Filling Station, a burger place I never knew about, was introduced to me by my friend, Fifi.

Ambiance. It isn't quite the family place so if you're planning to drop by, I suggest you go with your girlfrans or guy pals instead. Situated in Makati's so-called Red Light District, we don't really expect it to be anything conservative.

[caption id="attachment_1013" align="aligncenter" width="640"] (via www.jrhenry.net)[/caption]

The restaurant is easy to miss as the entrance is pretty small compared to...

Ubuntu, is an open-source Linux-based operating system, which you probably already know if you are reading this post. If you haven't been in Computer Studies, probably doesn't sound familiar to you at all. All Linux OS's potentially targets the geeks and nerds, but, mind you,Ubuntu, among all of those is the least geeky one.

I would not discuss further about it but if you are new to this and you're intersted, head on over to their website to learn more. They have an online demo!
www.ubuntu.com

Ubuntu will most likely install on your device properly without any trouble, if you're lucky, every component might even work. But this isn't always the case. Chances are, your either your Wi-Fi, trackpad or bluetooth won't work out of the box.

I recently installed Ubuntu 14.10 on my Acer TravelMate B115, and as expected, there were a bunch of things to tinker with before finally ending up with how I wanted my new Linux-powered device to behave.

Here are 6 problems I came across, and what I did to solve them.

1) I couldn't enter the Boot Menu.

The Boot Menu isn't enabled by default.

- Hit F2 and enter BIOS
- navigate to the Main tab
- scroll down to F12 Boot Menu
- Hit Enter, choose "Enabled" and enter again
- Press F11 to save and exit
- Wait for your PC to restart, as the Acer logo appears, hit F12. That should bring up the boot menu. From then you can choose to boot from your media source (flash drive/CD/HDD) with the Ubuntu Installer.

2) Ubuntu boot loader doesn't show on startup.

Your PC will continue to use Windows Boot Manager even after you have installed Ubuntu, if you don't tell it otherwise. (This wasn't the case with Windows 7 and earlier versions). Assuming you have already fully installed Ubuntu (not just Try Before Installing),

- press F2 again to enter BIOS
- go to Boot tab
- You will see Windows Boot Manager and HDD right below it. HDD is the new partition created when you installed Ubuntu, move HDD to the top (follow the instructions on the right pane).

3) Wi-Fi is not working.

Wi-Fi didn't work out of the box. This is probably one of the most common issues. It can easily be solved by installing the correct wireless driver. You're going to need wired connection to fix this.

- Connect to your routher through an Ethernet cable. The ethernet connection didn't work for me at first. I just did a restart with the cable still plugged in, and it worked!
- Hit the Window key > search for "Drivers" > Click "Additional Drivers"
- Wait for this to show up



 

- Select "Using Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA wireless driver", then click on Apply Changes.

-If this doesn't appear, go to the Ubuntu Software tab and check all the boxes. See details below:

- Go back and try again.

- Click on the network icon in the upper right corner of your screen to check if there are any Wi-Fi Networks detected. Unplug your Ethernet cable to test the wireless connection.

4) Right-click doesn't work.

Took me ages to figure this out. Turns out, the physical clickers don't work at all. It works like a MacBook where you have to tap with 2 fingers to do a "right-click". This is so hard to adapt to coming from Windows. It's a hit or miss and takes a lot lot lot of getting used to.

5) My PC doesn't have light indicators for Caps Lock.

Lucky for us, there's an applet for that!

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal.
Run the following commands ONE BY ONE:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:tsbarnes/indicator-keylock

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install indicator-keylock

You should now start seeing this when you hit Caps Lock:


(How many times can I say HIT in one post??)

6) My screen is set to maximum blinding freaking light every time I log back in.

This is straight up annoying since I have uber sensitive eyes. Here's what you can do to adjust your default screen brightness.

- Go to

/sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight

- Set value from 0-3125 depending on how dim/bright you want your screen to be. Mine is on 156 but that just might be too dark for you.

[caption id="attachment_966" align="aligncenter" width="960"] My latest dream laptop ladies and gents. But prolly not getting this anytime soon.
(source: Engadget.com)[/caption]

I'm sure even when your PC is 64-bit, and probably have it for YEARS now, you still have 32-bit programs in there, and you just don't care. *cough cough* I have very basic knowledge of computer hardware. I can tell if it's good enough for what I need or for what somebody else needs, or if it can play the games I want to play, if it's if it's a bargain at

[caption id="attachment_956" align="aligncenter" width="600"] (source: thenextweb.com)[/caption]

Facebook's attempt to reach the world end to end is coming to the surface. It looks like they are pretty determined

[caption id="attachment_900" align="aligncenter" width="1020"] (photo credits: motorolaara.com)[/caption]

If you are hanging around the internet reading tech stuff, all of these might sound familiar.
The Holiday season has passed and it might be too late for me to tell you to not get a new phone yet, but if you haven't, you might want to wait out a little bit, and here's why--

Google's Project Ara. Project Ara is all about

In his message in the Encounter with the Youth this afternoon in the University of Santo Tomas Grandstand, he has left words that leave a mark.

[caption id="attachment_933" align="aligncenter" width="600"] photo credits: ph.news.yahoo.com[/caption]

Become a beggar.

How many young people among you are like this? You know how to give and yet you have ever learned how to receive. You still lack one thing. Become a beggar. This is what you still lack. Learn how to beg. This isn’t easy to understand. To learn how to beg. To learn how to receive with humility. To learn to be evangelized by the poor, by those we help, the sick, orphans, they have so much to give us. Have I learned how to beg? Or am I self-sufficient? Do I think I need nothing? Do you know you too are poor? Do you know your own poverty and your need to receive? Do you let yourselves be evangelized by those you serve? This is what helps you mature in your commitment to give to others. Learn how to open your hand from your very own poverty.

It's true that this is not easy to understand. At first I thought he was telling us to experience the absence of the riches we have. When he said we too are poor, I thought he was trying to tell us the very common teaching of simplicity of lifestyle. But that's not what he meant. He teaches that, too, yes, but it's not what he meant this time. He wants us to realise, that there are things we are in need of. That we are not self-sufficient. We, too, are in poverty. Our own poverty. Like how some who are wealthy, can be poor in love of family. Those who are rich with happiness, can be poor in health. Those who are rich with everything else, can be poor in spirit. What I believe the Holy Father is telling us, whatever it is that we are poor of, it's alright to accept it. Ask when we need to, that's alright. And learn to receive in humility. His words are very touching and moving. I hope we, more than just hearing these words, will reflect on it, and live by it.

 

Women are able to pose questions we men are unable to understand.

Women have much to tell us in today’s society. Sometimes we are too “machistas” and we don’t allow enough space to women. But women can see things from a different angle to us, with a different eye. Women are able to pose questions we men are unable to understand. Look out for this fact: she is the only one who has put a question for which there is no answer. She couldn’t put it into words but expressed it with tears.

Through that love let that information bear fruit.

Today, with so many means of communication we are overloaded with information. Is that bad? No. It is good and can help. But there is a real danger of living in a way that we accumulate information. We have so much information but maybe we don’t know what to do with that information. So we run the risk of becoming museums of young people who have everything but not knowing what to do with it. We don’t need young museums but we do need holy young people. You may ask me: Father, how do we become saints? This is another challenge. It is the challenge of love. What is the most important subject you have to lean at university? What is most important subject you have to learn in life? To learn how to love. This is the challenge that life offers you: to learn bow to love. Not just to accumulate information without knowing what to do with it.. But through that love let that information bear fruit.

[caption id="attachment_934" align="aligncenter" width="600"] photo credits: ph.news.yahoo.com[/caption]

 My country is very blessed to be given the privilege to encounter the Pope. It's truly a blessing and an honor to have him here and we will surely miss his presence. He maybe leaving us soon, but his words remain with us.

I finally had the chance to drop by Cath Kidston after the