André’s Weblog

Well, if you haven’t noticed, which I highly doubt , I’ve updated the overall look and feel of my blog. I like to think of this as my Christmas Season edition. Lol. Lame. I’m pretty happy with it. I hope you are too. My blog is now optimized for high-resolution displays. Those stuck in 800×600 and 1024×768 diplays might have a little trouble viewing my blog in all it’s glory. You’re going to have to scroll around a lot. Been getting a lot of site traffic lately. People are actually reading my blog! Woohoo! Now, down to business.

I’m pretty sure that a lot of people here in the Metro are already on broadband. I define broadband as an internet connection speed of at least 384Kbps. It’s more than enough if all you do is email, chat, and download digital photos. There has been an upsurge in the broadband service industry. Before, it was only Zpdee who provided high-speed internet access. Now, we have PLDT myDSL, Globe Broadband, Sky DSL, Eastern DSL, to name a few. I haven’t tried all of them, other than PLDT myDSL because I’m currently subscribed to it. All of our local broadband service providers have similar shortcomings.

• They have weak customer support, although PLDT is slowly improving
• The speeds they advertise are area dependent, which means that on some areas, it’s fast, while others are slow

I was thinking of switching to Globe because of their competitive pricing, but I still have to check with them if they can provide me broadband in my area, since their coverage is very limited in the Metro. For now, I should be contented with the 1.2Mbps connection from PLDT, even though I am supposed to get 2Mbps, or at least somewhere near that speed.

If you compare our broadband speeds to those in Japan, USA, and Singapore, you’d feel as if our internet is so damn slow. For example, Japan’s fastest home broadband access is rated at 50Mbps, that’s right, 50! Translated into human language, that mean’s that you don’t have to wait for a high-quality mp3 to download. You can also watch an HD movie trailer instantaneously and you only have to wait 2 min. to download a full length film in DVD quality. That is how technologically advanced their communications infrastructure is. People in the USA are also enjoying ultra high-speed broadband, thanks to Verizon. Singtel also has a 10Mbps offering. Wow. You can only imagine what this kind of power will allow us to do.

I wish we had these kinds of internet connections available here for home users. At least, in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is the wireless service leader. We beat Singapore to introduce HSDPA, thanks to Globe! The only real use I see from 3G/3.5G is the ability to download wirelessly faster. I don’t even see video calling as a nice feature, unless they improve it and eliminate its shortcomings (especially the camera that makes your face incredibly fat!). Globe also introduced the newest wireless broadband package, Globe Visibility! Think of it as the ultimate wireless download plan available. You only have to pay a flat rate of Php 2,000.00 for you to be able to use Globe’s wireless network to connect to the internet. This is probably the mobile warrior’s best secondary weapon, next to his laptop of course. The drawback? If you are not in Globe’s HSDPA network area coverage, you are stuck with GPRS, which is the wireless equivalent of dial-up!!! Imagine, you pay 2 grand for dial-up speed!?! Lol. The good thing is, Globe is expanding their network coverage quite fast. Give it a year, and you might surf at broadband speeds, anywhere you may be.

So, there is a look into our country’s broadband industry. Is it growing? YES. Is it the right time to get broadband-connected? YES. Will the prices come down? In my opinion, it will. Service providers already know that there is an untapped market for high-speed internet access. They can exercise monopoly, since the consumers all want the same thing.

Now, tell me, do you still think your broadband connection fast?

I’ve been thinking of getting a new phone for Christmas and I thought to myself, “What would satisfy my unquenchable thirst for the latest and greatest technology?”

I have been lusting at the Sony Ericsson P990i for quite some time now. However, I am slowly steering away that path. It has come to my attention that the OS of the P990i is very unstable and slow. I have seen videos of the phone being used over there at YouTube. I must admit, while the device looks really slick, the menu speed is not as responsive as I had hoped. The battery life also did not impress me. The reason why I liked it so much is because I wanted to converge a PDA and a mobile phone in one device. Sometimes, I get tired charging the batteries of two different devices (MotoRAZR V3 and Palm Tungsten E2) at different times. I would often forget to charge the other when both devices are in desperate need of power. The P990i had all the features that I wanted and needed. However, the unstable OS of the phone compromised the what could have been God of all phones. Thanks but No Thanks SE.

Of course, the Nokia phones crossed my mind for a bit. I will admit that some of them have nice features, but I still feel that they are not the way to go. What turns me off is their incredibly manipulative marketing strategy. In the Philippines, a considerable percentage of the people who use Nokia phones are extremely illiterate to the potential, as well as the shortcomings, of their phones. While I appluad the team behind their marketing strategy, I find a lot it to be superficial. Take for instance, the Nokia N93. It is advertised with the catch phrase “The next story in video“. How can a device with extremely inferior technical capabilities match a full-blown DV camera when recording video in DVD quality? It’s not bad to stretch the truth, as long as they keep it in perspective. FYI, the video looks good because of the phone’s screen. Mobile phone screens are usually LCD screens/TFT active matrix. They are designed to remove some pixelation on everything that is displayed. No amount of Carl Zeiss lenses will change that. Nokia fanboys would probably hate me. It’s the truth, whether you accept it or not.

Lol. I did not intend to write an essay on mobile phones. I guess I am not yet ready for smartphones. Before I buy a smartphone, it has to have:

• Rock solid OS (Operating System)
• The latest and greatest technology
• Wireless internet access
• Broad software developer support
• EXTREME BATTERY LIFE

For now, the Casino Royale phone caught my attention. The uber geeky and incredibly slick Limited Edition K800i!

I’m back! Lol. It’s been a while since I last blogged. I’ve just been busy with school stuff. A lot of things happened in a span of one week. Down to business!

Our country is once again in a state of political turmoil. The congressmen/women are literally rigging the Philippine Constitution. I find it appalling that they can pass any law/legislation that will benefit them. I do believe that a shift to a Parliamentary form of government could benefit our country, but not with the government officials that we have. All of them. If we are going to create a new constitution, why must our current set of government officials be the ones to spearhead this change? Remember, these are the same people who support the most pathetic excuse for a leader, our incumbent president. These are the same people who did not pass the new 2006 national budget so that they can grab the money allotted for 2005 projects. (Ex. The government allots Php 20 mil. for new government vehicles in the 2005 national budget. A year later, the vehicles have already been purchased. But since we are using the old national budget, there will be another Php 20 mil. alloted, which is what the congressmen steal.) The so called Con-Ass rapidly became the Con-Assholes.

House Speaker Jose de Venecia also “invited” the senators to join them. As if this will really mean anything. What he is doing is for show only. What the people don’t know is this: If the senators join them, they will still be the minority. When the time comes to pass laws, even if they do not approve of it, there is nothing they can do because they are still at the losing end. They are out-numbered when it comes to voting. It would seem as if nothing will change, whether they join them or not. Jose de Venecia is a true idiot. This guy really deserves to die. One of these days, he will get what’s coming to him.

Our country desperately needs change. Not only in the form of government, but also people working in the government. Constant revolts is a sign of national degeneration.

No tyrant has ever ruled forever.