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It looks like Nokia’s at it again. They’re giving away 60 hours of free Airborne Access Wi-Fi usage time for every purchase of a new phone before August 31, 2008. However, do take not that this does not apply to all units. This is a limited offer only that’s applicable to the following Wi-fi capable handset models: E51, E61i, E65, E90, N78, N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95 and N95 8GB. Among these units, I recommend the E51 being the best value for your money with a price that’s roughly around P12,000.00 only. Nokia had already previously offered a similar promo last year with their N-series phones. It probably made a lot of consumers happy as they’ve decided to bring it back once again. Just remember to purchase your new Nokia phone from authorized dealers so that you can avail of this latest offering as well have peace of mind that you're getting the genuine article.

It looks like the local landline phone wars is headed towards the next phase as both PLDT and Bayan (formerly known as Bayantel) are now offering wireless landline services. While both did not disclose much about the technology behind their respective new services, we know enough that at least the Bayan Span wireless landline allows you to send SMS to other Bayan Span users and connect to the internet via dial up albeit its inferior connection speed to the almost mainstream DSL. PLDT's wireless service, Landline Plus,  just limits you to regular phone calls and text capability. Though both services allow you wireless freedom to use your landline phone, the Bayan Span without a doubt offers you more services aside from the usual phone calls. So, is Bayan Span service a great deal? Well, not quite that great at the moment. Call quality is erratic and regular landline calls is still far much better, but I am optimistic that this will improve as the months go by and the technology develops. PLDT, on the other hand, being a late bloomer in the wireless landline department, might want offer more options rather than just regular phone calls if they want to out match Bayan considering that they do have an array of wireless service at their disposal. Keep an eye on both companies as I'm pretty sure this is just the beginning of a heated wireless showdown between the two.

from sysadminday.com:

Show your appreciation Friday, July 28th, 2006, is the 7th annual System Administrator Appreciation Day. On this special international day, give your System Administrator something that shows that you truly appreciate their hard work and dedication. Let's face it, System Administrators get no respect 364 days a year. This is the day that all fellow System Administrators across the globe, will be showered with expensive sports cars and large piles of cash in appreciation of their diligent work. But seriously, we are asking for a nice token gift and some public acknowledgement. It's the least you could do. Consider all the daunting tasks and long hours (weekends too.) Let's be honest, sometimes we don't know our System Administrators as well as they know us. Remember this is one day to recognize your System Administrator for their workplace contributions and to promote professional excellence. Thank them for all the things they do for you and your business.

So, what will you do for your Systems Administrator tomorrow? Disclaimer: the writer of this post is also a Systems Administrator and is looking for some appreciation at his place of work...

I'd like to call myself a "road warrior" -- as I often bring along my InCase Slingpack with me where my iBook and my other tech toys are stored. Within that slingpack is a smaller bag which I fondly call my "kikoy kit". The so-called Metrosexuals call theirs their "grooming kit" and it usually contains... *uhm* grooming paraphernalia and the girlie version of this is locally known as the "kikay kit". My kit, instead of holding grooming paraphernalia, has a lot of geeky stuff. Here's a list of what it has inside: 8-in-1 card reader flashdrive bluetooth dongle mini Swiss Army Knife Treo Hotsync cable Treo 650 charger Treo 650 wired headset Treo Bluetooth headset iPod Firewire cable spare stereo headphones USB extension cable All these makes it easy for me to use my other tech toys since it gives me a place to put them all together -- making it easy for me to get any of them should the need arise. What do *YOU* have on your "kikoy kit"? Shameless Self Promotion: This post was originally *ehem* posted at my personal blog at Talkin' Tech.

One of the latest phenomenon that swept the 'net in the past few months is a website called digg.com. From its own f.a.q., digg is:

"... a technology news website that combines social bookmarking, blogging, RSS, and non-hierarchical editorial control. With digg, users submit stories for review, but rather than allow an editor to decide which stories go on the homepage, the users do."

I actually enjoy reading posts at digg.com since it gives me a heads up on things that I may have missed out on if I was simply surfing "solo". After a couple of months in existense, digg.com attracted millions of dollars in venture capital from some big names in the industry, allowing it to upgrade its servers and. A few weeks after this an enterprising Pinoy started a copycat similar site called oks.ph. According to the oks.ph website:

oks.ph is a people-powered news and links site for everything that you find interesting online.

" As of this writing, oks.ph does not have the traffic nor the clout to match the current status of digg.com but depending on how the filipino internet habitues respond to it, who knows?

Disclaimer: If you would look at the title, it specifically states Clueless' which means that this article is geared for those who are not that knowledgeable, and is not an article written by the "clueless". --- 'Tis the season again. Companies will be handing out (or doling out?) the Christmas Bonuses to their hardworking drones and one of the most asked questions I get during this season are the following: * Is it okay to get a 2nd hand cellphone? It really looks good! * Is the laptop that is posted at bidshot a good buy? * A friend is selling his PDA, should I get it? * A desktop PC is being sold by an officemate for only [insert amount here], is the price reasonable? There is no definite answer to such queries so I decided to write down stock/generic answer here. There are a couple of things to think about before getting a Pre-Owned (actually a euphemism for 2nd Hand) gadget: 1. Look at the general appearance of the merchandise. It should look good, especially if you think that the price the seller is asking for is a bit high. 2. Looks can be deceiving. Test out the merchandise in question. Make sure that it still does what it was designed to do. If possible, "burn it in" and no, it doesn't mean that you need to put it in an oven for testing. It simply means that you should test it for a long period of time (not just for a few minutes). It should still work even if it is left running for a few hours. 3. Check for completeness. Most, if not all, bundled accessories and peripherals should be included with the merchandise. Stolen gadgets are often sold as "unit only" and buying them will make you liable under the Anti-fencing law. 4. Buy from reputable sellers and if possible, someone you personally know. Should anything goes very wrong with your purchase, you should be able to easily get in touch the seller. 5. And lastly, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Make sure that you know what you are getting into when buying pre-owned gadgets. Make sure that you really need it and there is a need for it. Look at the price. If the price of the pre-owned item is not too far off the price of a brand new one, save up and get the brand new stuff! These are just a few tips. I will follow this entry up with particular things to look for when buying specific gadgets. Till then, happy shopping and don't spend that bonus in one big splurge! --- Disclaimer Part Deux: This has been originally posted on my personal tech blog.

The "tingi" system of retail is, I think, a uniquely Filipino way of selling things. I'm not sure of this but I think its only here that a person can buy cigarettes by the stick, shampoo on a sachet, or even medicines per tablet/capsule. I remember when we had a sari-sari store back in the old days (I won't mention the decade to protect my real age), we sold cheese and "dari-creme" per slice (carefully wrapped in wax paper) and cooking oil through measuring cups. This system of retail may not be cost effective since consumers pay more for those "tingi" items than when they buy in whole packages or in bulk. Anyway, this way of selling and buying has already encroached on the local technology and like it or not, it has vastly affected the way technology is used by the common "tao". There was a time when internet connection was only available to people who are willing to pay a fixed monthly fee for a set amount of online time. Cellphone and land line telephone subscriptions were also for those who are capable and willing to pay fixed monthly subscription fees. It was during those times when only a few people had access to telephony (both fixed landlines and cellphones) and even fewer have access to the internet. Both services were seen as something only the elite can have. Now, telcos are adopting the "Tingi" marketing strategy. The telcos started making prepaid SIMs for cellphones, allowing people to only pay for the amount of time they actually use their cellphones for conversations and SMS. The same thing happened to land lines. This, of course, spawned a few problems. As it becomes easier to get SIM cards for cellphones, cellphone thefts have dramatically increased with the introduction of the prepaid schemes. The market for stolen cellphones has skyrocketed since its easy to acquire a line for a stolen unit (just go to the nearest phone retailer and buy a prepaid SIM kit). Scams involving SMS has also increased since its easy and cheap to swap out phone numbers. Despite of all these negative effect, the prepaid scheme for cellphones and fixed line telephone has one very positive effect on the country, communication has become very easy and accessible. The availability of prepaid internet cards has also created some boom in the ISP industry, though not in the scale achieved by prepaid cellphone cards. Because of the availability of these prepaid internet cards, more people are able to go online without having to worry about monthly internet bills. With the recent introduction of wi-fi hotspots locally a lot of people go online using prepaid wi-fi access. Again, using these prepaid wi-fi almost always ends up being more expensive compared to a monthly billing scheme but since wi-fi is not available everywhere, it makes sense to just pay for the amount of time you need to go online instead of paying for an unlimited monthly service you only use for a couple of hours per week. Again, despite its inherent and obvious disadvantage, the "tingi" marketing in tech today may not provide long-term cost effectiveness but it has become a way of bringing technology closer to the common "tao". ======= M|Ph July/August Issue SonyEricsson K750i Article Addendum In my review of the SonyEricsson K750i, I mentioned that one of the downsides of the unit is its 8-second limit in saving video files. It turned out that this limit can be changed from within one of the options in its menu. I was not able to fully explore this phone's capabilities when it was issued to me because of the real heavy workload (on my day job) I had at that time. To SonyEricsson, I sincerely apologize for this oversight.

I was wondering how much I was spending on my power bill by running a desktop PC on 24/7. So I used Meralco's Appliance Calculator (MAC) and figured that I was spending about 900 pesos a month(!) for one desktop PC alone. There are two things going against desktop PCs. First, they are space-hungry monsters, many with tower cases that demand their own share of your room real estate. And second, they wolf down energy like mad. But the desktop world is learning a thing or two from the mobile universe. Consider: o The growing niche for mini PC platforms that are about the size of a book o The trend towards desktop PCs that run on Pentium M processors o The move to make mobile hard drives standard equipment for desktops as well Mobile parts and peripherals are designed for both space and energy economy. You don't need a SuperTyphoon 2000 turbofan™ to cool a mobile processor. Parts that are designed for mobility demand less in terms of power and cooling technologies, as opposed to the latest desktops which seem to only get bigger and hotter and hungrier all the time. More important, the processing power of mobility technologies have become good enough to challenge any welterweight desktop PC anytime. And since most desktop habitues don't really need all that much firepower, desktop PCs based on mobile components are now becoming a viable, if not a more practical, option (Plus, couple that with an LCD screen and you have yourself a really power saving, space saving setup). (Either that, or you can just get yourself a desknote PC, which may be the best of both worlds for the desk-bound set.) If I ran my laptop 24/7, the MAC calculates my power bill to be just about a third of my desktop PC's. Hmmm...

I was at the Microwarehouse sale early morning last Friday, where I fought tooth and nail for a Palm wireless keyboard (sale price: PhP 1,000). And then I noticed something. The vast majority of the people at the sale were women. Oh sure there were quite a few men, but... emphasis on few. The gender ratio was genuinely skewed here! For the longest time, we have always assumed that electronic gadgets are men's territory, and that, when we talk gizmos, only males will be interested. That's partially true, but only to the point that men tend to gush about tech specs and tech trivia. But when it comes to actually buying these darn tech toys, women are a huge market. Perhaps (gosh) even potentially bigger than the male market! And they do buy pretty sophisticated stuff. They buy Sony Ericsson P910's, O2 XDA II's, smart phones, high-end cell phones, iPod minis and top of the line PDAs. While older women seem to be perfectly happy with mobile devices that are easy to use, easy to read, and basically look decent enough to carry around, it's the younger women with high disposable incomes that is a burgeoning market. And they're eager for top of the line mobile tech. If you're female and you're reading this, this is old news to you. But it's a bit of a revelation for guys like us who grew up with the stereotype that girls hate gadgets.

Paris Hilton's T-Mobile Sidekick phone has been hacked, and now the web is flooded with the actual phone numbers of a stunning array of Hollywood celebrities as taken from her address book. So how in the world can anybody hack into somebody's phone? Well, apparently, T-Mobile's security implementation for the Sidekick is similar to that of Yahoo's: In case you forget your password, it simply asks a simple question such as "What's the name of your pet?" and, if you answer right, it then assumes that you are indeed Paris Hilton. The thing is, Paris is so proud of her pet chihuahua that everyone and his Google knows that its name is Tinkerbell. So now, not only do the masses know the private phone numbers of celebrities such as Christina Aguilera, Ashlee Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Eminem, Lindsay Lohan and Anna Kournikova, but they even have access to her very personal pictures and emails. Decent or otherwise. Tsk tsk. This raises an interesting issue: all the high tech security systems in the world will be utterly, utterly useless if, in the end, they will still resort to asking a question as lame as "What's your favorite color?" in order to verify somebody's identity. Take it from me: Your web email accounts are not safe from your friends, your acquaintances and especially your enemies. All it takes is for them to know your middle name, your birthday, your favorite fruit, or your pet's name... and they can now have full access to your accounts. So never, ever plug the obvious answers into these "in case you lose your password" data fields when you're setting up your mail accounts. Time to bring out that thesaurus...