rhk111’s Blogspot
My views & reviews on anything & everything

I used to read a lot of books until a couple of years ago, when we started getting cable television, with their excellent documentary channels. After that, I sort of tapered off on reading, since most of the documentaries covered the topics I was interested in reading about anyway. However, it wasn’t just those docu channels that caused my reading to taper off. Another reason for that was because I also was a bit concerned about the problem of storage of the books.

Over the decades, I’ve accummulated about three bookcases worth of books. And those were just the ones I decided to keep. Most of the books that I didn’t like very much, I already gave away. Those I kept were the ones I really liked, and thought might read again, or use for future reference.

That storage problem gave me the idea of a device that would be like a book, but would store content in digital format, thereby solving the problem. I was even thinking of designing some sort of an e-book reader a couple of years ago, but that didn’t pan out. So I took a lot of interest when companies like Amazon and Apple finally started coming out with e-book devices of their own.

‘Buying Online at Amazon’
I was considering waiting for and buying Apple’s iPad, but ulitimately decided that the Kindle 2 was the better option at the moment, because of the fact that its now available while Apple is still a couple of months out, and also because of its e-ink technology.

The problem was where to buy it, as it was not available locally. I considered buying one from ebay, but decided to try out Amazon, even if I hadn’t bought any electronic gadgets from them before. But I had bought a total of about a dozen DVDs from them over the years, and the packages always arrived, and they always arrived on time.
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Washington Sycip wrote an article about overpopulation a long time ago, at least a decade ago, and it was the article that set me off to the path of enlightenment regarding the ills of our country.

I don’t know if I can still get a copy of that article, but its one that stuck to my mind. The specific figures he used then are hazy to me now, but the general idea I could never forget. In that article, he discussed overpopulation, and used Thailand and the Philippines as an example.

As per Mr. Sycip, the story of both countries goes something like this: In 1970, both countries had around the same number of people. The figures I got from the internet said that the Philippines then had 36.5 million people, while Thailand had 36.25 million. Very close figures, with a gap of only about 250k people.

Three decades later, though, by the year 2000, that figure has drastically changed. The Philippines had grown to 75.7 million people. Thailand had also grown, but at a much more modest rate, growing to only 61.4 million people. The population gap between the two countries had ballooned to 14.3 million.

Only 8 years later, that gap had grown even more. The Philippine population then stood at 96 million. Thailand? 65.4 million. The gap is now at 30.6 million, about twice it was less than a decade earlier.
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‘Application Development’
What is driving application development for iPhone right now, are two things: Capitalism, and Simplicity.

Capitalism, because since it is so easy to buy iPhone apps, more of such apps are being bought. This means more money for developers, who are driven to make more applications. And not just any application: Applications that the people WANT, and applications that will SELL. This is why there are more than five times more iPhone/Cydia apps out there (100k+ as opposed to only about 18k apps for Android) than Android apps. And not only that: Apps for the iPhone are generally better than that of apps for Android.

Simplicity, because from a modder’s point of view, it is easier to make non-stock firmwares and themes, because you only have to think about three main models to work with, as opposed to the almost two dozen for Android.

In an effort to make better softwares for Android, Google has been hosting competitions for the best applications out there for the last two to three years. And some of these applications have been quite good ….. in theory. The problem, is that these applications turn out to be good, in theory, but not so much in terms of practicality. This is because application development is not driven by the consumers, but the nerds who make these applications.

Take one of the winners of Android’s competition, for example, named “Locale”. In theory, this application allows ringtones, mobile networks, etc. to be turned on or off based on your location. Sounds neat, which is why it won. But in reality, it is a battery hog, as the GPS needs to be constantly on. Plus you need a view of the sky to make it work and determine your position accurately.
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Manny Villar scares the heck out of me.

And this is for reasons I will enumerate later. First, the good news.

‘Humble Beginnings’
Manny Villar is almost your typical Cinderella success story. Born in Tondo, a notorious place in Manila known for its slums, his father was an ordinary government employee, while his mother was a Seafood Dealer. As a child, Manny often accompanied his mother to sell fish and shrimp in the market to help pay for his education.

Thru hard work and his inate, God-given intelligenc, he worked his way thru college, eventually getting a Business Administration degree at the presitigious University of the Philippines, a school known for providing excellent education to less privilleged, but deserving students. It was also from the same institution where he earned a Master’s degree in Business.

He went into various jobs and businesses after college. Some details about how he first got his big break are a bit sketchy, since none of his online bios mentions it (or perhaps none dares to mention it), but what we do know, is that in 1975, he got married to Cynthia, who belongs to a relatively wealthy family.
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‘Paid Applications’
Not all applications are free for both the iPhone and Android. Some are paid, and this is where the iPhone beats Android by a large margin.

In order to get a paid app, on Android, you need to go the individual sites, pay them thru Paypal, download the software, and then install it on your phone.

On the iPhone, if you like a paid app, iTunes allows you to buy that app directly right there and then. It even securely stores your credit card data, so you can make quicker transactions for your next purchases. After buying the app, you download it, and then can install it later to your phone. Much less steps to take. In fact, it is so easy you can make a lot of transactions if you don’t control yourself.

With Cydia, I had not bought an app there, since all of their free apps were enough, at least for me at that time.

‘Software Modding’
Again, another big plus for the iPhone, and Cydia. There are only currently three main types of iPhones as of now: The iPhone Classic, the iPhone 3G, and the iPhone 3GS. This makes it much simpler for modders to go out and make non-stock software to modify the phones, whether it is terms of user interface (like Cydia), or in terms of themes. You just have to know on which of the three iPhone models the themes work.
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I’ve been using Android on my HTC Hero for a couple of months now, and being a former working iPhone 3G owner, I can make some comparisons between the two, especially from the user point of view. So let me share my observations on these softwares, before my knowledge about the iPhone gets outdated too much.

For the iPhone, though, I will be making a distinction between the stock iPhone firmware, and that of a jailbroken iPhone, since they have some differences between them. For the jailbroken iPhone, I will be making references to “Cydia”, which seems to the most common and successful iPhone jailbreak software.

‘Downloading Applications’
In order to download software into the unit, Android has an application called “Market” that allows you to download directly to your unit. This has some advantages, and disadvantages. Using the Market to browse thru applications is no problem using Wifi, but will incur you 2G/3G charges if you use mobile networks. Besides, you only get limited information from the Market, and no screenshots of the application.

The iPhone has a similar application on the phone, which is of course “iTunes”. But in my case, I found myself rarely using iTunes directly from the phone, because I preferred the PC/laptop software instead. Now, a lot has been said about iTunes being dictatorial, etc., and they are right. However, it also has some benefits, in that you are able to view more information about the available applications out there. With iTunes on your PC/laptop, you see screenshots, more detailed information, the top free applications, top paid applications, reviews, etc.

Android, on the other hand, has no comparable software, which I feel is a disadvantage. There IS an official Google Android Market online (http://www.android.com/market/paid.html), but I find it relatively bare, and you can’t download the apps from there into your computer. You look it up on the Google Android Market page, then if you like an app, look it up again using your phone, and download it from there.
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I’ve been using the unit for about a week or so in total now, and I have some mixed feelings about it.

‘The Good News’
First, the good news. The screen is fantastic, just big enough for eye-stress free viewing for long hours. Its not widescreen, as with most netbooks nowadays, but good enough for my purposes, it is exactly as I wanted.

It is noticeably heavier than my Asus 1000H, as it is claimed to be 1.9 kgs with a six-cell battery.

Battery life is pretty good, at least two hours with Wifi on and with the battery-saving mode on. and three hours without the Wifi on. The battery-saving mode does keep the screen quite dim, though.

The Magnesium-Aluminum alloy body is very nice to the touch, it just has the right texture to make it so nice to feel with your hands.
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Got to fire my SIG-P250 again recently, and just sharing some of the observations I found while shooting it. 

‘Slide Locking Problem’
My first two shots went fine, but then after that, each and every shot started locking the slide back, so I had to release it using the slide release lever.  After about five shots of this happening, I switched magazines, thinking it was something wrong with the magazine.  But the same thing happened again with the other magazine, confirming that it was likely due to the gun itself.

Take note that this did not happen during my first shooting session a couple of months ago.  About the only difference in between shooting sessions, was the fact that I tried to clean the gun thoroughly after the first session.  I was then starting to suspect it was something to do with when I disassembled the gun. 

I showed it to the Range Officer, and his first comment was the gun looked “dry”, so he put some oil along the slide rails.  The first two shots went fine, but the problem re-occured on the next shots. 

It was then that we showed it to the Range’s Resident Gunsmith.  After disassembling it, and twiddling with it for a couple of minutes, he commented that the slide lever assembly looked too loose, and that there likely was a spring around it to keep it from moving freely around.
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For more than a year now, I have been using my netbooks as my main computer. I tend to spend a lot of time with my computer, usually around 2-3 hours a day on weekdays, and about 4-5 hours on weekends sometimes.

I’m already using a 10.1-inch screen on my Asus 1000HE, but I noticed that on weekends, when I spend a lot of time looking at the screen, I sometimes end up with a slight headache at the end of the day.

I wear glasses, so my eyes are not really as strong as those who have normal eyesight.

I have set my screen resolution to 800 x 600 pixels, and it helps ease the strain on the eyes during long viewing, but the screen now looks funny, like stretched out horizontally.

I put up with it, as it helps keep me use my netbook without any strain on my eyes for a couple of hours.
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There are some Taxi Drivers who are fuc_ing moro_s. Some, not all, but some. Some of them do offer an alternate, ‘masa’ view on politics, those that are more “politically” inclined.

One time, for example, some old Taxi Driver started ranting about the government, etc., and I have to admit, he did have some sensible views about some of the Presidential candidates particularly about Gilbert Teodoro.

‘Not a National Figure’
His first observation was quite valid: What the fuc_ is a person like Gilbert Teodoro, who has never ever won a national election before, going out and running for President?

It makes sense. Teodoro is not a celebrity. He is not a nationally famous person. And it is true, that he has never won a national election before. Now, if Senators, who have won national elections before, are hesitant to run for Presidency, then how much more an unknown like Teodoro?

I’ll take it one step further: What elective position has Teodoro won before? If he hasn’t even won an elective position, then why is he running for the highest office in the land?
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