The Mentat

End of Days for the Maternity Ward

neolex — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:44:56 +0000

Everyone in the office knows me either as the fertility god or the director of the maternity ward. There’s just way too many pregnant women among my staff for the past year or so. More than normal, I should say. You can review my “eros” posts of yore to check on what I’m talking about as I’m posting this via email and don’t have the bandwidth to go through the links right now.

Yesterday, around 4.40 in the afternoon, the last of my staff, Christine, gave birth to a healthy baby girl via c-section. She apparently ran out of amniotic fluids before the baby came out hence the need to deliver that way. From the report I received, she and the baby are doing great. No worries at all.

Now that she’s given birth and I have no more pregnant staff in my team, I wonder if my team’s name will be changed come the new year. Right now we’re being hailed as the maternity ward with my boss being the captain, considering every team he has has at least 1 to 2 pregnant women on board. Might my team be re-named to the bordello? Hmmm…

I think I’ll rename my team to The Nursery before anyone else gets any bright ideas for my team. What do you think? What name shall I call my team in the next few months? The table’s open to suggestions.

Posted via email from The Mentat

The Coffee Lover’s Prayer

neolex — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:56:38 +0000

Caffeine is my shepherd; I shall not doze.
It maketh me to wake in green pastures:
It leadeth me beyond the sleeping masses.
It restoreth my buzz:
It leadeth me in the paths of consciousness for its name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of addiction,
I will fear no Equal(tm):
For thou art with me;
thy cream and thy sugar, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a carafe before me in the presence of The Starbucks;
Thou anointest my day with pep; my mug runneth over.

Surely richness and taste shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of Mocha forever.

_____________________________
from: http://www.jumbojoke.com/the_coffee_lovers_prayer.html

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Move: Complete

neolex — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:38:08 +0000

Back in February, I talked about moving to another place. A sort of downgrade. Well, it’s happened and it’s complete now. My stay at the wonderful place was a short 10 months and 6 days. It had been a wonderful experience marred only by the moving out debacle which stretched almost 3 months. Something I do not want repeated ever again.

Anyway, my new place still needs a lot of work to look like home but at least it’s mine. Right now it looks like a warehouse with things and boxes stacked all over the place. But it’s homey and I can rest easy here. Meaning I’m almost always sleepy.

My mobile broadband connection here’s about the same as the old one. Same schedule of peaks and lows, I’ve noticed. Though the big difference is the stability of the signal and consistency. Probably because of the proximity to the cell tower. Or the height of this place.

For now, I’ll rest and so soon I will back into my blogging form again. Thank you.

Posted via email from The Mentat

Lindsay Lohan Goes to Jail

neolex — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:24:31 +0000

I wonder why we, as a people, can’t do this to our celebrities and politicians? Are they somehow immune to our countries laws? Or is it just that they have a sh1tl0ad of money to bribe the police and the judges?

This is another glaring point in our country’s movement towards
“progress.” It doesn’t help us any when other countries know that a lot of our criminals can actually get away with almost anything by virtue of having money.

Like the Trillanes case. Why is it being revived now? A review is being called by no less than the new President. How do you suppose that happened? And aren’t there more pressing concerns for our dear President to take care of? Come on…

US actress Lohan begins jail term

via BBC News – Home on 7/20/10

Actress Lindsay Lohan has started a 90-day prison sentence for violating her probation relating to a 2007 drug case.

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MS .Net vs Java

neolex — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:21:10 +0000

[See post to watch Flash video]

Something I found while stumbling along the net, killing my boredom.

Link to Youtube.

Mobile Broadband Slow?

neolex — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:54:13 +0000

I use Sun’s Mobile Broadband product and I have to admit that there are times when it crawls. Literally crawls. I can’t surf any website let alone connect to any of the 5 instant messaging networks I login to everyday. But thanks to the tricks I’ve learned through the months I’ve been using the service, there are ways to boost your speed to remove your frustrations.

Edit the network settings of the Huawei modem softwafe

Relocate the dongle to a better position (usually involves an extension cable)

Use a frying pan as signal catcher

Learn the best times to connect

Refresh DNS/IP address

Let’s take a look at each of the methods I’ve enumerated.

Network settings: Go to TOOLS / OPTIONS / NETWORK / REGISTRATION MODE and choose Manual. Search for your network and click REGISTER. Then move to the NETWORK TYPE tab and choose WCDMA PREFERRED. Click OK to save everything then connect.

Note: you can only do this if you’re still not connected to the network. Effect is doubtful but it works for Denmark and me. This tip came from him, actually.

Relocate the modem: Usually to higher place like your wall or above your window sill. Remember that the modem is like a cell phone only it’s for data. So move it around until you get a clear, strong signal from the network. You need to buy a USB extension cable for this method. Preferably one with a power booster built in. There’s plenty available for low prices at…

Frying Pan / Cooking Pot: For this method, I defer to the video below, which I found through Lifehacker who also found it from another site who found it from Youtube. It’s effective at increasing the signal your modem catches as the pot acts like a satellite dish bouncing the signals around towards the antenna.

[See post to watch Flash video]

Times: For this, I can only provide you the windows to my immediate vicinity of residence and those are between midnight to six (6) in the morning with the strongest signal and the fastest speeds (like you can stream youtube speeds) between 3.10AM to 6.20AM. After that it’s a free-for-all, cross-your-fingers game. It helps that my sleep cycle is irregular thanks to my job as a vampire.

Refresh your DNS/IP Address: This is easy… just disconnect your connection then reconnect. This usually helps if you’re outside the window time of the fastest signal in your area.

Share your experiences and your methods below. My methods might not work for you but you might have other methods and tricks up your sleeve to improve the signal and speed of our 3G modems.

Reference: Lifehacker, Youtube, LiewCF

Smokers, Rejoice!!!

neolex — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:02:40 +0000

Almost all smokers (the ones I know, anyway) admit that smoking cigarettes or cigars cause damage to their lungs. Mine included as I’ve been a smoker since I was 17. Anyway, I digress.

Years ago, I believe between 1998 to 2000, I’ve read a Times Magazine article which showed a schedule of availability of human body parts which will be cloned in laboratories. The thing that struck me most was that it said replacement lungs will be available around 10 years from the time of that writing. Well, the story I attached below from Slashdot could be proving that true.

Since these are rats they’re talking about, how long do you think before they start with humans? How long do you think replacement lungs will become available for all the smokers out there? This might also just become the reason to turn the trend back into smoking instead of away.

Like my friend loves to tell me every time he regresses back into the habit, “quitters never win.” Share your thoughts, if you will. In the meantime, want a light?

Rats Breathe Air From Lungs Grown In the Lab

via Slashdot by timothy on 6/24/10

cremeglace writes “‘For the first time, an animal has drawn a breath with lungs cultivated in the lab.’ Although preliminary, the results might eventually lead to replacement lungs for patients. Researchers at Yale University have successfully applied a technique called decellularization that involves using detergent to remove all of the cells from an organ, leaving a scaffold consisting of the fibrous material between cells.”

Posted via email from The Mentat

Almost all smokers (the ones I know, anyway) admit that smoking cigarettes or cigars cause damage to their lungs. Mine included as I’ve been a smoker since I was 17. Anyway, I digress.

Like my friend loves to tell me every time he regresses back into the habit, “quitters never win.” Share your thoughts, if you will. In the meantime, want a light?

Need to Eat…

neolex — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:40:53 +0000

Saw this picture while i was stumbling through the net last night and thought it was hilarious.

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[Ramblings] What’s Been Going On

neolex — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:41:29 +0000

Just finished manually backing up my website databases and re-set the automated ones. I've discussed backing up and the its importance in the past so it should come as no surprise to most people how obsessive I can be about backups. If you aren't doing this, you'd better hop to it.

___________________________

My vacation came and went and going back to work just doesn't feel the same. Or does it? Maybe I just don't feel it what with the ambiguity of my position and the speed at which I execute tasks (thanks to my keyboard-fu skills and a brand new PC at work), I usually find myself bordering on the edge of boredom.

___________________________

Too many personal problems coming at me headon is making me, once again, tense. Coupled with lack of sleep due to the vagaries of the time differential between humans and vampires, it's spelling serious stress for me. All my close friends know that stress keeps me healthy. In a way. Perfect timing as the rainy season has just been officially announced through the news. So I was told. Need to keep my health up, you know.

I would love to get more sleep than my accustomed 5 hours or less but I have to face the fact that I still need to transact with humans on their own terms and in their own time. Maybe when us vampires grow to sufficient numbers, this inequality can be addressed. Unfortunately, that day isn't coming near anytime. I just wish most humans would be more considerate by respecting the time set for appointments and meetings by not being late.

___________________________

One night the past week at the office I was touched by a friend at work. She offered to do something for me to help me out with my personal troubles. I know I gave a non-commital "no" as an answer as she has her own troubles to deal with, I am touched, nevertheless. It was not an empty gesture and helps to remind me that there are really still people I can trust. Who are worthy of trust.

Contrary to popular belief, the world still is a good place to live in and it's better to be alive and experiencing it.

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Sh!tBegone

neolex — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:00:40 +0000

This is one of Martin’s takes from China. I guess the next product to come out after this will be PissBeGone or something like that.