Now since I doubt a whole lot of readers will go ahead and read the definition of netiqutte, I’ll just quote my old post here:

Netiquette (Internet ettiquette), is on it’s own unique to the online community you are participating in, be it a forum, a blog, a newsgroup or even just an IRC channel. Keeping in touch with our Filipino root’s and culture, it wouldn’t hurt and others certainly wouldn’t mind if you kept your manners. We’re known as a polite and hospitable people after all.

What exactly is a Social Networking Site?

A social networking site is a website where individuals can set up an online profile, describing his/her interests, and add links to other profiles. Generally, users are able to post personal information, including photographs, videos, and blog entries. One social networking site, MySpace, is extremely popular both with individuals and with music groups, who can post their songs on their profile pages and advertise their tour dates. Many bands will attempt to solicit as many “friends” as possible on social networking sites, so that more people will be aware of their music.

Social networking sites are popular with people all over the world, particularly teenagers and people in their twenties. Because social networking is so popular with teenagers, some people are concerned that teenagers and kids who post personal information on MySpace and other social networking sites are at risk of being solicited by pedophiles. As a result, some social networking sites have taken precautions to monitor the information provided by underage patrons; however, there is no way to enforce proof of age or identity, so this issue is currently unresolved.

Social networking sites can be a great way to stay in touch with a large group of people. If you have news you’d like to share with everyone you know, you can simply post it on your own personal bulletin board, and it will be distributed to everyone on your friends list. Social networking sites can also be helpful for connecting with new people, whether on a business, friendship, or a romantic level.

quoted from Wise Geek

If you’re still unsure what a social networking site is, it’s an online place to “eyeball” in the loosest sense of the word, to share info, socialize, chat, play games, what have you.

Friendster, Facebook, Plurk, Twitter, MySpace, etc. These are popular SNS that our kayabayan’s frequent to.

Guidelines on surviving a social networking site

Read the Terms of Service (T.O.S.)

The T.O.S. is basically a long legalese of do’s and don’ts on the SNS that it’s owners put out when you sign up for their service. But really, who reads them? You? How about you over there? You in the back? No one right. Let’s change that. The T.O.S. is there for you to read, not an annoyance to prevent the owners from getting sued in case something bad happens (tho that’s usually the case). Read it, if not, turn to the next item..

Do not upload things you don’t want others (e.g. your boss, wife, bf, etc) to see

Yes, some services like facebook provide some means of controlling who gets to see what but what if you account gets compromised? What if you accidentally posted it as public and comeback five minutes later with the whole internet now hounding your heels? Practice some restraint. Don’t upload something you really don’t want to leak out.

Credit where it’s due

If you found something on the internet and you want to share it, try to give where credit is due. It’s not only polite to do so but it gives praise and attention to the original creator of what you’ve shared.

Rules, rules, rules

We got rules everywhere so you surely shouldn’t expect the internet to be free of them. The point is though, if that you can’t/wan’t to read the T.O.S of the SNS you’re on, make sure to at least learn some of the rules of the trade.

• Don’t Spam – oh yes, even in SNS sites like facebook or twitter, we have spam. It’s part of life but you really shouldn’t participate as you can either have your post deleted, account disabled, or even recieve a permaban on your account. If you haven’t seen what spam is like, just look at the nonsensical post shown below:
  
• Advertise with moderation – If you want others to see something (and subsequently like it), don’t put it on every post you see. It’s stupid and will likely get you flagged as a spammer, get your post deleted or get banned. Save yourself the trouble and do it properly.
• Get some common sense – This should be the Golden rule but really, it seems like a lot of people forget about it.
• Don’t be stupid – While some people lack common sense, some people are simply down right stupid. If you see something like the image below, will you click it?
  
  If you did click it, then you’re being stupid. Chances are, your computer is riddled with bazillion spywares that are either spamming your accounts or stealing your important information. Learn some internet smarts.

• Stop proliferating Chain Letters – I’m going to put emphasis on this one because.. GOD.. WHAT ARE YOU FIVE? A lot of admins automatically mark these types of posts as spam so why bother at all? It certainly doesn’t benefit anyone except… well no one at all. o_O. Below are some examples:

  
  
  

This post is still a work in progress (and requested by a friend who’s current sideline is SNS moderation). If you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate to comment. If you like this, please share it

• Read your favorite magazine online for free (and legit)
• Online Etiquette 101 – Online Games
• Online Etiquette 101 – Forums
• syl re-plays RF Online
• OpenSocial: Google’s SNS portal

As you know, each character in Dissidia play’s differently which is why we need to master their abilities and know what they do and when to use them.  Knowing is half the battle after all.

The Dissidia Ultimate Abilities Guide is divided in to 3 parts:

• Story Mode Player Skills
• Character Movesets
• Character EX Modes

Story Mode: Player Skill

How to read the skills :
Player Skill – What it does

Heal/White Magic skills

Aura (オーラ) – Player’s EX Gauge increase by 50%
Cure (ケアル) – Heal Player’s HP by 30%
Cura (ケアルラ) – Heal Player’s HP by 50%
Curaga (ケアルガ) – Heal Player’s HP by 100%
Regen (リジェネ) – Player’s HP regenerates by 5% after defeating an opponent or opening chests.

Environment related skills

Jump (ジャンプ) – Jump over a tile
Scan (みやぶる) – Scan tile for hidden item/enemies
Sight (サイトロ) – Unveil all hidden item/enemies
Blink (ブリンク) – Lifts Berserk state on one adjacent enemy.
Invisi/Invisible (インビジ) – Lifts Berserk state from all enemies.

Blue Magic

Laser Eye (メーザーアイ) – Deal 20% damage to enemy’s HP adjacent to your tile.
Ray Bomb (レイ・ボム) – Deal 40% damage to enemy’s HP adjacent to your tile.
Missile (ミサイル) – Deal 20~50% damage to enemy’s HP adjacent to your tile.
Matra Magic (マトラマジック) – Damage all enemies adjacent to your tile by 10% HP
Earth Shake (アースシェイク) – Deal 10% HP damage to all enemies.

On the next page is the list of character movesets and their requirements.

• First look at Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena
• ISO tool Patching Guide
• Current Playing: Dissidia Duodecim
• Dissidia 012 [duodecim] trailer
• First look at Dissidia 012 [duodecim]

The Dissidia Translation Guide is part of the Final Fantasy Dissidia Comprehensive Guide for the PlayStation Portable. And yes, Dissidia is currently one of the hottest selling games on Japanese soil.

Final Fantasy Dissidia is as of yet, a purely Japanese game (the English game is scheduled for June 2009), which is why this guide was created so that Non-Japanese reading gamers can play and enjoy the game now instead of 6 months later. The Dissidia Translation Guide covers the basics and more.

Yes, yes I know you’re itching for the guide, so without further ado, go ahead and read up the Dissidia Translation Guide.

To start off, here’s the full translation of Dissidia’s Menu:

• Story Mode
• Duel Coliseum(Must be unlocked)
• Quick Battle
  • Map
  • CPU Strength
  • CPU Lv
  • Type
    • Random
    • Strategic
    • Brave/Courageous
    • Calamitous
    • Cautious
    • Calm
    • Desperate/Extreme
    • Gentle/Considerate
    • Offensive/Berserk/Onslaught-like
  • Rules (catalog before you can use)
    • None
    • Trial of Cosmos
    • Trial of Chaos
    • Double Judgment
    • Random
• Connection Mode
  • Online Lobby
  • Offline Lobby
  • Friend Card Edit
  • Artifact
  • Communication
• PP Catalogue
  –CHARACTER–
  Garland ——–500 PP
  Golbeza ——–500 PP
  EX Death ——-500 PP
  Kefka ———-500 PP
  Sephiroth ——-500 PP
  Ultimecia ——-500 PP
  Kuja ———–500 PP
  Jecht ———–500 PP
  Shantotto ——–1000PP
  Gabranth ——–1000PP
  Another Form-Warrior of Light ——–300 PP
  Another Form-Garland—————300 PP
  Another Form-Fririonel—————300 PP
  Another Form-Palamecia ————-300 PP
  Another Form-Onion Knight ———–300 PP
  Another Form-Cloud of Darkness ——300 PP
  Another Form-Cecil —————–300 PP
  Another Form-Golbeza ————–300 PP
  Another Form-Butz —————–300 PP
  Another Form-EX Death ————-300 PP
  Another Form-Tina —————–300 PP
  Another Form-Kefka —————-300 PP
  Another Form-Cloud —————-300 PP
  Another Form-Sephiroth ————-300 PP
  Another Form-Squall —————-300 PP
  Another Form-Ultimecia ————-300 PP
  Another Form-Zidane —————300 PP
  Another Form-Kuja —————–300 PP
  Another Form-Tidus —————-300 PP
  Another Form-Jecht —————–300 PP
  Encounter Voice -Same order as above –100 PP
  Sample Voice -Same order as above —-100 PP–SYSTEM–
  Get AP Online Unlock ———-300 PP
  Get GIL Online Unlock ———-300 PP
  Get Item Online Unlock ———300 PP
  Get Accessories Online Unlock —300 PP
  Battlerizer Online ————–300 PP
  ?something about battleriser cost -300 PP
  Lv(CPU)/LvCAP+10 ———100 PP
  Lv(CPU)/LvCAP+20 ———100 PP
  Lv(CPU)/LvCAP+30 ———100 PP

  –CALENDAR–
  EXP Icon Lv2 ———50 PP
  EXP Icon Lv3 ———100 PP
  EXP Icon Lv4 ———150 PP
  EXP Icon Lv5 ———200 PP
  PP Icon Lv2 ———-100 PP
  PP Icon Lv3 ———-300 PP
  GIL Icon Lv2 ———50 PP
  GIL Icon Lv3 ———100 PP
  GIL Icon Lv4 ———150 PP
  GIL Icon Lv5 ———200 PP
  AP Icon Lv2 ———100 PP
  Calendar Icon Bonus Up Lv2 ———50 PP
  Calendar Icon Bonus Up Lv3 ———100 PP
  Calendar Icon Bonus Up Lv4 ———150 PP
  Calendar icon Bonus Up Lv5 ———200 PP

  –ICON–
  No.007-010 [FFI] 4th Set ———250 PP
  No.030-034 [FFII] 5th Set ———310 PP
  No.054-057 [FFIII] 6th Set ———250 PP

  –ETC–
  Item Drop Up-30 PP
  Battleriser Up-30 PP
  Friend Slot Up Lv1 & Lv2 ———100 PP
  Friend Slot Up Lv3 & Lv4 ———200 PP
  Friend Slot Up Lv5 & lv6 ———300 PP

• Museum
  • Character Files
    • Main Characters
  • Character Files
    • Summons
  • Theater
    • Watch cut scenes
    • Listen to BGM
    • Listen to Voices
  • Cosmos Reports
  • Chaos Reports
  • Player Icons
  • Records
  • Replay
    • Watch/Edit Replay
    • Delete Replay
    • Output to Video
      • Low Quality
      • Medium Quality
      • High Quality
• Player Data Setup
  • Player Name
  • Play Plan
  • Special Day
    • Monday
    • Tuesday
    • Wednesday
    • Thursday
    • Friday
    • Saturday
    • Sunday
• Option – Option —– Start=Default
  • Battle Tutorial
  • Brave Attack and HP Attack
  • EXP Explanation
  • Ex Mode and Ex Burst
  • Etc
  • Camera Control
    • Normal
    • Reverse
  • Camera Control Horizontal
    • Normal
    • Reverse
  • Camera Movement
    • Auto
    • Manual
  • Character Movement
    • Arrow Keys
    • Analogue
  • Camera Movement Speed
    • Slow
    • Normal
    • Fast
  • Movie Subtitles
    • On
    • Off
  • Lock-on Cursor
    • On
    • Off
  • Target Marker Cursor
    • On
    • Off
  • Battle Lockon Ready (determines if you want to be locked on at the beginning
    of the battle or not)
    • On
    • Off
  • Battle Length type
    • Shoot
    • Long
    • Random
  • Battle Information
    • Beginner
    • Normal
    • Off
  • BGM Volume
    • On
    • Off
  • SE Volume
    • On
    • Off
  • Voice Volume
    • On
    • Off
  • Event Subtitles
    • On
    • Off
    • Action Battle
    • Command Battle

  -Battle Mode

  • Event All Skip
  • Battle Replay
    • On
    • Off
  • Data Save
    • Save
    • Halt
  • Data Install Total
• Customize Menu
  L=Battle Tips []=Mognet (Calender) ^=Form Change Select=Set Style R= Plan Change
  Abilities Select=Set Style
  -Attack Abilities
  –Brave Attacks
  –HP Attacks
  -Body Abilities
  –Action
  –Support
  –Extra
  -Default
  -Remove All
  -Full ListItem (Equipment)
  -Equip
  -Remove
  -Remove All
  -OptimizeAccessories
  -Equip
  -Remove
  -Remove All

  Summon
  -Equip
  -Remove

• EX Mode
• Battle Rise
• Mission (Triangle)=Sort (Square)=Change View
• Shop
  • Buy
  • Sell
• Option
• Map Pause Menu
  • Continue
  • Save & Quit
    • Yes
    • No
  • Surrender
    • Yes
    • No
      • Restart Level
      • Exit to Character Select Screen
      • Exit to Main Menu
  • Help
• Help Manual – (Press Start on Customize menu)
  • Help Manual Part 1
  • Help Manual Part 2
  • Let’s Learn the Status
  • Chocobo Walks – For each time you fight, he moves one step forward, Even if you lose, the -chocobo will move forward
  • Chocobo Hungers
  • Chocobo Tires
  • Chocobo Knows
  • Let’s Learn Abilities
  • Let’s Learn Items
  • Let’s Learn Accessories
  • Mission Time!
  • Shop Time!
• Battle Rise Menu
  • Default
  • Target Order
  • Action Order
  • Probability Order
• Mission Menu
  • Default
  • Numerical Order
  • Progress Order
  • Reward/Pay Order
  • Condition/Requirement Order

Head to the next page for the next part of the Dissidia Translation Guide, the Main Menu and more

• Yoshinori Kitase on Dissidia Remaster for the PS3
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• Dissidia 012 [duodecim] trailer
• First look at Dissidia 012 [duodecim]
• Dissidia Gets Limited Edition PSP Bundle

Procrastination is next to human nature to some, which typically manifests as behavior that deferments any action, important or mundane to a later time. Filipinos have a special name to this attitude, the Manana Habit.

Procrastination hurts

To the procrastinator, he or she may think that by putting things off until he’s in the “mood” to do them is a good thing because he’ll be able to have the motivation to work. In reality however, he or she is not only losing time to do his work but loosing the opportunity to do work.

Confusing? Not really.

Just think about it. While waiting for the opportunity to get motivated to come, there’s always the chance that it may not come at all which puts the procastinator in the position of cramming to the last second till the deadline. I’ll conceed that many people do work well under pressure but sometimes taking the risk of putting things off can be too great. You either end up with a sloppy, last-minute work or end up not finishing at all.

Why do we do it?

One of the key reasons that people procrastinate is that they fall into the trap of making emotional decisions instead of logical decisions. It’s almost always “I can do this later so for now I’ll” or “I’m too bored to do this now, I’ll do it later.”

The decision to do task is based on what will make the procrastinator feel good for the moment. It’s just like nibbling down a bag of chips because, even though you know it is unhealthy, you know it will taste good and give you a moment’s satisfaction.

A prudent person will choose a logical decision, choosing to do “what needs to be done” with little or no regard whatsoever for what makes him or her happy. But only a few people can pull this off. The temptation to procastinate is usually too hard to overcome. I know. I’ve been there.

What to do?

Letting our emotions rule our life is always a double edged sword. While it will give us some sense of having our personal touch on everything we do, it also risks the chance of getting hurt and avoidance, in this case procrastination.

Procrastination is childish, irresponsible, and stupid.

Here are 4 tips on how to stop procrastinating:

Act Immediately

Note that you shouldn’t act IMPULSIVELY. Just act the moment you get things figured out, right before anything else bothers you. Most people stop midway or don’t even begin because they are too occupied thinking about irrelevant and distracting thoughts.Stop just talking about the problem, stop thinking about the problem in your head, just start doing it.

Save the excuses

Excuses are a defense mechanism for falling short. The excuses you tell and come up with the more that it’ll stick and drag you down. You are what you think you are. If think that something is too difficult – then your body will think you’re pushing yourself.

Think you are

Overconfidence is a flaw but doing it right can be helpful. Believing in yourself and what you can do will make a lot of things so much easier.If you approached your work as if everything was possible and removed any doubts that you may have, you would achieve a lot more.Just don’t over do it. There’s a fine line between self-confidence and over-confidence..

Focus on being productive

What uses up most of you time? Emails? Chats? Blogposts (ouch!)? Are you doing what you want to do first, second, and third based on what feels good or what you are supposed to be doing?Stop procrastinating by doing what’s easy and non-productive and instead focus on the important stuff first. You can also do your leisure later.

Umm.. You’ll note that I’ve added an Avatar (Haruhi of Ouran) to the post. It won’t be a regular thing except for this category of posts (since someone might flag me as a Dosh Dosh wannabe) since it’s a sort of habit on my personal blogs.

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Crisis Core Materia Fusion Guide will help you even the odds against the monsters in Crisis Core and even help you defeat Minerva ^_^.  So without further pause:

The Crisis CoreMateria Fusion Guide

The main requirement is that your finish mission 7-2-1 for the Item fusion tome (item fusion).

Note:

Many people don’t understand that 7-2-1, here’s an example:

Mission-> 7 (Seeking Priceless Items)->2 (Precious Things->1 (Seek and Destroy)..

Note: this will be available at Chapter 5 (when you meet Aeris/Aerith).

Table of Contents

1. HP modifier
2. Costly Punch Materia
3. SP Gathering
4. Stat Modifier & Tricks
5. Accessories Location
6. Other Useful Accessories
   
7. Shop Location (Obtained in Mission)
8. Mission Tips
9. Materia Fusion Guide (NEW)
   

HP modifier

To those starting at the game, that have small money, you can try this…

Requirements:
Potions and Hp Ups

Potion=buy from shop
Hp Up+= Steal or Mug from Vajradhara Indra in mission 4-4-1 (Easy Mission) (if you’re having hard time dealing with this monster, try the second option)

Steal Materia Location
Mission 7-4-1 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 8-3-6 (Treasure Chest)

Note: The mission difficulty depends on Zack’s Level..

Note: The picture below is a monster that can be fight at normal encounter (not a mission boss), so you can fight it all over again without completing the mission (hassle free)

Option 2:
Mission 4-2-5 (Very Easy Mission) (thanks to yuimishima for the tip)…

If you collected the needed requirements, proceed to materia fusion

First we combine the 2 Hp Up+ that we stole and Potion(80) like this…

Ok, combine again a 2 Hp Up+ and Potion(80), so the result will be 2 Hp Up+ with +70% each..

Then we will combine those 2 like this

After that, create again a HP up+ with 70%, then do this

Then repeat the process again, to increase the percent of the Hp Materia..

Now for those who like to link them to magic like curaga, combine Hp UP materia + curaga materia

Example Hp+999% + Curaga= Curaga+999%

Costly Punch Materia

Now if you have HP+999%, then we proceed to the 99999 damage modifier

Requirements:
Adaman Bangle(Mission chest or reward) or Genji Armor(100% DMW) or Divine Slayer (Defeating Minerva)= Accessories that breaks HP limit
Brutal(Mission Chest or Reward, Genji Glove(Mission Chest) and Divine Slayer= Accessories that break damage Limit
Costly Punch

How to get costly punch:

Combine any punch materia + any dmw materia (like Megaflare dmw materia or Octaslash materia)..

Magical Punch Materia
Mission 1-5-4 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 4-5-6 (Reward)
Mission 5-4-2 (Reward)
Mission 6-5-5 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 7-5-5 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 9-3-4 (Reward)

Iron Fist Materia
Mission 3-5-2 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 5-3-3 (Reward)
Mission 7-5-1 (Treasure Chest)
Mission 9-2-5 (Reward)

Goblin Punch Materia
Mission 4-5-4 (Reward)

@DMW Materia

Bone Village Commerce (Shop)

Mission 7-5-3(Treasure Chest)

When finish, this will be the result..

Costly punch damage is based on your maximum hp and it ignores enemy vit, but it causes 0 damage when:

Example is the picture above

Zack has 55,836(max HP) but the HP break is 93,200 that causes costly punch damage to 0

You must have the exact HP or lower to dish out the 99999 damage…

When your HP breaks (because of that dmw reel), unequip your HP modifier then equip it again, then heal hehe…

SP Gathering

Now that you have costly punch..

We need to gather a huge amount of SP to do Materia Fusion (if you want +999% HP modifier)

This is the monster that give huge amount of SP, it is located in mission 8-6-1, 2-3-3, 6-4-1, its called RE Movers

If you want money gathering while getting SP, equip this

then this is what you get…

a 4000 SP & a Gold Armlet

So while you gathering SP, you also have Gold Armlet that you can sell for 3000G

• ISO tool Patching Guide
• Dissidia Ultimate Abilities Guide
• Dissidia Translation Guide
• Final Fantasy Dissidia Comprehensive Guide
• More of those addicting eyeballs: Patapon 2

Here’s a few reasons why:

• Impulse buying leads you to buy stuff you don’t really need
  If you’ve found something you really like but don’t have a pressing need for it then do yourself a favor and restrain yourself from whipping out your cash. Now if it’s a rare item that you’ve been looking for, do the purchase but otherwise don’t. You’ll save yourself quite a sum once you get the hang of it.
• Impulse buying leads to second or even third purchases of the same item
  Sounds confusing? Not really? Let’s say you’re looking to buy a gadget but haven’t planned for it and you suddenly see said item up for sale at a price you can readily afford. Chances are, you’d buy the item without looking at the alternatives or doing the least bit of primary research. After sometime, you’ll realize that the item you’ve just bought doesn’t fit your criteria well and you end up choosing to live with it (unlikely) or get a new one.
• Impulse buying doesn’t get you the best price
  Fairly self-explainatory but to give an example as above, the moment you see what you’re looking for at the first store you check, you end up buying it without checking the competitor’s price. Now that’s fine if you’re really keen on being a customer solid to a single shop but most of us don’t have that luxury.
• Impulse buying robs you of your purchasing power
  In a sense yes. It’s not because you are able to buy what you can, impulse buying doesn’t assure you that you are buying what you need or even what you want.

How can I prevent impulse buying?

• Use a Wish List
  List down all the items that you want in order according to how much you want each item. Many people won’t be able to purchase ALL items in their wishlist but having servces as a guide to help you allocate funds into what you really want or what you can afford at any one time. Sure some (or in most cases MOST) items maybe out of your monetary range but who knows right?To those interested here’s my current list:
  • Ipod Touch (ASAAAA! If I win one at Ozinefest though… =3)
  • Asus EEE 700 (or 900 when its available)
  • A midrange PC
  • A replacement for my 500 GB Network fileserver
  • A Nikon DSLR camera (MAS ASAAA!)
  • HP TX2013 Tablet PC (I love tablet PC for some reason)
• Do your research
  Is that gadget the best one around? Do you really want it? Are there any viable alternatives? Where’s the lowest you can buy it? Where’s the best place to buy it (in terms of warranty for gadgets and electronics)? You don’t have to answer everyone of these questions but just keep a few of them in mind when looking for an item. Remember, knowing is half the battle.
• To Sale or Not Sale?
  I’m not a big fan of SALES (like SM’s 3-day sales or Robinson’s Midnight Madness ones) for a lot of things like the sheer number of people, the lack of really “good” items and the pressure of getting what you want before it gets sold out. The price cut sure is attractive but sometimes it’s not just worth the headache. The best course to go about here is to check out beforehand when it’s best to buy things.For electronics as our example, there’s a likely chance that a SALE is in your favor but some shops leave out some of the Value Added Freebies that go along during regualar days.
• Ask around
  Most of the time, the best opinion is not always yours so asking people for their help (considering they are knowledgable in the item you’re interested in) is the wisest course of action. Of course if you’re too shy to bother some random shopper, you can always ask the sales person for his opinion. Just make sure he’s not the type who’s eager to sell what he can.

• Buying a PS3? Wait until September

Because of it’s popularity though, you encounter many types of people that can either make or break your experience. Here’s my guide to surviving online games but first…

How is Online Gaming different?

The main difference of an Online Game from non-online ones is that most of the characters you’ll be encountering is controlled by an actual person. Sure there will be NPCs (Non Player Characters) like Weapon/Armor sellers that are controlled by the Game’s AI but in general, every ‘person’ you meet has an actual person behind it (please don’t even snitch about bots).

As you spend more time playing, you get to know other players and may eventually win over friends (or enemies) who may then befriend you in real life (the usual case though is that you play with your real life buddies without knowing them at first, not the other way around). With this in mind, the current purpose of Online Games to players, hardcore and casual ones alike, is to provide an enjoyable connection between friends and acquaintances how close or how far they may be and allow them to experience ‘fun’ in the gaming world.

Guidelines on surviving players from an Online Game:

To newbies:

Don’t be afraid to ask

If you’re wondering about something, Ask! It’ annoying when a party member has no idea on what he’s supposed to do but is either too proud or too afraid to ask what to do. Asking your question rather than keeping it to yourself may save you a couple or more deaths.

If you want to know something like “Where can I get X item?” with the number of players, there’s bound to be someone to answer you. Remember that most game-bound information is free, items and in-game currency is another matter however.

Ask, don’t beg

Once you’ve overcomed the problem of learning to ask, don’t over do it.

“I’m a Noob, can you give me money?”

I mean seriously. Just because you’re new doesn’t mean you deserve SUCH special treatment. Earn your keep

If you ask for something, don’t be angry and pound on the mouse when someone says “No” or ignores you. Generous people on online games are usually very rare.

Don’t spam the channels

Even if you’re desperate to get information, to sell/buy an item or even just to get attention, don’t spam the channels (like Shouts, Race Chat, Guild Chat, Party Chat etc). It’s annoying and is bound to get you on the bad side of most players. If you feel the need to get something out, say it once or twice then stop. If someone’s interested in giving you a reply then you’ll get it without you bothering others.

Don’t spam invitations

Invitations to join parties and guilds is usually a welcome offer but if you keep pestering people with them you’re unlikely to get a positve answer. If you want to invite someone, do the polite thing and talk to him/her to join up. If he/she is not interested, or they are doing something else, don’t cuss or insult them.

Communicate

When you are about to do something, especially if you’re in a party, it’s best to alert everyone on it even if it’s just a trip to the toilet. This gives your party members time to adjust strategies and gives them the impression that you’re not just in it for the game. If you need to really go.. just flash “emergency AFK.” You might be the butt end of jokes when you get back but at least your party mates no that you’re not leeching.

Play for Fun!

As a newbie to the game, many aspects of it tend to be overwhelming so remember to ask about it. If something doesn’t go your way, don’t be annoyed but rather find your way around it. Remember that half of the fun of the game is learning.

Read up and learn

Sometimes trial and error is simply not enough. If a game is popular enough, you get to see guides popping up every now and then on specific aspects of the game (like mining, upgrading, skills trees, etc) so be sure to update your bookmarks as you go. When reading up though, learn one thing at a time rather than try to get it all at once. It’ll help you focus and get you on the right track slowly but surely.

Play fair

While I’m not generalizing, most newbies feel the tendency to rely on 3rd party programs ot make things easier, after some period of frustration. This includes bots, auto-clickers, auto-buffers etc.

While this will help you get your character in gear, remember that online games is not just about how high your character’s level is or how expensive your items are. If you’re thinking of using a bot because you can’t find time to play then don’t play the game at all. Believe me, your time will be better spent doing something else than cramming gaming time.

To Veterans:

Self Restraint

Everybody was a noob at one time or another, even you. When some noob is asking you politely, don’t shove him off but tell him politely that you don’t have time. If it’s a troll looking for a fight, just drop the ignore command or report the character’s name to proper authorities.

Don’t Prey on the newbs or the gullible

An eloquent person can sell the most stupid of sale even if it’s a blatant scam (I can attest to this). Don’t play tricks on newbs and gullible players. It’s both cruel and indicative that you don’t know how to play it fair. This is specially true when it comes to item sales. When you need a quick profit, sell your item just above the regular price. You can bet that it’s much more buyable than a price that’s comfortable only to you.

Teach and Preach

If you’re in it for the connections, you can stick around the newb zone and answer questions and provide tips. Doing so, you can quickly meet new people and make new friends rather than trying to impress them with your high level character (that works too sometimes). Whether it’s the menus or the system itself, or even just a “What to do in this situation..” question, the newbie will appreciate it very much and will most likely always remember you.

Also, Don’t stick your fingers when it’s unwanted though, few people appreciate unsolicited help.

Don’t tell others how to play their characters

As a veteran, you have some idea on how to play your character right and sometimes you see that others are doing it just wrong (from your point of view that is). Even when you just feel like it, don’t tell others how to act and/or how to play their characters. How they play and act is upto everyone, so long as it’s not a nuisance. Imposing your views over everyone’s will, is sure to get you shut out of most groups.

Insults and poor sportsmanship

It’s just a game but people tend to take things personal. Yest it’s almost unavoidable (we’re human after all), but when you can, refrain from saying explicit, racial or prejudicial messages when you’ve lost or someone’s annoying you.

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Just like in our everyday life, to enjoy your experience in any online network as well as have a constructive exchange of communication, you need to observe some rules of etiquette. Simple rules like paying due respect to other user’s point of views with some level of maturity and consideration are very important.

Netiquette (Internet ettiquette), is on it’s own unique to the online community you are participating in, be it a forum, a blog, a newsgroup or even just an IRC channel. Keeping in touch with our Filipino root’s and culture, it wouldn’t hurt and others certainly wouldn’t mind if you kept your manners. We’re known as a polite and hospitable people after all.

In this part of a short series, I’ll be giving out several pointers on how to survive a forum but first…

What exactly is a forum?

An Internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user generated content. Internet forums are also commonly referred to as Web forums, message boards, discussion boards, (electronic) discussion groups, discussion forums, bulletin boards, fora (the Latin plural) or simply forums. The terms “forum” and “board” may refer to the entire community or to a specific sub-forum dealing with a distinct topic. Messages within these sub-forums are then displayed either in chronological order or as threaded discussions.

An internet forum is basically an online bulletin board where people “post” ideas, conversations etc. The target audience of the conversation of an internet forum (or forum for short) is many to many, you can point out to any and all of the members participating members within the thread (for this post’s purposes, the topic) and get pointed back at.

With the boom of cheap internet in the Philippines, many people go to these “tambayans” for a lot of reasons which include but are not limited to, free downloads, talk, advice, discussions, help etc.  As a long time forum-er I’d like to share some tips on keeping forum netiquette.

Guidelines on surviving a forum:

Read the forum rules

Most forum newbies head in to the discussion without even bothering to read the rules even if it’s flashed before them on registration (from experience, this is 90% true). While most of the time this is fine, there will be times that a simple question or request will draw the ire of current members because such posts are forbidden or are supposed to be placed somewhere else.Take note that no matter how excited you are to make your first post as a a member of a new forum, make sure you find time to read the site’s policy page and read it thoroughly.

Read up before posting

If you’re going to ask a question or advice, make sure it hasn’t been asked before by using the SEARCH function. Once you’re certain that it’s something new or the said topic has been deleted, moved to trash or closed, you’re free to post it.
v Also, it’s good practice to read a number of posts in a particular thread instead of just relying on the title of the thread. Know what’s being discussed and participate accordingly.

Words are like swords

Remember that your words are your only medium to convey your ideas. Make sure you word your posts properly so that you don’t get misunderstood (this happened to me a lot) and if necessary, use descriptive wording to ensure your meaning is clear. If you come by a post that’s unclear to you, ask for clarification instead of jumping to conclusions.

DON’T SHOUT.

It’s a typical impulse when you want something noticed but don’t over do it. Type in lowercase or standard case. By the rules of netiquette, all caps equates to shouting. You wouldn’t like conversing with someone that’s always shouting now wouldn’t you?

Don’t beat around the bush

If you want to say something, go right ahead. Going around in circles is a waste of your time and of responders. Keep it short but concise and Say your words exactly what you would say in person.

Check your spelling

Although it’s not a real requirement, it helps to minimize the risk of being misunderstood. Also, reading a well written post is less of a chore than a poorly composed one so you’re bound to get more attention to your posts.

Be respectful

Not everyone will be tolerant to rude or disrespectful comments so it’s best to keep your cool at all times and appreciate that your opinion is one of many. When people disagree with what you think, be mature during discussions and don’t force them over to your way of thinking.

Don’t feed the Trolls

Once you’ve spent enough time online, you’ll get to know them. Trolls are simply there to waste your time, raise your ire or even get you banned. They often don’t care about the subject but rather the conflict that ensues in the discussion and nothing more. When you encounter one, just remember that Trolls are not worthy of your time. Ignore them and move on.

Signatures in moderation

While many forums disable this feature, some allow you to have signatures make it easier to identify the poster. A signature is usually an added option that gives you the option of adding HTML codes to each of your posts. Many people put their favorite stuff in it like quotes, pics of their cat etc but sometimes it just goes too far. An example would be using a 1024x 768 image on a forum that maxes out at 900 px in width. It’s not only annoying but a waste of load time.Use userbars like the one below if you really can’t drop the images and animate as needed. They look professional and lessens the annoyances to others.

Share and Thank others

When you think you can help out with a suggestion or an answer, don’t be selfish and try to help other people who need it. When you’re the one asking for help, never forget to show your appreciation to those who helped you.

Be kind the newbs

Everyone was a newbie at first, even if you’re a resident poster of the forum, it wouldn’t hurt to give net beginners fair treatment. Never assume arrogant, all-knowing attitude. If you set a good example then newbies will turn out to be contributing forum members instead of just lurkers.

Do NOT hotlink

Hotlinking is bad practice especially on forums. If you can’t find the time to upload a picture to a free service then don’t do it, you might end up with this image that’ll ruin your day:

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A day in the Park

It’s old fashioned but many people still enjoy going to amusement/theme parks even on a busy valentines Day, so much that they end up filling these places to the rafters. You might not enjoy being around several thousand people and waiting in line for 30 mins for a single ride but hey, it’s the memories that count. Frequent park visitors will mention Enchanted Kingdom or Star City as these have been around for quite awhile now. Luckily theres 2 more choices for you. One is Global Fun Carnival (beside MoA) and the latest one is Ocean Park Manila (behind Quirino Grandstand).

A day in the movies

If you and your love are movie junkies then a visit to the movie house wouldn’t hurt, Some great movies are lined up of valentine’s Day movie goers like Fool’s Gold and Step Up 2 the Streets. Now if you’re more in to fantasy then YOU shouldn’t miss the The Spiderwick Chronicles. If classics are more your thing, head to your local video rental shop and book the best romantic movie you know.

A day with everyone in love

Started in 2004, the Lovapalooza, was the Philippine’s bid to claim the Guinness World Record for Most Number of Simultaneously Kissing Couples for 10 seconds. Kissing in front of people might not be for shy types but with thousands of couples around you, who’s going to notice? XD

A romantic dinner

For girls out there, the old saying “The stomach is the way to a man’s heart” has been proven true so put on your aprons and start practicing. Of course that’ll work only if you’re a good enough chef or at least better than your man (especially if he’s a frustrated chef like me ).

Now if you’re planning a dinner date, you might want to take a look at this small list:

A day of Gift (Gadget) Giving

Gift giving is usually associated with the Christmas season but hey, it’s the season of love. Sharing love on Valentines Day can also mean sharing gifts and everyone loves gifts, especially gadgets so why not get a red PSP for your guy and/or a pink ipod for your girl? They’re both very tech savvy and scream of love. While you’re at it, you might want to check out Retrevo. They have an interesting business strategy of Matching People and Electronics.

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All of us have the same amount of time so the challenge that face us is using this resource effectively.

Here’s a few tips to help you get started:

Set Goals

Goals are not just for a sense of direction, they help you keep track of where you are, what you’ve done and what still needs to be done. Just remember SMART:

• Specific - Set very definite goals. It’s constrictive yes but it will prevent you from getting sidetracked from what you reall want to do.
• Measurable - When you’re doing something, you want to be able to track your progress. Goals you can’t measure are difficult to attain because you won’t know where you are.
• Attainable - Set goals with common sense in mind. Set goals that you have the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. Don’t set something virtually impossible or you’ll end up giving up.
• Realistic - Your goal be an objective that you are both willing and able to work, something that you believe can be accomplished. A goal can be both high and realistic, but be sure each goal represents substantial progress.
• Time-bound - Goals should be limited by a time frame. A sense of urgency is a great motivator. Vague measurements like “someday” doesn’t really help.

Plan and Organize

Time used for planning is time well-spent. If you fail to take time for planning, you are a way, planning to fail. Keep organized in a way that makes sense to you. Use a calendar, a planner or even a notebook. Planning and organizing will help you expect any problems that may come up and deal with them.

Be Flexible

Don’t spend all your time on your work. Allocate time for interruptions and distractions and even unplanned “emergencies.” Doing so will help you cope with said emergency and not cram your work by scheduling routine tasks at a later time.

If you get lost, just ask yourself, “What is the most important thing I can be doing with my time right now?” to help you get back on track.

Consider your “Best time”

No one works efficient every waking moment which is why it’s best that you determine what time works best for you. Are you a “morning person,” a “night owl,” or a late afternoon “whiz?” Knowing when your best time is and planning to use that time of day for your priorities is effective time management.

Do what’s right

I have a saying stuck in my head: “Doing the right thing is more important than doing things right.” Doing the right thing makes you effective; doing things right makes you efficient. No one does thingz right the first time so don’t be disappointed when you fail. Focus first on effectiveness, then concentrate on efficiency.

Prioritize Urgent Tasks

Urgent tasks are both volatile and very demanding. They have short-term consequences and usually interfere with tasks that have long-term, goal-related implications. As much as you can, reduce the number urgent tasks that need your attention so you can spend more time on more important priorities.

No one is perfect

Perfectionist has its uses but we’re only human. Whenever you’ve done something wrong, learn from it instead of brooding over things already past Stop paying unnecessary attention to detail unless you’ve already done things right already.

Stop Procasticating

When you are avoiding something, break it into smaller tasks and do just one of the smaller tasks at a time. Or even better set a time limit and set yourself forward with a sense of urgency. Doing things a little at a time may be slow but it’s better than doing nothing at all.

Learn to use “NO”

Saying “NO” is often difficult. This requires practice, but the more you say it, the less guilty you will feel and the more jobs you are committed to. Allocating time for important but often impromtu prorities such as family and friends helps but first you must be convinced that you and your priorities are important — that seems to be the hardest part in learning to say “no.” Once convinced of their importance, saying “no” to the unimportant in life gets easier.

Reward Yourself

People usually neglect giving to themselves. Promise yourself a reward for completing a task, or part of it, no matter how big or small it is. After it’s done indulge in your reward.

Doing so will motivate you to work and help you enjoy doing it. Rewards also help you maintain the necessary balance between work and play.

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• Valentines plush toys
• Valentines day cards
• Valentines chocolates – this includes everything from Hershey’s to Goya.
• Valentines day flowers – roses or tulips if you run out of roses which you most certainly will.
• Small bundles called Valentines memoirs

Now, as a Geek, I usually buy before the rush and buy what I know my girlfriend will love. It saves me the hassle of coming up with excuses and the headache of thinking something up. Now, if you’re at a loss on what to give this valentines here’s a quick list. Note that Geeks will most probably love this list of gift ideas more than regular people.

• E-valentines message – This can be in the form of an e-card, an MMS message or even a video message. Make your valentines message sweet and memorable but at the same time concise. Nobody likes to beat around the bush, unless that’s how you guys started. If you still need advice on what to put in it here’s some ideas:
  • An electronic valentine card
  • A purely valentine quote
  • A valentine song/poem
  • A Love letter (do people still do this?)
  • A comic reminder of your love
  • A self-created (photoshop or similar) Valentines card
• A memorable picture – Pictures are said to portray a thousand words. Just be yourself (like me in the picture) but don’t forget to be romantic, or at least be creative. Make sure to make this valentines present memorable.

  

• An in-game item – If you both play the same MMO, why not give your Geek an in-game item that screams “LOVE.” Bouquets, a wedding veil (ragnarok), an animus (rf online), or even a level 125 weapon (Ran Online). Keep in mind that it’s not what the valentines present is, but rather what it means to you and your Geek.
• A valentines video – Well it’s up to you how mushy you want to be with this idea. It can be a compilation of memorable pictures or a video that has you in it. Here’s a simple example to get you started:

   

Now if you have the cash, why not shell out some for these gadgets?

• Digital Picture Frame – Old and tired picture frames and photo albums are boring because they’re static. Why not go for one that connects to your cellphone, camera or computer to directly upload images? Sure it’s an expensive item but it’s for keeps. Just be sure to keep your “secret stash” out of this.

  

• Portable DVD Player – Many couples enjoy watching movies but simply don’t have the time and the equipment to do it. With a Portable DVD, you can watch your favorite romantic movie on the go and even where you plan your romantic dinner (provided that it’s allowed). While your at it, why not add a bunch of DVD movies as well.

  

• A Universal Remote – Most Geeks love the “One X to control them all” concept. This is why Lord of the Rings is such a hit. Why not give your Geek a Universal Remote to do away with all the others to control the TV, the DVD, the component etc.

  

• A pair of Nokia 1100i – Everybody wants to be connected especially to the ones we hold most dear. Why not stay connected with a pair of these babies? They’re cheap! The most expensive you can find is probably Php 1500 for a pair (note don’t buy them individually, look for a “Buy 1 take 1″ offer). Just be sure to pick a service provider that won’t needle you with hidden charges and a busy network on holidays.

  

Now have cash and you want some geeky gadgets to give, here’s some ideas.

So, any more interesting ideas for gifts? Aside from the usual “I Love You” what do you intend to give your love this valentines?

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To add multi-user capability:

• Open notepad or any text editor
• Copy + Paste the following:
  REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\yahoo\pager\Test]
"Plural"=dword:00000001
• Save the file as Yahoo Multi.reg (Note that you can use any filename, just don’t forget to use *.reg as the extension)
• Alternatively, you can simply download the file here.
• Right click the file and choose Merge or simple double click on the file.

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1. Disable extra startup programs

If you notice, over time, your XP takes longer and longer to boot. This is due to the number of items that execute at start up. Such programs are loaded at boot time eats up precious resources like RAM and Processor cycles. Here’s how to remove them:

• Go to Start and Click Run. Alternatively you can just use Win Key + R
• Type “msconfig”, without quotations and hit enter or click the OK button
• Once the system configuration utility pops up, click the startup tab, as shown in the figure
• In the Startup tab you will see several boxes and some of them will selected (checked). Uncheck everything that you think is not necessary during startup (Adobe Reader, Windows Messenger etc.)
• Hit OK and you will be prompted to restart your computer. You can restart now or opt to do it later.
• After restarting a prompt regarding the changes you have made will be displayed. Simply check the option to not display the dialogue again.

2. Disable Extra Services

• Via msconfig

On menu opened by msconfig command, there is also another tab for Services. Click it and check “Hide All Microsoft Services” option. This option will display you list of third party services. Uncheck the services that are undesirable. As usual you have to reboot to apply the changes.

• Via services.msc
  • Go to Start and Click Run. Alternatively you can just use Win Key + R
  • Type “msconfig”, without quotations and hit enter or click the OK button
  • Disable the following services:
    • Alerter
    • Clipbook
    • Computer Browser (do not disable if you’re on a LAN because you’re PC won’t be able to “see” any computer in the network)
    • Distributed Link Tracking Client
    • Fast User Switching
    • Help and Support – (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)
    • Human Interface Access Devices
    • Indexing Service
    • IPSEC Services
    • Messenger
    • Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)
    • Portable Media Serial Number
    • Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)
    • Remote Procedure Call Locator
    • Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)
    • Remote Registry Service
    • Secondary Logon
    • Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)
    • Server
    • SSDP Discovery Service – (Unplug n’ Pray will disable this)
    • Telnet
    • TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
    • Upload Manager
    • Universal Plug and Play Device Host
    • Windows Time
    • Wireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)
    • Workstation (is required by some programs. You’ll rarely need it unless you’re a poweruser)

3. Adjust Display Settings

While XP has a better UI compared to past versions of windows, it consumes a good amount of resource.

• Right click My Computer and select Properties
• Click the Advanced tab
• Go to Performance Tab > Settings (you have to click settings button in the performance section)
• Uncheck everything except:
  Use visual styles on windows and buttons
  Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
  Show translucent selection rectangle
  Show shadows under mouse pointer
  Show shadows under menus
• Finally click Apply and OK

4. Folder Browsing

Windows automatically searches for printer and network files during boot time as well as when you’re browsing folders.

• Open My Computer
• Click Tools > Folder Options
• In the View tab uncheck Automatically search for network folders and printers
• Click Apply then OK and finally reboot to apply the change.

5. Indexing Service

With the advent of Desktop Search programs, Windows XP’s “Indexing Service” is more than useless. Aside from consuming a large amount of memory, it’s not really very handy.

• Go to Start > Control Panel or My Computer > Control Panel
• Double click Add or Remove programs.
• Select Add/Remove Windows Components.
• Uncheck the Indexing Service
• Click Next to finalize

6. Size of Page File

Page file size is not constant by default which is necessary so that XP can tune it up or down depending on what you are doing. This eats up resources so why not just set a specific yet reasonable amount of disk space for it?:

• Right click My Computer, select Properties then click the Advanced tab
• Click the settings button under the performance section
• Click the Advanced tab
• Click Change button under the Virtual memory section
• “Virtual Memory” dialogue will appear
• Highlight the drive containing page file, which is C: by default
• Select the custom size and set values for the minimum and maximum fields. (It’s recommended that the minimum is about 512 or half or your physical memory and the maximum is 1024 or as much as your physical memory whichever is higher)
• Click Set and OK buttons to apply the changes

Note that if you have large enough RAM (2 GB and above) you can disable the Page file completely.

8. Enable Direct Memory Access (DMA)

Your PC saves files in this order: Processor > Memory > HDD. To speed things up a bit, why not allow DMA to let the processor access the HDD directly?

• Right Click My Computer, select properties
• Select the Hardware tab
• Click the Device Manager button
• Open IDE/ATAPI controllers (Primary and later Secondary)
• Check if the option to set DMA is not grayed out and set the transfer mode to “DMA if Available” both for Device 1 and 0
• Perform the same operation for other items in the list, if applicable.

9. Remove Widgets and Background

Desktop widgets like the Vista sidebar may add a bit of coolness to your system’s looks but also eats up resources. The same goes with a huge wallpaper. Remove the widgets from your desktop and resize your wallpaper to the maximum resolution that your Desktop is using. Also, you can remove the desktop background all together though I doubt anyone will go that far.

10. Run BootVis – Improve Boot Times

BootVis will significantly improve boot times

• Download and Run
• Select Trace
• Select Next Boot and Driver Trace
• A Trace Repetitions screen will appear, select Ok and Reboot
• Upon reboot, BootVis will automatically start, analyze and log your system’s boot process. When it’s done, in the menu go to Trace and select Optimize System
• Reboot.
• When your machine has rebooted wait until you see the Optimizing System box appear. Be patient and wait for the process to complete

11. Remove Fonts for Speed

Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources even if they’re just sitting idly on your Fonts Folder. For optimal performance, trim down your fonts to just those that you need to use often as well as fonts that applications may require.

• Go to Start > Control Panel or My Computer > Control Panel
• Open the Fonts folder
• Move fonts you don’t need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONT2 or something similar) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.

12. Disable Last Access Update

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.

• Go to Start and Click Run. Alternatively you can just use Win Key + R
• Type “regedit”
• Click through the file system until you get to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem”
• Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select ‘DWORD Value’
• Create a new DWORD Value called ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’
• Then Right click on the new value and select ‘Modify’
• Change the Value Data to ‘1′
• Click ‘OK’

13. Improve Swapfile Performance

If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.

• Go to Start and Click Run. Alternatively you can just use Win Key + R
• Type “msconfig.exe” then ok
• Click on the System.ini tab
• Expand the 386enh tab by clicking on the plus sign
• Click on new then in the blank box type”ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1″
• Click OK
• Restart PC

Note: All of these techniques may not be available to you depending on you access rights on the system. Contact your system administrator in this regard.

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What is Linux?

Linux is a free Unix-type operating system for computer devices. The operating system is what makes the hardware work together with the software. The OS is the interface that allows you to do the things you want with your computer. Linux is freely available to everyone. OS X and Windows are other widely used OS.

Linux gives you a graphical interface that makes it easy to use your computer, yet it still allows those with know-how to change settings by adjusting 0 to 1. It is only the kernel that is named Linux, the rest of the OS are GNU tools. A package with the kernel and the needed tools make up a Linux distribution. Mandrake , Suse, Gentoo and Redhat are some of the many variants. Linux OS can be used on a large number of boxes, including i386+ , Alpha, PowerPC and Sparc.

The Linux Files system: Files and folders

Linux is made with one thought in mind: Everything is a file.

A blank piece of paper is called a file in the world of computers. You can use this piece of paper to write a text or make a drawing. Your text or drawing is called information. A computer file is another way of storing your information.

If you make many drawings then you will eventually want to sort them in different piles or make some other system that allows you to easily locate a given drawing. Computers use folders to sort your files in a hieratic system.

A file is an element of data storage in a file system (file systems manual page). Files are usually stored on harddrives, cdroms and other media, but may also be information stored in RAM or links to devices.

To organize our files into a system we use folders. The lowest possible folder is root / where you will find the user homes called /home/.

/ /home/ /home/mom/ /home/dad/

Behind every configurable option there is a simple human-readable text file you can hand-edit to suit your needs. These days most programs come with nice GUI (graphical user interface) like Mandrakes Control Center and Suses YAST that can smoothly guide you through most configuration. Those who choose can gain full control of their system by manually adjusting the configuration files from foo=yes to foo=no in an editor.

Almost everything you do on a computer involves one or more files stored locally or on a network.

Your filesystems lowest folder root / contains the following folders:

The only folder a normal user needs to use is /home/you/ – this is where you will be keeping all your documents.

/home/elvis/Documents /home/elvis/Music /home/elvis/Music/60s

Files are case sensitive, “myfile” and “MyFile” are two different files.

For more details, check out:

Understanding users and permissions

Linux is based on the idea that everyone using a system has their own username and password.

Every file belongs to a user and a group, and has a set of given attributes (read, write and executable) for users, groups and all (everybody).

A file or folder can have permissions that only allows the user it belongs to to read and write to it, allowing the group it belongs to to read it and at the same time all other users can’t even read the file.

Admin or Root Account

Linux has one special user called root (this is the user name). Root is the “system administrator” and has access to all files and folders. This special user has the right to do anything.

You should never log on as this user unless you actually need to do something that requires it!

Use su - to temporary become root and do the things you need, again: never log into your sytem as root!

Root is only for system maintenance, this is not a regular user (LindowsOS don’t have any user management at all and uses root for everything, this is a very bad idea!).

You can execute a command as root with:

su -c 'command done as root'

Gentoo Linux: Note that on Gentoo Linux only users that are member of the wheel group are allowed to su to root.

Opening a command shell / terminal

To learn Linux, you need to learn the shell command line in a terminal emulator.

In KDE: K -> System -> Konsoll to get a command shell)

Pressing CTRL-ALT-F1 to CTRL-ALT-F6 gives you the console command shell windows, while CTRL-ALT-F7 gives you XFree86 (the graphical interface).

xterm is the standard XFree console installed on all boxes, run it with xterm (press ALT F2 in KDE and Gnome to run commands).

Terminals you probably have installed:

• xterm http://dickey.his.com/xterm/
• konsole (KDEs terminal)
• gnome-terminal (Gnomes terminal)

Non-standard terminals should install:

• rxvt http://www.rxvt.org/
• aterm http://aterm.sourceforge.net

Your first Linux commands

Now you should have managed to open a terminal shell and are ready to try your first Linux commands. Simply ask the computer to do the tasks you want it to using it’s language and press the enter key (the big one with an arrow). You can add a & after the command to make it run in the background (your terminal will be available while the job is done). It can be practical to do things like moving big divx movies as a background process: cp movie.avi /pub &.

1. ls – short for list

ls lists the files in the current working folder. This is probably the first command to try out. It as a number of options described on the

Examples: /p>

ls

ls -al --color=yes

2. pwd – print name of current/working directory

pwd prints the fully resolved name of the current (working) directory.

3. cd – Change directory

cd stands for change (working) directory and that’s what it does. The folder below you (unless you are in /, where there is no lower directory) is called “..”.

To go one folder down: /p>

cd ..

Change into the folder Documents in your current working directory:

cd Documents

Change into a folder somewhere else:

cd /pub/video

TThe / in front of pub means that the folder pub is located in the / (lowest folder).

The basic commands

1. chmod – Make a file executable

To make a file executable and unnable by any user:

chmod a+x myfile

2. df – view filesystem disk space usage

df -h

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/hda3 73G 67G 2.2G 97% / tmpfs 2.0M 24K 2.0M 2% /mnt/.init.d tmpfs 252M 0 252M 0% /dev/shm

The flags: -h, –human-readable Appends a size letter such as M for megabytes to each size. /p>

3. du – View the space used by files and folders

Use du (Disk Usage) to view how much space files and folders occupy.

du is a part of fileutils.

Example du usage:

du -sh Documents/ 409M Documents

4. mkdir – makes folders

Folders are created with the command mkdir:

mkdir folder

To make a long path, use mkdir -p :

mkdir -p /use/one/command/to/make/a/long/path/

Like most programs mkdir supports -v (verbose). Practical when used in scripts.

You can make multiple folders in bash and other shells with {folder1,folder2} :

mkdir /usr/local/src/bash/{old,new,dist,bugs}

The command rmdir removes folders.

5. passwd – changes your login password

To change your password in Linux, type:

passwd

The root user can change the password of any user by running passwd with the user name as argument:

passwd jonny

will change jonnys password. Running passwd without arguments as root changes the root password.

If you need to add several new users and give them password you can use a handy program like Another Password Generator to generate a large set of “random” passwords.

5.1. KDE

From KDE you can change your password by going:

• K -> Settings -> Change Password
• K -> Settings -> Control Center -> System Administration -> User Account

6. rm – delete files and folders, short for remove

Files are deleted with the command rm:

rm /home/you/youfile.txt

To delete folders, use rm together with -f (Do not prompt for confirmation) and -r (Recursively remove directory trees):

rm -rf /home/you/foo/

Like most programs rm supports -v (verbose).

7. ln – make symbolic links

A symbolic link is a “file” pointing to another file.

To make a symbolic link :

ln /original/file /new/link This makes /original/file and /new/link the same file – edit one and the other will change. The file will not be gone until both /original/file and /new/link are deleted.

You can only do this with files. For folders, you must make a “soft” link.

To make a soft symbolic link :

ln -s /original/file /new/link

Example:

ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.4.20 /usr/src/linux

Note that -s makes an “empty” file pointing to the original file/folder. So if you delete the folder a symlink points to, you will be stuck with a dead symlink (just rm it).

8. tar archiving utility – tar.bz2 and tar.gz

tar is a very handle little program to store files and folders in archives, originally made for tapestreamer backups. Tar is usually used together with gzip or bzip2 comprepssion programs that make your .tar archive a much smaller .tar.gz or .tar.bz2 archive.

kde

You can use the program ark (K -> Utilities -> Ark) to handle archives in KDE. Konqueror treats file archives like normal folders, simply click on the archive to open it. The archive becomes a virtual folder that can be used to open, add or remove files just as if you were working with a normal folder.

8.1. tar files (.tar.gz)

To untar files:

tar xvzf file.tar.gz

To tar files:

tar cvzf file.tar.gz filedir1 filedir2 filedir2...

Note: A .tgz file is the same as a .tar.gz file. Both are also often refered to as tarballs.

The flags: z is for gzip, v is for verbose, c is for create, x is for extract, f is for file (default is to use a tape device).

8.2. bzip2 files (.tar.bz2)

To unpack files:

tar xjvf file.tar.bz2

To pack files:

tar cvjf file.tar.bz2 filedir1 filedir2 filedir2...

The flags: Same as above, but with j for for bzip2

You can also use bunzip2 file.tar.bz2 , will turn it into a tar.

For older versions of tar, try tar -xjvf or -xYvf or -xkvf to unpack.There’s a few other options it could be, they couldn’t decide which switch to use for bzip2 for a while.

How to untar an entire directory full or archives?

.tar: for i in `ls *.tar`; do tar xvf $i; done

.tar.gz: for i in `ls *.tar.gz`; do tar xvfz $i; done

.tar.bz2: for i in `ls *.tar.bz2`; do tar xvfj $i; done

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• Guide to Programming Series: Week 3

Why not just pick a language at random? That would definitely cut your time by eliminating your reviews of other available options but then again you’ll be limiting yourself by not knowing what you can and can’t do with your chosen language. Knowing is half the battle after all and with software development, knowing less about your choice of language means less useful features for your software.

Compiled vs. Interpreted

You might find this comparison rather confusing because all this time, after learning your programming aptitude from books and your peers (or school if it’s given as a subject) programming is classified into structured and object-oriented programming. While this holds true with the development stage, this comparison is based from the concept of implementation and deployment. Read more on OO on the next part.

A compiled language uses a compiler program that translates the source code into a language that your machine can understand (like an exe or jar file) or machine code in short. After being compiled, the program will run via the executable without a need for it to be re-compiled.

The advantages of compiled languages:

• Execution speed: because it lacks the need for recompilation, compiled programs run faster.
• Code Hiding: like as with most propriety software, you can close-source your program and prevent you competitors from putting you out of business.

An interpreted language is translated from source code to bytecode at runtime, with an interpreter program.

The advantages of interpreted languages:

• Flexibility: changes to your program can be made on the fly without the need for a recompile and you are not confined to a single operating system environment
• Dynamic typing: the data types are not (wholly) declared on variables
• Ease of Debugging: self explanatory

To OO or not to OO

Implementation of Object Orientation should depend mainly on what you are working on. Although some people do not consider it a good practice to switch on and off between it, I think it’s sensible. When you’re creating a program for just say Hello World, why in the world will you waste your time trying to implement it in OO? Sure it will look pretty code-wise but objectively it’s just a waste of time. Finding when and where to use object orientation is the key which is why a mixed-paradigm language should be your first choice because it gives you the option of using OO or not.

Linux, Windows, Mac, Solaris

If you wish to go into web development then a portable system will always be more sellable than a native one. Note that there will be some changes on your software’s behavior in different environments so if you plan on going multi-platform, be sure to test things out on any available operating system and try to work the kinks out.

Going native is also a good option because although it limits you to one operating environment, your software has full access to any and all services that”s included in your system. Visual Basic 2005 and the .NET architecture is a prime example of this integration.

Am I secure

it’s a question that large developments always face. Some languages are more secure than others regardless of implementation (although that’s not a good practice, you MUST ensure your software is secure at all times) which is why developers flock to them when creating specific softwares. Try to get around what’s hot and what’s not. Here’s a few things you should add to that checklist .

• Strong typing
• A test framework
• Garbage Collection – a must!

Integration

There will be times (although not often) that you will need to work with 2 or more languages at once which is where the question of integration pops up. One reason for this could be that a part of your software can be integrated much more efficiently if you use the language B while language A makes up the rest. Although I have yet to encounter a project that requires me to do this, there have been some instances that my job would have been a lot easier if I had chosen to integrate a 2nd language instead of sticking to one. Visual Basic.Net and C# is a prime example.

Where to get help

You should always know your sources. Whether you stick with e-books or go to online sites and forums for help, you should know where to look for answer to your questions. How to’s, troubleshooting, and learn by example stuff can be easily found in the language’s respective communities so be sure to ask around.

My current sources of information include:

• Books and ebooks
• Forums and blogsites dedicated to my preferred languages (java and now PHP at the moment)
• Daily and/or weekly emails from developer sites like Code Project
• My peers who specialize in their fields of expertise

Pardon the excessive reuse of the word language and the repetitive references to VB.

• Guide to Programming Series: Week 4
• Guide to Programming Series: Week 3
• Guide to Programming Series: Week 2
• Programming Tools
• Guide to Programming Series: Week 1