Pamparo in Toronto

sync;sync;halt is a series of commands that i send to a Unix machine to tell the OS to dump all the data in memory to disk then halt the machine …

this is not what i meant here, though.

sync;sync;halt …

i was able to sync my friendster blogs with all the updates that i write on my original blogs. therefore, i virtually have to halt updating my blogs in 2 places! cool!

thanks to wordpress & plugin by Keith McDuffee, Update Notify …

After saying goodbye to Napster & Kazaa, I pretty much figured that I would have to start buying CDs again. Here comes iTunes …

Although the concept of buying an mp3 from the internet’s been out for a while, it did not really caught up until the recent emergence of Apple‘s iTunes services. To be honest, I was a little skeptical when it comes to buying stuffs online. Not to say that I have not bought anything online, I have. It’s just that I work on the IT business & I know how IT people work …

Last night was a different story for me. I purchased, for the very first time, an entire Jeremy Camp‘s Restored album from iTunes. Wow! It was fast and easy. The only complaint I have is that I still have to give my credit card eventhough I opted to use a $20 iTunes Card that I bought from Bestbuy. The download was very fast. 12 songs only took less than 5 minutes to download. I also loved the “Burn” button on the iTunes interface. Bought the mp3s, clicked burn, and there it was, my own copy of the album! And I did all this from one application … bravo to iTunes.

But the real selling point for me is this. I went up to R.G. Mitchell the other day to look for CDs. I saw the same CD which is currently on sale for $16.99 + 15% tax. Not a bad deal for an album that has 12 songs and all of them are well worth the money. Well, I bought the entire album for $11.88 incl. tax. Now that’s what I call a good deal!

Anyhow, I still have $8.12 left in my card. Not sure how far it will get me … I’m sure not long!

Well, what can I say. It was an enjoyable time for both me & my wife. What an amazing place to go and unwind after a hard work!
Some of the things we did:

• Decided to visit the “Island Festival” in Gananoque. This is a 10-day annual festival. There were live bands playing at the waterfront. A car show showcasing classic cars from the 60′s in front of the town hall. We also witnessed an amateur singing contest. There were some good vocalists out there!
• Went to see if we can get seats to the “Anne of Green Gables” musical. Out of luck! Tickets were sold-out. Good thing there was tomorrow. We got some tickets for the matinee next day. And I tell you, it was worth it. Held at the 1000 Islands Playhouse’s Springer Theatre at the waterfront itself. The musical is top-caliber. I have been to many musicals & this is one of those that I enjoyed. Never read the book, but still managed to follow what the story is all about. I wish they would take on bigger stages. It is really preofessionally-made, from the script to the props & of course the performance.
• We also did a 3-hour boat tour of the 1000 Islands. There were only a few of us in the boat at that time so we were free to roam around & take pictures wherever & whenever we like. It was a pleasant trip. One thing I enjoyed is the $2 nachos! What a deal! Went around St. Lawrence river and we saw some spectacular cottages sitting on their own island. I kept wondering to myself who would give me an island as a birthday gift. Oh well. Passed by the infamous “Boldt Castle”. It is so big & so spectacular. Too bad we didn’t embark. Word of caution, you have to go through US customs to embark & disembark. What a shame. Well, it’s American soil and those are the ground rules. Although it is a small island and there is no way you can go pass the US border from it. That’s just me.
• Tried our luck also in the 1000 Island Charity Casino. One thing I learned, $10 in a slot machine wouldn’t get you far. Good thing me & my wife are not into gambling. $10 is pretty much it for us. The casino itself is not that big, that is comparing to the other casinos I’ve been to anyways. Lots of senior citizens. Hopefully when I get to their age I would have something else to do. But I don’t mind having the same amount of money they have been wasting in there …
• The rest of our time were spent walking around town. Very nice community. Old buildings, polite people, $0.50/hour parking. Can’t beat that.

Overall, our stay was very pleasant. Although 1 1/2 days seems hardly enough. We are thinking of coming back & maybe rent a cottage & visit Upper Canada Village & Fort Henry. Until then, that’s it for this blog … later!

It was a week of studying for me, and I thank God it’s over.

Monday-Wednesday – SUN LDAP Maintenance & Operations course.
Thursday – Studied for Brocade Certified Professional Exam.
Friday – Took the BCFP examination.

Although I did learn a lot of things from all those times studying, it was very tiring & emotionally draining. Add that to the fact that I have to drive through Hiway 401 in the middle of the rush hour both morning & afternoon for 3 days. In the end, I was rewarded with a new understanding of LDAP & dare I say, a certification. Wooh-hoo, I’m finally a certified professional.

For the first time in my professional carreer, I went against my belief. Believing (and still somewhat does) that “certification” is just a piece of paper. And has become over rated, thanks to all the MCSE. I took the cert exam, and I passed it. I am ashamed to admit to myself, I could have been wrong all this time. Having a certification is not all that bad. Being certified on something that you actually do, that is big. It is like telling your boss, I told you I deserve a raise. I’m serious, I really need a raise. A hefty one, if I may add.

After all that, I needed some R&R. And that’s what I did. Me & my wife stayed for 2 days in 1000 Islands, Gananoque, Ontario and I will be writting about it on my next post.

That’s it for me, waiting for this week to start anew …

It’s almost NFL season. I know. I started to have dreams of football again. The other night, my pregnant wife told me that I was talking in my sleep, like I always do. I said, “Really?”. To my surprise, my wife said, “10 Yards”!

10 yards, that is all it takes. 10 gruelling yards to get another set of downs. This is what makes football very interesting. American football, that is. Offense thinks of running, defense thinks they’re passing. Bam! 10-yard gain. Offense is thinking pass, defense sends 2 extra guys to the QB. Bam, 10-yard loss. You snooze, you loose. That is the main thinking.

Anyhow, I can’t wait for the season to begin! McNabb’s Eagles better be ready, otherwise, I would have to go with Mike Vick’s Falcons this year … to go against the Pats, AGAIN!