Think out of the box (with rounded corners)

We all know this is not just between Apple and Samsung. Google is a very, very important player in this war.  That being said, I'm sure you know where I stand. Hehehe. Let me share a portion from a ZDNET article:

You may have noticed that all smartphones and tablets tend to look like each other. There's a reason for that. They all do the same things, they're all meant to fit in a human hand, and the phones are meant to place the receiver at your ear and the transmitter at your mouth. None of Apple's design patents should have been granted in the first place. - Source

Ang masasabi ko lang: Always think out of the box! Is the box patented? Tear. It. Up. Put some cedar garland. Make it original! :-)

Moses has a tablet, this priest has an iPad

Fr. Efren Balistoy, chaplain of the Bureau of Fire Protection, and Fr. Antonio Gerente, chaplain of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, notably used iPad instead of the usual Bible during the mass offered for the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo on Wednesday, according to a report of Radyo Inquirer 990AM. But Balistoy, who owned the iPad, immediately defended the use of technology during the Mass, saying he only uses it in emergency cases. - Source

 Now, some people say this is very wrong because it somehow undermines the sanctity of the mass. What do I say? I think this is VERY UNACCEPTABLE!

The priest should have used a Nexus 7 or Samsung Galaxy Tab!

Money can't buy happiness. (And then there was Nexus 7.)

I have been waiting for quite some time for Google's Nexus 7 to become available here in the Philippines. I don't want to buy tablet netbooks, so, I'd settle for this tablet for now. I am not a good writer/reviewer, so, I'll let the experts do this for you. This is a snippet from an Engadget review, one of the best sources of gadget reviews I know.

The Nexus 7 is an amazing package for something that costs a penny less than $200. It feels like something that could sell for much more. It has a great screen, solid performance and a clean, clear, uncluttered version of Google's latest operating system, Jelly Bean. 

...[W]hile we tend to prefer larger tablets that better differentiate themselves from phones, if you've been toying with the idea of getting a real Android slate but didn't want to spend big bucks for a big device, this is what you've been waiting for. This is the best Android tablet for less than $200 and the best budget 7-inch tablet on the market. For the moment. The race to the bottom in the tablet space is, after all, just getting started and, if the Nexus 7 is any indication of what's to come, we're in for a very good ride.

Oh, did I mention this gadget was developed by Google? :-P

Here she is. 

Free SMS from Google's Gmail

Do you know that you can call any number (landline or cellfone) in US or Canada using Gmail for free? I'm not sure but I think they started to offer this a couple of years ago. They have extended the same offer now. Isn't that cool?

I don't know if you have tried it already but they are also free text messages or SMS to cellphones here in the Philippines. It is limited for now to 50 messages, and they have a standing offer with telcos to open up their network to Google. Also, while they only offer 50 free messages initially, they said it can be replineshed once anyone you texted replies to you.

That's just so cool.

I still haven't heard of Apple giving away ihome ipod speakers for free... and until then, for me, Google is the best!

Apple (iOS) versus Android War Is Over

Let me quote the article from Gizmodo verbatim:

This, my friends, may be the end of the smartphone fanboy wars. I can give my two cents. The rest of the tech community can give theirs. But God Almighty himself, through his appointed papal mouthpiece, has picked a winner.

Hehehe. The article is just outright funny. I didn't go as far as to verify if the Vatican indeed made a press statement about this, but the source is MSNBC... so... I guess they already did their own verification/validation of the news. Here's what Vatican said, according to MSNBC, by the way:

Benedict XVI will activate the illumination from his apartments in the Vatican Apostolic Palace. He will touch the screen of a Sony "Tablet" with an "Android" operating system which, via the Internet, will transmit the command to switch on the electric current to the tree.

Between the green robot and the sinful fruit, the former is closer to my heart. So, here you go:

I guess Jobs didn't go along so well with St. Peter up there.

Android wins!!! Now, All I need some loans preferably with fixed annuity rates so i can buy my next gadget.

Google's +1 or Facebook's Like?

Facebook, I Like!

For the first time in (this blog's) history, I will admit that Facebook owned[!] Google.If you don't have a Facebook account, there is this Like button where people can "Like" a page, and this event is visible to his or her connections. Now, from a consumer's point of view, LIKES are an indication of how good a product or service is. So, a page (product/service/people/places etc) with many likes means consumers rate it higher than similar page with fewer likes.

Google's +1 is just a delayed LIKE button

Now, Google has a +1 button now and this basically functions the same as a Facebook Like. The only difference is, you don't have to have a Facebook account to do this, BUT you need a Google profile. The rest are just the same.

Facebook has this strategy for quite some time already. It's like Facebook created a steel building, and Google constructed a similar one -- but only after, say, 20 years. There.

I hope Google can redeem itself by coming up with something really new. I like Facebook, too, but Google is my first love. :-D

XYZ: The New Blog!

Guys, I just want to share with you how not-busy I am. Imagine, I was able to make another blog? Check this out: XYZ. Hehehe. And for those of you who might ask what the h311 I was thinking when I named that blog, well, I really have no idea. I just can't think of a good name, and I don't want to pretend that it's a techie blog by naming it something like, Eks Is Techie, or The Techie in Me, or Eks and the World Wide Web.

I wil probably be concentrating on tech-related stuff there (read: Google-related stuff, hehehe), but no, it's not going to be a "specialist" blog, so, if you want to know how to modify a Joomla template, how to delete that effin' virus you got from someone else's USB flash drive, how to make Photoshop designs, how to assemble a cryogenic metal hose, well, don't go to XYZ.

But if you simply want to know how to maximize your Google Apps experience, or how to install/modify Wordpress or blogger templates, I could probably do that. :-) (And for my most recent post, it's about switching to the most awesome e-mail provider in the world - Switch to Gmail.)

Anyway, here's hoping you'd visit me there from time to time. I'll update my blog list later this week to include all of you. Peksman.

Good times!

Maling Akala

One of the reasons I chose Globe for our phone and Internet service provider is its free (or so I thought) unlimited calls to all Globe telephones regardless of area coverage. I really thought that when their advertisement said free unlimited Globe-to-Globe calls, it already considered the fact that you really don't have to advertise it as free if it's within the same area. I mean, why would you even brag about free unlimited calls if you are just calling someone from the next town or city, right?

I called their hotline just a while ago and I found out that I was wrong. I felt really stupid actually. But at the same time, I felt like a victim of false advertising. As it turned out, they have to advertise the free unlimited same network calls, because if I call someone who is using another network, even if that someone is just in the next office from ours, they would charge us with long distance rates. Connectivity issues daw. Haist!

And just a few days ago, I thought the least of my financial worries would be replenishing office supplies regularly; now, I cannot just call Aling Virgie to deliver purified water to our office as it would be charged long distance. Tsk tsk tsk.

Makes me really want to shout, Google is the best company in the universe!!!

I am now using 27++ Gig Gmail. Thanks, Google!

In this post, I mentioned that Google is offering an extra 20 Gig for 5 USD per year. And I just want to update you guys that I took it. I bought an extra 20 Gig! Ang lupet! And because of that, my email usage capacity was significantly reduced to 20%! Hehehe. Saya!

Google is probably investing so much on their server farm.

Oh, also, I have started creating accounts for the Google Apps I mentioned here. I have a .ph domain, and the host only offers 5 e-mail address accounts for that (and 500 MB server space, I think. Well, boooo to them. With Google Apps, I now have 50 available e-amail accounts under my .ph domain, and 7 Gig capacity for each of these account. Ha!

Long live, Larry and Sergey!

Ever sent an email late at night, then, regretted it the next morning?*

It happened to me not just once. Probably twice. The most embarrassing was when I sent an e-mail to a U.S. client of ours at around 3 in the morning. I was so sleepy then... so tired. As far as I can remember, I was drafting an e-mail to this client, and then, all of a sudden, I woke up and found out that I already sent the e-mail.

I quickly checked the sent folder and saw a very embarrassing line in that e-mail. I think it said:

Uy, tara, kape naman tayo, antok na antok na ako!

The e-mail was addressed to the client, and CC'd therein are my bosses both in the Philippines and those based in the US. (It's a good thing, I guess, I wrote in the vernacular. Imagine the embarrassment had I said, "Hey, can you tell me where the the most affordable flower delivery in Los Angeles is? I need to send some flowers for my mom." Argh!)

But now, I am hoping it won't happen again. Check this out:

Buti na lang di kelangan ng SOH-CAH-TOA dito. :-)

This is an application from Google Labs. You have to enable it in your e-mail setting. You cannot send an e-mail without answering these simple problems first within 1 minute. You can actually schedule this "check" anytime or any day. For example: Perform this check  from 11PM to 6AM of any given day, which means, you cannot send an e-mail during that period without answering the problems first. The idea is that, if you are soooo sleepy and tired, the above simple problems may not be as easy as you think they are. This means that chances are, if you are so sleepy and tired during that time, and cannot even think and answer simple problems, you might want to reconsider sending any mail without reviewing them when you are wide awake. Make sense to me. Hehehe. But just for fun, I scheduled this application to run always. :-)

Google \m/ !!!

*Whew! Haba! Hehehe.

20 GB at 5 USD per year? Tempting!

I saw this offer from Google where you just have to pay 5 USD for an additional online storage (20 GB total including your existing 7++ GB). And I am really, really interested to buy one. I've reached 90% capacity so many times and I think this extra storage is just so cool.

In fact, I might go for the 80 GB plan!

Or 1 TB? Hehehe. I can store my whole life here!

Doctors may write the best diet pill review, but Google is just the best in making things better. (Really better!) More innovations, Google geeks!

How would you like to work here?

I've been to three companies already after I graduated in college. The first one is with a non-profit company where my job requires me to be out of the office almost all of the time (but inside the death row every weekend). The second company requires me to be sitting down at least 8 hours daily -- but no, I was not THE boss in that office. And the last one, well, this last company that I've work with is more of a combination of the previous two -- a few hours of office work, and a few hours of field work.

Needless to say, I did enjoy working with all of them. Probably because of -- no, not probably... I did enjoy working with all of them because of the people I work with. :-)

Anyway, truth is, I just mentioned this because I remembered this favorite company of mine. Google. Have you seen pictures of their offices? They are not like the typical concrete or metal buildings that you see around. See for yourselves:

Look at the last image! A slide! Hehehe. Now, if only I can find my way to work into one of these offices...

Google Apps: Post 1

I've mentioned a few days ago that I'll be sharing some stuff about how awesome Google Apps is, right? If you can't remeber it, it's probably because you didn't like that post in the first place. Or it's just not your thing.

Anyway, one of the best feature of this Google Apps is the free use of Google's servers for your email. In the pre-Google world, you have to buy a domain and a web host for you to have personalized e-mail and a decent online capacity. Most companies even buy licenses from Microsoft for its Exchange Server, and an MS Office license so you can have access to an MS Outlook for your desktop access to e-mail. I'm thinking of hundreds of dollars PER user account on this setup.

WIth Google Apps, you only have to purchase your domain name (not more than 10 USD), and you can have all of the above features for 50 (FIFTY!!!) user accounts. Isn't that amazing? Each user account has a 7 GB mail storage capacity plus the usual access to Google Docs, Calendar, Chat etc.

Another awesome thing with Google Apps is that you can even cutomize (limited, I guess) its interface -- change its Google Gmail logo, color, etc. It is as if it's really one of your own paid host. Hayyzzz... Lupet!

*Truth is, I really woudn't be surprised if Google comes a free OS soon... or even the best acne serum in the world. It's just in their blood to change how we live our life.

Google Apps from, well, Google

Did already tell you guys that I am a Google super fan? Hehehe. Everything about Google is so awesome. You don't believe me?

• The founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin come to work as if they're just visiting some college dudes in another dormitory. They sometimes arrive in conference/meetings wearing just a t-shirt, jeans, in their roller blades, you know, just pure awesomeness.
• They have rejected funding/investments for years (but giving in eventually, of course) because they don't want capitalists dictating what their direction would be.
• They require their employees to spend 20% of their working time on projects that are not dictated by the management, i.e., on things that they want to do, and not the things that they need to do.
• They have free almost-everything in the Google Campus – free food, free RnR, free laundry, free transportation (mountain bikes and battery-powered cars), and, well, everything else. (spas? Yes, even spas.)
• And yesterday, I have just found out that Google is actually offering its Google Apps for free. 

Just a preview of what that can offer: Just have your own domain (sometimes less than 10USD a year) and you can have 50 user accounts under that domain with 7GB each... for free. No need for exchange server from Microsoft, no need to buy more hosting services, no need for Microsoft Outlook (and pretty much everything from Microsoft Office can be scratched). With Google, you almost like have a dedicated hosting partner for free!

I'll probably write some more about this Google Apps soon.

Google rules!!!

Did you know that you can change the background of Google's homepage using your own images? Well, if you don't know that, you can.

You probably have noticed that I am a Google fanboi (and if I only have a microphone and a decent audio setup, I'll probably announce it to the whole world), and having a unique Google homepage (courtesy of this feature) is really, well, fun. You should try it, guys. Go to google.com, and look at the lower-left portion of the homepage. See screenshot below:

Once you've customized this homepage, you'll see the same image in any PC as long as you are logged in. Here's mine:

A Glimpse of the Google TV

I am a Google fan even before Gmail can be availed of without an invitation. I am not really sure if I remember it right, but I think it was TPS who sent me the invitation to open a Gmail account.

Anyway, Google has gone from a search company to Massive Dynamic-ish corporation. Right now, one of the gadgets I am excited to get my hands on is the Google TV. I mean, look, it is a TV but it has apps, it can search the web... the whole web. You can just put it in your living room, watch your favorite show, or browse your favorite Youtube videos -- all these things in the comfort of your fingertip, while you are comfortably lying down on your sofa. Di ba?

Either I apply for payday advance loans or I really have to win that Mega lotto tonight! Argh!

Google: Imagining the impossibilities

It's probably not an impossibility for Apple to come up with an iTable, or an iBlanket for that matter (and I'm sure you know what I mean by these two gadgets). I wouldn't be surprised if Nokia would come up with a cellphone which can project holograms or something like that. And again, Microsoft building a Windows version that is "almost bug free" is not that surprising. (But IBM offering term life insurance quotes? That is something else.)

But Google is the only company I know of that keeps on doing something that normal people like me did not even think of as possible within the next few years. Here's report from Yahoo!:

Google tests cars that can steer without drivers

By DANIEL WAGNER, AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON – Google Inc. is road-testing cars that steer, stop and start without a human driver, the company says.

The goal is to "help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions" through ride sharing and "the new 'highway trains of tomorrow,'" project leader Sebastian Thrun wrote Saturday on Google's corporate blog.

The cars are never unmanned, Thrun wrote. He said a backup driver is always behind the wheel to monitor the software.

It's not the first signal that Google wants to change how people get from place to place. In a speech Sept. 29 at the TechCrunch "Disrupt" conference, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said "your car should drive itself. It just makes sense."

"It's a bug that cars were invented before computers," Schmidt said.

The cars have traveled a total of 140,000 miles on major California roads without much human intervention, according to Google's corporate blog.

More... 

I mean, Google started out with its search algorithm, and now, look at its ventures -- green technology, "mainstreaming" trips to the moon, phones, and now, this? Google is like Massive Dynamic!

Next stop for Google: Beam me up, Scotty!

The Google StarShip!

:p

Araw ng Kalayaan

E sa gusto ko sa Google page ko kunin ang larawan eh!

Maligayang Araw ng Kalayaan sa iyo, Inang Bayan.

[PS: Malaya ka na nga ba?]