Devastator!!!

As soon as the trailer of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen was shown in between SuperBowl XLIII actions, its video was already available at YouTube:

I wonder what's new in this sequel in terms of bad-ass special effects and CGI since Michael Bay has practically awed us already with everything new.

I wonder how would the Autobots destroy Devastator given Optimus Prime is a weeny tiny bot compared to the five Constructions that form the mighty Devastator. From the looks of it, Ravage (does he eject from Soundwave?) makes an appearance in this movie, too.

But when will you show us the Dynobots?!

Bye, Bye Bush

Looking at the bright side, eight years with Bush isn't so bad when you think he gave us these memorable moments:

ROTFL

[via Digg]

AlertPay: A Great Alternative to Paypal

If you would like or have started to earn and transact business in the Web, they you most probably have heard already of PayPal. Paypal claims that it provides a "safer, easier way to pay online". That is true.

However, if you are NOT a holder of an active credit card (Master Card, Visa or American Express), then you will not be able to enjoy the full privileges of having a PayPal account. Why? Because you need to "link and confirm your card to get Verified and lift limits on your PayPal account."

You can sign up for or create a FREE PayPal account but until you get Verified, you will not be able to withdraw money from your PayPal account.

With an Unverified PayPal account, you can ONLY perform the following transactions:

1. Send money from your PayPal account to another's PayPal account. Sending Limit is $500.00 USD. The "Sending Limit is the maximum amount of money you can send through PayPal before you link and confirm your debit or credit card."

2. Receive money from another PayPal account to yours.You can also accept payment through a Credit or Debit Card transaction. However, "you can (only) accept up to 5 credit or debit card payments per year at our low per transaction rate."


3. Request Money or Payment from another PayPal account holder. I think there is no set limit here.

4. YOU CANNOT withdraw from your PayPal account and transfer your PayPal balance into your local bank account. With an Unverified PayPal account:

a. Your Monthly Withdrawal Limit is ZERO. "The Monthly Withdrawal Limit is the maximum amount of money you can withdraw each month from your PayPal account."

b. Your Total Withdrawal Limit is ZERO. "The Total Withdrawal Limit is the maximum amount you can withdraw from your PayPal account if you have not been verified. Once your Total Withdrawal Limit reaches a zero amount, your Monthly Withdrawal Limit will be zero as well."

This is where AlertPay comes in. With AlertPay, you can transfer your money from your AlertPay account to and withdraw it from your local bank. -- WITHOUT CREDIT CARD VERIFICATION! Of course, with AlertPay, you can avail of all the other usual services that an online payment system like PayPal offers like sending or requesting funds to or from other AlertPay members or payment facilities such as banks and credit card companies.

From the AlertPay Account Verification FAQ page:

Q: What if account verification? Account verification identifies who you are as a KYC (Know your customer) policy. It's important for the AlertPay network that members identify themselves by submitting documentation to protect our members against fraud. At any time, AlertPay can ask you to become verified.

Q: What type of verification documents can I provide to AlertPay? AlertPay requires a copy of 1 proof of address and 1 photo identification for verification. Please ensure that all four edges of the documents are visible.

Photo identification can be one of the following:

* Driver's license
* Passport
* State ID, Country ID or Photo Medical ID

Please submit the back of the identification if the expiration date is located on the back.

Proof of address must show your name and address and be dated within the last 6 months. You can submit one of the following:

* Utility Bill
* Phone bill
* Credit card statement
* Bank Statement

Q: Is verification necessary to add, withdraw, or transfer funds? Verification of an AlertPay account is not necessary in order to, add or transfer funds. We believe verification increases the security of our network as we are able to verify and authenticate users. Although not necessary, verification is highly recommended.

In some cases, when transactions involve substantial amounts, our security center may ask some members to verify their AlertPay account in order to proceed with their transactions.

And more, you can even earn by referring people to AlertPay (which is what I'm doing right now): "Each time you refer someone to AlertPay, you could earn up to $10 USD. The more people you bring to AlertPay, the more we will reward you. Helping you earn more money -- think of this as our way of saying thank you."

So, if you're tired of online payment hassles, then check out and sign up for an AlertPay account. It's a great alternative to PayPal. ;-)

The E-heads Redux

The whole web is abuzz with the recent reunion concert of the Eraserheads. Aileen Apollo has THE following video of the momentous event even showing Ely's sister pronouncement that Ely had to be taken to the hospital cutting the concert short:

Why did the E-heads have to disband in the first place? They could have just remained as the marketing-promotions snob like they were and continued creating groundbreaking music (Pinoy-wise, at least), however hard that was. Did the Enormous popularity suddenly got into the Head of Raymund's, fuel the silent rivalry between him and Ely and ignite the launching of his own musical ambitions?

As in all relationships and partnerships, if there is more than one ambitious party, the relationship is bound to collapse -- there should only be one person or entity who is ambitious to set the direction for everybody. And in the case of a rock-and-roll band, the one who should be leading the group to where ever they want to go should be the front man. Case in point: The Beatles or, sige Rivermaya na lang. On the contrary, look at Parokya ni Edgar -- they have been solid throughout the years.

Marcus, Buddy and especially Raymund should have stood down and let Ely do the visioning for the band. They should never have let their egos grow bigger than Ely's.

Think about it, what we're only getting now from the E-heads is an unfinished reunion concert.

My Excuses, My Lame Excuses

So, I haven’t touched any of my blogs for a very long time already. For someone who despises inconsistency in general, I find it ironic that I can not keep my blogs updated. I kept on thinking about plausible reasons that I would write here to justify my not blogging for ten months but I realized excuses won’t matter, especially if I would be explaining to some presumably loyal reader.

In any case, I’m still listing here the things that have been taking so much of my supposed blogging time, hoping my four loyal readers would eventually understand:

1. Day Job. I’ve been focusing a lot on my stressful six-day-a-week work because I realized my job deserves more attention than blogging since it pays a lot more than the earnings from the AdSense ads in all of my blogs. Besides, when Google formally released Google Sites, I started feeling like I’m blogging productively even while at work when I spearheaded the creation of our own Intranet using Google Sites. So far, after 172 days, our Intranet has proven to become very useful for our associates. If you are part of a company that still doesn’t have an Intranet, I strongly suggest you develop one using Google Sites.

2. Defense of the Ancients (DotA). After each workday, I play DotA online through Garena sometimes until the wee hours of the morning to de-stress myself (or so I claim) although excessive gaming proves to result to much nagging from my significant other causing additional mental and emotional strain. She had our home net connection cut (for economic reasons, she said) and since then I’ve been experiencing DotA withdrawal syndrome. But unbeknown to her, I play after work from time to time in some gaming café just to soothe the addiction. Subconsciously perhaps I’ve been preparing for a career in playing StarCraft II (!).

3. Cable TV. Watching cable programs (especially the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games coverage) and DVDs has never been so satisfying an experience until we purchased a 32” Samsung LCD TV. I was suggesting of acquiring a gaming console (an Xbox or a PlayStation) to complement the TV, but my SO was not sold the idea since, knowing me, she said I might stop going to the office and just play all day at home. We know of some people that do nothing but just that after owning an Xbox and LCD TV. Together with an internet connection, such combination of home appliances seem to translate to sudden and considerable decrease in personal socialization levels for natural-born gamers.

So there, there are my lame and unacceptable excuses for not blogging. And I must say that I’ve missed a lot of developments in the blogosphere, but I will keep up.

Till my next posts guys! :-)
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This is cross-posted in my other blog, Manila, My Manila.

Google's Goal: Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal or RE<C

As part of Google's commitment to helping build a clean energy future, the search giant "announced a new strategic initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal":

The newly created initiative, known as RE<C, will focus initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies. RE<C is hiring engineers and energy experts to lead its research and development work, which will begin with a significant effort on solar thermal technology, and will also investigate enhanced geothermal systems and other areas. In 2008, Google expects to spend tens of millions on research and development and related investments in renewable energy. As part of its capital planning process, the company also anticipates investing hundreds of millions of dollars in breakthrough renewable energy projects which generate positive returns.

Larry Page, in a post he himself wrote in the Official Google Blog, said:

Our new initiative isn’t just about Google’s energy needs; we're seeking to accelerate the pace at which clean energy technologies are developing, so they can rival the economics of coal quickly. We've gained expertise in designing and building large-scale, energy-intensive facilities by building data centers that lead the industry in efficiency. We want to apply the same creativity and innovation to the challenge of generating inexpensive renewable electricity at scale.

Promising technologies already exist that could be developed to deliver renewable energy cheaper than coal. We think the time is ripe to build rapidly on the tremendous work on renewable energy. For example, I believe that solar thermal technology provides a very plausible path to generating cheaper electricity. By combining talented technologists, great partners and large investments, we have an opportunity to quickly push this technology forward. Our goal is to build 1 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic that this can be done within years, not decades. If we succeed, it would likely provide a path to replacing a substantial portion of the world’s electricity needs with renewable energy sources.

So when the Global Climate Change Conference kicked off in Bali last week, Google accordingly joined admitting that "our own efforts can only get us so far. That's why we are participating in the Bali conference. The world must chart the path to a clean energy future collectively."

Now, all these concrete actions by Google are in stark contrast to the non-commitment by the search giant's base country, the United States, to the Kyoto Protocol as shown in this Kyoto Protocol Participation Map:


What do you think does that say about Google?
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This is cross-posted in my other blog, Planet Google.

Global Warming At The Pier

The effects of global warming are evident even here in my place of work at The Pier.

For the last several years during the peak of the summer season, coal in bulk and log cargoes stored in our terminals have been prone to sudden combustion due to record high temperatures:

This coal is usually of the Indonesian-steam-coal-in-bulk type.

Huge round logs like these are usually imported from the Solomon Islands.

Burning natural fuel like coal releases large amounts of harmful Carbon Dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gas into the atmosphere greatly contributing to global warming.

Indiscriminate logging, on the other hand, causes imbalance in the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere since, of course, trees and plants mainly need CO2 for photosynthesis -- no or less trees means more CO2 in the atmosphere (and less oxygen for people), then greenhouse effect, then global warming.

This is such a Catch-22: we need fossil fuels and natural resources to survive and yet consuming or using these resources is slowly killing us.
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This is cross-posted in my other blog, Manila, My Manila.

The Theory Of Everything

Could the "most elegant and intricate pattern known to mathematics," the E8 Lie group pattern, a mathematical puzzle solved recently and shown below, represent the "geometric structure at the heart of our universe."?

At least that's what physicist Dr. Garett Lisi is claiming in his paper "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything" which has caused quite a stir in the physics world:

"An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything" is a physics paper submitted to the arXiv library on Nov. 6, 2007 by Antony Garrett Lisi. His theory claims to unify all fields of the standard model with gravity using a 248-point lattice of E8 geometry. It has not been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal, but it has drawn a wide range of professional reaction and stirred public interest in the topic and its author.

The title is a mathematical pun on E8's classification as both a simple group and an exceptional group.

Lisi notes that the theory is incomplete. It has been claimed that, unlike most string theories, it will be testable soon, using the Large Hadron Collider, which is slated to come on line in May 2008. However, as it stands, the paper contains no calculations for particle masses; and it is not clear that such calculations could be done even in principle.

More on the Theory of Everything:

A theory of everything (ToE) is a hypothetical theory of theoretical physics that fully explains and links together all known physical phenomena. Initially, the term was used with an ironic connotation to refer to various overgeneralized theories. For example, a great-grandfather of Ijon Tichy — a character from a cycle of Stanisław Lem's science fiction stories of 1960s — was known to work on the "General Theory of Everything" (Polish: "Ogólna Teoria Wszystkiego"). Over time, the term stuck in popularizations of quantum physics to describe a theory that would unify or explain through a single model the theories of all fundamental interactions of nature...

The concept of a "theory of everything" is rooted in the ancient idea of causality, famously expressed by Laplace:

An intellect which at a certain moment would know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed, if this intellect were also vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present before its eyes.

-- Essai philosophique sur les probabilités, Introduction. 1814

So, you want to know the meaning of life?

Honda: Leading The Pack in Fuel Cell Technology

If there's one thing nature has taught mankind, it is that we should always adapt to our environment to ensure survival. With the limited resources this planet offers (and what with the ever increasing price of oil that has lately gone up to record levels because of tension in Iran and the tight control being applied by the oil cartel known as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC on the world's oil supply), it is always a relief to know something like this and learn that there is hope for humanity:

Honda unveiled their FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle at a recent auto show.

You've got to give it to Honda on their Fuel Cell research and application. You can really feel the company's commitment and determination to fulfill their vision:

Fuel Cell Leadership
Based on its vision of, "Blue Skies for our Children", Honda has worked for forty years at reducing the environmental impact of the automobile, including efforts to reduce emissions, boost fuel efficiency and, now, many industry-leading efforts to advance the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle - a technology and fuel that Honda believes may hold the ultimate promise for a clean and sustainable transportation future. Honda's pioneering achievements in this area include the first EPA and CARB certification of a fuel cell vehicle (2002); the first lease of a fuel cell vehicle (2002); the first fuel cell vehicle to receive an EPA fuel economy rating (2002); the first cold-weather customer (2004); the first and still only individual retail customers (2005, 2007); and the first and still only fuel cell vehicle to be eligible for a federal tax credit.

The thing with the Honda FCX Clarity right now is understandably its hefty price tag. Word has it that the vehicle costs ten million U.S. dollars or even higher. A more accurate estimate, however, pegged the price at a million dollars U.S.

Makes you wonder if some of those unreasonable OPEC leaders who could easily afford to buy these environment-friendly cars would dare to be caught driving one.

Chinese Author Wins Inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize

Besting four other shortlisted novels including Soledad's Siter by of our very own Butch Dalisay, Jiang Rong bags the first-ever Man Asia Literary Prize for his book Wolf Totem.

From the Man Asia Literary Prize site:

Adrienne Clarkson, Chair of the judges for the inaugural prize praised Wolf Totem: "A panoramic novel of life on the Mongolian grasslands during the Cultural Revolution, this masterly work is also a passionate argument about the complex interrelationship between nomads and settlers, animals and human beings, nature and culture. The slowly developing narrative is rendered in vivid detail and has a powerful cumulative effect. A book like no other. Memorable."

Prof. Butch Dalisay has this to say about the judges' decision in his Pinoy Penman blog:

MY DEAR readers and friends,

I'm sorry to have to tell you all that I didn't win the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize, for which my novel Soledad's Sister was shortlisted and which was given out in Hong Kong tonight, that distinction having been achieved by Chinese writer Jiang Rong's Wolf Totem--which, going by everything we've heard about it, is an excellent novel on an epic scale of nomadic life in Mongolia, the original Chinese version of which has already sold more than two million copies in China.

My fellow "shortlistees" and I are very happy for Mr. Jiang, who was prevented by illness from joining us for the ceremonies, and we also derive pride and comfort from the fact that, aside from the very warm reception extended by our hosts, the judges, the sponsors, and the Hong Kong literary community, we received many inquiries from publishers and agents eager to publish our work for broader audiences beyond Asia. Thus, this has been a great breakthrough for all our literatures and writers, and we look forward to being followed by our compatriots in this exciting new annual competition--the next deadline for which, I must remind anyone interested, is only a few months away, on March 31st, 2008....

Question now is, who would be the first Filipino to bag a Man Asia Prize which is now regarded as Asia's Nobel Prize for Literature?