Henry Lubong’s Journal

I’ve been mourning since we came back from our vacation. I’m just blogging now because it’s hard for me to tell this story. When we arrived on Tuesday morning, the first thing I checked was my dogs. They usually come running to me when I call them but one didn’t show up. My other dogs we’re trying to show me something so I went outside and checked. I found my dog lifeless inside their house. I checked on him and his whole face was all eaten up – no mouth and no eyes. It is very graphic and sickening to the stomach. I don’t believe this was done by one of my dogs. I don’t see any trace of blood in our backyard. The suspicious thing about this is, my dog was lying inside the dog house and seems like it was place there.

Here’s the thing, my neighbor has a big dog and two smaller ones. His dogs and mine always fight and bark on each other. When I was walking around the backyard yesterday, I noticed that one of the panels of our fence in the back has a small opening. Some nails came loose maybe because the dogs are banging on it when they are fighting. I don’t know exactly what happened but all I can speculate is, perhaps my dog somehow got into their yard and he was murdered there. How he got into my backyard and the dog house is a mystery. It seems like there’s a foul play involved.

On Tuesday, I brought my dog to the hospital to get him cremated. I asked the vet to do a quick check and hoping that she could tell me what happened. The doctor came back with a tear in her eyes and she too couldn’t stomach what she saw. I was told that a bigger dog or a Coyote must have done it to him. I’m not sure if this is something that I can report to the police. I am sad and very angry! For now, all I can do is add some kind of reinforcement to my fence so I can protect my other dogs from being attacked again.

RIP to my best friend.

In just a couple of hours, we’ll be driving to the north to visit some relatives in Washington and B.C., Canada. I like traveling just past midnight because by the time the morning traffic starts, I am already in I-5 enjoying the road and watching the sun rise. I’ve driven to Vancouver a few times before and I always enjoy the drive, although it’s too tiring.  It’s about 10 to 11 hours long to get to the tip of Seattle… that’s me driving , lol. But tomorrow will be different. Carmela is with us and my pregnant wife for sure will request a rest stop every 3 hours. I’m addition to that, we’ll be visiting some tourist attractions along the way – that’s my mom’s request.

I’m so ready for this trip. I already got my new Nikon D90 and a 1.4 standard lens that just arrived today. I can’t wait to test it out and hopefully capture some great pictures.

We’re all packed up and ready to go except that I haven’t gotten any sleep yet. Yeah, yeah, what am I doing blogging right. I can’t sleep and you can’t blame me for being excited about this trip. I’ll try to update my blog with pictures of our travels but most likely, most my updates will be on Facebook. In the meantime, since it’s 1 minute to 12, I’ll try to get some sleep first.

Wow, I must have been living in a cave or something. I was caught by surprise when I realized that the show had its final ending today. And this is not just the season ending, but the show aired its last and final episode. At first, I didn’t believe that they were finally freed and most of all, Michael Scoffield died. That’s when I turned to my laptop and started googling. It was sort of a good ending for people like me who hasn’t heard about the cancellation of the show but I thought the finale was kind of weak. I am expecting more than that.

Anyway, I guess it’s time to say goodbye to my.. or our (and my wife)  favorite show. We’ve been following the series and never missed any episodes in the last four years ever since the Pilot episode. I hope something as good or better shows up when the summer break is over. Bye Prison Break… {applauding}

Seriously, what’s the difference when it comes to micro blogging? They both serve the same goal. In the end Facebook will win anyway because they have more to offer. Besides, most of my friends and my Twitter followers are on Facebook so it’s pointless to have both. I only use Twitter nowadays for RSS feeds but I have a better reader for that.

One advantage I see  for Twitter is for entities that are broadcasting messages for public viewing. It’s a good medium for getting your message out to the world. If you’re like me and use Twitter mostly for instant news feeds, look else where.

So Twitter, thanks for the service, you are just another Friendster to me. Now it’s time for me to build widgets and plugins for Facebook.

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, May 4, 2009 – According to The NPD Group, a leader in wireless industry market research, an aggressive “buy-one-get-one” promotion by Verizon Wireless helped RIM’s BlackBerry Curve move past Apple’s iPhone to become the best-selling consumer smartphone in the U.S. in the first quarter (Q1) of 2009.  RIM’s consumer smartphone market share increased 15 percent to nearly 50 percent of the smartphone market in Q1 2009 versus the prior quarter, as Apple’s and Palm’s share both declined 10 percent each.

Based on U.S. consumer sales of smartphone handsets in NPD’s “Smartphone Market Update” report, the first-quarter 2009 ranking of the top-five best-selling smartphones is as follows:

1. RIM BlackBerry Curve (all 83XX models)
2. Apple iPhone 3G (all models)
3. RIM BlackBerry Storm
4. RIM BlackBerry Pearl (all models, except flip)
5. T-Mobile G1

“Verizon Wireless’s aggressive marketing of the BlackBerry Storm and its buy-one-get-one BlackBerry promotion to its large customer base contributed to RIM capturing three of the top five positions,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at The NPD Group. “The more familiar, and less expensive, Curve benefited from these giveaways and was able to leapfrog the iPhone, due to its broader availability on the four major U.S. national carriers.”

Smartphones, which represented just 17 percent of handset sales volume in Q1 2008, now make up 23 percent of sales. “Even in this challenging economy, consumers are migrating toward Web-capable handsets and their supporting data plans to access more information and entertainment on the go.” Rubin said.

Methodology: The NPD Group compiles and analyzes mobile device sales data based on more than 150,000 completed online consumer research surveys each month. Surveys are based on a nationally balanced and demographically representative sample, and results are projected to represent the entire population of U.S. consumers. Note: Sales figures do not include corporate/enterprise mobile phone sales.

Original article can be found here.

My friends and I went for an indoor karting this evening in LeMans Karting in Fremont. The last time I’ve raced in this track was 2002 during their grand opening. It has a faster layout and wider track compared to GoKart Racer in Burlingame. The track has plenty of room for passing. We went for the combo package which includes a 10 minute practice, 5 minute qualifying and 15 minutes of heart-pounding race. Thirty minutes of seat time is a total body workout. You are not only using your legs to accelerate and decelerate the kart but your whole body gets tossed around on a turn. Well, technically, you will have to move your body to shift the weight of the kart and get a better drive. Not only that, your arms and hands get a work out too. The distance between the steering wheel and the tires are very close that you feel every centimeters of turning and sliding of the tires. When your drifting or just letting the kart slides, you’ll have to counter steer or correct the turn and you definitely need a strong arms for this or you’ll come crashing to the wall.

Tonight’s race was absolutely fun and please allow me to brag a little, I came first on all the sessions (practice, qualifying and race). My fastest lap time was 22.89. I heard that the best lap time so far in this track is in the high 19’s. That is something to look forward to

My parent’s dogs (which is technically mine) got loose today. Their names are Olen and Cooper, both males. I searched for them for two hours this afternoon with no luck. On my way back tonight from gokarting, I drove around their neighborhood again and just took a chance that I may find them. It must be my gut instinct because I saw Olen not too far from my parent’s house. I drove more to look for Cooper but I couldn’t find him. It’s already almost midnight and my eyes are getting tired plus my teeth are bothering me again, so I just went home after I dropped off Olen. I am not giving up on him yet. I have to wake up early tomorrow to search for my dog again.

So I picked the Storm over Omnia. It’s been two months now since I purchased this phone. It’s enough hands-on time to give my personal review about this phone. Why the Storm? First of all, I wanted to try the RIM’s OS. Secondly, the storm looks slickier than the Omnia. Lastly, I don’t want to get tied with the proprietary port and cable of the Samsung Omnia. Do I regret purchasing the Storm over the Omnia? Maybe not when compared ot the Omnia. But if you ask me if I have any regrets purchasing the Storm, yes I do, a little.

When I received the phone, it came with 4.7.0.75 version of the OS. This is an updated version which was supposed to fix some of the initial bugs when the first batches were first released. In the course of two months, a few beta updates were leaked out that fixed more bugs and made the phone better and faster. The most noticeable fix was for the quick response of the accelerometer (it orients the phone in landscape or portrait mode). Recently, RIM announced the latest official OS update of the Storm 9530, the 4.7.0.122. It was for Bell Mobility customers but would also work with Verizon Wireless. I currently have it on my phone.

To get a better view of this phone I will list my likes and dislikes.

Likes:

• slick black device
• easy email integration
• nice button layout
• fast accelerometer
• usable browser
• 3G connection cut out right away when app is closed (compare that with WinMo devices)
• contact list
• phone dialer (i like the big buttons)
• decent video/photo resolution
• good voice quality and an okay speaker
• huge community of Blackberry users
• RIM is frequently releasing updates for this phone (I had to wait a year to get some bug fixes on my old WinMo phone)

Dislikes:

• SurePress Touch Screen!!! If it wasn’t for this most annoying feature of the phone, I’d give the Storm a grade of 100%. I will never get used to it and unfortunately I have to interact with the touch screen to use the phone. I always mistype words and typing is painfully slow!

If I get a better touch screen, I will keep this phone oherwise iPhone will be my next mobile phone when they come to Verizon.

…well, almost. I still need to paint the tank black and install a new rear set and maybe a slip-on. I really like how the fairings turned out and they followed my design exactly as I wanted. Although, these chinese molded ABS plastics do not have the same quality as the OEM ones. The material is a little bit thinner and a third class paint was also used. It looks like they only applied two layers of paint. I noticed a few paint bubbles. For $600 and free shipping, it’s a good price for a set of fairing, free windscreen, free frame sliders and free tank protector. The freebies alone are already worth $180 at least. Not to mention, it only took them 3 weeks to complete a custom fairing and another 3 days to ship it from Hong Kong. That’s an awesome service if you ask me. These guys are known on Ebay as “motofansclub.” They’re also the best fairing seller on 600rr.net. Everyone seems happy about their products and prompt service. Overall, I am happy with this purchase and I would highly recommend it to my riding buddies. Other than the fairings, here are the list of things that I replaced and upgraded:

OEM parts replaced:

• ECU
• font brake reservoir
• upper fairing bracket
• air duct
• subframe
• front wheel/rim
• headlight
• brake and clutch levers
• mirrors
• left rear set

Upgrades:

• Galfer Stainless Steel Brake Lines
• EBC Double HH Brake Pads
• Bridgestone Battlax BT002 Race/Street Tires

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

BEFORE:
This is how it looked when I first picked up the bike

AFTER:

FUTURE:
How it’s gonna look like after the tank is painted

Say hi to my new Baby Speedster. She’s 4 months old in her mom’s tummy. We went to the doctor today for a regular visit and here’s a short video clip of the doppler test.

Lyrics:

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used
And wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame.

And still I dream he’ll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms
We cannot weather…

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living
so different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

Shame on you who denied benefits (which is rightfully theirs) for these Filipino veterans! These brave men fought side-by-side with U.S. under the American flag and should be honored in every way.

Road to recognition

• July 1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, fearing that war with Japan is imminent, drafts 140,000 soldiers from the Philippines, then a U.S. colony.
• March 1942: Congress passes a law allowing Filipino soldiers to become U.S. citizens after the war as a reward for their service. They”re also promised full U.S. military benefits.
• May 1942: U.S. forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese, but many U.S. and Filipino soldiers keep fighting. The U.S. later places Filipino guerrillas under Gen. Douglas MacArthur”s command.
• February 1946: President Harry Truman signs two bills denying Filipino vets most veterans” benefits.
• November 1990: President George H.W. Bush signs a law allowing Filipino vets from World War II to become instant U.S. citizens.
• February 2009: President Barack Obama signs the stimulus bill, which includes a provision to give Filipino vets who are U.S. citizens $15,000. Vets who are Filipino citizens get $9,000.

You can read the full story here – http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12124922?source=rss

Thank you Mr. Postman for the prompt delivery! This fairing set is a custom painted ABS Plastic Fairing from Hong Kong. The process took about  three weeks and the delivery took an impressive three days coming from overseas. The color scheme is lamborghini orange/black. I was gonna had it all done in black but I was inspired with the new KTM RC8, I went with that theme instead. I just took some teaser pictures for now. I’ve ordered a set of fairing screws that is specific for my bike. I should have everything installed next week. Now I have to get my blue tank painted.

Sometimes babysitting can be fun. Those are mine and Carmela’s footprints in the blanket.

I must say this is a perfect laptop for my wife. She only uses it for email and for checking her social networking sites. It’s a pretty nice netbook that’s more than capable of daily moderate computing. I’ve done my research (as usual) before I got this netbook and trust my word, the HP Mini is the best 10″ netbook out there. It’s got a nice piano black plastic lid with an artsy spiral pattern printed on it. It might be a turn off to some because it’s a magnet for finger prints.  10″ viewable screen might sound small but it’s adequate for browsing, checking email and ms office works. The keyboard as HP claims is about 92% the size of a full-size laptop keyboard. It’s easy to get used to and I never had a problem with it. The mouse though is a bit unusual because the right/left keys are positioned on the side of the pad. If you’re a double-tap person like me, then this will not be an issue. In terms of size and weight, this 10″ version is smaller and lighter than its competitors and other 8″ netbooks out there. I really like this netbook. I think it’s perfect for travelling and when I go for my track days. Oh wait, I forgot this laptop is not mine, haha.

It’s racing season again. These are what keeping my TiVo busy on the weekend.

if Facebook opens up their API for personal status updates or at least unblock the RSS feed. I could get RSS feed for friends updates but not my own updates. I believe this used to work before their recent site upgrade. How ’bout make it available again FB?

No wonder why Carmela’s toys are nowhere to be found. She’s been hiding them inside my subwoofer.

How many times do I need to post something like this, lol. I’ve been busy with Facebook lately. I’m trying to figure out how I can integrate photos, videos, upates and other feeds with my blogs and all these social networks I go to. How many social networks do we need anyway? Oh well, these days, you need to keep up with the web trends or you’ll be left behind in your cave.

I can’t deal with my broken phone anymore. I just placed my order through Verizon and should get shipped overnight. I can’t wait!