anthem should be sung on Manny Pacquiao's fights. Come on, I haven't even heard of anyone complaining on how tonedeaf students and even public officials sing Lupang Hinirang on Mondays. Try examining that guy or gal who leads the singing. Does he or she even know what those hand seals of sorts (sorry I don't know how to call those...thinking Naruto here) mean or how they should affect the singing?

I've also heard of native folks banning one comedienne for allegedly maligning them with a joke that goes "Hindi po ako Igorot" (I am not an Igorot). That very simple line does not deserve very sensitive inference. Anyone non-Igorot has the right to deny that he or she is one and being a comic artist, the more one has the privilege to say such words. This is just my opinion but I think many also share the same thoughts.

And we have "racial slurs" in the international media. Okay, I may have second thoughts on calling this stupid. Maybe I'm just reacting negatively on the complaints based on how complainants do their complaining. Why don't we just act with even a little dignity?

We all have the right to complain but my only appeal is can we be a little less annoying? Maybe the media is also to blame. Why do they just love broadcasting or writing about such trivialities?