master_bacarra

lol I'm probably as sleazy as the principal by the way he/she was thinking. oh man. simple things. hahahaha jeez. I can't believe I fell for that. FUNNY!

well that would be great. but as you've said, it should have a conversion so it could be transferred to a hosted member. non-hosted to non-hosted would be fine, no conversion needed. well that's not true. they just don't get deducted per day. the rate at which you gain credits depends on how much you post in the forum. so technically this is incorrect.

lol alex is trying to scam you. bwahahahaha! he said it before. he's evil....just kidding! hahahaha. sorry I don't have much to do at work right now. congratulations to the winner. I see it's tempting enough to have other people name their kids with your name. Alex is a great name (although I would prefer to have Alexander) and if I would have my own kids I'd probably name my boy the same.alex should do this more often. you could be the trap lottery dude or something. ehehehe.

It is disappointing to see that there are people who, despite the opportunity, just give up on studying. A lot of kids around the world don't get a chance, some even have that right for education taken away from them. Those who cannot afford to pay, or aren't able to get scholarships usually resort to other stuff. Some of these kids work part-time in order for them to be able to pay for their own tuition fees or buy stuff they need for school. The problem with this is that it takes a LOT of energy and time from these kids. Instead of having their extra time for playing, like all kids should, they spend it working themselves off. It's emotionally, physically and mentally draining. In the end, the result is that the person can't concentrate in class and there are those who would just give up their schooling and just work instead because it's the better option between the two.It's not only about those "less fortunate" ones who aren't able to get themselves a good education, but you also have to consider the educational system itself. In my country, there's already a problem with regards to what is being taught to the youngsters. Problems with science, math, and of course english. Of course one has to consider that it also depends on the individual's capacity to learn and absorb what is being taught to him/her, but even if they can do well, if what is being taught to them is wrong, then all of their efforts can be put to waste. This can be traced back to the teachers themselves. You can say that the teachers are only there to guide these students, but if the teacher is not as competent, the students won't be able to learn enough.I think it has to be a joint effort from the government, the educational system, the parents and the students themeselves in order for these hardships to be lessened. There should be enough funds to help these students finish their studies. There may be those who are willing to lend a helping hand and offer scholarships to deserving individuals taking into consideration the kid's family's finacial background (whether they can really afford or not). In my country, there are secondary schools that are government-subsidized (I'd rather use that term instead of public school), which means the students don't have to pay any tuition fees. Of course, the downside to that can be the quality of education taught in such schools (although there are schools like that who excel more compared to private schools in terms of educational quality). The government should also make sure that what is being taught in schools are above standards or these kids won't have enough with them when they go in college. Parents should also provide guidance to their kids and make sure they get the support they need. On the personal level, one should exert a lot of effort in order to finish the studies. This is the part in their lives where they are trained in a lot of aspects that will improve their skills and abilities which can be used later in life.

There are always home remedies that can treat such. You only need some stuff in your kitchen and if ever you're going to buy, it won't cost as much as the treatment you get in the clinic. Of course the effects aren't guaranteed to work as fast and won't be as soon compared to the treatment, but it's still a good alternative. You can find a lot of home remedy treatments over the internet, but the most common I know is the cucumber thing. Just put a slice to patch your eyes and let it sit for a few minutes.

Okay... Just because scientists do a lot of experiments, it doesn't necessarily mean they're trying to do this to prove the bible right or otherwise. Just because you're a scientist, doesn't make you an atheist of some sort. They couldn't basically use these statements as a ground for something to "lengthen" someone's life. The bible is subject to an individual's interpretation. Your interpretation of the bible might not be the same as mine. That's not always the case. Just because it's a kid and has less experience as compared to adults, that doesn't mean they're weak in state. True they could learn a lot from their parents, but what they learn usually depends on the parents/elders themselves. you can't just go on assuming that every parent is a good parent (of course, there's no such thing as a perfect parent) and that these parents have strong experience in life that could help mold their own kids. Again, it depends on the parents whom they're getting their experience from. That wouldn't make any sense if the parent is someone who's "not on the right track". It is true that kids don't know the right from the wrong, so you can't really assume that the parent they're getting their experience from is someone who does indeed know the difference between the right from wrong. And when these kids are "enforced" these habits, whether it is right or it is wrong, to them it is just RIGHT because their parents said so or because they see it from their parents and they would probably think it's right. This is similar to how I interpret the bible's quotes. What the parents learn thru the course of their life they can share with their kids and with that wisdom of their parents, these kids would be wiser themselves.

I don't really know if I have a technique, but usually when I am aware that I'm dreaming, I could choose to continue on with it or stop it at a certain point. Usually when I'm a bit anxious or scared, I would stop it and just wake up. I remember a dream I had recently where I "left" something and when I was about to get it back, someone tried to snatch it in front of me. In my dream, this was something important and probably letting others take it made me want to stop to know what would happen after they've taken it away.What's even more interesting is how I'm able to influence my dream from what my mind's current state is in before I fall into a short sleep. I guess my mind wanted "simulate" what would happen if something came. I was in the office and I was a bit tired because of lack of sleep (since I work in night shift and it takes a lot, and I mean A LOT of energy out of me). I was monitoring an application whether we're going to encounter some major problems. I wasn't aware that I already fell asleep, but I was still in front of the computer and when I looked at the application, a severe problem just popped up, and once that happened, I suddenly woke up, realizing everything was just a dream. Even up to know I find it funny, amazing and a bit freaky. I've told that to one of my officemates and he was even at awe at how fast I was able to shift from waking state to dreaming state.

Well honestly, I find Blogger a bit too limited, but if you're going to sign up to Wordpress.com for an account, you'll end up with more functionalities, but not as much as the Wordpress installation you could download in Wordpress.org. With the wordpress installation, you could just install it to your hosting account (if you have one here in trap, or somewhere else), and make it more personalized. Since it's php-based, you could make your own wordpress theme that you could totally fit your style. If I remember correctly, in Blogger, you have this single template which you could tweak, but it still too limited for me.1. You could always buy a domain name. You could also get it here in trap in exchange for your credits.2. Well yes and no. It's similar to blogger because it's a blog. It's not similar to blogger because it's your website, with your own address and not with the dot blogger at the end of the address line. what's even more useful is you could just make subdirectories and place as much wordpress installations as you want and it's still part of your website.3. I haven't used the new version of the Blogger---the one that requires a gmail account to login---but I believe that the only difference of that from the previous version was the category list. In Wordpress, you will have a lot of options on how you wish the readers would view your website.4. If I remember correctly, Blogger uses HTML when generating the pages/contents of your website, so it's easier to find it thru search engines. But there are ways to improve your search ranking in search engines. You could read that in a lot of search engine optimization tips here in trap.5. Well you could just buy a hosting account, then install a Wordpress application which you can download in the dot ORG site. That way, you could have the option on where to place your ads in your blog. I believe the dot COM account doesn't allow you to change the theme for a more personalized look.6. Wordpress is database-driven. I don't know if there are file-driven blog installations you could find out there. But if I were you I'd stick with Wordpress.7. Well that's one of the many functionalities provided for you if you're going to use Wordpress. And they have a support forum where you could ask stuff so you could improve your wordpress installation.The downside of having Wordpress? Well the installation is constantly maintained to prevent problems like hacking and stuff. But that's not really a downside. And besides, you really don't have to freak out every time there's an upgrade. They provide easy steps for people to follow in installing or upgrading your installation.Hope that helps in your decision.

I actually thought you meant "baking the pie inside the cake, together with the cake", because if that's the case it would probably be difficult since you have two kinds of pastries that have different baking times, or you'll end up with disgusting stuff. I would probably suggest a layering, just like your method 1, cooking the layers separately, with the "pie layer" as two layers: one crust and one filling.

Well, I don't turn grumpy and become a monster when I'm sick but of course that depends on the situation and the disease I get. But one thing's for sure, I usually have a lot of nightmares when I get sick. That's why I rarely get enough sleep so I don't recover easily. It's a good thing I haven't been sick for quite a long time now.

While I think it's a great source of information, it's not the information you want to be placed on your class paper. I have a classmate back in college that use Wikipedia as their source for some of the information for their thesis. We gave him a warning before he submitted the paper or his professor won't accept it and probably would have dropped him in the class. Of course you could see some external links provided in the search results to provide back up article on the information stated, but even those external links might not provide the "real" information you might need. There are sites that needs to be verified for the contents they post, after all, it's the internet, anyone can post anything. Although I must admit, it's the first thing I access when I need to know some information about shows that I watch that usually run on a different time, somewhat like a spoiler (I'm a sucker for spoilers ).oh and mike, you might want to change the arrangement of your sigs. it's affecting the IE window (yeah I know, the office use IE. that sucks...)

What I noticed in your essay is that your paragraphs seemed too disconnected from each other. You have to remember that there should be a smooth flow or transition from one paragraph to another. You also have to keep in mind the central topic of your essay and the essay should entirely focus on it. Instead of saying: you could give the examples of "when it's to choose the path of conformity or rebellion", but make it short like you're just enumerating them. You should expand each example on the succeeding paragraphs, by probably giving quotes from what you've seen/read and explaining it further by how you understood it. In this way, each paragraph doesn't end up getting "detached" or out of place. In ending your essay, as an example, you could give a summary of the effects of choosing the path of conformity or rebellion as explained by your given examples. Just a tip, it is best to have at least three sentences per paragraph. It's the minimum requirement for your paragraph to have enough content to explain what you're trying to convey on that paragraph alone.

It's actually tough to have the only people whom you're supposed to run to in case you have problems have issues with you. I know you're going through a lot right now, especially with your recent breakup. Moving on from a previous relationship would be difficult if you don't have anyone beside you to comfort you.There could be a lot of things to consider why your parents act that way towards you. Maybe your parents expect a lot from you that's why they give you that kind of pressure when it comes to your studies. From the way you described things, it seems that you lack communication with your parents. You feel more comfortable being in your own Aunt's or Uncle's house instead of your own because you feel pressured in your own home. You distance yourself even more instead of coming to them and telling them what's been bugging you all this time.Whatever it may be, you should approach your parents and honestly tell them about your problem. While they may not be able to help you with your love problem, they could always assist you when you have problems with your studies. Don't be afraid to approach them, but do it in a way that they won't get offended as if you're losing your respect for them.With regards to your love problem, don't sweat it too much. I'm pretty sure there are other girls out there that you'll meet and probably even better than your ex. You're young. Don't make too much of a big deal about it. Enjoy your life first.

I think I became addicted to the internet when we had our DSL connected at home. I was downloading a lot of stuff that I couldn't download when we still had dial-up. It also came to a point where I do a lot of chatting over the internet that I rarely go out of the house and play with my neighbor friends. While it helped me ease my cravings for some daily surfing, it also helped me a lot in my assignments in school.As time passed by, I have toned down my usage of the internet. I only use it to check my mails, maybe update my website if I have time, and of course go to trap to gather credits. I'm now working, so I really don't have a lot of time in my hands for other non-work related stuff. We have internet access at work, but I rarely use it for personal stuff.

Try Travian (http://www.travian.com/). It's a browser-based game. Basically you build your village from scratch, create buildings, research and create troops and attack other villages. You could join alliances to help you strengthen your village and protect it from other attackers. The downside about this game is it's very time consuming, and when you start off, the creation and upgrade times are way too slow, you'll be surprised that once you get offline, people will attack you.My brother convinced me into playing that. I never really liked browser-based games because of the lack of animation, but since I didn't have enough stuff to do before other than bore myself to death at home.

He does look different now. Smaller chin and jaw line. to a certain extent it looks a bit disturbing. He has a big face and then when you go down, it's too small of a jaw. If you didn't remove too much of the jaw, I could have believed that it's real.

Well you could always apply for a scholarship. In our country, a lot of schools know that a lot of students are in families of low income so they offer scholarships for these students. The government also provides scholarships. Of course there's always a catch. These students, before given scholarships, have to pass an aptitude test. Sometimes, the aptitude test depends on the course you're going to take in college. The scholarship that I got back in college were only for science- and engineering-related courses. Moreover, these scholarship-granting bodies sometimes require a background check on the families to determine which bracket the student would be included. By bracket, I meant that the scholarship has different levels, with each level providing different amounts to subsidize the student's tuition fees. These brackets depend on the family's net income.I don't know if this applies to your school, but you could also work as a student assistant. Back in college, I know a lot of people who work as student assistants in our department so their tuition fees are provided by the school. In that way, they don't have to worry about paying their tuition fees.

I agree with Buff regarding teens exploring their world. It is the time of their life where they explore everything, trying out almost anything. It is the stage of their life where they search for their own identity, and in this stage, they are most vulnerable to influences, just like what had happened to your sister. I don't think emo people are bad, just misinterpreted, and like everyone else, they have a story behind that attitude. They band together like the catch phrase "misery loves company". Since they feel left out, like the world is against them, why not be with each other and drown in each other's misery? But seriously, these kids, like what Buff mentioned, are looking for attention, understanding and love that their family doesn't give enough, if not more. But it doesn't mean that each and everyone of these kids have "real" issues. Some of them are just probably lured to the group, and even if they really don't have those issues in their life, they unconsciously make up one so they could belong. But then again, that could still be just part of the "i'm exploring my world" thing.The best you could do is to have constant communication with your sister. Hopefully, your parents will join in soon. I know it's hurting them too, so it is most advisable if it's you who should first come "in" and communicate with her. Gain her trust first and then you could convince her to open up and probably let your parents "in" in the process. Outside help like counseling could boost things up, but it is more advisable if it is family-centric. After all, you should be the first ones to know about her problems, not anyone else. Make sure that you're always with her every step of the way so she won't feel alone. A psychologist would be useful with regards to her state of mind. Did you know that when someone attempts to kill himself/herself but ends up failing to do so has already become "damaged"? Meaning there's a greater chance that they'll end up becoming mentally unstable. Of course I didn't say that to scare you or anything. You could also reach out to her through her boyfriend, if you feel like she's more close to her boyfriend that her own family.I hope that helps even for a bit. And good luck with your problem.

Well, that's actually most probable because of the recent research about the "star" that led the three kings to the manger where he was born. The scientist traced the date when the star became a nova which resulted to a very luminous "star" during that night, and they traced that it was around April. With the astrologers, it's a sign that a great leader would be born. (1)There's already a thread here about Santa being just a "marketing strategy" during the holiday. As a catholic country, most people here don't really put the idea of santa into play, well at least not most of the time. (2)Sometimes it becomes a cliche that people try to reconcile or have a truce because it's Christmas and the rest of the year becomes a continuous cycle of problems, which is a bad thing. In a sense, the idea of Christmas is peace and if we could apply it to our daily lives, things could be better. and as cheezy as it may sound, this would progress towards world peace. It doesn't have to be Christmas for people to reconcile their differences. I love the shopping rush during the holidays (although I love it more during the end of the year instead of before Christmas). I think changing the dates of Christmas depending on the people would make things more difficult, to the businesses, their planning would be messed up and probably affect all over sales. For the people, having a definite date for Christmas also allows them to set their plans, and it would become easier to remember as compared to randomly selecting a Christmas date. It's more of a convenience to the people. (1)Researching the "message" would take a lot of effort. Interpretation varies from people to people, just as religion differs to a lot of countries. (2)Don't you think that would be more waste of resources and not advisable to some businesses? Like what I said, it doesn't have to be Christmas for people to reconcile only to end up going back to their own "selves" after. Don't take things for granted and make every moment count. It doesn't have to be as grand as Christmas for us to realize what is important, sometimes it's just in the smallest things, we find the best things in life.

notice to the mods, please transfer this to a proper subforum if I placed it incorrectly. thanks. I have always wondered what would happen to my hosting account once I start working. With that in mind, I've planned on switching to paid hosting once I get my own salary. However, I realized that paying for my hosting account won't be that easy. I inquired for a credit card in different banks here in my country so I could purchase my own hosting or any other stuff I could only buy over the internet. However, most of the applications require a minimum of 6 months stay in the company I'm currently working for, to ensure that the applicant (me) would be able to pay whatever is charged to the credit card. FYI, 6 months is the regularization time of an employee in the company, meaning the newly-employed is put to probation for the first 6 months and will be regularized (will become absorbed by the company) based on performance at work. Moving on, that means, technically, I won't be able to apply for a credit card until I have become regularized. Anyway, to cut the story short, I've asked velma about other payment options for those people who want to purchase a paid hosting account without having to bother with signing up for a credit card that doesn't have an assurance of getting approved. My mom has a credit card, but she won't let me use it since it's already maxed out. I don't want to make the payment thingy as an issue of leaving trap, as I've mentioned I have been on trap for quite some time now and that I really don't want to switch to a local hosting provider. I was just hoping that there are more options for the users for paying aside from paypal and any other credit-card related payment system. So far, velma told me about Western Union, however velma said that WS only allows 12 transactions per year. I was thinking of sending payment thru DHL or FedEx, but I have yet to research about that. Hopefully, you could share some stuff that would also help with this topic, and please forgive me if I'm a bit insistent.

Well I'm just going to update my entry, since that was like around 3 years ago. I graduated early this year and I'm now working in the IT arm of Safeway (I don't know if people from the States are familiar with the chain of stores) here in my country. I just started in October as a trainee and now I'm a programmer analyst (although I'm still in the orientation part since we're being introduced to the technologies we're going to use at work). I earn enough (actually, more than enough) for starters. Work's going to be hectic in a few weeks from now so I still have some free time. Trying to make the best out of it.

Merry Christmas to everyone here at Xisto! Hope you and your families are safe this holiday season.

For some reason, this is the very first Christmas that I don't really ask for anything material. In the past years, I've always yearned for this and that, knowing I don't have the luxury of getting those stuff. Now that there's a possibility that I could afford them (since I already have a job that pays well), I don't have that yearning anymore. It's either I really don't feel that it's the holiday season or I'm just too busy trying to absorb what has happened to me during the past few months. The days go by so fast, I could hardly catch up. I guess I'm too overwhelmed by things, hopefully I don't end up jaded in the process.

Well my blog is Wordpress-based so I really can't use these stuff, but I can use it as a template for my new themes as I'm going to start to make some for my blogs. Thanks for the links.

I just noticed while browsing thru some subforums here in trap that the icons for the threads don't specify if I have made posts on the thread. I've been to other forums and they have customized icons for threads like if a thread is locked, active (hot topic) or if you have posted something there. I know some of you would think this wouldn't be necessary but I think it's important especially to prevent double-posting on threads, repeating threads and stuff. That's just my observation anyway.What do you think?