The Internet you CAN’T have
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 29th, 2010Skeptical? 112MBPS from Sky Broadband is a connection available for residential areas. The catch? You can’t have it unless you own a unit in Rockwell. Also, it costs roughly PHP 20,000.00 a month to keep this line. Yesterday, the Sky Broadband team didn’t have anything exciting to download as torrents were not permitted. Typical.
So I went ahead and downloaded (and updated) Steam, which took as long as downloading a photo and then proceeded to download Portal which was a 5GB file. Based on the actual speed test that day, I was able to download the entire game in 20 minutes. In perspective, it usually takes me an entire day or two to download a typical 5-8GB game digitally and my connection, which is also a Sky Boradband line never hits 1MBPS.
Another perspective, the 112MBPS may not be true. I’m only getting 8.1MBPS (which is still fast — teehee!)
Here are screen shots I took while having lunch with Freya Santos and Jec Cunanan from the Bayan Telecommunications team:
TIME STAMP: 12:46:27
TIME STAMP: 12:54:41
TIME STAMP: 13:04:46
TIME STAMP: 13:06:01
I think this is bad ass marketing. It’s FAST INTERNET and YOU can’t have it. If you want one you’ll have to buy a loft or live at the Hidalgo Bldg in Rockwell. Oh and if that’s not enough you still have to shell out 20k. Bad. Ass. None of that “hey this is the fastest Internet and it’s only this cheap BLAH BLAH BLAH.”
Fast Internet costs money folks.
Footnote: This actually makes Powerplant Mall the best “tambayan” for free WiFi.
Marck is awesome so I will post his Netbooster / Globe press release information
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 23rd, 2010There are only two kinds of press releases.
There are press releases … and then there are PRESS RELEASES sent by Marck Ronald Rimorin. I like him. I think many people on the Internet do. He has long hair: shinier and more well kept than most females I know. He has a girlfriend. So girls … don’t try anything kinky funny.
Other people ask “hey can you post this on your blog?” and I say OK let’s see! But when Marck asks me to post something, I go “Yes Sir.” I call him sir. It is a sign of respect. Although I am older, in his presence he defies the notion that wisdom comes with age. So it is a good thing for his employers that he works there, because he can definitely make anyone post a press release. And he does so with what the French call savoir faire.
This is Marck. His children will be as countless as the stars. His “Marck” is spelled with a “C” which stands for “See, I’m Marck Ronald Rimorin BIATCH!”
*ehem*
So here it is, the Press Release of Marck Ronald Rimorin: Globe is launching the iPhone 4 and there will be booths around the Metro allowing the general public to tinker with it. You can use the iPhone. You can take photos of the iPhone. You can take photos with the iPhone. You can take photos with Marck too. There will be Foursquare. There will be big money, big prizes.
Schedule:
September 24-26 and October 1-3 at Glorietta 3, Lower Level, leading to Landmark.
September 24, Greenbelt 1 lobby
September 25 and 26 at Greenbelt 3 main lobby
October 1-3 at Greenbelt 3 lobby
The Much Awaited Nokia N8
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 22nd, 2010
I almost forgot I had photos of the new Nokia N8. Nikka from Nokia allowed me to take photos over a lunch meeting last week. This isn’t the final Symbian^3 software build yet but as much as hardware is concerned, this is how it really looks.
It’s slick. It’s light. It feels great to hold. Reminds me of my MacBook Pro actually as this phone boasts some sort of unibody design because you can’t remove the battery — so that’s one thing you should take into consideration when this phone hits the market. There’s a slight bump at the back of the unit where the camera is located. Some may think that this doesn’t help the design at all but I’m loving it as it can double as a space ship toy for when I’m bored.
Here’s a video demo showing off what’s new with Symbian^3. I can’t give a very objective hands on of the software as I have not immersed myself into the experience.
Pricing to follow.
Unboxing the iPod nano (6th Generation 2010)
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 16th, 2010
This is it. This is what everybody’s been raving about. The “flagship” iPod product that caught everybody’s attention and stole the show is the new 6th generation iPod nano. It’s more than an iPod — it’s an accessory. Add a strap and it’s a watch.
(more…)
Unboxing the iPod shuffle (4th Generation 2010 model)
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 16th, 2010You’ve probably heard about the new line of iPods launched just last September 1. Apple Singapore flew in today and gave me a “touch and hold” meet up for the new line of iPods. Let’s start with the new shuffle. After the controversial “look ma, no buttons” 3rd generation shuffle, Apple decided to take what everybody loved about the 2nd generation’s size and the 3rd generation’s voice over feature that allows the player to speak the name of songs, playlists and battery life. It speaks 25 languages but does not support Filipino.
This is me unboxing the pink shuffle.
Pricing is at PHP 2,490.00 for the 2GB model. That’s the baseline price from the Apple Online store and it should be the official SRP. If you can get it cheaper, then you know you really got a deal. It comes in pink, silver, blue, green and orange. The silver version has the buttons in black.
Oh, don’t bother trying to put the whole package contents back inside the teeny little casing. The device comes with the iPod, starter manual (which nobody reads), stock earphones and the USB to 3mm data jack.
My take on Starbucks VIA Instant Coffee
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 15th, 2010
To the left is a shot of freshly ground arabica beans used for espresso or for brewed coffee. To the right is the contents of an opened sachet of Starbucks VIA (yeah it’s a bit blurred — for effect!). The ground arabica comes from beans that have been roasted within 18 days, the average length of time where coffee beans is guaranteed fresh. The VIA sachet contents on my right is ??? days old.
Please come this Thursday
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 13th, 2010
It’s an open invite. Open bar. Good times!
The ‘Anti-Social Media’ Social Media
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 8th, 2010Anyone who browses Reddit has already been exposed to the TechCrunch-Reddit fiasco over “logo day.” You can view Arrington’s statement here and the comments from Reddit here.
One comment really struck me and I’m posting it here (click image to enlarge).
This guy describes a phenomenon that I’ve been mentally wrestling with for the past several months (can you believe it–?!). I could not put the feeling into words, but this guy did. Props!
This is when most of the “visible” Internet is composed of human sounding boards reaffirming to one another that everything’s going to be alright and that the Internet IS this and that. It’s applicable in the Philippines.
While that’s happening, the communities that don’t take BS — the “ant-social media” carries on by becoming the real influencers of memes, trends and viral “marketing.” They just don’t call it that.
If you aren’t browsing Reddit, do yourself a favor and make it your home page (it’s mine). It will teach you things. And then you’ll get it.
Boarding the USS George Washington
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 7th, 2010
It’s not everyday you get an invitation from United States Ambassador Harry Thomas. It was a bit surreal — both being handed an invitation from his office and being invited to board a nuclear powered supercarrier.
The boarding after the jump!
Making the Undertow
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 6th, 2010There’s a secret drink in Starbucks called the Undertow. The Undertow is composed of vanilla syrup with a shot of milk poured first on a double shot glass. A shot of espresso is then poured on top of the milk using the back end of a spoon so that the hot espresso stays on top and does not mix with the milk. It’s called the undertow because when you drink it (and you need to drink it immediately), you will feel the surge of piping hot espresso that almost burns your tongue. But then, the sweet cold milk kicks in almost immediately (hence the name of the drink) neutralizing the hot espresso, the sweetness making it go down smoothly.
Now I’m not sure if you can order this in Manila. But you can definitely make it at home. I use Philippine-grown arabica beans and grind enough for one shot. Afterwards, I prepare a spoon, one shot glass and a double shot glass. The double shot glass will contain a teaspoon of vanilla syrup and milk (I use skim milk) filled halfway. I make one shot of espresso on the second shot glass. Immediately after the entire shot is extracted, I pour it onto the double shot glass. I use the back end of a spoon to “catch” the espresso so that it doesn’t mix with the cold milk. Drink immediately after.
More after the jump.
(more…)
Videocaps from my underwater adventures
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at September 5th, 2010
With good lighting and a steady hand, you can take great “photos” straight from your video camera. These are video caps taken from all my RAW video archive of underwater flora and fauna.
It’s really simple — all you need to do is make sure that you have very still shots of your subject with relatively good light. The STILL part is most important. Motion blur is a frequent culprit in videocaps so make sure your hands don’t shake. It also helps if your subjects don’t move.
It also helps that the camera is 1080p quality.
I’ll be doing this regularly in Facebook and on Flickr. In the meantime, the link is here:
http://bit.ly/underwatershots
Enjoy!
