The Flash Season 1 Episode 15

This episode is filled with a lot of goodies, so if you hate spoilers, stop reading right now!

First off - Sisko dies. Sisko finally discovers that Professor "Ed", (as I like to call him because of his TV show way way back) is the Reverse Flash. After the professor explains that he is from the future and has been trapped in the current timeline for 50 years, he also says that Barry Allen is the key to getting back to his own timeline. And that is the reason why he has been training Barry. The professor also reveals that he is Eobard Thawne - a distant relative of Joe's police partner, Eddie. How this will play out in future episodes is intriguing.

Barry and Iris finally reveal their true feelings for one another. And Barry also reveals to her that he is the Flash because he has to stop an incoming tidal wave that threatens to destroy Central City. This was generated by the Weather Wizard (Someone with powers like X-men's Storm) who is out to avenge his brother's death. The Weather Wizard blames Joe and is willing to kill an entire city just to quench his thirst for blood.

Flash tries to generate a barrier to counteract the incoming tidal wave by zooming back and forth - and in the process, accidentally travels back in time to a few days ago. Flash finally unlocks his ability to travel back in time - and this explains how he was present during his mother's death (and most likely battling Reverse Flash).

The season is about to end and it should end with a bang. There are so many stories that can still be explored in future seasons. We haven't even seen an encounter with Gorilla Grod and Abracadabra and the Trixster. And of course, there are plenty of speedsters in the Flash lore. Can't wait to see the likes of Jessie Quick, Max, Jay Garrett, and Wally West. But all (hopefully) in due time. May the Flash have many more exciting seasons in the future.

Coby CMP500 Nitrox Product Review

Bought the Coby CMP500 mobile phone today, and so far, I can say I'm pleased with it. It appears to be one of the better smart phones available for a person on a low budget.

The only hitch I had with it initially was that Windows 7 didn't recognize the device. Even after installing Universal Android drivers for it, the device "wasn't showing up as a drive" in the way I'm used to with other mobile phones. But the device has an ftp WiFi option where you can transfer files once you input the WiFi address to your PC. After that, transferring files was a breeze.

The following are the specs behind the box:
Display: 4.98" LCD (540 x 960) qHD Panel
Processor: 1.3 GHz MTK6582 Quad Cortex A7
Memory: 8 GB NAND Storage, 1 GB RAM
Camera: Dual Camera: Front 2 MP, Rear 8 MP
Wireless Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 /b/g/n + Bluetooth 4.0 3G; WCDMA 850 / 2100 MHz 2G; GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Sim Card Slot: Dual SIM
Power: Battery: 1900 mAh

To enable an FTP transfer, go to File Explorer and click on the "FTP" tab. Then click on "Start Service". Use the IP Address given to you. It usually starts as "ftp://192." Go to your drives, right click, then choose "Add a network location". Click on "next" then click on "Choose a custom network location". Type in the IP Address you obtained and just keep following until you name the folder. You should now be able to access the files on your mobile phone via this folder.

P.S.

10/24/2015
After seven months, the charger that came with the phone was busted. The charger was treated as an accessory even though it was part of the phone package. (It was in the box together with the earphones and the phone unit). And because it was an accessory, it wasn't covered in the warranty.

To make matters worse, the vendor does not sell Coby accessories. They only sell units. Coby after-sales support has been shitty at best. It's a good thing CD-R King sells those 60 peso USB chargers which you can attach the USB cable to. Just make sure you get the charger with a 5 volt and 1 ampere output.

Naroon Sya (Maykapal) Chords

Heard this song being played on DZAS. Couldn't find the song on the Internet (gasp). I guess it's a really old song, but a part of me remembers it from my childhood. I'm not sure of the lyrics, so if someone could post the complete lyrics below, especially for the stanzas, that would really be appreciated.

Below are my attempt at its chords. Hope you enjoy it.

Stanza Pattern:

Am - Am+M7 - Am7 - Am6

Dm - Dm - Dm - E - Esus - E

Dm - Dm+M7 - Dm7 - Dm6

C - F - (E -first stanza or G - second stanza transition to Chorus)

Chorus Pattern:

(F - G) - C     Am              Dm
Naroon sya pag asa may mabubuwal

(F - G) - C     Am              Dm
Naroon sya panatag kang nakasandal

(F - G) - Em       Em                 Dm
Naroon sya sinlapit lamang ng dasal

F                 G                       C
Ikay minamahal ng maykapal

(Transition back to Stanza)
E

Ending 

F                 G                       Em
Ikay minamahal ng maykapal
F                 G                       C
Ikay minamahal ng maykapal

Lionheart Tactics

If you enjoy games like Final Fantasy Tactics or Front Mission, then you will probably like Lionheart Tactics by Emerald City Games and Kongregate. You can download this game for free at the Google Play Store.

It is a lot similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. You form a party of fighters (from my experience, a maxium of 6 as of this writing), and battle through various points on the world map. Some of the points can even be re-visited. And you acquire allies along the way.

So far, I have been able to acquire an archer, a thief, a wizard, a priest, along with the hero and his trusty aide - a soldier in full metal armor. I really enjoy Captain Redd since he serves as the Tank of the team, and his skill allows you to redirect all damage received by another member to himself. The Hero, on the other hand, is really good at dishing out damage to his enemies, especially if the enemies are directly to his North, East, South, and West. He can perform his Whirlwind skill that hits all enemies in these locations.

I'm probably at a low level as of this point, since the ranged units are not as powerful. I probably like the priest character next because he keeps healing my units and keeps the team alive. Then the thief, cause it allows me to accumulate money necessary for spending on skill upgrades, armor, equipment, and stones necessary for promotions.

The wizard is useful if enemies are in a column formation, since his fireball can hit two enemies in a single shot. The archer is useful for long range hits, preventing the enemy from countering (unless the enemy is also an archer or has long range).

I like the game. The only problem is that at this point, I can only play the game once a day (unless I'm willing to pay for items that will allow me to heal my party). So after a match, I usually just upgrade my unit's skills - some may take a few minutes, others, a few hours, giving them time to heal.

But other than that, I would still recommend the game to other players.

DBAN (Darik's Boot And Nuke)

It was the first time I tried installing Windows on a hard drive that had Linux Mint installed. Windows setup wasn't even recognizing the hard drive. So, after searching online, I found out about DBAN. You can download the tool from www.dban.org and store it in a USB drive.

Once you set up your BIOS to boot from that drive, it brings you to a menu where you have several methods of nuking the hard drive. I read at first that once you begin the nuking process, it wipes all data off of all drives including the USB drive itself. So, I thought that once I was in the menu, I should unplug the USB drive since the program was already residing in memory.

I was wrong. None of the formatting methods worked after I unplugged the USB drive. All of them were giving an error. I tried pressing F4 to troubleshoot the error but there was no joy. So, I decided to restart and just keep the USB plugged in during the entire process. And DBAN did format the USB drive along with my SATA hard drive. And the entire process took 7 hours for a 500 GB hard drive. Talk about low-level format indeed.

But it worked. Windows setup was able to detect the drive afterwards.

My only complaint was the advertisement splash screen at the end of the formatting process. I don't mind having the add as long as it allows me to escape it somehow. Pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete did nothing. I had to do a hard shutdown just to reboot my PC. Despite this, I would still recommend this tool to anyone having a hard time installing on a hard drive with Linux installed.

Baler 2014

We reserved tickets for a bus trip to Baler via Genesis Bus lines. But on the day of the trip, we found out that Genesis issued tickets with the same seat numbers to other people. I can't help but emphasize that they purchased their tickets on the day of the trip. Yet they were given preference, and we, the ones who reserved tickets three days in advance, ended up seating elsewhere.

It appears that this kind of incident happens a lot. It really reflects sloppiness on the Genesis bus company. The same thing can be said of their bus toilet. But having one on a four to six hour non-stop trip is better than having none at all.

If you are in a rush to get to Baler, you can actually get there in four hours. Take the earliest trips in the morning. The only drawback is if you arrive at Baler before six a.m., the museums and other establishments aren't open yet. You'ld have to wait until about nine a.m. before you can enter these. A tricycle driver offered to give us a tour for 500 pesos. And if you want to see the Millennium tree, you'ld have to shell out an additional 300 pesos since that tourist attraction was located farther. With nothing else to do, we decided to go for it.

First destination was a replica of a president's house. We just saw the facade of the house of former Philippine President Manuel Quezon. His car on display was more impressive than his house. But I guess I'm not being fair with this statement since I wasn't able to enter the house yet. The caretaker said that once it was open, you would have to pay 30 pesos for the entrance fee.

Just beside that tourist spot was the Baler Catholic Church. The chandeliers inside were impressive.

Our next destination was Amco beach. It was really very beautiful. The shore was filled with rocks and seashells. And it hardly had any people. Finally, a nice quiet place away from the city. There were several mini islands you could get to and take pictures at. And the beach also had a swimming pool that would be enjoyable for kids. I guess this pool is meant to offset the rocky shore.

We also passed by one of Baler's famous water falls. You could probably climb one third of the way if you're the non-adventurous type like me. If you want to go higher, you might have to cross the water from the falls a few times. Careful! The rocks are slippery and you might fall.

Next, we went to a monument that commemorated the people of Baler's survival of a tidal wave. There was no historical plaque to read off of. So we had to rely on our tricycle driver tour guide.

Beside that monument was a set of stairs which led up Ermita hill. This gives tourists a nice panoramic view of the city of Baler and its coastline. A great place for taking photos.

Baler also has a historical marker which indicates that its inhabitants did something similar to Biak na Bato, where people revolted and tore their Spanish sedulas - or residence certificates - showing they were no longer under Spanish authority.

We also stopped by Baler's fish port. There were plenty of mangroves along that area. With the waves crest and troughs, the younger plants appeared to be waving out of the water. It was awesome. God is truly amazing. His works point to His glory and majesty.

We then decided to go for the Millennium Tree. It took a long time to travel, and that might not be a comfortable ride for some in a cramped tricycle. The tricycle driver said that the tree was about 600 years old. It was a rubber tree, with plenty of vines and ferns hanging off of its branches. Again, a great place for getting selfies and groupies. They were also vendors selling fresh coconuts - which you could have cut for the juice or the meat.

We decided to cut the tour short, but still pay the driver the 800 pesos. He ended up bringing us to Yoli's grill. They served delicious grilled pork chops. The restaurant beside it, Gerry's, supposedly served buffets for 200 pesos per person. But it was jam-packed, so we ended up at Yoli's instead.

Note that a tricycle ride only costs 12 pesos per person for short distances. Their fare matrix is posted on the tricycle itself. But if you are going to ask them to give you a tour, they can charge higher.

After lunch, we checked into R and R travel inn. Their rooms were good for four people. They had twin double deck beds, air-condition, and a nice toilet. But there was no hot water in the shower and no TV. Maybe, the philosophy behind this is to get the traveler to spend more time outside than inside the room. They also served coffee and kakanin for breakfast.

The shores of Baler are known for surfing. As soon as we got near the beach, we were offered a 1-hour surfing lesson for 350 pesos. If you already knew how to surf, and only wanted to rent the surf board, you could rent it for 200 pesos. One of my friends went for it, and within the hour, he was able to stand on the board and coast a little maybe four or six times. Not bad for a first timer.

The shoreline was also very sandy - in contrast to the Amco shoreline - and was a great place to walk barefoot or build sandcastles at.

The waves of Baler are stronger than most other beaches I have been to. And I thought this was surprising since the shore was very shallow - maybe knee to waist deep only, even in the area where the people were being taught how to surf. I thought you needed deep waters to learn how to surf, but this was not the case. And it was the wind that gave the waves its strength, according to a local.

There were several nice places to eat at along the shoreline. We opted for Baler-view hotel's restaurant. They have great sandwiches and calamaris.

You could also try out food from a yellow Volkswagen grill. Pretty novel for a marketing strategy.

And that would be the highlights of my trip to Baler.

I'm a bit surprised that throughout all this time, there aren't many well know eating establishments along the beach or even at the town. No McDonald's or Pizza Hut. No Starbucks or Yellow Cab. Boracay appears to be more progressive in this aspect. But maybe this is also good for Baler. Instead of giving the profits to the multinationals, it allows their locals to come up with world class services that would benefit the town.

Big Daddy Weave - Without You Chords

Great song by Big Daddy Weave. Here's my attempt at its chords. Enjoy!

Stanza Pattern

C#       C#sus2         C#       C#sus2       

Would we hear the sound
C#       C#sus2         C#       C#sus2

Of breathing in the dark

F#                                F#m7 (G#m7 - A - B)
Where would be life's spark
C#       C#sus2         C#       C#sus2

Without You

Repeat Stanza Pattern
Would the birds ever sing
Would the wind move through the trees
Could I touch the grass so green
Under this big sky so blue
Without You

Chorus

Ebm                         Ebsus  
And the sun doesn't shine
F#                            F#m7

And my world stops spinnin' round
C#       C#sus2         C#       C#sus2

Without You
Ebm                         Ebsus

Tell me where else could I ever find
F#                            F#m7

The peace that floods this heart of mine
C#       C#sus2         C#       C#sus2

Without You

Repeat Stanza Pattern
Who could fill the emptiness inside
Who would ease the pain in my broken heart
Who would come in and abide
Promise never to depart
Without You

Bridge
C#       C#sus2
I can't live without You
Ebm                         Ebsus

I don't want to try to

F#                   F#m7                  
Live one more moment 

C#       C#sus2

Without You
C#
Without You
Ebm
Without You
F#
Without You
C#
Without You