Rectification of names and the rule of the wise answer to Philippine political problems February 14, 2007
Posted by technews in Philosophy.add a comment
Plato and Confucius agree that if only each and every citizen would do the things expected of them, there would be harmony.
Confucius believed that social disorder resulted from failing to call things by their proper names, and his solution was “Rectification of Names/Terms”. Confucius said: “There is government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister; when the father is father, and the son is son.”
Names should directly correspond with actualities. Soldiers should do their part to protect the land and not act like rulers; actors should entertain people and not attempt to rule in the guise of public service, businessman should do what is expected of them and provide people’s needs and gain profit in the process fairly and not dictate their terms to the people.
Someone who is sick is expected to go to a doctor. A car needs a mechanic and not a carpenter notwithstanding his desire to help. Someone could go to a quack doctor but it’s his choice, if he dies, he dies alone. I could ask a carpenter to check my car, but if something wrong happen to me, it is only me who will be affected. But if an unqualified candidate wins the whole country will suffer.
Who then is qualified to rule the country?
Plato proposed that philosophers are the right candidates to assume the responsibility of ruling the society.
Like Confucius Plato believed that different people have different skills. The ideal society is controlled by an Elite group of rulers. The policing powers and administrative functions are done by the military under the direction of the rulers and farmers and businessmen are expected to feed the country. Each has its own function and when done properly the society would attain harmony and progress.
-o0o-
“Childish leaders oppress my people, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you; they send you down the wrong road.” - Isaiah 3:12
Unlimited calls from Taiwan and Hong Kong February 13, 2007
Posted by technews in Technology.3 comments
The first thing any OFW does when he arrives in his/her country of destination is to send an SMS, or call home to tell his/her family in the Philippines that he/she has arrived safely. A call usually lasts for just one minute or less as it is very expensive to stay long over the phone.
GNet, a Filipino owned company, introduces a new service called PinoyPhone. The service allows an unlimited call from Taiwan and Hong Kong to the Philippines. Any OFW in said places can call the Philippines without worrying about the cost as the charge is a monthly fixed payment.
PinoyPhone is able to provide such service by forging partnerships with Telcos here and abroad. PinoyPhone partnered with Bayantel, Nextel and Digitel to make the unlimited call service possible. Using a mobile phone in Taiwan or Hong Kong, users can call their landline number in the Philippines with unlimited talk time. “It works like a personal hotline to your family; just dial the number of the phone registered with the service and you can talk to your family in the Philippines without worrying about the high cost of communication,” says Alejandro Pinsotes President of GNet. “It works like a personal hotline from Taiwan and Hong Kong to the Philippines. Initially the service is just one way but soon it will be two way; meaning the family of the OFW in the Philippines can also call them anytime,” he added.
Mr. Ricardo Pinsotes, Vice President for Philippine Operations of GNet said that other services will be available soon. “Value Added Services like remittance, free and unlimited assistance for OFWs with problems like victims of abuses and emergency situations, unlimited SMS to the Philippines and payment of bills will be integrated in the next phase of this project.”
PinoyPhone is initially available in Taiwan and Hong Kong only; it will soon be offered in other countries.
Power Mac Center: a hands-on museum February 10, 2007
Posted by technews in Technology.add a comment
Just came from the PowerMac Center in Greenbelt 3 to visit Lesly Ang formerly of Canon and now Powermac’s Marketing Director. The Powermac center in Makati is comparable to Apple Centers that I have been abroad. It’s like a small version of the Apple Center in Tokyo and a better version of the one in Hongkong.
Lesly informed me that the Powermac Center offers free tutorial on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Those who are iInterested could just go there and register. The class is from 6 to 7 PM. Lessons include Mac OS Basic, Mac OS Advanced and iPod + itunes.
Unlike other computer and gadget stores, the Powermac Center allows clients to use and abuse their units. I chanced upon Champ of the popular band Hale playing the guitar connected to a Mac with a GarageBand software. GarageBand is an application that allows users to create a piece of music. GarageBand can only be purchased as part of iLife, a suite of applications intended to simplify the creation and organization of users’ digital content. I learned later that Champ is a Mac user, he was there to get his new 13-inch Black Mac Laptop.
Leah Salonga was also there, disguising as an ordinary customer. Wearing a cap and a dark glasses she bought something that looks expensive :). K Brosas was also there earlier but I made sure not to get near her, she might be taping an episode of Bitoy’s Funniest Video haha.
If you happen to be in Greenbelt 3 visit the PowerMac Center, Lesly told me that there are new gadgets every week.
Sony releases iPod docking station February 8, 2007
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Sony will enter into the iPod accessory market with the announcement of the CPF-IP001 scheduled to go on sale in the US next month. Compatible with 1st and 2nd Generation Nano, 5th Generation Video, 4th Generation Color, 4th Generation or 1st Generation Mini iPod models, the audio docking station works like any other iPod accessory where users insert the iPod in the dock then listen to a pair of attached speakers. It also includes additional line input that enables uusers to connecxt to a second audito source.
Is this a matter of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” attitude? Sony has lost its 20-year dominance to Apple in the music market and has been struggling to overtake the iPod’s strong hold in the market with new versions of Walkman players.
-o0o-
iPod Shuffle now in Five colors
The Technews Lab recently received four (4) iPod shuffles from Hongkong. They look like a bunch of colored paper clips as iPod shuffle now is available in five colors: blue, pink, green, orange and the original silver. Dubbed as the most wearable iPod, the new iPod shuffle is just half a cubic inch in volume, weighs just half an ounce and features a aluminum design with a built-in clip. The iPod shuffle has one gigabyte of flash memory that can hold up to 240 songs.
Vista for FREE February 8, 2007
Posted by technews in Technology.add a comment
We have installed Windows Vista Ultimate Edition in the Technews Lab, and oh boy! it was not an easy task. We are all accustomed to installing different kinds of Operating Systems but this time we were stumped when we tried to install the Wireless Network Adaptor. Although Linksys says that they have an upgraded drivers for the Vista, still we were not able to install the Linksys WMP54G PCI wireless network adapter as Vista could not find the driver which we have downloaded and installed.
Lucky me for I could satisfy my curiousity by just requesting a new computer and a new box of Vista Ultimate Edition in the guise of evaluating and testing purposes. But for ordinary users who want to experience the new Vista GUI, multimedia enhancements and security features this is not easy as Vista does not come cheap.
If you are a Windows XP user and would like to take a bite of the apple Microsoft is offering, there is something you could do without saying goodbye to your hard earned cash. Tweaks for the XP are available online for FREE.
The screencap is my revamped XP user interface complete with sidebar that contains RSS feed, calendar, weather, computer performance and more. The start button was also replaced with a vista-like button and the clock at the bottom right is now more customizable like that of the real Windows Vista.
To make XP look and act like Vista, go to www.crystalxp.net/bricopack/en.htm. The BricoPack Vista Inspirat modifies Windows XP system files in order to change its appearance and make it look like Windows Vista.
Vista pops-up a tiny preview of open programs when a user rolls the mouse over in the individual tabs on the Taskbar. You could get this functionality in XP, just install the Alt-Tab Thingy program from www.nymtec.com/?q=att.
Microsoft has been bragging about the improved security of Vista without telling ordinary users that XP can match the features it offers. To improve the security of your XP, go to www.personalfirewall.comodo.com. Windows Defender is now a standart in Vista, for XP users the program can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/
More on this topic in the Manila Bulletin Technews every Monday and Wednesday.
Vista now in the Philippines February 2, 2007
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Vista is Finally here in the Philippines. Jojo Ayson of Microsoft explained that the data in Vista powered machine are more secure because of new security features it offers. One of these is Bitlocker.
BitLocker Drive Encryption is a new security feature in the Windows Vista operating system that provides protection for the operating system on the computer and data stored on the operating system volume. BitLocker ensures that data stored on a computer running Windows Vista remains encrypted even if the computer is tampered with when the operating system is not running. This helps protect against “offline attacks,” attacks made by disabling or circumventing the installed operating system, or made by physically removing the hard drive to attack the data separately.
Jojo Ayson however failed to mention that Bitlocker is only available in Ultimate and Enterprise Editions of Vista. Vista has six versions and I’m sure ordinary mortals like you and me would settle for the “lesser” and more affordable versions, versions that has no Bitlocker. Even the Business version of Vista has no Bitlocker which I believe badly needs this security feature.
