How expensive is your hobby?

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 30th, 2006

I swear, being a geek has its downsides. You tend to spend a lot for your hobbies. I recently caught the photography bug after buying the 350D I’ve been wanting since December.

After being able to save for it, I went ahead and bought several accessories such as a Velbon tripod, a Sumdex camera bag, and a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. The last item is a portrait lens known as the “nifty fifty” which allows you to take really great portraits at an affordable price as seen in this really cute portrait of my doggie.

I’ve totalled my expenses for this new cash black hole hobby and the opportunity costs were basically a trip to Australia or a couple of trips to Singapore, Hong Kong, or Malaysia. Gawd. What next? I’ve to stop myself.

The only way I can justify spending more on photography is if I turn it into a profession, thus making the hobby pay for itself. I’ve done this for my iBook, which has been paid off many months ago by writing.

I used to have bug collecting as a hobby. Argh. Talk about spending. What about you? How expensive or cheap are your hobbies?

Divided camps

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 26th, 2006

It was a big toss up between watching Miss Universe or our beloved president’s SONA. But in the end, only one can prevail. Click on this link to see the battle of the week courtesy of GoogleFight!

MaPalad Gaming Meet

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 23rd, 2006

MaPalad held its monthly gaming meet yesterday, sponsored by Astraware. You can view the thread and pictures here.

Thanks, Astraware and BBQ House for the prizes and venue.

Intramuros shot

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 22nd, 2006

Explored Intramuros last night with a friend. It was my first time to actually fool around with a DSLR so I went crazy with the settings. I’m learning, slowly!

I’ve found Darren’s Digital Photography School to be very useful for beginner and pro photographers who use dSLRs and point and shoot cameras.

The Canon EOS 350D that blogging bought

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 22nd, 2006

Several months ago I never thought it would be possible to turn blogging into something lucrative. Well, July 2006 has been very generous to me and so I went to Canon Philippines to buy my first dSLR, the Canon 350D with kit lens.

The money I spent on this body + kit lens (Canon gave me a few freebies like a 256MB CF card and mini tripod) was all earned from blogging with b5media and KMM.

Is a professional camera the most expensive thing blogging can buy? Answer is NO:

The house that blogging bought
The car that blogging bought
The camera, gaming console and monitor that blogging bought

Abe has also bought a Canon 350D, from, well, from his photo gallery! Talk about reinvesting the money you earn!

You can check my photo gallery at http://gallery.abuggedlife.com

Games Master Closing?

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 19th, 2006

The only first widespread gaming magazine in the country is now closing? The rumor has been circulating online forums and gaming communities for a few days and I, as an editor for a competing gaming publication refuse to comment much on this. After all, I know Ed Geronia personally and he’s cool.

Could this be the last issue?

If indeed this were true, I would want to know what Summit would be doing to its captured audience of gamers who have been reading the magazine since the early 2000′s. Sayang.

So why are they closing? I don’t have the necessary information to make an informed decision but if you were to ask me, as one in the publishing as well as gaming industry, it would have something to do with franchising a magazine that features console games.

Here are some points to ponder:

1. Console gaming industry in the Philippines is zilch because of piracy.
2. Games Master is a foregin franchise. You would need to have very good circulation and advertising revenue to maintain the monthly cost of the franchise alone.
3. The gaming market in the Philippines is focused on online stuff because that’s where the money is at.
4. Could they be coming up with another magazine because Summit didn’t renew the contract with Games Master UK?

In any case, I do widh Ed and his cool crew a good one. We’ll know for sure in the next month if this is really true. The world is watching! I’d sure hate to see a Summit publication go out of business. It says … something.

Look at Meez!

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 17th, 2006

This is really cute! Check out Meez to create your own animated avatar.

PEZ Candy is very addicting

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 13th, 2006

I don’t know if you’ve heard of these, but PEZ Candy is the most addictive thing since Keys Me! Have you actually tried these candies?

I got my first taste of these sugar filled fruity pellets when Dan and Easton sent me a Welcome to Know More Media!! package through mail.

The package contained the following:

- Welcome letter from Dan and Easton
- Welcome to KMM from Hal (KMM’s CEO)
- Logitech headset for Skype conferences
- PEZ Candy Dispenser (limited Darth Vader edition!!!)
- PEZ Candy (!!!)

Apparently, one of the company benefits as a KMM blogger is that I have an unlimited supply of PEZ candy. Yahoo! Gee whiz, if only for that …

What’s the symbolism behind the PEZ candy? Well, Hal says that I, as the blogger, am the dispenser and the candy is like my entries …

Err heck, read this instead to figure out why. It’s actually quite interesting how they welcome you at KMM. Love it.

Rico joins problogging community

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 12th, 2006

My good friend Rico has recently made waves by adding himself to the roster of Filipino probloggers. He blogs for Creative Weblogging‘s The Smart PDA, a brand new technology blog on mobile phones, smartphones and PDAs.

Welcome Rico!

mid week update for 2nd blogging meet

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 12th, 2006

All in all, we’re about eleven who are coming along for the blogging meet this Saturday at Italianni’s Greenbelt.

We’re going to be talking about SEO tips, the Filipino blogging culture, Pinoy blogging tsismis, the possibility of the first Blogcon in the Philippines, a webring project for all personal Pinoy blogs – all in the informal spirit of camaraderie, pasta, and beer.

I have a 20% discount card for Italianni’s so we won’t spend a lot. Coffee and dessert afterwards, for those who want to stay.

You can sign up by leaving a comment in this post.

2:00 AM D-Day

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 10th, 2006

In ten minutes, the French go up against the Italians. And I’m too sleepy to watch. I guess the big surprise awaits in the morning when I find out the score. I lack sleep, it’s already unhealthy.

EDIT: Yay Italy! (I would have said the same thing if France won. I like them both.)