The fall semester’s looking a bit heavy from what I can see right now, so I’ve decided to take Research in the summer. It starts, oh, tomorrow evening. An evening class. Once a week. In the summer. Greeeeat. I’m taking Patho as well, since I do have to retake it anyway. I really want to raise my GPA, so I’m trying out some new ways to get things done. We’ll see.

* * * *

For the past few days, after going back and forth from HM to the BEACH!!!, I spent most of my time catching up on about a year’s worth of missed television. I finished watching the epic yet shortlived Sci-Fi series called Firefly [it lasted up to only 14 episodes before Big Bad Fox cancelled it], its spinoff big-screen bonus called Serenity, the infectious and totally entertaining Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and the first season of Castle. The common denominator in all of these is actor Nathan Fillion. That actor is just brilliant. Aside from the fact that he’s the first Nathan I’ve ever known who isn’t an asshole [enter snickers and lols here], the guy’s just really really good. And hi-larious.

* * * *

Also, last night, I finally saw the unofficial LOTR fan-made film, “The Hunt for Gollum”. It’s surprisingly very good. For a fan-made film, it’s AMAZING. It looks just like the ones New Line made. The fans based it off the stuff from the appendices, when Aragorn and Gandalf looked for Gollum. It happens before the Fellowship of the Ring. They only spent $4000 on it & nobody got paid. It’s made by fans, after all. It’s only about 40 minutes. Click here to see it.

As my friend pointed out, “The Hunt for Gollum” isn’t entirely accurate, but the general plot sticks to what happened [according to what Gandalf told the Hobbits in RoTK and the stuff I've looked at on the appendices, History of Middle-earth & The Unfinished Tales].

This whole thing now makes me think of the future of film. First off, we’ve witnessed the huge success of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog as a purely web-distributed work. The continued success of films for the web may perhaps open up to a brand new business model for distributors and filmmakers alike. I know that this isn’t a new thing, especially with the rising popularity of the indie film scene, but mainstream cinema is dying… would people now turn to the Internet?

Anyway, enough rambling for now. So go and watch it!

* * * *

And lastly, I just want to post this here:

Click here to take the Serenity Firefly Personality Test
Your results:
You are Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic)

Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) 85% Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) 75% Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) 65% Derrial Book (Shepherd) 65% Inara Serra (Companion) 60% Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 60% River (Stowaway) 55% Jayne Cobb (Mercenary) 45% Wash (Ship Pilot) 40% Alliance 15% A Reaver (Cannibal) 5%

Medicine and physical healing are your game, but wooing women isn’t a strong suit.

[Via Neil's journal]

PS: Thanks for the birthday wishes. I had a great birthday. I feel so loved. ♥
PPS: It’s my mom’s birthday today!
PPPS: Two more finals to go, and Summer 1 is all over! Up next: Summer 2 on Friday!

   

In semi-related-why-the-F-would-You-care news, the semester just began for me [and my brother] last Wednesday [the 15th]. And yes, as I checked my credit hours, I can confirm that I’m already a Junior as well! Also, I noticed that I welcomed a lot of changes lately. Like yesterday, I finally found my [now ex-] adviser and had my “Change of Major Request” signed. So today–as I checked my online records–I am officially a Biology: Biomedical Concentration major. I just came from the lab today and I left with a feeling that this is what I really want to do. It’s a great feeling, this sense of purpose.

   
I am just so happy that I was finally able to do it. I mean, this whole “what am I supposed to do with my life” crisis has kept me awake for hours on end. I know that this is what I want. I’ve always wanted to go into Biology and become a doctor. A bend in the road appeared when I saw how much comfortable the life of a pharmacist is. Pharmacists are highly respected in the community as well, they get called “Dr.”, and patients are more willing to consult them [since they do not trust Physician's Assistants as much anyway].
   

Despite the fact that I’m taking a relatively low course load this time around [16 credit hours], I still have four labs this semester [Bio, Physics, Chem, and Zoology], an “Honors” sociology type of class [it's more of debate class and I have a bunch of over-achieving freshmen as classmates, ugh, serves me right for criticizing everyone ], and I decided to do volunteer work [thought it won't kick in until a bit later on].

   
Aside from the change of major [and apparent change of habits], here I am, typing this blog entry on my MacBook. I’m still all psyched up–the Honors College is just too kind! So far, so good, and I’m really enjoying this whole Mac thing. Really nifty stuff. I just realized that my blog looked really different on Safari, but that’s okay, I guess. XD

   
I also tried to start getting active on Facebook [finally]. It’s because I just got [yet another] annoying notification from Filipino rip-off social-networking site Eskwela.com which reminded me about my little self-appointed task of comparing the two [I might write a blog entry on this]. My verdict? Although Eskwela.com’s AJAX inteface, “assignments”, and “Labs” all look like a patched-up attempt at integrating all the hottest AJAX-ified Web 2.0 trends, it really isn’t very much like Facebook at all. Facebook wins this hands down because of its cleaner and more unified interface and apps. Eskwela is still on beta invites only and I hope that they smooth things out before their major release, whenever that would be.

   
* * * * *

Anyway, I guess that this is all for now. I’m testing out WordPress on Safari, that’s all. A few hours on a Mac and I’m liking it, so far. No wonder the Mac fanboys keep accusing Vista of copying–it’s all so Vista-like, as it seems. Almost Vista, but not quite.

For those who have been hunting for Joost invitations, now’s your chance to get it!

I’ve been yapping about Joost for quite some time now, and I think 
I’m going to see if it’s any good.

For those who have been living under a [tech] rock, Joost is basically TV via the Internet.

Joost says:

Joost is a new way of watching TV on the internet. With Joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping.

You get great internet features too, such as search, chat and instant messaging, built right into the program – so you find shows quickly and talk to your friends while you watch. And with no schedules to worry about, you can watch whatever you want, whenever you like – as often as you want. Joost is completely free, and works with most modern PCs and Intel Mac-based computers with a broadband connection.

For a person who rarely turns on the TV anymore, I think this is well worth a try. ;)

Of course, we’ve yet to see if the concept of an Internet TV would become the 
next YouTube.

I think it’s best to just sit back and watch what happens next [no pun intended].


  -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
  Version: 3.1
  GMD/U d-- s: a--->-- C++ U? P L E? W+++ N? o? K? w+
  O- M V? PS PE Y-- PGP- t 5 X++ R tv+ b+ DI+ !D
  G e h! !r x?
  ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------


If you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, well, sorry.

* * * * * 

I got the letter from Dean Peters yesterday. He said that I just got in the Honors College. *does a happy dance* When I told my brother over Y!M last night, he was like, “so hinde ka na magch chapel hill?”

Honestly, I don’t know yet. They won’t allow me anyway. In Filipino terms, bahala na.

I don’t know. The more I get older, the more indecisive I become.

I was supposed to start doing the paperwork for switching my major from Chemistry to Biology, but then again I couldn’t bring myself to do it. There are two reasons, mainly: a) I’m sure Dr. H would be disappointed, and b) Dr. N would most probably be waving a “I told you so!” sign on my face.

I don’t want to pursue Chem anymore. I thought I loved it–but then I realized, who the hell am I kidding? I hate Chem! I hated it ever since high school… The reason why I started loving it is because my first professor taught it so well.

I would still have to take more Chemistry subjects if I want to pursue Medicine, but at least not in a sickening degree if I majored in it. Oh, and yeah, you heard right–I’ve decided to pursue Medicine after all.

I don’t want to work in a research laboratory. I hate doing the same thing over and over again. I think that by being an MD, I would have many opportunites to  work closely with those people who are in need. I want to attend Med school in the Philippines, too. Aside from the fact that it’s cheaper to do so, I think that nothing beats PGH when it comes to medical training. [PGH? Dream on, Pam. Dream on. ]

I wish I were 16 again. Things were much much simpler back then.

* * * * *

It’s St. Patrick’s Day today. I never knew that it was such a big deal back here. There are so many parties in Fayetteville and Myrtle Beach tonight… Oh well. I’m still underage anyway.

I was supposed to go with my parents to Fayetteville today [shopping and looking for stuff for the new house], but then again I wasn’t able to finish everything last night. So yeah. I’m holding the fort for today.

* * * * *

I don’t know when I would be coming back to the Philippines. Originally, my parents thought of allowing me to take a little vacation in July, though at the rate things are going, with my plans for the Summer Session and with the new house getting built, chances are slim.

If not July, maybe December, I was told. Hopefully. *crosses fingers*

I'm going around forums, conducting an online survey regarding the use of portable listening devices [i.e. mp3 players: iPod, Zune, etc] and portable hi-tech gadgets [PSP, Ebook, BlackBerry] and its connection to social behavior.

I just need you to answer a few questions by writing TRUE or FALSE.
It would be much preferred if you answered this by leaving a comment on this entry.. But YM or email is fine, too. Thanks so much in advance.

Age:
Gender:
I own a hi-tech gadget [please specify] [True/False?]
—> If True: I use my mp3 player in order to
<a> escape from my surroundings,
<b> drown out the noise around me,
<c> to escape responsibility,
<d> other [please specify].
I think that hi-tech gadgets are cool. [True/False?]
I like getting the latest and newest hi-tech gadgets. [True/False]
I think that excessive use of mp3 players ruin interpersonal communication. [True/False]

Thanks!

PS: By portable hi-tech gadgets, I'm referring to the usual things people use on the commuter train/bus/subway: mp3 players, PSP, BlackBerry… Digicams don't count.

PPS: My professor is a Mac fanboy. Good luck to me!
PPPS: Kahit i-YM nyo na lang sakin yung sagot nyo, like what PamS, & Rio and the IV-1 peeps did!

Today we released Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP. I encourage everyone to download the final version from http://www.microsoft.com/ie.

We listened carefully to feedback from many sources (including this blog) and worked hard to deliver a safer browser that makes everyday tasks easier. When I first posted publicly about IE7, I wrote that we would go further to defend users from phishing and malicious software. The Phishing Filter and the architectural work in IE7 around networking and ActiveX opt-in will help keep users more secure. IE7 also delivers a much easier browsing experience with features like tabbed browsing (especially with QuickTabs), shrink-to-fit printing, an easily customizable search box, and a new design that leaves more screen real estate for the web site you’re viewing. IE7’s CSS improvements are incredibly important for developers as many of you have made quite clear. I also think IE7’s RSS experience and platform are important, powerful, and innovative. [...]

Ahh, it’s finally arrived! Let’s see if Microsoft’s “more secure” and “innovative” counter-attack to Firefox is all worth the wait. For now, I’ll be downloading this browser. Okay, one down, one more Windows Vista to go.