Lens Review: Fixed Focus AUTO Tamron 28mm f/2.8
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 31st, 2008
Update: One of my readers, Rick Grogan was able to purchase this lens for $5.00. He says that “it was part of the Adapt-A-Matic range made from 1969 to 1971 and is built to the same grade as nikon/canon/carl zeiss etc”
When you leave a little boy in a room filled with different toys, there will be a tendency for that little boy to play with everything. But at some point that little boy will have a favorite toy as time passes. So thus comes my very first lens review of probably the best lens in my dad’s collection.
I’ve been searching for reviews of an old Tamron 28mm fixed focus lens on the Internet but could barely find anything worth a review. I read from Wikipedia that this lens has been discontinued in 2005 (that’s if I get my nomenclature right) and it is currently being sold in eBay with a Canon body adaptor. Apparently this lens is ADAPTALL compatible, making the Auto Tamron 28mm f/2.8 fit with a Canon EOS body given you have the ADAPTALL tube. The lens is very hard to find though. I currently have a set of two adaptors for Nikon bodies but they are for other lens brands. Read on for my review.
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Original Super Smash Brothers Brawl on modded Wii?
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 29th, 2008
If you own a modded Wii, you will not be able to play the original retail of Super Smash Brothers Brawl (SSBB). Ironic as it is, buying original copies of Mario Galaxy and SSBB and running these on a modded unit will bring a disk read failure. This is Nintendo’s way of combatting disk backups which is the main proponent for piracy, especially here in the Philippines.
If you own a modded Wii and have bought a copy of SSBB from Datablitz or any gaming shop in the Philippines there are several ways around this. You can either remove your modchip or corrupt the firmware. But there is also a best of both worlds compromise that is recommended, allowing you to play burned / backup disks as well as original games. This is how it is done:
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Playboy Philippines: April 2 2008, not what people expect
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 28th, 2008ABS CBN Online interviews Beting Dolor, the EIC of Playboy Philippines:
We have the 20 questions … With this edition I can say, we will have Chiz Escudero. He’s the guy people are interested in. We have three pictorials in every issue.
But we have fiction, which the other men’s magazines don’t have. I have Sarge Lacuesta … There are just two columnists and Krip Yuson is one of them … Sarah Lara I think her name is, also a Palanca awardee. There are feature articles … The hard feature is about a tribe in southern Mindanao
The Philippine Star also sent out a release today on more details about Playboy Philippines. It will still target 30 year old and above males. There will be no nudity. The articles are in good taste. There are at least five Palanca award winners contributing to Playboy Philippines (although the EIC recants and says only four during the interview). The magazine will launch this April 2 2008 at an event in Sofitel.
So where does Playboy Philippines stand? At this theoretical point, Playboy is in competition with three titles in my opinion. These are MMPI’s MANUAL, MANIFESTO and ROGUE (former staff of MANIFESTO) magazines.
Is the Neo Explore X1 Classmate PC “better” than the ASUS eee?
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 25th, 2008
Oh hello, the mail sent over an invite for Intel’s Neo Explore X1 launch this week. The Neo Explore is supposedly the aesthetically backward ASUS eee killer. Engadget reports that the Classmate has now hit shelves for P16,998 and has been rebranded by Neo into the Explore. Intel Philippines is spearheading the event.
The target market of the Neo is .. well … children. This is apparent from the look of the media invite which encourages you to bring your kids to “explore” and “discover.” Why wasn’t this the thrust of the ASUS eee?
The ASUS eee doesn’t seem to target children. It is being pushed towards the on-the-go mobile warrior and early adaptors. I think the perception shift is because it runs on Linux, therefore is “alien” to children who are used to seeing Windows boot up. How different the perception of the market when you aren’t running on Windows? I dunno. I’m obviously guessing these reasons, but you must admit there is some commercial attrition with Linux.
So the truth? Well, let’s wait and see what they have to present during the conference. Should be interesting.
Post Resurface 3/25/2008: Network Blog Woes, Plugs, On Lighting, PR Tips
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 25th, 2008Do you resurface posts that have been caught in the pile by your frequent updating? Well, I found this to be an interesting exercise in looking at how my thought train has evolved through the months and years, as well as running the risk of hanging old (dirty) laundry. Still, here are some of the old posts I’ve come across and thought to myself, hey these might still be valid today!
Should Restaurants Charge for Using Power Outlets? // June 2 2007
Back in Paranaque, the local Mocha Blends branch at President’s Avenue is packed with people till about 2 or 3AM. That’s on a weekday. The staff allows people to plug in their computers and even has a stash of extension cords available upon request. The end result is that the place has become a haven for WiFi warriors, law students (the staff has an easel and pen which they provide these types of customers for study groups) and the late night crowd that are allowed to stay on outside even when the restaurant is closed. Isn’t that great? With these small gestures from the staff, they have managed to build a community of regular patrons! [Read]
If a Network Problogger Left the Blogosphere, Would Anyone Care?// June 24 2007
So when a problogger leaves the networked owned blog, the blog manager of the network has to find a new writer through word of blog, personal recommendations, advertising, and email blasts. A new blogger eventually comes who is fit to take over the content. Now here’s the thing. There are several things happening between the time the original blogger leaves and the time the new blogger makes his first few posts: [Read]
PR Tips for Philippine Agencies // September 26 2006
In truth, I’ve attended about a hundred PR events, big and small since the year 2003. Here are some tips I offer PR agencies when organizing events for the press, especially for the tightly knit technology industry: [Read]
On Uncategorized Posts // September 3 2006
Do you ever forget to classify your post categories? Yankeemom seems to be the number one in rank in Technorati’s Uncategorized category.[Read]
How To Get a Press Release Published // September 14 2007
Are you a PR or marketing practitioner? Here are some effective ways to get your press released published. You have to bear in mind that dozens of press releases make it to the inbox of newspaper and magazine editors every day. How does the editor pick the really good ones to publish? How do you make your piece of paper stand out from the rest of the stack? Here is a compiled list from Ms. Penny with some of my notes: [Read]
Photo Project: Lighting // November 18 2006
We did something different here. Elber brought along his home made diffuser, very similar to the DIY FinnBounce and Smelfen for the 350D. But instead of bouncing light, it stopped it. But since the internal flash still fires, it triggers the Nikon slave (apologies, I forgot the model) allowing us to flash from anywhere. His home-made device is made of film strip bunched together and taped with masking tape which is inserted above the lens. I then uploaded the image to iPhoto and with a click of a button, converted to B&W. [Read]
Dinosaur Comics: Being and Metaphysics
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 23rd, 2008
Bored as I was three years ago, I had been a contributor to Dinosaur Comics, an excellent web comic with a huge twist. Unlike other comics, Dinosaur Comics uses a static series of panel art throughout its three and so years of existence. I remember how one person compared DC to the formula behind poetry where given a set of rules (i.e. iambic pentameter) is used as a premise to create wonderful literature and it is by trying to push those rules to the limit where one becomes master.
The two comics above are the ones I submitted to his site. You can view bigger versions of the first and second one. It is my short lesson on Metaphysics and the Types of Being.
Tagged: Top 10 Movies of All Time
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 23rd, 2008
Oh wow, I haven’t been tagged for something in ages. In the spirit of the Holy Week movie marathons here in the Philippines, my TOP 10 Movies of All Time in no particular order:
1. Misery (starring Cathy Bates)
2. Oscar (with Sylvester Stallone — he was fricken’ awesome)
3. Dead Alive / Braindead (directed by Peter Jackson)
4. Mr. Holland’s Opus
5. The Road Home (starring Zhang Ziyi)
6. Starship Troopers
7. Meet Joe Black
8. Shaun of the Dead
9. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
10. Army of Darkness
Toshiba Portege R400: Are Tablet PC’s still attractive?
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 20th, 2008
I never really understood the desire behind buying a tablet PC. The niche for these types of laptops is very small – thanks to the whopping price tag. The words “tablet PC” and “cheap” definitely don’t go together. It is usually marketed to doctors and CEO’s for more “effective note taking” but between P160,000 and a P20.00 spiral notebook from National Bookstore, it seems pretty obvious how many vacation trips I can save up for with buying a regular notebook. I was lent an R400 unit for an article (see next month’s issue of MANUAL Magazine for the review) and I can see why it’s attractive to a certain demographic.
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Some… wait. MORE realizations about Audiobooks, DRM and Neil Gaiman
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 19th, 2008
There’s something bugging me. When I started subscribing to Audible three months ago, I noticed that my search field for books greatly diminishes when I’m logged in. For instance, when I do a search for Neil Gaiman on Audible without signing in, I get a good size of his past works including Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, “M” is for Magic, and Fragile Things. Oh Fragile Things – this is what started it all. I logged into my account thinking I could buy the audio which was one of his great compilations of short stories (sort of like Smoke and Mirrors) and … and … the book just disappears! Is Fragile Things channeling David Blaine?! It sucks even more that this book is read by Neil Gaiman himself and I can’t download it!
I emailed Audible.com and this is the answer I got:
Broadway-oke Night: Release your inner Jean Valjean :)
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 16th, 2008
So Rockeoke and Popeoke Nights featured a live band. With Broadway-oke, there will be a live pianist on stage! Gabe says the pianist can sight read so you can even bring your own sound of sheet music.
When: March 18, 2008 at 10:00pm
Where: mag:net Bonifacio High Street
Bring your friends! Entrance is free after 10 PM (SPIT is performing before this so if you want a full night, do come at 8:30 PM. Tickets for SPIT are at P200.00 but Broadway-oke is free). For more details, check out Broadway-oke’s Facebook event page.
Updated: OLPC to pilot in Don Bosco Technical School?
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 16th, 2008
UPDATE: It seems that the OLPC deal is still nearing agreement with Don Bosco. I just find it odd that an announcement was made to all the members of the OLPC Facebook page.
Charles Chen made an announcement over the OLPC Facebook page that they have become successful in partnering with PBSP (Philippine Business for Social Progress) to launch a pilot OLPC XO program in Manila. The pilot program will involve OLPC XO, PBSP and Don Bosco Technical College in the primary school level.
This is a breakthrough for OLPC to finally pilot something big and make their debut in the Philippines. More programs will definitely be rolled out in the future with this pilot serving as the test bed for the little laptop that could.
The OLPC XO is actually here in the Philippines, but not available for retail. Check out the eServices conference photos at SMX. It should be interesting to see the dynamic that happens with the OLPC here in the Philippines. A lot of criticism has been made about the ultra cheap laptop being undercut by other manufacturers (like the already famous ASUS eee). The OLPC, at least in my opinion, shouldn’t be looked at from a hardware perspective, but from the view of the entire program that includes the education tools such as the open source curriculum and teacher training.
Argh, not only does Don Bosco get free OLPC’s, but they get the really good Amici gelato and pizza as well. Lucky bastards 
Congratulations to Sandeep and Charles!
