Belly Critters on the Lose

Wanting a New Phone

2008-01-17T19:04:00.000-08:00

Necessities and wants. Everyone needs something and others just want them. For some time now I have been wanting a new phone. Yes, I need it because it is necessary for me to know i can reach someone at a whim. However, I want a new one. Mine is functioning very well, a bit of scratches here and there but basically it still functions as it is supposed to. By the way my phone is Sony Ericsson's W300, very good buy around a year ago because it produces very good music and can capture pictures. The reason I want to replace it is that I want a better cellular phone camera. The reason for this is that I cannot have my PENTAX Optio50 fixed for a low price (it's better to buy a new one because the price of fixing it is almost the same as buying a new one). The W300 only has VGA camera cannot produce crisp pictures, well not as near as a 1.3 Mega pixel cellular phone camera, not even close.

Since I like taking pictures and my digital camera does not work as good as it used to and my cellular phone camera won't suffice either, I am looking for a new phone that will fit my needs, as of now. So there, I stated my reasons for wanting to buy a new phone. So what a few demands I want my cellular phone needs to meet?

First, budget wise I am looking for a phone between PhP 5K-15K. It may be very low and unreasonable but, that is as far as my pocket goes. I even like it to be under PhP 10K.(So for anyone who would want to suggest, this is something grave to consider)

Second, my desired features.

One is that I want it to be able to play music, MP3. Well, I do not want to buy an I-pod so I want my music to be integrated with my phone. I want to get the most value of my money that's why I am choosing phones that can do whatever I like it to do.

I also want to have at least a 1.3 Mega pixel Camera, but would greatly appreciate if I could get a 5 Mega pixel, but has to be under PhP 15K. hehehehe...I am such a thrift shopper.

That's basically my conditions for choosing a phone. (As of now at least)

These are a few phones I am looking at and what I particularly like about them.

One thing you will notice, I am only looking at Sony Ericsson phones. I do not like Nokia phones because they cost much and do not boast much of features. However, what is very good about Nokia phones is that when they are Symbian they are programmable allowing the user to personalize his or her phone features he or she wants. Unlike others that limit applications run by java. Nevertheless, I am not so keen in buying a Nokia phone, its so popular that fakes are out in the market.

Sony Ericsson W810i

So far the lowest price I found for this one is PhP 8800. What I like most about its features is that it has a 2 Mega pixel camera, flash, autofocus and macro. Plus, being a walkman phone, it can play music crisply. Further, it has a radio application in case you get bored with the MP3s you have. But most of all the memory storage it uses is Sony's Memory Stick Pro Duo, not as hard to find as Sony's M2, and perhaps not as expensive either. It can support up to 4GB of external memory.

Okay fine, I am so biased into buying this phone because of its price, but I am open to suggestions and other models.

Sony Ericsson K810i

This is one of the Sony Cybershot phones out in the market. It costs around PhP 2000 more than the W810i, but features are good too. It boasts of the 3.2 Mega Pixel Camera with flash, autofocus and macro modes. It can also play MP3s and has a built in radio. The downside for me with this phone is that it uses Sony’s M2 for external memory, which is quite expensive and a bit hard to find. One more thing about this phone is that it looks so elegant, and works well with business attire, unlike walkman phones that looks a bit rugged.

However, I am also a bit sold in buying this one because my friend tells me that I am quite a yearly cell phone buyer, who does not seem to be content. He said that if I buy this one it may last more than a year with me. Haha, he knows me too well.

Now if money is no object. I think I would want to buy any of the following.

Sony Ericsson W960

It is a Symbian phone produced by Sony that has touch screen features. It has a 3.15 Mega pixel camera with autofocus, video in VGA, flash and video call camera (VGA). It is a walkman phone so it can play MP3s with bass settings and it has a built in FM radio. Further, it has a built-in8GB worth of memory, quite a leap from other Sony Ericsson phones. It has other great features, though I am not so keen at looking at them, but it is a great phone for my simple wants in cellular phone features. However, this phone does not have a card slot for external memory, but would you even need one when it already has 8GB.

I am still looking at other phones, but this is what I have in mind for now. I will try to look for Nokia phones that I would want and write an entry for it some other time, so with my other cellular phone wants. But this is it for now.

Photos taken from: http://www.sonyericsson.com

8 Filipinos @ WACBE Congress for Biomedical Engineering

2007-11-20T23:08:00.001-08:00

Thank You to all the people who helped us and guided us to achieve this.

Thank You Ma'am Noh, Ma'am Cat, Sir Greg at Sir Nat...Thank You Ma'am Lori

The eight Filipinos at the Congress are: Sir greg, Ma'am Lori (Sir Greg's Wife), Lester, Chris, Jimson, Andy, Arlan and me.

At the welcoming event, we were overwhelmed with international pica-pica food, drinks and the pretty Thai girl that the ECE undergrads seem to adore. We tried to mingle, note the word try, but we were busy eating and we felt shy against the great old minds before us.

I tried to look for other Filipinos in the event, but there seem to be no other Filipinos but us.

During the first day, we put our posters on their proper boards and attended talks in various fields. It was hard to cover all the talks because there were four simultaneous talks and in an attempt to cover all, the undergrads decided divide themselves to different presentations.

During the breaks, we tried to stay by our poster and share our research with them, but very few really want to take time, look and read. They just breeze thru the posters and take pictures for their future reference.

In all three days that we spent there, that was what we did except for some occasional trips around Thailand. ( We were in Thailand anyway why not squeeze in some sight seeing)

What I learned about other countries during the Congress:

1. Other countries are really advanced in developing new technologies in the biomedical field.

a. A portable ECG machine was made. I felt this could be a good addition to the
Biomedical Database that the Ateneo ECCE Department is developing.
b. Aeronautical Science for biomedical applications is what other countries are trying to
develop. They enhance exercise equipment for astronauts so that weightlessness side-
effects would be less of a problem.

c. Others develop a mind reader kind of machine for gaming. Imagine thinking your next move for a game and
your character already does it for you.

In my opinion this will make a lot of gamers fat however, if maybe it could be interfaced with Wii then it will be
better, making the gamers move.
d. They also think of trying to navigate mice using a remote control. Imagine an RC car but instead of a car you
are navigating a mouse.
e. Yet other biomedical engineers want to concentrate on sports health, creating means for preventing sports
injuries. Knee-pads, knee and ankle supports may already be a thing of the past if knee operations for added
body support be introduced.

There are a lot more interesting advancements and they are sharing their knowledge to encourage more people to join their endeavor.

2. I learned that Filipinos are way better in communicating in English than other countries. It was hard listening to technical papers if half the time you were struggling to understand what they were saying. And sometimes, the technical jargons add to the difficulty of understanding the research.

3. Lastly, sometimes it both adds and lessens your self-esteem walking around in a place where all the other participants are doing their MS and PhD Degrees.

As an overall experience, I will grade this experience A++ being with intellectual minds makes you wonder what the future may hold for humanity. It also makes you wonder, where do you want to place the Filipinos in that future. And maybe, if i get the right mind and get enough courage, I would want to pursue a Biomedical Engineering focusing on Bio-mechanics.

**NOTE: A re-post from my multiply site

Innocent Life: The Futuristic Harvest Moon (A gamer's observation and opinion)

2007-11-20T22:38:00.000-08:00

Innocent life is a game patterned and inspired by the Harvest Moon games for Nintendo gameboys. However, Innocent life is made for the Sony PSP. As the title suggests, Innocent Life is very different from the previous harvest moons because it is set in the future. Like the previous Harvest Moon's you are to take care of a farm, perform basic farming like tilling and preparing your land, planting, watering and harvesting. Also like the previous Harvest Moons you are able to take care of pets, now you have a cat and a dog, and also take care of farm animals, sheep, cow and chicken.There are certain differences in the gameplay from the previous games because now getting rich is far easier than before. I will try to outline some differences and rate them according to my preferences.

If before you have a horse in your farm that you can ride only within your farm, now you have a truck you can drive anywhere that the truck may fit. Although you do not have a horse anymore, you can still ride a horse by learning a special whistle and calling them when within their grazing land. And another downside is, that is if you really like the horse, you cannot control the horse, only watch yourself riding the horse. But the best part for me is that I do not have to take care of the horse, I can devote my time for other farming activities.

I like the cooking part in the previous harvest moons wherein I must collect all the ingredients to be able to cook a decent looking and edible meal. In Innocent life, my refrigerator is stocked with all the freshest vegetables and meets. I do not have to collect vegetables to cook certain meals. Also, to cook, I just have to face the counter and choose which meal to cook. I do not get to experiment on the things in the kitchen like stove, knives and etc. The fun of cooking in Harvest Moon is spoiled.

Unlike the previous Harvest Moons where the whole Map is already laid for you and that all you have to do is move around it, in Innocent Life you have to unlock the mysteries of other parts. Further to get the full capacity of your farm, you would have to gather jewels to unlock the other parts of your farm. It is a bit challenging and takes a lot of time, also I have not gone that far in the game, I am still in autumn of the first year.

I will add more to this topic when I am in my second year in the game.

Missing The Ice

2007-11-20T22:12:00.000-08:00

Around first year high school, I started stepping on ice. I had a coach and all the equipments needed to have an ice skating career. Lucky for me, the nearby mall (Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall) had small skating rink where I could practice and be taught. My ice skating career lasted for about two years until it ended when the skating rink was replaced by a big events area. I guess when the ice skating hype was gone, the mall decided to demolish the rink. Since they demolished it, I had only the choice of enrolling in SM Megamall which was farther than the first rink. I got lazy going there to practice and just decided to scrap the idea of being an ice princess in my head.

I still keep my shoes and the ice skating equipment I have, just for the heck of keeping them and in case I would want to step on ice again. I do go to the rink, if I have the time, just to practice some moves. For some reason, I want to make skating level higher, because I stopped at level 4. I was waiting so much to go to level 5 because I wanted to do the turns, but sadly due to the events that I had narrated, I was not able to continue.

In college, the Mall of Asia was finished, so after say 3 or 4 years I stepped on ice again. I have forgotten some of the moves I learned years ago but I enjoyed stepping on ice again. Although Mall of Asia is farther than Megamall, their skating rink is far better. Hahaha, just because Megamall's rinks has a post in the middle. I am bound to go back on ice sometime soon. Just looking for a companion to go there.

The Entertainer

2007-11-16T00:33:00.000-08:00

How many street singers have you seen? The blind men and women band sitting on the side walk asking for donations. The multi-talented singer, tambourine, guitar and harmonica player trying to get your attention on a crowded overpass. These are two of the common singers and hardworking men and women I have seen on the street. A decent living if I may say, though untaxed and perhaps not a very pleasing scene on the streets, but still a decent living. They provide passers by free entertainment asking only for small changes as donations.

Side walk singers are one thing but a roaming singer going from one store to another, that was a first. While eating in a restaurant Quezon Avenue, a girl walked in carrying a guitar. She went in asking for donations, and if you do gave her some, she will sing for you. We gave her some money and we requested a few songs. She does not know a lot of songs but we were satisfied with her performance. She has a good voice, perhaps due to practice for her small entertainment biz. She creates her own signature voice variations (if that is what it is called) and gives a little dance along with her guitar strumming. It was quite entertaining for a simple store hopper entertainer. A good small decent living with no pretensions, like some who hand you out envelopes saying "its for my education" which seems a bit syndicate for me.

The Story behind the Belly Critter

2007-11-16T00:08:00.000-08:00

Why Belly Critter?

I guess we all have that certain thing inside our tummy(stomach) that yearns to speak. That grumbling we sometimes try to ignore but yet continues to bother you until shared. That is the critter I speak of.

I have a lot of those critters inside my tummy, grumbling, waiting to be shared. Most of those critters inside my tummy are not of my own ramblings but opinions I would like to share.

Belly Critters on the Lose

2007-11-15T23:28:00.000-08:00

Wondering if this is about food, poor you because it is not all about food. Its about the world we live in and life in general. (Now that sounds like a song...) This is a none factual site but a very opinionated one. Probably bending on pessimism, but I will strive not to put much pessimism here because I do not want to create negative thoughts on a lot of people.

Most of the things you will probably read here would be about the things I stumble upon in my insignificant life. Probably a lot of politics because I love to talk about Philippine Politics because there are a lot of things going on in our local politics, rumors and the never ending impeachment trials. As a disclaimer, I am not into politics, not a politician, not a supporter of one but just a concerned civilian.

This is mix of everything I know and think of, if anyone would like to read upon my thoughts.

by the BellyCritter