Joining the Buy-Me-an-Island Bandwagon

 With the latest buzz on The Pirate Bay wanting to buy Sealand so that it could continue its operations without violating copyright laws, an idea pops into your head. “Hey, I want to buy me an island too!”

First of all, you need to be awfully rich to be able to have your own piece of land surrounded by seawater. Well, say you happen to have a real fat piggy bank and would want to buy one out of a whim, here’s an article on buying your own private island. This basically lists the factors that you should consider when buying one, namely:

• Price
• Location
• Water
• Climate
• Accessibility
• Development

• Size
• Anchorage
• Topography
• Beaches
• Infrastructure
• Caretakers
• Utilities
• Land tenure

The list’s pretty much inconsistent with the title of “How to buy” since it’s mostly factors in choosing an island. But it might be because every country has its own provisions for land ownership.

Realistically, land tenure is the most important factor here. Different governments and constitutions have varying provisions for land ownership. If you’re lucky to be a citizen of an archipelagic country, then this trims down your problems. Some land/real estate laws do not award full (or even partial) ownership to foreigners.

Remember too, that to be the king of your own island, you must have the international community recognize it as sovereign. Until you get an island that has full recognition of sovereignty, forget about setting your own government. You’re still pretty much bound by the laws of the country that holds jurisdiction over it.

So if you have dreams of building your own republic that swears allegiance to your colorful boxer shorts, I’d say “Fat chance, but the best of luck to you.” Well, who knows…?

Force of Habit: Using Firefox Instead Google Chrome

 Yesterday was crazy with the launch of Google Chrome. Almost every acquaintance I knew had jumped into the “let’s try it out” bandwagon and were soon raving about Google’s new browser. As for me, I promised that I would be using Chrome at least for a couple of days but I find myself ditching it after a few hours.

Well, not that Chrome is a bad browser. The browser’s pretty straightforward and streamlined. The interface isn’t distracting at all. It displays web standard pages quite well. In fact, in terms of speed and reliability, Chrome does seem to trump Firefox and IE. I tried to open around 10+ tabs and most of them streaming videos and the damn thing just kept on. Do that with Firefox and you’re sure to crawl, crash even. Since Google claims that this is because Chrome treats each tab as a separate process, then we might just attribute that to my machine.

It’s got the famous “incognito window” or “p0rn mode” (supposedly to kick IE in the nuts) where you can surf without having to store cookies and history breadcrumbs locally. Though the paranoid in me refuses to believe that Google did this to uphold server-side privacy.

However, with it being in Beta, you can’t quite expect a fully-functional browser. As a web browsing tool for daily routine, sure it’s fast, it’s reliable, it’s great. A few quirks that I noticed were no ability to Shift + Enter in the address bar to create a .net suffix (and not even an option for .org too). There’s no RSS feed button for in-browser feed reading. While it imports pretty much all your browsing information from Firefox/IE, it doesn’t have a refined options list yet. I can’t even sort out the imported bookmarks! The address bar behaves like the not-so Awesome bar of Firefox 3 and worst of all, no add-ons (yet).

As a web power user, Chrome can’t still replace the functionalities that I get using Mozilla Firefox and my 20+ add-ons. Chrome looks really promising and probably if Google starts its own plug-in library to match Firefox’s I might make the jump. But for now, I am a creature of habit and am writing this within Firefox. Like all the entries that you read on this blog.

A Few Thoughts on Homeschooling

 Homeschooling has become the better option for some parents. And why not? The university has always been the academic institution where all kids hone and work on their talents, but there is the perpetual belief that home is the best school and parents are in turn, the best teachers of their kids. There is also the fear and the fact that universities have been the sites of no few notorious crimes.

Then again, there’s the opposite side of the story where child psychologists would argue that homeschooling robs the learner of the interpersonal skills only developed in a very social environment such as a school. But then again, thinking about how your child can be a victim of stereotyping, let downs and other things that can scar a person for life, homeschooling can be an attractive route.

If you are a parent, learn more about homeschool and why it might prove to be the better education for your kids by researching on the history of homeschooling and how other parents do it. If your kid is old enough to make a decision, it is important to ask and discuss why you prefer it.

If you are the student, your parents probably have a good reason why they are opting for homeschool. The idea may be daunting at first, but don’t antagonize the suggestion just yet before you even read about what homeschooling is all about. After your research, weigh the pros and cons and be honest to your parents about your opinion on it. It’s your future, after all.

Eco-Friendliness Tips: Going Green

Okay, we go cheesy with this post. Nevermind if manbearpig exists or not. Conserving the environment is something we should all be doing. It doesn’t take much to think of ways that would save the planet. Take a look at these practical suggestions and check those which you can do for your environment.

Recycle. Sort your garbage and all the things you plan to throw away. Instead of tossing all of them in the garbage can, take out those which can still be used. You can re-use old stuff and make them into works of art. Scan our how-to articles and find write ups on arts and crafts. If you’re not a DIY person, give your reusable stuff to your friends who can make something out of old things.

One of the most significant recyclables is paper. Separate your scrap papers from wet garbage like food waste and oily cans. You can sell the bunch of papers you collected to those who make them into recycled paper and earn at the same time!

Conserve water and electricity. A leaking faucet wastes so much water in a very short time. Same with electricity — so much energy is wasted when unnecessary lights are left turned on. After doing laundry, use the soapy water to clean your bathroom or garage. At the same time, be aware of electrical appliances that should be shut off immediately after using.

Reduce plastic consumption. Just in case you shop in a place where they use plastic bags (There are some parts of the world where paper bags are unheard of). You can either bring your own plastic bag whenever you have some shopping to do or you can use one plastic bag for different purchases instead of being given small plastic bags every time you go to a different store. Instead stuffs your purchases in your bag to avoid unnecessary plastic consumption and just asks for the receipt as proof of purchase.

Do your little share to help. Help your community fight against improper garbage disposal and pollution. You can see apathy about filth in some communities which don’t do anything about garbage bags piled up on such public places like highways and streets. A community should be responsible for its own garbage. Be a responsible member of your community by initiating actions that will bring awareness of your garbage problems. Be a role model by not littering on the road. Most children and even some grown-ups think it’s okay to throw things on the road but it’s actually a very disgusting habit.

Women Dating Tips: Why Isn’t He Calling/Texting?

Here’s another set of tips for women out there.

Ok, so you’re young, hot and gorgeous.. so why hasn’t that guy you met last night called or texted you yet?

Every now and then we get to see (or if we get lucky) meet, a cute, sweet guy. Almost every girl knows how hard it is to meet a real keeper these days; someone who’s got it all – beauty and brains plus an ounce of sensitivity. In a time of crisis like this one, what’s a girl to do when that guy isn’t calling or texting yet yet?

Wait. Don’t think he’ll contact you the minute you give him your number. Some guys play it cool, so they’re not so much in a hurry to contact you. Just leave your phone alone for a while and let it ring by itself. Don’t will it.

Recall. Think. Why would he call? Just because he asked for your number last night doesn’t mean he’ll actually call you. Reality is, some guys just ask for a girl’s number in order to be polite. No offense but hey, it happens! Come on, as if you’ve never given a fake number to a guy who was not cute enough for you! If you met him at some party and he was sort of drunk, he might have forgotten where he put his phone. Or maybe he was too drunk to tell you he has a girlfriend. Or maybe he’s still drunk right now. Are we waiting still? Really?

Rethink. Okay so he was a perfect gentleman last night and really seemed sincere when he asked for your number and told you he’ll call you in the morning. If he contacts you then he keeps his word. If he doesn’t, he’s a liar. Give the verdict when you get the call… or when no call ever comes.

If, at the end of the day there’s still no call…. he’s probably calling somebody else. Get over it. You’ll meet a cuter guy next weekend.

Let go. Literally. Let go of the friggin’ phone. The guy will call when he wants and you simply can’t wait for your phone to ring all day. Your phone has the ability to ring even if you’re not touching it. So take your day’s shower, eat that lunch and go through your office work because the phone can ring whether or not it’s near your face.

The truth is, a guy who likes a girl will call that girl. You can’t just call him and say “Hey, I’m this girl you met last night and I was wondering why you haven’t called me yet…” because (do I really have to explain this?)does that sound at all like you? There are guys out there who’ll exhaust your phone. Let’s just wish he wasn’t that guy who got your fake number.

Again, thanks to Anj for sharing these thoughts.