Life's Treasures

So far I have entered 4 of 5 available slots in a photo contest called Life's Treasures. Voting ends on December 4, 2011 at 11:45PM. All your 5 votes are much appreciated! Thank you for your time and support. :D

1. Autumn Treasurehttp://photoartgallery.photophuse.com/gallery/5700/autumn_treasure?p=1


2. Uncle and Auntiehttp://photoartgallery.photophuse.com/gallery/5699/uncle_and_auntie?p=1


3. Antique Lamphttp://photoartgallery.photophuse.com/gallery/5698/antique_lamp?p=2


4. Sunglasses and a smilehttp://photoartgallery.photophuse.com/gallery/5697/sunglasses_and_a_smile?p=2

2011 Music Video Trio @ international film festival nominated BEST | PRLog

2011 Music Video Trio @ international film festival nominated BEST | PRLog

SECOND Screening! "Forgotten Soldiers" & "2011 music video trio" 2011 NOV 15

NEW YORK - SECOND screening! The documentary film "Forgotten Soldiers" reminds us of the courage, bravery, and sacrifice of the World War II Philippine Scouts who fought America's first major ground battle in the Philippines. "Forgotten Soldiers" has been nominated for BEST documentary feature film. Along with "2011 Music Video Trio" which shines the spotlight on local Filipino-American artists: Archie D', Dennis Sy, and Sounds of Manila. "2011 Music Video Trio" has been nominated for BEST Music Video. Due to popular demand there is a SECOND screening for this feature film directed by Donald Plata and short film directed by Richard M. Reyes at the Quad Cinema (34 W 13th St., New York, NY) on November 15, 2011 during the week-long International Film Festival Manhattan NYC celebration of international films. Tickets are $15. $1 of every ticket sale goes toward The Mount Hope Project which benefits poor Filipinos who live and work in the largest garbage disposal area in the Manila, Philippines.

RAVE REVIEWS by moviegoers who have seen "Forgotten Soldiers" and "2011 music video trio" as entertaining, educational, and surprisingly interesting. EXPERIENCE the world premiere music videos by your favorite artists: * Archie D' - Fly * Dennis Sy - Could It Be * Sounds of Manila - Manila These are your local independent Filipino-American artists who represent the BEST in Philippine talent, creativity, and bayanihan. We come together as one to entertain you. All you need is your popcorn and drink. Just relax in your movie seat. We'll take care of the rest! Salamat and MABUHAY! (Thank you!) Richard M. Reyes adecisiontolove.com

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE: http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=216&rdate=11%2F15%2F2011&sortid=1

11:12:11 music video trio best pound for pound entertainment

11:12:11 music video trio best pound for pound entertainment!

International Film Festival Opening @ Chelsea Room Hi-Res photos here: http://bit.ly/vWxS4M Hi-Res video here: http://bit.ly/rTTmQi

See you at the International Film Festival Manhattan NYC on November 12, 2011. In case you missed the buzz. Here you go! 28 second commercial Don't Be Left Behind 2011 Trio Music Video - Don't Be Left Behind

131 - Completed Solo Photo Book Month

NEW JERSEY - I finally completed and uploaded my first photobook. It is entitled "131" and was submited as my official entry for the Solo Photo Book Month contest. According to the website, it is the worst photo contest because there is no prize. I think it ranks towards the top of the list for 2011 as one of the best projects/contests I've partaken. It gave me a goal to take at least 35 photos in 31 days to create 1 pdf file. I had no issue with taking 35 days. The challenge was taking a photo each day for 31 days. There were some days that didn't seem to be interesting visually, or maybe it was more that I had not been motivated to capture anything that day. So I learned that sometimes, it is in the general or even mediocre things we do that can serve as inspiration. The finished work can be viewed here: http://sofobomo.org/book-647-131

I was so thrilled when sofobomo.org chose my video as the official video for the 2011 Solo Photo Book Month competition. You can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtNZ65qXcQc

Kirby Asunto - Rolling on the River

13 year old Kirby Asunto performs Rolling on the River during her concert in Rahway, NJ on August 13, 2011.

USA TODAY - Fastest sea-level rise in 2,100 years linked to climate change

Interesting how the sea level was reconstructed: "the scientists used microfossils preserved in sediment cores taken from coastal salt marshes in North Carolina. They estimated the age of the cores using radiocarbon dating and other techniques. They tested their approach by comparing their calculations with tide-gauge measurements from North Carolina for the past 80 years and global ones for the past 300 years."

USA TODAY - News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World

113th Commemoration of Philippine Independence Washington DC - Tribu Pan-Ay

20110612 113th Commemoration of Philippine Independence Washington DC - Tribu Pan-Ay

The Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) of New York City in cooperation with the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC bring you Tribu Pan-Ay

PIDCI President 2011 - Joji Jalandoni
PIDCI Dinagyang Special Committee Chief Coordinator Jenny Vi Niguidula
PIDCI 2011 Officers, Staff, and Volunteers
Philippine Vice-President Jejomar N. Binay
Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuicia
Iloilo City and Mayor Jed Mabilog
To all the sponsors and the Filipino Community who have made this possible

Mabubay!

Video Produced, Directed, Edited, & Filmed by Richard M. Reyes (adecisiontolove.com). Please forward any inquiries to richluis@adecisiontolove.com

113th Commemoration of Philippine Independence - NYC - PIDCI

The 113th Commeration of Philippine Independence in New York City on June 5, 2011 in Manhattan NYC along Madison Avenue starting from 37th St. down to the 23rd St. grandstand. The Philippine Independence Day Committee, Inc. (PIDCI) is the 503(c) non-profit organizing body. This event is recognized as the largest celebration of Philippine Independence outside of the Philippines.

Soundtrack Composed and Performed by:
Archie D'

This years honored guests include:
* Philippine Vice-President Jejomar Binay
* Tribu Pan-ay

ABS-CBN stars:
* Jericho Rosales
* Karylle

The Worker: 54 seconds

Spend 54 seconds with a worker one early morning. Shot handheld with the Canon 5D Mark II.

Flight through a Child's eyes

I had the great inspiration to write this photo story with a poem on JPG magazine. It is entitled, "Flight through a child's eyes." Please log on to jpgmag.com and vote for the article to be published. :D

Here's the poem along with it:

Tippy toe
I can see
Beyond the seat
In front of me

Little fingers
Touching the
window pane

Out the window
A flying fish!

I look back inside
In front of me

There's a reflection
That I see
Hey that's me!

The trip is so long
Then finally
we arrive

Our plane
Lands then stops
and another takes off
Before our very eyes

We've arrived safely!
People are up and about
I jump up and down
I am home again.

Photography and Culinary Art

Photography and Culinary Art

Switch!
The flame is on

Focus!
Slice and dice

Snap!
Colorful ingredients dance in heat

Develop!
a meal prepared to perfection

Enjoy!
A feast for body and vision

(C)2011 Richard M. Reyes
http://www.adecisiontolove.com

It is also posted on poetry.com

Camera shortage

What did you just say? .... Camera shortage, no way! Well due to the unfortunate disaster in Japan, camera manufacturers such as Canon and Nikon have been affected. Camera bodies, lenses, and even certain repair parts are experiencing a delay in production.



Popular camera and video rental company, LensRentals, is also going through the pain of delays and shortages caused by this global supply chain. Lenrentals founder, Roger Cicala, wrote in a post entitled "Summer Shortages" how camera product consumers could and would be affected. As a result of the repair delays, Lensrentals have even picked up some laser collimators. You can read more about laser collimators in a post by Floyd Blue here.



James Kwantes, a writer for the Vancouver Sun, interviewed London Drug's President and CEO, Wynne Powell, in an article titled, "Supply Crunch coming for cameras, electronics from Japan."



Kwantes wrote, "Nikon, which is warning of camera shortages this summer, is another case in point, Powell said. The company had a lens factory near the epicentre of the quake. The firm was able to repair the crack in the floor and get the plant operating again, but had to shut down after running out of a small part that was supplied by a local family business.



'Equipment that’s made today is really world-based equipment, and a variety of small, cottage manufacturers make important components for it,' he said."



For some the solution will be to wait it out. For others it may be to scour the Internet for equipment still stocked in some vendors' shelves. I was recently looking for a Canon 5D Mark II, that up until before the earthquake was being sold on the Canon Direct Store. I thought it was a great buy for a refurbished unit at $2099. The price the Canon 5D Mark II seemed to be as high or even higher than when it was first released in the Fall of 2008. Before the earthquake it was common to see the camera body sell for $2499. Now it is $2699.



REFERENCES:

Kwantes, James. "Supply crunch coming for cameras, electronics from Japan." Retrieved from the Internet on May 12, 2011.

Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley - Best Shots from Pacquiao vs. Mosley - Photos - SI.com

Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley - Best Shots from Pacquiao vs. Mosley - Photos - SI.com
Mosley is knocked down in the third round.


Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley - Best Shots from Pacquiao vs. Mosley - Photos - SI.com
Pacquiao delivers a right to Mosley early in Saturday's fight.

Manny Pacquiao - Best Shots from Pacquiao vs. Mosley - Photos - SI.com
Fans cheer as Pacquiao is introduced before the start of Saturday's fight by ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr.

Manny Pacquiao - Best Shots from Pacquiao vs. Mosley - Photos - SI.com
The eight-division champion was all smiles after entering the ring to "Eye of the Tiger" accompanied by longtime Survivor frontman Jimi Jamison.

Shane Mosley - Best Shots from Pacquiao vs. Mosley - Photos - SI.com
Mosley entered the MGM Grand Garden Arena accompanied by LL Cool J, who performed "Mama Said Knock You Out" for the challenger's ringwalk.

Vanessa 20110507

Vanessa is the 2011 Binibining Pilipinas at the Philippine American Friendship Committee (PAFCOM). These are a couple of photos from today's shoot.

SoFoBoMo2011 - Solo Photo Book Month

The Solo Photo Book Month



From July 1 - August 31, 2011 photographers world wide are invited to create their own photo book. It's a simple rule, just pick a start date that will hold 31 straight days of photographing your topic/subject. So this year, for example, the latest date to select would be July 31, 2011 to give you an end date of August 31, 2011. The earliest day to start is July 1, 2011.

It's simple.
* 31 days
* 35 photographs
* 1 pdf

All work (photography, copy, type, design) must be done within the 31 day period.

Please review the SoFoBoMo rules page for the most updated rules.

REGISTER NOW!

Customizable Sneakers: Rebook Realflex

I can't say for sure that Rebook is the first to offer customizable shoes. However, their site is really intuitive and for customizable sneakers starting at $115; probably not a bad deal at all. You can:
1. Add your initials
2. Change the color of the laces, stitching, sole, base, side logo, back, overlay, outsole, sock liner, and tongue lining

Even if you decide not to purchase the shoe, the site itself is a very good example of a software service designed around a specific product.

http://www.reebok.com/US/product?modelId=000EF495&articleId=J83188

Below is the sample shoe I created using Rebook's website:

This design costs $120. It is a combination of blue, black, and blue blink. The blue blink is the light blue used in the sockliner and customized logo in the back of the shoe.

Bob & Dawn Davis Photography Workshop - May 17-18 2011

UPDATED 2011 MAY 10
ALL ATTENDEES WILL RECEIVE:

A SIGNED COPY OF BOB'S BOOK: LIGHTS, CAMERA, CAPTURE, $35.00
1 - DVD: A MASTER'S APPROACH WITH BOB DAVIS, $199.00
1 - DVD: MASTER YOUR CRAFT WITH BOB DAVIS & MIKE COLÓN, $199.00

AND THERE ARE MANY FABULOUS GIVE AWAYS FROM OUR SPONSORS!


ORIGINAL POST
Dear Fellow Photographers and Photo enthusiasts! I wanted to share a highly rated and recommended 2 day photography workshop by acclaimed celebrity photographer Bob Davis joined by his wife Dawn Davis to be held at an airport location just outside of Chicago!

For more info. check out their website

Check out the past workshop photos to get a flavor of the experience!

Ready to sign up? Between May 4 - May 6, 2011 (Wednesday-Friday) there will be a 25% discount the already reasonable 2 day workshop. Kindly visit the registration page.

Dialogue in New York City with Congresswoman Aliah Dimaporo

SPEAK. LISTEN. WATCH. LEARN. RELATE. COLLABORATE.

Join Congresswoman Aliah Dimaporo in a discussion on the Arts as a tool for development in the Philippines.

FEATURING Angan Angan by Sheron Dayoc.

Angan-Angan (Dreams) centers on a nine-year-old girl named Satra who has been mute for as long as she could remember. Her determination to secure a good education reverberates clearly amid the strictness of her Yakan culture. The Yakan are one of the 13 Moro groups in the Philippines. They mainly reside in Basilan, Mindanao.

Director Sheron R. Dayoc is a Mindanaon Independent Filmmaker, editor, videographer and writer. The focus of Sheron's documentaries is on the untold stories of people from grassroots level. Experiencing the lives of marginal people, former MNLFs, and different tribes in Mindanao from depressed areas gave him a much wider perspective in life and in the creative process. Thus, allowing a culturally sensitive treatment of their stories.

SIDE EVENT: Art Exhibition by first-time exhibitors Michael Abad and Aziza Amira.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=196258467086172

John Sayles’ A Moment in the Sun Book Launch - NYC - 2011.05.04

John Sayles’ A Moment in the Sun Book Launch
This is John Sayles only stop in NYC on a multi-city book tour
Wednesday, May 4th, 6:30 p.m.
CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue @ 34th Street – Recital Hall

Nike Sportswear: Ja Tecson on Manny Pacquiao

Thanks to fellow FilAm photographers Ernie Pena and Ronn Tan for sharing the news about fellow photographer Ja Tecson shooting Manny Pacquiao photographs for Nike.

http://blog.jatecson.com/post/5188892055/nike-sportswear-manny-pacman-pacquiao

Nina Sandejas - Black & White

Black & White

The first photo in the black & white gallery of Nina Rosario Sandejas (a music photographer from Manila, Philippines) is the winner in the The Focus Project (week of 4/25/2011-5/1/2011).

Check out her sites:
http://www.rosarioko.com/
http://www.ninasandejas.com

Canon 5d Mark II dedicated website

The following blog is dedicated to the Canon 5d Mark II. Click here: http://5dmk2blog.1001noisycameras.com/

Photonotes.org - Photography website

Photonotes.org is a photography website that discusses photography (equipment reviews and a general howto). You may find it of interest.

Check out their website here: http://www.photonotes.org/

Quick link to see used Canon digital camera bodies at Adorama

Please use this link to see used Canon digital camera bodies sold at Adorama

http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=itemlist&cat1=Used&cat2=Canon%20Digital&cat3=Cameras&sf=Price&st=de

Star Magic 18 NYC - US Tour (PhotoVideo)

Here's the photovideo showcasing Star Magic 18 NYC from last April 23, 2011 at the Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, NY, NY.



Star Magic 18 NYC US Tour April 2011 brought to you by Ritzberries Productions.

Photo & Video by Richard M. Reyes (adecisiontolove.com)

Also have HD video clips of the show



Angelica Panganiban

Bea Alonzo

Chokoleit

Diether Ocampo

Enchong Dee
Erich Gonzales

Gabby Concepcion

Gerald Anderson

John Lloyd Cruz

Jovit Baldovino

KC Concepcion

Kim Chiu
Maja Salvador

Pokwang

Rafael Rosell

Sam Milby
Shaina Magdayao

Zanjoe Marudo

Check out this cool text!

Attention Job Seekers Check Out - Career Confidential - RE: References

Job Search: Don't Make This Fatal Mistake With Your References

Introducing i411

Get the lowdown on technology without having to be a certified geek. This new blog is reporting on technology within the concept of lifestyle. How does technology fit into your life? We are all experiencing changes in technology.

In 2004, when I got my Dual 1 Gigahertz Power Macintosh (dual drive doors) and Macbook G4, these machines were at the forefront of technology. In 2011, these machines definitely show their age. As a video editor, I realized that within 7 years, there has been a lot of technology updates that have allowed for editing Full High-Definition video. Back in 2004, those machines were ready to edit Standard Definition video that viewed fine on regular television sets before plasma, LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays), and LED (Light Emitting Diodes). Nowadays, clients too have kept up with technology and are seeking out a minimum of DVD quality and there in an increase in demand for Blu-Ray content to complement the large 40"+ television sets in their homes. Pretty soon DVD quality is like the way of the Betamax and even the longer-lasting VHS (Video Home System) tapes which took over the video format for most of the 1980s and part of the 1990s. Even the VideoCDs which were all the rage (mostly in Asia) in the early 2000s are mostly forgotten.

So please join us at: i411.blogspot.com and enjoy the technology talk using the new interface. The link displays the "sidebar" view.

adecisiontolove: on Cargo Collective

Woohoo! adecisiontolove has been invited to be part of the Cargo Collective.

It is a beautiful simply designed site that is clutter free. It allows the web visitor to focus on the excellent artwork that has been specially prepared for their pleasure.

Come on down and check out our design home at the Cargo Collective. Link below:

adecisiontolove

Business Card Designs & Graphic Inspiration | Pixel Cards

Business Card Designs & Graphic Inspiration | Pixel Cards

Philippine World War II Veterans

Head over to my project page from the super-excellent"ly" designed Cargo Collective.

adecisiontolove: World War II Veterans

Project Applications that are Easy to Test » Offshore Software Testing | QATestLab

Project Applications that are Easy to Test » Offshore Software Testing | QATestLab

Make a tag cloud from any RSS feed, site, search query or text, then add it to your website or blog

Make a tag cloud from any RSS feed, site, search query or text, then add it to your website or blog

Make a "Word Cloud" Wordle

Interesting how the tag clouds from words we see is based on an equation:
In principle, the font size of a tag in a tag cloud is determined by its incidence. For a word cloud of categories like weblogs, the frequency of use for example, corresponds to the number of weblog entries that are assigned to a category. For small frequencies it's sufficient to indicate directly for any number from one to a maximum font size. For larger values, a scaling should be made. In a linear normalization, the weight ti of a descriptor is mapped to a size scale of 1 through f, where tmin and tmax are specifying the range of available weights. from Wikipedia

Online Mind Mapping and Brainstorming - MindMeister

Online Mind Mapping and Brainstorming - MindMeister

Project Page: Music Video - Archie D' "Fly" on MYX Philippines

A new project page has been posted for Archie D's "Fly" music video produced by Richard M. Reyes (adecisiontolove.com). This comes in time for the airing of Archie D's "Fly" on MYX Philippines. MYX is one of the premier music television programs in the Philippines.



Archie D, Philippine Golden Record holder and achiever, in his first ever music video debut "Fly". "Fly" is written, composed and performed by Archie. "Fly" Music Video is produced & directed by Richard M. Reyes (adecisiontolove.com).

* Filmed on location by Richard M. Reyes
* On location lighting by Perla G. Reyes & Aviela G. Reyes.
* Make Up Artist Perla G. Reyes.
* Dance choreography and performance by Nicole
* Archie D's wardrobe by S.T.A.R.
* Special Appearance by Producer Louis Diaz

You can help uplift Fly by reaching out to MYX music.
From the Philippines: (online: http://www.myxph.com or here:http://www.facebook.com/MYX.Philippines) and asking them to play this music video.
Outside the Philippines (TFC Subcriber): You can request the music video through The Filipino Channel.
Outside the Philippines (non-TFC subscriber): You can also request the music video online: http://beta.myx.tv/mymyx/

Music Video for Archie D'

iTour Seoul Best video!

The best video I thought in the iTour Seoul video series was "The Seoul Boomerang Expert". The best part was when the boomerang was thrown behind a wall and then rang a "gong" on the other side.

This blog post entry was initially posted as part of an expired contest on the visit Seoul e-Tourism website (http://www.visitseoul.net/en/article/article.do?_method=view&art_id=42360&lang=en&m=0004011011006&p=11). However, I have been to Seoul once before and really loved it. I walked around down town and had the opportunity to stay at the W hotel in Walker Hill. I found Walker Hill to be a very classy place and these iTour videos did a great job of introducing an interesting element into the videos alongside the modern and cultural places in Seoul. I can agree that it is an up and coming international city. Seoul is also a city known for it's sheik modern design.

If the Visit Seoul team has an opportunity to review this blog review and still consider me for the prizes I would be extremely appreciative. In any case I am thankful for your time and visiting my blog.

Archie D' - USAHAY

Check out Archie D's new song from an upcoming album.

The track is called USAHAY

USAHAY by Archie D' from a future album "PUT IT UP" sample. by ArchieD_Dairocas

San Lorenzo Ruiz Choir 20110305 Seasons of Love

NEW YORK - More than a teaser, less than a full show, the Seasons of Love video is here to highlight the talent and the vocal rainbow known as the San Lorenzo Ruiz Choir. Produced by Richard M. Reyes

Time Lapse Video: Discovery last voyage

Technology - Facebook to share your phone number, address

Technology - Facebook to share your phone number, address

Here's a link to the Facebook Developer blog that outlines accessing user phone number and address: http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/446

Huffington Post originally posted a story in January: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/facebook-home-addresses-phone-numbers_n_810173.html

And this is the updated version of that article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/facebook-home-address_n_809901.html

Sound Blaster Advanced MB & DELL Laptop

Dilemma: Mediocre sound quality on a DELL Laptop running Windows XP, Vista, or 7. (Sigmatel HD)
Solution: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED MB

Screenshot of Creative Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED MB on Windows 7

After installing the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED MB I didn't realize I would have the audio quality comparable to the desktop version of Sound Blaster Audigy cards.

The following settings are available in the Audio Center:
* Speakers
* EAX Effects
* CMSS-3D
* Graphic Equalizer
* Mixer

The test was performed watching an episode of Castle on the Hulu website (www.hulu.com).


The following settings were used in the Audio Center application.

* Speakers
-Bass Settings -> Bass Boost -> Enable Bass Boost
-Bass Settings -> Bass Boost -> Level 5dB
-Optimize speaker output for headphones (Checked this option when testing with headphones)
* EAX Effects
-Enable EAX Effects
-Theater
* CMSS-3D
-Enable CMSS-3D
* Graphic Equalizer
-Enable EQ (EQ Rock)
* Mixer
* Volume
-Speakers: 50%
-Headphones: 10%

Process Monitor: The average total process CPU usage was between 15%-20% including Google Chrome and audiodg.exe. Other Creative process were running at 0% CPU usage.

VALUE:
* Adds audio improvements via software that is priced reasonably (19.95). No additional hardware required
* No adverse performance degradation with an average of 5% usage for the audiodg.exe process
* Don't need to max out the volume using laptop speakers or headphones

Lessons learned:
* I had issues where I could not get the DELL audio driver (Sigmatel HD) and originally downloaded Sound Blaster Advanced HD driver to be recognized. This is due to the fact that I had upgraded from XP to 7 and the SB Advanced HD driver was designed for Vista only.
* The following steps work for Windows and XP and Windows Vista. (Check the link before for an additional step for Windows 7):
1. Install the DELL supplied laptop audio driver
2. Install the Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio XP to Vista from DELL Support Site. (http://ftp.us.dell.com/audio/Upgrade%20for%20Integrated%20Sound%20Blaster%20Audigy%20ADVANCED%20HD%20Audio%20XP%20to%20Vista.exe)

Weird Behavior:
* The only weird behavior I got was when I selected Optimize speaker output for headphones under Speaker setting in the Audio Center; I could not uncheck it.

Helpful links:
* In case you've misplaced your Sound Blaster ADVANCED MB license, you can request it here: http://us.creative.com/advmb/
* To get an updated BETA Sound Blaster ADVANCED MB driver, you can check here: http://forums.creative.com/t5/Sound-Blaster/SB-Audigy-ADVANCED-MB-Windows-7-Compatibility-Update/td-p/556045

Facebook and Twitter

The feeds on A Decision to Love blog will automatically update the Facebook page feed and Twitter feed. More ways to keep track of news, insights, and technology posts.

Facebook page link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Decision-to-Love/104149505746?sk=wall

Twitter page link: http://twitter.com/#!/adecisiontolove

Pacquiao, the Ringmaster, and His Traveling Circus - NYTimes.com

Pacquiao, the Ringmaster, and His Traveling Circus - NYTimes.com
Pacquiao continues to make global press. Here are some interesting quotes from the article:
* "boxing’s most talented fighter and certainly its only legislator."
* "On their last training trip to the Philippines, Roach visited Pacquiao in the national legislature, where he had a motion passed that Roach said made him a citizen. Roach...watching Pacquiao in a fancy suit, how serious he was, Roach saw the future. “One day, he’ll be president,” Roach said."
* "A man approached and asked if Pacquiao was a movie star. Told he was a boxer, he said, “Oh, yeah, the little one with the hair!” A few minutes later, he returned and said, “That’s the one Mayweather won’t fight, right?”"

The U.S. refers to Pacquiao's entourage as a traveling circus. On the other hand it could be a physical representation of Filipinos' support for the country's and one of the world's greatest boxing legends.

elive Linux Distribution

elive is Linux distribution based on Debian using the Enlightenment Desktop engine. This article will detail the choices made in selecting elive as the appropriate operating system for older machines.

Project Aim / Test machine
I had a personal project of choosing an appropriate operating system for an ancient Gateway Core Solo laptop. It is a Pentium II - 300 mhz with 256MB RAM with a DVD/CD reader and a 20GB hard drive. Specs are decent and most of the distributions listed on Distrowatch.com would be capable enough of running on these specs. The list includes: DSL Linux, VectorLinux, Crunchbang, among others. Some of the newer distributions would not install and would return errors along the lines of CPU not supported; requiring a Pentium III processor and above. The troublesome factor for many distributions was the graphic card. In this case a Neomagic 128XD. Interestingly enough, the first operating systems I tried were Windows XP, where I was able to install everything successfully except for the video card and Windows 2000 where I had a similar issue. In addition, Windows 2000 just had an "aged look".

Speed versus look
This brings up the next point. It seems that with old machines the choice is either to install an older operating system and lose out on newer versions of applications and have an older look versus installing a newer operating system turtle slow.

Enlightenment E17
The last time I experienced Enlightenment 17 was on a powerbook g4. This is using Yellow Dog Linux 6.2. I had such a good experience where Enlightenment didn't waste the excellent display of the powerbook g4. And since it was not an Intel processor based machine Snow Leopard and more current operating systems were out of the question. Enlightenment is not the same as the MAC OS X desktop. It has a dock bar as well (no zooming icons); Enlightenment is very clean and light and will not disappoint even the most refined desktop critic.

I believe Enlightenment E17 is a wonderful solution to this dilemma. It can make any old machine look brand new; even with a screen resolution of 1024x768 and unsupported graphic cards. Enlightenment has little shiny graphic on-screen elements (e.g. stars in the sky that glimmer). The window borders also have a great polished look. Running this on an ancient machine may also serve as the next topic of discussion for friends that are interested in beauty and speed on older hardware.

Debian Foundation
The foundation of the operating system gives the user a very stable back-end and access to very large number of downloadable packages.

Summary
It has been a great experience working with the live cd version of enlightenment on my machine. Some wonderful experiences include: using the built-in trackpad and USB mouse at the same time, pretty graphics, stable system, easy wifi-connection to public, hidden, open, and encrypted wifi hot spots. Linux is great for techies; however, connecting to a wifi connection shouldn't be a project in itself.

Conclusion
I would highly recommend using elive live or installed on your old ancient machines. This test was also to look at options for my project of setting up computers to benefit those less fortunate and would not otherwise have Internet access.