• Foremost, is the incredible Facebook API, and it's recent decision to allow 3rd party developers to create apps that can change things like notes, links, videos and the all - important status updates. For what use is a social networking app, or anything on the 'net if you think about it, if you cannot make broad hints at how available you are to your crush via Facebook? For what else is the internet for??

• Above Facebook opinion is in light of other general web induced thoughts, such as my frustration in my ability to wrangle Drupal to output data the way I want it. Currently, I want several fields to products a single output, ie. Apple (4), Oranges (3), Banana (1), Cherry (0), to result in a straight line that looks like this: Fruits: Four Apples, Three Oranges, One banana.. Yes this is strictly a programming thing, so anyone looking for touchy feely, deep insights into the human soul sort of stuff can avert your eyes towards other things. At any rate I have already left queries on the Drupal forums. I will receive any hints towards resolution of my queries with glee.
• I was a first time ninong at Tessa's wedding last Friday morning! A just - as - surprised Char and I were at the QC Hall of Justice to witness the important event, and it was just as advertised: Solemn, Efficient, and Over Before You Knew It. The judge seemed to be having a whale of a time. After he made sure everything and everyone knew what they were doing, he reveled in Alby's and Tessa's pictures and just joked with everyone all the way. I have nothing but the best of hopes for the happy couple. Tessa I know you read this so Good Luck and Congratulations to you two again. Soon as Jill is back let's all hang. Alby's a lucky guy :)
• At this point, you probably shouldn't read this Tessa: Anyway, I finally got the Sony Memory Stick needed to make the Sony TG-1 Video Camera I was lent for review to work. I got it last Tuesday only to realize it was completely useless without a memory stick, one of a number of faux paxs the PR people kept making consistently. I don't even wanna get into that, I just wanna start reviewing the thing. I obviously missed the perfect opportunity (the wedding), so that very sucks. I have an idea for a video though, but it will require some execution. Let's see if I can manage to scrounge up the time.
• Tomorrow is a full day at client, albeit I might ditch the afternoon issues to visit the BIR to resolve a long standing situation. I'm quite frustrated about my situation with that office and do not look forward to this assignment. All future income however is contingent upon the resolution of this issue and hence nothing but my full attention is required. Fact is, the faster I resolve this issue, the better. The faster I resolve this issue, the better. The faster I resolve this issue, the better. Rinse. Repeat.
• Tuesday is an opportunity to watch the Confessions of a Shopaholic premiere, courtesy of receipt of a couple of tickets due to Kikay Exchange. I've always looked forward to KE receiving movie premieres and thus I'm quite excited about it. I remember watching Sex and the City and Devil Wears Prada and wishing we were invited to their premieres. It was obviously such a perfect fit and something we'd do anyway. The fact were getting them now is just another sign that hard work pays off. So long as you keep your focus, things turn for you at the end.
• I played ball today and literally, the guys I am playing with are half my age. The funny thing is, one of them started to call me 'manong', and in recognition of that fact, I blocked his shot. I dunno if it was a conscious effort to make him 'pay' for that, but I wouldn't be surprised if I did. Thing is, I remember how we went to Ilocos years ago, and everyone there calls everyone else 'manong', almost like you'd call someone 'mister'. Over in the Tagalog region from where I am though, there's an 'old dude' feeling to it, which is why I did not really warm up to it. Sadly, I didn't finish the game, after getting a bum stomach (too much coffee). But I do wanna come back next week, and am looking forward to a visit to the gym on Tue and / or Thu to prepare for it. I know I'm probably too old to want to play as much as I have been (2x a week or more for the last 2 weeks), but as long as I can (barely) keep up, I don't see why I shouldn't. I still love the game, it still gives me thrills, and I can still feel the texture of the ball on the tips of my fingers after I righteously slapped that ball from the dude's shot earlier. It felt GReeeaAAAt. I want more please. And as long as they let me, why not?
• Ok back to the websites (yes, groan), I want to update MomEx to the latest Drupal, not a mean feat. There are also new features I want to implement on KE for two reasons: 1. More user - generated content. 2. More regular content other than the blogposts. I won't get into details again (because I'm selfish and I don't want anyone else to beat me to it), but I think I've got a bead on how to do it in WordPress. I think I'm gonna stick with WordPress as far as KE is concerned, if only because it seems to have improved greatly these past few months after what I thought was a rather long period of stagnation last year. It gives me something nice to compare Drupal against, and while the two are still different as night and day, each has its strengths that I'm trying to get the other to reach towards. WordPress however is damn easy as pie to customize, and I miss that with Drupal. Drupal however is unbelievable flexible, packed with potential and is only limited by your imagination, so I'm still sticking with that in as far as making content outside of blogposts is concerned. Maybe I'll move BallEx to it soon, pending receipt of data I need (sadly) to ask permission for. But if not, I'll keep it there for the time being.

Ok that's my life at the moment in bullet points. I know my many loving fans (all 2 of you) are waiting for my typical mushyness at the end of these things, so here it is: Yes I am in longing, but No I try not to think about it, primarily by keeping busy (and yes, by playing basketball when I should probably be taking better care of myself). Cute fact: Jill's dog Killer, when looking for her, apparently goes up to their room and checks the top of her bed for any signs, leaving depondently afterwards. Aww.

End time: 1137pm.

I had been thinking a great deal about this amazingly beautiful movie. Ang Lee never lets up at any time throughout, providing striking image upon image of a war torn yet still somewhat beautiful 1940s Hong Kong and Shanghai. Yet at the end of it in an almost Shakespearean process, it brings home the very simple story of a love that is not right, shouldn't be, should never have been and yet still exists.

There is a great deal of pulling and pushing, of the story moving across time and involving characters who change and mature in the midst of a tumultuous war providing the backdrop to the conflict making their love even more implausible.

Read the rest at FlickManiac!

The movie is a stunning display of violence and real life in the drug dependent slums of Rio, where large sections called Favelas are controlled by drug lords with small armies armed to the teeth with high powered rifles they carry around with them like jewelry. The streets are dark and dirty, the poor wear tatters and live in sub human conditions, the local police are so crooked and desperately corrupt that they often end up in turf fights of their own, and the rich College kids are lazy, doped out brats whose insulated view of the world makes them just as guilty to the depravity around them. On one hand, they work in NGOs trying to help the poor and mouth slogans and sing songs against the police, but on the other they consume and even distribute drugs that helps fund the cartels. A pretty familiar world for the typical city dwelling low income Pinoy, if you ask me.

Anyway I hope to write a more thorough review (although I think I may have already) once I find a new home for Movie Exchange, which I have removed from the server to save bandwidth. I also hope to do a review of the 1994 Hoop Dreams, another gritty documentary which I've finally gotten around to watch and was given the highest possible rating by none other than the great Roger Ebert himself, calling it '.. is one of the great moviegoing experiences of my lifetime'.

I have to tell you, Mr. Ebert is one of the few idols I have in life. He is a fantastic writer and speaks of the world around him with complete honesty and a lack of bias that occasionally shakes the foundations of all I had thought were my beliefs. If he says a movie affects him, then by God I will do everything I can to see it - and Hoop Dreams definitely did not disappoint.

Finally, I want to do a review of my sister's 1.3 li Toyota Vios, which I managed to drive around for a week or so.

Now those are only the stuff I'm planning to do that involves reviews. I got other stuff in line like making HowTo videos, finishing and documenting projects, and finally, joining a group I've been wanting to do for quite a while now.

I've been thinking long and hard about that last one and I'm not yet finished deliberating about it. It involves even more work for me, but at the end of it I'm pretty sure I won't regret it because it is something I've always wanted to do, which is give back. I am not afraid to fail doing so, because I believe that trying and continuing to try is enough to surpass the possibility of failure. However, I'm not going in there to fail. In order to do so, I need to have everything laid out and planned ie, get my shit in order. Either that or not at all.

Anyway, ladies and gents, meet Karen. To the world, an IBM X21 P3, 256mb 20gb laptop. To me, Karen Walker of Will & Grace fame, my latest PC in a long line of PCs named after fave sitcom characters.

Here are the reason I got it + some observations:

A contact at a company that specializes in refurbished laptops gave me a heads up several weeks ago re six units of this coming in. I know this guy knows his stuff, so I pretty much decided to get one right away. I reviewed this same exact model 4 years ago and I was really floored by it, the only prob being its price back then (90k ~ 120k), which I felt was too high considering people probably weren't that comfortable using a PC with no cdrom drives yet (you have to attach one, or get a docking station to use a CD or DVDrom). However, I really liked its incredible light weight and portability.

Since I reviewed it, it basically became the basis for all the other notebooks I ever reviewed especially with regards to practicality, and how I learned that, after all that's said and done, weight (followed closely by size), usually becomes people's primary consideration when picking laptops.

First time laptop users often go overboard, trying to pack as much features as they can, thinking number of features is the key to a good laptop (no thanks to all those misleading ads and bad gadget review magazines). However the opposite is true. The trick is to choose only those that are important to you, choosing smaller sizes and growing from there. I promise you, this way of thinking will start to make sense when you realize you're getting a hernia from carrying around a heavy laptop bag.

In my particular case, (we're talking about me here, remember? Me me me!), I wanted, but never felt I necessarily needed, a laptop - and therefore was willing to wait for the right time and price to get one. I guess you can attribute my willingness to wait to the fact that I'm one of the lucky idiots in this country who used to get chances to review these things. There was even one glorious time I actually had eight laptops at once. I was actually lending them to my 14 and 16 year old niece and nephew and ask them what they thought so I could meet my deadlines. Notable units I remember well is an Apple MacBook 17" and an Acer Aspire with a built in tv tuner and dvd authoring functions. Fun aside, this gave me an insight into what was important to me, especially after seeing that despite the best of features, I much preferred bringing the smaller, more portable units with me when I go out.

Ok and for my finale (I realize I'm droning on and on now), the X21 - sorry - Karen is one of two laptops I've ever really wanted. The other one being a *tadaaannn* a Mac, specifically the G4 with an anodized aluminum skin which I wrote about here. Butch Dalisay himself pointed out the model to me which I initially mistook for something else. Apparently he's been using the same model for the past 3 years and is just as happy about it, and by God if Butch Dalisay is happy about it then that's about as high a compliment as you can give to the thing as you can get. The specific model I tried was actually a client's unit which I tried out.

There are actually two other units worth comparing to this, one being one of those Sony Vaio models and another loaner, a pretty Fujitsu Lifebook. Both are terrific, however also terrifically expensive, starting out in the 100-120k range. Both however, not making it to my final list because of the one thing I don't like about modern laptops - the heat.

And now we're talking about heat, I get to the last reason why I like Karen. Karen's *just* a P3, which means it doesn't heat very much. Heck, it doesn't even have a fan. In comparison, the units of today have these big honking outlets at the left area that occasionally turn on to jet out a burst of hot air - which is great if you've got arthritis in your hands, and would need the heat therapy, but for the most of us, means that we cannot put laptops on our - gasp - lap.

And this, specifically, is where Karen shines. I have watched the whole of season 3 and half of season 5 of the Sopranos with Karen sitting either on my stomach or raised on top of pillows on my bed, with completely no worry about it singing me. I have kept Karen on for days on end, mirroring my websites (so I can work on them offline), watching the occasional video, even playing a few mp3s - with hardly a twitch of complaint from it at all.

And finally finally finally? (yes I'm not yet finished), it's an IBM. Linux loooove IBMs. Case in point, Thinkwiki.org - a whole online wiki just on installing linux on thinkpads. As if I needed it, since everything, and I mean everything, including sound and wifi drivers - worked instantly on my Xubuntu installation. Even the hibernate and suspend functions work flawlessly - things that you'd normally think you'd have to sweat blood in buckets for before you get to work properly, even on Windows.

Ok I realize now I'm droning, and speaking like a geek. Hey can you blame me? I've had laptops before, but this is the first time I'm gonna say I'm completely happy with this one. And this feeling is what I had been trying to preach since way back in my tech writing days - that feeling of a great buy - getting something that fits exactly perfect to your needs, without compromise. Something that I'd still enjoy buying and owning even if I had more money to buy a later model.

Heck, that's for sure. I mean just the mere fact that I won't be able to watch Sopranos, the greatest TV drama of all time (Vanity Fair's words, not mine), on my bed using any of the new laptops because it'd get too hot or too heavy to put on my chest is enough reason for me to choose this one.

So the thing is, the PR firm always loans me Sony cams without memory sticks. This is of course very limiting since I very well can't go out taking 10 megapixel shots at full quality. The DSC-N2 only has 25mb. internal memory, so I'd probably end up taking 2 shots at most. So instead, I decided to take as many nice pics as I can at the lowest setting (VGA) possible. See, the way I see it, if the pics still come out okay, then that means the lens and the way its processors interprets colors - two of the more important factors that make a digicam - are ok too.

Brilliant eh? So armed with this self - styled (and I wouldn't be surprised if flawed) reasoning, plus the fact that there's a free entrance vintage car show at the Greenhills parking lot today commemorating San Juan's Centennial, the fact that I'm a San Juan boy through and through, PLUS the fact that Jill has 1k worth of Burgoo GCs for some reason (who asks details when someone has GCs? Just go for it!), meant we had all the elements for a nice day out with a nice hi - end cam (I just used the DSC - N2 today. I'll use the T50 for another time).

So on with the pics!

First off to Burgoo, with some shrimpy salad thing

some pasta..

and some tomato something soup with chicken.

then came something I didn't expect, the baby back ribs:

which is enough to feed me for a week. Seriously, I'm the one who needs to buy food every week from the market and, occasionally, grocery for the past few months, and being faced with this enormous slab of meat is really hard to take. So many times we've had to make do with what little I could afford (ok, sobsob. and I'm not finished), and I've learned to really stretch the peso for as long as I could with only a few hundred bucks, partly because even the palengke is really expensive, partly because I wasn't really good at it (I've learned a whole lot now), and partly because it's really such a hassle to find time to go buy food and work at the same time. At any rate, it was delicious, but overwhelming really. A mere tenth of that comprises a whole normal meal for me. Serious.

Anyway, on with the show. Ending with the interesting ceiling lights at Burgoo Promenade Greenhills:

And after an hour or two walking around crowded Virra Mall, we then got to, uhmm, Le Cour was it? Or whatever. It's the Frenchy place beside Starbucks at the Theater area. Where we had some really refreshing mango shake:

Yummm..

Nothing like a tall one on a HOT day like today:

And then finally, the moment I we had all been waiting for, when it wasn't so hot anymore at around 4-ish PM, on to the car show!!!

It was fairly well attended by most of the standard car show attendees. Like the cute Minis:

The VWs, the Old Schoolers, The Mustangs:

and of course the real vintage ones, like this cool Willys jeep:

and the rag top tourers, like the MGs, Triumphs and a very nice Datsun Fairlady.

When I was a kid there was a Fairlady rotting away a few blocks from our house, which the owner said he'd sell to me for P20k. I tried as hard as I could to get my mom to buy it but no go. I'm trying not to think about what could've been if only we couldve bought it and let it stayed in our garage until a time would come that I could straighten it out. I swear it took me years to get over not getting to buy it, and seeing a perfect condition one (which might even be the one I wanted to buy, who knows?), brings it all back. I think I'll need therapy now.

Anyway, my friend Geo's two Benzes were there, part of the Benz Club's display. Here's his, which used to be owned by Ninoy Aquino (with Jill in a slightly weird pose. Maybe it was because she was imagining Kris in it? Anyway sorry hon.):

and here's his Gelandewagen.

He bought that thing with my assistance, he needed someone to drive his car back from Batangas City where it was, and we drove all the way there and back that day. The previous owner had two other Gelandewagens, and a Ferrari Mondial, which of course, I sat in, but didn't drive. Anyway, it was cool. Don't let the bling effects fool you though, this model was strictly army issue and was very plain. He's spruced it up quite a bit more since.

There was also the old school club, one of which was this Escort:

Which wouldn't have caught my eye if it werent for the really cool racing stripes that I wanna apply to my own car:

The VW Club was all present, here's a nice Kharmann:

and my vote for Car of the show (if I voted, we didn't stick around long enough to), a nice blue one. I particularly liked this for the almost perfect color. That, and the fact I've always wanted a Kharmann Ghia. My dad owned a hell of a lot of different VWs when I was a kid, so I'm familiar with most of them. I think Kharmanns are the coolest of the lot.

So anyway, we end this picture tour with another frustration of mine, an early 70's Toyota Celica Supra:

I know this car is really rather heavy, and hence, kinda slow inspite of it's big engine. This makes it always very thirsty. I wouldn't be surprised if it does 8km / liter or so.

But just look at it! Why do I like it? Well seriously, only because it was such a trying hard to look like a sports car - car. It stole a lot of style from the Mustangs (which in turn stole a lot from Ferraris), but like it I still did. It's cool. I insist. And it's not too hard to find a good working one these days, or at least one that you could work on. I think it's 100x more cooler to buy this than say, a new Altis or Vios, and end up spending for a 5th of the cost too. Sure that 8km / liter thirst and maintenance costs would make it all catch up on you, but you're too much of a rebel to care, right?

Anyway, I'm not making sense now. Super hot tiring day after all. That's my photo review of the day, with the DSC-N2, capable of making 10mpx shots, at VGA mode. I chopped them down to 380 width to fit on this blog - the orig sizes were 640 x 480 resulting in 70kb to 150kb sizes. So basically, if you like the photos it came up with, the idea is, all you have to do is imagine how it'd be if the settings were better.

Yeah I think that's the point of this post. Signing off.

You can imagine that this is a true inspirational, dramatic sobfest, and it is. It leaves no doubt that Chris Gardner, who made his money via the stock market, is a man made of true stern stuff. His determination and single - minded purpose is incredible, regardless of how he is interpreted by Will Smith. And I say that because Will Smith is a truly impressive character just as well, but I'll get to that a little later on.

Yup. You know what to do. Go over to Movie Exchange to read the rest. Camaaan do it already!

Yet as I left the theatre, why was I not raving about it as all those other men and women? For sure, it kept me quite enraptured throughout. It is a visual feast like no other I've seen in a very long time. I can only think, maybe, of The Curse of the Golden Flower or any of it's other Asian cousins such as The House of The Flying Daggers to compare to the grand imagery of thousands upon thousands of warriors in battle, but even these pale in comparison to how grand this one turned out.

(I'm trying to revive my movie reviewing skills, so please read the rest at Movie Exchange).

Part mystical, part historical and part soap opera-ish the book is basically about the life of [tag]Tita[/tag] [tag]de la Garza[/tag], youngest of 3 daughters of [tag]Mama Elena[/tag] de la Garza, who ran a ranch in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. The young and beautiful Tita is a wonderful cook who is faced with the dreary future of serving her mother till her death, forsaking even marraige, as is the rule amongst Mexican families at the time. Sure enough, the handsome Pedro comes into her life, but his request for her hand is naturally rebuked by Mama Elena. To compensate, she offers instead her eldest daughter Rosaura, whom Pedro agrees to marry instead, secretly admitting to Tita that he is only doing so to be able to live close to Tita.

This to me, is the focal point of all goes wrong in the life of Tita from then and onwards in the story. Filipinos will be very familiar with the nuances and idiosyncracies of the typical Mexican family as it reflects much of ours till today. Pedro, in his undoubtable desire to be with Tita, prefers to live a lie in order to be with her. Romantic as the underlying reason is, it is still a lie, and like the proverbial saying goes, another lie is needed to cover it, and so forth and so on.

Much later into the story, she, along with most of the other characters in the story are in a royal mess. Rosaura is frustrated and jealous of both of them, Pedro is angry and conflicted by his duties to his family and his love for Tita, Dr. Brown, Tita's suitor whom Tita owes a great deal to for helping her, is faced with the devastating news that she doesn't want to marry him, and Tita herself is attacked from all sides with guilt, shame, remorse, and not to mention, the unrelenting spite of Mama Elena, who is the picture of hate and despise.

All because of an unwavering desire by Mama Elena to 'maintain appearances' of a normal, happy and functional family, whilst holding on to a self-serving and wholly unfair tradition.

Now tell me, does that sound familiar?

It is, of course, very soap opera-ish, with the exception of the fact that is delivered in some of the most ingenious, wonderful prose I have ever read. Mixed in with the drama are the exquisite recipes Tita cooks throughout her life, both indicating the hardships she has to go through, her love and genius at cooking, and incidentally, the kind of life there was at the time without electricity and the freezer. It was also a dangerous time, with bandits and rebels freely roaming the country doing as they please in the name of revolution.

And finally, it was a mystical, magical time, with many strange incidents mixed in with the ordinary, as if to say they were common occurrences. So there are Tita's tears mixing in with her sister's and Pedro's wedding cake, making the wedding guests depressed and crying for their own lost loves. There is the ghost of Mama Elena, whose image magically gets smaller and less threatening as Tita's courage starts to grow. There is the overwhelming passion Tita's own wedding guests feel, when they try the food she herself prepares - a 20 course banquet nonetheless.

Mixed in with the food, the history and Tita's strong willed character, Esquivel has weaved a magical book. I am sure not everyone will appreciate this, simple and simplistic as it sometimes is. But you have to enjoy it. Like you would imagine how it'd feel to taste [tag]Quail in Rose Petal sauce[/tag], one of the highlight recipes in the story, it is a story to be consumed as a whole, and not dissected by its ingredients.

I also watched Amelie during Christmas day. I'll be reviewing that for MovieEx soon.

I've had it for longer than two weeks, and as of yet I've not had it provide any level of reliability or usability.

I've had the black one too, and I wrote about it back in May. Results were almost similar, except that was even worse as it was slow. This white one, nicknamed 'Pure', a limited edition version with a firmware update (as I understood it) and a replacement to the black one when I told them about my problems with it, is a lot faster but nonetheless - and I really hate to say this - useless.

Let me try to bullet point it.

1. Firstly, I am not its intended market because I'd be the first to admit I'm not a big fan of PDAs. I find these expensive computer wannabees as pure tech-toys than anything else, things to brag about or show to friends, but with very limited practical use. However, I promise you I'd still appreciate something well done if it showed it, and this did not.
2. Secondly, my main gripes are that it hangs, and that it forgets the time and date after you turn it off. I was told the updates would fix this, but it did not.
3. Another issue is how unreliable wifi is. I've only been able to use mobile wifi on the Nokia N91, and I found the experience exceptional. Here however, IE takes a long time to load pages, even if I it says it was connected. Also, ever since I connected with Robinson' Galleria's wifi network, it never gave up that connection even when I was trying to connect with Airborne Access or an Ayala network. So when I was at Glorietta yesterday, it kept saying it had a medium connection to Galleria's, and when you try it, you get zilch. Annoying.
4. Finally, and this is related to the first one: I find the idea of texting via a stylus on a tiny keyboard completely stupid, and the idea that one should pay P45,000.00 for a gadget that forces you to do so LUDICROUS. If I'm gonna shell out P45,000.00, I not only want something luxurious (which this is), I'd want something that'd make everyday tasks easier (which this IS NOT).

I'm returning it today, and I told the PR firm what I felt. I'm not sure if they understood what I meant, but they'll find out soon enough when I write my review.

For the most part, my reviews usually favor the manufacturer by default, what with my belief that something hyped so much and costs this much can't possibly be this bad, and my hesitation to write something negative in the first place. However, they've had their chance, and so I need to do my job.

Needless to say, this is all my opinion of course, gathered after some time using it (or trying to use it in this case). Ergo, I might be wrong, and so I'd like to hear from others who've had a positive experience with it. Prove me wrong, please. Otherwise, its thumbs down for this one.

Technorati Tags: o2 xda atom pure, windows mobile 5, pda, gadget, gadget review

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I'm too lazy to get the specs, so I just cut and paste the PR write-up that came along with it here:

1. Just as small, just as mighty
   Like the original Xda Atom, the Xda Atom Pure is the smallest multimedia PDA-phone in the market at approximately 58 (W) * 102 (L) * 18.5 (T) mm, and weighing just 140 grams, You can grasp the power of mobile entertainment, productivity and connectivity in the palm of your hands.

2. Seductive in white
   With its pearly-white finishing and rounded ergonomic curves, the Xda Atom Pure is the perfect accessory this Spring. It is the fashion and lifestyle accessory that will turn everyone else green with envy.

3. Entertainment on the go
   The Xda Atom Pure offers a panorama of rich multimedia experience. The FM radio tuner gives you access to music and news no matter where you are. You can just tune in to any of the 120 preset stations across 10 different countries or create your own list of stations locally. Windows MediaÒ Player 10 further lets you check out downloaded movie clips and chill to MP3s whenever you want. Whether it's reggae, pop, jazz or metal, the equalizer function lets you maximise your audio experience to the type of music you enjoy, while built-in stereo speakers offer great sonic fidelity. With the great range of audio and video features built in, the Xda Atom Pure gives you unadulterated mobile entertainment.

4. O2 MediaPlus
   This remains the first and only media centre for PDA-phones. Designed to enable the ultimate in mobile entertainment experience, this customisable interface provides a single access point to all your media applications, including FM radio tuner, camera, Windows Media Player 10; as well as photo albums, and music and video libraries.

5. 2.0 mega pixel camera with strobe flash
   The Xda Atom Pure's 2.0 mega pixel camera lets you take snazzy shots wherever you go. A built-in LED flash ensures you get a good shot indoors and outdoors, day-in, day-out.

6. An office in your pocket
   The latest Windows MobileÔ 5.0 operating system gives a whole new meaning to the term "mobile office". Chronic PowerPointÒ jockeys can stay productive with the new and improved features from Microsoft, like creating tables and charts using Word and ExcelÒ Mobile, accessing hotmail account or POP3 email while in transit, synchronising Contact images with one touch of a thumbnail, or exchanging business cards wirelessly.

7. Wireless LAN connectivity
   Built-in Wireless LAN lets you hop online at popular hotspots quickly, and enjoy fast data transfer and short downloading time. Enjoying online entertainment, reading email and chatting on the IM is now a snap.

8. High-resolution QVGA screen
   The Xda Atom Pure's large 2.7" high resolution QVGA TFT-LCD screen makes it really easy for you to view PowerPoint slides and Excel spreadsheets. The stunning 262K-colour touch screen display allows easy viewing of richly detailed video and photos even in low lighting conditions.

9. Still has the EDGE
   A tri-band EDGE phone, the Xda Atom Pure gives you a potential threefold increase in data rates over current GPRS networks to deliver the full potential of mobile Internet services. You can enjoy high-speed access to Internet-based multimedia services like movie previews; MMS; and interactive, graphic-intensive web pages.

10. Great speed
    The Xda Atom Pure offers fast processing capability by sporting a beefy IntelÒ PXA27x Processor at 416 MHz. This lets you launch applications much faster and reduces downloading time. You spend less time waiting, more time living.

11. Rapid data synchronisation
    The simplest innovations are often the most effective. Marvel as the ActiveSyncÒ application rapidly aligns your calendar, contacts and email between your Xda Atom Pure and your PC. This ensures that you will always have the latest consistent set of information at home, in the office, or in transit. With a single set of data on the road, you can say goodbye to missed appointments and outdated contact details.

12. Abundant memory
    128MB Flash ROM and 64MB RAM of onboard memory means you don't have to skimp on applications usage and data storage. Hardcore multimedia fans can create a library of songs, videos and games with miniSD cards. Just plug, and hit play.

13. Permanent storage
    You can now rest easy knowing that you will never lose your data again. Precious information like email, photos and Contacts (which you've probably spent years accumulating) stored inside the Xda Atom Pure will stay intact even after a hard reset, battery drain or being dropped.

14. Improved battery life
    You no longer have to sacrifice communication at the mercy of dwindling battery bars, or compromise entertainment for work. You can do it all with the Xda Atom Pure. With a standby time of 150 hours and talk time of up to 5.5 hours, this device provides you with a good number of hours of entertainment, communication and productivity.

15. Data settings for auto configuration
    The tri-band Xda Atom Pure lets you stay connected no matter where your travels take you. With the auto configuration utility, you're automatically connected to pre-configured operator settings in different countries. You can jet from Bangkok to Bangladesh and stay in touch without having to fiddle with your device. The Xda Atom Pure straightaway sets you up. It's just another way O2 makes its devices truly plug-and-play.

16. O2 Connect keeps you posted
    O2 Connect alerts you to the latest O2 promotions, software upgrades and downloads. It's also your gateway to useful information like helpdesk numbers, repair centre locations and PDA-phone tips and tricks.

17. Self Diagnostics
    This new utility, designed by O2, walks you through a step-by-step testing process to make sure your Xda Atom Pure is working at optimum condition. It can help you identify a problem or determine if a particular feature is working as it should. It's like having a DIY Helpdesk in the palm of your hand.

18. O2 Plus gives you more
    This O2-exclusive program gives you a more convenient way to check out device and applications information. It helps you manage all running applications on your Xda Atom Pure and lets you see, at one glance, important information like battery and memory statuses on your homescreen.

19. Chat away with O2 SMS Plus
    O2 SMS Plus is another O2-exclusive program that gives you a one-page summary view of all incoming and outgoing text messages. Besides keeping track of your SMSes, it lets you conduct multiple chat sessions with your friends via SMS, just like you would with Internet Messaging.

More pics here, again with apologies for the low quality camshots:

And if you want a copy of the 2.3mb. Press Releases, complete with hi-res 300dpi 3000x3543 pixel images of it like the one above, click here.

Technorati Tags: 02 atom xda pure, white atom xda, atom pda, all in one device, windows mobile 5.0, pda-phone, o2

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The culprit. The processor fan went all emo on me, and it'd stop every so often with a dramatic, ugly sound.

Anyway, it's all fixed now. Bought a new fan for P170.00, and removed it's crummy heatsink for my old one, which was taller and allowed for more air.

I swabbed it with thermal paste and voila! Incidentally it also quieted the beast down. I highly recommend people changing their fans at least once every two years or so, and at P170.00 why not.

Since I was at the computer store, I bought myself one of those fancy fans for P90.00 as well. It emits a red glow, which has unexpectedly given my PC a 'nightclub' look. All we need now is a disco ball, some dancing girls and beer.

The trip all the way to Gilmore, QC was exhausting. Anyway, soon as I get rested up I'll start taking pics of my latest gadget review, the seriously spec'd Acer Ferrari 4000, aka Ferrari 4006WLMi,

.

And now, to zzzz..

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All news about Microsoft. All negative.

I initially wanted to make a comment about the abandonment of support for Win98 and WME users, and how I think this can be used as a plus for the open source community, but I figure the screenshot is more interesting.

Technorati Tags: nicrosoft, steve ballmer, windows 98, windows me, windows security flaws, windows genuine advantage program, spyware

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Trying out any N-Series phone is a really special experience. I take a great deal of time trying to figure out what exactly they were trying to do with it before writing it up, and N-Series phones always have a lot to say. Their designers and engineers spend a lot of time dreaming it up, and sometimes I think they're given a clean slate when it comes to N-Series. What I want to do is to figure out the goal they were trying to achieve, and after using it, determine if they've achieved it.

That's actually the key difference, I think, to writing for Lifestyle and writing for Tech. Writing for lifestyle is in effect, explaining products to ordinary people. That means I avoid jargon as much as possible, and stick to how an ordinary joe would find value in it.

If tech publications are at fault in anything, it's that they've marketed these things as 'must - haves', sometimes as tools to use to make headway into social groups. that is completely way off the mark, and misses the point of technology entirely. In fact, I interviewed for a magazine post a few weeks ago, and decided that I didn't want the job when they said it's a prerogative to mention a few key jargon or two, for the purpose of 'mentioning these over a beer or two at a bar, for impressing their friends'. I almost choked.

Technology is supposed to help us do our daily things better (and I suppose if your daily thing is to impress your friends, then yes, go ahead and buy an N-Series). However, that is such a shallow, wasteful and potentially dangerous (because it sends the manufacturer the wrong signals, that we just want to impress people and develop products to that end) way of looking at tech.

I'm fairly determined that writing about gadgets for the ordinary folk to understand is the way to go, and the most fulfilling and, at the end of the day, most effective way to explain it. Techies must never forget that they need to reach out to non-techies in order to best preach the value of these, consequently increasing its users and the number of people it helps. And the best way is to immerse it into your daily life and see how it works out.

But this is waaay too much deep thinking at 9:31am. Especially when I'm just plugging a Nokia N91 review. Must be the coffee. It tastes extra strong today. I think I put too much sugar. I hope Inq7 doesn't change URLs again. Read my review of the Sony DSC-W50 digicam next week, or an interview with a heavy MS Office user (I'm not sure which will come out first).

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Featured notebooks are the Acer Travelmate 3242 WXMi, the Amoi Blue M626 Laptop, the NEC Versa M350 1704DW, the Asus A6R and an Asus A3A. The specs I mentioned are the ff.:

Dimensions (w/d/h), Weight, Processor, Video, Chipset, Pre-installed OS, LAN:, Bluetooth:, Infrared:, Memory, Hard disk, Optical drive, Card Reader, Wireless, Display, Fingerprint, Battery, Battery life, SRP, Software.

Seems kind of a waste just having it sitting here not doing anyone any good, so here it is in case someone needs to make a comparison between any of them.

Technorati Tags: Acer Travelmate 3242 WXMi, Amoi Blue M626, NEC Versa M350 1704DW, Asus A6R, Asus A3A, notebook review, pcmag

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At any rate, I went through Y! tech again today, and here are a few thoughts. These would've come out sooner or later anyway, but my head is all big and swollen from self-importance right now, so I'm inspired to write it. Kidding.

1. It's not really clear what Saved Tech Products is for, but im trying to use it for saving products ive reviewed for a newspaper. People usually adopt stuff like this for their own purposes, so I hope Yahoo doesn't limit it to 'stuff i wanna buy' or 'stuff i already own', although those two categories would be nice to start with.
2. 2nd, I was reading a very interesting article re Nicholas Negroponte on Y!tech when I had to leave (it was long). I wanted to go back to it but I couldnt find any archives and a search for it resulted in 0. Pity because I thought it was a good read.
3. The ff. is one of the ideas I was gonna propose to a company I was applying to, but since I learned recently they passed on me (bitter Bitter BITTER), I might as well say it here: Give us stuff to put in our blogs, like rss code (or in Java like Feedburner does) that can display, say, the 'stuff i wanna buy' list. People like showing off (yes you do, admit it), and the link can make Y! tech the central repository for user-driven tech reviews imo.
4. Flickr integration would be nice, as well as Ygroups integration, but again this is more or less related to 'stuff to put in our blogs'. At the moment, I've had to jump hoops to get related rss feeds to display on movie exchange and basketball exchange, which use a feed parser plugin for wordpress.
5. In return, since these clicks are traceable Y! can work with the manufacturer or store to make that person win that item or get discounts to get it, further inducing others to put that code on their blogs, and so on.

Information is King. RSS is the delivery boy. Integration into LJ, Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, etc., is the final step to seeing that transition across. THIS is what I would have implemented if I got that job I was applying for. YES I'm bitter and angry. I KNOW I'm embarassing myself my going on about that. I MUST stop talking to myself. :)

Great to see Y! paying attention!

Technorati Tags: yahoo tech, yahoo, tech reviews, technology writing, bitterness about not getting a job.

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I'm the only one who made a review of it on the Yahoo tech page, and I thought the lack of comments meant people hated it, but apparently it was better known as the w600i. I wanna edit my review again to say that, but it seems I can't.

a few notes:

1. the only diff I think between the w600i and the w550i is that mine has GPRS, while theirs has EDGE. (like, big deal eh?).
2. t3 mag doesn't like it. Of all the tech mags, t3 is the most extreme, either praising to high heavens or trashing it in the dumpster, seldom in between. It's the sensationalist route, which isn't to say its good nor bad. It just works for them.
3. The latest accessory I've bought for it is a p40.00 'necklace', so it's always with me while I work, commute or drive. A clear indication that a product works is how we want it attached to us 24/7, and I am the prototype success story.
4. OT, I've stuck it to 107.9 'Underground Radio', featuring techno / hiphop, my preferred work music, all day and night. I think its in test broadcast as it has no commercials yet. I even added 'undergroundradio' as a friend on my yahoo messenger. They were advertising it so I did for whatever that's worth. Next time I see them online I'll request for more Petey Pablo.

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Which looks cool enough, and is supposed to control iTunes. Unfortunately, it also turns on iTunes itself

and does so every time you turn YM on, which is a terrific hassle. If you try to shut iTunes off with the YM plugin going, it'll do this:

which may, or may not, result in this:

notice how it mocks you. Literally Mocks you! :)

Best keep your distance from this one at least until it isnt beta.

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Have computer problems bogged you down? Your computer doesn't want to boot, or is acting up on you?

Then check out Electra Instant Contact Cleaner. With a few squirts of Electra Instant Contact Cleaner, you can wipe your computer problems away like magic!

Let's check out Gary, who currently has an issue with his computer:

Announcer: Hey Gary! What seems to be the problem?
Gary: What do you think the problem is?!?! Obviously my %$#*@#&!! computer won't boot!

Announcer: There there, why don't we analyze what happened here first?!
Gary: Well, I was doing my work normally, when I felt things were acting up, so I decided to do a reboot. Since then, there's no BIOS booting beeps, no signal to the monitor, not nothing! %$#*@#&!!
Announcer: Ok, so what have you done since?
Gary: Well, the usual. I've tried removing the video card, ram and connections, and wiped them down with alcohol and tissue paper. I've been trying for the past half hour and still.. %$#*@#&!!
Announcer: Hmm sounds serious..
Gary: Of course it sounds serious you %$#*@#&!!
Announcer: Ok, ok, calm down. Have you tried Electra Instant Contact Cleaner?
Gary: Electra - wha?
Announcer: Electra Instant Contact Cleaner is a product that cleans electrical and elctronics components, penetrates and removes light oil and dirt, and leave no reside, is non-flammable and non-toxic!
Gary: But won't that fry my mobo when I turn it on?
Announcer: Sigh. Gary, Gary, Gary. Of course not! Electra Instant Contact Cleaner is a fast evaporating cleaner that penetrates, cleans, and degreases delicate elctrical and electronic parts. It is safe to use on any surface! Give it a try.
Gary: Well, ok. At this point, I'll try anything.. (squirt, squirt..)

after a few minutes..

Announcer: Well, any luck?!
Gary: My computer's booting, everything's normal again, and the video card and motherboard all look shiny and new too!
Announcer: I told you! Electra Instant Contact Cleaner can be used on magnetic and video tape heads, magnetic tapes, precision instrument printed circuits, telephone switch gear, typewriters, tubes, computer heads, relay and micro circuits, connectors, tv tubes, hearing aides, coin counters and motors..
Gary: Whatever. Thanks a lot Electra Instant Contact Cleaner! You've saved my day!

(Available at leading malls and electronic shops nationwide.)

Technorati Tags: electra instant contact cleaner, contact cleaner, busted computer, pc problems, computer wont boot

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There's an error in a paragraph where I say "Two things to remember about buying laptops", the first (size and weight are king) is mentioned, but the second was completely edited out.

At any rate, like I said, it's all good. Some people might disagree with this one, but I'm fairly sure I'm being forthcoming and honest when I say, for example, that people should, even if they had the money, buy what's best for them as opposed to the top of the line models.

Am I afraid manufacturers would disagree? Absolutely not. If a manufacturer insists on selling you only their top of the line models, then avoid that brand like the plague. Manufacturers create a whole lineup of different models based on how they've learned people use them. So somewhere out there, like I've said before, is a model that's built exactly for you.

The manufacturer is banking on that, and is hoping you'd go ahead and find it, because it knows that if you do, you'd end up with a gadget that's absolutely perfect for you. One that you'll always use, and always prefer over others, and will make you a lifelong disciple of that brand. Thus, making you more valuable to them than just someone who likes buying expensive doodads that's ill-fitting to your lifestyle and therefore likely to under-appreciate it's innovations.

Anyway, the PDI link is here, while the orig if you care to read it is here.

Technorati Tags: gadgets, gadget buying, tech writing, tech opinion, tech commentary

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1. America Online (1989-2006)
2. RealNetworks RealPlayer (1999)
3. Syncronys SoftRAM (1995)
4. Microsoft Windows Millennium (2000)
5. Sony BMG Music CDs (2005)
6. Disney The Lion King CD-ROM (1994)
7. Microsoft Bob (1995)
8. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (2001)
9. Pressplay and Musicnet (2002)
10. dBASE IV (1988)
11. Priceline Groceries and Gas (2000)
12. PointCast (1996)
13. IBM PCjr. (1984)
14. Gateway 2000 10th Anniversary PC (1995)
15. Iomega Zip Drive (1998)
16. Comet Cursor (1997)
17. Apple Macintosh Portable (1989)
18. IBM Deskstar 75GXP (2000)
19. OQO Model 1 (2004)
20. CueCat (2000)
21. Eyetop Wearable DVD Player (2004)
22. Apple Pippin @World (1996)
23. Free PCs (1999)
24. DigiScents iSmell (2001)
25. Sharp RD3D Notebook (2004)

Of the three MS products I've only encountered Windows ME and IE 6.0, the other one being MS Bob, which I didn't even know went to market.

Sony BMG CDs have to be on top of the list, IMO, because of their malicious intent. The others could well have been mere mistakes. But those CDs were designed specifically to be sneaky, and should be considered worst.

I had one of those Iomega Zip drives back in the late 90's, but fortunately not a faulty one. I was very aware that there were though, as it was a very popular topic back then. Zip drives were pretty popular, I think BIOS settings until today still allowed for Zip drive compatibility.

I'm a little surprised that Pointcast was in that list, as I (oops) used to put that in the free CD we gave away to customers way back in my ISP days. I thought it was really cool, and kind of a precursor to Web 2.0. Albeit data was going only one direction, it agreggated news, but unfortunately, used push as its method, and in dialup times was a big bandwidth hog.

I expected Realplayer to be there, but was sort of surprised at dbase IV. I'm so glad I didn't use that back then, although I vaguely remember using some version of it, probably an earlier one. Finally, there's the Motorola ROKR E1 I reviewed last year, which I thought was bad, but not so much to end up in the worst ever list. However, if they considered it's cost and the undeserved hype I guess it should.

I'm wondering whether the Sony Bean should be in there too, or end up in it someday, along with many of Sony's latest attempts at music players. With the way they kept insisting on the ATRAC3 standard I wouldn't be surprised.

Thanks a lot to Danny Escasa of Freesoftwaremagazine.com for the heads up!

Technorati Tags: motorola rokr e1, pcworld.com, worst gadgets, gadgets, iomega zip drive, pointcast, sony bmg cd, realplayer, windows me, ms bob

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• 6.0 megapixels
• 3x optical zoom
• 2.5" lcd screen
• Resolution max/min: 2816x2112 / 640x480
• Sensor size / type: 1/2.5 / CCD
• weight: 140 g (4.9 oz)
• Inclusive 16mb. SD card
• dimensions: 86 x 54 x 22 mm (3.4 x 2.1 x 0.9 in)

Don't know the price yet as I just picked it up yesterday from PDI. First thing you'll notice is how pretty it is, in its sleek silver contemporary styled casing that the Ixus brand has been known for. Everything feels solid and nothing shakes or rattles. It springs to life once you turn it on and you're ready to take shots at such a high level of quality that it's really quite stunning to consider how far we've gone in the digital camera segment, when a tiny point and click thing like this that looks more like a fashion accessory can take shots that used to require 35mm monsters.

I still owe PDI a review of the Sony DSC-W50, an almost equal spec 6 megapixel digicam with almost the same exact size, weight and target market, so I just might decide to do a Face Off instead.

I think it might be more interesting that way, and besides it'd be easier to write.

Technorati Tags: sony dsc-w50, canon ixus 60, 6 megapixels, 3x optical zoom, canon, ixus, digital camera

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It came however, not in its original box, but in a (very nice) Nokia backpack, filled with the requisite manuals, cables and a set of very nice speakers and a headset. After some investigation it turns out the speakers weren't inclusive and were only there to help prove the sound was up to par and connecting to it was easy, via a standard 3.5mm connector, placed conveniently at the top. This allows you to just slap it onto your average stereo headset or amplifier, bringing your sounds along with you, which is the point of this particular phone.

I used it for most of a full week, and liked it a lot. Nokia makes models for every specific target audience in each model lineup, and the N91 is it's music player model for the N-Series. So while it has the required connectivity and other features (triband, 3G, Bluetooth, 2mb cam, USB, etc.) seen throughout most of the N Series, it's particular strength is its music player, featuring Windows Media Player 10 and the clincher = 4gb. hard disk.

This is also the second phone with WiFi built in that I've used after the disappointing O2 XDA, and I just gotta say whoever managed to sneak WiFi into phones is a genius, and has henceforth made me reconsider my laptop buying plans of the future. Being able to check your Gmail whilst going about daily chores just by reaching into your pocket is convenience with a capital C.

To distinguish them from each other, remember the N71 is a 3G fold phone, with dual camera and dual display, the N80 is a 3MP slider with Wifi and GSM Quadband support, and the N91 is their "music flagship phone". According to their email, new models N73 and N93 will be shipping in July. Don't bother looking for them on the Nokia Ph website as they're not even there yet.

My review on it should come out next Wednesday or the one after that, PDI Lifestyle section.

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Feature set is standard. It's among the first with a Intel Core Duo processor, offers presentable graphics and gigabit LAN, but I won't waste time in saying my first and lasting impression: it feels, (and therefore is) - cheap.

Specs:
Dimensions (w/d/h): 330mm x 100mm x 44mm
Weight: 2.3 kg.
Processor: Intel Core Duo Processor 166Ghz (2MB L2 cache,533MHz/667MHz FSB)
Video: Intel GMA-950
Chipset: Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset
Pre-installed OS: Windows XP
LAN: 10/100/1000 lan
Bluetooth: Yes
Infrared: Yes
Memory: 256 DDR2 533MHz
Hard disk: 40gb
Optical drive: DVD/CD-RW Combo/DVD±RW
Card Reader: None
Wireless: 802.11 b/g
Display: 14.1" TFT LCD
Fingerprint: No
SRP: PhP 46,000.00

Cheap is sad, considering it's only the 2nd cheapest laptop in the five lent to me.

There are two reasons. First, the cheap sticker that says "Blue" on top of the lid lends a very cheap look and it doesn't help it was coming off the first few hours after use. The letter L kept coming off, I try to keep putting it back on, and this went on the days after.

Second, I watched the "Capote" DVD on it (awesome performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman), and afterwards, the DVD player wouldn't close right. There remained an area just above the actual DVD drive that was agape and wasn't straight inline with the rest of the chassis. You could press down on it, hoping it'd come together, but no go. I'd eject it, and slap it gently but firmly down, and it wouldn't close whatever I did.

Third, The left hand portion nearest to the user also suffers from weak craftsmanship. Everytime you squeeze that area, you hear a soft plastic crackling sound, similar to when you're trying to snap in two pieces of ill-fitting plastic together. It's hard to explain, but try to imagine a cd case with too many cds in it, and trying to squeeze it shut. That about approximates it.

Fourth, the manufacturer didn't bother to provide an English set of manuals, and their website is purely Chinese. I don't know about you, but I seriously think they need to reconsider these before they enter a non-Chinese market don't you?

Other than that, the M626 performs as expected. It feels the lightest, although it weighs as much as the Acer at 2.3kg. I think that's probably because it's smaller. I also like the placement of the speaker, mic and headphone plugs at the left hand area, for quickly finding these essential plugs.

Again, keyboard, trackpad, and 14.1" TFT LCD offers utilitarian abilities, and nothing more.

If it weren't for aforementioned quality issues, I'd recommend the Amoi Blue M626, especially at the competitive Php46,000.00 SRP. However due to such, and the fact they don't make even bother to provide English manuals, I'd say keep away.

NEC Versa M350 1704DW specs:

Intel Pentium M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz, 2mb L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB)
15' XGA SSV TFT Display
256mb DDR Ram
Mobile Intel 915GM Express Chipset
60gb HDD 5400rpm
Integrated 24x10x8x24x Combo Variable Speed Combo Drive
56k v.92 Modem + 10/100/1000 LAN
802.11 b/g
Bluetooth and Finger Print model
Windows XP Home Edition bundled
Infrared

What I like so far

At P77k SRP (and P2k less than the Acer), it offers Fingerprint scanning security, 4 USB ports, a 1394 port and a Port Replicator (for which purpose I'm not sure of yet), Gigabit Ethernet and Bluetooth along with other standard stuff. (The Acer however, offers 512mb, which is a big diff.)

My fave observation is probably the very good tactile feel of both the keyboard and the touchpad area, which is a big improvement over the Asus, Acer and the Amoi. So far this has the best feel of the bunch. Additionally, the Function (FN) button, a constant bane for all notebooks, is well placed after Ctrl key on the lower left side of the keyboard, so there is less need to relearn your key placements. This is very good.

Finally there are two heat related features, one a fan at the rear (which is best) and a heatsink underneath, plus two extendable legs like keyboard stands to allow you to put some air between it and your desk. Hopefully this'll keep the thing cool.

What I don't like

So far, nothing's stood out that I don't like. The port replicator is something I don't understand yet, and might be useless but we'll see. I'm also not too sure if there are a lot of folks excited about 1394 either. The IR port is in the back, so if you want it to talk to your phone that might be awkward.

There's a 'Travelmate 3240' tag at the lower right side of the monitor. This indicates the series, and '3242WXMi' is the model within that series. I think there are 27 different series from the 2400 to the 8200, with several different types of models falling under each.

It's unclear how many are in the 3240 series, as neither the Taiwan or Philippine Acer website neglects to mention it. In fact, the Philippine Acer site doesn't even list the 3242WXMi at all, instead offering 10 other models.

From what I've discerned, there are four Series, namely the Travelmate, Tablet PC, Aspire, and Ferrari . I haven't really determined the diff between Aspire and Travelmate, but I'll get there soon enough.

Travelmate 3242WXMi specs:
Intel Core Duo Processor T2300 (1.66GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache)
14.1 WXGA wide TFT LCD
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
60GB HDD 5400rpm
DVD Super Multi double layer
(Support DVD+R Double Layer / DVD RW)
512mb DDR (support dual channel)
802.11a/b/g Wireless Lan
Windows XP included

At PhP 79,900.00 it's the most expensive of the bunch, a little more than the Php 77,000.00 of the NEC Versa that arrived yesterday (yes, there are now five notebooks in my room. And to think last week I was pining for just one to use so I can work downstairs away from the heat).

What I like so far:

Truth is, I've found myself reaching for this Acer instead of the two Asus models and especially the Amoi model, which suffers from build quality issues (review underway). The 3242 has an ergonomic keyboard, which I usually loathe, but it's not so skewed so as to require a change in typing habits. It's nice to know it might actually be helping me avoid carpal tunnel issues as I use it.

I've yet to take the NEC out of the box, but so far this has the best looks of the bunch, decked in a nice silvery finish with gray undertones. The lid has only one clasp in the middle, so you can open it with one hand unlike the Asus models that have two clasps at either end requiring two hands to open, like a briefcase.

The screen is big and bright, although it loses clarity at the brightest setting so it was hard to use in a brightly lit summer room like earlier. The best thing I like is that it doesn't get as hot as any of the others, but again I've yet to try the NEC.

What I don't like so far:

The speakers are tinny, produce a hollow sound and are at the front area, along with the input plugs for speaker, microphone and headphones. This is a bad idea, since if you use it in bed, you put in on your lap. It'll then slide down to your stomach, and the plugs are going to get in the way. This means if you plug in anything, you have to have ample space in front. The wifi switches are also there, but at least they're flush with the rounded front area, so that's ok.

The shiny Acer tag on the front lid is a cheap sticker, and it's going to come off sooner or later, likely leaving an ugly spot where it used to be. Finally it's only got three USB ports, a modem and LAN port, which along with wifi, are it's only connectivity options. This is pretty basic, so future buyers need to be aware of that.
Overall

Overall it's a solid notebook and I've yet to put a finger on why I seem to prefer it over the Asus pair. I've yet to test the battery too, and since it has the smallest of the bunch it probably doesn't last long.

Platform

• Microsoft Windows Mobile™ 5.0
• Integrated personal digital assistance, tri-band EDGE phone, FM radio, high-resolution camera, Bluetooth, and Wireless LAN

Processor

• Intel PXA272 416MHz

Memory

• Flash ROM: 128MB in total
• RAM: 64MB

Display

• 2.7" TFT LCD display with touch panel
• 240 x 320 dots resolution
• Supports 262K colours (65,536 effective)

Audio

• Stereo speaker
• Speaker with receiver
• Omni-directional mono microphone
• Support speaker phone operation
• Ringtone support: 64-chord MIDI, MP3, WMA, WAV
• Playback support: MIDI, MP3, WMA, WAV, AMR

Device-to-Device Connectivity

• Bluetooth
• Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11b compliant
• Infrared Infrared IrDA 1.2 SIR (115kbps at 30cm)

GSM / GPRS

• Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
• GSM services Speech services with EFR/FR/HR/AMR codec Emergency call DTMF tone generation Call holding, waiting, forwarding, barring SMS w/ MT/PP, MO/PP, Cell broadcast, text mode, PDU mode
• GPRS / EDGE functionality EGPRS class 10 GPRS CS 1 to 4 coding scheme supported EDGE MCS 1 to 9
• SIM function 3V SIM operation SIM application toolkit Over the air provisioning
• Internal antenna

Battery

• Removable rechargeable Li-Ion battery, 1,530mAh

Operation time

• Standby: 150 hours
• Talk time up to 5.5 hours

Keyboard / Button / Switch

• Power button
• Send and End phone button
• Start and O2 MediaPlus button
• Side buttons: Volume up, Volume down, Camera and Recorder
• 5-way navigation buttons: Right, Left, Up, Down and Action

Camera

• Colour 2-mega-pixel CMOS camera
• Preview mirror for self portrait
• White LED strobe flash
• Support still image and video capture

Interface

• Infrared IrDA 1.2 SIR (115kbps at 30cm)
• Mini-USB connector for USB 1.1 connection and power charging
• SIM card slot
• MiniSD memory card slot
• Audio jack (2.5mm ø)

Notification

• Three-color LED (amber, green and blue)
• Notification by sound, message and vibration

Here are the reasons why the O2 isn't a good companion for me today:

• It's slow - slow as molasses in winter. I heard that once in a bugs bunny cartoon and I gotta admit, it's quite apt. You click on something, nothing happens and you assume it didn't register, so you click again, or you click something else, and bam, it happens twice + the second button you clicked starts activating, and you don't know what to do anymore.
• Not for texters - PDAs have always been poor text machines. Texting with a stylus on a tiny keyboard is a stupid stupid thing. Forget it.
• Making a call is tedious - Click 'contacts', type the contact on the tiny keyboard. Wait for it to show up (read 'it's slow' above), click call. Wait. If it doesn't connect, find out how to do it again. The fact I can't even remember how to do it again and I have to check the phone how it's done as I type this speaks volumes.
• It didn't charge last night - I think this is a bug and maybe particular to this unit only (it looks beat up, probably by other writers before me), but it doesn't charge even as I tried to overnight. You actually have to pull the battery out to kill it (I don't know how to turn it off. It didn't come with the manual), plug it to charge and turn it on after a few hours. Unfortunately that resets everything including date and time. Trying to charge it while its on will display that it's 'charging', but it's actually not. After you pull out the charger it'll show the same batt level as when you first plugged it up.

I'm gonna try to get in touch with the local o2 people as I'm fairly sure they're not going to want me to write that up. That's only a part of lots of other things I don't like about it, which I'm hoping is due to a faulty unit. At least I hope so for their sake.

In the meantime, I'm back to my old phone because I can't risk not having a phone to call and text people with on a trip to Makati. A $850.00 phone, and I can't even count on it to make calls. Sheesh.

Here's a list of what I've got so far:

The O2 XDA Atom:

The Amoi m626 (Taiwanese link):

The Acer Travelmate 3242 WXMI (sorry about tiny pic. Lifted from Villman site and can't find it in the Acer site.)

The Asus A6R:

The Asus A3A:

The Sony HDR-HC3:

And in a few days, I'm supposed to also receive the Nokia N91:

Yes I am awash with gadgets and it also means yes, I am awash with work. I hope that doesn't sound like a complaint because it's not. It's wonderful to write about something I enjoy, and yes, inspite of the terrific mess all these boxes and manuals and cables and whatnot strewn all over my room - all of which are absolutely important mind you, and with hell to pay should I lose or damage any single one - I should be thankful, and I am.

I've actually fallen asleep with two laptops beside me in bed. Oops, I probably shouldn't say that lest my editor read this. Oh what the hell, too late.

I'm also determined to test the hell out of each and every one. Check back every so often to read up.

Company groupware is one of the most difficult to implement not only because of its complexity, but there's also a great deal of politicking involved, forcing programmers to do the one thing they hate most - talk to the user.

See, groupware is software that directly affects how people work, the reason why it is both powerful and feared / avoided like the plague. Hence, coders need to know how to make it work for users, often a difficult task because really, no one can really say what they want themselves.

It's a constant hit or miss, general or specific, go large scale or microscopic plan of attack, unique to each company and in the end the same for all, all the while trying to convince company honchos that the promise of increased productivity will lead to the proverbial 'savings' in the end (at which point I saw how MS terrific advertising machine work its magic, which is getting execs who should know better to sign ginormous checks in pursuit of a MS 'ideal' workplace).

At any rate I digress. This post is about Google Calendar, which along with Gmail, Gtalk, and the news that Google is now an ICANN Registrar - essential if in case they wish to offer domain hosting, which in turn is essential to run hosted applications like groupware - (sorry could only find a Feb. 2005 link. If you've newer news please let me know?), seems to be amassing the tools to eventually offer company groupware - like most Google solutions, likely free, and paid for by ads.

If this is really going to happen, then heaps of praises to Google for doing something that Yahoo should have but did not. Yahoo Calendar, My Yahoo, Yahoo Messenger, Yahoo Small Business etc. are all tools for that purpose, but they stopped short for some reason.

If however, this is not Google's direction (and I've been wrong many times before about them, so I'm not gonna even try), then they should.

Remember how it is we'd joke about one day we'd rule the world? Those guys at Google are actually doing it. If that is their goal, hosting groupware is just about as all-encompassing a solution I can think of to get a an organization's files onto their servers for them to do whatever it is they want with them (which is again fodder for another article).

Have to admit it was a little hard concentrating, mainly because of the question that kept going on and on in my head: But In God's Name, WHY?

To quote:

There's more to this than playing Minesweeper on a Mac, of course. Aside from the wow factor, Boot Camp, especially when it becomes a standard feature of the Mac OS, should usher in a new era for the Mac platform. Though you'll need to pony up for a copy of Windows, your Mac will be able to run any software that its PC competitors can run, not too mention all the Apple apps that PCs can't run. With Boot Camp, for example, you can run the iLife apps and the latest 3D game, say, F.E.A.R., on the same system.

Oh yeah I'm all game about running Win apps on a Mac, like that new thing Trojan.Emcodec, and the i-just-gotta-have Adware-Gator, or the old classic W32.Beagle.DZ.

But still, let me ask you, since I'm not a Mac user myself, was I dreaming, or weren't Mac users such deep-seated haters of all things Microsoft?

And according to the article, aside from having to shell out extra $$ for WinXP, and even cases of slower performance (!), it's very likely you're going to have to deal with incompatibility issues such as drivers, middleware and all those niggling things that, oh you know, were the reasons why they use Macs to begin with.

So other than the geekiness such a development results in ("ooohh we can double boot!"), I'd like to shelve this new development in the "Forget it" department, or maybe directly out the Windows (pun intended), why don't you.

So, a shoutout to Mac users out there, if you want to run Windows, buy a Windows machine. If you still wanna double boot, there's this thing called Linux.

Naturally this sent me scurrying off to several local websites, battling fatigue late into the night trying to make sense of what was available out there. My priorities were simple. 1. Cheap As Possible., 2. Lightweight, 3. As much RAM as possible. 4. Sturdy, and 5. Cheap as possible.

Thusly guided, my observations:

• PC Corner sub site LaptopKing seems to be the most comprehensive, featuring 32 laptop brands.
• LaptopKing and PCCorner have this terrific dropdown type selection system which differentiates by brand, processor, ram, video adaptor, hard disk, screen size, optical drive, chassis type, "our choice" and my favorite, Price Range. I wish though, that they also included "weight", which is my 2nd most important consideration, along with "dimensions".
• Incidentally, weight and dimensions are not mentioned in many of the laptop's complete specification pages, along with a link to their home website if any. These are Major Oversights.
• Strangely enough, the complete specs page of local laptop brand Neo is the one I like best as it not only shows what the products have, but also says what it doesnt have. Click this link for an example, otherwise check this out:
  

  Can you see what's 'wrong' in that picture? Firewire, Infrared, S-Video and Bluetooth are marked as unavailable for this model, saving you a hell of a lot of time in traveling back and forth amongst the other product pages to figure out what you're missing, or on the other hand, what you're getting, in relation to other models.

  That's a huge help, and with the way shopping websites seem to be designed to befuddle and confuse you, a breath of honest fresh air right there.

• Trimming down price range to absolute cheapest (below 30k) results in ECS, Prestigio and Q-Note. Second cheapest (30k ~ 40k), adds Acer, Blue, Apex, Benq, Asus, and some 2nd hand Twinheads, Acers, IBMs and Compaqs.
• Built in web-cameras, situated to display the user's face whilst in chat mode I assume, seem to be a hot item with these things, for what purpose I can only guess. For whatever it's worth, I'm not surprised anymore why so many "private" images tend to be scattered all over local internet sites.
• In fact, why not let's go ahead and do away with a whole lot of other stuff I don't need as well? Fingerprint access? Out. External Floppy? Out. Firewire? Buhbye. PCMCIA slots? Out you go. In fact, I'm even willing to give up a modem and a serial and parallel port. Why not? In my experience, if you've got a desktop PC handy already, as long as you've got ethernet/wi-fi, you're good to go. The only things I think, one really needs, is USB and PS2, and a Video out. Even CD/DVD optical drives are iffy if your laptop's going to be a second machine to a full-on PC. Other than that, the only interesting option I'd consider are 4 in 1 card readers, and... I think that's it. If we could choose to remove these options, I bet we could chop off more than 10k from the list price.
• I was thinking of Bluetooth after that last note, but then I thought about it. I always thought Bluetooth doesn't really quite cut it. In fact, I'd go so far as to say Bluetooth is a waste of time - possibly developed only to add another feature to sell gadgets with - if you like conspiracy theories. See, most gadgets I've seen usually have Bluetooth and some other way more efficient method of networking, like wi-fi or LAN, negating it's need. The only time I've really found a need for it was when I tested a Bluetooth headset mated (wirelessly of course) to a Motorola phone. Boy was that cool, and it dealt away with wires too. But is it enough per se? I don't think so.
• By the way, it's no mistake some of those brands I mentioned don't have their own webpage links, basically because I couldn't find any to link them to. Considering how easy it is to get a website going these days, that's very lame.
• It would also be nice if the computer stores would mention if the brand they were selling was home-brewed, relieving us of uselessly Googling around for reviews or more info. There's nothing particularly wrong or misleading about branding a laptop they made themselves and marketing it along with the better known models. What is misleading I think, is not saying so.
• I was surprised to note that wi-fi isn't a standard in notebooks yet. I thought it would go the way of the 10/100 LAN port by now. Some of the cheaper notebooks offer this as a P4k add-on. This might be stretching it, but in my case I'd rather drop a 56k modem (a constant in all models) for wi-fi capability. I think you've a better chance finding a free wi-fi area to connect with than a pokey old POTS.
• Unrelated, but most of the sites, namely Rising Sun, PCX, TQM, and Villman use ASP, while PC Corner and it's sub-site Laptop King use Java. Why!?
• Also unrelated (hey sorry these things matter to me, okay?), Google searches for 'laptops' and 'computers' while using the 'pages from the philippines' option produce various results, none of which goes to any of these vendors, except maybe an accidental link here or there. These guys need to learn about Adwords, and considering that none of their competition is doing that, even a small investment would probably pay off.

So far, the closest I've liked is the X-Mobile M121, a home-brew from PCX, featuring:

Intel Celeron M Processor 350
1.30GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 400 MHz FSB
Intel 855GME + ACH4 Chipset
40 GB HDD, 256 MB DDR Memory (1GB Max.)
12.1 inch WXGA TFT (Glare) WIDE SCREEN (1280 x 800)
CNET Mini PCI Wireless LAN Module B/G
DVDRW Drive
2 x USB 2.0, 1 x Type II PCMCIA, 1 x Infrared Transfer port
1 x External CRT Monitor output
10/100 LAN, 56K modem w/ V.90/V.92 Compliant
Built in Web Camera, Headphone jack
Microphone jack, 8 cell Lithium-Ion battery
295(w) x 235(d) x 26(h) mm, 1.8KG
Laptop Bag

all for P44,295.00. It's very small and light, which like I said, are high on my priority list, at a price that wouldn't really hurt. Also since it's home-brewed, I'm wondering if I could arrange the removal of the DVD burner and webcam to trade it for more RAM instead. Caveats might be trying to make sense of viewing 1280x800 displays on a 12" screen, but I'll reserve an opinion on that until I see it. Finally, I've never really been big on processors, and I'm sure a Celeron will serve me well. More RAM always works. As far as I'm concerned, RAM is king.

At any rate, it's still early in the game and I've yet to conclude my search. If you think about it, that sort of relates to a failure of these websites to do their job, considering I'm fairly ok in the tech department, along with the fact that I pretty much have a good idea of what I want (which is more important).

What helped me most is not a website, but a PDF download, a simple Excel tables and rows affair, displaying what they have, how much it costs, how it compares with others, a disclaimer, and that's it. And yes it thoughtfully adds on weight and dimensions. Halelujah.