Skysenshi on Nokia OVI

Gosh, this is another late posting, since Nokia OVI contacted me about two months ago. They created OVI apps for my three blogs.

The blogs with OVI apps are:
Skysenshi
Sarimanok.PH
The Otaku Fridge

Do try visiting them via your Nokia cellphones. I have just become a little bit more accessible and I kinda like the idea. (Now you can keep tabs on my contests, hehe.)

Thanks Nokia OVI!

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Transitioning Phase 2: Go back to video games

It's been five years since I have last stepped foot in the gaming industry and I didn't realize that stepping back in would entail a dramatic paradigm shift. My first day alone was filled with concepts that I had nearly completely forgotten (was thrown into my first management committee meeting immediately), proving once more that a completely academic life would never be enough. Especially if my field of study is in game design and development. Needless to say, I went straight to bed as soon as I got home.

[A stylized photo of my office (so you can't guess where I am haha). Though I am issued a laptop with Windows, I can't seem to live without my Macbook sooo... They seem to be getting along well. Being in our line of work entails exposure to a lot of gadgets...even ones I have no interest in.]

Contrary to popular notion that all we do is have fun and games in this industry, this actually requires massive amounts of discipline. Observance of time is strict, but of course, management peeps are flexi-time (you know, real flexi-time that doesn't make you count the minutes like in most sweat shops). Despite that, we have no qualms staying beyond work hours because we're not tied to the hour, just to the projects. In this company, I am a producer. My boss comes in 15 minutes earlier than I do (at 7.15AM) and the only other two producers are just about as workaholic as most geeks can get. Ah. It has been a while since I've worked closely with men who are very VERY productive. (Elvert is a workaholic but I wasn't with him everyday.)

Dress code? You betcha. Sleeveless shirts and slippers are not allowed. LOL. Seriously, though…it feels good to be back in casual wear, even if I'm intellectually feeling a bit disoriented and highly intimidated.

Paradigm re-shift. There's so much stuff to learn and re-learn, as I need to sync myself with the process once again. Perhaps I can call myself a little bit crazy for accepting a job right smack in the middle of me taking the comprehensive exams (good luck na lang if I fail) and doing my dissertation (my mom, who's also taking her PhD, said that I should not have gone into employment so soon). But how else am I going to write game studies if I'm not doing games? Just playing them only allows for a shallow level of analysis.

Culture? While we have diverse personalities, most gamers are obsessed with balance and justice (because gameplay entails a lot of balancing), so I know I would not have problems defining the parameters of integrity among like-minded people. The owner of the company himself is very conscious of ethical issues -- in and out of the work environment -- so you can expect the same OC-ness when it comes to balancing art, design and technology. It's in our blood. I mean, heck, we gamers have an alignment for just about everything: lawful good, lawful evil, chaotic good, chaotic evil, neutral good, neutral evil etc.

In a nutshell (or as my FB status says): Feels like I've gone back home. Dati nagbibilang ako ng oras bago umuwi. Now parang kulang sa oras gusto ko pa mag-stay. The last time I felt like this was when I was at Level Up...

So there. That's phase two of my re-invention. Although…I'd have to make major adjustments to phase 1 in order to fit that into my hectic calendar of work and PhD studies.

Anyway, just in case you're curious, why don't you try one of our games? =^.^= This one's a hidden object game that I know a lot of women enjoy. Hihihi. Click the image to download.

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Saving your family photos with the right app

One of the things I get really frustrated about is when there's a family moment to capture and photos turn out blurred or skewed and it gets doubly frustrating when you're trying it out on a cellphone cam (sorry, Edgie-kun!), even if that happens to take the sharpest photos among other cellphone cams.

Well, sometimes there are Android applications that can help you fix this. Case in point, Vignette, which I got from EJ Arboleda's tip. You can do all sorts of styles, like Holga, Diana, Polaroid and other vintage techniques. Of course, we don't wanna overdo using this app lest we start getting sick of it. Anyhoo, here's how I rescued some of my family photos (from near disaster) for the Holy Week.

A blurred picture of my brother and sister. I actually have a clear version of this, but the blurriness here somehow looks dramatic.

My brother's girlfriend, Jacy in a contemplative pose.

My mom. She kept making strange faces so I opted for this.

Now this actually took my breath away. It's a Holga-nized shot of the funicular trail at Tagaytay Highlands. You can see the Belle View at the very top.

Using the "Retro" style. I find this shot equally as breathtaking.

My parents having merienda at our Tagaytay house, enjoying our farm's fresh harvest. You can only see their silhouettes.

Here they are again. I love how our parents bond over tennis, farming and eating the fruits of their labor.

Many of these photos came out as epic failures on Shin-Chan2 (my Lumix ZS3). I saved them with my Edgie-kun's Vignette app. But, like I said, we mustn't overdo this lest we saturate the internet with stylized bad photos. Hahaha!

Happy Easter, everyone!!!

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Testing Edgie-kun for Mercato Centrale

(Was supposed to be posting my Visita Iglesia photos today, but I remembered that I didn't bring Shin-Chan2's cable with me. Left it in Manila. Anyhoo, I should have just used Edgie-kun for the photos since I can send them to Mi-Chan2 via Bluetooth. Anyhoo...)

On the eve of my last day at work, Cris, Lei, Rose and I decided to go to Mercato Centrale to find some goodies that I might be able to give some of my colleagues. Alas, I came home with nothing to give them because most of the stuff you buy at Mercato Centrale are cooked on the spot. Except maybe for the desserts.

NOT-SO-RANDOM TECH BABBLE: I was using Edgie-kun (my Samsung Galaxy S I9003 phone) that night just to test it. At the end of the night, I realized that Edgie-kun takes crisp photos during the day. It's a different story for night pictures. In a way, Edgie-kun and Shin-Chan2 have the same weakness. It's just that I can adjust Shin-Chan2's settings because Shin-Chan2 is almost like a dSLR in some ways (during the day, he trumps a Nikon D80 or a Canon 450D). Edgie-kun, on the other hand, is a smart phone. Although highly useful, he's still primarily a cellphone.

Anyway, here are the photos. Will just give my general opinion of Mercato Centrale at the end. (Since I already gave my opinion of Edgie-kun's cam capabilities at the beginning. XD)

Before anything else, Cris and I met up with Lei and Rose (both in black at the far end of the picture), who were having dinner with (from left) JC, Janine and Dinah at Reyes Barbecue in Magallanes.

After that, we went straight to Mercato Centrale. It took us a while to find the place because my sister said it's at The Fort. We thought it was near Market Market, but it's actually nearer to SNR and Home Depot.

This is the first sight that greeted us. Lots of smoke came out of the place because merchants were grilling various meats.

There were different sorts of buffet stalls in one of the wings.

Huge sausages! I bet they'd look yummy to meat eaters.

You can see from afar the various tents that have been setup.

Very healthy pasta choices. The Zuchini Lasagna looked very scrumptious.

This is some sort of a cross between a cheese steak and a hotdog sandwich that's topped with Japanese condiments such as nori, Japanese mayo, fish flakes, kani etc. Cris said that these types of hotdog sandwiches are a big hit in Canada.

Stuffed tomatoes! I love these -- haven't had them in ages -- although I've never seen ones so small.

Ah, pastries galore!! That strawberry shortcake in the middle is pretty good. These were on a buy-one-take-one offer when we went.

And who can't resist a small helping of Brazo de Mercedes? Me, me, me! (I'm actually such a bad blogger right now because I can't remember the names of the stalls we bought from. Argh. Basta! The stuff you see in Mercato Centrale are one-of-a-kind, so there's only one stall selling these babies.)

Small macarons from Empire.

They also sell big ones. They look a little too perfect. Haha.

These frozen mochi were selling like pancakes that night. We wanted to try them but the queue was unbelievably loooooong!

If you find the outer tents too smoky, you can dine inside the airconditioned tents. These tents house the desserts.

Nori snacks. Intriguing.

Various stuffed pizza. Why is it that I never tried them. Haha! They look very filling.

Overall opinion of Mercato Centrale:
Hm. Okay, I'm not really too impressed with Mercato Centrale. It's not so bad, as the wide array of dishes were really something to behold (and taste!) but...I don't know. For me, it didn't live up to the hype. It's too cramped and filled with so many people.

I asked Cris why I wasn't overcome with joy and she told me that I'm not a meat eater (I am, too -- except for pork -- it's just that I don't indulge). It's a haven for those that love seeing their meats cooked and all. She says it has a lot of room for improvements, of course. Like maybe the Pinoys could clean up after themselves. And bigger space would be nice, so we could leisurely stroll down the aisles instead of trying not to get into the next person's face.

Plus, I went down with colds (accompanied by fever and followed by coughs) the next day. I suspect that the smoke from the outer tents was the culprit. My body immediately reacts to cigarette smoke so I figured that it might also react the same way to grill smoke, especially when there are massive quantities of it.

I would like to go back in the future, maybe when they've allotted more breathing space for the area. I know I could enjoy it there, but maybe not now.

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Meet Edgie-kun: My Samsung Galaxy S (GT-I9003)

I was raring to get an iPhone when the Power Mac Center's saleslady informed me that they were out of stock. Honestly, I just really wanted an eReader, and I blogged about my options before: Kindle versus iPad versus Android.

Then I started having problems with my cute cute cute Cherry Mobile P1 Chu-Chu. Chu-Chu may look adorable, but after a while, her features become anything but. Her alarm sometimes doesn't ring and she has become a one-call wonder (translation: you can't use the phone for calls that go beyond 10 minutes). I suddenly found the need for a new cellphone as well.

So when the Apple girl told me that they've run out of iPhones, I went straight to my second choice, Samsung. The first thing I told the Samsung saleslady was, "I want a Galaxy Tab that's not as huge as that." LOL. And here it is:

I call him Edgie-kun, named after the intelligent fictional lawyer Miles Edgeworth of the Ace Attorney Nintendo DS games.

This newest Samsung Galaxy S apparently has a better LCD than the Galaxy Tab itself. It took me a while to get used to it, though. Or maybe this "smart phone" is a lot smarter than I am. Hahahahaha!

In any case, I quickly got addicted to its internet connectivity. I was already Plurking and surfing Facebook long before I even got out of the store.

The only irritating thing I can say is that I want a screen protector that doesn't have that huge logo on it. I want a clean LCD, and a protector for this particular model is not yet available in the market.

It comes with your standard charger and whoopeedoo! A cable connector! That was something I lamented about when I was still a Nokia user. I don't like it when cables come separately (and expensively).

You can change its orientation from portrait to landscape. I prefer this mode when I'm sending a text message, because the keyboard is just too small when on portrait mode. Heck, I even find this a bit difficult to type in. I feel like I must have smaller fingers.

Oohhh, but the best part about texting here is that it asked me to log onto my Gmail account the first time I turned it on and it retrieved all my Google history. So whenever I text, it also shows me my contacts' email addresses, which means that I could send my message as an email if ever I can't use the SMS feature. Provided I am in a (WiFi) hotspot, of course.

One of the things I got addicted to was the fact that there were so many FREE eBooks available for download on the default reader. In fact, this unit already came with two free books, one of them being Pride and Prejudice and the other being The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. When I searched for more books, I was delighted to find that many of them are really priced at $0.00.

While I'm learning further about its features, I'm loving it more and more everyday. You can even take screenshots of the interface! (I discovered it by accident and I had to look it up again on Google since I couldn't remember how I did it.)

Here are some of them:

This is the interface when you access the Applications icon. You can customize this, as well as your "home" section.

Oh and...yeah, Edgie-kun has two cameras. The one in front, right above the LCD is a standard VGA camera. The one at the back is a 5 megapixel auto-focus cam.

This is a screenshot of the Aldiko eBook software. I still have to figure out where to search for eComics but so far I'm really loving this software. You can create various bookmarks with it...like for instance, there was a passage in Pride and Prejudice that I really like, which I labeled "Humility" (since it didn't have a page number):

"Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast."

Fabulous!

And this is the SMS interface, which can also double as an email client. It does resemble a chat room. The messages are archived, like a continuous thread, pretty much like how Gmail stores email exchanges of the same subject.

As for the rest of the other features I thoroughly appreciate?

• Music player
• Voice recorder. Now I don't have to look for my Philips GoGear whenever I need to interview someone.
• Memo and Mini Diary. These almost render my planner obsolete.

Perhaps, one major complaint I have right now is that Blogger's interface looks wonky in it. That's why I still can't use it for blogging with Blogspot. There's a Wordpress app for this, though.

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eReader Battle: Kindle versus iPad versus Android

I had always wanted a Kindle but somehow, after three generations of it, I still have not gotten myself one. One of the reasons I longed for a Kindle is that I mostly do my research online, through SAGE Publication's website. It's one of the credible sources of scholarly journals. I also browse Google Books and Google Scholar when I'm not hanging out at an actual library.

When it comes to leisurely reading, I turn to many fiction PDFs. Though I do love the smell of books and the feel of turning pages, I have to admit that it's quite convenient to have something that stores A LOT of books. This need can be felt most especially when traveling. Or when I'm tired and I don't want to have to carry my laptop with me to the bed.

I have never felt the need more than when I was bedridden during the Christmas holidays. After finishing all my video games, I spent the rest of my time reading online publications. I had my laptop propped on my kneea or on my stomach as I lay in bed. That was really inconvenient, especially since the laptop heats up against your skin.

Why the Kindle?

1. It's not backlit. That means, it would read exactly like a book so glare and sunlight would never be a problem. Plus, your eyes will not be as tired as when you're facing a computer/laptop screen.
2. The 3rd generation can store up to 3,500 books without the weight. (Can you imagine lugging around 3,500 books? That's like carrying my entire bedroom AND our family library along with you.)
3. It has built-in WiFi that allows you to shop and download books.
4. It has dictionary look-up and gives you the ability to highlight and take notes.
5. Battery life that lasts up to one month.

Unfortunately, here are some problems I encountered while reviewing the Kindle's features:

1. I'm an avid manga reader. I searched for manga in the Kindle store and not only do they cost nearly as much as the printed versions, the selections are scarce. Hentai and yaoi seem to be the only ones available in their library. Meep.
2. With very few manga choices, I'd be forced to check out online manga archives. That means, I would need more than just the ability to shop and download books. I need an actual browser. This led me to...

Check out the iPad. Believe me, I didn't want to. The only thing I love about Apple is their Macbook (Mi-Chan2 being my second). I didn't want to make Steve Jobs richer than he already is. In fact, I'd be using Linux Ubuntu if it could support Adobe products...so yeah, Apple is the lesser evil. (No way in hell I'd be supporting Microsoft.)

Why I'm thinking of getting one:

1. It has built-in Safari, which means I can browse online journals.
2. I saw my co-faculty walk around his classroom with it, while grading 3D projects. I walk around the classroom, grading interface designs...with my laptop. Yes, it gets heavier with every student I grade.
3. You can change the reading orientation from landscape to portrait.
4. It has an organizer that looks a lot like my planner.
5. The iBookstore sounds promising.

What keeps me from buying it:

1. Jayzuz, have you seen how much it costs? The cheapest package is $499! I still have not recovered from buying my second Macbook!
2. It's backlit. Which means that when I reach the 300th page of a book, I will start squinting. Or enlarging the font size to about 20pt. That's not very productive.
3. Touch screen. I'm just going to end up dirtying it in the ickiest ways possible.
4. I can't seem to find an online listing of available books. It looks like I'd have to get an iPad before I can browse the iBookstore. What if they only sell American comics? I'm tired of retcons, and we all know American comic books are famous for that.

Then there's the Samsung Galaxy Tab. It looks a lot like the iPad and I suspect it does the same things and more.

Why I am considering this:

1. It's smaller than the iPad, about the same size as the third generation Kindle.
2. It improves on everything that the iPad offers, plus it has a built-in camera AND speakerphone/Bluetooth.

Why I hesitate to pick it up:

1. Anything that's more expensive than the iPad will hold me back. As of this writing, the cheapest available in Amazon.com is approximately $650.
2. Though it has Hulu, a browser with Flash support, the screen resolution makes me wonder if it can support Google Docs. I don't care about Flash support, but I care about the ability to walk around the classroom while grading projects.
3. My issues with backlighting will always be there.

So right now, I am undecided. I have never felt this strongly about gadgets like these before, since I'm more concerned about laptops and video game consoles than things that look like beefed-up cellphones. But anything that has to do with intensive reading (in retrospect, both laptops and video game consoles allow this activity), I would definitely want to have.

Your thoughts?

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Mi-Chan 2: My 2010 Macbook

I reviewed my first Macbook (Mi-Chan) one month after I started using it. This was way back in 2006. I had been quite excited about switching from virus prone Windows to a good ol' Mac OS. I would have gladly switched to Ubuntu, which is the cheapest alternative (plus the geek in me would always go for open source), but it doesn't support Adobe products so...

Anyway, I've had Mi-Chan 2 for about nine months now. I was thrilled about the brand spanking new Macbook with its brand spanking new Snow Leopard OS.

That is...until I noticed that the Macbook had been nerfed.

The first thing I hated about it was that some of the keys don't work until you sort of almost pound into them. Then there's the issue of my shortcuts. Folder arrangements are a mess (you hafta fix your settings for this). It was also annoying that I had to buy a new projector adaptor because the old one no longer fits. The pins are different.  Aaaaaand...unlike my old Macbook, this one didn't come with free iWork, the equivalent of Microsoft Office, or a remote. (Oh, remote, I never knew you were so relevant until I lost you!) By the time I got to the battery settings, I was already missing my Tiger OS.

This part was really glaring and I had to take photos to really make sure that I wasn't imagining the nerf. Here's a photo of the old Macbook battery/energy settings:

See how many options there are? There's just enough for you to choose from without getting bogged down with the details. More importantly, "Custom" is there, so you can simply switch to your custom settings in one click.

Here's what it is now:

Um, yeah. Please don't tell me I have to look for the settings again here, too. I got tired of fixing so many things that didn't need fixing on the old Tiger.

There's one other thing that I found faulty with my old Macbook that I wished had improved with this new one. Err...the distance between USB ports.

As you can see here, I bid goodbye to one of the USB ports because my internet connection happens to come from a gargantuan dongle modem.

You might notice one good thing about that photo, though. The old Macbook gets sullied easily because of its surface texture. Now, dirt doesn't easily stick onto the Macbook's surface. You'd have to be a total slob to manage it.

I also like the screen resolution better with this new Macbook.

I think, though that some of the differences lie in the fact that my first Macbook came from the US and my second came from Canada. The stores in those countries probably have bundles and stuff, much like the tech retailers here.

As for the rest of the downgrades? I suppose the unspoken laws of commodification are to thank for how one simple, perfectly usable projector connector had to change pins just so I am forced to buy a new one. Annoying.

It actually took a while for me to get weaned off my Tiger. (I didn't even want to sell Mi-Chan. I just had to, because I was just so unwilling to part with it that it was becoming mentally unhealthy.) I guess I also had to let go because its RAM and hard disk space are too small for my needs now. When it comes to capabilities, though, I suspect that its current equivalent is the 13" Macbook Pro. Too bad, I don't like boring silver. (I am a kikay geek, after all.)

Overall, though, this baby is not too bad. It is rather fast (definitely no complaints about its performance), quite sleek and pretty. Just don't edit videos on it, for the love of gawd.

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My new cellphone looks like a toy calculator...

Last Saturday, coming home from Raphael Pagarigan's Open City exhibit, I had to pass through the dreaded thieves den that Cubao has been known for. En route to MRT from LRT2, my old old cellphone got stolen. The thief may be talented but he went away with the cheapest phone imaginable (though it had a great deal of sentimental value) and missed the more expensive gadgets: Mi-chan2 (Macbook) and Shin-chan2 (Lumix ZS3) are also in my bag. Har har.

Though I had always said I wanted a phone with a good camera -- so that I can sneakily steal shots of the "forbidden" areas I've always wanted to chronicle -- my actual cellphone needs are pretty simple. I just really needed something to text and call with. I may consider myself a geek but I can unplug myself, pick the practical options and let the artist in me breathe.

Besides, who can resist this cutie?

This is the Cherry Mobile P1, it only costs P999 and it looks like a toy calculator. I can hang it around my neck or my pocket, as if it were a key chain, and no one would be the wiser. Besides, what idiotic thief would go after something as cheap as this?

Check out the back:

It's pink and glittery. I actually like the simplicity of its design and its humble features. (Its calculator has square root and I think I can use the laptop to charge the battery, judging from its port. Neat!) Those who remember old school Super Mario Bros. would probably appreciate the MIDI ring tones. Seriously, the meager selection brought back a lot of geeky memories.

Most importantly, it has an alarm clock.

And it's actually a tad smaller than my credit card.

Love it! Love it so much, I'm calling it Chu-Chu (from Xenogears). And it will be a "she".

I also want to thank Globe Telecom for the speedy service. They gave me a new sim with my old number. Just like that! *snap*

Update (August 20, 2010): The alarm clock works...sometimes. I don't know what happened to my P1 but one morning, it didn't wake me up. The next day, it did. Then it didn't. Then it did. Now I'm borrowing my mom's second phone to make sure that I have an alarm.

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