Got a wild hair up your butt to try out something on the bleeding edge in everyone's flavor of the month web browser and web mail service?

• In Mozilla Firefox 1.0, type about:config in the URL textbox and set browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs to True. Now go look in Tools -> Options -> Advanced. A new option that says "Force links that open new windows..." should appear that will enable you to force new windows to open in new tabs (duh) instead.
• You can check for new mails that come into your Gmail account via Atom feeds. To do that, you'll need to have a newsfeed reader that supports Atom and then add the feed to your mailbox using this link: http://gmailusername:password@gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom/. Substitute the gmailusername and password accordingly (duh).

Aidilfitri has become quite a predictable affair for me the last few years. From the food that I gorge myself with during Hari Raya, to the movies/musicals that our TV stations show on TV, heck, even the sequence of the relatives' houses that my family visits en route back to KL from JB the day after Raya is predictable now. So in the bid to break the monotony, I decided to do something different and make myself useful at the same time. I became a walking, talking dishwasher. I reckon nothing beats the satisfaction of washing away the grease and grime to see the squeaky shiny crockery and utensils again. It was such a successful affair that Mom and Grandma were happy to appoint me to take care of the dishes again next year. It dawned to me then that on top of knowing the food that I'm going to gorge myself with during Hari Raya, the movies/musicals that our TV stations are going to show on TV and the sequence of the relatives' houses that my family is going to visit en route back to KL from JB, I now already know who has to be at the kitchen sink next year to take care of the dishes and utensils.

They're sorry. They're not sorry. I, on the other hand, would like to minta ampun maaf zahir dan batin in case if there's anything that I have done in the past that might have been at odds with anyone out there. Have a safe and great Eid Mubarak, y'all.

A very merry Diwali to all my Hindu friends celebrating it today. Hold the thosais and murukus until later this evening, please? I promise I'll do the same for them ketupats and lemangs in just a couple of days' time. You KNOW you want 'em just as bad as I do those thosais.

I was THIS close (gestures with thumb and index fingers pressed together) to getting that Apple iPod today. The fact that it was selling at RM100 less than retail for the 40GB version made it even more compelling. Thank God restraint prevailed despite repeated persuasions from Bart. That's gotta count for something since it's Ramadhan and that we're not supposed to give in to our every lust desires and all, right? Nevermind that I caved in to having that foot-long sandwich from Subway after iftar.

The worst is definitely over. But there's still this persistent cough to deal with. I've resumed fasting a couple of days ago after missing nine whole days because of that stupid streptococcus episode. That's about a third of the whole Ramadhan. Most Muslim women don't even miss that many due to the menses. I suppose I shouldn't make fun of 'em who's gotta "hoist the Japanese flag" during that time of month anymore in the future. Look who's joining 'em to replace the days missed fasting now.

It did take a while. After all, there were several hundred million to send out. But the cards are on their way now nonetheless. Thanks to those who participated.

Some bug called streptococcus managed to outsmart my defenses and decided to build a colony in my lower left lung. As a result, I was having persistent fever at > 38°C (around 100-102°F) on top of non-stop coughs and chills for a few days last week before I ended up in SJMC over the weekend and some. It has also made me miss fasting for a few days and counting already. I'm out of the hospital now but not exactly out of the woods yet. Many thanks to those who sent their well wishes and those who visited while I was there.

Interesting sidenote (to me, at least): One of the drugs used during the treatment was Cipro.