Occasional Ramblings

Well not really. I should say "I'm virtually rich" to be more accurate. By using the word "virtually" I do not mean the classic dictionary definition of "almost, but not quite" or "practically" or "nearly". I mean "virtual" as in "simulated" or as used in the internet "virtual worlds". I don't think I'm doing a great job explaining this so I better start from the beginning. Have you noticed an icon at the bottom right side of my blog that says "Listed Blogshares"? Well, that's because I joined this virtual stock market simulation at www.blogshares.com . It's kinda like fantasy football but with a wall street twist. You are given B$500 (that's read as 500 blogshares dollars) and you are free to invest this virtual money in "stocks". The "companies" from which these stock shares are issued are actually blogs. Blogs are valued in terms of the number of link

Duolingo quietly got rid of community discussions on individual exercises

A green owl holding a knife while gesturing to be quiet by holding a finger to his mouth. Image generated with the assistance of Dall-E3. In a Reddit announcement posted about 3 months ago, Duolingo announced that they are dropping the community discussions on individual exercises. I admit that this was only brought to my attention recently and not while using the app but in a totally random algorithmically recommended video by Evan Edinger I stumbled upon while I was browsing through YouTube. I have been an obsessive Duolingo learner for about 4 and a half years now and am currently proud of my 1,470-day streak. I am a big fan of gamifying any learning experience and I think this method of having leaderboards, experience points, gem rewards that can be exchanged for cosmetic improvements, and login streaks are just brilliant. I have used the community discussion feature a few times. I have to admit however that I could think of fewer than 10 occasions that I have visited and co

The problem with red Mulberries

Mulberry Originally uploaded by Jepster Right before the mulberries ripen into a deep purple, they first turn into this very bright shade of red. I saw my colleague the other day poking around beneath a mulberry tree. He looked a little pissed so I decided to ask him what is wrong. "What's wrong??! What's wrong you ask?? Look at this and tell me what you see," he said while pointing to the tree in front of us. All I saw were red and not quite so ripe mulberries on the tree. "Exactly! Those damn grasscutters and gardeners are eating all the ripe ones."

Is it hard to be with somebody else when the right one comes along?

Is it hard to be with somebody else when the right one comes along? Not really. It has been quite some time since I have updated this blog. It is just that I am very preoccupied with some things that have been happening in my life lately. I have a confession to make. No, it's not a very big confession at that. It is just something very personal that I want to get out of my system. I think I am in love. In fact, I fell in love twice in the last year. There I said it. It wasn't too hard as I thought. Nothing disastrous happened when I said it. No lightning flashed, the ground did not swallow me whole. Well, I suppose that is not the hardest part. That part is yet to come when I try to explain just what the hell I am talking about. It took so long to write about it here on my blog. I guess it's because of the feelings of guilt. Well, I think it is time for everybody to know the whole truth. Ah, where should I start? I met the first one in an online catalog. Ok, I know

Natural Lizard Repellent

I found this in the grocery a few weeks back and it made me wonder if this so-called natural lizard repellent really works. You see my spare bedroom looks like it hosted a lizard convention based on the amount of lizard poop I see all over the place.

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