Opening the season with bad news

I don't like working with terms and conditions and I have a domain name, WarpedOpinion.com which gives away the idea of a blog sharing weird and out of the ordinary insights on whatever. Well, being hyperactive and an avid challenger of life, I can't really avoid talking about myself and all my deeds.I break the essence of my web address, so.....

WarpedOpinion.com will be closing soon. I heard its on the September 16th, on its first anniversary. Sad. Its been a year that I have been working on this and suddenly it has to... wait... I won't stop blogging. I'll just be transferring to another address that is: leolutero.blogspot.com (bookmark!). Those who have already enrolled their E-mail to the Google's system will still receive their updates. If you haven't done so, do it now with the widget at the top right side of this blog.

I also broke my earphones which are second to the most expensive(iestest) pair of hearing paraphernalia I have ever bought. Its sad because I'm really an audiophile that at night, I sometimes hear my ears telling me to get a life and stop listening at full volume. I browsed through my photos and I saw this:

This was the last day of the normal life of my Nike Motion earphones with a slim white band (it doesn't deserve being called headphones). I was swinging at Assumption Iloilo with it and it had motion sickness. It died soon afterwards. (Don't mind the girl in pink in the background. hahaha)

Its been a few days since the last blog post. I have been really busy and I'm just doing this quick post to make sure that my few readers wouldn't suddenly get 'effed up wondering where all the trash they have been reading has been dumped away.

I really love blogging and I just realized that no matter how busy I am, I always try to find time and inspiration to write down mediocrity.

Google's Independence Day Logo and the New Blogger Theme Designer

Google PH's new logo for the Independence Day!

Can you sense my new Blog Theme? Thank you very much to the new Blogger theme designer which is the BEST! One of the reasons why I love Wordpress more than Blogger is that Wordpress' themes are hotter than Blogger's un-updated ones, now for me, Blogger is the best!

Screen Caps of Glee Season 1 Finale

Here are my  screencaps of the Season 1 finale of Glee. 

It wasn't a good way to end a good season. The whole episode was out of balance in emotions but the ending suggested a season 2.

I started getting attached to Glee since I finally figured out what type of person Rachel was. She boasts only the truth and she works for what she wants. I like her although she might have flexed her jaws too much that sometimes when she sings, it confuses me. Am I watching a Jaws installment or a musical? I bet she can chew her whole hand.

Too bad I had to watch Glee from an illegal source. Hulu and Fox streaming websites fear that our third world country will have the equipment to hack their websites. As far as I know, internet advancements in the Philippines are heavily limited by equipment (and definitely not by brains). My teacher even said the Philippine inter-networks are 'dirty'. He said that accessing local websites still require global cooperation when requests and access could easily be processed and transmitted locally.   Just imagine sending a package from Iloilo to Guatamela and then to Manila! 

I can't really rant about why the government doesn't care about our internet technology because I'm glad we are focusing on teaching the youth how to use computers, thus computer science subjects. You know what they say: "Aanhin mo nga naman ang damo, kung brain dead and kabayo mo." I'll rather teach a horse how to chew before buying tons of his food. 

Kpop is an impossible shot for the Philippines

Bryanboy loves to refer to our country as the 'turd' world. It sounds insulting and insensitive given BryanBoy is also a Filipino and is a famous blogger but he can't describe our country any better without lying. There are just so many problems that we can't fix not because we are dumb but because we love to act dumb. It gives anyone the right to call us turds. And even though I try to be the best citizen I can, still in front of me I can see a lot of other people wasting my efforts. The only reason I don't give up is because I love my country. Now the election is over, I hope change will come.

Before change bites, let me rant about one thing that can be described as a fragment of the great turd. The new Ppop industry. Ppop means Pinoy Pop, a name plagiarised from Kpop which means Korean pop. Ppop is supposed to replicate the sales of Kpop bands in the Philippines. Inevitably, Ppop is still trying to climb out of the toilet. In simpler terms, its falling fast.

One Ppop all-boys group which album I have bashed here,  is XLR8 and copying album covers was not enough for them. They had to copy songs.

XLR8's:


SuJu's (original):


Listen to these two songs and you can obviously hear the similarities. Was living in the 'turd' world not enough that they have to fill my ears with 'turd'? The Philippines needs a revolution in its every branch of existence.

Payoneer Card Recieved

I went to school and checked with the guard for any mail intended for me. He handed a dull envelope.

At last, my Payoneer card has arrived! Payoneer is a credit card system specifically designed for those who make food out of online work. Here are very lousy photos of my new prepaid debit card!

Here is the envelope it was mailed in. It was no eye catcher but the return address is local. Does this mean Payoneer has a Philippine office? Or maybe its just a representative.

Here is my new blue debit card resting on the one piece of paper who accompanied it on its way. I was really disappointed because I thought credit cards are earth-shaking cards, stiff with importance, and that they should come with tons of brochures and manuals. This one only came with a short bond paper with inkjet print.

Visit their site www.payoneer.com

Playing MP3s in Fedora the Easy Way

MP3 support is unfortunately not included in the Fedora package because MP3 is not a free file type. In humanity, every good idea just needs to come with a price tag (except everything open-source, of course!). I have looked over the internet for ways of playing MP3 files on my Fedora 12 and unfortunately, all of those tutorials I have seen required at least a month of experience with Fedora. Its been at most 5 days since I had Fedora so I am still a dumb 'behind' with the terminal and yum instalment stuff.

Because I am kind and I'm trying to build the biggest mansion in heaven, I will be sharing the easiest way to play MP3s in your Fedora. You'll need two things though, the ability to locate the System - Administration - Add/Remove Software  application and the luxury of time (about 10 minutes).

1. Search for Audacious. Audacious like every Linux app is for free and is a minimalistic, Winamp-ish player. If you find it, install it of course!

2. Unfortunately, every blessing doesn't come at a move so there is a need for a second move. Now, you need to look for the Audacious plug-in that helps the program read mp3s. Its fairly easy to locate. Just maximize the picture to see my search term.

Voila, you can now start boring holes into your eardrums! Don't forget to give me thank you's in the comments. They make my mouth and heart smile. :-|...

Fedora Linux Review

I am an average computer user. If I rate my I.T. experience and knowledge, I‘d give myself an honest 7 out of ten. I know Windows and I have been using Windows since 1998. Curiosity took over and in just a few hours, I am already booting up Fedora Linux. A Linux distribution which is less famous than the Ubuntu type.

Fedora Linux is legally free, open source to be exact. If your running a cracked/pirated copy of Windows or other systems, its a good thing to switch to Fedora.

My new desktop. Searching for Epson Printer Drivers!

Fedora installation is relatively easy. Just go to their website, download the 690+ MB ISO file and burn it into a disc. Boot-up witht he CD and follow the instructions. If you get lost or if you need some more directions, just look for them on the internet.

The installation was a breeze, the learning curve is not that steep. There was some problem in the first few hours before I figured out about Audacious which play MP3 files (the pre-installed media player could not). I downloaded Open Office (another open-source application bundle similar to Microsoft Office) and voila, computer life is back to normal.

Over-all, I consider Fendora worth a hundred tries. Its very easy on the hardware, very handy, very unique but not alienating. I think I can even say that its better than Windows Vista. Less bumps and hang-ups. Good job for all the people who collaborated this wonderful OS! 

Hopeless Wish

From the title, you can sense that this is a very serious article. Its not that serious and I can still smile while writing this but I try my best to make this very sincere. Maybe someone out there with not only a big heart but also a big wallet or checkbook will care to make a 16-year old, thriving writer happy. Thoughts of whoring myself rush into my mind. Oh shit.

I gathered up all my courage. I looked into the screen of my 12.1 inch laptop. I was running Safari, concentrating on gathering up the courage to visit one of the most magical, almost incredible online store/website ever, the Apple Store PH for Students with discounted prices. 

When enough courage was collected, I typed in the URL and pressed enter. Waited for my Window Vista laptop to work with the data. After a few minutes, behold a Page Load Error. Ooops, a typo. Its a .cim instead of .com. A giggle bursted through my lips. I slapped myself trying to remember this is serious. I corrected my spelling and accessed the site. 

There it laid, upon a soft background of white. The most beautiful thing I ever saw in my whole life since the mirror. A MacBook. Its not Pro, its just a MacBook. Dashing with a pearly white finish, no edges only curves. Very neat and judging from the pictures of the interface, it was made for me. I refreshed my courage and read the price tag. A whooping 49,990 Pesos. 

Ah, come on Apple. I thought this was a student friendly store? Where can a high school student like me dig up that much money? Robbing a bank came across my mind but the guilt will kill me so its impossible for me to get a MacBook at that price tag. I wondered what if I didn't eat lunch for a school year, walked instead of riding jeepneys, even using both sides of the tissue paper. I would do everything for this expensive sheet of pearl and technology. Again, I have to wake up into reality. I will never own a MacBook.

If lotteries were easy to win, I could own a MacBook. But lotteries are never easy to win so I'm not getting a MacBook. If only this, if only that. What if I didn't visit the Apple Store in the first place? Steve Jobs. Huh.

Its about 1 AM and I'm now researching ways to plan what you are going to dream. Just maybe I can be watching YouTube or editing photos and videos on my Mac while asleep.

  

Iloilo, soon to be on green power

Iloilo will be soon friendly to earth lovers! A British firm, Global Green Power PLC Corp. (GGPPC), just signed papers to start the construction of Green Power Panay Philippines Inc. along with a Nueva Ecija subsidiary.

The Green Power Panay Philippines Inc. will be a power plant generating about 17.5 Megawatts using biomass, earth-friendly technology. Agricultural wastes such as rice husks, sugar cane residue and rice straws will be loaded to the future plant  and voila, out comes electricity! The power plants will be great news to mother earth as it complies to nature-friendly standards. The plants will be constructed at Mina, Iloilo. Excited?

Read more.

How to Order the iPad from the Philippines

A few minutes after the release of the giant iPod touch, baptized the iPad, Filipinos logged on to the online Apple Stores to check the availability of this slab of technology in our country. Unfortunately, it isn't available to the Philippine market today. So the following is a tutorial on how to order your own iPad.

1. Look for a US Mailbox. If you have relatives from America, order one iPad using your credit card from Amazon or the online US Apple Store and let your relatives forward the iPad to you, the problem is they will be handling the shipping fee which you can cover by remittance anyway.

If you don't have friends in the US, don't be sad. Getting an iPad is still possible by getting your own US Mailbox. Apply to services like MyUS.com which after signup, will provide you with your own US address which will be in charge for shipping here in the Philippines. Of course, its not for free.

2. Be patient. It will probably take two to three weeks before your product arrives. You can use this method with any product from online stores that sell only to the US.

Note: The Apple iPad will most likely soon be released in the Philippines anyway so you don't really have to worry about not getting an iPad. The question of when is still unknown though.

Calling Using Globe Tattoo Internet Sticks Now Possible

Globe recently released their firmware upgrade for Huawei Modem Sticks but at present only the following models are supported: E160E, E1552, E160, E156G and E220. The model number is printed at the back of the USB sticks.

Click here for the downloads and detailed instructions.

Get more updates by clicking here.

And if you like what you see here, don't forget to share. Sharing enlarges your house in heaven! :-)

Images to Video for Free

I am a trying hard filmmaker and I made an almost commissioned short ad for our upcoming end-of-school party. Philippine Science High School-Western Visayas is known to throw the wildest school parties and one can't be pushed through without one or more video presentations.

Above, I used my DSLR and 20 minutes to shoot footage around the school. I was planning to do a stop motion video using photos. I almost succeeded but its a disappointment when I know I can do better.

PS: I am the dancing guy in the video.

The program I am sharing to you all is the one I used. You can use it to stitch your JPEGs, PNGs or bitmaps into video files. You freely decide on the frame dimensions and frame rates. You can also audio if you like. The program is for free, otherwise I could have not used it. You can get it here. Just click this or this or this. Humor when you click them all. :-)

Get more updates by clicking here.

And if you like what you see here, don't forget to share. Sharing enlarges your house in heaven! :-)

Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefoz, Safari? Which browser will work for me?

I have three browsers installed on my laptop,
Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Mac's Safari for PC. I use these three browsers almost equally over a few months already and I have noticed their strengths and witnesses. Here, WE will try to dig up which browser is best for you.

Do you love installing toolbars, participating in web beta testings, having access to an infinite directory of plug-ins and themes? Do you not mind longer start up times and do you most of the time look for text other than video, photos etc?

Firefox should be your first choice. It is very customizable though some doubt can arise in terms of speed and reliability. The interface is also nothing to be proud of. But its a very good replacement to Internet Explorer which is not included in this review. I just don't use it anymore.

Do you own a YouTube or Vimeo account? Do you listen to online radio or online music players? Do you love online, in-browser gaming? Do you get angry when an application takes time to load?

If your answer is yes to most of the questions above, Google Chrome was made for you. Google Chrome is one of the sleekest, cleanest and fastest browser I have ever used. It is almost bug-less, reason why you don't get crashes often. Although the extensions library of Chrome is not as colorful as Firefox', casual browsing on this program is chocolate cake.

Do you want to feel chic or hot when browsing the web?

And the last browser in our list is for you. The Safari for PC, obviously not a top player scientifically, is of course the most fashionable of all the browsers. Its main power is the interface which is, like all Mac products, easy to learn and at the same time, just beautiful. It has the most crashes, most hang-ups, most problems but its doesn't bother me much. I use Safari for social networking, blogging, e-mail and blog surfing most of the time because the browser just makes me feel chic. Leisure is the treat of this baby.

Get more updates by clicking here.

And if you like what you see here, don't forget to share. Sharing enlarges your house in heaven! :-)

Cellphone Love: Anti-Buying Article

My best friend

I have a Nokia 6120c for a cellphone. First of all, I love it very much. Other phones might have rivaled digital cameras in terms of photo quality, rivaled netbooks in terms of networking capabilities, rivaled Olympic runners at speed or even rivaled cars at battery life, but what the pack.

Do they handle extreme physical stress without retaliating with guilt to the owner? Do they consider themselves worthless in your presence that you feel like they are angels made of microchips and some other parts from China? Do they radiate all attention to you rather than to themselves? Do they make it morally acceptable to throw them around when you need to throw them around? Do they make you feel relaxed even when you temporarily lose them? Do they look trashy so you can look perfect alongside? Do they make better calls or text messages than conventional, average cellphones? Do they contain more cell? Well, if its not obvious. The answer is all no.

So before you roll around the floor, crying over getting the newest phone, read all my questions again. Read it until you realize that even when the rest of the world is gone but you and your phone stand together, you can survive. Cheesy, I know but it might just save you your hard earned 20,000 Pesos.

Take note, I wrote this article all because I want a new, top-of-the-line phone. Making a blog post is therapy for me.

Get more updates by clicking here.

And if you like what you see here, don't forget to share. Sharing enlarges your house in heaven! :-)

TV into Computer, says Smart.

Have you seen the commercial above lately? I haven't but what it is advertising seems to be a cool product but I can't see it being a giant hit because:

1. Smart sells this for 4,500 Pesos which is, for me, too expensive

2. You need a SmartBro PlugIt to use it and

3.If you already have a SmartBro PlugIt modem, it means you have a computer/laptop beforehand.

So why would anyone buy this SurfTV? I don't know but honestly, its really cool.

Get more updates by clicking here.

Metamorph

If you have noticed, I changed my blog theme!

Yes, my friends. This is the new WarpedOpinion.com. An aesthetically pleasing website of disastrous material. Be very happy my minions. Be very happy.

Comment on my loser blog if your happy. Come on people, I need some love in here.

BTW: THIS IS THE HUNDRETH POST HERE!

PLDT Watchpad failed me

Anybody heard of PLDT's Watchpad program? Its supposed to give you several free TV channels on streaming. I'm using PLDT's DSL line and I have a faster-than-average connection so it was only practical to try Watchpad. It was free and you don't come across free stuff all the time.

So I downloaded the application and ran it on my computer. A small window that verified system requirements appeared before the all black, suave PLDT Watchpad interface. Apparently, the PLDT Watchpad is sweeter than I thought. I noticed a log-in page below so its given you have to sign up for the service. I followed the link and the concise instructions. I gave out my account number, telephone number, cellphone number, email etc. I was very excited that I just can't stop shaking. The thought of being able to watch channels on my computer for a supposedly better quality was getting the best of me.

I agreed with their terms and regulations that I can't even read with all the excitement building up inside. I click the 'submit form' button and a loading circular gif file which was supposed to signify 'processing' appeared. A few moments, a note appeared tearing my heart into two.

"An error has occurred. Another pending request is ongoing. Please call 117."

I retried several times to no avail. About calling 117, no thanks. PLDT is not known for good customer service. Take that from me.

Again, high expectations for a disaster. Do I have the right to clamor? It was for free, remember? Now, the PLDT Watchpad icon is lying useless on my desktop. I'm too depressed to uninstall.

Anyone want to try out Smart's SurfTV?

No pun intended.

Get more updates by clicking here.

The New Chatbox

I added a new blog widget! For those of you who haven't heard about it, its called the ChatBox or CBox for short. Its like a messenger where you get to choose your nick and you can send your messages to their servers for display here. You don't need to sign up or anything so be free to do anything you want (except that I delete derogatory messages from stupid people who are near worthless).

BTW: To the girl who asked for writing tips via IM on my previous Plugoo widget, could you please re-post your query on the new (drumroll), updated (drumroll again) and more advanced (and again) Cbox. Don't forget to give me your email. I tell you, I am very willing to help.

Get more updates by clicking here.

Control Your PC With Your Bluetooth Phone

Once in my life, I have drooled over computer remote controls.

I have Windows Media Center on my laptop and I use it all the time if I need to cool down and listen to songs. The interface of the Media Center is really integrated for PC RCs so I looked up the internet if CD-R king had one. Well they had some but I also found out about this cooler freeware that you can use with your Bluetooth laptop and your Bluetooth Java phone.

What A Shame

Well, after being happy and overwhelmed by my Speedtest results (could be found on my previous blog entry), I immediately found a reciprocal to cancel out the 'awe' PLDT baptized me with.

The ping test is to be ashamed of. It's an F or 5 in our grading system or 0 in our class standing grading system. The description on 5 is

"Very poor. Real-time Internet application performance will suffer greatly on such a connection. Test to other servers to confirm the result, but definitely talk to your ISP about troubleshooting the issue."

Should I call PLDT for this matter? The Pingtest website says so. What shall I do? I feel like a trying hard geek right now.