The WiFi detector

Recently got this real handy gadget from Cd-r King: a pocket WiFi detector.


Selling for P280 (March 2009 price), its about the size of a disposable cigarette lighter. Features 3 green LEDs which light up in relation to the WiFi signal strength. One green LED for a weak signal while 3 indicates a strong one. A single red LED will light up if there is no signal at all.

This thing is perfect for laptop and netbook owners. Use this to check an area for a signal. Finding one, you can then proceed to bring out your portable PC. This gadget could save you a whole lot of trouble. Starting up your portable PC only to find that there is no signal to be had can be quite frustrating!

Disadvantages: it won't indicate if the WiFi signal is password protected or not. You'll have to find that out the old fashioned way by trying to log on the network. And since this only detects WiFi signals, it won't tell you anything about internet availability. For all you know the signal it could be receiving are from a WiFi router used to merely connect devices locally sans internet. A rare possibility to be sure but a possibility nonetheless.

Still, it can be quite a time saver. Imagine all the effort you could have saved when you brought out your portable PC in the hopes of surfing the net only to find... nothing.

Say hello to my little friend: the Astone UMPC

A novel concept a decade ago, "Wireless Fidelity" or WiFi for short is now an everyday reality with hotspots sprouting in various locations all over the country with even more on the rise.

Being the gadget freak that I am, I really wanted to cash in on this mobile internet revolution. But how to do it without breaking the bank? Smart phones, though truly portable and useful are just too expensive (at the time of this writing anyway). The next option would have been the iPod Touch, small and portable it would've been perfect. What held me back though was the presence of my current iPod, the 1st Gen Nano. Given to me by my father 3 years ago, it still works great and serves me well. I wasn't really in the market for a new iPod.

Then a co-worker introduced me to a whole new class of gadgets which hitherto were unknown to yours truly: the netbooks, also called ultra mobile personal computer or UMPC for short. Liliputian in size, these netbooks aren't dumbed down PCs or tablets, these are full fledged personal computers using the exact same operating system or OS of their larger brethren. In short, they were very small laptops. And the best part, a lot of these netbooks sell for less than PHP10,000 (February 2009 prices). Cheaper than a mid-tier mobile phone or a PSP!

After considering several models like the Blue H1 I finally settled for the Astone UMPC seen here with my mobile phone to provide scale.

I won't go into a highly technical description of the Astone UMPC. For the nuts and bolts aspect of the Astone, check out it's product website here.

So, why so cheap? Some credit the use of a non-Intel processor: the Via C7-M. Incidentally, the 2 netbooks to breach the less than PHP10,000 mark, the Blue H1 and Astone, use this processor.

Aside from helping to bring the price down, it has also reputed that the Via processor also uses far less power than it's Intel counterpart, which directly translates into longer battery life.

The Astone is a fairly simple netbook. Mine is currently running on Windows XP, Service Pack 2 and everything works as it should. It is WiFi-capable and also sports a wired LAN option. On its right side are 2 USB ports, an ethernet port, exhaust vent and a mic and earphone inputs.

Although it has a built-in mic I've noticed that for "best results" it's sometimes best to use an external one.

The left side finds a DVI port, even more exhaust vents and an SD/MMC-Sony Memorystick card reader. Too bad it doesn't sport a CF card reader. That would've proven handy for us DSLR users. Fortunately, this is nothing an external card reader won't fix.


Another added bonus is the Astone's interchangeable module slot on the right side of the screen. Which theoretically at least could be kitted out with anything from a GPS unit to a bluetooth phone. The default device is a webcam, which I may add works quite well.

Unfortunately, as of press time, no other devices (BT phone, GPS, etc.) can be had. So for now you'll have to make do with the webcam. Speaking of bluetooth, the built-in bluetooth also works quite well. I use to sync my Sony Ericsson K530i with the freeware MyPhoneExplorer . Absolutely sweet, you can send SMS, transfer files and even answer calls through your Astone. Sure you could get a bluetooth dongle from CDr-King but trust me, it won't work. My desktop has one and although you can transfer files, you can forget about answering/sending SMS. It's not going to happen.

The final layer of icing on the Astone cake: it's touchscreen capability. Quite a handy utility given the miniscule trackpad located in front of the keyboard. Caucasians with their oversized fingers will probably find the trackpad next to impossible to use. Enter the Astone's stylus. Point and clicking was never this easy. For best results though you should use a bluetooth mouse or one of those which sport a retractable cord.

I find Surfing the net with the Astone to be an adequate experience. It's no great shakes given its 800 x 480 default screen size but it's definitely better than squinting and scrolling on an iPhone or iPod Touch.



Gaming, though no great shakes is passable with the Astone. Classic time wasters like Zuma work fine.

However, you can forget about playing Left4Dead or any hardware intensive games on the Astone. It's not what this gadget was built for so quite predictably, it's not going to work. Older games like Counterstrike and Starcraft work flawlessly. I've even read that some users playing Warcraft III and DOTA on theirs.

So should you rush to your nearest electronic gadget store and grab an Astone UMPC? Not so fast. This device is not without its flaws and there are some really notable ones. First and foremost is it's Via Processor. It may be inexpensive and some say even perfect for a netbook (given it's low power consumption) but it is never going to come close to an Intel-based processor in performance. Maybe in the future Via can come up with something at par with an Intel, but not in this current form. It can be slow.

Another drawback to the Astone is its rather slow hard drive speed. At 3600rpm, you won't be breaking any speed records with this one. Some find the slowness of the hard drive simply infuriating. But then again, these folks are probably expecting desktop-level performance. If you are one of them, then stay away from the Astone and save yourselves from a world of hurt and aggravation.

It's best to know what you're getting into with an Astone UMPC, and that is an ultra portable bluetooth-enabled, touchscreen surf and chat machine. It's what this was built for, it's what it does best.

The Zuiko 35mm f3.5 Macro

The world of the very small has always held a special interest for me as a photographer. One of the first things I always check when handling a new digital camera is it's macro mode. But not all macro modes are created equal. To get really good macro pics, one needs to use a lens specially designed for that purpose. Sure you could get by with a kit or standard lens, but if you feel the need to rise above the mediocre, then a dedicated macro lens is the way to go.


Enter the Zuiko Digital 35mm f3.5 Macro lens. Bought it at the recent Photoworld Manila tilt in Glorietta and has been a constant companion with me for the last couple of days.


I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite light compared to my 17.5-45mm kit. The manual describes it as having a configuration of "6 groups, 6 lenses" and is capable of a shooting range of "0.146 m(0.5ft) to ∞(infinity)". The lens itself is fairly recessed except when the 1:1 zoom is engaged, then it goes forward, but not to the outer section of the barrel. It's still fairly recessed so as not to warrant the need for a protective filter (which degrades image quality to a significant degree).

As I mentioned earlier, I've only had this lens for a couple of days and I'm still learning the ropes so to speak, but I'm beginning to really love it! It's like a whole new world of photography just opened before my eyes... literally!















Yup, for me the world of the very small got better!

A visit to Ark Avilon, Ortigas

Since early 2008, I've been hearing about this supposed mini zoo right in the middle of Ortigas in Pasig City. Called the Ark Avilon, it first gained my attention after a supposed incident involving one of the creatures accidentally biting a visitor made the usual e-mail rounds. I think it arrived with a batch of Microsoft is giving away millions chain e-mails so I paid scant attention to it. Months passed and since then, nothing but good reviews was heard about Ark Avilon, so last December 30, 2008 Duke and I decided to pay a visit ourselves.

The place was easy enough to find. It was right beside this humongous children's playgound facility in the Tiendesitas - SM Hypermart area. By the way, this playgound is also worthy of it's own dedicated visit one of these days.



Oh, and before I forget, right from the onset, our trip almost ended in disaster (well at least for me anyway). It was only after arriving that I realized I forgot to bring a camera! Oh the humanity! I wasn't planning on bringing my DSLR (next time I will), but I even forgot to pack my trusty Fuji F50fd. Major bummer. Luckily though my Aiptek AHD200 camcorder had still photo capabilities so that's what I used for most of the day. Even my mobile phone, a 2 megapixel Sony Ericsson K530i was suddenly pressed into active service. Better than nothing I figured. Actually, the first two images in this entry are from my mobile phone.

Anyway, back to our trip. Camera or not, Duke had an absolute blast! In my opinion the P200 entrance fee was worth every penny as far as we were concerned (your mileage may vary he he). Being an animal lover he was thrilled at the opportunity of directly interacting with these beautiful creatures. He's been to the Manila Zoo in the past but nothing came close to the level and quality of interaction he experienced here.


This bird isn't your run of the mill chicken.


Up close and personal with a primate.


Not just something on TV anymore, a real live donkey!


Sheeps and lambs have always held a special place in Duke's heart, courtesy of those Serta plush toys his grandfather sent him. A chance to finally meet some real sheep was a great experience for him.

I must admit though, that I had mixed emotions over my Ark Avilon experience. On the one hand, it made me happy seeing my son enjoying his visit to the "Ark", interacting with the creatures he saw. We spent the greater part of the day there since he simply couldn't get enough of the place. Which makes a return visit a given.

But on the other side of the coin, I couldn't help feel a twinge of sadness seeing majestic animals like these big cats cooped up in such a confined space. I'm no biologist, but I don't think these animals were ever meant to live this way.


Maybe this beautiful fowl (which by the way was free to roam the Ark), crocodile, fluffy bunny rabbits or fish won't mind, but I'm sure not all of the other creatures feel that way.


There are a number of ways I could probably justify this situation. Phrases like, "at least the animals are well cared for", (which they are) can make up for any pangs of guilt one might feel. Or maybe "they don't have to worry about predators or food". Let's also throw in a "they educate humans about the animal kingdom". All well and good except for one small detail: I doubt if any of these creatures chose to be where they are right now. In all likelihood a human made the choice for them.

At any rate it is a difficult conundrum, and one which will not be resolved any time soon. If there is any consolation to this story, it is that the creatures who currently call Ark Avilon home are treated the best way possible, well at least by Philippine standards.

And on the subject of Philippine standards, maybe we could also think of these wonderful creatures as sort of entertainers who are just trying to make a living. Whether they're being exploited in the process is another matter entirely. Perhaps this charming little Hill Myna (Gracula Religiosa) could give us a little insight on "entertainment" and "exploitation". Why don't we hear what it has to say?

First day at work for 2009

The final weeks of December 2008 were specially good for the Pinoy worker. A lengthy two week vacation to top off the year. Not to mention it was Christmas! A great time for all (well, almost all).

But sadly, like all great vacations it eventually had to end. And now it's time to confront the sobering reality of trudging back to work and facing what could be one of the bleakest years in recent memory. Let's hope it turns out better than what the experts predict. The road ahead is going to be a long one that's for sure. Let's just be thankful we have work to trudge back to.

New Year's Eve 2009 Fireworks

It is often heard at New Year's Eve celebrations that "last year's was better..." The good-old-days syndrome, when the past was always better than the present. Always.

And if the doom sayers are even partially right about this economic recession (or should I say, depression), then you don't need to be a Nostradamus to predict that this year's fireworks display will most certainly be better than the next.





Spectacular displays like this may prove to be simply a reminder of better times in the not too distant future. Let's enjoy it while we can.


Speaking of enjoyment, I really got a blast (pun intended) from my neighbor's fireworks that mimicked an effect from the movie Platoon. It sure looked like the tracer effect (was the film trying to mimic tracers?) in the last battle scene.


The "Platoon" Effect from Charlie Laigo on Vimeo.

The Lambency Golden White "Lightsphere"

Another made in China knock-off of an extremely popular photographic tool. Costing a mere P750 to P800 in Hidalgo, Manila, it is definitely much more affordable than the $200++ original Gary Fong version.



Labelled as the Golden White Lambency Flash Diffuser it is probably named so because it comes with an amber (golden) and white dome. Not very imaginitive these knock off makers he he.

So, does it work? It does!




The light is diffused and much more evenly distributed compared to a direct head-on flash exposure.

However, it is not without it's drawbacks. For starters, it does look like a cup of instant noodles landed on top of your flash.



Seriously though, the danged thing is quite heavy and if you're flash's head isn't rigid enough (like my Sunpak 383) then it does tend to droop if not held correctly. I would hesitate to use this in a wedding though, it's too heavy for my 383. Then again, it would look much better than using this on your flash: