I’m going to sue PLDT

For not having a backup system in place to prepare for situations like the Taiwan earthquake, no matter how rare these might be.

For not finding an alternative means of reliable internet connectivity during said time period.

For losses incurred by my internet – reliant business during period, both for present and future activities.

For relying their long distance and internet business on underground cables that connect to a country that is known to lie on an earthquake fault.

Should I be billed my full PLDT DSL bill during said period, and not given a discount or rebate, whether I ask for one or not, I will sue them for this as well.

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Informatics Galleria T-TH 6-9PM, and the seat of my pants

And just like that, I am now a Part Time Trainor again at Informatics Galleria. I decided to inquire about openings on Wednesday two days ago while on a lunch break with Ge, found time to submit a resume that evening, and by yesterday was signing a contract to teach Basic Photoshop for 15 hours at the aforementioned time and dates.

I think what I was thinking was: 6-9PM is the absolute worst time to get a ride home from Galleria to Cainta. By 9pm the traffic would’ve cleared, and since I have to go to my client there from time to time, I figured it’s time well spent. Besides, I did enjoy the teaching gig a few years ago, and [tag]Photoshop[/tag] is my life, my love and my happiness. It is however, extremely tiring and draining. Although its supposedly just 3 hours every t-th, it’s an additional hour or two preparing for that, plus making sure everything else in your life is working so as to free up that time for it.

Continue reading Informatics Galleria T-TH 6-9PM, and the seat of my pants

Article Repost: Finally Vista, and other Tech Predictions

Here’s the orig ver of my article that came out yest

Finally Vista, and other Tech Predictions
Gabriel H. Mercado

Coming into next year, look forward to gadgets that are friendlier to each other, an Internet with more to see and hear than just read, and a big Scandal or two, all the while wondering if you should upgrade to Vista. Here are my predictions.

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We’re looking for an accountant

or someone who can help us:

  1. learn to set up our books.
  2. develop sops to keep track of expenses.
  3. learn business best practices.
  4. i’m saying the same things am i?
  5. ok what else..
  6. sing and dance?
  7. particularly ‘on my own’ ala Mau Marcelo, the 1st Phil. Idol.

No, seriously. We need someone to teach us keep track of stuff. It’s not like we’re raking it in, it’s more like Jill doesn’t listen to me when I try to teach her how important it is to use Excel instead of bits of paper when she does her ‘accounting’. Hehe. Seriously. I also need someone to help me as Jill is going to take the bar this year, and she seriously needs to start burying her head in reviews. Terms after the ‘more’.

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The Complete and Absolute Mayhem of A Manila New Year

I surveyed most of the damage of last night on the way home an hour ago, around 630AM from Jill’s house in BF Homes P’que to finally here in Cainta (yes we live that far apart. It’s ok, we adjust). Some people were already awake, sweeping the streets, the rest most likely conked out in bed or in a dazed stupor.

The air is completely thick with smoke from pyrotechnics all over the city. It had already been pretty windy last night but apparently that wasn’t enough to blow all this smoke away. Here in my room where the windows were closed all night, the smoke is creeping in and I can smell that familiar smell of a Manila New Year.

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3 Reasons Why I’d be Stupid if I returned Microsoft’s free Laptop

A thought occured to me as I was waiting for the Ortiz – Liddel fight. I hope I can type this out quickly enough before the fight starts.

Let me tell you something. If Mae Rivera, PR head of Microsoft Philippines gives me a free laptop to review Windows Vista with, then I would do the following in this order: 1. thank my lucky stars, 2. thank her, 3. thank Microsoft, 4. tell the world about it via my blog, and 5. go and review Vista with it.

Doing so, I think I would be doing the right thing which are (again in numeric order. Sorry, I like trying to organize my thoughts): 1. Thank all those responsible for giving me a gift. 2. Tell everyone about it, just because it’s an interesting thing to share, and 3. Review Vista with it, and share it with as many people as possible (regardless of your opinion being positive or not) which is the least you could do.

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All your eggs. In one basket.

So here’s my plan. I’ll move my hosting lock stock and barrel to PLDT (provided they actually have hosting rates that are anywhere near realistic), or some universally recognized data exchange (and by universally I mean Globe, Bayantel, Smart, PLDT, etc.), and they’ll be the only reliably accessible sites in the known universe! (and by universe i mean Philippines, which is my target market anyway).

Sounds like a plan ‘no?

Seriously, although all those mighty telcos from Singapore to Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and over here are scrambling all over the place to get those undersea cables fixed, I highly doubt we’ll get anywhere near normal performance until way into February.

I mean, those guys said it themselves in this article, when they said they won’t invest in a backup solution because basically, the chances of a disaster is so remote they pretty much lay down those cables once and forget about it “for a hundred years”.

Continue reading All your eggs. In one basket.

SOP 2006 Tech Roundup Article Repost

So you thought, since you don’t have the Inquirer sent to your house, or since you aren’t able to load Inq7.net on your browsers today due to an earthquake in Taiwan that severed many underground cables, that you wouldn’t be able to read my article on The Year That Was In Tech 2006 now did you?

Well guess again. Here it is in its full, unedited version, fresh from my hard disk into your monitor, the pixels burning into your eyes, onto your brain, and into your deepest subconscious. And remember. As you sleep at night, that there is no escape, NO ESCAPE, from me and my articles. I am like… a cockroach. A COCKROACH I tell you.

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Review – Like Water For Chocolate

I spent most of Christmas Day doing two things, reading and trying to sleep. Since I am not very good at the latter, the day was saved halfway by the former as I happened to pick up one of the most sumptuous books I’ve ever read, [tag]Like Water For Chocolate[/tag] by Mexican author [tag]Laura Esquivel[/tag].

Part mystical, part historical and part soap opera-ish the book is basically about the life of [tag]Tita[/tag] [tag]de la Garza[/tag], youngest of 3 daughters of [tag]Mama Elena[/tag] de la Garza, who ran a ranch in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. The young and beautiful Tita is a wonderful cook who is faced with the dreary future of serving her mother till her death, forsaking even marraige, as is the rule amongst Mexican families at the time. Sure enough, the handsome Pedro comes into her life, but his request for her hand is naturally rebuked by Mama Elena. To compensate, she offers instead her eldest daughter Rosaura, whom Pedro agrees to marry instead, secretly admitting to Tita that he is only doing so to be able to live close to Tita.

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Thinking of my blogs a day before Christmas

It’s a day before Christmas and I’m writing about my blogs. Call me obsessed.

Anyway, a few months ago, a blogger in a (more or less) popular group blog was peeved at a recent news announcement (i’m gonna try to make this as anonymous as possible, basically because I’m a nice guy, but really, I don’t wanna piss him off either because – well, it’s just too easy). Anyway, there was news / PR item which really ticked him off and he wrote about it on their blog of course.

Prob was, it was purely a PR item, and whilst I tried to explain it to him on their comments section, and tried to get him to email me to keep from explaining how it (PR) works to him in public, he was intent on keeping pissed, and even emailed the parties involved, which was the right thing to do if you wanted to get to the bottom of it, but unfortunately instead of investigating, he went ahead and lambasted them for their decision, being, in his mind representative of the Great Philippine Blogosphere (what is that anyway? aren’t we all just writers / publishers?).

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