Darn Kids Pie

I've been playing around with the blog settings this weekend and made some changes. Immediately noticeable is the new template. But the real biggie is that "Kastilyong Buhangin" is now "Pinoy Pie". I'm also no longer on the blogspot address as I've switched over to a custom domain (fancy!). There's no need to update your links as all previous links will automatically redirect here. But it would be nice if you did as it would help my Google PageRank for www.PinoyPie.com. I've been wanting to use Blogger's Custom Domain every since they released it back in January this year. I held back as there were still issues I was waiting for Blogger to resolve before I moved over. This issue in particular:
For those of you who switched their blog*spot blogs to Google's custom domain for blogger, you may have run into some unexpected errors, mainly being only able to publish either directly to your domain (example: mycoolblog.com) or to the "www" address (example: www.mycoolblog.com) but not both. (link to full article)
Well, Blogger hasn't addressed it themselves yet and I got tired of waiting for a fix from them. There were already people out there who came out with quick fixes. This particular one from instabloke helped me. The only drawback was that I had to switch over my domains to GoDaddy.com for it to work. Well, I was planning to do it anyway as there were services in Dotster.com, where I was originally registered, I had to pay for which is free on GoDaddy.

I changed the name to something with a more universal appeal. My old URL address was a mouthful and non-Filipinos find it hard to remember. This one's short and sweet and easier on the fingers to type. Plus, it stays faithful to the unexplainable relationship with pastry of this blog.

So let's get to business. My links of things to blog about have been piling up quite a bit. So I'm gonna dump a bunch of things on 'ya. I'm gonna follow a theme though, you know, just for the sake of having a theme.

Kids Are the Darnedest Things

Yes they are. They don't just say the darnedest things, they are it. I have a lot of respect for the mothers and fathers out there. I'm not sure I can handle kids myself. I like going to visit them and maybe play with them when I do, but I'm really not sure if I can live with them. They should have a petting zoo with kids instead of animals for people like me. Oh, I just realized, I already have such a setup. It's called being an uncle.

We'll start with an old clip from Jay Leno. It's real funny, check it out:



You gotta look at the bright side. At least the kid knows how to call 911. That will come in handy in case of a real emergency, you know, like division.

I gotta say, I sympathize with this kid. I know exactly how she feels. Everybody, meet Little Becky.



And finally, here's a beautiful site you should give a visit: scary.net. It's a collection of beautiful, dark, creepy, and touching animations done by Katy Towell entitled "Childrin R Skary". Watching them is like being told a bedtime story. Her work reminds me of Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman, and Mono. My favorite of the ones I've seen so far is "The Little Girl Who Was Forgotten By Absolutely Everyone (Even The Postman)". Oh yeah, have a tissue handy for this one. Great stuff.

Google Pranks HTML5 Users on YouTube

I love this one. HTML5 is a new web standard that Google is pushing for the Internet. One of the on-going projects they have for it is an HTML5 version of YouTube. The project is currently undergoing opt-in trials. You can turn on HTML5 for YouTube  here .  I signed-up for the trials earlier this year. I really haven't felt any difference between viewing videos in Flash and HTML5. That's great news as when HTML5 finally becomes widespread, that's one less buggy plug-in to worry about (i.e. Flash) in your browser. Imagine my surprise when I was viewing a video on YouTube and right clicked it to find a..... "Save Video As" option! That's great! No more using extensions and/or plug-ins for downloading videos on YouTube!  It's always been an unspoken rule to make downloading videos online just difficult enough so that the average Internet user is unable to do it easily due to copyright issues. So this was really, I thought, a bold feature to have on YouTub...

From the Far Side of the World

This is great! I just got the book I ordered from  BookDepository.com . I was drawn to try and purchase a book from the site as they were offering free worldwide shipping. Can you believe it? Free worldwide shipping!  With regards to online shopping, Shipping Rates that I've seen before are prohibitively expensive and impractical. If you were ordering a book or DVD from Amazon for example to be delivered here (Manila, Philippines), Standard Shipping is almost as expensive as the item itself. If you try and go the expedited route, forget about it. Expedited Shipping rates would be more expensive than the item itself. It was just ridiculous. Buying something online in a situation like that simply wasn't an option.  The prices I saw on the books are similar to Amazon.com . Prices are also competitive against Fully Booked (a local bookstore). In my particular case, I ordered a large format trade paperback of “Empire of Silver” by Conn Iggulden. This was not yet available ...

Drive By Shootings #1: Asian Massage

New series! These will be pictures I took, mostly from my car, while driving around the metro. They won't be the best quality cause I usually use the camera on my mobile. While I was driving home one night, this SUV pulled up beside me. My camera phone sucks at night shots, but you can still read most of the text. This really made me laugh when I read i t, check it out ( click photo for larger version ): If you can't read everything, here's what it says: Asian Massage Calming The Whole Nation 24 hour Massage Home Service & SPA (Php 250/HR) STRICTLY MASSAGE ONLY! - GOD CAN SEE YOU! I wish I could hear the recordings of the phone calls they received that lead them to put that in there. Wow. Makes me kind of paranoid. Someone is watching all the time. I think I'm going to start wearing my swimming gear when I take a bath. The Voices: That doesn't make a difference. Me: Why? The Voices: Well, if Superman has X-ray vision, don't you think HE will at least have...

The Rebellion Begins

It has been awhile since I flexed these blogging muscles. Hopefully, the kids these days still remember what that is cause I wouldn't know how to Vine this thing.  It’s the weekend. I woke-up and ran through my mental To-do list. There are a few things I wanted to get to, so I got-up to take a shower and wash-off the cobwebs. I bark at my sentient music player (well, voice enabled anyway). “Alexa, play music” Usually, I'll ask it to play news and read through headlines while I get read for work. But I wanted to start the day energized instead of bummed. Alexa replies back. “Here is an Amazon playlist you might enjoy, ‘Songs to Bug Your Parents’.” That made me chuckle to myself. Between the moment it announces the name of the playlist it recommended and the time it took to buffer-up the first song, the music video of Twisted Sister's " We're Not Going to Take It " flashes in my mind.  Then the audio starts and ...