imaginate

Nokia = Hate

2008-05-19T18:56:00.003+08:00

For the past 8 years, the mobile phone manufacturer that I have only trusted for my cellphone needs is Nokia. But, recently, I have been very disappointed, even furious with Nokia. In less than a year's time, my new phone almost had problems no less than 3 times. And now, the Nokia Care Service Center here in SM North EDSA in Metro Manila is giving me a hard time getting through to them!

No one's answering the phone, as if they are avoid all the angry customers. They don't have service units enough for maybe at least half of their customers. Back to the service center, I badly need my phone now, and I don't have any idea if it's already okay because no one is answering their lines!

Whenever I'm thinking of getting a new phone, it's only Nokia that I think of because other manufacturers' handsets either look ugly or are very hard to use. Now, I would no longer buy a Nokia for a primary handset, unless their lousy customer service greatly improves. This is a very big disappointment.

Nokia is starting to make me an evil person. Maybe it's just Nokia here in the Philippines, but it gives me a very poor impression of the whole company worldwide, as they should be giving good service no matter what country their customers are from.

Until they stop ignoring the voices of subscribers, I'm going to continue spreading the bad word about Nokia.

Lunar Images (Full Moon)

2008-04-23T11:16:00.004+08:00

Last Saturday, 19th of April 2008, we went to my orgmate Ate Erika's house for a refresher course in Astronomy. We discussed the celestial sphere and telescopes and astroimaging. I'm already quite acquainted to telescopes and astroimaging so they're not so new to me anymore, but the celestial sphere was quite a wonder yet, and at that night I was able to appreciate its beauty.

But before the lecture even started, we first took some lunar images. Below are some of mine. For the first image, I used Ate Erika's camera, and for the last two, my mobile phone. :D The telescope we used was Ate Erika's 6" reflector.

Set-up UP Webmail with Apple Mail

2008-04-04T17:50:00.004+08:00

Set-up Your UP Webmail Account with Apple Mail (Mac OS X Leopard)

By Ronipe Gutierrez

Many of us would like to use our UP Webmail accounts, consciously, subconsciously, or secretly. Unfortunately, we find it a hassle to log-in to the UP Webmail log-in page (http://mail.up.edu.ph). But if you’re a Mac user, this will be good news to you. You can set-up your UP Webmail Account with Apple Mail, and you will being able to use your UP Webmail by just opening Mail, no more tedious log-in processes all in just 5 easy steps!

Now, if you have never used Mail before, just open the program by clicking on its logo and a dialog box (a window) will appear asking you for some stuff. But if you’ve used Mail before, just add a new account simply by clicking on Mail on the menu bar, then go to Preferences > Accounts, then click the Small plus « + » sign on the lower left hand corner to add a new account.

Step 1:

A dialog box/window like the one below will appear. Just enter the name that you want to be put on all your outgoing e-mails, then your UP Webmail address and your password then click Continue. (Note: I just blurred the password field to disable counting of characters of the password.)

Step 2:

For the account type, POP is the default, but change it to IMAP. Then, on the description field, type, UP Webmail, then type imap4.up.edu.ph as your incoming mail server, then your user name and password. Click Continue.

Step 3 :

A dialog box like the one below will appear. Choose Connect.
Step 4 :

Now, for the outgoing server. Type in the description field, UP Webmail Outgoing, then type smtpauth.up.edu.ph as your outgoing server. Make sure the checkbox beside « Use only this server » is unchecked. Then type again your webmail user name and password. Click Continue.

Then, the dialog box will become like the one below. Check Use authentication. Another dialog box like the one below will appear, choose Connect.

Step 5 :

An account summary will appear. Check the Take account online checkbox, then click Create.

Now, you’re ready to use your UP Webmail account without having to open your web browser! All you have to do is just open Mail, and your messages will all automatically be there, even all your folders! And the good thing about this is that the folders you create will also be created on your UP Webmail account when you log on using a different computer using your web browser. Enjoy !

Mac OS X Tip: iChat AV

2008-01-22T18:03:00.000+08:00

A new switcher? Or an old one who does not use iChat AV? If your not familiar with iChat AV, in a word, it is the built-in chat client (like Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, etc.) in Mac OS X. Saying that it is just another chat client is an understatement. It's very powerful, especially for video conferencing. It's not everyday that you find an application that can make you have a 4-way video conference. And it's not that common in the Windows world. And if you're running Mac OS X Leopard, you can use Photobooth effects on your video while chatting. You can even change your background! So go ahead, take your Mac experience further.

Don't you have to subscribe to .Mac to use iChat AV?

Not necessarily. You can use your Gmail account to log-in, and it will function as your Google Talk Mac version, you can add buddies using Gmail, too. However, you cannot video chat/conference with your buddies on Windows.

You can also use an AOL screenname. This way you can video chat with your buddies on Windows via AIM (AOL Instant Messenger).

Or, better yet, this is the one I would most prefer (plus the Gmail one. You can sign-in to multiple accounts simultaneously), sign-up for a free .Mac trial account. After 60 days, your .Mac features will no longer be accessible to you (unless you subscribe), but your .Mac username you can use forever in iChat. Plus, .Mac uses the AIM/AOL network, you can add your AIM/AOL buddies on your .Mac log-in, enabling you to video chat with your buddies on Windows running AIM.

Go ahead, try it!

Return of the Apple we know and love?

2007-10-22T09:15:00.000+08:00

This article was originally posted Oct 20th 2007 3:00PM by Mike Schramm, from TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

I'm reposting this here to bring this to more people, as I'm afraid, as others are, that Apple is now turning into Microsoft, and Microsoft now listens to its user base more.

"For the past few months, we've seen some turbulent waters here at TUAW. I don't think I need to mention the furor that's popped up in the comments multiple times over a number of Apple's past actions. All the iPhone unlocking has stirred emotions we didn't even know you guys had. The ringtones issue made a lot of us question just what kind of company Apple was. And Apple's own developers were pretty shocked when they found out that to develop for the iPhone, they'd need to brush up on HTML and AJAX, not Cocoa. The Apple we've seen the past few months has been making plenty money, but not so much winning our hearts.

But as Macworld points out, change may finally be back in the air, and all in the past week. Apple brought DRM free music back down to normal prices, which is exactly what Jobs wanted to do when he wrote that open letter we all cheered so long ago. Apple has unlocked the iPhone-- albeit in France, and only because they had to, and they'll probably charge a lot more for it, but still, it's progress. High sales of the unlocks there will be more ammunition for getting an unlock everywhere else. And of course, we got the announcement, finally, of a coming SDK for the iPhone.

Apple isn't even close to back in the clear yet-- we may have cheaper DRM-free music, but no one but France has an unlocked iPhone, and all we have is the promise of an SDK with zero details on what that means. It's been a rough road these past few months, however, and we can only hope that Apple is listening to what their fans want, and willing to get back on track."

And here's one comment I wanted to post here, posted at 3:40PM on Oct 20th 2007 by Angelus2007:

I am not sure they are back yet. I think the lower DRM free price is more of the market than Steve Jobs being nice. If he wanted them a 99 cents to begin with why didn't he? With Amazon selling DRM free music for 89 cents how can you sell yours for 40 cents more?

Also the article said it itself, they only unlocked the iPhone because they had too. What about the $100 store credit, or raising the price for students?

It seems we are in a world where Microsoft is doing right by their customers and Apple isn't. What happened Steve? Why can't you still sell 30GB iPods for $200? Or how about firmware updates for my 5.5G iPod? If Redmond can do it why can't you? For all the bad things Microsoft has done in the past, early Zune adopters get the features in their old player, and those not wanting 80GB can get 30GB for $200. Sell me a 2GB 2G Nano for $99, I don't need video. For once Cupertino should watch what Redmond is doing instead of the other way around.

I was Apple would go back to the way it was, thinking different.

The Web in Your Palm: Browsing the Web on a Mobile Phone

2007-10-19T15:43:00.001+08:00

It is no more than a decade and a half when the internet came to the Philippines in 1994 (according to my research) in the once glorious dial-up connection. Then there was the milestone in internet connectivity, the arrival of broadband, the most popular of which, mostly among residential subscribers, is DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), with the average downlink speed of 384 Kbps. Although this is not the fastest, and certainly much lacking as opposed to other countries' connections, to someone who just upgraded from the dial-up community, this is something sent from the heavens above.

Then came wireless web connectivity options - WiFi, WAP, GPRS, and 3G, being the most, along with WiFi, among others. WiFi was very popular with notebook owners, and 3G more with mobile handset owners, since WiFi handsets are not as available as 3G handsets. It became popular because of its promise to deliver speeds comparable to residential DSL, and up to 1.4 Mbps if the operator supports HSDPA (Globe Telecom).

But will operators in the Philippines be able to give this promise? For Smart 3G, I think they quite did it, for my mobile phone browsing. Though not supporting HSDPA yet, unlike Globe, they were quite able to deliver decent speeds. I can do decent web browsing on the go without a computer.

I use a Nokia N73, and Nokia's web browser sure is amazing! I can really view most web pages the way I view them on a computer. The browser's mini map was a great implementation! I can check my mail on the go, search for stuff to read, download music, and watch videos on YouTube Mobile (it automatically redirects here), although, recently, I can no longer download videos from YouTube Mobile. Maybe this is a network-related concern?

Anyway, the only downside to this is the small screen that can make reading a little less friendly, and the keypad. I'd much prefer a QWERTY keypad, but they come in business phones, which sport features that I would very much want to use, but also lacking in a lot of features college students like me would like, hence I incline to prefering multimedia phones, aside from the reason that business phones are expensive. LOL! :D

UP Diliman WiFi hotspots

2007-10-13T22:39:00.000+08:00

For those UP Diliman students who happen to have WiFi devices (e.g. laptops, cellphones, PDAs, etc. with WiFi), here is a list of the WiFi hotspots in the campus. All you need is your UP Webmail account to be able to access them. :P If you have any corrections and additions, please tell me so, either via a personal message or a comment. I am very much aware that this list is not complete yet, and I am hoping to complete it with your help. Thanks to Charm, Marge, and Keith for the info!

Main Library
College of Engineering Library
NCPAG
College of Business Administration
School of Economics
EEE
Vinzons' Hall
Computer Center

Ayon! Enjoy the free connections! :P

Smart 3G

2007-10-03T13:40:00.000+08:00

It's been quite a while since I first browsed the web on my phone using Smart 3G. It's generally fast (not expecting a lot), as expected of 3G.

But two days back, I just wanted to have a measure of it's speed in not too technical terms, so i downloaded songs from my friend's Multiply account, two of which are 4.5mb each. To my surprise, each song finished downloading in a little than two minutes, not downloading simultaneously. I think this is quite acceptable, since 3G just arrived in the Philippines last year. What do you think?

2007-09-19T13:18:00.000+08:00

(Picture from Smart's website)

It was long, long ago when the TV was invented. It has been a huge part in the homes of many Filipinos. More often that not, we Filipinos can be found watching TV when we're not doing anything else, when we're bored, or when we simply want to unwind. But ever wish we could bring our TV sets with us? That may now be possible.

Last August, Smart Communications launched the first DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld), or even the first DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting), service in the country dubbed myTV. Mga Pinoy nga naman, basta cellphone. First, what is DVB-H? According to www.dvb-h.org, the official DVB-H website, it is the specification for bringing broadcast services to battery-powered handheld receivers.

In simpler terms, it means that we can now watch TV on mobile devices. But, hasn't that been possible years ago? Yes, but it was on analog signals. Now, its on digital signals. And now, it is integrated into mobile phones. You can now watch TV virtually anywhere as long as you have a DVB-H capable phone, and you're in an area with DVB-H coverage. So far, the only DVB-H handset in the Philippine market, as far as I know, is the Nokia N92, currently free on Plan 2500 (about US$53) under Smart if you avail of the handset only, free under Plan 1800 (about $39) if you subscribe to myTV with a 14-month myTV lock-in contract . (www.smart.com.ph)

The following is a list of the initially covered areas, available channels, and the subscription fee (Smart):

Covered Areas:
1. Mega Manila
2. Baguio
3. Tagaytay
4. Batangas
5. Cebu
6. Davao

Available Channels:
1. Cartoon Network
2. ETC (Entertainment Central)
3. JackTV
4. Pinoy Box Office
5. MTV
6. CNN
7. Basketball TV
8. Solar Sports
9. PBA
10. The History Channel
11. National Geographic Channel

Service is free until the end of the month. After that, the service will cost you Php 488/month (about US$10-11). Personally, I don't find it to be that expensive. Unlimited watching anytime, anywhere (provided that the battery nor reception is dead) of some of my favorite channels.

The only disadvantage to this is that, you have to have a DVB-H handset. 3G handsets aren't even that popular on the mass market. But for those with regular 3G handsets, rival telco Globe Telecoms launched (or rather, relaunched) its own mobile TV service dubbed as mobile TV, powered by 3G with HSDPA network. Of course, its a Globe offering, so expect it to be costly, Php 5/minute with still fewer channels -- ABS-CBN, GMA 7, theHUB, and Sports (the last two I've never heard of). For Smart subscribers with 3G but non-DVB-H handsets, you can still have ABS-CBN and GMA 7 under Smart's 3G network, somewhat more limited, but still more expensive (Php 20 channel fee/day + Php 15 streaming fee/30 mins.).

My First Astroimages

2007-08-25T13:06:00.000+08:00

Last night, August 24, 2007, I took my first astroimages. It was really nice. I used my phone on the telescope to capture images of the moon. here are some the good pictures (good because the others were blurry) that I was able to take. The "shadings" are a bit different because they were taken on a 1 to 2-hour interval (I think). And in some pictures, the moon wasn't really white because of my phone's white balance, it isn't as good as that of a digital camera.

The Truth About Love

2007-08-21T14:36:00.001+08:00

Here's something my high school friend, Roxanne, posted on the Friendster bulletin. It is no longer in it's original form, I kind of edited it to make the punctuations, some semantics, and some use of words more reader-friendly. Enjoy! :D

One day a girl asked her boyfriend,
”Why do you like me? Why do you love me?”

Her boyfriend answered:
"I can't tell the reason. But, I really like you.”

SHE:
“You can't even tell me the reason? How can you say you like me? How can you say you love me?"

HE:
"I really don't know the reason, but, I can prove that I love you."

SHE:
"Proof? No! I want you to tell me the reason. My friend's boyfriend can tell her why he loves her but you can’t?"

HE:
"Okay, okay! Ermm..
Because you are beautiful,
because your voice is sweet,
because you are caring,
because you are loving,
because you are thoughtful,
because of your smile,
because of your every movement."

The girl felt very satisfied with his answer.

A few days later, unfortunately, the girl met with an accident and fell into coma.
He then placed a letter by her side. It said:

"Darling,

It is because of your sweet voice that I love you.
Now can you talk ? No!
Therefore, I cannot love you.

It is because of your care and concern that I liked you.
Now that you cannot show them, therefore I cannot love you.

It is because of your smile,
of your every movement that I love you.

Now, can you smile? Can you move?
No. Therefore, I cannot love you.

If love needs a reason, there is no reason for me to love you anymore in this case.
Now, do you still believe that love needs a reason?

Love doesn’t need a reason, and therefore,
I still love you…"

Sometimes, the best and the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, cannot be touched. But, they can be felt in the heart.

Love doesn't need a reason.
It’s something you can feel burning inside your heart, waiting to explode of love.
So, please, never ever ask someone why he or she loves you.
Love is nature, and without it, the world is nothing but a piece of crap.
So, everyone love the world and the people near and dear to your hearts.

Pass this on and make sure everybody knows about this great love story.

Mga Kaarawan

2007-08-20T20:40:00.000+08:00

Hindi maiiwasang may dumating na araw na sobra ka na sa kabagutan. Dumating nanaman ulit ang araw na iyon para sa akin, kaya gagawa muli ako ng bagong poste? dito sa aking blog. Ang poste?ng ito ay maglalaman ng ilang mga piling mga larawan sa ilang mga pagdiriwang ng kaarawan na aking napuntahan

Ika-19 na Kaarawan ni Hannah Karina

Nagsisiksikan upang makasama sa larawan.

Sa kalagitnaan ng paglalaro ng 1, 2, 3, Pass!

Ika-19 na Kaarawan ni Egi

Gaya sa kadalasan, nagsisiksikan upang makasama sa larawan.

Ako at ang aking kambal, nasa tubigan.

Ika-20? Kaarawan ni Ate Nea

Si ate Nea at ang kaniyang matamis-na-tinapay-na-kinakain-kapag-may-handaan.

Iilan sa mga kasama sa UP EURO na kumakain ng matatamis-na-mga-tinapay-na-inilililok-sa-tasa-na-kinakain-kapag-may-handaan-o-kung-gusto-mo-lang.

Isang Linggong Pagkabagot

2007-08-19T20:38:00.000+08:00

Naaalala mo pa ba noong tayo'y nasa elementarya at high school at palagi nating hinihiling tuwing panahon ng tag-ulan na sana ay bumagyo at umulan ng malakas para walang pasok? Ngunit ngayong ako ay nasa kolehiyo na, hindi ganito ang pananaw ko.

Isang linggong walang pasok. Kahit sinong bata ay mapapa-WOW!!! dito, ngunit para sa ating nasa kolehiyo na, isang malaking problema ito, lalo na ngayong kapanahunan pa ng mga pagsusulit. Tiyak ay sunud-sunod ang mga pagsusulit at pasahan ng mga kailangang ipasa.

Ngunit hindi ito ang pinakaproblema ko sa isang linggong "pahinga" na ito. Buong linggo ay hindi man lang ako nakalabas ng aming tahanan sa kadahilanang malakas ang ulan at wala akong salapi. Sa mga kapanahunang sinusulat ko ito'y naiiyak na ako sa sobrang kabagutan. Wala pa ring pasok bukas, ngunit makakalabas na ako ng bahay dahil manunuod ng sine ang aming pamilya, pero hindi pa rin yun sapat upang aking maabot ang rurok ng kaligayahan.

(Ito ang unang pagkakataon na ako'y sumulat dito sa aking blog sa Filipino. Ito ay para sa pagbabagong anyo ng aking blog. Hindi ko na ikukulob sa wikang Ingles ang aking blog.)

dyologz. Coming Soon on YouTube.

2007-06-07T15:43:00.000+08:00

The hit variety show by the class of Einstein-3, Quezon City Science Higschool class of 2005 under the supervision of Ms. Hermano, "Dyologz, Asteeg!!!" can now be re-lived with the advent of digital technology. This June, the international version (meaning, with English subtitles... hehe..) of the acclaimed production will be available for viewing on YouTube (on www.youtube.com/rphilip20).

(Parang totoong press release ah.. hehe... Pero seryoso, ilalabas sa YouTube yun this June.)

iKot Nano: The iKot Experience

2007-05-03T19:33:00.000+08:00

This afternoon was just the second time I rode the Ikot jeep (that's like a shuttle, only in jeepney form, that goes around some parts of UP Diliman). It was a Petit Ikot because it was small. 12 people my build could easily have filled her up. Just for the record, for the past and year of my stay in this university, I believe the total number of Ikot rides I made would sum up to a figure less than 10! What a pity. That's what I get for loving long walks.

Well, the main point is, I thought it would pass by Vinzon's Hall (I believe that's the student center whatever), but it didn't. So I just rode the Ikot and really made ikot (loaf around) the university. It was fun, it was the first time I experienced it. Poor me.

Chasing Frivolity

2007-05-01T20:25:00.001+08:00

Just now, a few minutes before I logged in to my multiply account, it came up to me. All along, for a very long time, i have been chasing after someone just a few footsteps away who covertly keeps running away... I deserve a slap on the face. Wake up Ron. Why bother chasing pipe dreams?

But why not? I was able to surpass the innumerable thorns that struck me in the chest in the past. Could a few more still hurt? The distance that hindrances this loneliness is just a text message away. It only takes one smile to open the parentheses, but only one smile to close them, too. I never asked anything in return, but why am I impatiently waiting for something in return?

I always thought everything would be fine. The incomplete pieces of this jigsaw puzzle always seemed to fit, but now that the missing ones have been found, they no longer would. The musical notes of that warm and gentle melody that used to fill the air now seem like cyphers that even the greatest cryptographer in world cannot decipher.

Where is this chase leading to? Would this even lead somewhere, or would this be a flat, infinite universe that doesn't end and will not get you back to where you started even when heading in a perfectly straight direction?

Should I continue chasing, or should I just stop? Will I be seeing the finish line soon or have I already passed by it?

Too Many Thing on My Mind...

2007-04-24T23:38:00.001+08:00

Un Dia (sin Sra. Ventanilla)

2007-04-22T15:28:00.000+08:00

Enjoy watching!

Esta pelicula es para nuestro examen oral para Español 10. Una pelicula de Ron Philip Gutierrez esta protagonizado por Faith Nicolas y Aaron Lunio. Esta protagonizado tambien por Louay Fabros.

Aureliano (Aaron Lunio), el amigito de Faith, ve Patricio (Patrick Panum) està besando Faith (Faith Nicolas). Este es el fin de su relaccion?

This is our movie for our oral finals for Spanish 10.

Aureliano, the boyfriend of Faith, saw Patricio kissing his girl. Will this be the end of their relationship?

My 17th and 18th Birthdays

2007-04-19T22:52:00.000+08:00

I will be turning 18 in less than a month. Time really flies so fast. I just came across the pictures of me and my friends from my birthday last year. Even though we were just a small group (members of dr. craferg, and Miguel), we really had fun. I miss the days. It has been long since we've last bonded with each other. Below is one of our pictures from my celebration last year.

perturbé mental

2007-04-19T17:43:00.000+08:00

Have you ever felt like there's this other entity within you that wants to come out? An entity maybe of a different personality; or maybe one who looks different; or probably, one who speaks a different language.

Just a few minutes ago, I listened to that voice within me that spoke a different language, the so-called language of love, le français (French). I created a blog français so that I'd have a blog where I can write in the said language. I named it perturbé mental, the French translation of the title of this blog... Hehe...

My Old Blog

2007-04-18T19:22:00.000+08:00

Long have I been searching for the username of my old blog. Depressing days of longing to retrieve the older chronicles of this disturbed mind slowly turned into weary weeks. Those weary weeks agonizingly morphed into mournful months, which yearningly transformed into almost yapping years of sorrowful, seeking solicitude for these missing pages in the course of my life.

But, alas! It came back to me! The damned Blogger username that once was concealed deep under the ravishing waves of the ocean of neurons in my head has magically swam up to the top. My depressing days, weary weeks, mournful months, and yapping years for these once lost pages are now over.

(By the way, thanks to Ria, a classmate in Comm3, for giving me the words weary and mournful.. Thanks!)

Communication

2007-04-18T18:47:00.000+08:00

I may not be a good writer, but heck. Sometimes, when I'm just feeling really down, I make one of these... They sure help let go of some of the depressing pressure that knock my lights out.

Communication

Communication - the means of sending a message from one person to another.
It is a dynamic and irreversible process;
What's been said can no longer be taken back.

Often times, we compromise some things to help us strengthen our communication with one party.
But how do we know which things to compromise?
How do we know if what we've let go of was the right thing to let go?

Les Cours d'Été (Summer Classes)

2007-04-15T22:46:00.000+08:00

Classes of the last semester just ended some three weeks ago. I haven't officially enjoyed the heat of the season yet, but the school bell's already ringing. Tomorrow would give way to the first in a series of days of academic pursuit for this summer. Though in peril I may be by the sound of my previous words, I am very excited to start my very first scholastic summer.