General

General

A Visit To The Cemetery

By on Wednesday, November 10, 2010

My grand aunt passed away after a long battle with cancer. She was 80 years old. Although my knowledge of her life is far from comprehensive, from the eulogy of the Mother General, she has no doubt lived it to the fullest serving God. She was a nun for 56 years and, as my uncle said in his eulogy, was impeccably holy. That’s something many of us can only hope for come time to go.

And so just over a week after the day in the year when cemeteries become a crowded mess, I found myself in one. You wouldn’t have believed it had been crowded just a few days previously. It was reasonably clean and there was a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. The way it should be.

The funeral itself was a solemn occasion. Because of the wide dispersion of the family, there was only about a dozen of us representing but her sisters of the cloth were in force. Interestingly, they seemed to be used to these things.  Everything was well planned and went along quite smoothly. It was as if it was just business as usual.  And maybe it is. Maybe to them, passing away from this life is just going into another better life. And I do agree.

RIP Lola Danday. You’re in a better place.

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General

Globe Subscriber Discrimination

By on Friday, November 5, 2010

Yesterday, I got reminded again how much I dislike Globe. I was trying to find a less expensive way of going online and I saw SUPERSURF 50. Unlimited Internet for a whole day for P50. I tried registering for it. Prepaid only. I tried the next one SUPERSURF 220, unlimited Internet for 5 days for P220. No luck, also prepaid only. Do I try SUPERSURF 1200, unlimited Internet for 1 month for P1200? No, I just need one day. Clearly there is an intentional discrimination against postpaid subscribers.

Almost to the day last year, I found out that roaming charges for prepaid is less than that for postpaid. At least that’s how I was charged. There are published rates for prepaid on their website, but there is none for postpaid. The CSR I talked to  said it is dependent on the International partner. Some may have higher charges, and some may be lower. Still, prepaid would still depend on those same partners, don’t they?

It’s funny since Globe keeps insisting that they are leading in postpaid subscribers. Maybe right now it’s unclear who really is leading. But what is clear is that just a few years ago, Globe was definitely leading. Now it’s not so clear anymore. And the way Globe is doing things, it clearly won’t be.

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General

Collision

By on Friday, November 5, 2010

Last night, I was driving home from work when I got into a collision. I was on the access road from the office, on the 3rd lane turning right towards the main street. I was already in the middle of the main street and halfway through my turn when I had to stop because of the congestion. Then out of nowhere, a red Toyota Vios came zooming along the street and clipped my left front corner.

The damage on my car were: damaged left fender, damaged bumper, broken left turn light, and others that I might not have noticed. The damage on the Vios were: damaged right fender, damaged bumper, a stuck right front door, and others that I might not have noticed.

It seemed obvious to me that she was the one moving since her fender was pushed back towards the door causing it to stick. Also my left turn light was pulled outward. I can only hope the investigator will agree with me.

Vioses always scare me. They’re usually driven by newbie female drivers. Double whammy! Next time I see a Vios, I’ll make sure to stay clear.

UPDATE: The investigator didn’t agree with me. Not that he really investigated in the real sense. He just took pictures and took down our narrative of events :(

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General

Joining The Side Of The Light

By on Thursday, November 4, 2010

Now that’s a rather ungainly title. The dark side would be Microsoft. The side of the light would be Apple: somehow it evokes images of a supposedly utopian society, open, clean, orderly, and full of happy, contented people. But under the surface is a dark and sinister truth:  Steve Job’s and his infamous reality distortion field. Those under its spell  goes where he wants them to go and want what he wants them to want.

This is quite ironic since Apple’s famous ad “1984” portrays Apple as the liberator from a controlling entity representing supposedly IBM and, later, Microsoft. The ad is based on the novel of the same name by George Orwell. In the novel, Oceania is totalitarian state whose government  controls the speech, actions, and thoughts of its subjects. The ruler of Oceania is the dictatorial Big Brother. These days, Apple is more and more like the Oceania government and Steve Jobs Big Brother.

Still, it’s undeniable that Apple pulled off a mean feat with the iPhone. Apps is is now an everyday word and the millions and millions of users presents a very compelling argument for developing them. Of course, users buy only apps Apple wants them to buy. What is available on the App Store is tightly controlled by Apple. But hey, just develop what Apple wants you to develop!

Unfortunately, you need a Mac to develop for the iPhone. So today, I pulled the trigger on a 13-inch MacBook Pro. I chose it over the slightly less expensive MacBook because of the faster processor, bigger RAM (4GB!), and, of course, the aluminum unibody (call it higher-end-in-an-egalitarian-society look). Plus I still have the  capability to develop Android apps. I can even play games (that’s the key thing)!

And so begins my journey to the Apple dystopia and hopefully towards becoming an iPhone developer. But first, Starcraft II!

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