New Apple iPad

iPad 3 launch highlights taken from Apple's web site

Update: Post is up on Electronic Pulp: Apple iPad 3 now official with 4G LTE, 5MP iSight camera, and dual-core A5X chip, starts at $499.

They did it again. With iTunes App Store downloads topping off at 25 Billion (that's 9 zeroes, my friend), Apple's in for a whole lot of business for the iPad 3.

My takeaway for Apple here is that they're simply not afraid of charging top dollar for good quality stuff--as far as hardware/software-type features are concerned. According to the press release, the iPad 3's "retina display" now has 4x the resolution of a traditional high-definition screen. So HD is low-tech, now? the old iPad 2. It's got a new CPU, new graphics chip, same timeless design... It looks good.

And then as for the people, well, they deserve better consumer electronics products. So I guess it all works out in the end. I still don't think it's a good idea to get this--or any other tablet device, for that matter--if you're looking to do some serious content creation that involves a substantial amount of writing, though. Even with those nifty keyboard docks. These things are media consumption devices, have always been and still are, at least to me.

I'm particularly interested in that lower-priced iPad 2, though. I've been thinking it might be a good idea to get one even at $400-ish. But now, it's going to be even cheaper with the release of the iPad 3. March 16th US. Probably end of month for us here in Asia/Philippines.

There goes my budget for the beach this year...

Samsung Galaxy Y experience

Samsung Galaxy Y Absolute Black - The replacement unit

If you ask me to describe how my experience with the Samsung Galaxy Y has been over the last two weeks in just two words, I'd say it's been an absolute blast (/sarcasm). This whole thing has just been a disaster for me, so far. I got the phone, actually paid for the postpaid contract associated with it in advance (a 1-month payment), and now I'm thinking, "Why in the world did I sign up for this mess?" Everything about this experience sucks.

I really have no idea. Was I being gullible? Did I somehow fool myself into thinking that I really needed to get a new Android phone for Android development? Or even just to better follow the Android smartphone scene? Maybe I could still find a use for this new "proof of billing" in the form of the Smart Postpaid subscription that's been set up under my own name. Anyway, at this point, I would give anything to be able to go back in time to that point two weeks ago when I went to the Smart Wireless Center in SM City San Lazaro and stop myself from signing that 30-month contract.

First off, the phone that I got from Smart had a problem that I had to deal with only three days after getting it. The problem? Well, I'll let this picture speak for itself:

There was a silent explosion that resulted in a nasty burn on my bedroom floor.
And then of course, the phone died.

The worst part of all of this is that no one at Smart or the first Samsung Service Center that I went to would honor the warranty and just replace the unit because of the idiotic reason that since it hasn't happened to anyone else yet, and it's only me that's been affected by this kind of issue, then it must be because of something I did. I patiently explained to whoever would listen (never mind actually wanting to help) that I could not have caused the unit to overheat or short circuit because of the fact that 1) I had only been charging it for no more than 10 minutes when the incident occurred and 2) I wasn't even using the wall charger, but only the included USB cable to charge it off my 10-inch netbook.

I would also like to mention that those bastards at Smart, after refusing to simply replace my phone even though it was still within the 7-day replacement warranty period, wanted to charge me for that replacement SIM card that got burned in the incident. I didn't want to pay it so they gave it to me for free when I went to get it a few days after the Samsung Galaxy Y exploded. But now I think they are billing me for it. I looked at my first bill (for March) and there's a line item on it for a SIM card... those sneaky bastards.

After somehow finding enough time in my currently busy schedule to get in touch with and meet with people from Samsung Philippines, I was able to get the unit replaced. With a network unlocked (open-line) unit, to boot. So that's one good thing. I got the black unit pictured at the top of this post and a whole lot of Yellow Cab pizza plus Charlie Chan pasta for all of my worries. I thought that would be the end of it. I was glad to have met people from Samsung Philippines thinking that it would be a good way for me to get some news stories for my gadget blog Electronic Pulp, or perhaps even some review units for testing. I was more inclined to wish I'd never see them again, though, since that would mean that I don't have any more problems with the phone that I got.

Less, than a week later, though, and I met with the people from Samsung again. This time to give them that black Samsung Galaxy Y for testing because of a problem I've been having with the mobile network signal. The problem that I had with the black unit was that it kept showing "no service" after a few hours of being cooped up in my pocket. And then last Saturday, I experienced more than a slight delay in the receiving text messages. It was then that I thought I had to get this issue fixed.

So they gave me yet another phone--this time for me to use temporarily as they work on my signal problem. Here it is, the Samsung Galaxy Y Duos:

Dual-SIM version of the same phone, apparently

Under normal circumstances, I would be thrilled to have access to all these different types of phones. It gives me stuff to write about on my gadget blog. But all of the time I have to spend dealing with these little problems keeps me from even writing relevant stuff in the first place. I first wrote a news report about this exploding Samsung Galaxy Y incident on one of my other blogs, but have been asked to take it down since I got the replacement unit. Now, the post is no longer visible and the web site itself shows nothing on its home page, but I didn't take it down because of Samsung's request. I had plans of taking down all of my other web sites anyway, prior to any of this happening. And that is to make way for the relaunching of Electronic Pulp...

Anyway, this whole thing is not over yet. I have to meet with someone from Samsung yet again tomorrow after my shift ends at work to get my Absolute Black Galaxy Y unit and then return this Galaxy Y Duos. I'll post an update afterwards, whether this whole thing really turns out better than I expect it to or not. Here's my advice for those who are looking to get this same phone through the nearest Smart Wireless Center, though: caveat emptor.

My own opinion

It doesn't matter.

I am seriously in no position to be talking to people about how they should be living their lives. I’m 23 years old. Shit, I hardly even have any idea how to live my own life. What makes me think I can get up on a soapbox and just start enumerating platitudes like I’m about to change someone’s worldview?

Just because the same thing happened to me, and watching videos on YouTube motivated me to get off my ass and start running, or Courage Wolf was enough to make me seriously question the validity of my existence, doesn’t mean that it will also have the same effect on other people if I subjected them to the same types of pressure. Internet memes, motivational music, quotes from the greatest men in History, these were enough to get me started. However, that doesn’t give me license to try and collate all of these many different things for others to absorb. There is a time and place for a man to do exactly that kind of thing, but I personally am not there yet.

Discovering my own life purpose is vastly different from just finding something interesting enough to start doing on a boring Sunday afternoon. The truth is, I am really quite a boring person. I may have found plenty of ways to have fun by myself, but I have hardly had the chance to really share my happiness with someone I know in real life; my friends rarely go out, and when they do, it’s very rare that I get invited. I’ve never been that guy. I’m not the life of the party. I’m not the center of attraction. I’m not the source of inspiration. I don’t have all the answers.

And I don’t have any of the most important questions either. If you were to live my life even just for a day, you’d find that I am simply not the questioning type. I’ve read and heard all about the importance of being able to question everything, and I appreciate the meaning of those two very simple words when put together. But no matter what I do, I will never be able to hide the fact that I am simply not that type of person. I don’t have these big, open-ended questions always floating in my mind; I’m not actively seeking for explanations like many other people out there. The mind of a person like that is like a big serving of chicken noodle soup. My own mind would be more like the big empty bowl after the soup has already dried up or something.

I know scientists have a characteristic that makes them consciously seek out information about a particular subject, researching stuff even if no one else will care about it. I’m not that type of person. What I do is I just sit, and sift through the ocean of information with no particular goal in mind, feeling lucky to run into something that piques my interest or sparks my imagination. Basically, I’m like a sponge. And I’ve been doing this for almost half of my life now. How do I even explain this? I’m clearly doubting myself at this point. Why should I go on trying to effect a change in other people, when that wasn’t what happened to me in the first place?

I didn’t go out looking for something to make me change my ways, decide on a certain direction in life, and follow a certain philosophy. I just got up, crept off the bed, put my shoes and clothes on, and I walked out the door. Then I went on silently observing, learning more about one subject matter after another. I didn’t go out looking for answers to life’s biggest questions, or even looking for these questions in the first place.

I didn’t go out thinking that religion is bullshit and that there must be some other worldly explanation for all of the seemingly supernatural things always attributed to God. I just ran into some atheists on the Internet and followed one link after another, reading, and reading, and reading, and reading. In the end, I used my own understanding to deduce the fact that I was already an atheist. I never really believed in God in the first place.

I didn’t set off one afternoon thinking, “Today is the day I will discover my life’s purpose.” What happened was, I was on my way home when I passed by a garbage bin that was filled with trash to the brim and on top of it was a technology magazine that had a picture of a pretty woman on its cover. That was T3 Philippines, and that was the day I got into the world of consumer electronics and high-end technology. The end result was me starting my own web site about the latest news stories on that particular topic.

Now, I spend most of my free time reading about self-improvement, motivation, and becoming a true alpha male. Well, after a few months of doing this, I now know that I actually started off as a natural alpha male during my childhood. I was fresh, self-confident and often came across as showy or arrogant; I didn’t find it difficult to get along with other people, especially girls, and there always seemed to be at least one girl who had a crush on me during most of my entire life. For some reason, though, I became a weak beta male, most likely due to the series of failures that I endured all throughout my early teenage years and young adult life (up to now). What I’m doing now is basically resetting myself so that I can get back into the mindset of a proper, natural alpha and start succeeding again.

And I’m doing it. I’m actually making some changes in my own life and I’m feeling pretty good about it. I know I’m on the right track. I’m single but I’m happy. I have some great hobbies. I still need to work on my friendships, but I’m almost there. I’m mostly doing all right in my life. Still, that doesn’t mean that I can go and try to “help” people as if they desperately need it. I know I didn’t. And even when I did, it didn’t take me a day, or a week, or even a month to get over my own insecurities and drop my bad habits. No, it took me years, two going on three now, to finally look at myself in the mirror and say, “Dude, what the FUCK are you doing? You have got to CHANGE.”

And so I did. But that’s just me. Other people have to take care of themselves. I’m understandably excited to share the great amount of inspiration that I’ve gathered for myself in the last 3 or 4 years. But the thing is, I’ve only really been doing it passively, and I got it from many different sources. It was only recently that I figured it all out, somewhat. And that each and every little thing started to make sense and I started to understand. It took me quite a long time. What exactly am I getting at?

I should stop pretending. Even though one thing has worked for me, there is no guarantee that it will also work on another. And I should not waste my time and effort working around that idea and waiting to see whether or not it will have any sort of effect, for better or worse. I am not in the position to be running a business off the idea of telling people how to live their lives. Besides the fact that I don’t really know what to tell people in this regard, I don’t really have that much life experience to back my statements up anyway. And shit, I’ve only been consciously doing this for the last three months. I’m not a guru, and I’ve never aspired to be.

What I’m supposed to do is that one thing that I truly love: writing a technology magazine. That was what made me fall in love with the Internet, this netbook, that cellphone, my future e-book reader, car, and home in the first place. Incidentally, that’s also what most people in the country need. The missing manual for all of their burgeoning consumer electronic needs.

I still remember the day I got started on all of this as if it was just yesterday. Now, I don’t need to start scouting garbage bins within 25 kilometers of my home just to get started again; I know exactly what to do. I’ll be going back to the mall where I bought my first back-issues and pick up everything from there. Wish me luck, friend.

All I Want For Christmas

This is a message for everyone I know. And what the hell, for everyone I don't know as well.

I know that times are hard. You might be married, you might be single, you might be widowed, divorced, or in an open relationship.

You may find children stinky, repulsive, annoying and mostly goofy-looking. You might have a few godchildren of your own, or none at all.

You could be living in a high-rise condo, sipping on Absolut Vodka all by yourself as you watch the fireworks light up the night sky. Or you could be a breadwinner who's still living in the slums with your family, because who else would take care of them the way that you want them to be taken care of, right? You wouldn't want grandma to spend a day without watching her favorite noontime variety show or soap opera.

So we're all different. We're dealing with different things, solving different problems as we go through different lives. But there's something you should know.

Life is only going to get harder. The rainbow at the end of every storm is an illusion. You know damn well that the rainstorm is only going to come back around, perhaps a bit harder, with the wind a little faster. Fortunately for all of us, there's a simple solution: get stronger.

Now I'm not saying you should go out and begin a journey towards becoming the world's greatest Street Fighter. But that doesn't sound so bad at all now, does it? All the world will praise you for your strength, discipline, compassion, and expertise. Your opponents will openly despise you, but secretly admire you. That girl at work? She will adore you.

But again, I'm not telling you to do exactly that. The only thing I'm saying is that you've got to get stronger. Understand that this is only for your own good, not mine or anyone else's. So how do you do it? How do you get stronger? Frankly, my friend, I don't give a damn how you do it. All I know is that you've got to do it.

Wake up each morning and eat a healthy breakfast. Lace up a good pair of kicks and hit the ground running. Show up at the gym three times each week to push and pull a bunch of round metal plates like it's nobody's business. Do something that will make you sweat, pant, bend your knees, and grunt. Get off your couch, get out of the house, stand up in the middle of the street and yell up at the sky, "I'm doing it! I'm becoming the greatest person that I can be!"

As long as you're moving, then yes, yes you are. There are times when you might find yourself moving in the wrong direction. But who can really tell you which way is wrong or right? Use your own internal compass. You'll find that the only direction worth moving in is the one you choose for yourself.

Now, even as you work to become stronger, life is still going to get a lot tougher. The only people who have it easy are dead. So what do you do? How do you deal with this? I'll let you in on a secret.

When you're feeling down, when you're feeling kind of hopeless, like you've lost direction and you don't know what to do, remember that there are millions and millions of other people out there going through what you're going through. They suffer just as you do, cry just as you do.

Moping about your own situation won't help either you or anyone else. The only thing you've got to do is realize that even though we're all different, even though the details may never be the same, even though one person may never fully understand the plight of another, there's one universal truth worth remembering: we're all in this together.

Happy holidays and a happy 2012 to all!

It's worth it

Everyone has the desire to win, but only champions have the desire to prepare. - Unknown