Skyline: A movie that could have been a blockbuster
Blue Sky Scrubs
Healthcare has always been a sensitive issue, and in recent times we have seen a drastic rise in the demand for healthcare professionals. I am not a healthcare professional myself, but there was a time where I almost started to be one, not that I have any regrets but sometimes its nice to think what could have happened otherwise. During those times, I always wondered what was the uniforms being used by nurses and other healthcare professionals, they always have the same look but different designs, until I found out, they were called scrubs.
Gamer: A movie that could almost be a reality
Every now so often, we would come across a movie that would make us think. Just recently, I was able to view such a film, at first I thought it was another action film from the guy who made Sparta look cool from the movie 300, but then the film was in fact for me a possible reality.
The movie is about in a time on a not so distant future when social networking has taken an advanced step into human life, and that nano-technology as evolved into something that can not only be controlled but can reproduce as well. Gerard Butler plays as Kable a framed convicted criminal who is part of an online reality game of kill or be killed "Slayers", as a character he is being controlled by a kid named Simon played by Logan Lerman. Kable then works his way to freedom from being controlled including his wife who is also part of an online reality game "Society", and his child.
Certainly, the technology imagined in the movie has its roots in todays world. The virtual reality used by Simon could be the future of Telepresence, possibly a room filled with sensors, walls of HD screen, a very high speed connection via fiber and probably a multiple times faster than the current I7 processor of Intel. Even the nano technology is not that far from imagination, even today experts are working on nano technology to help save lives and improve performance on how we work, maybe not as small as a single human cell but certainly did we think we could pack billions of transistors the size of our thumb 20 years back which makes up todays processors?
With regards to signal transmission, that could be something that needs a lot more work, since there are a lot more things to consider specially the environment and signal strength to ensure seamless connection, specially if your playing online games, but even that is not fictional. Either we fill the entire city with access points (which some cities are now working on) or improve our RFID technology.
But probably what is scary is that it is a great possibility that every single one of us could be fitted with an IP address. A unique set of binary or hexadecimal digits that would allow us to be reached much like a mobile phone but with much more direct access. We value our privacy and that is reflected on the way we protect our personal information specially on the internet where everything could be accessed with the right hardware and software. With social networking being one of the biggest income generating sub-industry in the field of IT, people will certainly invest on how to entertain and get their attention as well.
Circle Island Resort
A good place to spend the day does not have to be far from the city. Our team had our very first GA from a resort just a few minutes away from where we work and the place was called Circle Island Resort in Cavite.
Mobot
Going back on my college days during the time when we were still working on the initial stages of our design project, we had to practice with something common, or rather do something which already was existing. Our group then decided on making a robot. Nothing like the Star Wars Interactive R2D2 Astromech Droid Robot found on stores but something a bit more complicated, thus we worked on what we call "Mobot".
Transformers at SM Makati
Taco's for breakfast
Here is another breakfast blog, sometimes it nice to have breakfast that's a bit out of the ordinary, at least for our dining table. My mother tried serving taco's, but because beef is a lot more expensive, she improvised in using tuna. Tuna right out the can then cooked with onions served as the protein part of the meal.
With the other ingredients as lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, cheese and a bit of sweet chili sauce. I thought at first it was not a heavy meal, but after two or three of these I felt I was wrong.
http://www.makemychoice.com/
Sorcerer's Apprentice Movie
One great breakfast
A good breakfast is probably the most important meal in your day, to make this meal special I decided to make something I just craved. A good rice meal with omelet and sauté'd vegetables. A lot of butter and hot sauce really made a good breakfast and ended up with a great day.
Secure locks
At first glance, it just looks like any ordinary lock until you take a close look at the keys.
I know it looks like a phillips screwdriver but its really the key hole.
Home made pizza of Guiller
I have made home made pizza's before (you can click here to view my post) and I guess I'm not the only one in our family who loves to make pizza's at home. My younger brother has recently made a very nice pizza on his own, while I use bread, he instead used real dough.
A very simple pizza, but very delicious.
Samsung GT-E2120
- Textured cover
- 1.52 inch screen with 65K colours
- FM radio with internal antenna
- VGA camera
- External Memory (upto 2GB)
- MP3 player
- 520 hours standby time and 10hours talk time (According to their website )
Greenwich American Idol Pizza
The Greenwich American Idol Pizza is one of the newest product from one of the best known pizza chain in the Philippines. According to Greenwich the pizza has seven favorite American toppings, hence the name, also, they dubbed it American Idol pizza due to their promo for American Idol, though I am not sure if this type of pizza is actually part of that promo or just their overload pizza's. By the way, I would like to apologize for the picture, it seems i ate a lot before I decided to take a shot.
Nokia 5130 Xpress Music
- Bright screen up to 256K colors
- Numeric Keypad
- Dedicated music keys
- Voice Command
- USB connectivity
- 3.5 mm audio jack output
- micro SD card slot
- Bluetooth
- GPRS and EDGE
- Approxiamtely 6 hours of talk time
- Approximately 288 hours of stand-by time
- Supports IMAP, POP, SMTP, OMA EMN
- Supporteds HTML, XHTML for web browsing
- 2 megapixel camera
- Video recording
- Symbian series 40 Operating System
First thing I noticed is the very small box, unlike previous Nokia phones whose boxes were at least twice the width of their phone's unlike the box of Nokia 5130 XM.
The reason for such a small box may probably be due to two reasons: one is that it only contains the basics, these include the phone, battery, 1GB micro SD memory card, charger, headset and the smallest USB connector from Nokia I have ever seen, the second reason is just my theory of Nokia's effort to save resources and to cut prices.
Nokia made good with the cellphone's casing, because its very convenient to hold, I would however, comment on the numeric keypad because the 2 keypad is very close to the D-pad, it might be better to add a bit of space between. Found on the left side of the phone are the dedicated music keys, its also the Radio keys for Radio listing.
On the right side of the phone is where the volume controls are located as well as the micro SD slot. On top are conveniently placed 3.5 mm jack output, power slot and the micro USB port.
At the back you'll notice the design on the lower portion which is where the speakers are located. Also, there is the 2.0 Camera with out flash.
In all the Nokia 5130XM is a great phone, and considering its retail price of about Php6,000 or rougly US $135. I think the phone is between mid-range to low-range device, considering its price tag and the features that it provides. The feel and touch is great and the audio is very nice, specially when you use the 3.5 mm audio jack output and connect it to your home sound system. The down side for this phone is probably its camera, even though it has 2.0 Mega Pixels, the pictures are mediocre, probably due to the lack of flash. Also, I'm not a great fan of the series 40 of symbian, it would have been great to use a series 60 instead, avoiding the short-cut keys of attachments to your text editor. All in all, the phone is great for its price tag, and does best what it's meant for, having great music.
KVM Switch
How to connect a bluetooth headset to a Nokia 5800
It took me a while to learn how to connect a bluetooth headset to a Nokia 5800 and here is what I did.
1. On your phone Tap Settings > Connectivity > Bluetooth
2. Turn your bluetooth "on"
3. Above the menu, tap the right arrow or the connectivity sign in between the two bluetooth logo, to view your paired devices
4. Tap "Option and select "New Paired Device".
5. Make sure your bluetooth headset is switched on and is ready to be paired or in pairing mode, Tap "More Devices"
6. Select the device as it appears on the list, if you do not see your device, just try tapping "More Devices" again
7. If the device request's for a code, enter the code provided by the manufacturer of the bluetooth headset
8. Select if you wish to connect the device automatically in the future
9. Select connect when asked, and your bluetooth headset should be connected
Riverview Resort
Speaker quick fix
I would not call this one as a modern work of art, but the fact is it works, and it works just fine. I took old parts from one speaker and soldered them to another. I made a few wire jumpers here and there, and a few electrical tapes did the job. Not only did I recycle, I also saved a couple of bucks in the process.
Indulgence before the holy week of 2010
Quotes from The Book of Eli
Here are some of the quotes that I liked from the movie, click here for my blog about the The Book of Eli.
1. "Both thorn and thistles it should bring forth, for us. For out of the ground we were taken for the dust we are, and to the dust we shall return." - Eli
2. Stay on the path. It's not your concern. - Eli
3. I walk by faith, not by sight. It means that you know something even if you don't know something. It doesn't have to make sense, it's faith, it's faith. It's the flower of light in the field of darkness, it's giving me the strength to carry on - Eli
4. Do for others more than what you do for yourself - Eli
5. "Dear Lord, thank you for giving me the conviction and the strength to complete the task you entrusted to me. Thank you for guiding me straight and true through the many obstacles in my path and for keeping me resolute when all around seemed lost. Thank you for your protection and the many signs along the way. Thank you for any good I may have done, I am so sorry about the bad. Thank you for the friend I've made and please watch over her as you did for me. Thank you for finally allowing me to rest. I'm so very tired but I go now to my rest and peace knowing that I have done right with my time on this Earth. I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith." - Eli
The Book of Eli
How to setup proxy for Nokia 5800
I would like to share something that took me a while to figure out with my Nokia 5800 ExpressMusic. That is setting up a proxy for connecting to a network that requires proxy settings. I would assume that your phone has its WLAN scanning turned "on" and that your unit can detect the wireless network. Configuring a proxy for your Nokia 5800 is not difficult , here is what i did.
1. On your phone go to or tap Settings > Connectivity > Destinations > Internet
2. Choose and tap the network you wish to access
3. Inside choose options and select advanced settings
4. If the network needs an IP address you can select it and add the IP address, otherewise, just leave it and enter the proxy address and port number for your network
One done, you should be able to connect to your network.
Mabini Mansions
During office events and/or trainings we usually require to stay on a hotel for a couple of nights specially if you live far from your venue. This has been the sometimes in our office, hence, we or the organizers look for a suitable and yet affordable temporary home. Very few of these places takes my attention, and one of these places was Mabini Mansions along Mabini Avenue in Manila.
Here are some of the photos taken inside the hotel;
Of course the main purpose of finding a place to stay and rest is definitely a comfortable bed. The size where I stayed was probably a king size bed because it can accommodate two persons. Aside from the comfortable bed was the clean and neat bed sheets which is equally important.
Then there is the couch to rest before you go to bed, or watch cable TV while waiting for time to pass. The couch were also comfortable and very neat.
One thing I really loved about the place was that the rooms offered a kitchen complete with utensils, an electric stove and a refrigerator.
You would not call Mabini Mansions a five star hotel but considering a price tag of just Php 1,550 to Php 1,85o or roughly $34 to $38 its a pretty good deal. Finding a clean comfortable place to stay is not that expensive and is a good alternative for the budget conscious. The hotel is in Manila and the place is also very accessible and within reach of the US embassy. The Hotel URL is http://www.mansiongroup.com.ph/MabiniSite/about1.html