Why I am Not Buying an iPhone 5

September 15, 2012 was the launching of iPhone 5 but it would still take weeks before the phone will reach the Philippine market. however, the iOS 6 was already released September 20, 2012. my iphone4s was upgraded immediately to at least get a feel of what an iphone 5 is.

there were around 200 tweaks apple did to the operating system. for one, facebook was already integrated together with twitter. one can let you update almost anywhere in the interface.

the new siri can speak a multitude of languages. siri can be used to launch an application and can perform more functions for the different apps in the phone.

the new maps (not with google anymore) can do it in 3D perspective.

the camera application can do panoramic images up to 240 degrees.

the new application, passbook, can store your passes in one place. it can store your boarding pass, tickets, store cards and coupons.

although not part of the iphone family apps anymore, the youtube application boasts of the new interface!

did i just mentioned 200 tweaks? where are the rest?

iphone4s can now work with LTE/4G networks (long-term evolution), but sad to say, there are still so many parts in the united states where 4G is not available. in the Philippines, smart boasts of the LTE network and globe announces its ongoing billion-dollar 4G infrastructure. still, to my dismay, the data still crawls and the amount i paid for my postpaid account is still useless.

i thought there would be a sudden shoot of the camera's capabilities. they could have produced a 12-megapixel camera. still, they are using the 8-megapixel camera... only the panoramic shot was created.

the new iphone5 has a bigger screen but cannot completely boast of this capability as Samsung galaxy s3 has a bigger screen.

the new docks or connectors could possibly make the apple users angry as their sound systems created for apple products would not work anymore. however, a converter may be available but still very expensive.

as for the maps, I believe that Google Maps is almost perfect. With the Maps application provided by apple, there were so many distortions when rendered in 3D. Instead of finding the right way, one could get lost using the map.

after downloading the iOS6, i was really dismayed because there was no really major update particularly on the software part. i am an apple user. i have acquired many of their phone products from 3G, 3GS, iphone4, ipad, ipad2, itouch, ipod nano to iphone4s. but this time, i am not adding another postpaid line just to get hand of another iphone. it's a total waste of money. so what if it is the thinnest smart phone ever built?

i am bringing the spirit of the iphone5 with me using my iphone4s installed with iOS6. i believe apple still has more time to tweak and create another iphone, which could be iphone5s in the next few months.

as of this writing, iphone5 can be ordered through a pre-order basis at PHP 55,000 - 65,000 from retail stores. there were no postings yet from mobile networks as to how much they would have to pay for a postpaid account.

i am not itching to get one though the iphone5 worths PHP 30,000 in hong kong. i am going to hong kong this November but again, my hands do not itch for them.

i'll just have to wait if there's a change in the number of megapixels the camera can produce, or if it  can do the near-field communication (NFC) functionality where one can pay through an iphone. apple has to create a great impact for me to be convinced of buying an iphone.

Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V: The Art of Plagiarism

Modern dictionaries define plagiarism as wrongful appropriation or close imitation of an author’s language, thoughts, ideas or expression by presenting it as their own original work. However, it remains in question for there is no precise distinction between imitation, plagiarism by style, replication and forgery.

In the old times, plagiarism is defined as someone who is guilty of being a literary theft. It is about stealing one’s work; however, there was no boundary as it was defined now. Truly, plagiarism is a crime that should be taken seriously.

Amidst the controversy faced by Sen. Sotto, he said in his speech that plagiarism is never a crime in the Philippines. For me, it is considered immoral for it is a violation of originality and individuality. Sotto was even hounded by a multitude of criticisms by the netizens and call himself as the first senator to be bullied in the cyberspace. I really doubt this time if the bills you passed were actually original in form.

As for my stance against plagiarism, one should always provide the statistics. I do not mean numbers here but rightfully indicating the name author, the publication and the year it was published. One should give sufficient credit for all the copy-paste methodologies we know.

If in case you cannot get away with plagiarism, why don’t you do reverse engineering? It is about modifying the whole sentence into a more appealing one compared to the original. It should possess novelty, better understanding and insights and of course, higher form of acceptability. Still, the ideas were extracted from the original source, which is still plagiarism. It would be better if you construct your own based on your intuition or judgment.

Copying from one source is called plagiarism. Copying from many sources is called research. Now, let’s do research!

The Great Conspiracy Theory

The phrase conspiracy theory is used to point out an account genre that comprises an expansive assortment of points of view for the subsistence of majestic plots. The term is usually used by intellectuals and in popular culture to identify secret military, banking, or political actions aimed at stealing power, money, or freedom, from the people. Conspiracy theories are based on the notion that complex plots are put into motion by powerful hidden forces. Less illustrious uses refer to folklore and urban legend and a variety of explanatory narratives which are constructed with methodological flaws or biases. Originally a neutral term, it has acquired a somewhat derogatory meaning, implying a paranoid tendency to see the influence of some malign covert agency in events. The term is sometimes used to automatically dismiss claims that are deemed ridiculous, misconceived, paranoid, unfounded, outlandish or irrational.

A recent mishap in one of the departments led to the ousting of a high-ranking official due to the misuse of funds. It was later found out that the tampering of documents and misappropriation of funds led to the discovery of an official to overhaul millions of pesos.

The administration became furious and, being caught unaware of the situation, hired an internal auditor and established management information system on internal audit and oversee the system for safeguarding the company assets and determine whether the procedures for control are being followed or not. However, another official had been silently lurking through the accounts even before the incident. The personnel managed to send money to “dead” accounts and forged signatures just to get a hand on them. In spite the talent, the management tracked down and found out that hundreds of thousands of pesos were maliciously taken.

I don’t know what really the real score is. I cannot elaborate. Still, I believe there are other great conspiracies happening. They can be more than what we can fathom and may not be ours to consume.

Wrath of the Mobile Industry Giants

last august 2010, apple lawyers went to south korea after samsung launched its galaxy smartphone. steve jobs, the late co-founder of apple, informed samsung that the galaxy s, running under android operating system, was an illegal copy of the iphone. samsung, being a provider to apple, felt that a solution can be made from their ties. apple said that android operating system imitate the iphone design and usability.

the meeting between the two companies was not good and so samsung was accused of copying and producing their own patents without the permission from apple. their battle was brought into courts; there was war for multi-country patent. the court’s verdict favored to apple and had samsung pay for $1.05 billion worth in damages, which can be tripled in amount. there was a sudden dive of the company’s revenue and wiped out $12 billion over its market value.

in great disbelief, samsung says that apple should not be allowed to claim the patent particularly the design like the form of a rectangle and the front flat surface of the iphone. however, apple considered the design to be high up on the intellectual property and showing such was very critical.

apple revolutionized the world of mobile by launching iphone in the market last 2007. in the same year, google which is an ally of the apple company, wowed the market with its open handset alliance by dispensing the android operating system.

now, the battle became bitter when the galaxy tab 10.1 was released by samsung, which is a clear manifestation of a rip-off of the ipad; samsung how no intention whatsoever of modifying its products. thus, apple sued samsung for copying the design interface. a judge issued the bans on the sale against galaxy tab 10.1 and the galaxy nexus phone. as for the table, samsung has the right to compete, but does not have the right to compete unfairly.

samsung now would like to claim to have set the essential standards for the 4g. however, courts are not likely to block such standards other than intellectual property rights. many documents can prove that samsung modified its products to run more like an iphone.

samsung kept on with the war by promising to deliver modified products in the market.

as for my end, a samsung is really a copy-cat of the iphone especially the tablets that are out in the market. i believe there should be fair practice particularly on the design interface. the idea of solving the complexity is more than just an intellectual property. designs have to respected and protected.

i have tried both technologies; apple has marveled me with the simplicity of their interface. samsung may be doing the same but still cannot outdo in terms of speed, simplicity through its user-friendly features and many others.

i am looking forward to seeing more wars between the companies mentioned. without wars, there shall be no improvement and development of its products, features and services!

Plant Your Own Garden

after a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul and you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company doesn't always mean security.

and you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises, and you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead, with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.

and you learn to build all your roads on today  because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

after a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much, so you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

and you learn that you really can endure, you really are strong, you really do have worth, and you learn and you learn. with every goodbye, you learn.

Hilas Gamay'g Otin

man will be forever obsessed with his penis, whether big or small. obsession would mean completely and totally in love with it. his penis is everything and the size is basically the most important in his life.

however, when there was a downpour of dicks from the sky, men who were not able to wake up just in time to catch the big ones will always try to find means in trying to escape from the prying eyes even the shadow of his dick. he tries to tell the world that he is endowed with a horse's dick when in fact, it's just mongol #2!

there's a number of ways to compensate to his micro penis. read on...

1. you may think that lead guitarist or drummer of a local or national band are really sexy and well-endowed. however, he is just telling the world that he is well-hung with his guitar skills. in fact, he is not!

2. men who ride hummer or harley-davidson motorcyle or flames sticker on their motorcycle. many of them do modifications and it is just one of the ways to tell the world they have big dicks!

3. and how about those who get involve with fistfights in bars who felt their girlfriends are abused? since they have microscopic members, they have to make it up for being macho and tough! obviously, violent men are assholes with super tiny dicks!

4. guys who spend most their time in gyms lie by telling everyone that it is for health reasons by building massive muscles.

5. guys who always brag about their accomplishments ranging from being a business executive, professional athletes, and the like.

6. there are plenty of men who are kiss-and-tell type. that is, they brag about a number of women they slept with and tell everyone how great they are. nice try, but not entirely true!

7. men who spends most of his time ridiculing other men by projecting an image to make him bigger for comparison. he can mock others who are wearing pink shirts, being friends with women, dancing, being a homosexual and driving small, practical car.

however, men who are just secure with their masculinity can almost do anything without the expense of other persons!

All About Food

i love food. yes, i love food. my body says it all.

i have always wanted to enroll with the culinary school associated with the holiday gym and spa. i heard that the beginner's track costs around 60,000 pesos. i can afford that! they will teach how to handle knife, proper cutting of meat, etc...then 60,000 would be too expensive! hell, no!

being blessed with parents who are gifted with skillful hands, creative minds and unabashed taste for dishes, i too have explored cooking. whenever i throw parties at home, people always believed i hired the services of expensive caterers. nope! i cannot afford their taste. it's just to bland...

below are some of the preparations i did, whenever i have time. all of them were based on experiments and of course, experiences from cooking.

 beef with stir-fried veggies...the secret? oyster sauce!

 from top to bottom: my personal favorite, fresh garden salad; rice, the one i did not cook;

the green on the top left is a gelatine salad made from seaweeds topped with pomegranates;

penne pasta with cherry tomatoes and garden salads from eden;

spring rools (a.k.a. lumpia); beef and veggies;

instant blueberry cheesecake topped with peaches;

mango float with cinnamon; and,

salad with some fruits mixed.

 this is one of my comfort foods, bihon mixed with chorizo bilbao

and my favorite of all desserts, blueberry cheese cake baked to perfection!

Bangkok Dangerous

bangkok, the capital city of thailand, boasts of its sights and sounds with over 20 million tourists each year. the city is laden with wats or temples, modern infrastructures and many others. bangkok experience is dubbed as "truly asia" in all its essence.

however, traveling around the city of bangkok proposes problems. it seems to have double standards for the locals and the tourists, which is common with the rest of the developing world. tourists are treated differently due to prejudice, necessity and the worse, out of greed.

 the blogger as a tuk-tuk driver

this separation between the tourist and the locals is on the use of public transportation like taxi and the tuk-tuk. there is so much scam that is going around. while it is so hard to communicate with the people around for they know very little english, scammers are always on the lose. in many cases, before you get inside the cab, you would always ask, "do you speak english?" if the answer is no, take another cab. it happened to us that when drivers do not speak english, communication is at its worse. drivers can tour you around, and of course, your meter rates soar high.

the house of the king of thailand inside the grand palace

also, taxi drivers during late hours would normally hire their taxis at fixed rates. waving your hand at them would mean not doing business with them. but in the event of necessities, you should negotiate with the taxi drivers that toll fees are already part of the deal. in bangkok, it is the passengers that pay whooping toll fees!

another instance is my experience with a tuk-tuk driver. being an adventurous person, i toured bangkok alone and left my friends at the hotel without knowing the danger it might bring me. i was off to the biggest, high-end mall of bangkok, the siam paragon just to have a good view and maybe a little shopping. i took the taxi and paid 50 baht. upon reaching the mall, americans are supposed to hire the taxi after i get off. i told them not to take that taxi because the driver doesn't understand english. when i left the mall, i took a tuk-tuk for taxis are nowhere to be found. the driver was speaking to me in thai and assuming that he was asking me where to drop me off, i said, "juldis hotel, pratunam. how much?" learning that i am a foreigner, he said, "500 baht!" wow! that's 750 pesos. so i said, "no! that's too much!" he said, "okay, 300 baht!" using my best carabao english, i yelled at him. "no! i took taxi! paid 50 baht! your tuk-tuk, non-aircon! many dusts! not comfortable!" he yelled back, "traffic! pay me 300 baht!" i yelled back, "no! put me down! i will tell the poo leet near the poot opeet (i will tell the police near the post office)!" upon reaching the central mall, traffic lights turned red and i jumped down from the tuk-tuk without paying the driver. he shouted, "pay me!" i shouted back, "f*ck you! f*ck you!" and ran towards the mall. thanks for the free ride, man!


i went inside the mall to give me ample time to vent out with the situation. i bumped into a guy where almost everyone's staring at him. little i did know that it was mario maurer who was doing shopping with his girlfriend. i went out of the mall and took the taxi instead.

later that night, we went to patpong, bangkok's red light district. the show's fee was 500  baht and features women doing outrageous tricks using their vaginas. there were instances when pingpong balls are inserted into the vagina, pops them out and a few meters from them, a bowl that catches the balls. some stunts include strings being pulled where flowers pop up. the worst part that came out were blades! it was an underground activity and hence, cameras are strictly covered with stickers. the last part of the show was a live sex show. being a meter away from the performers, i was wowed with their performance and maybe, just maybe...they were able to beat the positions in the book of kamasutra!

to avoid scammers, insist on the driver to turn the meters. if he says no, wave him off and take another taxi. when dealing with the tuk-tuk drivers, be firm. if you are not getting what you want, get away from the scene. take other tuk-tuks. if you waved off a lot of them, this would show that you really mean business with them. as a general rule of thumb, cut the price into half and haggle.

for many, the thai people believed that fair-skinned people have good jobs and of course, much money. if you are dark-skinned, you must be poor.

bangkok is a great city, but in many places in the world, double standards and scams are to watch for. a traveler just have to be smart and be firm so that your travel will all be worth it.