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.