Some Interesting Reads

Looking after my sick dad at the hospital about a week ago, I bought myself a copy of Reader's Digest's April 2010 issue to while away the time and remedy the boredom. Another worthy read as I expected. But aside from the always hilarious humor sections, there were two major articles that I really liked: one about pandas, and the other about former lab chimps.

For the Love of Pandas
The panda article was a real joy, if only for the pictures that came along with it. Seriously, can those pandas be even more adorable? (No, I'm not gonna be posting pics here of the cute pandas. I suggest you buy the magazine yourself or click this link.) The story was about a Panda conservation center in China, as well as the conservationists who work there, whose heroics efforts are helping to increase the pandas' chances of escaping extinction. You'll get to read about the everyday goings-on in the place, as well as a brief glimpse of what life is like not just for the pandas but for the caretakers as well.

Retirement Refuge
On the flipside, the chimp story was a sad but not hopeless one. As a lot of us probably know by now, chimps are almost genetic twins of humans, with them possessing no less than 98.7% of DNA similar to ours - the strongest reason why they were often used in laboratories as test stand-ins for us. We can only just imagine the cruelty these animals had to go through and, when their use has been fully exploited, how they were simply left for dead. The story tells of a chimpanzee refugee center in Canada whose mission is to adopt these poor abandoned chimps and give them a nice comfortable home away from the human cruelty they grew accustomed to.

There is always a feeling of certain sadness every time I get to read articles such as these. I could only hope that as more and more people get to know about the plight of these animals, more actions will be made will be made to better not just their lives but ours as well.

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More information about the panda conservation center may be found here.

More information about the chimpanzee sanctuary may be found here.

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Get involved. Spread the word. Help.

Hope It Comes Out Soon™

About a month or so ago, I had a little fun playing and finishing the old Starcraft game. And I must say that after 12 years, the game is still as awesome as when it was first released - it's so awesome, you wouldn't really care that the game's graphics are now really looking old.

The beta testing for Starcraft 2 is now on full swing and I just can't wait for it to be finally released (hopefully later this year). Gah, the excitement is killing me! The new and definitely improved graphics are awesome. But here's also hoping that the awesome gameplay and game balance of the parent game will carry over. After all, what's the use of a pretty game when it's boring as hell, right?

Can't wait to see my old pals Raynor, Zeratul, and Kerrigan again.

More at starcraft2.com.

You want a piece of me, boy?

Mama Nature Be Angry, Mon!

Ever since the Haiti earthquake, it's been like there were news about moderate to strong quakes happening everywhere around the globe -- Chile, China, Japan, Indonesia, and of course here in the Philippines. It's like the earth has just suddenly decided to become seismically active and release probably whatever tension it has upon the surface of the planet. And then last week, there was that major volcanic explosion in Iceland, causing much transportation woes in Europe whose airspace has been blanketed by ash and other volcanic debris.

Mother Nature sure has been angry these past few months. And it is no wonder people nowadays are asking: is there something wrong? Are we partially responsible for these quakes? Has human activity really cause such an impact on the earth's surface geology? Should people be alarmed? Or are such tectonic events merely a part of the natural cycle of the earth? A report I saw in CNN some days ago said that the number of significant earthquakes which has happened in the first four months of this year alone equals the annual average of such quakes of the previous years. Pretty alarming data, isn't it? Hmm... maybe I should cash in on this and start myself a doomsday cult? Just imagine all the money one can rake in by preying on people's fears! But I'm just kidding, of course.

I suppose that just like everyone, my big fear at the moment is what if the Big One hits my area. Can my place withstand a strong quake? Where should I take cover? Will I survive? The sad truth is that we'll never know -- I'll never know the exact hour, the exact day, the exact time. All I could really do is hope that no matter what happens, things wouldn't turn out to be so bad.

So many questions.

Lots of unknowns.

Is the world ending? I personally don't believe that it is. Not yet anyway. The only one thing I'm sure of: Mama Nature sure knows how to rock our world.