Manila: Almost a Week in and Still Alive

Awesome, I survived almost a week of insane 35+ degree weather. Granted, I did that by staying indoors as much as possible, but I'll still take that as an achievement.

Quite a few things I've found out as a result of my infrequent visits, one of which is that my command of the local language has gotten pretty bad. At the duty free shop, I could barely understand what the lady at the registration was talking about and she was not talking all that fast. Combine that with my unfamiliarity with local everyday routines, and I stick out so much I may as well be a white guy.

Still, that won't stop me from trying to appear local, even if it is for a very short time. There is no advantage and very dangerous disadvantages of announcing to the immediate area that I am not from here.

When last I was here, there was a strong push to promote tagalog in schools and local programming and the result seems quite forced. There are words used that I have never heard before or have know but never heard because they are the equivalent of old English. It ends up amusing and annoying at the same time.

Local television is filled with soap operas and the odd "variety shows" which combine aspects of game shows with quite a bit of song and dance. News hasn't changed and show even parts of dead bodies when they are still around on a scene. Fortunately, all that seems reserved for mid-day programming. There are some good shows in the evening and weekends.

My first shopping experience introduced me to a rather quaint and annoying concept - paper bags....for everything. We bought over a dozen pieces of clothes and they pack it paper bags. With no handles. If it weren't for the fact that the missus had a mostly empty handbag, we would have gone around shopping carrying those damn things in our hands.

They say its environmentally friendly, but considering all the other environment concerns, excessive pollution for example, the use of plastic bags is probably the least of their worries.

Ah well, another 14 days to go, but despite some weirdness, being back where I grew up really is relaxing and the place really does grow on me.

A Potentially Bad Precedent...

If there is no other sign of how bad society is becoming, we have this article:

http://www.thestar.com/sports/gthl/article/829749--parents-sue-gthl-after-sons-cut-by-team?bn=1

Take the time to read it.

Done?

While there are some valid concerns by the parents of the affected teens, that's not what the lawsuit was asking compensation for. It asked for payment for their sons' phychological damage - wait, hold that - irreparable phychological damage from being cut from the team.

I'm not saying rejection has no phychological impact, in fact, our lives and behaviour are shaped by everything we experience - including tons of rejections. To seek monetary compensation for something that normally happens in life....well, lets just say, if it works, I should have been a millionaire many times over.

If the parents somehow get compensation, either with a successful trial or settlement, what kind of lesson are their kids learning? If bad things happen, they just file a lawsuit? And imagine the flood of future lawsuits from similar minded parents. Will these kids even have the motivation to keep trying? Are they saying their children are so vulnerable that they cannot take rejection?

Kids should be learning that life is hard and they have to learn to be strong against anything that is thrown at them. If they truly want what is best for their kids, parents should do the right things themselves. File an official complaint if they have doubts about the coach's ability to make decisions, but dont try to get money for their children's phychological welfare - it just ends up being a money grab.

The iPhone 3G : A Year Later

I have always wanted an iPhone ever since the first version came out a few years back. But just like the Pocket PC devices at the time, the cost was prohibitive and it held me back a lot. Not to mention that data plans were just too expensive.

The iPhone 3G caused quite a bit of a stir when it was announced for Canada. There was excitement about the popular product finally being available north of the border as well as the relatively cheap cost of the unit. Then there was the outrage that Rogers, the only carrier with the iPhone, has placed a hefty price on the data plans. The cheapest data plan at that time was $60 for 100MB of data a month. Yep, a measly 100MB. Of course, the plan did include a voice package, but 100MB is just not enough to fully utilize the device.

After a lot of boycott threats and protests against Rogers, they relented and provided a plan that will allow a person to use 6GB of data for $30 in addition to the cost of the voice plan. This was not what the petition asked for (which was unlimited internet at that same cost), but it was as close to unlimited as they were willing to give for a limited time. So that's when I took the plan and hoped for the best.

As it turned out, a monthly 6GB of mobile data was pretty much unlimited for the regular user. Even in months of heavy Youtube use over 3G, I could barely break 1GB. The internet is also the heart of the iPhone. Some may scoff at being locked in a contract, but so far, I have not found any problems with it. In fact, data plans have gone up considerably after the iPhone 3G's release so the lock in actually shielded me from extra costs.

As for the device itself, it is great, but not perfect. The lack of cut and paste aside, I really miss being able to use a stylus. Entering data into the phone is a chore at times and I am used to having handwritting recognition and a pen in hand for precise taps. As a document processing device, it is sadly way below par.

Still, the integration of the iPhone with so many network services does a lot to overcome it's shortcomings. In particular, email and social networking at the tip of my fingers at almost anytime and almost anywhere. This is pretty much why I wanted a mobile data device in the first place and I am very happy with my investment.

This is not to say I don't plan to replace it. Should a device allow me to actually work on documents as well as maintain my networking services, it will undoubtedly cause me to shelf the iPhone. The HTC Diamond looks promising, but it will require a lot of research to determine if it can be my iPhone's successor.

Redemption for Heroes?

After it's initial season, Heroes episodes have become increasingly painful to watch. Poor character development, silly plots, and even sillier plot contrivances (helloooo eclipse storyline) have tarnished this once glimmering jewel of a show. The second season was much maligned but was a masterpiece compared to the third.

The last few episodes appeared to be of better quality overall, but had to struggle from the corner the rest of the season has painted them into. But were they enough to salvage the show?

Maybe.

The final episode did have some great moments and the preview of the next season promises a return to the show's roots. But it did have have scenes that make me cringe in the possibility of more ridiculous plot contrivances on the way.

Take, for example, the prospect of Hiro's lack of powers come the next season. The reason given that his "body is rejecting these powers" is just lame. Just as the whole depowered hero concept is lame to begin with. While I am not against depowered heroes, this is just one of the way overused plots shown this season.

I can go on more about all the good and bad things I have seen this season but that would be way too long and is simply not worth the effort. What I can say is that the last few episodes make me hopeful for season 4. Nothing can fully erase the travesty of the last couple of years, but, if the writers stick to the creativity of season 1 rather than resort to more gimmicky plots, it can return to it's past glory.

And I, for one, really hope it does.

Penny Arcade and PvP D&D podcasts

I manged to find the D&D podcasts at the Wizards of the Coast site, and took an interest at the Penny Arcade and PvP ones where the artists of the respective sites take 4th edition for a ride.

It has been years since I last played a game of D&D (AD&D being the latest version at the time) and I have to say, I am regaining my interest in the game. While time is an issue and would keep my playtime limited, it is not the primary issue for starting up the game.

My impression of the game so far is from those podcasts and reading the books. Finding the right people to play with is a huge factor for having fun in D&D. Last time I played, it was with neighbors and high school chums and we had, despite some occassional arguments, a lot of fun. The Penny Arcade and PvP podcasts are hillarious because they all share something in common and the artists are long time friends.

That's not to say I will not be able to find a group that "clicks" with me, but I am not sure I want to start the process of finding one. I'm going to finish the series and see if it empowers the geek within. =)

Podcast and iTunes blues

It had been a while since I synced my iPhone to the computer. I had downloaded quite a few podcasts in the last few days and had really been enjoying them. I decided to sync my device last night and encountered a few errors. As I was playing World of Warcraft at the time, I thought nothing of it.

Having nearly overslept, I rushed to leave and simply disconnected my iPhone, packed it into my jacket, and left for work. While waiting for the bus, I then discovered ALL of the podcasts were gone.

Not really angry about it but it certainly was disappointing. I don't want to have to plug in to the computer everytime I want to download a podcast. It kind of defeats the purpose of having a fully mobile platform.

iBlogger vs. BlogPress

Not a review per se, but I have attempted to work with these two apps when I initially started blogging. My first 2 posts here were done remotely, and I certainly like the idea of blogging when I am not at a computer. Interestingly enough, THIS post was done on a desktop.

iBlogger appeared promising when I did an app search on the iPhone. It seemed promising enough, plus it was $.99 at the time I bought it. My first post was done using this application and it handled OK even for a newbie. However, the main problems with it became apparent quickly.

For some reason, iBlogger is unable to post images to blogger.com. Searches to support pages indicate that, while this is not supported, it will be at a later release. That was support for version 1.5. I have version 1.7 and it has yet to be added.

The workaround seems to be to use a supported site to blog. However, most of them have a monthly cost which, as a person trying out blogging, I'm just not willing to pay.

After a bit more of searching, I did find BlogPress. It cost $2.99US but worked just as I wanted. The second post on this blog was made with that app. I still have to find out if there are more annoying kinks to it, but I am liking it so far. For the minimal investment, I have quite a bit of freedom from my desktop computer....for blogging anyway.