The Personal Blog of David Gonzales

Updates, updates, decisions!

2008-11-16T01:08:00.007+08:00

Woohoo! Free time = update time. You can thank me later, my 32 undying RSS subscribers. For now, let me have this stage that I call a personal blog, and tell you what's been going on with my life.

New house, new home

Today is November 16th, and it's a Sunday. Funny combination. Anyway, this will have to be a quick post for I still have plenty of things to do and I'm just taking a break. So what's been happening? I just moved in to Espana Tower last week, and boy did I quickly regret it! Actually, I don't really regret it, it's just that it's my very first time to live on my own. Well, I've been basically supporting myself since I was maybe 14 years old, but this time is the only time that I'm truly living with myself and no one else. Pretty exciting, and scary at night, I'll tell you that. Hopefully, I'll get to post pics of the view from my unit some time soon. It's not the greatest, but works for me.

Going to Mobile Asia Congress 2008

As for tomorrow, well, I'm headed to Macau for Mobile Asia Congress 2008. I'm hearing it'll be a cricket-fest, with absolutely none of the big players in the mobile industry appearing, but f- it, me and my Ed are going, if only for the Venetian. :) But seriously, I'm looking forward to it as a learning experience and as preparation for my future trip to Consumer Electronics Show 2009 in January and Mobile World Congress 2009 in February (fingers crossed!).

Eating words with a Casio digicam

And you know, I always said I'd never buy a digital camera, especially when I found out that 5-megapixel cameraphone picture quality was good, but several weeks ago I ate my words and had to settle for a Casio Exilim EX-V7 for my trip to China in the next few days.

Since I'm going to an expo, I figured a cam would be a necessity. And not wanting to get laughed at, I finally bought a digicam. The Casio Exilim EX-V7 is supposed to be the world's slimmest 7x optical zoom camera featuring an internal zoom, though I don't know if it still holds the title to this day. I liked it so much, I actually bought two. One is for my trip tomorrow and the other, a gift to my girl.

Blogging, about tech, phones, etc.

As with my thoughts regarding digicams, I also thought I'd never migrate Electronic Pulp from Blogger to Wordpress. Alas, that day is nigh, and I'm currently planning how to get it over with, including choosing a template, among other things. If all goes well, I might also create another web site, possibly for a business, though I'm still unsure what yet.

Now that I've moved in to a new place, I can also focus more on my work. Which brings me to my next topic: ruling the blogosphere! I wonder how far my stint in Unwired View will take me. My bet is as far as I'm willing to work for. But heaven only knows... and I'll have to see for myself. I've learned so much from all of what I've been doing, on my own, that I have even more conviction now when I say that, "I'm too cool for school." :)

Of course, I still try to learn whenever I can, though I can't say I've managed to keep my reading habits in good shape. The fact is, self-teaching is definitely doable, and I'm cool with doing it for the rest of my life. I have experience and a few friends to help me out whenever I run into any trouble. For everything else, there's the Internet.

Abrupt ending

I've a lot more to say, but this is way more than just a quick post now! I believe I've told you just about enough for today's update, and rest assured there will be more to come in the future. If you're going to Macau tomorrow night, do let me know so we can have a chat in the airport while we're both waiting for our flights.

Thanks for reading. I can't believe I'm writing about my life. :)

So, this is The Venetian Macau?

2008-11-15T23:00:00.004+08:00

Before I've even posted pics of the new place that I call home, here are a couple of the hotel in which I'm going to stay with my Editor ~~tomorrow~~ from Monday through Wednesday. No, of course I'm not the one paying for it, but if I could I definitely would. From the looks of it, I think it's worth the title of best 5-star hotel in China. Maybe in Asia, even.

More pics of The Venetian Macau are available here, and I have to say, they all look gorgeous! I hope Photoshop had nothing to do with all this magnificence. Now, if only I can manage to buy myself a rice cooker, hot iron, water dispenser, and print 100 business cards tomorrow, plus forget the fact that my girlfriend's stepmom was probably the one who stole my Sony PSP and 900 Pesos, maybe I could enjoy this place!

Oh, Apple Online Store Philippines, what took you so long?

2008-11-11T17:23:00.003+08:00

I actually thought I wouldn't blog until tonight (still trying to fix things here in my new "house" which I'm going to talk about in a future post), but the announcement of the Philippine Apple Online Store's opening has got me excited! Wet, if that's even possible!

I've waited for this day for several years along with many other enthusiastic folks, and I'm happy now. But I have to admit, its prices are rather steep! I'll see how far a student discount can take me, but I'm not holding my breath for this one even though the holidays are coming (and it should be a perfect gift source). Anyway, congratulations, Philippines.

Today's Apple Online Store opening is one small step for fanboys, and one giant leap for the local online shopping industry. Explain that if you can.

Learn more about the Apple Online Store Philippines

Speed of Smart 3G with Nokia N78 and JoikuSpot

2008-11-09T18:47:00.003+08:00

This was clocked in at exactly 6:47PM today in my unit on 27th floor of Espana Tower, Espana Blvd., Metro Manila. Pretty feisty! Makes me want to consider Smart Bro unlimited for an ISP... hmm.

If anyone asks, eye was dead

2008-11-09T06:59:00.001+08:00

Let's just say I had to run some long-ass errands. For now, you can read my Nokia N79 review and wait for new mobile news stories and geeky posts while I warm up. You are subscribed to Unwired View and Electronic Pulp, right?

Funny

2008-10-31T11:35:00.002+08:00

Widgetbucks ad in tagalog

XKCD: Secretary [Must-read comic]

2008-10-30T12:41:00.005+08:00

Something about us

2008-10-26T17:25:00.002+08:00

Well, somebody beat me to it.

So how was CEL Manila 2008?

2008-10-25T11:45:00.003+08:00

Well, I knew I was going to have fun at CEL Manila, what with all the gadgets that were going to be showcased there, but I didn't know I was going to "laugh my ass off" in a few instances as well. Here are a few scenarios.

Upon arrival, the guard was checking for my name in their guest list, but lo and behold, it wasn't there. I told her (it was a lady-guard) to search for David Gonzales, representing Electronic Pulp. She couldn't find it. I looked for it myself, and that's when I found out that the bright encoder unknowingly swapped my name with the person listed before me. I found a "Raquel Gonzales" listed representing Electronic Pulp, while a David Gomez represented that other person's company. I didn't have to do much to prove that there was a mistake after that. But wait, there's more!

There was a posh mini-cafe positioned right before the media lounge so I mistook it for the media lounge itself (the media lounge was surrounded by glass walls taller than a me that hid those who were already waiting). So I sat down on one of the chairs at the mini-cafe, and thought maybe I should order a hot chocolate to help me stay awake (I hadn't slept yet). I ordered a hot chocolate called "Tsokolate" but didn't finish it after about 10 or 15 sips because it tasted so bitter it might as well be full of unwashed, used basketball player socks (and that was after the sugar). I threw it away.

Inside the exhibition halls, while I was checking out the Nokia phones, I'd occassionally slip some info on unreleased models that would garner looks from the people ranging from "This guy must be crazy," to "Hmm, I think that's great, but you're crazy!"

Finally, while writing the blog posts I published yesterday on the unmanned Summit Publishing booth, people came to me asking for free copies of the magazines that were nicely stacked behind me. For some reason, they thought the magazines there were being given away (even though there was nobody in the booth except me, who wasn't even wearing a Summit Pub uniform) and one even took a "Men's Magazine" back issue from one of the display sala sets and asked me if I would let him take it home. Of course, I said no. I took it myself. Kidding!

I'm headed back there at 2PM this afternoon, not knowing what kind of new funny things lie ahead of me. Well, I'll find out soon enough.

A great way to spend the weekend

2008-10-24T05:35:00.004+08:00

In case you still haven't heard, the Philippines' first Consumer Electronics Live! event is happening today, at 10AM to be exact, at the SMX Convention Center beside SM Mall of Asia. I actually broke the news on the web about three months ago before anyone else did, but it didn't pick up. Anyway, a lot of people have learned about it since then, and I'm sure many will be attending today's opening ceremonies.

The entrance fee is only 50 Pesos for mere mortals like you and me, and I would pay for it myself if I didn't live a double life as a writer/tech blogger at odd hours of the day, which entitles me to a free 3-day media pass. There'll be gadgets, geeks, girls, announcements (speaking of which, the Nokia N96 will be announced there, though I'm not sure if the N85 and N79 will have anything to do with it), more gadgets, and gadget giveaways near the end of the day.

So if you've got the rest of the day from 10AM onwards to spare, feel free to come by and watch me take photos with my new digicam. It's the world's slimmest 7x internal optical zoom, you know. Just remember, the event will be happening from today towards Sunday, and the entrance fee is 50 Pesos. Also, if you've bought the latest issue of T3 (no matter what your reasons), you can bring that and consider your entrance fee waived. Well, I don't know about you but I'm pretty excited about this. If only I didn't pull an all-nighter doing absolutely nothing but contemplating on my sad, sad future.

[Consumer Electronics Live!] on [Electronic Pulp]

You are what you blog

2008-10-24T05:27:00.000+08:00

I think I'm gonna be sick. You know, S-I-C-K, sick. I don't know. I don't know what's been going on with me lately, which is pretty idiotic since it's myself we're talking about here, but really. I just can't put the way I feel into writing. Not anymore...

And now here I am trying to push my dull digital pen here in my lot in cyberspace. It's not like anyone is forcing me to (OK, my blog here is forcing me to), but I asked for it when I left the call center, when I left the normal route for the road less travelled. I gave up everything to be where I am now but what am I doing now? Being an ass and taking it for granted.

So in this scenario, where I should be writing, blogging for dollars, can you tell me what's wrong? All I want to do is write, and write, and write write write but what can I do when the power is out? When there are too many distractions? When I just can't write?

I feel so tired.

Today, I'm heading for my very first press event, which incidentally is also the Philippines' first major electronics expo. It's going to be a local version of the Consumer Electronics Show that happens yearly in Vegas (though it's going to be held someplace else this year, I forgot where) and it's going to be called Consumer Electronics Live. I first read about it about a couple of months back in the local T3 magazine and thought, "What took them so long?"

A lot of major tech companies will be showing off their warez today, like Sony, Nokia, Apple, Samsung, and many others. I merely sent a message to the coordinators of the event maybe two days ago and said I'm a writer for a local tech blog. Then, what do you know, I was given a press pass. Hell, yeah, I'm a writer. Yeah, right.

My blog performance has been dismal these past few weeks. And why? I could blame my family, my lack of friends, my addiction to playing drums and eating out, but what good will it do? It would only delay the inevitable--the day on which the blame would all accumulate and drop down right back onto me. And then I'd feel sorry. I'd feel sorry for the lost opportunities, for the lost momentum, for the unearned money. Money wasn't the only reason I tried my luck out in this business, but it becomes increasingly so. What I really wanted to do was to write, write, write, and pour my heart out on digital paper so that all my Internet-connected friends could bite into my stories. I wanted to share the little which I knew about the few things that interest me, like music, gaming, and recently, technology. Unlike many so-called bloggers out there, I geniunely have a passion for the things that I talk about. I'm always starstruck by the latest whiz-bang gadgetry I can find, and am eager to share the knowledge of its existence with the people I know. I know, it's easy to talk about tech because not too many readers would know enough about what you're talking about to know that you don't know what you're talking about. Make sense?

That's why there are a lot of tech bloggers right now--technical knowledge is so easy to fake, at least on paper. I could write down ten paragraphs telling you how I hacked Bob Ong's email account using quantum cryptography and kapton tape, all while not actually knowing anything about either stuff. And yet you'd still believe me. ~~You're that gullible~~ It's that easy!

But seriously, I feel like my blogging-mouth has been kapton-taped shut from the inside out. I've never been one to succumb to writer's block but the pressure's been too hard on me. I used to be able to work out of home in Internet cafes where there are maybe ten to fifteen people playing DotA, shouting simultaneously at each other, while I listen to my iPod and write my blog posts. I don't get distracted very easily, but when I do, I find it a bit hard to get back on track (apparently). It's just that I don't currently have a real place to stay, much less write and work, that I've had plenty of days with absolutely zero content now. How can I be number one if this keeps up?

I gave this post the title, "You are what you blog" because it's true. People blog about different things, some normal, some weird, but what they write down is a representation of themselves. Though it doesn't necessarily mean that if I write down "shit" on my blog, I automatically become "shit" myself, it does mean that the overall by-product of your efforts to "blog" is you. Call it a legacy, if you will. A legend. Your legend and mine.

What I'm trying to say is, though this blog post has been long and winding, that's just me while I'm trying to make a point. And that point is, "Hey, eventhough David's head is so messed up, at least there've been some truths to what he said." Maybe.

Anyway, yeah, back to writing. Because you are what you blog. And if you don't blog, then you're nothing.

You gotta clean your gun everyday...

2008-10-15T15:15:00.003+08:00

Got a PSP? Good. You know, civilians in the game Grand Theft Auto Vice City say the darnest things. For example, there's one there that's a Mexican (called a Cholo) that says "Mi familia's more important than your family, ese..." Or something like that. And then when the ambulance aids come rushing in to resurrect any person you just killed, they often say, "I don't think he's human." And don't even get me started about Vice City Public Radio with Maurice Chavez and his show, Pressing Issues.

But what I really like hearing the most from that game is the bald guy carrying an AK-47 who says, "You gotta clean your gun, everyday." He says it to his buddies while they're all standing on the corner of a street or while walking. The thing is, I don't have a gun myself, but somehow I feel like I can relate. And I don't think I'll ever know for sure what those bald guys with AK-47s are talking about but I think whoever says "You gotta clean your gun everyday" to the other guys in the group means "clean your gun or end up with a broken one." Why all this talk of guns on a Wednesday afternoon? Well, I've been feeling a bit off since last week, unable to write as good and as often as I used to. Stasys is right. I want to write, and I know I should write, but I simply could not bring myself to do it. Why? Maybe it's because I don't clean my gun everyday...

When I say gun, of course, I'm talking about my brain. Well, I've had a fairly good night's sleep last night (when I passed out on the floor in the living room of my girlfriend's house) so I hope today I can finally begin to use my gun again and start shooting competing bloggers down with my writing. Honestly, I'm not sure if what I just wrote here makes any sense right now, since I'm just waiting for my Google Reader items to download, but who knows? In an hour, hopefully, I'll be able to measure just how clean my gun really is today. And if not...

LHC successfully activated, Big bang imminent?

2008-09-11T08:50:00.004+08:00

Heh, I'm only fooling (got that from MAD TV last night). I just find it funny how Google is linking to "large hadron collider news" with this cute doodle. Wicked. BTW, it's been successfully activated. Right on for Armageddon.

I hate the damn rain

2008-09-10T12:07:00.002+08:00

Don't you? I had plenty of plans before the sun even rose this morning, but then the rain just had to come and ruin it all. I hate how no matter how neatly you pressed your suit before leaving for work, it's going to get wet in the storm like the other, crease-filled suits your officemates are wearing in the rain. Yeah, rainy season stinks.

Photos of Boys Like Girls from GAC, Makati, Manila

2008-09-10T09:47:00.006+08:00

I'd say I almost forgot to post these photos, but then I wonder, is that even possible? How can you almost forget something, and then instantly remember it at the last second? Ah, but you know what? I'm drifting. Fact is, I went to the Boys Like Girls concert in the Glorietta mall activity center last Saturday, and I had a great time. And I still don't know the names of the band members. I like their songs, though. The way boys, uh, like girls. Pun totally intended. Click on for more photos.

I was positioned way back in the venue, so the only way I could get a close up of the guys was by firing up the digital zoom on my Nokia N78. That turned out to be disastrous. But I still got some pretty nice pictures anyway. Check them out.

My photos are pretty messed up, huh? At least I managed to capture some, unlike the time I went to watch Panic! at the Disco at the big dome -- it was embarassing. BTW, thanks to Mark Angelo Uy for letting me know about this awesome concert. Looking forward to your next tip, bro!

When you're working outside, you realize...

2008-08-25T16:54:00.004+08:00

Seriously.

Running

2008-08-25T06:52:00.003+08:00

Today is the first day of my life as a fugitive - sort of. This case about the broken iPhone has been causing me a lot of stress lately, and what I can do to remedy this is to just run and try to forget about it. I already have so much going on in my head and I don't need any more distractions, much less a bad one.

Whether that annoying buyer is going to come to my house with the popo, I don't know for sure, but I have no intention of sitting around to find out. It's not that I don't want to face my responsibility, but this person is just hopeless. Knowing full well that I will never cave in to that buyer's wishes, waiting around for a chance to have a chat with said person will only be the death of me. We will not agree and our debate will go on endlessly, and I don't want that. I've got far too much work to do.

And speaking of work, I've been slacking off for far too long. I don't understand, and as Joker would've said it: why [am I not] serious? - about my job. I mean, of course I'm serious - serious as a heart attack, in fact. But I have executed far less than what I have actually planned. I've been in this for nearly half a year, and what have I got to show for it? Nothing...

Maybe the stress is just killing me. Maybe not. Maybe I'm already dead? The fact is, I need to get my act straight while I still can, before it's too late. I need to quit listening to the music and actually start spitting out my own songs. I need to stop reading and start writing. Hey, wait a minute.

Thank God, it was on HBO

2008-08-22T07:14:00.002+08:00

After finally seeing Evan Almighty, I'm feeling a little bit less crazy than I did earlier today. I'm still crazy, though, so wait for the updates. Come on, it's fun. Let's go crazy.

The case of the broken iPhone

2008-08-22T05:38:00.001+08:00

OK, here's what really happened. I was really excited to buy an iPhone. I was so excited, in fact, that the haggling process I had to go through with the vendor was practically non-existent. I just went straight up to his booth, asked for the price, thought about it for 5 nanoseconds and a moment later I was on my way home with my new iPhone.

Well, actually, I had to scoot down to the nearest bank so I can withdraw the money I'm going to pay for the iPhone before I actually pocketed the thing in my, um, pocket. All in all, I paid just 19,100 Pesos to that greedy bastard, even though effectively that's almost exactly how much the old iPhone used to sell for, brand new, in the US! The prices are crazy. It's a battered second hand unit, for crying out loud.

On a side note, the iPhone Classic prices out in Greenhills nowadays are just plain ridiculous. 26,000 to 28,000 Pesos for a frakkin' brand new unit. 28,000! It's even more expensive than the initial $600 asking price Apple brought out more than a year ago. Who would buy those?

Anyway, back to my story. So I was going home, and on the way home, I ended up making a quick stop (from Greenhills Shopping Center Mall) to SM City Manila. I don't remember how I got there. I went straight to my second home (Quantum, where there's Drum Mania 5th Mix) and noticed suddenly that the iPhone in my hand was quickly losing its signal. From 5 bars, the signal went down to three, and then to two, one, then none.

Then, all the iPhone was displaying on the space where it should show the signal and carrier name was NO SERVICE. I would've started to freak, but I was standing too far inside Quantum and thought, "Ah, it must be because I'm in this confined space and the signals just can't get through to the antenna." Oh, well, I thought, it should be fine once I walk out. (At that time, my Nokia N78 was displaying a healthy 3G signal, which I thought was weird but just brushed off as normal.)

So I walked out Quantum and started my way home again, only to find out that "Whoa!" The iPhone is still displaying NO SERVICE and can't get a signal AT ALL. I was in very deep trouble, I calmly thought to myself.

Back then, the iPhone I had was still running on the old 1.1.3 version of the iPhone's software. Meaning, it hadn't been updated for nearly a year ago. It was hacked, and a couple of unofficial third-party apps were even installed. But when I lost signal on the iPhone, I started thinking, "Hey, what if I update to iPhone software 2.0? Maybe that should fix it."

So I updated. And the iPhone was fixed. For a minute.

The moment that I held the iPhone in my hand, the signal once again went down, and the phone displayed NO SERVICE. And I was like, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Service." Damn.

It turns out, every time I hold the iPhone, the signal starts to drop, especially if I'm indoors. However, it worked like a charm when I'm outside, where there's a strong signal because of the absence of a roof and other obstructions. Slowly, I realized that the iPhone's antenna was broken, since everytime I touched it (FYI: the iPhone's antenna is located underneath the black plastic strip on the lower part of the back side), the signal went down. Plus, the damn thing won't even fetch the nearest Wi-Fi signals, when my iPod Touch and Nokia N78 clearly sniffed the free Wi-Fi that I so frequently enjoy at SM City San Lazaro, in front of National Bookstore, Greenwich, Chowking, and McDonalds.

Long story short, the iPhone had a cranky antenna inside it, and once you lose signal you will either have a _very_ hard time getting it back again OR will not be able to get a signal at all, ever. I panicked, and practically broke down at the thought that this nearly-20,000 Peso piece of technology would be nothing but a music-playing, tilt-gaming machine to me. Even though all the other functions like the camera, accelerometer, and speakers worked fine, I couldn't resign myself to the fact that I won't be able to text and make/receive calls on my PHONE. It's called the iPHONE for a reason, Einstein. And if I can't use it as a phone, then what's the point? Is there a point?

I searched all over the world (via Google) to see if other users had experienced this problem (the signal bars are gone and the phone displays NO SERVICE). I found a couple of fixes. First, I could simply go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings and everything would be back to normal. I tried that for a few times, and it worked for a few times. But when it stopped working, and I still had NO SERVICE up on my iPhone, I had to find another way.

For the next few days, I found myself unhappily restoring to iPhone software 2.0 each and every time I lost a signal on the iPhone. The good news was, I worked from home, so I could do it whenever, wherever (I was always only at home or nearby!). The bad news was, well, it was a joke! I restored to iPhone software 2.0 about 40-50 times, I think. I was the worst week of my life with gadgets. I couldn't use my iPhone as a phone. And I could find no other way to fix it. I just accepted the fact that the problem lied in the antenna. So I decided to bring back the phone to Greenhills (finally) and ask them to exchange my phone with another one.

Before I went to Greenhills, I did a fresh restore on the iPhone again so I could use it for one last time on the way to returning it. And when I went to Greenhills, the iPhone still had a signal, and it had a strong one, in fact. Remember, reception was very strong outdoors where there's nothing to block the signal. The signal on the iPhone was so damn strong that I had a hard time convincing the vendor it was even broken at all. How can I tell him that the iPhone didn't have a signal, when I was there holding it with 5 bars and the name of SMART plastered across the top-left side? My plan to exchange it was a disaster, as you have probably already guessed.

What else could I do? I was really desperate. The vendor asked me to accompany him on a smoke break, and it was during our little trip to the smoker's area that we hatched a plan.

The plan: I will try to sell the iPhone to the many other vendors out on the floor for at least 18,000 Pesos. Then with that money, I will only add a couple thousand more for me to be able to buy a new, refurbed, perfectly working phone. It was a simple, devilish plan that any self-respecting crook would've been proud of.

Eventually, I found a buyer. We haggled for nearly 5 hours that day! The buyer wanted to get the iPhone for 16,000 Pesos. I haggled for 17,500. In the end, I won. I sold the iPhone with a very strong signal to the buyer after we tried out different SIM cards (Globe, Smart, Sun) and spending about 15 minutes surfing the Internet with it. For some reason, the iPhone seemed OK. But I knew the truth.

Days passed by, and as you can imagine, the buyer has now been calling and texting me relentlessly to have me go back to their store and talk to them about the broken iPhone that I sold. According to her, the iPhone lost its signal just after I left and hasn't been able to pick up until now. Now she wants me to come there and see the iPhone with her to a technician, where we would split the repair bill. I said NO THANKS.

The iPhone is their property now, and not mine. So why should I be bothered to go over there when clearly our business is finished? And when I sold her the iPhone, it was working perfectly. We tried different SIM cards on it and it still didn't display signs of "breakage." It got broken after our deal, and there's NO WARRANTY for an iPhone, remember!? (See above)

The truth is, I didn't want to sell the iPhone to that buyer. But she wouldn't let me leave. Like I said earlier, we haggled for nearly 5 hours. 5 hours! I sleep only 4 hours a day, and we talked for 5! That was very important to me. About 2 hours into our haggling, I wanted to leave and just face the truth that I may have to find a knowledgable technician to have the iPhone opened up and the antenna replaced (if that was possible). I wanted to go home and spend the rest of the day hacking, trying to find a way to make the thing work just by tinkering with my little knowledge of pwning. I wanted to leave, I didn't want to sell! But the buyer was so persistent.

Do you know what the buyer did when I said that I didn't want to sell anymore, and that I wanted to go out to eat because I was hungry (I hadn't eaten breakfast that day and it was 3 in the afternoon, I think)? She grabbed the iPhone and put it on display alongside their other wares. She put it on display! We hadn't even closed our deal and agreed on a price yet! The buyer was as desperate to get that iPhone as I was to get rid of it. It was very sad.

The buyer now threatens to come to my house with someone from the NBI if I won't go back to their store voluntarily to check on the iPhone. And I will never. Don't nobody out there ever try and lead them to me, OK? Look...

The buyer fucking asked for it. She fucking had it coming. I didn't want to sell, and yet she really wanted to buy. In all honesty, I can tell you I really felt TRAPPED the whole time we were haggling. The buyer just wouldn't let me out. It was fucking annoying, so I gave it to her "as is."

Yeah, yeah, you don't even need to remind me. You only get what you deserve. Hate me now, bitches.

If only it were as easy as they say...

2008-08-13T04:57:00.002+08:00

...and I could scream if I wanna go faster

Bernie Mac is dead. This blog is not.

2008-08-10T12:43:00.001+08:00

Bernie Mac is dead. This blog is not.

No, it's not a joke. Though I badly wish it were, Bernie Mac is truly and actually dead. He died early yesterday morning in a hospital in Chicago due to pneumonia. It never showed in his movies.

Meanwhile, today's the day I've decided to finally revive this old blog of mine. Pick up the feather duster and brush off the dirt, if you will. Along with the sad bit of news I mentioned above, I realized I only have so much time in my hands to do certain stuff. And that includes writing on this site.

I'd like to write more on this "coming to senses" phase at length, but I have work to do. So I'm gonna have to do it later then.

Nokia N78 Review finished, hardware edition

2008-07-06T08:18:00.001+08:00

The title says it all. Read my Nokia N78 review like it isn't old news on Electronic Pulp. Yes, it's a gadget blog.

[Nokia N78 review]

8,000,000 bugs all over the world

2008-06-28T18:57:00.002+08:00

There's something wrong with the Internet. I can't access my Google Reader using Mozilla Firefox. It used to be that I couldn't access Blogger either, but that's been fixed last night by I don't know what. My Google Reader problem still persists, however, and I'm left with no other choice but IE to download my feeds. Anyone else out there experience problems with FF3? I thought this was supposed to be the Internet?

Free, legitimate, tax-free Wi-Fi when you buy a new Nokia N78

2008-06-28T09:10:00.002+08:00

Abe Olandres points out that Nokia is still offering their "free Wi-Fi access with every purchased phone" promo, even with relatively old units like the Nokia E51. He says that this little Eseries candybar will give you up to 60 hours of free wi-Fi access on any Airborne Access wireless hotspot, provided that you can find one and try to log-on before the end of this month.

I thought the free Wi-Fi access promo for Eseries phones had already ended long ago, but obviously, it still hasn't. What I do know, though, is that free Wi-Fi access also comes standard with every purchase of a new Nokia Nseries phone, although with the Nseries deal you'd be getting a whole lot more.

See, I have a Nokia N78, and the free Wi-Fi access flyer in the box says that I have 60 days of free Wi-Fi via Airborne Access, under the same conditions as above. And not only that, there's also 3 months of free voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation included in the package, which I haven't really tried to activate for fear that I might do something wrong. So it's easy to see that with the Nseries deal, you'll be getting a whole lot more. But then again, you'll be paying a whole lot more, so it's only fair.

What bugs me, though, is how there doesn't seem to be any options for Philippine maps on the phone. There are no pre-loaded Philippine maps, and when I go through the process of activating my free 3-month license for turn-by-turn navigation, only European countries show up in the options. You think maybe I got an f-ed up phone? I hope not.

Huge storm + PAG-ASA = FAIL

2008-06-28T08:59:00.000+08:00

I've been wondering, just what good does PAG-ASA do to the Philippines? I mean, what good is it for, what is its real job, and do we really need it?

See, come storm after storm, all they do is give out "updates". Updates which we clearly do not need. Just look how much the updates on PAG-ASA's web site helped the passengers and crew members of the sunken ship MV Princess of the Stars.

When the weather is sunny, the government agency is nowhere to be found, and is rarely heard from. They report of upcoming calamities right after a storm (like how they report this time that there are at least 14 more typhoons heading our way after Frank - yeah, right), and during a storm, they really can't offer anything of help to us because they're only human too.

If I see that the flood outside of my house is already neck-deep, and the winds of the storm has already blown off my neighbor's roof, what can PAG-ASA do to help? Even their so-called weather updates often appear to be nothing but lies. I remember back in elementary school that I had been assigned to do a weather report the next day. I cited one from PAG-ASA which said there will be a very huge storm in the upcoming week. Well, guess what, the storm never came. They are all a bunch of liars, I think.

So when I hear about them in the news, I cringe, knowing that these people get paid to do absolutely nothing but turn the loose nuts in the heads of the Filipino public who don't know any better. It's a good thing that majority of the people do what I'm already doing - which is ignoring PAG-ASA - but with the recent tragedy of over 700 lost lives, I wonder even more why the government agency still exists. Surely you notice this yourself, too, right? Don't you?