March 2014

Just like that, we are now at the last month of the first quarter of 2014.  It seems just yesterday when I wrote this New Year's post.

So where am I now?

Uhm. Time moves so fast.  I think I need to run faster.

CDR King: 3G Broadband USB Modem

Very early in the morning of January 8, 2014 my Globe WiMAX modem rebooted. After it restarted I found that I could no longer connect to any cellsite.  I called the Customer Service and asked for support. The lady at the other end said that their technicians are all tied up at the moment. They would only be able to check my modem after three days.

These days it is unimaginable for anyone to have no internet access for three days. More so if you are an online worker.

So I borrowed my sister's old Smart 3G USB stick. I also bought a CDR King WR-NET-032-CC (WU260) 3G Broadband USB Modem. My sister's 3G USB was very old. I think it was the first model that came out when smart started offering 3G internet.  I thought that CDR King's 3G USB might perform better because it is a newer model.

Here are my findings:


CDR King 3G USB Advantages
1. Open line. You can use Smart, Globe, or Sun Cellular SIM.
2. Burst Speed 7.2 Mbps. I've seen it burst to 3 Mbps

Disadvantages
1. Weak Signal Reception.  I've tested it many times at different locations in the house and the old
Smart USB stick's reception always comes out better.
2. Average Bandwidth is Slower. Weaker signal results to slower internet speed.
3. Can't register to UNLISURF.  For some reason my unit would not allow me to subscribe to Unlisurf.
If anyone experienced a different result with regards to this issue, please feel free to leave a comment.

In conclusion, I could not recommend buying it because of weaker performance compared to even a very old Smart Starter Plug It.

Early 2014

The second day of January 2014 is about to end. Every late in the year people await December 31, the last day of the year. Everyone is full of hope because everyone gets a sense of renewal. If we made a mess during the previous months of the year, we can all start again, everything resets during midnight of the last day of the year.

But now it is January 2. Tomorrow is January 3. The days will pass quickly and then we will find ourselves staring at another new year. The question at the end of the year is, what change happened to us? Did we progress? Did we regress? The hope is, we come out a better person every time. Whatever your definition of a better person is: whether achieving goals you've set out for yourselves, or becoming kinder, more compassionate, being able to do something that benefits many, or gaining a better understanding of ourselves which can help in a lot of areas in our lives.

It is January 2. The rest of the year is like a blank canvas. What image will you paint? Will you paint something happy? Will you paint something sad unaware? Will you paint your year neutral? Will you paint something vibrant? What ever you do during the coming days will determine the outcome of your personal painting.

Here is to working and hoping that we end up with our personal masterpiece.

Christmas 2013 is Just Around the Corner

The other night I went out and I was surprised to see so many Christmas lanterns on the streets.

Inspite a big earthquake and a category five typhoon, Christmas is still going to arrive in the Philippines afterall.

For many, this season will be a lot bleaker. Many lost their relatives, their home, and even livelihood. A lot has changed. And it will take years before anyone can recover and towns rebuilt. But that is life. Time moves and it waits for no one.

The Bad Side of Social Media

There is a lot of noise on the Internet nowadays.  When you log on to check what is happening you immediately see some people embarrassing themselves by doing something stupid. You browse further and you see a lot of people complaining about the most ridiculous things. And then you have some people currently emoting about how miserable lives are even though they seem to be luckier than most people. If your routine is to check the Internet during the morning, then you will find out that you've just ruined the rest of your day.

There is too much noise, too much nonsense.  Ahhh. There is a need to turn it all off.

Tragedy in Central Philippines

Before Super Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan hit Central Philippines I was thinking, Oh Filipinos won't feel the brunt of this typhoon. They would probably just shrug their shoulders and move on. Because we have been through this before. More than two dozen times every year.

Even here in Metro Manila we have suffered strong typhoons and extreme floods. We suffered some loses but people just move on with their lives as if nothing out of the ordinary is happened.

But Super Typhoon Haiyan is different. Before it hit land, I was among those who would think that “You are just a typhoon but we are Filipinos.” I'm referring of course to my countrymen's incredible resilience in the face of challenges.

But a day after the storm, when the images and videos from Tacloban started coming in, you can't help but cry at the sight of the devastation and for the people who are suffering.

You can't help but think – What if it has been me? How would I take losing love ones and properties.

To add to their misery, there is currently no working local government. Because everyone in the area is affected. There is no water, no food, no shelter, no electricity, and no means communication. Even if you have money in your pocket it is worthless because where will you spend it. Almost everything has been destroyed.

It is like the area has been knocked back to the stone age but there are no food to hunt.

It is really bad there. Some are saying it would take months for the area to recover. But I say it will probably take years. We all know that it takes decades for a community form. And everything has been wiped out by the Typhoon in just one day.

Random Musings: Web User's Current Internet Behavior

People used to hang around websites and blogs when they are online. But things have changed when social media came into the picture. These days we first log into Facebook and Twitter to see what our friends are up to. These two social networks are also where we first check for news. To see what's the latest topic in our city, what everyone is currently talking about. Only when we have an urgent need to find something, do we use the search engine, which is by default Google.