a continuing journey of thoughts and emotions

Thursday, August 07, 2008

iPhone in the Philippines? Holy crap!!!

After more than a month of waiting since its initial launch in some countries, the much coveted. much-hyped iPhone of Apple is coming to the Philippines on August 22.

I won't delve much on what the iPhone can do since you can find a lot of stuff discussing its features on the Apple site and elsewhere.

While I'm not much of what you call an "Apple fanboy," I'm very much interested in Apple's products. I always think of them as classy, sleek, and "just works."

The ironic thing is I don't even own any Apple product right now. But hey, that doesn't stop me from dreaming to own an iPod or a Mac. Or maybe it's more of a reason that I entertain these thoughts. But that's another story.

Going back to the iPhone, I've always dreamt of owning one. Now that it's legally available here in the country, I thought I finally have the chance of getting it. That is, until I saw the rates for iPhone's prepaid plans as released by its official carrier Globe Telecom:

Holy crap!!! This is much more expensive than I thought as compared to the prices of other high-end cellphones and smartphones out there. I don't know if the pricing is justified considering Globe's reputation as a greedy carrier. True, Apple products are kinda pricey. But I was hoping they can cut some cornerts to make the unit more affordable and be able to sell more units and earn those hefty profits in the long run.

With that, I officially am holding back on purchasing an iPhone for the moment. At least until the enterprising traders in Greenhills would find a way to lower its price (legitimately or otherwise)

For now, I'm content with my Nokia N95 Classic. Hehehehe

Posted at 12:39 pm by wastedspace
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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

confessions of a loveless geek

Family, neighbors, friends, co-workers, even acquaintances. My conversations with them would venture into this territory that you can make a template out of it.

"Uy, may girlfriend ka na?"

-"Wala pa."

"Bakit naman?"

-"Wala akong time para dun eh."

"You're kidding me. Daming babae dito sa mundo...".

-"Eh wala eh"

"Di bale, hahanapan kita..."

-"Thanks but no thanks muna."

I usually consider myself the type of guy who doesn't like anyone minding my affairs. Not that I totally shun the people around me; I just want to spare them the time trying to "figure me out."

I suppose this is one reason why I don't have anyone special right now, because I'm still looking for that someone who figure me out and put me into place when I lose my way. Someone who can somehow speak the same wavelength as I do.

But that doesn't mean I've completely forsaken those thoughts of love in my head, nor have I completely left the love-searching game. But so far, I find it frustrating that the people that I haven't found that girl yet. It can be one of three reasons:

-she's already got a boyfriend

-not interested in meeting up; or

-she's not what she says she is (a fake in other words)

Have I been too lazy now to try looking for that someone? Or perhaps I'm afraid of becoming more of a jerk and lose the girl...again.

At this point, it might good to say, "something has to be done." Now the hard part for me is where to begin.

Because right now, I'm in a mess of things here.

Posted at 05:14 am by wastedspace
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Friday, June 27, 2008

credit card blues

For a long while now, I have lived a life without credit cards. For some time, I didn't see a need for one considering my spending behavior. And of course, there are those horror stories I hear from some credit card owners come collection time.

But you cannot deny that a credit card can be handy at times, during emergencies and in online transactions via Paypal. With these things in mind, I've decided to apply for one.

You can imagine my desk all piled up with different application forms from a number of credit card-issuing institutions, trying to find out which one offers good terms for cardholders. I submitted an application to 3 different companies.

Now I don't know what criteria do these credit investigators follow in approving applications. Strangely, my personal references that are in my applications were not called. But after 2 weeks of waiting, I found out that 2 of the institutions where I submitted my application turned down my request.

Then I received a notification from BPI, where I also submitted my application. Could this mean the approval I've been waiting for? It was..sort of. Not what I was hoping for though.

The letter states that I am eligible for the Express Start program of BPI. This means I can easily get a credit card...but there's a catch. I would have to deposit a holdover amount of at least P 10,000.

I originally did not want to accept the offer, considering that I would not be able to have easy access to the money given to me should the need arises. But at that time, I needed to have that Paypal account activated. In the end, I decided to get one.

I received my card after a week or so. I have to admit, the card itself has a "hip" feel to it. I was able to use it on some purchases I made; I made sure I pay the full amount as much as possible, to prevent those added charges on my next statement.

While I'm happy with my credit card and its features I may enjoy in the future, the fact that some of my money has to be time deposited for me to continue using it dampens my enthusiasm. Right now I have a pending application with 2 other banks for a credit card. If approved, I would have to cancel my BPI Card so I can have the money released. Sad really, considering the good things I've heard about BPI Express Credit. But that's life.

Posted at 12:14 pm by wastedspace
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Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Getting LOST in it all...

I have always been intrigued by that TV show "Lost", ever since its phenomenon started take root almost 4 years ago. Yet somehow, I've not been able to force myself to sit down and watch a single episode of the show during its first 3 seasons. I guess I've been listening too much to people who are saying, and making fun of the fact, that the show is confusing, frustrating, that it's story is going nowhere, etc.

In the end, curiosity got the better of me; next thing I know, I found myself watching the Season 1 DVD of Lost on my PC. And after seeing this show, I was simply blown away.

So why would someone like me like a show as "complicated" as Lost? I can't pinpoint any definite answer. I definitely loved the development of multi-character storylines that are told on the show. But I also love how Lost plays out the interplay of science, faith, and mysticism into the show. The constant clashes of man of science Jack and man of faith Locke, and how the concepts of time and space (which kinda veers towards the science-fiction aspect) interplay with the aspects of faith and destiny. And did I forget to mention the other elements of the show which make it interesting, like the smoke monster, mysterious numbers, polar bears to name few?

I must admit I'm kinda amazed at myself that I was able to keep up with this show, despite all the mysteries and questions that remain unanswered so far. I guess its appeal has made a deep impression on me that I find myself now watching streaming videos of the latest episodes of the show. In fact, I recently watched the Season 4 finale which was pretty good, albeit a bit disappointed that not a lot of questions were answered by the end of the episode and of the season overall.

With only 2 seasons left on the show's run, I hope the people behind the show will deliver their promise of tying up all the loose ends and have most, if not all, of the mysteries be answered. While Lost itself is a great show, it will be a huge letdown that they would give us the answers to the questions they themselved raised since Season 1.

Till then, I'll keep watching and I'll be looking forward to a great Season 5 next year.

Posted at 07:58 am by wastedspace
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Blu-ray now in Quiapo? Hell no!!

It has only been 3 months since Blu-ray's victory in that long-fought HD disc war. So far (from what I know) there has not been any significant rise in the demand for Blu-Ray media discs and players in the market. Granted, we're talking of a short timeframe for any impact to be determined. Still, it's frustrating that until now, those behind Blu-ray's technology have not made any moves to make their technology more accessible, now that it is the undisputed next generation optical media format.

Interestingly, Jack Sparrow's fellows in that old favorite piracy haven of Quiapo are selling "not-so-legal" copies of films, purportedly in Blu-Ray. Fortunately/Unfortunately, they are not real Blu-rays; they can actually play on your regular DVD player. Not surprising since it's still expensive to duplicate a copy of a Blu-ray, not to mention its supposedly tight anti-piracy features. (not that any hacker will have any trouble bypassing them)

With regards to the quality of those "Blu-ray" films in Quiapo, I cannot honestly see any distinction with a DVD film. Though I understand that they are direct copies from the original Blu-ray discs, I must pass for the meantime until the high-definition technoloy is within the general public's reach.

Posted at 12:26 pm by wastedspace
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