I’ve already forgotten the last time I logged in to my yahoo account to edit my information. Yes, I am fairly active with YM but I still use Gmail as my primary account just because I feel that Yahoo is already too populated. So, when I logged in today, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Yahoo has put their identity theft protection service to the next level.

I’ve always thought their old method for verifying users was too easy to break. Now, unless you really know the person eerily well, (or a stalker perhaps?) you will be having a very hard time breaking into their account. Kudos to Yahoo!

Here’s to you stalkers!

Hooray! My laptop’s back in tip-top shape. I terribly missed bringing this very portable MSI Wind notebook computer everywhere I go since its keyboard went haywire on the third week of June. Yep. I was left to use my old laptop for almost a month after an attempt to clean this little one led to its untimely demise.

It was an innocent act. All I wanted was for my laptop to look clean and tidy so I went on to clean it with the Crocodile cleaner that I’ve been using for ages. Little did I know that I’d get fluid to seep in between the keys causing my keyboard its life and almost 1,900 pesos down the drain. We were first quoted a replacement keyboard worth 1,750 pesos when my father called up the MSI service center in Cubao but lo and behold, when he got there he was told that it would cost him 1,900+ pesos. Ouch! Good thing I’m still considered a “dependent”. Hehe. Hooray for being a medical student!

Being away from my laptop for weeks was a pain in the ass. Good thing I didn’t really need to make papers for my rotation in Anesthesiology earlier this month so we had time to think between getting a new one locally or getting it from a supplier that I found on ebay which offers the replacement keyboard at a way cheaper rate. Yup! Even with shipping. I personally would have wanted to buy the one online since it’s a whole lot cheaper but my father brought up the issue of paying for customs tax. I don’t have much experience buying large stuff online and having them shipped to the Philippines as most items that I have shipped from outside the country didn’t require me to pay anything at all so it left me half-hearted on buying online. But hey, I am not, definitely not complaining. After all I have my little Lappie Jr. back. Haha! Now I’m back to good ol’ business everyone!

Whoever thought of making laptops this small is an utter genius.

This is undoubtedly the best weekend I’ve ever had. I went out to pamper myself: name it, I’ve done it! I’ve never had a lot of fun in the last couple of weeks. I was out and about town meeting friends, attending parties, going to the movies, drinking, dancing and just being happy. I felt free. Like I had nothing to care about in the world. I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve said how I missed this kind of life. I’m so happy that I’m almost crying and I don’t want to go back to being a medical clerk ever again. This is really the most exciting long weekend I’ve ever had. Really.

At least in my dreams.

In real life, I just wasted away my time at home in front of my laptop. I didn’t even go out to burn time in the mall to watch a movie or perhaps dine out. I didn’t get to have my nails done, what more get a relaxing Swedish massage. I didn’t get to see any of my friends. There were no parties to attend, no music to dance to and no booze to infuse my system with. In fact I bet I need some sort of immune system boosters since I’ve caught another bug and is suffering now from a sore throat and that occasional cough.

I’ve wasted such a great long weekend. And my only hope to make this perfect, that is seeing Bee for the first and last time this week, ended up in smoke just a few minutes ago when he told me he couldn’t see me.

What an absolutely great weekend isn’t it?

In my chosen career, I’m bound to deal with highfalutin words and jargons left and right. The sad fact is that no matter how many books and journals I read, remembering each and every meaning of the words and jargons I encounter is next to impossible. Back in the heydays, the good old thick dictionary is everyone’s best buddy when one comes across a word that needs to be clarified. These days have been much different. The benefits of having almost everything accessible online has never been more evident with the ease it has brought to people from all walks of life especially to students like me who do a lot of research. When I come across words that need instant definition, I visit a reliable online dictionary like Babylon.

What I like most about this website is that it’s not your typical online dictionary. Babylon is a dictionary, glossary, thesaurus and an encyclopedia all rolled into one. This free online tool is a student’s new best buddy because you get to access a wide array of information from an extensive collection in one single click. Before, if you want to get a definition of something, you go to your favorite online dictionary’s website, type in the term and the dictionary’s definition of the term will be shown. If you’re not satisfied with the definition, you go type in the same term in a different online dictionary - separately. Now, if you need more extensive information about the term, one will most likely visit an online encyclopedia to search for it. For lazier searchers, the good old search engine would be their most likely solution for their searching needs. It’s a lot easier than going to websites one by one but then again, the results of search engines are not always 100% relevant to what you’re looking for. This online dictionary I’m talking about, however, makes things a lot easier because it shows you everything indexed in their collection regarding your search term from dictionaries down to encyclopedia entries. What’s cooler is that Babylon also offers online translation of words and full texts across major languages for free! Really, Babylon is one great find online. In fact, I’m bookmarking it now. You will too, won’t you?

Xeeber is still down and I don’t think it’s going back up again any time soon. Anyway, I’ve been receiving hits from people looking for a Xeeber alternative after I shared one of online discoveries (Magic’s Yahoo! Status Multichecker) that I thought of looking for other alternatives online in case this one faces a problem in the future. I was actually quite surprised because there were indeed a lot of other YM status checkers available out there and the good majority of internet users hardly knew they existed.

Anyway, I’ve done my research. Here are some Yahoo online status checkers available for free. I’ve tried them and they’re working perfectly well as of this post. They’re all able to tell if the Yahoo ID entered is online, offline or invisible. Those italicized can even display the YM ID’s avatar. » Continue Reading

I tried accessing the Xeeber website and it’s still down. I am greeted by no longer a 404 Page Not Found error though but just a white blank screen. I did a whois lookup on Xeeber and found that the domain is set to expire in 2009 and it seems that all Xeeber servers are alive and kicking. So I’m assuming that it’s either CheckDNS is unreliable or Xeeber’s gone for good. Although I discovered an alternative to Xeeber (which appears accurate and reliable when I did my own background check), I still miss the good old online stalker’s tool. Hehe.

I wish it’s not yet the end.