Jenny's Beads

Just created a separate blog account for my girlfriend's bead accessories. It's actually just a hobby (according to her) - instead of spending all her money buying them, why not make them (I actually told her that)?! This way she'd be able to save and earn a little from them ,right? Anyway, the blog is just a way to have a place to upload pictures of her accessories and if she's lucky people would actually buy them. I'll upload some pictures we took when I get home. Gotta start working,lunch break's over.

"Blog Action Day" for Climate Change

The "Blog Action Day" versus climate change was set on October 15,2009. It's an event for publishing blogs, podcasts, and videocasts on why there is a need to reintroduce the discussion about climate change and actions to mitigate its effects to pressure the government to act with a sense of urgency on the problem of climate change.

Bloggers Kapihan is hoping it will and urges Filipinos worldwide to join, said its member and blogger/journalist Anthony Ian Cruz.He said he hoped that on October 15, discussions on climate change would serve as crash course and an eye-opener to how this has affected everyone in the world.

To join and for additional details, visit http://www.blogactionday.org/en/blogs

Internet & Mobile Phones Played Big Roles In Last Weekend's Typhoon

In the midst of the weekend storm, mobile communications and the internet played big roles in keeping people informed - and they proved vital in saving lives. In Saturday's flooding, SMS messages were sent by people either to cry out for help or send information on where to conduct rescue,retrieval and evacuation operations. Social networking sites Facebook and Twitter were also used. Such was the case for some celebrities who either sent SMS or uploaded their pictures and videos to inform people of their plight. Others staying safe in their homes used Google Maps to mark areas severely affected by floods and in need of rescue operations or evacuation. YouTube and other media sites also had video uploads to show how much destruction was unleashed in such a short time. Technology and tech-savvy individuals indeed played big this time and if not for them, the situation we have now would most probably be far worse.

Stressed-Out September

Again after weeks of inactivity , I was finally able to get back and write an entry in my blog. Balancing job with graduate school studies ain't no easy task after all. 1st Semester's over and I just need to pass some other pending requirements then I'll be enrolling for another sem. (What did I get myself into??!! Joke!)

Another stress factor was the fact that typhoon "Ondoy" (international name "Ketsana") hit the Philippine Metro last weekend sending massive flash floods in low lying areas, devastating anything in its path. Add to that the fact that some dams released water to avoid damage to the structure. The really heavy downpour made water levels rise quickly and caught everyone by surprise. In just about 6 hours of non-stop raining, people are already sending out rescue messages as they had to be taken from their rooftops to avoid getting swept by the strong currents.

I myself was stranded in the office due to heavy rains, massive traffic jams and chest-deep flooded streets. My office buds also spent the night there due to the danger posed by the typhoon. Good thing we had internet ,we were able to get breaking news & monitor the situation. Soon , pictures and videos were circulating emails and websites. The picture above is just a glimpse of what happened.(Thanks and credit goes to the owner of the pic) For video clips and updates, go to www.abs-cbnnews.com or www.gmanews.tv . You can also get details on how to pledge donations for victims on those sites or www.redcross.org.ph .

Intel's Upcoming Braidwood NAND Flash Memory Module

I found this article a while ago about Intel's upcoming Braidwood NAND flash memory module, which is aimed at giving users faster boot-ups and application launches. Currently we have SSD's , popularly used for netbooks but these new chips from Intel could kill the solid-state disk (SSD) demand, according to a recent report on the new technology as Braidwood's flash memory is less expensive to install because it resides directly on the motherboard and will offer all the same benefits of an SSD at a lower cost.

Basically, a NAND flash memory module serves as cache for all reads and writes, speeding up the performance of a system. Consumer-grade SSDs use relatively inexpensive multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory, which is about one-eighth the price of DRAM memory typically used for cache in a computer.

This is good news for people like me who always look for more affordable alternatives without sacrificing output. When this technology will arrive on Philippine soil, I not sure but its promise of affordability and performance keeps me optimistic.

Alive Again After 2 Weeks of Inactivity

Being away for 2 weeks from my starter blog kinda left me out of sync from my habit of checking out and learning new and upcoming technology . Well, I had a valid excuse (I think)which was of course, catching up on office work (I have a day job too, you know...) and other assignments for my graduate school program. Well, gotta keep myself informed thru the internet. Browsing and reading will take a while though. Hope I can post relevant stuff soon. =)

Sony's "Reader" Out to Challenge Amazon's "Kindle"

There's a new digital reader in town but it's not from Amazon. Japanese giant, Sony Corporation announced its new electronic readers on Tuesday that has touchscreen and wireless connectivity features in a bid to challenge Amazon's popular e-reader Kindle. The three models are : "Reader Pocket Edition," which costs 199 dollars, the "Reader Touch Edition," which costs 299 dollars (no wireless connectivity) and the "Reader Daily Edition," featuring 3G wireless connectivity which would cost 399.The Daily Edition features a seven-inch (17.8-centimenter) wide touchscreen display and internal memory that allows it to hold over 1,000 standard e-books.It was also announced that the company was doing away with the proprietary software on its e-reader and converting its e-book store to an industry standard format to take the confusion out of digital book formats.The new readers would be in stores in December in time for the Christmas.

New Leopard To Be Unleashed

The New Apple OS X Snow Leopard operating system for Macintosh computers will be out August 28,2009. The new system is a refinement of the previous one and is faster and easier to use than the older Apple OS X Leopard. It is finely tuned for optimal hardware performance.Its latest innovations include better accessibility features to further enhance the Mac experience and it even has built-in support for the latest version of the Microsoft Exchange Server. Mac users will be able to upgrade their systems from Leopard to Snow Leopard for just $29. How's that for an upgrade for the advanced operating system? With the current global financial crisis, that's what I'd call a great deal. Check more details at www.apple.com/macosx .

What Nokia Laptop?

Nokia recently announced that it plans to launch its very first mini laptop. Dubbed the "Booklet 3G" , it is said that it will use a Windows Operating system and will have 12 hours of battery life. Though people are hesitant to get new smart phones due to the world-wide economic crisis , more and more people are actually wanting mobile devices with the full computing power of the PC and this is what the Finnish telecom giant wants to address. The price and availability of its new pocket computer would be announced in September. I've had good experiences with my Nokia devices and I can't wait to get my hands on this one too.

Nintendo Wii Price Cut Off The Radar

Despite the news of the new PS3 being smaller and cheaper, gaming console competitor Nintendo doesn't see any price cuts on its Wii console any time soon. The Nintendo system is the only game console that has not yet made a price cut. In this light, sales might go down and suffer. While users for the two gaming systems differ, some consumers who are considering having one (like me) might face a tough decision whether to buy the Wii with outdated processing power or the PlayStation 3 with a built-in Blu-Ray player. Whatever it is that Nintendo is planning , let's just wait and see if their prices would go down for a better bargain.

New Sony PS3 Announced

Starting next month, the new Sony PS3 will be launched in the US, Europe and Japan to inject life amidst the slumping economy and win back significant market share. It will be a slimmer and cheaper version of the PS3.The new version has a 32 gigabyte hard disk, smaller and consumes less power.

This is a good development considering the price cut and trimmed down form factor making it less bulky. Local gamers can now look forward to having the game console land on Philippine soil soon.

Go! Mag : Globe Telecom's Web Magazine

I was going through Globe Telecom's website,looking for promos and other interesting stuff when I saw the link for Go!Mag- the company's web magazine. It has sections similar to that of a normal magazine,the only thing is it's web-based and has much more diversity about topics that would be of interest to readers and web-a-holics. You can read about what's hot and what's not in the music and film scene, and also get the buzz about the latest in technology and lifestyle.

The Go!Mag screen has three sections: the "Today" section which has all the latest news about anything and everything about the Philippines. Next up is the "Juice" which has all the buzz about movies ,music and celebrities. Last would be the "Urban Hub" which talks about people profiles, lifestyle, technology, health & beauty and travels.

Regardless of what topic you'd be interested in , I'm sure you'll find something that would satisfy your need to read.

Enjoying Idle Time with Mafia Wars

Mafia Wars is one of the built-in games from popular social networking site - Facebook. You can play it while updating stuff probably on your social networking accounts,surfing, blogging or simply attending to other web activities. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started. When players create characters, they start from the bottom and work their way up. You’re given the choice of a name and character type (choose character attributes from: Maniac – energy, Mogul – money and Fearless – health). My personal choice was Maniac since I was fairly new to the game (18 hours to be exact) and wanted to level up quickly just to catch up with my friends. Your control panel show tabs wherein you can choose to do jobs, instigate fights, get property and check your inventory of accumulated weapons. You’re given “Godfather” points starting out but don’t spend them right away, as you might need them later on for more important items.

Do jobs and concentrate on earning money to buy property. Acquiring and expanding property is the best way to earn ever-reliable cash quickly and steadily as they generate recurring income to finance your activities. Mafia members are essential for doing jobs and fighting other families so when starting out, don't build a big mafia since its important for players to be able to dress up all your members with the best weapons, protection & vehicles.

Winning the game are simply stats-based; the the more you have, the better. Despite slow page updates and hang-ups, playing it can keep you occupied and entertained.

Cherry Mobile's Low-Cost Functionality

Cherry Mobile is a new player in the Philippine double-function phone scene and is set to take its share of the dual-SIM market. The phones which are locally distributed by Cosmic Technologies, Inc. should make an impact in the local mobile communications scene since prices of prepaid SIMs have become cheaper along with the growing need for dual-SIM phones. It’s common these days for mobile phone users to have multiple SIMs from different networks thus, the need to have two or more active phones. Dual-functionality changes all that, allowing mobile phone users to simultaneously use two separate prepaid or postpaid accounts, saving subscriber time, effort, money and the hassle of taking off the back cover and battery to switch SIMs or having to bring and manage two or more phones. Phones like these were designed to suit the ever-changing lifestyle needs of Pinoys and could prove very useful especially to those who want to separate personal from work.

Wireless Broadband Is Now More Affordable

Wireless broadband connection here in the Phillipines is slowly but surely getting more and more affordable these days. At speeds around 2 mbps when wireless , you can surf all you want with affordable payment schemes ranging from prepaid to postpaid accounts depending on your budget and usage preferences. It's no longer impossible to have accessible internet connection in every household in the near future. With the existing dsl and cable connections in Internet Cafe's and the growing popularity of wireless connectivity, anybody can enjoy being on the web anytime, anywhere.

Affordable Pre-Owned Handsets

I chanced upon Globe Telecoms' website and found out about this promo they have about their pre-owned handsets and after checking it out, boy, they're really really afffordable. Imagine owning smartphones you've only drooled at in malls at half their original prices. Anybody who doesn't have any issues with pre-owned units, this would be a good alternative. There are only limited stocks so might as well think it through before making the order. Try checking it out.

Why Start Blogging Now?

clicksasfterfive didn't really have a deep meaning. it's just all about the free time i get to spend after finishing my work hours - after five p.m. This is just the time wherein you're no longer bounded by corporate policies thus, you can go online, checkout sites, read your personal email and do updates on your social netwoking accounts - that is if I have any...ha ha...

Letting out ideas and plain simple ramblings encountered throughout the day may they be significant or not will really let out all the stress accumulated all day long by blogging all i want as it's the only time wherein you can SMS blast all you want, chat online all you want and surf all you want without your supervisor looking back at you, wondering what the hell you're doing instead of finishing up your assignments.

Well, that's about it. Shouldn't be that much of a deal. Now I feel better. =)