Now, I’m so jealous of him – in a good way. In his previous academic strides, he was able to comb the major cities of the Philippines without incurring any major financial costs as he was frequently chosen to attend conferences, seminars and participate with academic contests through in his school. He’s been to Baguio City, Manila, and Cebu – places around my country that I’ve never visited yet. Two years ago, we were expecting that I would be working abroad today. Now, the changes happened and he’s in Osaka, Japan, making the first direct family member I have that was able to go abroad. He likes cold temperature and said Osaka is cold than he expected it to be. He is currently bound to visit Hiroshima, and Tokyo. How good is that!

Before he flew to Japan, he was complaining that he needed a computer or laptop for his Japanese language resources. So, I gave him the laptop I acquired two years ago. He said he will use it to boost his knowledge as he will be able to store Japanese e-books, tutorials and language guides for him to be able to "survive" his first visit in Japan since he will be using the language he started learning since 3 years and it will come into practical use. Well, I’m pretty confident that he’ll be able to make it. Why? I’ve seen it first hand. He has his freedom wall in our house that is full of Kanji characters and every time I see it I go crazy.

Well, it’s nice to know that his efforts is starting to pay off. He got brains that act as like a passport and whenever it works it sucks many opportunities along his way. I’m just trying to be the same. Now, I’m waiting for his safe return and wondering what he will bring home from his Japan trip. He said on Skype that the gadgets there are cheaper and that excites me to the bones. I hope he can bring something interesting for me. He’ll return here on April 27.

I wrote this post because I was compelled to after seeing the great video of my tech whiz friend from Melbourne, Australia named Chris Morris. As a member of a very large community worldwide that is composed of insanely knowledgeable people who just can’t get off their computers even for a day (a.k.a. Computer Geek), here is my wish list with what I want to have or get in order to comply with techno lusts:

1. A Bed, A Life
2. New Apple Laptop With Discrete Graphics Card
3. A Tech Job Abroad
4. More Geek Friends
5. Netbook/Mobile Computer Phone

While year 2008 has brought many good things to me as a self-proclaimed geek, I’ve always wished to have the things I’ve enlisted above this December. You might be a little surprised as to why that is but I’ll have more relevant and substantial explanations by explaining why a geek like me need those things. And yes, these things are too much to ask.

A Bed and A Life And A Life In The Bed

Now don’t take that extremely literally. Well, I listed bed as the number one on my list because I’ve been sleeping on the floor for 21 years. I couldn’t express how happy I was when I got my own room this year after 21 years. Although I still sleep on the floor using a mat, I can’t stand anymore excessive self-pity and I finally realized that I don’t deserve to have my back aching against the concrete floor. It’s never fun. Until now, sleeping on my own bed is still an imagination. When I get my bed, I will work next on getting a life. Geeks and computer enthusiasts are prone to get strangled with the cyber world to a point that they sometimes forget that the real-world is great and full of adventure. Being said that, I want to have a life (a better life or to be precise a romantic life). Oh well, I already have a romantic life while I’m working on line — but hell, it’s not mutual. Being around and being able to express the person you love (emotionally and physically) how it feels to be with a romantic geek is a dream come true next to a successful hacking.

New Apple Laptop With Discrete Graphics Card

Two years ago I jumped to the roof when I acquired my first laptop ever: a shiny Neo-branded laptop that is unknown to the world, runs with Windows Vista Home Premium and with fair specs. After my several attempts to beef up its performance (e.g., increased the RAM to 3GB, acquired external HDD to increase disk space and take advantage of Vista’s Readyboost technology), the result has never been truly rewarding. The laptop has no discrete graphics card — a major drawback. While I’m happy that I was able to do most of the professional work I am indulged into, there are many things for myself that prevents me from exploring my capabilities or talents further just because my system doesn’t allow me so. That’s why I joined the HP Magic Giveaway contest this month in an effort to win but well, I wasn’t selected so getting a high-end or mid-range laptop will do justice. Basically, if I will be able to get a new one next year, I will pass my current laptop to my brother and allow him to boom in the Information Technology world.

A Tech Job Abroad

Believe me when I tell you that Philippines is one of the best destinations in the world to retire. Why so? Dollars will go beyond its worth here, the weather is good and tropical, there are many good places without spending too much, and you can live with people that are so warmhearted. My only problem here is that the country doesn’t perfectly fit with my personal views regarding the world which tends to more liberated, and secondly, the pay here is not good unless you are in a good position. Likewise, there is no other place like home so the best idea for me is to earn money outside the Philippines and invest or spend it inwards. For a hard-core technology enthusiast like me, that matters a lot. With dollar-based money, in the Philippines it means more gadgets, better computer specs, and all those kind of stuffs. A tech job abroad is the solution that I see to make my life more exciting and meeting people of different cultures sounds like fun.

More Geek Friends

This year I gained new friends that I would like to keep for life. In fact, most of them will receive Christmas cards from me in January (duh, snail mails). I never thought I could find good friends online as like-minded as me. I want to keep them because they add more meaning to my life and cyber life and probably an opportunity as well to do joint ventures in the future. Who knows? So, I’ll just keep them coming. If you are a geek and you want to be my friend, just contact me and I will welcome you to the jungle with open arms. Without malice.

Netbook/Mobile Computer Phone

The last wish item on my list this Christmas is to have a netbook (those little laptops you commonly see there at the computer shops) AND/OR an equivalent mobile computer phone. Why? I am planning to be more on the field one day without losing my ability to do work on the computer. I am a computer person and I need to get connected to the Internet all the time, anytime to be able to do my profession. I work as a web developer, Internet marketer, a business partner — and I wear different hats to all my Web-based professions — so imagine how life would suck if there’s a day when I can’t connect to cyber world. A netbook AND/OR a mobile computer phone (a high-end one) would do justice.

What You Need

You basically need money to buy a brand new mobile SATA hard disk either second-hand or brand new. Remember if you buy to tell the computer store’s salesperson that you need a mobile SATA hard disk and not just SATA hard disk. A mobile SATA hard disk is meant for a laptop/notebook and is a lot smaller (2.5 inches) making it mobile than the normal hard disk equipped on personal computers which is 3.5 inches. Mobile SATA hard disks are costlier than regular HDDs but its price is worth the mobility. I’ll leave up to you to do online research or do in-store canvassing regarding the price of mobile SATA HDDs.

So, you got the mobile SATA HDD? Another thing you need to buy is a 2.5′ external hard disk enclosure. You will manually setup this and put the mobile SATA hard disk you bought inside. A good mobile SATA hard disk enclosure is made from aluminum or any material that is a good heat conductor. This will let the tiny hard disk’s heat to dissipate more quickly when it is in operating mode. Hard disks are known to produce a lot of heat when used frequently. Once you’re done with the enclosure setup, you’re good to go. You can bring and hook your hard disk at virtually any computer using a fast USB 2.0 connection. Plus, unlike enclosures meant for 3.5′ HDDs, you don’t need to have an external power for your external drive to work. It’s truly mobile. I just bought one in the past weeks as described on a blog post about my disk shortage with my current hard disk and so, the external mobile SATA drive is a great addition. So far I’m loving it.

This month I felt that my Windows Vista Home Premium still getting slower and slower each day, although my laptop’s specs are a lot better now than what it once was, . And I highly suspect that my outdated laptop BIOS and near-full hard disk drive are causing this. This utterly means that I will need to buy a new external hard drive pretty soon so that I can free some space from my hard disk and recover some speed. See my hard disk’s gauge above. It’s pathetic.   I’ve already have removed large video files, emptied my recycle bin and deleted all temporary files and uninstalled unnecessary programs, but it didn’t truly helped at all.

Online Computer Stores Give Ideas

I checked this online computer store Super Warehouse to get some idea how much it would cost me to get a new mobile hard drive. I am planning to get a mobile SATA, then I’ll put it on a mobile hard disk enclosure so I can use it like a large capacity USB drive. On the site I also browsed the notebooks section, to see what’s the latest gaming laptop specs I wish one day I could reward myself one. I am particularly in loved with Acer, HP Laptops and Sony laptops having high-end processors, high definition speakers, and discrete graphics card. I like Apple laptops too, especially the Macbook Air, but it’s rather too much for me (the price, that is). I currently own a Neo Empriva 540NVP2i  laptop and I am pretty sure only Filipinos knew this brand.

Finally, I browsed through Super Warehouse’s digital camera section. I saw that new digital cameras are now reaching beyond 10 megapixel level, which is awesome. If I had the money, I would probably get a Sony or Samsung digital camera and then pair it with some photo printers — but I don’t have, so I left the site and just wrote this post.

How about you, what you buy these days if you have the money for a computer store?

Well anyway, before I get emotional, if you are wondering where I write my blog articles and do my work in the day, the picture below best describes it.

As you can see, my workplace is not that great. I work outside the house so I could see the nice morning, breathe fresh air, and watch animals and people passing nearby. I tried to put things in my workplace in an effort to make it look cool. As of this writing, it constitutes the following:

White Board
I bought this stuff to be used for my scribbles – lol. Well actually, I used it to write my monthly action plans, the income generated by this website (which as of this writing, earned only $0.84 combined all ad networks), and finally, my scribbles.

Trendy Stand Fan
My mother bought that fan out from her loan last year. She (We) thought it was good since it looks very nice, space-conscious, and very modern. However, the air it produces is very disappointing. I believe my fart blows stronger than it – lol. Well, it can’t beat the great heat generated in my tropical place – but at least it keeps my head’s temperature under 37C! I checked its manual recently and I found out that it has an “ionization” feature. I don’t know how it works or if I ever need that. But personally, I would say a regular stand fan could easily outperform this trendy electric fan. It has an LCD display though but it doesn’t work anymore (what a shame).

Stereo Speakers
My stereo speakers (JBL Platinum Series) are few of the best things I have to cream off the boredom of the day. I bought this ancient relic four years ago at SOS (surplus store) and still working well – not! The left speaker recently had problems. I don’t hear any sound from it and it needs to be shaken to start. I am already expecting the death of this remarkable device. What I am dreaming now is to have a 5.1 surround speakers system (Altec Lansing? Creative?), but it’s still expensive for me.

Laptop
Yeah, it’s where my current life flows. Without it, I don’t know what to do (or how to spend my time) in a day. Since I was small, I’ve been so inclined with computers and video games, and until now, I still am. My old XP computer is now being used by my brother who now exhibits a clear affinity to computer science. My laptop is my only portal to the world and the greatest tool for me. It lets me unleash my computer skills, provides adequate resources for me to be productive, and freaking awesome. This site has been created from scratch on this laptop, along with other things. Its specs and performance have been featured on the Vista-related post I published earlier this month.

Other than work, my laptop serves best in providing me entertainment. Thanks to our slow Internet connection, it takes up to 20 hours to download a 700 MB movie. I got a few gigs of music that I listen all day. I want to express the deepest gratitude to the one who provided this to me – you have a big room in my heart.

Plastic Chair
I can truly say that the plastic chair I am using everyday in my workplace is probably the most stupid chair I ever had. Guess what, in the middle of my job, especially when I am very eager to be more productive than usual (like when I am inspired), it splits up and I almost fall over! I don’t have any good chair around so until it’s usable I guess I can’t do anything but enjoy how I swing ‘till I fall.

January 2007

• I completed my thesis writing together with my mates, Michael Andrew Geralde and Jive Gerard Medina.
• I worked for Eric Pangburn with his websites, written lots of articles (I always like to mention that he is 6’8″ tall, don’t know why). The result of the job? I got an Internet connection at my place and some writing experience.

May 2007

• I finished my tertiary level education at AMA Computer University – Davao Campus. I got a bachelor of science degree in Information Technology. I was hailed the pioneer Magna Cum Laude of the I.T. department and of the campus. Modesty aside! It simply means I love computers.
• On May 25th, I entered the beginning of the second decade of my life.
• I got my first 3G “with camera” cellphone, Nokia N80, given as a birthday gift by an online friend named Gregory White who resides in Perth, Australia.
• I got a job as Software Tester at Hubport Interactive (now BHI Pro). I got accepted in the try out.

August 2007

• I resigned from my previous employer after just completing my trainee contract period. However, I got a new job as freelance, home-based web developer (and a lot more positions I should say). Now I work for someone who lives in North America (whom I like) and able to work with people from Europe as well.
• I got my first shiny laptop: Neo 540NVP2i (powered by Intel Core 2 Duo, Windows Vista, 2GB of RAM). This was issued to me by my generous boss.
• Our house goes WiFi (I got a Linksys Wireless Router). Luckily, my cellphone and laptop works with it.
• I bought an office table.
• I opened my first bank account at Banco de Oro and got my first ATM card and passbook.

November 2007

• I bought myself a folder bed (yippee! I don’t sleep in the floor anymore — been doing for almost 20 years), an electric fan to beat the stupid tropical heat, and my first shoes: a low-end Sketchers.

December 2007

• I bought a second-hand Sony Handycam DCR-HC19E camcorder for productivity boost. Now I can make videos for YouTube and for this website.
• I got my first Christmas bonus (I won’t tell how much) and a potpourri of things from my boss.
• I got this website!

And most of all, good health to me and to the rest of my family. Now, I don’t see any reason why I should not be happy in 2007 (well actually there is, but I prefer to hide it in my subconscious as of this time). The bottomline is that I never regret that I took my education years so seriously as it brought great benefits to me in a little span of time. Education will not stop there though, it continues everyday. Another important thing, my heart goes with my work.

Now the next question is: what does 2008 hold for me?