Playing with no strings attached!

I don't have a guitar. So what? I can't really play that good. But hey, I can still play though. Luckily, there is a device that can almost mimic everything. It can imitate musical instruments like drums, piano, flute and also guitar.

So yes, I play guitar through a device called iPod Touch. I have this application that enables me to play acoustic guitar without having a real guitar. It sounds like a real guitar but it does not feel like it. Errr, it feels like an iPod Touch because it is an iPod Touch.

Yeah, it is playing guitar with no strings attached!

And that was me trying to play "Mahal Kita Kasi" by Nicole Hyala.

I also have a video trying to play that cool thing above with the slightly strained intro of the said song. See it below!

Cool instrument right? I also have a drums application but I can't play it.

@facebook.com. Are you ready for change?

Email is a very convenient communication tool nowadays. It is like the pen and paper mail system but is implemented electronically. Through the years of email, I registered an address several times. My first email is created when I was in grade school. jolobalbin18@yahoo.com is what I think it is. Friendster is so popular back in those days that my inbox was flooded by numerous updates from Friendster. Yes, I still do not know how to turn off those notifications back then. If I was not mistaken, I did not managed to open it for more than four months that it was somewhat deleted.

Now, I have this email account, also in Yahoo that I used and maintained since high school. With that email, I also have three other email accounts. I have a Gmail as a formal email address, I have the DLSU mail that I seldom use, and an email in our own domain.

Facebook era has emerged and they are taking the world not by storm, but by innovation. They launch many features in the past and they are again launching a new feature, the Facebook mail. I think, there core idea for it is integration. Integrating all your messages into one place, the Facebook. Your text messages, chat messages, email messages and all other messages into one inbox. How cool is that? I still do not know. I still do not know how it will affect our daily lives, our daily work, or even our daily bread.

Facebook will giving each interested users with their own @facebook.com. Still, they say that it will not replace emails. They describe it as more of a conversational type of communication, maybe like instant messaging.

All messages in one place just like your letters that was kept in a box. Bringing the past to the future with a twist of technology, it is what the Facebook mail brings.

I imagined texting through Facebook. Or just texting will be replaced by Facebook-ing.

See the official Facebook post here.

You can also read here some advantages and disadvantages of the Facebook mail.

Change "Hello World" to "Hello Chrome"

Do you use Google Chrome? Is it good? Is it cool? Yes it is fast! It is a one of a kind web browser that is launched a not so long time ago.

But if you say Google Chrome is the best, WAIT till you hear the Google Chrome OS.

You read it right. It is a Google Chrome OS. OPERATING SYSTEM. OS like Windows XP, Vista 7, Mac OS X and everything.

To get more info about the Google Chrome OS, you can visit the official Google blog here.

The OS is said to launch on late 2010. Soon enough for us to wait.

Here is a preview of Chrome OS.

If you want to try it, just go here.

Thanks to Kenneth Reyes for the blog title. :D

DVD Rewinder. Want some for Christmas?

I just found something that will be the last thing you will want for Christmas.

Presenting. The DVD Rewinder.

Okay, you may want it. But I will warn you. IT ONLY REWINDS DVD! NOT CDs! NOT BLU-RAYs.

It costs only $15.99. Why with that price? Because it has a special feature. Look closely at the image, it has a switch for MP3. Maybe, it also rewinds MP3. Cool huh?

Buy some, and go rewind your DVDs without that much effort. :D

PS. It's a novelty item only.

Sometimes, IBM.

I experienced two technology flaw in just a day. First, the server of La Salle is down, then the LTO is offline.

Let's start with my school, DLSU. Their server has crashed because a combination of students that are viewing their grades and teachers that are still uploading the grades are simultaneously accessing it and I think, that they can not serve those huge number of counts.

So, the server has crashed. Is that a major problem? Yes. Why?

They could have avoid it. Last term or since my whole stay in DLSU, we have the so called course card day, where grades are given individually with the use of a card. And later will be uploaded to our My La Salle account.

So, what happended? We do not know the real issue on this, but they removed the course card day and just set a deadline for teachers to upload the grades online. The deadline is September 8, 8:00 pm. The tendency is, the students will try to view their grades in that time. Yes, the students, the whole DLSU students.

The DLSU students are accesing the server that I think can not hold even a year in one college (As far as I know, we also experienced server crashes during enrollment which is scheduled one college per day). Many students plus the DLSU server equals to crash.

Yes, I am also one of the students that wanted to have a course card day.

IBALIK ANG COURSE CARD DAY!

Enough for that first rant. Sorry DLSU, this is just what I think and my conclusions. I do not made any research about this. Correct me if I'm wrong.

For the LTO, I went their to get a non professional driver's license. But, what I do not know is that my student's permit is expired. And I still need to get a new student's permit. What's the use of getting a new student's permit? It is like graduating in high school and you just do not go immediately in college. And if applying the LTO regulations, you have graduated in high school but not applied for college, so you need to go back to high school. To break it down:

student's permit > not applied immediately for higher license > get new student's permit

high school > not applied immediately for college > go back to high school

which is totally not right!

OKAY, but still, I followed their regulations, I applied for a new student's permit. But the moment I passed my papers, they said that they are offline. I do not know what is that offline means, but I think, it means that they have no connection to the central LTO or something like that. Again, another server problem. And that problem is still up even all of the people there including me surrendered waiting. They could have think of a better solution.

Because I am pissed of with there service, I just thought of two solutions.

1. One server per office

2. Manual encoding

Maybe, the first one is not that applicable, it costs too much.

The second one, is like reversing to those times without computers. But they still can use the technology we have today, in a different way. They can manually encode those applicant's information and then send it to the main office after office hours. I think that it is better than let the people wait for NOTHING!

After experiencing those, I just think another IBM that can happen, the computerized voting in the Philippines. I wish I will be wrong, but I have a hunch that it will not be successful.

You know, sometimes, it's better manual.

Nobody FEVER!

This was so cooooool! Nobody FEVER it is!



I was inspired to create a video of Nobody using any of my skills. :)) Maybe a Java program that can dance in the tune of Nobody! :D

Big Brother -ish voting

Ngayon ko lang naisip. Bakit hindi na lang nila gawin yung voting for Presidency like the voting for Big Brother? By text votes na lang.

Sa technology natin ngayon, lahat ng tao, makakaboto through texting. Pero naisip ko kung ano problema dito. Dahil pwedeng bumoto ng paulit ulit. Parang madali maging flying voters kapag texting like Big Brother. And flying voters are cheaters, kaya ang mga kandidato ay mas madaling makakapandaya.

Naisip ko rin, bakit ba bawal ang flying voters? Eh kung pwede? Mas madaling makapandaya? Hindi! Dahil kung through texting ang voting, makakaboto na lahat ng ilang beses. Hindi lang ang mga flying voters.

Kung dati, ang mga mandaraya lang ang makakaboto ng maraming beses. Ngayon, pati ang mga tao na gusto ng malinis na eleksyon ay makakaboto ng ilang beses.

"If you can't beat them, join them." Diba? Kung hindi mo kayang talunin ang mga flying voters, gayahin mo sila. At gamitin mo ito para magkaroon ng malinis na eleksyon.

Paano magiging malinis?
Kung gumagamit ng flying voters ang isang politikong mandaraya, syempre, ayaw ng mga tao manalo ang politikong iyon, kaya boboto sila ng boboto ng paulit ulit para manalo ang gusto nilang kandidato dahil yun ang tingin ilang magaling.

Kaya kapag mandaraya ka, ang boboto lang sayo, ay ang mga nabayaran para bumoto sayo ng paulit ulit. Pero ang kandidato na gusto ng samabayanan, ang boboto sa kanya, ay lahat ng tao.

Kahit paulit ulit pang bumoto ang mga bayarang botante, kapag bumoto ng paulit ulit ang lahat ng tao, syempre talo pa rin ang mandaraya!

Kasi nga, hindi nanalo ang kasamaan sa kabutihan! :D

Kung iisipin niyo na ang mayayaman na naman ang mananalo dahil mas maraming beses silang makakaboto dahil nga may load. Tingnan niyo ang Pinoy Big Brother, kung payamanan sana ang laban dun, dapat nanalo si Robi o kaya si Mikee ng Ateneo dahil nga may pera sila pantext. Pero hindi, nanalo parin ang gusto talaga ng tao.

At kung ayaw naman bumoto ng mga tao dahil nga may bayad ang pag text. Pwede naman gawin libre ang vote texting ah. Konting tweak lang yun sa program code. :D

Isipin niyo... May point ako diba?