UNO’s Funky Online Challenge! aka UR FOC!!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 27th, 2009
So here’s a social experiment. We shot it impromptu right after the cooking throwdown in Serendra the other day. So here’s how it works — it’s sorta like a bet with Erwin Romulo. If I can get the UNO Facebook page up to 1,000 friends or more (it’s at about 600–something as of last count) he promises to give away a treat for the readers, involving some of our UNO girls. Even I don’t know what it is, but he swears that it is going to be something really worth the wait, involving the UNO ladies. And it’s happening only on the Internet.
Remember, facebook.com/unomagazine. DO IT!
WWII Wreck Diving and Barracuda Lake in Coron, Palawan
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 25th, 2009
Barracuda Lake and Wreck Diving in Coron, Palawan from jayvee Fernandez on Vimeo.
I summarized one memorable weekend into 3 minutes. It was hard, but I did it! This was my first time to experience wreck diving in Coron, as well as enjoying the reverse thermocline “spa” inside Barracuda Lake. Good friends, great dives, what more could you ask for the long weekend?!
Credits: “Open Happiness” (www.openhappiness.tv) for the audio. The entire video was shot using a Panasonic Lumix LX3 and a Sony Cybershot W230 w/ marine pack for the underwater shots. Editing done in iMovie ’09.
Our dive weekend itinerary consisted of overnight stay on board the Super Ferry (their chocolate cake is really good!) and 6 dives throughout Saturday and Sunday. We boarded the ferry back to Manila Sunday night and docked into a work-filled Monday 
This was my most memorable local trip, and it would have been at par with my Batanes sojourn but it obviously exceeds that due to our “getting wrecked” in Coron. Our itinerary consisted of three dives for Saturday — the Kogyo Maru, Tangat Wreck, and the Olympia Maru (my best wreck dive!), and Sunday had us inside Barracuda Lake (overall the most entertaining dive for the whole trip), the Akitsushima gunboat (with actual guns!) and finally the Taiei Maru oil tanker.
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Nokia Booklet 3G: The “NokiaBook” is coming!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 25th, 2009
Boy I would love to get my hands on one of these. It would seem inevitable that Nokia would venture into netbooks, having built the N770 Internet Tablet years ago. But I guess the reality of building an actual netbook (the “NokiaBook”) would seem to stray from their core competence. However, recent developments in the industry — namely the partnership with Microsoft for a mobile office suite and the relative success with their software services (i.e. OVI) can’t detract Nokia from the fact that they are strengthening their position as a wireless leader.
What I’m most excited about is the sync tool. Since I’m a Nokia user, I’d be more than happy to do wireless syncing without the hassles of plugins.
Can’t wait.
Cory Aquino on Philippine Free Press 100th year Issue
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 24th, 2009
A note from Erwin Romulo on the 100th anniversary of the Philippine Free Press. The reason why you should buy this issue is highlighted on the second paragraph:
The FREE PRESS celebrates its 101st anniversary in this issue. We also take this occasion to pay tribute to the late President Corazon Aquino. Cory!—the private woman who was thrust out of her domesticity to the arena of politics, the prison cells of the Marcos regime, the parliament of the streets, the leadership of the Philippines and the world stage. Manuel L. Quezon III’s “Filipino of the Century” is an inspired retelling of this now-legendary story—one that resonates even amid the flamboyance and machismo prevailing in our culture, as the late FREE PRESS editor Teodoro M. Locsin pointed out in his eloquent editorial on Mrs. Aquino. The highlight of Mrs. Aquino’s international acclaim is, of course, her triumphant 1986 address to the US Congress, which we reprint here.
A tribute to Mrs. Aquino also serves as a tribute to her martyred husband, Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., whose association with the FREE PRESS is underscored by Locsin’s being thrown in jail together with Aquino (and nine other critics of the Marcos regime) in 1972. Teodoro L. Locsin Jr.’s interviews with Aquino are fascinating chamber pieces that hint at Marcos’s impending dictatorship. Another cellmate of Aquino and Locsin Sr. is the brilliant political analyst Napoleon G. Rama, whose article on martial law has unfortunately become more relevant in our time. With the articles by Rama and Locsin Jr., we also reprint the classic political cartoons of former FREE PRESS art director E. Z. Izon.
Recalling childhood in Amici and Fr. Colombo
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 21st, 2009
When I was little, part of my routine with dad would be to accompany him to the office. Going to office with dad was considered the highlight of the week. This was mainly because dad’s office always had the most advanced computers. When he was working in Makati, he had one of the first IBM XT computers that could boot up Load Runner and Dig Dug. When he was with PCSO, we had a machine that could run Civilization, Police Quest III and Flashback without lag.
Ah those were the days. My childhood was definitely highlighted by geeky insertions, but of all the offices that my dad held, one comes to mind — the one in Makati near AIM, for the sole reason that he’d walk me to Don Bosco to meet the friars, not to go to confession, but to indulge in perhaps the best ice cream (later on I found out it was called gelato) I’ve ever had in their little restaurant, Amici.
Amici because a staple meeting place for my dad’s barkada. It served as a waypoint to such an extent that if he was “lost,” he was most probably found in Amici. And there was good reason for this — my dad knew the friars including Fr. Colombo himself, and the staff of cooks and waiters who have been there for ages. They’d always send in extra heaps of pasta for my dad’s friends, and would overflow my little paper cup with gelato — so much ice cream that tested the physics of mass and density if I had only asked. His group composed mostly of high school friends and members of the Defensores Fidei foundation that teaches Catholic apologetics, of maybe some of you are familiar. Nonetheless, Amici was forever forged in my childhood as the most affordable best-kept-secret since the 80′s.
It was only recently — in industry terms that Amici grew in popularity. You see, since it was run by the friars, it was what you could barely call a business. I assume they were at least breaking even, but the store hours were odd as they only opened for lunch, closed for “siesta” and then opened again for about another hour in the afternoon before closing right before dinner.
When I started working, Amici had grown into a full restaurant, serving both Filipino and Italian dishes and thank heavens, had more decent store hours like any regular restaurant. I saw Fr. Colombo less, but one time after accidentally parking the car in a wrong spot, my post-dinner walk back was affronted by a huge pice of paper stuck on my wiper saying “Next time look at the sign or else I’ll punch out your tires!!” Let’s just say that if anyone of you met Fr. Colombo, well … there. You’d know.
————
I rarely go up north, past Makati. So one time, when I had to meet the fine people behind Virtuoso to discuss the blog awards and to pick up the Sony Marine Pack for review, they took me to a relatively new restaurant called Cara Mia. I didn’t know it was part of the Amici group up until I saw the menu offering and the familiar gelateria bar which served, the classic items they had (i.e. Ferrero gelato!) plus cakes, which previously were not available.
I had heard of the Amici franchise being bought and scaled up into a real chain of restaurants. I guess that’s how things really are these days, and the “oldies” like me were of course a bit skeptical on the quality of the “authentic” Italian feel. No longer could Fr. Colombo sprinkle an excess amount of bacon and Italian ham on top of your pizza if he liked you. No more extra scoops. But business is business and what they’ve done to Amici, I must honestly say, is not bad, not bad at all.
Sure the food tastes slightly different. And yes the prices are a bit higher, but there are a few classic elements that were retained (i.e. how soft drinks were sold by the liter to share, big tables since they assume you’re never dining alone, no WiFi to “inspire conversation”). In essence it is still the same restaurant.
“Cara Mia” is apparently the gelateria line, but they serve the same food despite the different name, so I really don’t know what the difference is. Maybe it’s for tax purposes. Heh.
Parting with the old Amici is bittersweet. I mean, the name is still there. The food may taste a little different (it’s still good, by the way), but you can no longer look back into the kitchen window to see a familiar fat friar mixing a big vat of pasta sauce, adding that extra fistful of Italian ham when he knows you’ve arrived.
UNO Throwdown: Atticus King vs Sarah Gaugler
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 21st, 2009
When we were conceptualizing this event, it dawned on us that there were many kitchen geeks who hid behind the closet. Although giving roses that were grown from your own backyard may be pushing it, serving dinner prepared by your very own hands is something every lady can appreciate. So we’ve come up with something fun and different and we hope you can make it. Please RSVP to april at unomagazine.com.ph. Trust me, it will be fun! Our very own Atticus King vs. tattoo artist / UNO lady Sarah Gaugler coached by Chef Laudico (Bistro Filipino) and Chef Raymundo (Five Cows)!!!
On another note, we’ve also uploaded behind the scenes footage from our cover shoot with Ciara Marasigan-Serumgard. You can check it out on our website, but I’ve also embedded it here for convenience:
Lovely.
Nokia E52 Pricing and Difference with the E51
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 21st, 2009Thought I was able to play around with the E52 during Nokia Connection ’09, I wasn’t privy to the actual specs as the Nokia N97, E72 and XpressMusic 5530 proved to be bigger distractions. Now that the dust has settled, let’s compare the E52 with the previous model.
The Nokia E52 retails for PhP17,580 and is available at all Nokia Stores and authorized dealers nationwide. It comes in two colors — Metal Grey Aluminum and Golden Aluminum.
Here’s a blow by blow comparison:
Dimensions
E52: 116 x 49 x 9.9mm
E51: 115 x 47 x 9mm
Standby time
E52: Up to 28 days
E51: Up to 13 days
Talk time
E52: Up to 8 hours
E51: Up to 4.4 hours
Networks
E52: HSDPA/ HSUPA
E51: WCDMA
A-GPS
E52: Yes
E51: No
USB charging
E52: Yes
E51: No
Display
E52: 320×240
E51: 240×320
Camera
E52: 3.2 MP
E51: 2.0 MP
Headset jack
E52: Standard 3.5 mm
E51: Proprietary (needs adaptor)
Wow, great! So you might then be wondering if there’s something that the E51 has that its new and improved brother doesn’t. Well, there is! The new E-series devices have said goodbye to BlackBerry Connect, that wonderful feature from RIM that allows you to send and receive email just like SMS. The E51, though ancient, is one of the last Nokia phones that supports this feature. The move to eradicate the option for BlackBerry connect was a move by Nokia in order to support their own version of the technology (Nokia Messaging).
Preparing the Sony Cybershot DSC W230 for Eagle Point
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 15th, 2009
I’ll be doing 6 dives in Coron, Palawan next week. Sony lent me yet another Marine Pack, this time housing a barrel lens Cybershot W230. Unlike the previous camera, this model does not come with a touch screen, hence the numerous manual buttons and dials on the back.
More product photos after the jump.
It’s Ciara this August
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 13th, 2009
I sent her a Facebook message.
Hey Ciara, I’m flipping through the latest ish, hot off the presses, I said. She replied, and told me she was nervous as she hasn’t seen the article. I said:
The article written by Aldus is as always brilliant. If you’re wondering if it it follows the usual “what turns you on,” ” what do you like in a guy” sort of format that typical men’s magazines go for, then let me put your hesitations to rest.
I went on to tell her that I was about to enter my class in AIM and was going to conveniently display the new issue as part of a case study for UNO’s rebranding to 60 of my students. Had RJ along as well to talk about the rebrand while I discussed the online strategy (it was an Internet Marketing class).
It’s age I guess. Seeing a college friend on the cover of the magazine I write for. Good times. Grab a copy. It’s a great issue.
Oh and don’t mind the slight camera distortion. I was shooting in wide.
Celebrating my right to be left handed!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 13th, 2009Sure I may have had a harder time writing into Corona notebooks in school, struggling with right-handed scissors, and drinking from right handed cups (you know, the ones that have text visible on the inner rim only when you hold the handle from the right), but I’m proud to be part of that 7% of the population who are a bit left of center.
Here are some unique advantages of being a left handed:
We are a standalone conversation piece for breaking the ice
The same scenario recurs on occasions where I have to list down my name for an event or affix my signature on a sheet of paper: “Wow, kaliwete ka pala!” (Wow, I didn’t know you were left handed!) or “I’m also left handed!” That’s it. The ice is broken
We have an easier time using a camera
Despite the shutter button being oriented for right handed people, lefties have it better. Our dominant hand can be used as a very steady tripod allowing us a huge advantage in areas that have low light, in absence of an actual tripod.
We are apparently more artistic to the public, even if we don’t believe it
Call it taboo or a general acceptance by the crowd: left handed people are said to be more artistic. So yeah, whatever, even if we are not, it still makes us look more interesting 
Nobody will touch our office computer if we’re on left-handed mouse orientation
When I was still working full time for a publishing company, the guys who were using left mouse orientation on Windows didn’t have their computers touched. This is the ultimate in user privacy!
And even if we do use the mouse with the right hand, our dominant hand is free to do other things
Like juggle, use the cellphone to send SMS, make coffee, and best of all: WRITE with a pen while the other hand is browsing the ‘net.
This post is in celebration of International Left Hander’s Day! Hey lefties, show the love! What do you love most about being left handed?
The #1 Reason Why I Like Google’s New Search
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 12th, 2009
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would have noticed that Google is road testing a new version of their search engine. Not only is it faster, the results are also different. Should be interesting to see how this unfolds in the next few months.
But going back, the cheap-ass reason why I like this new search is because finally, my complete name pops up first in the suggestions for autocomplete when you type the word “jayvee.” Before, it would always lead to the Jayvee Dance Performance Arts Theater at jayveedance.net (BAH!)
Try out the new search in preview and share your stories.
