The `Aifung'

Lookit, the iPhone and the aifung (iPhone clone)!



News came out last September 12 that market stalls in Taipei have started selling these knock-offs for an absolutely low price since December of last year, six months before the iPhone debuted in the United States. The Apple logo and the touch-screen functionality looks like the real thing. Apple, however, intends to offer iPhones in Asia not until 2008.

The i-clones are produced in batches of 1,000 at a factory in Shenzhen, China. This manufacturer describes that he advertises his phones over the Internet and sells them for 8,900 New Taiwan dollars, or $270.

Now Steve Jobs cut the price of the top iPhone to $399, a $200 reduction.

The i-clone maker says of his production, "The hard part is the design and the exterior." He also mentioned that his operation has sold more than 10,000 clones in Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States.

But Apple is not the only victim. An analyst in London said that the fakes come with labels like "Nokian", imitating the brand of Nokia, the world's biggest cellphone maker, and "Snog Ericsson", a corruption of the Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications' trademark."

News source: Bloomberg (Photo by Ubergizmo)

All That I Am

Today while the skies are gloomy and dark
My heart beats with a melancholic spark
It hopes to be eternally serene and tranquil
As I lay everything now in God’s will

Love is blind, as Shakespeare once wrote
Three words that became my own dear quote
An expression made true by my own doing
That now I ended up believing in something

I loved, I lost, my heart forlorn beyond measure
I will get back on track I know that for sure
For loves lost are the ones forgotten and far away in bedlam
What will make me live is simply the thing that I am.

World's Oldest Blogger

She is Maria Amelia Lopez from Muxia, Spain, nonagenarian, blogger.




Her grandson Daniel introduced her to the world wide web late last year and since then, she has been writing just about everything from her trips outside Muxia, trips to the doctor, her swollen joints, and even poor broadband internet penetration in a nearby town.

She considers her Internet journal a debut into cyberspace, "a whole new universe out there."

Wow. Undeniably the world's coolest granny blogger for me, because for her, blogging has no borders or age limits.

Felicitaciones, granny!

Writer's Block

For almost two months now I have been remiss in my blogging duties. I don't know what explanation I can give except I found myself stalling in the hustle and bustle of my daily existence. Although not that busy, I was sandwiched between a backlog in household errands and chores, taking care of my son, looking into repairs in the abode, among others.

I celebrated my birthday a bit quietly, I just had my friends for dinner and that made my 32nd year. I told myself, I gotta be 32 flavors and then some. Some more passion with what I really dream of accomplishing in my life, some more time with myself, some more time with the Lord, some more peace of mind. Very wise wish if I may say.

For the time that I had a writer's block or lack of topic to write about, I come to work each day mindless of time, usually idle and running out of something valuable to do. Then I discovered there is really more to browsing the web, it seemed entertaining because now one can watch an entire movie online. From TV series to documentaries, even old flicks are all there. Name it, they have it. And there are tons of sites to be able to see these films. But that's another discovery of mine. This month, there is a handful of season premieres to watch out for, Grey's Anatomy Season 4, Ugly Betty Season 2 and Private Practice Pilot Season. I love watching these shows.

Because of the web, I also became sort of a "psychosomatic" individual (but I fear this because it might turn me into a phobe freak). Everytime I felt something was aching here and there, I would look up for causes of these so-called symptoms attempting to find a specific medical condition. And I'm telling you, this is where I encountered terminologies like "plantar fasciitis" or "myocardial ischemia" or "gastro esophageal reflux disorder"....and the list goes on. It is highly educational indeed.

Then for most of my free time I learn songs in Portuguese, Brazilian, Spanish, and French. I realized I should have taken up Foreign Languages in college instead. Songs that are hard to sing are the ones that put my in my element, giving me a different perspective, a very worldly perspective of things. Right now, I am learning to sing "One Note Samba" performed in Portuguese by Astrud Gilberto and "Samba De Mon Couer Qui Bat," a French cut by Coralie Clement from the soundtrack of Something's Gotta Give.

Then entered my interest in this DVD collection I saw one time in home tv shopping. The Hip Hop Abs is a different kind of exercise series. The trainor is Shaun T teaching weight loss buffs to groove to the hip hop sounds and swear by its engagement principle "tuck, tilt, tighten." I am now on my second week with hopefully getting the dream abs. I sure was a groovy dancer in my twenties but then again, so help me God with these workouts.

I Heart This Show

Here's an interesting teaser of what I love watching now.

The Most Powerful Documentary I've Ever Seen

This morning I saw "An Inconvenient Truth," a very insightful documentary presented by the former vice president of the United States Al Gore. For the entire 90 minutes of the film, I was practically glued to every detail he uttered about how much we are losing in our environment. Fortunately, the viewer I used on my PC was savvy enough for me to take snapshots or video grabs while it was running. I felt I had to provide this kind of information to everyone I know because I believe we owe it to ourselves to know this and awaken our sense of responsibility to our future generations.

Al Gore seamlessly elaborated on the factors for collision with preservation of the earth's atmosphere. He says one is population which is directly proportional to food and water demand; and technology, meaning the gadgets and devices we buy, the cars we drive that equate to increasing carbon emissions that trap our stratosphere. Each of us, technically speaking, is a cause of global warming or the climate crisis.

Al Gore's documentary was so stunning in that it showed the ramifications of the environmental concern we are facing. The hurricanes specifically Katrina in New Orleans; the meltdown of glaciers in many parts of the world; even stronger typhoons in Asia particularly in India, China and Japan; drought in Australia; and the increasing epidemic the most popular we know is SARS; other resurgent and redistributing diseases; all of these have posed a global warning to us.

As the film went on, Al Gore presented a wide array of elementary solutions to combat the threat to our existence. Firstly, we can utilize renewable resources to help save the artic ice cap for instance, to capture these carbon emissions, to lessen the consumption of energy, to save gas, to eradicate water and air pollution, and the list goes on.

In one part of the film was I astounded when Al Gore said "political will is a renewable resource." Yes, I truly believe that. In the U.S., they mentioned that people should write to Congress and be active in imparting this information. With new technologies coming into the fore of our present civilization, we as earth's inhabitants should submit to our moral obligation to take part in changing the way we live. This film teaches us that doing the right thing moves us forward; the solution is in our hands!



The question is are we capable of rising above ourselves and our history?

If we don't wake up and act on it now, this will be the very same question our children will ask in the more alarming future.

Let us pray that we find the strength to wake up to this moral challenge that is upon us. After all, the earth is our home.

For your interest in global warming and to take action on it, visit www.climatecrisis.net.

What's that sound?

Not that I want to be an Alexandra Patsavas (music supervisor of Grey's Anatomy), but since I consider myself to be an uber music disciple, I have found that there is more to sound in its technical aspect. I regularly update the songs or audio files in my iPod, and then one day I thought it would be nice to familiarize myself with these acronyms I encounter in my field.

Many file extensions came about in this generation of "everything digital." Now what do these stand for? For the sake of awareness, here are some of the most common technical terms in sound:

AVI - audio video interleave

AAC - advanced audio coding

AMR - adaptive multi-rate

WAV - wave / waveform audio format

WMA - windows media audio

MP3 - mpeg audio layer 3

MPEG - motion (moving) picture experts group


There you go. Now enjoy that sound.

A Cute Surprise

I just got a cute surprise gift from my counterpart in Singapore. Look, it's such a cute pen holder! I have not met this lady personally but the thoughtfulness sure wreaks out of her character. Wonderful surprises such as these, however small, make my day really. In the world of temporary insanities, I find it hard to believe sometimes that goodness still flows.

Ah, talk about goodness. Perhaps my instant friend knows the secret too. Good for her!

"The Holiday"

It suddenly dawned upon me yesterday that I have not seen The Holiday yet. I read some critics' reviews and out of curiosity I grabbed a copy of this movie and saw it last night when I came home from work. Since this is a film written and directed by Nancy Meyers of Something's Gotta Give, I was all the more excited to see another one of her masterpieces. The flick was 2 hours and 15 minutes long, but I truly enjoyed it! Certainly "meet cute." Anyway, here's Kate Winslet's (as Iris) narration at the beginning of the movie that fittingly describes love in all forms and conditions:

"I've found almost everything ever written about love to be true. Shakespeare said "Journeys end in lovers meeting." What an extraordinary thought. Personally, I have not experienced anything remotely close to that, but I am more than willing to believe Shakespeare had. I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by its sheer power to alter and define our lives. It was Shakespeare who also said "love is blind". Now that is something I know to be true. For some quite inexplicably, love fades; for others love is simply lost. But then of course love can also be found, even if just for the night. And then, there's another kind of love: the cruelest kind. The one that almost kills its victims. It's called unrequited love. Of that I am an expert. Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other. But what about the rest of us? What about our stories, those of us who fall in love alone? We are the victims of the one sided affair. We are the cursed of the loved ones. We are the unloved ones, the walking wounded. The handicapped without the advantage of a great parking space! Yes, you are looking at one such individual. And I have willingly loved that man for over three miserable years! The absolute worst years of my life! The worst Christmases, the worst birthdays, New Years Eves brought in by tears and valium. These years that I have been in love have been the darkest days of my life. All because I've been cursed by being in love with a man who does not and will not love me back. Oh god, just the sight of him! Heart pounding! Throat thickening! Absolutely can't swallow! All the usual symptoms. "

So true, indeed.

How 'bout a do-over of the movie tonight? Hehe.

"The Other Side of Your World"

My alter ego speaks.

As you turn a year older, you assess, you turn back time (like you always do), you recall, and you treasure beautiful memories in your life that have left you nostalgic, melancholic, always. You just close your eyes, wherever you may be, just when that sudden attack of loneliness pinches you, you just know. After all like you always tell yourself, you are now one who believes that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

And so back in college was the life of trivial and negligible things. Memories of that football field would bring you to think fast times with your group of friends or batchmates or blockmates. Sneaking through basketball players’ locker rooms, escaping tennis practical exams, crashing in friends’ parties in clubs, filling the long gaps with strolls in the malls. Everything else showed facets of college life, a step short of supreme adulthood and major responsibilities. Joining the mass choir made for an uplifting pursuit except for the fact that falling for the choir leader never felt so hopeless and futile. It was mere infatuation, or if you will, wishful thinking. But it felt good. Think Sleepless in Seattle good. Even if those were gloomy, stormy days you remember. Your point is, it was certainly good.

You have never appreciated making a thesis more than when you were all set to march down and throw your hats off to burning eyebrows and earning degrees. Here you tell yourself you’re ready to face the world, but you don’t know what kind this world is made of, climbing the corporate ladder, heeding the desires of your heart, or preparing to start a career in another continent. You eventually unravel for yourself the reality of life as you tread along the path of your choices. In this world anyway, we choose the life we make.

From dream to dream, end to end, you seem to have acquainted yourself with the most bouncy of characters in your life. You sincerely allowed these chaps to take the better out of you once, twice, even thrice. In the end, you turned neither condescending nor irate. You cherished hope amidst the sore heart. You wished good thoughts about them and thought this is how love works on you, as much as this love heals you and protects you from the next bitter episodes.

When you’ve moved on to the more interesting and good-natured phases of your life you had a more expansive look at the other side of the world. You have now gracefully taken in the best of blessings through the small family you’ve created for yourself. You’ve nurtured and gave your companion and offspring the kind of love that you know, this time reciprocal, eternal, resilient. Then you suddenly discover your true self. You opened your eyes to the veracity of your existence, as a wife, mother, sister, and friend. You are now avid and keen on satiating your mind with every rambling and musing of life and love. Truly, because you know deep inside that this is your home, this is your place on the other side of your world.

The Secret is "You"

Here's a man who proclaims that you can have everything you want if you know how to use the laws of attraction. One must be able to send good vibes, believe and remove doubts so you allow all positivity to set in.

Vibration is the name of the game here. Reading books on these is currently my main squeeze.

Venerdì Italiano

"Segafredo"

"Gelatone" by KC

"Apple's N73" by Direk Rica



"Caffè"

Need I say more?

Fifteen years of friendship and stronger as ever!

Cheers, girls! :-)

Unearthed

These were the really best times.

So, archeologists, paleontologists.....anyone?

`Coz this one's up for grabs!

Chicas Malas

La Greta is dismayed. And John will keep mum about the whole thing. But aren't pictures enough to say something is going on?? Come on people.

Yilmaz is distraught and angry. Ruffa is plain rotten garbage. A hideous blabbermouth never wins 'ya know.

Gretchen, Ruffa, join your compatriots in Britney, Lindsay and Paris.

`Nuff said.

Uno es Dos!

What's the story, morning glory?

This morning may seem to be productive after all. I am multitasking! I am reading the news, typing away in this blog, checking my mail, downloading from Limewire, and having breakfast by the PC. See, I told you.

***

Also, exactly two years ago, I was in a hospital giving birth to my little boy. Earlier I woke him up and headed for work. He is a bit under the weather. As a gift, I bought him and my niece beautiful mobile phone toys and I was happy that they liked it very much. Tonight we will have a simple dinner of spaghetti, fried chicken, fruit salad and a 2 lb. mango cheesecake with truffles (courtesy of Renaissance Makati)! Then Saturday is party day. Hope my son feels better real soon.

***

The other night I was surfing channels when I stopped by The Philippines' Next Supermodel. It was down to two contestants, Grendel and Rina. After about thirty minutes more of gauging who has the x-factor, I have to give it to Rina. The girl has grace, poise, the avant garde looks and everything in between! The challenge they hurdled was posing on the busy streets of Hong Kong. The theme of the photo shoot was "Hong Kong After Dark." So of course, they gave away their best pensive and expressive looks. The two finalists will take the last test before one of them is proclaimed the winner.

***

Maroon 5 has a new album entitled It Won't Be Soon Before Long and I'm loving the cut "Makes Me Wonder." These guys have brought us This Love, Sunday Morning, and She Will Be Loved. My husband likes their songs, I do too, and so does Ellen Degeneres! Yes, it really does matter.

My Chick Fix

I started reading chick literature last year. If I recall correctly, I was going through novel titles in a bookstore one day and was captivated by the look of a dainty colorful paperback that printed a description of who I also was: a self-confessed shopaholic! Sophie Kinsella has done a wonderful job in delighting lovers of chick literature. I have read most of the offerings in the Shopaholic series, treading the very steps of Becky Bloomwood since Confessions of A Shopaholic, and then Shopaholic Takes Manhattan to Shopaholic & Baby which is my current reading duty. The writer has always been very effective in using her style in this genre. Now I just can't wait to finish reading her latest novel and post a review of sorts.

Another novel I read was Devil Wears Prada written by Lauren Weisberger. Of course, visuals are way better for me. The movie adaptation was very stylish indeed, literally and figuratively. Its characters Meryll Streep and Anne Hathaway excellently played their roles as the devilish boss and her dear assistant, respectively.

I think this is the genre I feel most secure about my writing prowess. Even before chick lit was conceived and propagated in the tradition of Sex and the City, I remember I wrote an article in the Valentine issue of Manila Bulletin about the neanderthal theory of men. I guess this somewhat opened my interest in female-oriented literature.

Cuentos de Familia

Last weekend I found time to see Pirates of the Carribean with my two sisters. This flick oozed with visual effects! I was glued to my seat and never realized we got out of the cinema at around 10:30pm (because the movie lasted for almost three hours). This also served as my momentary getaway from being mom, although I'm not used to going home late anymore. Orlando Bloom was gorgeous as usual. And as for Jack Sparrow.....I am now officially a Johnny Depp fan!

When a really good movie is showing, Greenbelt 3 is always the place to be. Never compromising comfort and service, we couldn't care less about spending for the tills. Anyway, we pick the superb films and we see a movie once every two to three months, so that's good enough I guess. Before heading to the cinema, we had dinner at National Sports Grill, oh how I missed their chops, pasta and fries. Anytime at NSG is the best time especially with equally pretty sisters! Next movie we will see: Ocean's Thirteen! Well, this is the only time we will see two movies in consecutive weeks.

A few more days to go and it's my little boy's birthday. I am quite agog lately (yay! so not idle) with putting together everything we need for his party, the loot bags, the food, and of course, his guests. The theme for his birthday this year is everything Disney! So think Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Winnie the Pooh, Sesame Street and Elmo's World! Time flies real fast, that McDonald's party he had last year seemed like just a few months ago.

Oh well.

Channeling motherhood..... :-)

Miss Universe 2007

It was Miss Japan Riyo Mori who was crowned Miss Universe 2007 yesterday. The host city was Mexico. I came home early last night to catch the replay on Star World. And for a two-hour long televised competition, it didn't seem that spectacular compared to the 1990s.

If I can recall quite distinctly, the pageants of a decade ago seemed to be flawlessly dramatic, and by that I mean no funky music of a Mexican group to sashay the stage to. The contestants were gorgeous in their gowns. And by the time the last 5 finalists were thrown questions by the judges, they walked once more to give everyone that look, the would-be winning look.

I can still remember this song when the little girls handed them flowers on stage. It went something like this:

"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

Every wish is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true."

At least, that was how my sisters and I would sing it. We also made a beautiful scrapbook of that particular Miss Universe pageant when the Philippines hosted it. I think it was Charlene Gonzales who represented our country. Asked about our geography, Charlene, referring to the islands, answered, "high tide or low tide?" This gave the judges all the more reason to appreciate the wonders of our land.

In this recently concluded competition of beauty and brains, our hopeful Anna Theresa Licaros won the Most Photogenic Award. Consolation enough? Well, maybe. An unfortunately cringing highlight of the pageant: Miss USA, walks, and then momentarily trips, stands up and glides back. That black gown was gorgeous.

All in all, the show was alright. Not enough to make me jump though. Despite the rain and thunder last night (which my son got scared about), I give it a 7/10 on my entertainment scorecard. Donald Trump should be thankful. :-)