@cocoy - coyfish

Rest in Peace, Torch Bearer

2009-11-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

I still remember it as if it was yesterday. My first Green Lantern comic book, I got in the summer of 1994. It was issue 50. I bought from the hotel lobby while on vacation in Cebu City, Philippines with my mom and dad. I remembered being surprised that it was there.

That issue was a landmark issue that turned the hero, Green Lantern Hal Jordan into a villain. With Darth Vader like vengeance, Jordan killed the members of the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the universe.

Then there was only one.

With Jordan's discarded ring, the last of the guardians of the universe, Ganthet, forged the last Green Lantern ring and gave it to Kyle Rayner.

For the past fifteen years, I grew up not with Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, but it was Kyle Rayner. I grew up with Rayner learning the ropes of a noob Green Lantern, as he became part of the Justice League and held on his own. Later on, he became Ion, the embodiment of Willpower; restarted the Corps, and was instrumental in bringing Hal Jordan back to life and redemption.

Kyle Rayner gave up the power of Ion, the power of godhood, time and time again. He was a noble character and worthy role model for young kids. In the Corps, he is known as the Torch Bearer because he kept the light of the Green Lantern Corps going for many years and for his role in bringing it back.

In Geoff Johns' issue 3, Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds, as Sodom Yat was "burying" Rond Vidar, last of the Green Lanterns in the 31st Century, he spoke of the Torch Bearer:

"He reminded me of someone from long ago. One we called, 'The Torch Bearer'. A title that Lantern gave to me when he died."

I thought it would be a long time before Rayner would fall; perhaps of old age. Now, I look back at it as foreshadowing.

Green Lanterns are soldiers and peacekeepers. They die all the time. Perhaps the shock of this death is that for many years, we think of our heroes as powerful that they can't die.

When the Batman fell in his battle with Darkseid, we took months to get used to the idea. He was going to die, so his "death," was as heroic, but it was not as tragic as this.

Ranyer's death was penned by Peter Tomasi and this issue of Green Lantern Corps 42. It is one of the best he's written and Tomasi has been knocking comic book writing out of the park for years now.

Yes, I was surprised that Kyle was killed in battle, and the tragedy is one that would hit the Corps as strongly as it does me, in my humble opinion.

There are characters we grew up with that are sometimes like larger than life. They have personalities that we relate to. This just feels like an end of an era for those of us who grew up with Kyle Rayner. That summer when I first read a Green Lantern book was also the last summer of childhood before grief and adult responsibility had to take over. Looking back now, it seem, I related to the character of Rayner a lot more than I realized.

Kyle Rayner of sector 2814, Honor Guard and third in command of the Green Lantern Corps, died a hero, in defense of the Oan Central Power Battery. What more words are needed than these: "Ring status report. Green Lantern 2814 deceased. Priority directive located. Moratorium on sentient Ring replacement. Proceed to space sector 2261."

Thank you, and Rest in Peace, Torch Bearer.

*images are from comic books owned by DC Comics. I invoke fair use.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

Star Wars Old Republic Developer Walkthrough

2009-11-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

This is Star Wars the Old Republic Massive Multiplayer Game Developer Demo.

It looks awesome!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

The US$1,500 Thanksgiving Contest

2009-10-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

So I was pointed by my friend Roch to Jaypee Online's Thanksgiving Contest and she said that I should join. Why not, right? So here I am blogging about this 1500 thanksgiving contest by Jaypee. What's at stake is US$1,500 in cash, wordpress themes and web hosting.

Top prize consists of a Pro Plus theme package from StudioPress, single theme license from Pro Theme Design, another from Press75 and another one from WP Zoom. You also get a year's worth of Theme Club Membership from Elegant Themes, 1 year hosting w/ free domain from DreamHost via Jehzeel Laurente and US$50 cash via paypal from Jehzeel.

Other prizes are the following.

For second prize:

Single Theme License from Pro Theme Design

Single Theme License from Press75

Single Theme Package from StudioPress

Single Theme License from WP Zoom

1 Year Freedom Plan Hosting from WP Web Host

$25 Cash via PayPal from JaypeeOnline

3rd Prize consists of:

Single Theme License from Pro Theme Design

Single Theme Package from StudioPress

Single Theme License from WP Zoom

Single Theme Licenses from WP Now

1 Year Freedom Plan Hosting from WP Web Host

$10 Cash via PayPal from JaypeeOnline

Consolation Prizes:

Single Theme Package from StudioPress

Single Theme Licenses from WP Now

Sponsors for this contest are the following:

StudioPress

Pro Theme Design
Press75
WP Zoom
WP Now
Elegant Themes
WP WebHost
Jehzeel Laurente

You can check out mechanics at JaypeeOnline.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

CyberSecurity Tip: The Best Password is a Passphrase

2009-10-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

This is how to remember 20 character passwords or more without killing braincells.

It is National CyberSecurity Awareness month. Google has a post on how best to secure your gmail account, for example. I'd like to share with you some of my techniques for using passwords. Anyone who has worked with me or who knows me, is well aware that I'm notorious for long passwords that seemingly don't make sense, for example: "cx2209eaxj1aZ". That was the old Cocoy, and I've seen deprecated this in favor of far easier passwords to remember of which I hope you'd find value in.

See that's the thing with people: they need to remember passwords, so they use birthdays, and names of significant others. Those are weak passwords. My suggestion is to use a phrase or a sentence that has some meaning or significance for you.

For example, it could be a quote:

The quick br0wn f0x jumped 0ver the fence.

Noticed, I also changed o to a zero and I used spaces and a period.

It could also be something personal:

My friend Roch,

My cousin J0an

Chiqui is my favorite c0ok!

I also use different passwords for different sites. I associate phrases with different websites. For example, on Facebook:

I hate farmvill3.

To wrap up: use a passphrase, a quote or a sentence that is significant for you and mix letters, punctuation marks and numbers too.

I hope the secret of my password technique would be most useful to you.

*image is also released as creative commons.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

Estrada for 2010

2009-10-22T00:19:00.000-07:00

On October 25, 2007, GMA News TV reported as a term of Joseph Estrada's pardon: "Whereas, Joseph Ejercito Estrada has publicly committed to no longer seek any elective position or office,"

Ergo, Estrada can not run for office as a condition of his pardon.

Why is Estrada running for Office? The only reasonable explanation is: he wants the Supreme Court to hear his case again. This is his chance at vindication. Of course, the best legacy, the best vindication he could hope to achieve is to be an elder statesman. Such of course, he can't do.

*the image of Joseph Estrada was taken by Helene C. Stikkel and is in the public domain.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

The Problem About Noynoy

2009-10-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

image is from the Noynoy Aquino for President movement.

RJ Miramol wrote:

I have nothing against Noynoy winning. But I have everything against another political swindle. As the popular saying goes, “You fool me once, shame on you! You fool me twice, shame on me!”

Perhaps, more than the assertion that Noynoy Aquino is inexperienced, this is something he must overcome. RJ has a point. And she isn't alone. It isn't merely Noynoy Aquino but more than twenty years of failure by our leaders to lift our people out of poverty. It is like a woman breaking your heart, over and over again. How then do you trust?

It is easy for someone like me to say, we should trust Noynoy Aquino. His character is without reproach. I believe that quality is important to carry out a crushing blow to Graft and Corruption. I mean, how can anyone crush graft and corruption, if they're part of that system? We need someone who has honesty, integrity, who is transparent and is for good governance. I believe the next president's task is that Institutional Reform. Everything else falls second. That includes education, a balanced budget--- everything else. The laser focus of the next administration must be to rebuild our institution, to make us trust again.

How will he translate that character into something awesome?

It is important that Noynoy Aquino needs to get his platform out the door. Right now. Noynoy Aquino must act presidential. Right now. He needs to stand before our people and be seen doing something. If that means he has to be in Mindanao to lay the foundation for brokering peace, he should do it. If it means setting up a relief and rescue network for future disasters to avoid donor fatigue, he has to do it.

Noynoy Aquino must be seen being presidential.

I believe Noynoy Aquino is the best hope for this nation because of his character. He doesn't need to convince people like me. Senator Aquino must convince people like RJ to believe again. It is no different from dating, in my humble opinion. People will want to believe but is Noynoy Aquino too good to be true?

I believe that Institutional Reform is the most important question pressing our republic, more than education, more than health care. Institutional reform means fighting graft and corruption. The first step is to clean out the judiciary, the ombudsman and law enforcement so that when you start cleaning out the department of finance, we can trust that justice be done. I believe it is the key to open the door for the other stuff. I believe to have such credible institutional reform will require the man running the show to have impeccable character. That character is Noynoy Aquino and I think he can establish a government that is honest, that has integrity, that is transparent and for good governance.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

Inhatko: Apple's future tablet to save the day for comic books?

2009-10-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

image is of the new Justice League via The Source

Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Andy Ihnatko says there are hints that Apple is getting into the digital comic book market, a statement he likens to saying "Apple is helping to create the digital comic book market." Digital comics today, he argues, are where digital music was in 2002. Legitimate businesses are so fractured, clumsy, and behind the times that pirated comics (online illegally one day after hitting store shelves) provide the best user experience.

I shall follow this development with much interest.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

Wolfram Alpha releases API

2009-10-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

[screenshot of Wolfram Alpha's home page.]

Wolfram Alpha is an amazing technology. There is great potential in this service. Think of it less as a search engine, but Britanica and Mathematica combine. There are searches where it is competent in like a comparison of IBM and Apple stock price. But try searching for obscure company on the S&P and chances are Wolfram Alpha doesn't know about it. in my humble opinion, if Wolfram Alpha ever gets to use Wikipedia and other vectors of data, it would be amazing what it can do.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

The State of the Mac Mini

2009-10-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

[image of the Mac Mini is from Apple's site.]

Macminicolo said:

There is one thing to note that most people don't know. The Mac minis are officially sold and supported to use 4GB of RAM. However, with that last Mac mini firmware upgrade, they will now support 8GB of RAM. These new minis already have this firmware applied.

The more exciting news from yesterday is the new Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server. This machine omits the optical drive and instead offers two 500GB drives for a total of 1TB. Also included is Snow Leopard Server (usually $499) and 4GB of RAM.

I am definitely falling in love with the Mac Mini. It will be included in my next Mac purchase. As I mentioned in I Have a Dream, the possibilities are great.

via Gruber.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

I Have A Dream

2009-10-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

[screenshot from Apple's site on the new Mac Mini]

There is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into The Temple of High Computing. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for Freedom by drinking from the cup of the PC.

[screenshot of the new Magic Mouse from Apple's site]

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative and intellectual power to be wasted energy. Again, and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting hard work with smart work. The marvelous new power which has engulfed the Apple community must not lead us to distrust the rest of the computing community, as evidence by their presence in our beloved OS X. Their destiny is tied up with our destiny. Their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom! We cannot walk alone.

[Apple also updated their basic Macbook. screenshot taken from Apple's site]

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead! We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the Cult of Mac, "when will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied so long as our machines, heavy with Windows fatigue cannot log on to these interwebs unthreatened by the constant danger of worms and viruses and the blue screen of death. We can never be satisfied for so long as computers and operating systems are unintuitive. We cannot be satisfied so long as server technology is heavy on power consumption, and the Strength of the Cloud is dispensed only by the high gods of computing. We cannot be satisfied as long as supercomputing is horribly difficult and unintuitive.

[Apple's New 27" Quad Core iMac is workstation level power. video here. screenshot from Apple's site]

I am not unmindful that for some of you, to see these glorious new products from Cupertino are wrapped in the ever flowing embrace of the Reality Distortion Field(™). You have been the veterans of countless Macworlds, WWDCs and Steve keynotes. And there are those among you, out there in the darkness of a Windows universe unable to see the glorious power of OS X, I say to you today, my friends, do not despair!!!

I have a dream that one day all of humanity will live out the true meaning of the creed: "We reject kings, presidents and voting. We believe in rough consensus and running code."

[The new Mac Mini with Snow Leopard Server is perfect for Home Server or Business Server. The possibilities of this thing excites me.

Screenshot from Apple's website]

I have a dream that one day, with a Mac Mini server, the Cloud will be you, always. Switchers from the Windows universe and Mac users everywhere will together be able to host their own servers and blogs from home. We will be the High Priests of our own Cloud.

[Is clustering not just for Rocket Scientists anymore? Can ordinary users build one, without breaking the bank on cooling, on going nuts with cluster infrastructure? Can users use iPhone as a cluster monitoring, and command and control tool?]

I have a dream that one day that even supercomputing, sweltering from the high heat of the server room will be transformed to sit in a home, transformed into an oasis of its own Temple of High Computing. Data will flow unhindered, ubiquitous in the guiding light of our networks.

I have a dream that one day children can come home where they will use the power of their intelligence to create creative content, and to push the boundaries of science and human achievement.

And when this happens, when we are responsible for our own cloud, we will let our content and our data send from every device, from every access point, from every node as part of this Internet universe, and liberally accept it. Even then, we have just begun.

*My apologies to Martin Luthor King.

Disclaimer:
**images are Apple products and used here under fair use. I mean no infringement.
***I do not own Apple stock nor am I affiliated with Apple or their retail stores.
****I am proud owner an iMac and an iPod.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.