a continuing journey of thoughts and emotions

Thursday, September 25, 2008

bye bye Blogdrive....hello Wordpress

After so many years of yapping and ranting to myself with my blog here, it is deep regret that I will be leaving my virtual home here in Blogdrive.

It has been a fruitful blogging experience for me here and I thank everyone who has taken their time to read my thoughts here. (that is, if there's even an "everyone" to begin with, hahaha)

But don't mistake this post as a goodbye to blogging. Actually, I'm just saying goodbye to Blogdrive and to inform you guys that I'm moving my blog to a new (and cooler) home.

But this is not the end of my blog space here. Though I won't be writing any new posts here, this blog will still active for archiving purposes. Who knows, some Cyber Archive agency may find my rants useful in the future for research purposes.

So from now on, let your cursor redirect you to my new blog:

mywastedspace

See you there folks!

Posted at 12:39 am by wastedspace
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008

the "wonderful" world of Wi-Fi

Being an Internet geek is something I have been known for. Before I got my DSL connection at home from PLDT (decent enough so far, I have to say) I used to spend some time over at some Internet cafe: checking email, surfing sites from the wholesome to the, uhm, NSFW types, if you know what I mean.

Then came the phenomenon of mobile Internet, from the early WAP days to the current 3.5G capabilities of many mobile phones today. But despite my Internet geek reputation, I never bother to do surfing over my mobile phone, except for certain "urgent" situations. Not only is the connection that unreliable, even if my phone is 3.5G-capable, but the pricing is not that enticing for me to do so. (yes, even so with Globe's new "consumer-friendly" mobile surfing rates) Then there's also the issue of short battery life as well which is the problem of many 3G phones today in the market I am led to believe.

Then I got my Nokia N95, which introduced me to the "wonderful" world of Wi-Fi.

To those who don't know yet, the Nokia N95 is Nokia's "flagship" mobile phone model, packed with features like, 3.5G capability, rich HTML web renditions, and Wi-Fi capable too. Usually, Wi-Fi is a feature usually associated with laptop computers. Now more and more mobile phones are including it in their features. And for someone like me who doesn't have a laptop, this is one feature I like a lot about the N95.

One good thing about Wi-Fi is that you can access it for free anywhere there's a free Wi-Fi hotspot available. Well there's the catch there. And it has something to do with the keywords "available" and "free". While there's a good chance of finding available Wi-Fi hotspots, especially if you're in a commercial area like a mall or coffee shop, you may still have a hard time connecting to the Internet via Wi-Fi if the establishment you're in requires you first to buy their wireless access prepaid cards before you can enjoy surfing. While I understand the need to do business by the folks behind it, I can't help but feel repulsed and bummed by such sneaky business tactics. And being the cheapskate that I am, I always check for a free Wi-Fi zone.

Another thing I can't stand is the fact I sometimes can't seem to get a stable connection whenever I'm on a Wi-Fi hotspot. I don't know if it's just my mobile phone or if it's an inherent problem with Wi-Fi connections but it's frustrating.

Despite my woes, I enjoy surfing over Wi-Fi. Regardless of the restrictions mobile phones have when displaying web pages, I've come to enjoy the wonder of mobile surfing. This does not however replace my computer as far as my primary web-surfing tool, which I'm sure many will agree. But at least we no longer have to deal with WAP pages which are crippled and limiting the Internet experience over cell phones.

With this newfound appreciation, it has become a way for me to kill my time when I'm somewhere. Now I can't help checking with my phone from time to time to see if there's a free Wi-Fi hotspot available that I can take advantage of. After all, the best things in life are free.

Posted at 06:26 pm by wastedspace
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Thursday, September 04, 2008

An afternoon in Subic

It was one of those spur-of-the-moment ideas that popped out of my head. I thought of it as a "little" way to celebrate my birthday, going somewhere I haven't gone before. Because my birthday fell on a work day and we were not yet allowed to take leaves at that time, I had to schedule it during my restdays. Luckily they fell on a weekend, so I'm happy.

I originally had some "grand plans" as to how to spend my vacation. I originally wanted to spend an overnight stay and do some touring galore of the many sights there. But circumstances and a hit from reality changed those plans. It even came to a point that I considered cancelling my plans. But the adventurer and wandering spirit in me did not let me do so. I just had to make some adjustments to my plans, but other than that, it was all systems go. So I settled to spend just a day in Subic, do a quick tour, perhaps join in activities I can participate in while I'm there. Unfortunately, going to Zoobic Safari and Ocean Adventure cannot be squeezed into my itinerary, which was a bummer. But I had some other plans...

It was a Saturday morning (around 10 am) when I took a Victory Liner Bus all the way to Olongapo. Normally, it's a 2 hour ride from Manila to Olongapo. But since Victory Liner buses have a number of stopovers, including a long lunch stop somewhere in Pampanga, the trip took a little more than 3 hours. Kinda frustrating, but it's a price I had to pay for not having my own car to drive all the way to Subic. Too bad we didn't drive along the new Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway. Though I only got a glimpse of it as we were crossing through the intersection, the new expressway is nice enough for one to do some leisure driving over the weekend and just marvel at the sights along the way. It was also nice to see the surroundings at your window as the bus passes along the mountainous landscape of Bataan, reminiscent of one of those trips you take to Baguio.

Victory's terminal in Olongapo is somewhere in the downtown area, so it was a good opportunity for me to do a little roaming as to what 'Gapo has to offer. Downtown has nothing much to catch my fancy, except for the famous "Ulo Ng Apo" landmark. I suppose tourists aren't there much for what Olongapo City proper has to offer, now that those girlie bars that made it (in)famous are now virtually gone. If not the Subic Bay freeport, tourists would usually frequent the beaches north of Olongapo, most especially White Rock.

I took a yellow-coded jeepney, which is the code for jeepneys disembarking near the Subic Bay freeport gate. It's basically a short walk from the unloading area to the gate. Nearby is the transport terminal, where there are vans and coasters available to take you to your desired destination in the freeport. Some of them even offer free rides, especially to the duty-free stores in the area. I took one of them which took us to Royal Subic Duty Free Store. I was feeling hungry, and I needed something to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings also.

At first glance, the Royal Subic Duty Free Store looks like an ordinary supermarket. But the store boasts of the number of shoppers visiting there everyday, especially at that time. I've heard a lot about duty free shops, but this would be the first time I would be actually buying some items in a duty-free store. While there are locally-produced goods available, most of the products there are imported and are priced in US dollars. Nevertheless, the prices are substantially lower compared to buying them at a regular supermarket. As someone who always is on the lookout for bargains, it was something I cannot let pass by. I bought a large pack of Chips Ahoy cookies (not the pathetic ones made in China) and some Snickers chocolate bars. Good thing I never had a toothache or tonsillitis afterwards.

Nearby is the Puregold Duty Free Store which has fewer patrons. No wonder 'cause the prices there are higher than in Royal Duty Free. There's also a Home Depot-style store and an outlet store for some US clothing and shoe brands. There's no presence of an SM mall there...yet. So at least the retail establishments of Subic and nearby Olongapo are still sleeping well at night.

So what is there to do in Subic if you won't be going to Ocean Adventure and Zoobic Safari, which are arguably the most famous destinations there? In my case, I spent it roaming around the freeport area, passing by the industrial parks which are set up in the area. There's also the Subic Bay Yacht club and the Boardwalk area that you can visit as well. But the highlight of my Subic excursion is experiecing kart driving for the first time at Subic's Le Mans Go-Kart Race Track. For only P400 you can experience 10 laps of pure fun and adrenaline kart racing has to offer. For someone who doesn't have a driver's license nor the driving skills, I had a great time in front of the wheel and feel the adrenaline of being a race kart driver. Now I have the confidence and skill to be an accomplished driver. The only letdown for me was not seeing the pretty racer and owner of Le Mans Michelle Bumgarner there.

It was around 6 PM that I took the Victory Liner Bus back to Manila, along with the stuff that I bought at Royal Duty Free. Despite my short excursion, it was still a memorable experience for me to be able to finally visit Subic after all these years. With it lies my wish to visit it again and be able to fully experience the beauty and wonder Subic has to offer.

Posted at 12:04 am by wastedspace
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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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