chette.com

All along I thought the default font of iPhone’s Mail was Times New Roman.

It wasn’t. It was the default font of the signature.

Crazy.

So for those who don’t like accidentally sending HTML email from their iPhones: Clear out your entire signature in your iPhone and type a new one. Be careful not to use paste because the iPhone can copy and paste font styles from some apps.

P.S.
You can edit your signature in Settings > Mail and scroll down to Signature. But you probably already know that.

So you want to purchase your first electronic cigarette and don’t know where to start? Never fear, Chette is here. Here are the two most often asked questions about e-cigarettes.

Where to buy?

Kiosks can be found in various malls (SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, Podium, etc.).

I personally buy my e-cigs online, usually from Chinese suppliers. They’re cheaper, have the latest models, and the eLiquids come in much bigger bottles.

What to buy?

• 1000mAh eGo-T XL mega battery. 3 pcs if you’re a chain smoker, and if you work full-time. So you could have 1 at home, 1 in the office, and 1 in transit.
• Low Resistance mega atomizer, type B. 10 pcs.
• Empty eGo mega cartridges, Type B. 10 pcs. This is where you put the liquid. Always have a couple of pre-filled ones with you.
• Fast USB charger. 2 pcs (1 in the office and 1 at home).
• eGo mega atomizer, type B. 5 pcs minimum. Controversial, I know. Why would I recommend eGo atomizers when you already have the eGo-T ones? Because they produce better taste. And, they are more dependable than the eGo-T.
  The problem with eGo-T atomizers is they get flooded easily. And it’s a big pain to clean them.
  The disadvantage with eGo atomizers though is that you need to carry around a small bottle of eLiquid  because you need to drop juice (3 to 4 drops) after 15 or so puffs.
• Black delrin drip tips for eGo. 5 pcs. For the eGo atomizers.
• eLiquid. 5 bottles. Experiment with various flavors. I have yet to meet anyone who didn’t like Flue Cured and Ruyan.

Happy vaping.

Petri Dish 100x15mm / Mercury Drug, Shangrila Mall / P95.00

What do you need a petri dish for?

• As a palette for liquid foundation. Just pour an adequate amount on the petri dish, and dip your stippling brush or beauty blender onto it. Michelle Phan would be proud.

• For mixing your moisturizer, sunblock, serum, and what-have-yous prior to application. Paula thinks it’s okay. And since I think she’s great, I agree.

This petri dish, being glass, is easier to clean than plastic. When I’m feeling lazy, I just wipe it with a couple baby wipes and it’s all set for next use.

Not really a new blog. More of like an update. But it is a new me. Like my blog, I’m still rough around the edges … but I’m getting there.

Change Log (of blog & me):

• Changed the directory to /blog I was a stickler on the /v2, /v3 etc format, made sure that the development of a new theme is parallel to the maintenance of the current one, properly backed up & synced everything, and made sure that there is zero downtime.
  Then I grew up. Honey, this is not  Wikipedia, whose downtime is noticed by millions of plagiarists of all the world. It’s just a frickin blog.
• Didn’t bother putting proper 301 or 302 redirects in htaccess. F*ck SEO.
• Edited my template directly on the server. Which means I see the changes (and mess ups) in real time. And so does the rest of the world.
  Do I care? Not really. Again, just a blog.
  Plus, if you do strict versioning and backups for a living as I do, you totally. get. sick. of. it.
• Went back to my previous template, which was originally done in Joomla.
  I had an integral struggle on this one. I wanted to have one of those hand-drawn template graphics. But then I needed to learn how to draw, which I don’t see happening in the next 2 decades.
  My masterpieces now all come straight from my scanner or my iPhone. And I’m owning it.
• Re-enabled Google AdSense to get some pitiful earnings. Okay, I’m kidding. This is something for work.
• I stop when I’m tired. No more sleepless night just because my <li> tags are not formatting correctly.
• Started using Disqus again. Also required login for comments. This drastically reduced the number of comments (as with the previous versions of the blog). But I realized the only comments worth reading are those posted by those who login anyway. So be it.

Fridge Stack, 1.5 gallons / Make Room & More, Powerplant Mall / P950.00

I hate having to stoop down to get a pitcher of water in the ref. I would’ve gotten a water dispenser if I was a heavy water drinker, and if I don’t live in a condo.

It was serendipitous than I discovered Fridge Stack from Make Room.

I took measurements of the available space in our ref before I purchased it. Unfortunately, I failed to take into consideration the spout area, which hit one of the shelves inside the ref. I ended up removing the offending shelf (with very little hesitation).

I placed the Fridge Stack near the topmost shelf in the ref, which also made the water really cold as it was close to the chiller.

My only disappointment is not really the product’s fault but my blatant disregard of the laws of physics. I was expecting the water to act like a faucet and continuously release water in one continuous swoosh! Of course that didn’t happen. More of like blop blop.

I’m in love with this baby. And I know you will too. Unless you hate water. And you live in outerspace.

Before anything else: My views are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.

Moving on …

For the time being, I am trying to veer away from my usual feeds and read more local blogs. We shall call my reference The List – which is supposedly a comprehensive list of the top bloggers in the Philippines.

How the term “top bloggers” came about is debatable. But that’s another story.

So what is the verdict in almost 4 weeks of reading?

For every 5 bloggers in The List, only 1 of them regularly write original content. The remaining are self-proclaimed curators, whose posts are usually links to other blogs, or worse, publishing someone else’s post in it’s entirety – with an introductory sentence, of course.

There are also a lot of one-paragraph posts whose main objective is to make readers answer their questions/problems.

There are a handful who take the time to write long reviews & articles. You do get a funny feeling how genuine some are, based on the hard sell in their tweets.

And then there are blogs which are like a breath of fresh air. Some might be labeled fluffy, or even eccentric, but they are so unpretentious and unique that you can’t help but dig thru their entire archives.

It’s confusing, this task. But I’m glad I’m doing this I am getting to know the community, albeit from a distant view.

In the meantime, my eyes are open.

In a horizontal job, multitasking skills are critical

People (& marketing campaigns) can’t wait for you while you wait for information to sink in.

Nor will they waste time to organize information because you can’t see the bits & pieces holistically.

You move fast.

Like Steve Rubel, I also contemplated on moving my blog to Tumblr. For the same reasons: the social factor, the simplicity, the absence of hosting headaches.

Why didn’t I take the plunge? Because I don’t trust it (yet). Too many of my friends have complained about the downtimes. What disturbed me the most was when I logged in to Tumblr after almost 2 years, there was hardly any changes. There is still no robust capability to import a WordPress blog & its comments, and there is still no satisfying backup feature.

Apparently, I am not alone.

Tumblr reminds me of Remember the Milk, who did very well at its initial launch, offered impressive features … and stopped right there. They still refuse to adapt to the changing needs of its users, or open themselves up to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, their customers might be right.