I abandoned my old Flickr account about three months ago, because things had gotten boring for me. I didn’t know what to shoot anymore. I created a new one, which I left stagnant for a while. Now, I’m back.

I don’t really know what I want to do. I just know that I miss shooting, and pulling out my drybox under my bed and looking at my lonely cameras which I haven’t been using lately sort of makes me sad. I could sell the gear, but thinking of letting go of all this equipment makes me feel ill, like I swallowed a whole bottle of prenatal vitamins.

So I’m back for now.

The horrible weather here in the Philippines is starting to take its toll on me. I’ve been getting a lot of breakouts on my skin. It’s not fun. I finally broke down and visited the derma a few weeks ago, and she prescribed a new regimen for my skin, this time one with an acne scar cream, thank heavens.

I’ve gotten really annoyed with the weather lately. The heat is getting to me, and is wreaking havoc on my skin. I hope the heat finally goes away. I really would like some rain.

I’ve been trying to find ways to increase traffic to some of my websites. I found a few seo tools that might help. I’m still testing some of them out. I’d really like to begin monetizing some of my other blogs, since I’m saving up for some new gear. Hopefully by this time next year, I’ll have a new camera.

Wish me luck!

I’ve done my fair share of online shopping. Not usually for clothes, but for gadgets, perfumes, bags, and makeup. I’ve encountered a lot of sellers online, and I have to admit, that I still haven’t found what I would call an ideal seller.

So what exactly are customers looking for? Here’s my input:

• If you’re on Multiply, use a decent design.

  If you have a shop that’s overrun with flash music players, glittery gifs, javascript slideshows, with little or no organization – forget it. I’d rather not visit a site that’s liable to crash my browser any given moment.

• Give us payment options!

  Have at least two payment options. If you accept payments via G-Cash only, I’ll end up wishing for you to lose your cell phone. At least have a bank account (with a bank that’s widely available, like BDO) to accept payments.

• Put up a feedback page.

  If you’re selling on eBay, I love you and you don’t have a problem. But for Multiply users, try to at least have a feedback page where your customers can leave feedback about your store and your products. This is one of the first things I look for in an online store.

• Leave a number.

  Leave a number where we can contact you. It makes us feel secure.

• For goodness’ sake, don’t hide the price!

  I hate it when sellers just upload the product image and don’t leave any details. Look, I don’t feel like sending you a message just to find out how much something costs. When I see stores that follow this format, I leave. I’d rather get all the details with one click, so I can decide if I want to get an item or not.

• Get a Paypal account.

  Okay, so this really isn’t necessary, but bear in mind that some of us actually don’t have time to run to the bank before it closes to make a deposit, and some of us would like to pay with our cards. Warn customers about the additional charges – still if they really want to pay using Paypal, they will pay through Paypal even with the additional fees.

  Paypal has been available to Filipinos for years now. Time for online sellers to jump the bandwagon, methinks.

A friend and I were discussing online degrees a few days ago. This topic is really something a lot of us talk about, since we’ve always talked about alternative ways to advance our learning.

There are a lot of online universities right now, offering a different format of learning which in my opinion can be more convenient. Especially for me. If I ever get the urge for another degree, I really would not want to stop working. So this arrangement would be perfect for me.

But still, I’m not completely set on it. I’m interested, but I still don’t know what I really would like to study.

This weeked, I downloaded Colbie Caillat’s iTunes Session EP and ended up loving it, mostly because of her cover of The Jackson 5′s, I Want You Back.

I’m not a huge Colbie Caillat fan (I like Breakthrough but didn’t like Coco that much), so I was surprised at how much I actually liked the new EP. I plan to get Andrew Bird’s iTunes Session EP next, which I expect will be even better.

On other things, I’ve been busy, not with log furniture but with a project. Plus today is our church anniversary. I’m hoping that the next few weeks will be less hectic. I’d really like to get some sleep.

I found this while I was digging around my Team Fortress 2 screenshot folder. This was taken while connected to an achievement server (58.90.102.200:27017 if you want to join). We were bored, we didn’t need any achievements, and we really weren’t in the mood for serious combat at the time. So one of the engineers put on some music, played it from his stereo to his mic, and the engineers started doing their dance taunt.

Here’s a video. I took it after I switched from the Soldier class to a Sniper.

I was a lot happier with the outcome of last year’s Oscars. Last year, I was more concerned about the nominees and who would win. This year, I was dazzled by what everyone was wearing, gowns and tuxedos and all.

I guess I just wasn’t that interested in the nominees. I’d seen The Hurt Locker and thought it was somewhat unrealistic. Inglourious Basterds was fine. I have yet to see An Education and Precious.

I’ve always been curious about cochlear implants, because I have a few deaf friends. I’ve always wondered if it would be a solution for everyone who has problems with their hearing.

Cochlear implants are surgically implanted devices that can provide a sense of sound to a person who is deaf or hard of hearing.

I did a bit of research on it, and found out that while it can be effective, it’s still not for everyone. One factor is the cost, since cochlear implant surgery can be incredibly expensive. It really varies from person to person, since apparently, some people who have received the implant find it effective, while others end up feeling worse.