I spend quite a lot of time on Google Reader everyday, going through all the different feeds I subscribe to. Through this medium, I also "Like" and share with anyone who follows me. Every once in a while, there's an article that's so good/interesting, that I want to share it through Facebook. I usually just go to the site, look for the Facebook icon and hit share. The NY Times, however has it's own Facebook app. and therefore, does not allow direct sharing like other news sites. This bothers me because everytime we use an app. on Facebook, we grant it permission to go through whatever information we have on it.

It's funny how we use the privacy settings to block from random people viewing the information we have, but we allow programmers and businesses to have free reign to go through our things. You don't know what they're using the data for, but you don't care because they have provided you an application that entertains or amuses you. Most of the time, we don't even realize how many of such apps we have on our Facebook. I'm willing to bet the average person has at least 20 of these apps and use only a fraction of them. Unfortunately, while we still have them loaded on our sites, they can freely go through our information.

Recently Google had a problem with how Facebook can use Gmail as a medium for you to "find" your friends. They made it known that everytime you use this feature, all your Gmail contact info is loaded into Facebook's databases, but you don't get anything much in return. Even though this is brought to light, most people will ignore it and continue to use this search feature.

It is a common understanding that the Internet has made it more difficult to remain private. This does not mean we shouldn't be smarter about who/what we share our information with, especially with Facebook. While I do not think they are "evil," I do not believe Facebook to be "good" either. In every way possible, we submit our lives to them, in exchange for connecting with other people. We grant them permission/power to have complete access to whatever information we wish to put on our pages. The most frightening thing of all is that we also grant these rights to the third party apps we use on the site.

Currently, I only have one application that I give these rights to and it's Xanga. I use it to post my blog on Facebook with a simple click, but it's also very important that I trust that they will not exploit the access I grant them.  Although I'm not going to convince you of going to your Facebook and disabling all the apps you have so far, I believe that you should disable all the apps you're no longer using.

How many apps do you have on your Facebook and how many do you actually use?

Prior to getting married, every decision I made for for myself. Yesterday, I had to submit my health care choices to my company for 2011, and it involved a quite lengthy conversation with Mrs. jigg and her needs.

This coming year, my company is switching to a different company and it costs me more money per paycheck. But what made all the difference was the family option, costing $100 more per paycheck than the individual plan. Since Mrs. jigg has insurance from her job at a lower price than that $100 difference, we both decided it would be best to just stick with the plans from our own jobs.

The next thing was Flex spending. I never had it because I never knew a real need for it. Except for maybe the co-pay of one or two doctor visits and a year's worth of contact lenses, I never thought it was worth my time to put money into it. In case you didn't know Flex Spending is an account you put money in from your paycheck before tax where you can use for most medical expenses that are not covered by your insurance, including eye exams and dental procedures. If you're going to pay for it anyway, why not do it before tax?

Since my Flex spending account also covers Mrs. jigg, I decided to put $1000 a year into this account so she can use it as well. Her company doesn't have a Flex spending option and at the end of the day, my money is her money, it just makes sense to do that.

Another option was Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, a policy that covers us in case of of accidental death or serious injury. Covering the family would be another $15 a month. The good news is that if I died or seriously injured in an accident, Mrs. jigg would be $500,000 richer!

Roughly speaking, $100 goes to these health care options every paycheck, as well as paying for the transit/commuter expenses for the both of us. Those charges will go up to $208 a month now, so altogether, roughly $400 a month (almost $5,000 a year!) is gone. Prior to getting married, it was about half that amount.

These aren't major decisions in a marriage, but they are very important ones. Although I don't feel the stress on the increase of fixed costs, I do feel that I need to make more money. On top of food and all my other bills like student loans, it's really hard to save much.

It is what it is.

Mrs. jigg and I have not yet gone on our honeymoon yet. We decided to wait till we have our reception next year first. We have also not decided where to go yet because there are just way too many options.

We have already decided not to go to Asia. I would love to go because there's so much to see and experience, as well as it's the most bang for the buck. I might also get to see some family, but most importantly, it's constantly changing there and things might not be the same in ten years.

The Mrs wants to go Europe. The arts and culture there are more align with her tastes. Fortunately for her, I want to go to Europe too, so there's no argument. I've only been to England so we'll be able to share new experiences together when we visit one (or some) of the other countries.

At the moment, we have France, Spain and Italy on our shortlist. Although we haven't decided where to go, I feel that we should stick with one country and explore it for our entire trip. Packing and unpacking as well as traveling between places, is really tiring and a waste of time. We might just pick two or three cities to go to for our entire trip (probably over a week) and make the best of it.

The problem we have now, is which country we should go to. After much research and asking around, Italy had a slight lead over Spain and Spain has a even smaller lead over France, which means I'm still not sure yet. Mrs jigg is leaning a bit towards Italy and I'm leaning a bit towards Spain. But we both want to see Paris and the L'Ouvre.

To all of you who have traveled to Europe, if you had to cast a vote and put in the order of preference between these three countries, what would it be and why? Although we're not letting Xanga decide where our honeymoon will be, I would say that this survey would heavily sway my vote.

Thank you in advance, for your help and insight!

I don't know any boy who grew up in the 80's that watched Top Gun and didn't want to be a fighter pilot when he grew up. Growing up, that was my all time favorite movie where I watched over and over again on VHS and then on Laser Disc (those really big discs that were the size of vinyl records). I saw it the other day on TV and it brought back a lot of memories.

I remember also wanting to be an astronaut. I watched so many PBS shows on space travel that I was excited to see space. Back then, they broadcasted all the launches and I even remember seeing the Challenger explode in midair during the launch. Although I was too young to be scared, my mother was scared for me and told me not to be an astronaut.

The one thing that trumps them all was being the President of the United States. I was born March 30th, 1981, the exact day that President Reagan was shot. My mom told me that had Reagan died, he would have been reincarnated into me. What a weird thing to say to your child. Nonetheless, I felt some kind of connection and whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be, I would be the only kid to say President of the United States.

Everyone laughed of course. I guess coming from a kid, it's pretty amusing to see the ignorance and the innocence with such an answer. It wasn't till I got older when I realized we lived in a racist country. I would never be accepted as President since I was Chinese. When I came to such a conclusion, I literally shrugged my shoulders and moved on.

I guess at the end of the day, there wasn't really anything I absolutely wanted to be. Even going into college, I never had any specific direction I absolutely wanted to go towards. I thought about becoming a computer engineer, but then I couldn't get into the schools I wanted. Eventually, I majored in History, being that History was my favorite subject. I told myself I'd be a teacher if anything.

Now that I'm married, I guess I could say that I'm "all grown up," but still, I have no idea what I am absolutely passionate about--but no one tells you that it's okay. We live in a society where it's necessary to have dreams, but the truth is, I live a day at a time and I'm pretty happy. Going where life takes you is an adventure in itself. My goal is simply to live the happiest life possible and to always be forward, always to be better than I was yesterday.

What did you wanted to be when you were a kid? How close are you with fulfilling that dream? What are your goals now?

Quite a few people have been asking me when do I plan to have children and I would always respond that it wouldn't happen for another couple of years. The Mrs and I want children, but we also want to have more time together to enjoy our marriage before concentrating on raising family. Many people I know who are both young and old are against such an idea.

They all have the same reason--get it over with while you're young so you'll have enough energy to raise them. When they're all grown up, you'll still be young enough to do want you want then and enjoy your marriage. I'm not so sure of that mentality. I feel that there's so much for Karen and I to do before we become parents like traveling and just having alone time together. Since we had a long distance relationship, we never really saw each other enough. Although we are ready to spend the rest of our lives together, we're simply not ready to raise children yet.

Another reasons is that we would like to own a home first. It's tough moving when we have children so having a home first is very important. We also want a house in a neighborhood with a good school district for our children. Having a strong academic foundation is important for a child's growth.

My parents have not asked me when I plan to have children, which I'm grateful for. My sister waited five years before becoming a mother. Mrs jigg is still young and I'm only four years older. We still have time on our side to plan this properly.

I know there are many readers who are parents. What are your thoughts on this matter? If you could choose again, would you have preferred to have your children right after you got married, or to have waited a couple of more years?

For those of you who aren't parents yet, but plan to be one day, when do you think would be right for you?

Piggybacking off my friend Pinksoda's entry where she gave dating tips to girls, I decided to make one for the guys.

Nothing is 100% foolproof and much of what dating is using common sense. One rule that holds true for guys is, always be conscious if you're being creepy. No one wants to get to know a creepy guy.

Take these tips with a grain of salt. Remember, use common sense and don't be creepy.

1. Before you go out to score any numbers, make sure you are presentable. A button down shirt always beats out a tee. Always be clean and well groomed. Flaring nose hairs are a turn-off.  Walk out looking like you took care of yourself, without making it seem like you spent too much time. Make sure your nails are cut and clean. A lot of women I know, look at a man's hands and if they don't look well-kept, it implies that you're don't take care of yourself well enough.  Don't spray your cologne all over.  Just one (or two at most) sprays in the chest/neck area is more than enough.  She shouldn't smell you from across the room.

2. Don't hit on every girl you find attractive. It's a numbers game, but you want to pick your battles. There will always be women who you will never have a chance with, and that has nothing to do with how attractive you or they are. There is a good way to tell if you have a chance or not and that's to make eye contact.  If she looks back at you, you should smile--the kind of smile that's natural and harmless, not the predator, creepy looking kind of smile. If she looks away like there is no interest, you can see if she looks at you again or move onto someone else.  If she looks away with a sort of disgusted look on her face, find someone else. If she holds your stare or better, smiles back, you should approach her.

3. Pick up lines do not work. Don't walk up to her trying to decide which pick up line you want to use. You have only one chance to make your presence known and hold her interest. Imagine her to be that mutual friend in the group you're trying to get to know. Introduce yourself and see if you get her name. Instead of asking her if you can buy her a drink, you should ask her what she is drinking and if she would like another one.

Whatever the response is, be natural and always keep the conversation going. Smile often.  Ask questions that are not personal and make sure you don't stand there talking about yourself. Women like their men mysterious and always concentrating on them, not guys who talk about themselves to try and impress them.

4. There are no unwritten rules in dating. The "three-day" rule that everyone talks about? The one where you shouldn't call till day three because you don't want to sound desperate?  No such thing. In fact, you should call before the third day because you don't want her to think you're playing games.  Texting is a good way to start communication, but CALL if you are going to ask her out on a date.

5. If you ask her out on a date, you're paying. Don't assume otherwise. As a first date, I always prefer drinks first.  It's more intimate and gives you more time to get to know each other better.  If she doesn't drink alcohol, go to a cafe for coffee and dessert. Whether it's at a bar, lounge or cafe, do not pick a place that's so loud you can't even hear yourself. If things go well, you can go from there to dinner. Do the research beforehand to be familiar with the restaurants close-by. Do not pick fancy places! It's a waste of money and the last thing you want to do is set the standard so high that you have to top it in a future date. Make sure you figure out over drinks what kind of food she might enjoy afterwards and towards the end, ask her if she's hungry and wants to grab a bite to eat.

6. Always be yourself and avoid lying or exaggerating about anything. You should never start any kind of relationship, whether it's friendship or romantic, with lies.

Do's
-Treat her like a woman
-Be yourself and be honest
-Pay for the dates YOU initiate
-Be clean and hygienic
-Say something complimentary about her
-Use common sense 

Don'ts
-Anything that says you are unhygienic
-Lie
-Douse yourself with cologne or other strong scents
-Talk about your ex-girlfriends or previous relationships
-Stare at her breasts
-Make assumptions 

Anything I missed?

On my way back from Boston yesterday, I sat in front of a woman and her baby. The baby was probably about a year and a half old and throughout the entire way, he was screaming, shouting and crying. The mother did nothing to calm him down. The ride was unbearable and everyone was annoyed. But what can you do? Tell the mother to shut her baby up?

I think babies should be banned from certain places, especially planes, restaurants and movie theaters. It's really inconsiderate for all the other paying customers to deal with crying babies. And the truth is, although people with babies probably feel bad, they don't feel bad enough. They have the right of travel, dining out and watching a movie, just like everyone else.

Unless it's an absolute emergency, bringing a baby with you on a long plane ride to your vacation destination is inconsiderate. There's no reason why you should bring a baby to a restaurant, just to spend half the time trying to calm him/her down and avoiding the glares of others. Bringing a baby to a movie theater is just plain wrong. A baby's ears are not fully developed and they are sensitive to loud noise. Yet it's common knowledge like this that people lack that make me wonder what kind of parents these people are.

It's worse when I see parents with little kids who are poorly behaved and their parents just let them run wild. Not only do they think it not necessary to control their kids, they think you're wrong for complaining about them for bothering you.

I was surprised that the woman and the baby got on. The baby was on a carseat, but it was definitely insecure on the seat of a bus. Coach buses are really not safe for babies, especially if they don't have seatbelts.

I'm not a father yet, but I would not bring a baby who will scream and cry to a fine dining restaurant or on a plane to my vacation destination.

Is my criticism too harsh?

For the past five years, I have been dressing up for Halloween. Long time readers would know that I usually go all out on costumes. I have been Kakashi (with the Sharingan), Strife from FF VII, Hollow Ichigo from Bleach, Joker MacDonald (or Ronald MacJoker), and Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction (you can use the Search function on my blog to look for past pictures).

This year, I'm joining in with a large group of my friends as.... Elvis. We're all going to have a different Elvis costume and it would be a really funny site of like 10 Asian Elvis's (or is it Elvisses?)

We're probably going to a party so if you see a bunch of us, try to guess which one is me.

What are you going to be for Halloween and what are your plans?

This past Saturday, I went hiking in the Catskill mountains with Mrs jigg, my cousin and his wife. I love hiking and although I don't go as often as I want, I try to get a few long trips in every year. As I walked on the trail up to Wittenberg Mountain, I thought about my first time there a couple of years ago when me and two friends did our first backpacking trip. Each carrying 30-40lb packs, we walked for two days, pitching camp somewhere in between when it got dark.

One thing I wanted to do back then was hike the Appalachian Mountains, a 2500 mile trip from Georgia to Maine. I once met a guy on my flight to SF who had just completed the hike. It took him 6 months, from April to October. He was young, but when he told me it was a life changing experience, I believed him.

Now that I'm married, the thoughts of doing something like that has pretty much diminished. Unless Mrs jigg decides to go with me, it would be irresponsible of me to quit my job and go on a 6 month hike on my own.

Some dreams you can hold onto and share with your significant other, but some dreams are better off forgotten unless you want to be selfish. Another dream was to conquer Mount Everest, but the best I can do these days are weekend trips to the neighborhood mountain.

I guess one of the many things I look forward to being married is making dreams together with my wife. I haven't been married long, but I feel that a marriage cannot beat the test of time without dreaming and making them happen.

If you aren't married yet, do you have any dreams you want to fulfill because you know it would be impossible to do after you get married? If you're married already, was there any dream you had to give up for the sake of marriage?

It always surprises me when I discover another movie that Mrs jigg hasn't seen, growing up. Even before we started dating, I was helping her with her Netflix queue so she can watch some of the all time greats like Pulp Fiction. Apparently, she hates watching older movies (70's to 90's) and prefers either the oldest movies, which are in black and white or newest recent releases.

Just the other day, I asked her if she has seen Star Wars. Not only did she not see any of the first three, which are some of the highest grossing movies ever, she hasn't seen the three recent ones either. She hasn't seen any of the Godfather movies either.

One time we were talking about who has better taste and obviously I think I do. She said the movies I watched were pop movies and not really the ones that are critically acclaimed (based on the fact that I haven't seen Casablanca). So we googled the top 100 movies of all time and tallied. I saw over 60 and she scored around 40.

I asked her why she doesn't like watching older movies and she says she hates the feeling that they're old, but don't really have a classic feel to them. One of her favorites, Breakfast at Tiffany's is a good example of a good movie that looks like an old piece of "art." Back to the Future on the other hand looks dated and silly and doesn't look like art.

Although she is quite stubborn, I am even more stubborn and I find every chance to make her watch reruns of movies or old DVDs. She has not seen any of the Indiana Jones movies! I mean, come on!

I'm a movie freak and I watch a lot of movies. Even though I have introduced a ton of great moves for her to watch (and she agrees and have enjoyed most of them), she is still reluctant to watch some of these older movies.

Anyway, if you had to make a list of movies that are must-see and they have to be before 2000, which would you recommend? It could be a top 3, 5 or 10. In fact, you can make the list as long or short as you want. Mrs jigg and I have the rest of our lives to go through all the movies. Thanks in advance!

EDIT:  While flipping through the channels, I stopped on "Dancing with the Stars" and Jennifer Grey was dancing.  Her routine was really good and after some discussion with Mrs jigg, apparently, she has no idea who Jennifer Grey is because she has never seen "Dirty Dancing."  Crazy huh?