I’ve been searching for ways to make my computer faster, searching for faster chat clients, and faster browsers. Browser wise, I still like Firefox best even though it’s not so fast starting up and about average on page loads. I love the addons like fireFTP, Delicious, Web Developer, IE Tabs, and AdBlock Plus for instance. Yet all these addons do contribute to making Firefox start up slower. I just read an article recently on tweaks to make Firefox faster and I must say it really does work noticeably. So if you’re like me and you like Firefox for its customize-ability but not for it’s speed, trying this list of tweaks may help.

I’ll paraphrase the instructions here, but you’re welcome to view the original source mentioned above.

1. In Firefox, type about:config in the addressbar and hit enter.
2. Type network.http.pipelining in the filter bar. If it is set to false, double click it and will toggle to true.
3. Type network.http.proxy.pipelining in the filter bar. Double click to set to true.
4. Type network.http.pipelining.maxrequests in the filter bar. Double click and change the value from its default (usually 4) to 30. This makes Firefox make more requests to sites you visit
5. Copy nglayout.initialpaint.delay and right-click on an empty space in about:config. Select New -> Integer and paste that in there and hit enter. Set the value to 0 to speed up browser response.
6. Type browser.cache.disk.capacity in the filter bar. Double click and change the default 50000 to 15000 if you have between 512Mb and 1Gb of RAM.
7. If you want to release RAM when you minimize FF, go to about:config. Right-click an empty space, and create a new Boolean, call it config.trim_on_minimize, and set its value to TRUE.

Be sure to restart Firefox to experience the effects.

Hayao Miyazaki is truly an amazing film maker. I like all his movies and Kiki’s Delivery Service is one of my favorite ones. I just watched it yesterday and I can’t believe I hadn’t seen it earlier. It’s almost as good as Howl’s Moving Castle, which is my all time favorite Miyazaki film.

The story is about a thirteen year old witch named Kiki who travels alone - well, with her adorable black cat Jiji - and tries to find her place in the world. The plot is simple and the characters are lovable. The vivid colors and details really bring Kiki’s whimsical world to life. I think this is one of those movies where you can watch multiple times and still love it. I know I would watch it again especially since I’ve only seen the English version. I’m curious as to what the music is like in the Japanese version.

Although the storyline is simple and the main character is a thirteen year old, this movie is delightful for people of all ages. Even the person working at the movie rental place said he liked the movie. I watched it with two friends and they both like it.

There are some important themes for instance, like believing in oneself and having the courage to keep striving for making dreams/goals come true. I won’t give anything else away, but this is a must watch movie for people who love anime.

Lets take a look at the desk and bookshelf that turns into a bed. There is no need to remove the items on the desk or shelf when turning it into a bed. There’s a twin sized bed version and a queen size bed version.

Stay tuned for more updates on cool furniture.

My Web site doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. I have a lack of focus in blog topics as well as a lack of focus in the web site in general. Sure it’s a personal site, but it seems so random at times. Not one area generates regular visitors, which was fine at one time when all I really cared about was having fun creating and displaying content on topics I’m interested in and not much about how many people actually visit. Okay, maybe I cared a little, but I did have an index nofollow, which basically means I didn’t want search engines crawling my site.

Now I’ve removed the index nofollow, with a different goal in mind: instead of creating a site for my own personal enjoyment, I want to create one that is useful and may in the future, generate money. This will be much of a challenge, and I’m still debating whether or not to start fresh with a new site all together or keeping this one but altering its motives. What motives though, I know not yet. What I do know is I will enjoy writing about topics like anime, web design, and possibly industrial design - something I should look into more now that I am majoring in that field. I enjoy making avatars too, though my other graphics are suffering. I decided that I didn’t like any of my wallpapers and my layouts are lacking in originality. Buttons are kinda pointless to have as are pngs. Avatars are actually useful and I use them often in my posts. The anime portion of my site is lacking as well. I’m thinking of removing it. The forum is pretty much dead as I’m the only one posting, and even then I don’t post much. My blog almost died this school year. The future for this site looks rather bleak.

I think though, in order for my site to succeed, I really do need more focus and more regular updates. I need more originality and networking as well. Below are some plans I have for the future if I do keep this site, though the domain name is less fitting now.

• Get rid of the anime section.
• Get rid of the graphics and just make avatars.
• Stop posting random entries about life and post more about anime and design.
• Maybe keep the forum going for a while and see if it revives itself. I’ve worked too long on it to give up so soon.
• Make navigation less confusing.

I don’t know if this will work out alright, but I’m hoping it will. What do you think? Should I keep this site the way it is and start a new one, or change this one to fit the needs of my future goal?

I’ve been getting canker sores quite frequently it seems, for the past two years at least. For instance, right now I have one on my top lip, one on my tongue, and one on my bottom lip. I should be used to this by now, but the pain is driving me crazy. It won’t stop hurting even when I’m not eating anything. So I decided to do some research on them. Hopefully you won’t find it boring. There’s actually a Web site called allaboutcankersores.com. You should check it out sometime if you also get frequent canker sores.

What is a canker sore exactly? Well, another term for canker sores is aphthous ulcers, and they’re small painful sores that can form on the inside of your cheek, lip, or even on your tongue. A canker sore is a bacterial infection, and not contagious. It seems that they affect mostly people from 10-40yrs, especially teens and women in their 20s. The cause is still unknown but scientists say many times they happen because of stress or eating habits.

What should you do if you have one? If you don’t do anything and just leave them alone, they usually go away from about a week to three weeks. There are medications you can take like Oragel, Anbesol, or a number of other brands that help relieve pain and discomfort. Normally, they don’t require medical attention, but if you have a large one and it stays for more than two weeks, you may want to have it checked out. Also, if you feel sick and can’t eat, you should see the doctor. Prescription medications like Peridex, Aphthasol, and Tetracycline can treat canker sores.

Some preventive measures you can take include not using toothpaste with SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate), flossing your teeth daily, drinking plenty of water and not eating spicy foods. There are some home remedies as well such as rinsing your mouth with 8 ounces of warm water and a table spoon of salt. You can also take 1-2 tablespoons of Maalox and mix it with a half tablespoon of liquid Benadryl.

An article I found interesting mentions using Arm and Hammer Baking Soda Toothpaste and rinsing your mouth with baking soda and water. I bought some of that toothpaste yesterday and plan on using it everyday. The article can be found here.