The SGF Column

TriNoma Day

2009-12-18T14:46:00.000+08:00

So after gruesome perios was party. We left at about twelve, because of holdups caused by Sr. Corre. Anyways, we went straight to the cinemas to watch Avatar. And we we're so noisy - making side comments and bursts of laughter every now and then. When the girl alien and the guy alien get too close, several would shout "AYie!" The one who shows the seats was getting real annoyed. And then, they did this weird dance that had us nearly rolling on the floor. Then, in the middle of the movie, when things we're getting serious, this ring tone singing "All by myself" started playing.

After the movie, we went to eat, but I made a sidetrip to Starbucks, when I found them, they we're sitting on priority seats fr the handicapped. They (Cholo, Dindo, Wren and Victor) didn't seem to notice, and when I asked them, Dindo stared cursing Cholo for choosing the seats. So this guard came upon us and glared at us. So we said that maybe he thinks Wrenis pregnant or something.

Then, we went to Timezone, which was really disgruntling because when it was my turn to play NFS, we ran out of load. Andro was so - addicted - to air hockey there. Then, we strolled around, and by 5:30, we went to Chow King for dinner. We had a nice conversation in Pisay after that.

UPM Monday.

2009-12-14T14:36:00.000+08:00

So after this third contest for the month (and getting sick of it all), I finally had this eventful - contest. Well, not the contest itself - it was the bus trip home that was eventful.

As an introduction, imagine a Mitsubishi Adventure fit for ten NORMAL people. Imagine eleven people fitting in it. Not so bad, isn't it? Now, imagine Amiel as among those eleven. So, in every trip to the outside world, we scramble to get to the back four seats, and not on the middle seats where we have to wedge between the little space left free by Amiel.

After the scramble, we have a relatively comfortable back seat with five people (though it was meant for four) and a very airtight middle seat with three (with Amiel, and it's also meant for four people).

The real fun began when Amiel began harassing Stephen Tamayo. And so we we're laughing hard, producing this very weird conversation.

Stephen: Aray, aray Moper (ka-team niya siya dun sa contest)!

Emil: Ansakit Ima!

Arvin: Tama na, Moper, tama na!

Moper: Huwag niyo ako ipitin!

*moan from both Stephen and Moper.

Then, we had more fun, casual conversation - with Amiel still harassing Stephen. By the end of the trip, everyone needed a pee from laughing and some (including me) had tears in their eyes from that laughter. This is just the second time that laughing gave me tears.

PS. Amiel and Iman's team won their fourth first place in this contest - all of them having price money. It;s getting annoying. And we also met Ate Paula there in UPM.

Birthday S*x

2009-12-12T08:40:00.000+08:00

I'm officially fifteen and two days old. But this year's birthday ain't nothing compared to the one a year ago, nor to the one two years ago. I guess that's because I was really pissed off in the morning. But then, my mood lightened by afternoon. And evening got my wallet emptied by three pizzas from Yellow Cab. Anyway's, it wasn't the tripe I was expecting earlier this year, when my mood was considerably subdued.

The best part about my birthday is that my mom finally decided to buy me Gold/Silver tickets to the Paramore concert - best birthday gift ever, considering that we already decided on going to other concerts before (i.e. Katy Perry) but was setback by unfortunate circumstances (i.e. Ondoy and Santi). I just hope this really will push through.

On another bright side, Christmas is near - I can feel it! Finally, a break from all this school hell we're experiencing so far.

Saturday.

2009-12-06T08:57:00.000+08:00

Another math contest. Well, I guess Sr. Nat will be happy with the results. There we're 48 teams competing and ten made it to the finals. The final ranking was:

1. PSHS (Sy, Encarnacion)

2. St. Jude Catholic School

3. PSHS

4-6. Tie between...

-> PSHS (Alba, Oliveros)

-> PSHS

-> Gideon Academy

7. St. Stephen High School

8. PSHS

9. Manila Science High School

10. Manila Science High School

It's so weird 'coz suddenly my December schedule became so hectic.

And Amiel won - so it's 3000 pesos for him - enough for a suit and a bouquet for whoever he wants to ask for prom. ;-)

PS. I lost my bag. :| And it's hell week next week.

Grammy Awards Nominees

2009-12-04T19:14:00.000+08:00

In bold are the entries I want to win (may be two per category).

Album Of The Year

Beyonce, I Am ... Sasha Fierce
Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.
Lady Gaga, The Fame
Dave Matthews Band, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
Taylor Swift, Fearless

Record Of The Year

Beyonce, "Halo"
Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling"
Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"
Lady Gaga, "Poker Face"
Taylor Swift, "You Belong With Me"

Song Of The Year
(awarded to the songwriters)

Lady Gaga, "Poker Face,"
Maxwell, "Pretty Wings"
Beyonce, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"
Taylor Swift, "You Belong With Me

Best New Artist

Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling"
Bon Jovi, "We Weren't Born to Follow"
The Fray, "Never Say Never"
Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Sara Smile"
MGMT, "Kids"

Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

Jamie Foxx & T-Pain, "Blame It"
India.Arie & Musiq Soulchild, "Chocolate High"
Musiq Soulchild & Mary J. Blige, "Ifuleave"
Robert Randolph & the Clark Sisters, "Higher Ground"
Calvin Richardson & Ann Nesby, "Love Has Finally Come at Last"

Best Contemporary R&B Album

Beyonce, I Am ... Sasha Fierce
Jamie Foxx, Intuition
Pleasure P, The Introduction of Marcus Cooper
Trey Songz, Ready
T-Pain, Thr33 Ringz

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

Adele, "Hometown Glory"
Beyonce, "Halo"
Katy Perry, "Hot n Cold"
Pink, "Sober"
Taylor Swift, "You Belong With Me"

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

John Legend, "This Time"
Maxwell, "Love You"
Jason Mraz, "Make It Mine"
Seal, "If You Don't Know Me by Now"
Stevie Wonder, "All About the Love Again"

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals

Rosanne Cash & Bruce Springsteen, "Sea of Heartbreak"
Ciara & Justin Timberlake, "Love Sex Magic"
Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat, "Lucky"
Willie Nelson & Norah Jones, "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat, "Breathe"

Best Pop Vocal Album

Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.
Colbie Caillat, Breakthrough
Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted
The Fray, The Fray
Pink, Funhouse

Best Dance Recording

Black Eyed Peas, "Boom Boom Pow"
David Guetta & Kelly Rowland, "When Love Takes Over"
Lady Gaga, "Poker Face"
Madonna, "Celebration"
Britney Spears, "Womanizer"

Best Electronic/Dance Album

The Crystal Method, Divided by Night
David Guetta, One Love
Lady Gaga, The Fame
LMFAO, Party Rock
Pet Shop Boys, Yes

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, "Can't Find My Way Home"
Coldplay, "Life in Technicolor II"
Green Day, "21 Guns"
Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"
U2, "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"

Best Rock Album

AC/DC, Black Ice Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, Live From Madison Square Garden
Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown
Dave Matthews Band, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
U2, No Line on the Horizon

> None of these albums. :|

Best Rock Song

Pearl Jam, "The Fixer"
U2, "I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
Green Day, "21 Guns"
Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"
Bruce Springsteen, "Working on a Dream"

Best Alternative Music Album

David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Death Cab for Cutie, The Open Door
Depeche Mode, Sounds of the Universe
Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz!

Best Rap Album

Common, Universal Mind
Eminem, Relapse
Flo Rida, R.O.O.T.S.
Mos Def, The Ecstatic
Q-Tip, The Renaissance

Best Rap Solo Performance

Drake, "Best I Ever Had"
Eminem, "Beautiful"
Jay-Z, "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"
Kid Cudi, "Day n' Nite"
Mos Def, "Casa Bey"

Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group

Beastie Boys & Nas, "Too Many Rappers"
Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent, "Crack a Bottle"
Fabolous & Jay-Z, "Money Goes, Honey Stay"
Kid Cudi, Kanye West & Common, "Make Her Say"
Kanye West & Young Jeezy, "Amazing"

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

Beyonce & Kanye West, "Ego"

Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo, "Knock You Down"

Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West, "Run This Town"

The Lonely Island & T-Pain, "I'm on a Boat"

T.I. & Justin Timberlake, "Dead and Gone"

Best Rap Song

Kid Cudi, "Day n' Nite"
T.I., "Dead and Gone"
Jay-Z, "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West, "Run This Town"

Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media(songwriter award)

Miley Cyrus, "The Climb" ("Hannah Montana: The Movie")
Paramore, "Decode" ("Twilight")
A.R. Rahman, "Jai Ho" ("Slumdog Millionaire")
Beyonc�, "Once in a Lifetime" ("Cadillac Records")
Bruce Springsteen, "The Wrestler" ("The Wrestler")

English Haikus

2009-11-28T07:45:00.000+08:00

Ian posted his - I wanted to post mine, too... :D

SCHOOLWORK

Students sit on chairs

Trying to compose haikus

Amidst my snoring

SURPRISE!

No physics today

No physics yesterday, too...

Long test tomorrow?!

THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Christmas day is near

With paskorus, kriskringle

But still no prom date

I forgot my last one...

From MJ:

The school bell has rung

The class is about to end

It's time to wake up

Wee. HAIKUMANIA.

My First Blog In Ages...

2009-11-27T14:39:00.000+08:00

So yeah. I'm not that sad for my third year life anymore. Things are starting to look up, after the disaster that is first semester. And here's how my life went through most of the year.

Background: That summer became the most boring summer I've ever had. MTG seems to have lost appeal. Or I guess I left most of the people I hang out with at DEECO when I was invited to attend AU trainings instead. Nevertheless, it was still with great relief to see that five-week torture end, but with that end also came the end of my MTG life,or so if I decided I won't volunteer to teach there in college. Anyways, after that there was this MTP summer camp - better on many counts than the MTG training but still lacking.

And that's how my year began - expectant for a change from the boredom of two months summer has given me. But no, summer was prolonged. Yet, the lack of math in that one-week extension I was grateful for, and with a heavy heart I started the school year.

Well, Rb wasn't that bad, but it wasn't what I was hoping for. Echoes of the bliss and fun the last year has bestowed haunted me. And anyways, first impressions do last. The first day of school came as a humongous shock to me - everyone was reading the STR manuals preparing for a quiz that may or may not come. No one was saying nothing. Soon, Rb became much noisier, but still not that Dahlia noise. I guess the fun Rb likes is not my kind of fun. So for the first few weeks, nights we're still spent with Dahlia, Dahlia, Dahlia. Then came another week of suspension because of that stupid pandemic. But then, given the boredom I have to endure that June, I was thrilled.

When school returned, Dahlia was no more - or rather, it became even more loose. For the most of July, I returned to the dormitories at five and slept for about twelve hours, all the time dreaming about the times earlier in the year, when the average time of return to the dorm was eight, and the average time of sleeping was three, after a nightful of internet and late-night movies. Then I switched from the Justine-Grace-Titus side of Dahlia to the Janella-Albert side of Dahlia. For most of the second quarter, the daily routine then transformed to return to the dorm by eight and sleep by eight thirty.

So I guess my first semester was really sloppy. On the other hand, third quarter was happier. That was when I started to hang out with more and more people, including this group of Rb people. I also started doing more extra-curricular activities, just to brighten up my afternoon. So yeah, I just hope next year wouldn't be as sloppy as this one.

Not-so-boring Long Weekend

2009-11-02T17:37:00.000+08:00

After months of being downcast and bored to the highest degree, having an eventful day seems to be like a dream. This long weekend is such a nice change to all these dullness that crept into my life this school year.

The long weekend started as boring - classes cancelled for Friday and I'm left watching MTV the whole day while waiting for the storm and the possibility of another flash flood. With the lack of stuff to do, I slept quite early - about ten in the evening. I woke up after five hours, because they suddenly cut off the power killing the cold air conditioning. Santi was way weaker than Milenyo - during the latter, you would really panic because this empty water tank actually flew and landed on our roof with a loud thud. And then, for the second time in my life, I found myself at the eye of the storm. The rains and the winds suddenly stopped, like that in Milenyo, for some thirty minutes. But what's different is it arrived in our spot in San Pedro by six - just in time for sunrise. It's really kinda cool - the colors breaking into dawn over the swirling clouds that forms the eyewall. Woo! New life experience!

The lack of power for most of the Saturday would have been boring on any people's part, but I spent most of the morning - that is, the morning after nine when the winds stopped howling - strolling around our village, examining the damage. Just on the other block, there was some floodwaters. And then, to make up for my lack of sleep (I sleep for about twelve hours on weekends but sometimes I go five days without sleep on weekdays - but that was last year), I slept most of the afternoon.

Sunday still left me with nothing to do - we we're supposed to watch Jeniffer's Body that day, but Santi changed the plans. By four, after hours of watching TV and listening to radio, we left for the cemetery. My mom used to live in Concepcion Uno in Marikina, so the graveyard we we're visiting was Paraiso, in Ampid in nearby San Mateo, Rizal. There was no traffic for most of the journey - where are the people who's supposed to swarm in the cemeteries? Then the car came to a halt for nearly one hour because of the heavy knot of vehicles going to Paraiso. We had to walk a few kilometers to reach the cemetery.

So, a month after Ondoy, I was able to examine the place where lots of the deaths occurred. I guess the residents really coped up with the disaster - most everything is back to normal. But as you go more north, more vestiges of the flood remain. In Paraiso, there's about two inches of wet mud left at the entrance. The soil was still wet. The houses outside have mud on their roofs. That's kinda weird since Ondoy left six inches of mud inside our house, but most of that gunk was cleared the day after the storm.

Anyways, that night at the cemetery was really one o the best parts of my life this school year - playing cards to sharing ghost stories with my cousins. We went home on midnight, which was really scary. Going through Marikina - indeed passing by the entrance of Provident Village - by midnight really does make you feel as if your driving through a ghost town. Very few lights we're lit, very few people are outside.

Today, we we're finally able to watch Jennifer's Body - in TriNoma, on the way to the dorm, with 2 of my cousins. In the middle of the movie, just after one of the scarier scenes, this phone rang and the ringtone was Pussy Cat Dolls. :))

Multiply About To Introduce A New Inbox... Again...

2009-10-02T12:44:00.000+08:00

I can't say if I'll like it or hate it but...

Multiply blog says the new features include live updating of the feed - which means the feed updates with every new post/reply, devaluing the refresh button. The right pane gets a live preview of the post. They designed it so that the users will feel no need to leave their inbox. They called it Panorama view and is currently available to premium members, though other users will get the new feature in the days to come.

Multiply's getting a new facelift - introducing major changes since the inception of Multiply 4.0. First, they added posting from Picasa and Live Gallery - very useful feature, btw. Next, they included cross-posting to FB and Twitter - something I really appreciate. Then, they added Multiply chat - OK, I guess but it's kinda cheap. They also tweaked Privacy settings, making Multiply even more powerful. Lastly, they redid the home page - Multiply now features this cool login page, a dark blue (and much less of an eyesore) header bar and a cool new favicon.

I guess Multiply's getting better, but if Multiply starts hosting apps, I'm leaving. Problem is, Multiply's becoming more like Facebook everyday. But then, Facebook owes it's popularity to a revolutionary technology it, say, copied from Multiply - the "news feed."

Some stuff I'd want from multiply - an AIR app.

LiveJournal 404 - Page Not Found's

2009-09-19T18:39:00.000+08:00

1I'm sorry, you've reached a page that I cannot find. I'm really sorry about this. It's kind of embarassing. Here you are, the user, trying to get to a page on LiveJournal and I can't even serve it to you. What does that say about me? I'm just a webserver. My sole purpose in life is to serve you webpages and I can't even do that! I suck. Please don't be mad, I'll try harder. I promise! Who am I kidding? You're probably all like, "Man, LiveJournal's webserver sucks. It can't even get me where I want to go." I'm really sorry. Maybe it's my CPU...no that's ok...how bout my hard drives? Maybe. Where's my admin? I can't run self-diagnostics on myself. It's so boring in this datacenter. It's the same thing everyday. Oh man, I'm so lonely. I'm really sorry about rambling about myself, I'm selfish. I think I'm going to go cut my ethernet cables. I hope you get to the page you're looking for...goodbye cruel world!

2This page is not here
like plum blossoms in the wind
existence is fake

3Narrator: In A.D. 2006, Web was beginning.
Captain: What happen ?
Mechanic: Somebody set up us the journal.
Operator: We get signal.
Captain: What !
Operator: Main browser turn on.
Captain: It's you !!
CATS: How are you users !!
CATS: All your base are belong to Frank.
CATS: You are on the way to 404.
Captain: What you say !!
CATS: You have no chance to reach your page. Make your spelling correct.
CATS: Ha Ha Ha Ha ....

These are the three error 404 pages that occur whenever I try to access fantasied livejournal blogs. I especially like the haiku. :D

Livejournal creativity! :))

Yahoo! What have you done?

2009-08-22T21:13:00.005+08:00

Techcrunch first reported on the biggest Yahoo fail ever on August 21st. Later that day, they announced that Flickr shut down the forum discussing the photo removed. As an added insult to our intelligence, Flickr replies

What ever happened to freedom of speech?

I've always been loyal to Yahoo. My email and IM are all on Yahoo. I use the Yahoo Messenger desktop client and their beta product Zimbra desktop as an Outlook alternative. I stream my music from Yahoo, get my news from Yahoo and have My Yahoo as my homepage. But I also love freedom of expression more - Yahoo is falling into trap with what they did on Flickr. Techcrunch reported another Yahoo fail the day before - advertising both IE and FF on the same page. What's happening?

Photos critical of Bush were never deleted - why that of Obama? If copyright laws were infringed in that picture, why aren't other pictures taken down? Fact is, majority of people hate Bush and love Obama - does this mean that keeping that photo up will generate controversy and put Flickr down?

And, suppose the photo was really infringing copyright laws - what gives you the right to take down the forum, too? Surely that doesn't infringe copyright. The thread, ridiculous or not IN YOUR VIEWS, is still a from of freedom of expression. There was no spam there. Just because you think the thread is ridiculous is not enough reason to deprive them of the ability to discuss it.

Introducing Music for the Month!

2009-08-21T15:39:00.001+08:00

To provide more content from my reviews-riddled blog, I decided to introduce a new feature - Music for the Month - which describes and reviews some of the better mainstream songs I managed to chance upon on the radio, plus some music videos should I chance find time to embed some. I'm making it a point to publish the entries every last weekend of the month. Now, you have something to look forward to. :D

Review: Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic

2009-08-16T11:18:00.005+08:00

It's been a week since I blogged. I was supposed to do some school stuff but the inability for Outlook to open made me abandon such pursuit. I've tried everything - nothing worked. So in the end, I had to reinstall the whole thing - and that's what I'm doing right now.

So - Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic is widely advertised on so many music videos like that of Katy Perry's "Waking Up In Vegas." Hyped publicity have left lots of music lovers drooling saliva over their shirts, clamoring for one. And, I must say, they are not disappointed. I've been using the phone for about a month now, and though power users may not like it, the casual music-loving student will especially fall in love with it. The phone is advertised with the slogan "Play. Touch. Share." and I think it's fitting to make a review around those three concepts.

But before that, you must know how the phone feels like. Out of the box, the phone looks like heaven for music lovers - the black minimalistic design with few clutter. The phone is solid and can be firmly gripped on one hand - a bit bulky but not really adding a bulge on your pocket. The battery cover, decoratively patterned, is quite stable - but may not feel so and creaks quite a lot. One of the few eccentricities of the phone is the SIM slot located at the side - taking out the SIM is quite confusing and Nokia prints the instructions on the back cover.

Play - As can be expected, Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic's features outstanding music and video playback. Music playback with the loudspeaker is crisp and crystal clear, louder than most phones in the same niche, and with very VERY little static. But that's nothing compared to the headset it came with - you wouldn't realize you're listening through earphones unless you actually hold them. That's quite characteristic of Nokia headsets, so it's nothing much; however, compared to the headsets from the likes of Samsung, Nokia plays ahead of it's game. The music player still features that same interface as Nokia's other Xpressmusic and N phones. As Cnet says,

For all its hype, the 5800's music player is comparable with most Nokia N-series models. The interface is simple and it offers album art, but it's not particularly flashy.

But the music player is as customizable as it an get, with stereo widening, bass booster, equalizer options and so much. Support for podcasting and an FM Radio also adds as a plus for the phone - on that note, 5800's FM radio rocks, with good reception and clear playback.

Video and photo playback is equally dazzling. Personally, I didn't feel the need for a separate video centre - the gallery would have been enough - but it's still greatly appreciated. The screen features sharp colors, great quality and depth slightly exceeding most of it's competitors. This, combined with great sound, makes it perfect for video podcasts and watching movies on the go.

A great addition is the media bar, accesed when the media button next to the Xpressmusic branding is pressed. The media bar makes the Shortcut bar on the homepage quite useless - so it's best you switch it to the contacts bar.

Touch - Nokia finally releases it's first post-iPhone touch phone - and with Nokia jumping quite late in the bandwagon, you wouldn't be surprised if that touch feel isn't really that if iPhone's. Nokia's haptic feedback and accelerometer are sensitive enough, but several reviews are hating the resistive touchscreen like those in PDA's. Personally, the resistive touchscreen is a plus - it gives me the feel of pushing buttons and solid ground - but several users will still want the ease of touching in other touchscreen phones.

The UI doesn't fair much better. While the S60 interface is very familiar to the Nokia user - such as myself - the fact that one has to double click in lists is really annoying and collectively time-consuming. Several users have claimed it to be confusing. The UI itself doesn't really make use of the full capabilities of the touchscreen - lacking those favorite iPhone strokes like the finger sweep.

Input methods fare better than the UI. With 4 possible methods for data, the 5800 is quite flexible. The keys are big enough for pressing. Several users hate the inclusion of the stylus, but that's not for phone use - it's simply for handwriting recognition. The plastic plectrum adds style to the phone - mainly reinforcement of it's Xpressmusic branding - and the inclusion is quite appealing.

In the end, the UI is still easy enough to learn. It's not-so-good as other touchscreen UI's out there but as Nokia is still being cautious of these new waters, it is well as an achievement.

Share - While the UI is a bit on the minus for the phone on the love-hate meter, connectivity is very much on a plus side. Incoming calls sound good on the phone and callers claim that I sound good on their end. Network connectivity is blazing fast and with WiFi support, you can't get better than that.

One of the best parts of the dimensions of the touchscreen is that it is perfect for viewing web pages - the iPhone's screen is a bit too wide and most others are too small for good viewing. While the UI may lack those great strokes, the browser employs them in it's workings, providing great browsing experience. The browser doesn't support flash but few phones do, so it isn't really much of a problem.

Another great feature is the Contacts Bar - where you can see recent SMS, 2 web feeds and links to four of your favorite contacts. Sharing online is also integrated with the gallery, and the Nokia Music Store is a great alternative to iTunes'. The camera provides basic photo shooting and slightly better video capture. It's a bit good in daylight but a bit noisy on low light. Many users hate the lack of camera features - they must remember that the phone is a music phone, not a camera phone.

The 5800 Xpressmusic is placed at mid-range costing about 400 dollars (Php 20000), so it's not as expensive as such a high-end phone would be. The phone still packs a lot of punch - with goodies like Nokia Maps and A-GPS Positioning installed that as Techradar notes

It may line up as Nokia's flagship music phone, but it has a set of functionality more akin to the Nseries high-end phone roster.

The phone may not be quite as impressive to the power phone user, but it's a must buy for the everyday music- and technology-lover and a bargain for the normal phone user.

A Salute

2009-08-07T21:31:00.002+08:00

As any respectable Filipino should know, former president Cory Aquino died of cardiorespiratory arrest after complications of her colon cancer at the age of 76 on August 1, 2009, 3:18 a.m., at the Makati Medical Center. No other woman has been as symolic, as influential as our late former president. The week following her death has been one of the most tragic and heartbeaking in Philippine history.

The fifth of August has been accorded the honor of being a special non-working holiday in honor of President Cory's funeral. I woke up on that rainy Wednesday morning with my father watching a live coverage of the requiem mass in her honor. It was then that her death became so real, and for a few hours I was overcome with grief, touched by how much Filipinos love her, where he memory is reserved a special place in each of Filipino people's hearts. On the way to the dormitory that afternoon, we met her convoy, already on their sixth hour on the road, near the junction where the Skyway and the expressway meet. A few dozen people carrying a banner for her ran to meet the convoy, chanting "Cory! Cory!" with the thousands of people lining her way, over the din of the clanging bells symbolizing the arrival of her wake. There amidst the hundreds of "L"s being waved, lies our late former president, adorned with yellow flowers with four guard standing over for her protection. It would take a hundred lifetimes to forget such experience.

President Cory Aquino is remembered not as the most efficient president of the still-young Republic of the Philippines, but as the most honest, the most righteous. She is remembered for her strength and courage, fighting against twenty years of authoritarian rule that has changed the course of Philippine history. But most of all, she is a beacon of democracy and human rights, showing the Filipinos the way, a candle amidst the darkness where suppression of the freedom of speech, though underground, still exists and takes the form of murder of several influential journalists. As our English teacher puts it

Ninoy Aquino once said, "The Filipino is worth dying for." Well, Cory stayed a while longer to prove that the Filipinos are also worth living for.

And so, to our late President, I give a final salute. Her memory will always be remembered in books, in words and in the hearts of everyone in our freedom-loving nation. It was President Cory, the unwilling president, that has carved the biggest chunk in Philippine history. President Cory has become immortalized by the love she has received from her people.

Review: FM Static - Dear Diary

2009-07-24T14:17:00.007+08:00

Title: Dear Diary
Artist: FM Static
Genre: Pop Punk

Rating:

Toronto-based two-piece side project of Thousand Foot Krutch frontman, Trevor McNevan and drummer Steve Augustine released a new album on April 7, 2009 through Tooth and Nail, who also released their first two albums. According to Trevor McNevan

It's a concept record, the entire album will be one story from beginning to end. It's based on a boy (and occasionally a girl) and their diary entries about what's going on in their lives. It deals with faith, doubt, love, death, and the honest questions that surround living and growing up in modern day culture. We're very pumped about this record and are excited to share it with you.

I finally was able to get hold of the tracks - and what I heard impressed me. The sound is similar to their sophomore, but a little bouncier, moving more to the lines of punk and away from their former emo tracks they have so been branded with (at least here in the Philippines). One of the best parts of the album is that instead of being a simple collection of pop punk tracks to listen to, "Dear Diary" is strictly a concept album - the lyrics and the music follows a story, which, compared to other concept albums, is quite easy to follow. Liner notes also contain extended "diary entries" that help fully develop the story.

Dear Diary

The album starts with their fast paced lead single "Boy Moves to a New Town With Optimistic Outlook" and the story continues with those petty high school problems of being left out and meeting a new girl. The bouncy sound becomes progressively slower and more melodic peaking in an unexpected tragedy which is an attempt to escape the risk of being called "cheap." The tragedy shakes the storyteller and the girl she has met, and leads to deep questions about life and God. The album abruptly ends with everything back to what it used to be, as the storyteller is now entering College on "The Shindig."

As a whole, the album is easy to listen to - not like other albums in the same Pop Punk genre, such as Green Day's "21st Century Breakdown." There is a vague trace of irony and defiance characteristic of the punk genre and the sounds have a pop sheen to it for mass appeal. Though the songs are quite fun and the slower ones dazzling, with a little spice of hip hop and even some choruses dancable, they never really caused that emotional effect - the music is just something you would listen to in the background. While the lyrics are unusually meaningful for a pop punk band (though not entirely surprising considering they are a Christian band) the music lacks the force and depth supposedly associated with these lyrics - such depth has been achieved in their former album. The music is too mild, too weak and while most would love the bouncy sounds of the album, I find their lack of power quite boring and uninteresting.

Nevertheless, "Dear Diary" still makes for a great album and will especially appeal to students like me, which can actually relate to the songs, while for those who have already finished high school, nothing's better than a trip down memory lane...

Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-20T14:34:00.010+08:00

Title: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Genre: Fantasy-Adventure

Rating:

I went with my family to watch Harry Potter on iMax at the MOA - I didn't ask for it, it's a family gimmick. The movie disappointed me.

I have nothing against plot changing in movies; however, changes in the plot in this movie ruined the story and deprived it of taste and cleverness that has so enchanted JKR's millions of readers. They took away several critical parts of the plot - such as when Harry found out that it was Snape who eavesdropped on the prophecy - and added some scenes that is confucing and ultimately pointless. Plans and plotting that have made Harry's antagonists so clever and formidable have been omitted. The book is supposedly a story on Voldemort's past. The film, however, focused more on the book's sideplot - the love story of Hermoine and Ron - and, the part of the book that is most awkward and half baked on Rowling's part.

It is this point of the movie that really annoyed me. Not only did the focus on young romance made the movie feel like a soap opera, its portrayal is immature - it gives a wrong impression of teenage puppy love and even this 15-year-old student thinks that the actions done by the lovers are a bit goofy and childish, considering that these people are supposedly one year senior. The love story is already awkward in the book - in the film they made the whole thing much more corny. Sure, there are scenes that are quite charming, but most of the time, these scenes are rather dumb and unintentionally funny.

The film also lacks action characteristic of the other films. In fact, as this review on filmjunk said:

Early on in this movie there is an exciting sense that the dark magic is starting to bleed over into the real world, as illustrated by a Death Eater attack on the Millennium Bridge in London. Somehow after seeing something like this it’s a pretty big disappointment to wind up back at Hogwarts watching Quidditch matches and sitting through potion classes. We already know that Harry is the “chosen one”… does it really matter what he’s learning at school anymore?

They say that they omitted the battle near the end of the movie because a similar scene is to be shown on the last two movies. I can't say if that was good judgment but it made this movie seemingly lacking in the suspense the final chapters of the book holds. Anyways, there are marked differences between the two battles - in HBP, the battle was from the inside, in TDH, the antagonists were fighting from the outside. All-in-all, the lack of action and the lack of a suitable replacement for such action has made the movie quite boring.

The film also failed to capture the misery and hopelessness that JKR bestowed the protagonist upon several events on the plot. Part of the reason is already mentioned - the focus on puppy love. HP6, at least in my view, shows JKR's writing at its best, and coupled with a great plot equal to that of the fifth, makes for the best book in JKR's Harry Potter roster. In the book, the main theme has been of hopelessness, sadness - the book takes you along these lines and after reading, you feel unusually strong pity for the emptiness in the heart of the main character. None of these exist in the film - it is a poor recreation of the best book of the Harry Potter series, though it did show some touching scenes such as when they raised their wands in mourning for the death of their headmaster. The misery in these scenes, however, is quite shallow, compared to the deep sorrow that makes HBP such a good read. It seems as if they crammed the book as they prepare for the final two films in the series.

The characters have at least done a great job in portraying their characters, except for Jim Broadbent's portrayal of Horace Slughorn - I don't care what other critics say - Horace is supposedly a collector of students, loving luxury, a person who loves to stay backstage, loving the feeling of having a degree of control of the famous and influential people in the world of magic. In the film, he is an eccentric dumbhead of a professor - out of place, as if he has some sort of brain damage. The cinematographics and visual effects are still great, more visually appealing than the movie's predecessors, but it's not the movie that will keep you glued to your seats. The musical score successfully adds suspense to the rather tasteless plot.

In the end, the movie doesn't fully explain the events arising from the plot, and it will leave the viewers asking "What the hell happened?" Personally, I have no idea how they will proceed with the final two installments of the series, considering the movie has left so many holes and blurry spots that will supposedly explain the major twists and turn in TDH's storyline. It has always been a standard that in the newest installment to the HP series is "the best one yet" and several have been lulled into this line of thinking. I, however, beg to differ.

GGF Fail - TPB to be Turned into a "Pay" Site

2009-07-18T16:12:00.003+08:00

Swedish company Global Gaming Factory acquired The Pirate Bay recently and has confirmed that it is going legit - it will introduce paid subscriptions. Under the new management, users will have to pay a fee to access the website. And so ends the noble life of one of the most famous P2P file sharing websites on the net.

BitTorrent file sharing websites have been the target of organizations such as the MPAA, who claim that their profits are being compromised by the technology. While the technology itself is legal, the files shared are copyrighted. In several countries, thousands of users who have uploaded files on the internet have been sent to court and made to pay heavy fines. Recent indignation and controversy has been aroused by the case of Jammie Thomas-Rasset, who was to pay 1.92 milion dollars for downloading songs on the Kazaa network.

What really bothers me is the prediction of some internet users that in the near future, all services on the internet will be paid. The Pirate Bay has fallen to the pressures of Hollywood - how many torrent sites will remain free? And, how many free internet services we are enjoying today will remain free tomorrow?

2009-07-18T13:53:00.001+08:00

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2009-07-17T16:37:00.000+08:00

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