Camsdcute’s Lair

Archive for April, 2009

I’ve been playing Restaurant City for about a month now and I’m really enjoying it. I love designing my appearance. Restaurant City allows you to modify looks by selecting various designs from different categories – eyes, mouth, eyebrows, miscellaneous (scars, face paint, etc), facial hair, hair, hat, shirt, skirt, and pants. For now, there’s no options to change men’s or women's shoes.

Also, you cannot edit the appearance of your cook, waiter and cleaner, though your characters will reflect how your friends design their own characters.

Here are the designs of my current character and of my employees.

Bella’s Lullaby Piano Sheet

I was just beseeched by Arthur to play this addicting game Restaurant City. I’m amazed that most of my friends are playing that game too. 36 of my Facebook friends are playing so I got 36 ingredients for visiting them.

It feels great to see how your restaurant grows bigger and bigger as you progress with your GP (Gourmet Points). It’s also exciting to trade ingredients, compare your restaurant with your friends’ and see how they design their restaurants too. Lastly, it feels nice to look at your friends become the server/cook in your own restaurant.

I’m still at level 14, more to go. Highest level is 25 from what I heard.

I love how my restaurant looks!

I ’m pasting a screenshot here once RC becomes available. It’s currently undergoing maintenance.

By the way, I need cheese, bread, mushroom, leek, tofu, rice, pomegranate, cream and egg. Trade with me!

The 2009 list of Fortune 500 has been released. There are major changes in the rankings, though majority of the companies stayed in the list. The report stated that 38 fell off from the list, led by financial firms Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Washington Mutual Inc. and Wachovia Corp. It’s good to see the companies I’ve worked for stayed on the list.
Here’s the top 50 list. Complete list is in Fortune 500 site

1. Exxon Mobil
2. Wal-Mart Stores
3. Chevron
4. ConocoPhillips
5. General Electric
6. General Motors
7. Ford Motor
8. AT&T
9. Hewlett-Packard
10. Valero Energy
11. Bank of America Corp.
12. Citigroup
13. Berkshire Hathaway
14. International Business Machines
15. McKesson
16. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
17. Verizon Communications
18. Cardinal Health
19. CVS Caremark
20. Procter & Gamble
21. UnitedHealth Group
22. Kroger
23. Marathon Oil
24. Costco Wholesale
25. Home Depot
26. AmerisourceBergen
27. Archer Daniels Midland
28. Target
29. Johnson & Johnson
30. Morgan Stanley
31. State Farm Insurance Cos.
32. WellPoint
33. Dell
34. Boeing
35. Microsoft
36. Walgreen
37. United Technologies
38. Dow Chemical
39. MetLife
40. Goldman Sachs Group
41. Sunoco
42. Wells Fargo
43. United Parcel Service
44. Caterpillar
45. Medco Health Solutions
46. Pfizer
47. Lowe’s
48. Time Warner
49. Sears Holdings
50. Safeway

I was shocked to read the news in Inquirer.net today about the wife of well-known ABS-CBN news anchor Ted Failon (real name is Mario Teodoro Failon Etong). Trinidad Arteche Etong was declared brain dead by the police. According to the news article, the incident is not yet confirmed as suicide because of inconsistencies in Failon’s statements. If established that Failon is accountable in this incident, it will be a huge blow to his image and career.

More details to be found on this article. Do you think he’s guilty?

For the desperate housewives fans, brace yourselves for the final episodes of season 5. The break between the episodes is a bit irregular but it doesn’t stop fans from clamoring for more. I’m not sure if there will be season 6, but I definitely hope so.

Here are the approximate show dates of the last episodes for season 5.

Episode 19 (Apr 19) – Look into Their Eyes & You See What They Want
Episode 20 (April 26) – Rose’s Turn
Episode 21 (May 3) – Bargaining
Episode 22 (May 10) – Marry Me A Little
Episode 23/24 (May 17) – 2 Hour Season Finale

With the growing interest of people on accessories for themselves, home or cars, there’s a great opportunity in selling beadworks. There are many things that you can make using beads – bracelets, necklaces, bookmarks and a lot more. To jumpstart this venture, here are some information you may need.

Beads 101
Typically, a bead is a small object pierced for stringing or threading. Beads vary in sizes and design. There are thousands of unique bead designs available in your local shops. These beads are made up of different materials like glass, plastic, stone, gems, horn, ivory, seeds, clay, metal, bone, pearl, coral, synthetic materials and a lot more.

Beadwork is the art of making things with beads. The most common method used is to string these beads into a wire or a thread. Other ways include weaving the beads together using a specialized thread and sticking the beads on a surface, usually a cloth, wood or clay.

Products made out of beads
These are some items you can make using beads.

• Bracelet
• Curtain tassels
• Necklace
• Anklets
• Christmas, holiday decoration
• Door, window ornaments
• Scrapbooks
• Belt Buckles
• Earring
• Ornament covers

Beadwork materials
When buying beads for large scale production, it is suggested that you purchase from those promoting wholesale products to minimize your cost. If you’re just starting up, you can buy assorted beads that will fit your design. Aside from the various beads, these are the typical materials you need to start making your products. As you progress, you might need more complex

• Tassel cord
• Nylon strings
• Metal wires and cones
• Scissors
• Pliers
• Measuring tapes

References and Guides
For further reading, you can check on the following:

• Beading for Beginners
• Bead-Space – Social networking site for beaders
• The Complete Bead Guide
• Jewelry Selling Secrets, Start A Jewelry & Craft Business From Home
• Ultimate Bead Lover’s Guide
• Beading Supplies
• Beadworks Providence

I stumbled upon a trivia about oldest and youngest mothers. A woman suffering from vaginal dryness symptoms, who is about to hit menopause, was able to conceive and give birth to a baby. On the other hand, a young girl who did not even reach the general puberty age, gave birth to a baby boy. The youngest mother on record was a 5 year old Peruvian girl and the oldest is a 67 year old. Wikipedia has a list of youngest known birth mothers.

I was browsing through the Inquirer website today and was surprised about the news that Microsoft is shutting down its Encarta business. This was confirmed when I visited the Encarta’s FAQ page. Some people believed that the reason is that it lost in the competition, primarily against Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that offers updated contents since users are allowed to create, revise and refine entries.

Here are some excerpts from Encarta:

On October 31, 2009, MSN® Encarta® Web sites worldwide will be discontinued, with the exception of Encarta Japan, which will be discontinued on December 31, 2009. Additionally, Microsoft will cease to sell Microsoft Student and Encarta Premium software products worldwide by June 2009

Why are these Encarta Web sites and software products being discontinued?

Encarta has been a popular product around the world for many years. However, the category of traditional encyclopedias and reference material has changed. People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past. As part of Microsoft’s goal to deliver the most effective and engaging resources for today’s consumer, it has made the decision to exit the Encarta business.

Microsoft’s vision is that everyone around the world needs to have access to quality education, and we believe that we can use what we’ve learned and assets we’ve accrued with offerings like Encarta to develop future technology solutions. In doing so, we feel strongly that we are making the right investments that will help make our vision a reality.

I was saddened by this news because Encarta significantly helped during my school years. But then, I understand Microsoft’s decision. I myself do not visit or browse Encarta anymore. My younger friends and relatives who are still in elementary and high school prefer the internet for free research, rather than using books or a CD-based encyclopedia.

Here are some of the encyclopedias that I used before.

Encyclopedia Books
These are the traditional encyclopedias usually sold by house-to-house salesmen. I remember years back how proud my mom was when she bought our own set.  Some of these are still available on eBay and Amazon books section.

World Book Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia Britannica

Childcraft (I consider this as encyclopedia for kids)

CD/DVD
This was my primary source of research works when I was in high school and I used the copy-paste-edit process then.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encarta Encyclopedia

Online Encyclopedia

Wikipedia – Today’s Encyclopedia. Need I say more?

My cousin Harvy purchased a PSP Slim about a month ago. At first he was very excited, but got frustrated because he can only play trial versions. He also has a 4gb micro sd from his camera that he wishes to be compatible with a PSP. Unfortunately, Sony is using its own kind of memory card and doesn’t conform to other company’s standard of using a micro sd. He went to a local shop and requested the firmware to be converted to a version that allows loading of ISO games through the memory stick, but was informed that it cannot be done since his PSP has the latest specs. So his last resort was to borrow UMD from me. Unfortunately, I only have 2 UMDs – Harry Potter and Ratatouille, which I sold to my neighbors.

Summer is just around the corner and most of the people are planning to go on vacation, especially the students who just completed another nerve-racking school year. As usual, the primary destinations are beaches, resorts, outer banks, or any place that offers venue to relax and unwind. Other people prefer traveling overseas and spend their times with friends and relatives. That’s why I’m always joining raffle promos that offer travel packages as prizes. Good thing, Eastwood City has such regular promotions.