MOVED TO WORDPRESS

Hi! Thank you for visiting my blog.

I have moved to a new address.

I find moving my stuff over to Wordpress as one of the hardest things I have to do but it has to be done.

You can find more updated blog entries at:

https://www.chipesterkhan.tk/

Thank you so much for being a part of my blogging life.

See you at the new site :D

A Look Back At March 2018

March 2018

Whatta month.

I turned 39. Yep, I'm that old. Can't wait for my 40th.

I started at a new job as a Copywriter.

I went for a couple of long rides.

Finally settled into my new place away from civilization.

Created a new editorial calendar.

Struggling to fulfill my responsibility to adhere to that calendar.

Been riding my motorcycle more frequently.

Got darker.

and

Currently managing these blogs:

Digital Nomad Lifestlye
KotseDude
Prep Pinoy
HayopEtc
AcidRadio
Tarabaiii
and this.

Yep, I'm busy.

Thank God.

Remembering Yolanda

November 8, 2013

Typhoon Yolanda hits my hometown, Tacloban City.

It was around this time on the 7th that I was constantly communicating with people, asking about the situation. We expressed our fears. We exchanged tips on what to do. I told them to be careful. We communicated until the wee hours of the morning.

At that time, our tone was still casual. You see, Tacloban City is constantly buffeted by tropical storms and typhoons. I grew up enjoying heavy rains with my friends. Signal 3 was nothing to us. Life goes on even if there's a storm going on.

At around 6AM, everything went dark.

All communication gone.

It was at this time that my friends and I who weren't in Tacloban started talking amongst ourselves. There was a sense of dread that hung thick on the air as we waited with bated breath.

I tried calling my buddy in the military who was stationed there. He had promised to call me. At around 9 AM I received a call from him through satellite phone. And all he said was "Patay. Daghan patay. Nangalumos." (Dead. A lot of dead. Drowned)

It didn't make sense to me at that time.

No one could have predicted the storm surge that happened. Heck, we didn't even know what it was. It would flood in Tacloban but waves crashing into the city was something we hadn't heard of.

It's a very painful memory.

And I am still wracked with survivor's guilt for not being there. But what would I have been able to do against the forces of nature?

My youngest brother called me up a few minutes later confirming that the worst had happened. His voice was cracking over the phone as we talked briefly about the situation.

I told my Dad I would head over to Tacloban on the first bus out of Davao and he firmly said "Stay put". In hindsight, he was right. I would have just added to the number of helpless people in a city of ruins.

We were better equipped to get help sent over by communicating with people and groups who cared. And so we started calling.
And within a short amount of time we had a desalination machine, thousands of water purification tablets and other helpful items ready to be sent over to Tacloban.

I wish I could have done more.

Two of my buddies (Jean Paul Verona and Joseph Jopillo) braved the long trek to Tacloban City to ensure everyone we knew was safe. I lost communication with them a few hours later.  wish I had gone with them. I wish I had the same level of courage that they had to go on that journey.

November 8 will always be a painful day for me. The helplessness I felt on that day. The stories of courage I heard. The brave actions of my friends as they experienced the storm and its aftermath. The families forever changed by the force of nature. Friends we will never get to see again. It reminded me of how fragile we are as human beings. It reminded me that we have a finite amount of time to exist on this planet. It made me realize that each day given to us is a gift and that we should make sure that we never waste our time.

Help came from all corners of the globe. I would like to give a special mention to Davao's mayor and now our President Rodrigo Duterte who didn't hesitate to send his troops in without any prodding. He wasn't running for a higher office then but he did what the highest officials in the land were unable to do, be there.

I know I've criticized Mar Roxas in the past but he also showed some true leadership at that time by heading small groups in clearing the devastated areas.

Mayor ROmualdez also showed his true character by being one with his constituents and ignoring the grief he felt while working with heavy equipment.
The first few hours after the full trength of the storm, everyone was working with one another. 

Tacloban City was thrust into the international spotlight and foreign aid came in by the numbers.

It's a painful memory but you also have to look beyond the initial pain and grief everyone felt because of the effects of nature.

Typhoon Yolanda may have destroyed my city but it also united the entire world.

Out.

One False Move

Life is like a game of chess, you play your best the entire game and one false move and you're done.

Sheesh.

The Bloggys and why it matters

Bloggers rejoice!

The internet is once again abuzz with activity as bloggers all over the nation ready themselves for the Bloggys 2015!

Now I have been blogging for most of my life. If I count all of the years I spent sharing thoughts and ideas on the Internet, it’d be a good 20 years since I started. That means I went through Friendster, Myspace, Multiply, I.ph and countless others. Yes, I’m that old!

With the advent of Facebook, people moved away from the usual blogging platforms and just decided to stay on that social network 24/7 posting little things about their lives. It was probably up until a year or two again when I started noticing that people were back to creating full time blogs and posting links and others on FB. Adding Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn to the mix has made it even more viable for bloggers nowadays to create and maintain relevant blogs.

But with so many blogs out there today, how do you wade through a multitude of these sites and find the cream of the crop? Coming up with a blog is easy, sign up for a Blogger or a Wordpress account and you’re good to go! It’s the maintenance part that becomes tricky. So many people start a blog, post a few tidbits of info and then let their blogs go to waste. This has increased the number of blogs out there today but it has also filled up the blogosphere with sites that don’t really matter much.

Enter the Bloggys or the Blog awards and now you have a governing body that will assess, judge and award blogs of note what is due to them. Some people may not like the idea of their “babies” being judged but there is a positive outcome that everyone can get out of this.

1.       Since bloggers will be aware that their followers may or may not nominate them based on the content they put out there, they will have something to work towards. This increases the quality of posts, the layout of their blogs will change and ultimately their blogs will transform into user friendly sites that everyone can visit and get useful information or entertainment.

2.      Being nominated for the Bloggys 2015 can bolster the motivation of the blogsite owner to improve their posts, tweak their sites and basically help them prepare to win this year or to win in the coming years.

3.       Winning a Bloggy award may not seem as prestigious as say an Oscar or an Emmy but in the blogosphere, having a site with the award tacked onto it shows first time visitors that this site is worth checking out. An award is payment for all the years of hard work the blogger who owns and maintains the site and although it is non-monetary in nature, it can bring lots of good things for both the blogger and the blog visitors.

4.       Last but not the least, the Bloggys 2015 is a way of screening and determining who is worthy to be called the cream of the crop. It makes the blogosphere richer and it improves the quality of blogs out there!

In conclusion, the Bloggys 2015 is something to look forward to and there are many categories to choose from. If you’re just about to start your blog or you already have an existing one, jump over to the Bloggys 2015’s official site so you can check out how you can either join or use it as a guideline for your own blog!

Good luck and tata!

Thoughts on a rainy day (2 bands, cars and a couple of blogs)

Rainy days are here again...

We just experienced Egay and that was some rain!

Had to drive around some and went to Fairview with a couple of Doctors. When the rain started to fall, the visibility started going out the window.

Had to contend with the rain which nearly ruined my day.


KOTSEDUDE


But it wasn't as bad as when I had to deal with laptop issues:




Also had to update a couple more blogs that I had set aside due to a very busy work schedule

http://tarabaiii.blogspot.com/2015/07/rekado.html

http://acidradioband.blogspot.com/2015/07/staging-comeback.html 



And finally, I updated this blog:


http://glaizasynthesis.blogspot.com/2015/07/very-late-post-about-fete-de-la-musique.html



That's it folks, good mornight!

E-Tesda for everyone!

Hello people,

Time to do my socio-civic responsibility for all the kids out there looking for some education.

In the past, I posted about Distance Education through this:

http://chipesterkhan.blogspot.com/2011/11/asian-institute-of-distance-education.html




Now, are you interested in learning some life skills for free?


Well, have you heard of TESDA? Or to be more specific, have you heard of e-TESDA?


TESDA or The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority has been catering this service to people from all walks of life but you are required to attend formal classes. That means you'll have to sacrifice some time for commuting and heading to class. THis is okay if you don't have work or other responsibilities to attend to.

Thanks to modern technology, you can now tele-commute to school and study at your own pace through e-TESDA. 
Here's a list of what you can enroll in:

Give it a try people. Learn something new. It's free!


For more info, visit these pages:

http://e-tesda.gov.ph/

http://pinoyjuander.com/blog/2015/03/how-to-enroll-free-tesda-courses-online-program/

http://www.jbsolis.com/

My thoughts on the Mayweather vs Pacman fight... and I waited 5 years for that... sheesh

First off, I guess congratulations are in order for Mayweather. I believe he won that fight the best way he could.

I'm sad Pacman fought but Mayweather did show good tactics in the ring.

That is if you call running, ducking, hugging, throwing kidney shots while getting separated, throwing low blows, headlocks and pushing your opponent with your elbows, tactics. A true champion shows class by fighting as best he can without resorting to dirty tactics. I can understand all the ducking and evading but all the rest was just tasteless and sullied this boxing match.

Kenny Bayless as a referee is pretty much useless and biased too. I guess he's always been that way, I wonder how much he was paid by the Money Team.

Yeah I'm sour graping.

But to be fair, here's why Mayweather won:

1. He had a sizeable reach advantage over Pacquiao.

2. Unlike the bigger guys Pacquiao fought, Mayweather does have great skills (yeah, I watched the videos of his past fights and I was extremely scared for Pacquiao).

3. Pacquiao (allegedly) had an injured shoulder. If he called off the fight, people would've been disappointed and he did what we expected him to do which is soldier on past the pain like a true champion.

4. Pacquiao was a bit hesitant to rush in because of the height advantage and he probably didn't want to lose that fight due to a KO.

5. Mayweather's defense strategy is good. Boring, but good.

Still, I feel that the entire world was cheated out of what was supposed to be the "Fight of the Century". I'd say it was the "Biggest scam of the century."

People paid a lot of money to secure ringside tickets, people all over the world shelled out money for Pay per view and people all over the world were gambling over the outcome of the match.

When the fight started we were on the edge of our seats although the first round was basically two boxers feeling each other out inside the ring. I gave that round to Mayweather. The second round went to him as well.

The 3rd and 4th round I awarded to Pacuiao while the 5th went to Mayweather and then I started to feel the way I felt during the Pacquiao Clottey fight. I got bored.

I only felt the excitement rush back in during the 11th and 12th round. It was pretty obvious that Money was pacing himself and letting Manny do all the work. What a way to earn that paycheck. Disgusting.

Mayweather is a good tactician but he basically reminded me why I'd rather watch MMA than boxing. Boxing has become a bit boring because of fighters who fight like him.

Kudos to Manny Pacquiao for trying his best to get Mayweather to fight.

I guess everyone expected a long dragged out, toe to toe battle between these two embittered rivals. after all, didn't we all wait for 5 years for this to happen? I guess I expected too much. I still wanted to see a good fight, not a marathon or a dancing match.

To everyone who bought those overpriced tickets and shelled out money for pay per view on their TV sets, I guess you were all robbed.

Yeah congratulations Mayweather for winning the match but Pacquiao won everyone else.

It's sad when the winner is booed by the crowd. It just goes to show that your victory wasn't well deserved.

Finally!

Gonna watch Pacman vs Mayweather in a few hours.

I'm definitely rooting for Pacquiao and all my hopes are pinned on him winning this long awaited match.

Mayweather isn't someone we can easily dismiss as a boxer because he does have serious skills based on the many fights I've seen him in.

This is definitely going to be a fight worth watching as these two champions duke it out inside the ring!

Avengers: Age of Ultron (Warning! Do not click if you haven't watched it yet!

The Avengers: Age of Ultron

(Do not go beyond this point because I might spoil it for you)

How should we really celebrate 420?

How should we really celebrate 420?

420 started out as a small event which has become a worldwide phenomenon with people from all walks of life converging to celebrate this event.

For the unititiated, 420 is the date when smokers converge in order to have Marijuana legalized. It started out with a small group called the Waldos and has since become quite popular with other enthusiasts until the whole world just seem to have embraced the tradition.

420 isn’t really recognized as an official holiday, but should we still celebrate it?

I’m not too stoked about revealing my political stand on a lot of things, but in this case I say, why not?

If it raises awareness for marijuana and eventually influences the legalization of the drug all over the world I think it’s worth coming together for and smoking our favorite plant.

Here’s the problem and maybe the reason why there are still obstacles in the way which stop it from being legalized: stupid people.

If you’re a pot user, that’s well and good. Just make sure you’re a responsible pot user.

Effects of marijuana range from stupor to some hallucinations depending on if you have the Sativa or Indica strain. I prefer the Indica for its sedative effect on me. Yeah, I basically turn into a lazy ass when I smoke a joint. I like spacing out and having no motivation to do anything at all for a day.

So if you’re gonna smoke a joint, make sure you stay home. Don’t use pot to score “coolness points” because it just isn’t cool when you’re stumbling all over the place or becoming way too anxious around people (depending again on the strain).

Do us all a favor and be responsible so that marijuana finally gets legalized.

If you smoke pot, behave so that it doesn’t give the drug and everyone else a negative image.

Oh yeah, if you’re wondering why this is late, I started making this blog post on April 20^th and then I had to celebrate the day.

So to quote Afroman (somehow…)

“I was gonna write a post today but then I got high….”

Finally got my Cherry Mobile Alpha Shift!

Ok, so I finally got my hands on the Cherry Mobile Alpha Shift Tablet/ Laptop and I am so excited to try this baby out.

By now you probably know that I support Cherry Mobile's products not only because they're quite inexpensive but also because they have good quality for the price.

Other reasons I have for supporting Cherry Mobile is because it's a local company and yes I would love to see a local company become internationally known which could lead to great things for our economy. More jobs for our fellow countrymen. Okay enough of that nationalism and on to the product.

Here's what Cherry Mobile Alpha Shift says they have under the hood:

    10.1-Inch IPS Display (Full Touch)
    Windows 8.1 OS
    Intel Atom Z3735F Chipset
    1.33GHz Quad Core 64-bit CPU
    Intel HD Graphics
    2GB of RAM
    1.2 Megapixel Camera
    32GB Internal Storage (SSD)
    500GB Internal Storage in Dock (HDD)
    Expandable Up to 64GB via MicroSD
    Wi-Fi b/g/n
    Bluetooth 4.0
    USB 2.0 Port
    Micro USB 2.0 Port
    Micro HDMI
    3.5mm Audio Jack
    Accelerometer
    177 x 263 x 9.9 mm (Tablet)
    177 x 263 x 13.6 mm (Docked or Laptop Mode)
    6,300mAh Li-ion Battery

To be honest, I barely understand all of the technical stuff. All I know is that 1.33 GHz Quad Core 64-bit CPU is fast enough and 2GB RAM will let me do my stuff without lagging too much.

Before I got the Cherry Mobile Alpha Shift, I had been debating on getting an Asus Transformer or that Acer laptop/tablet product they had to offer as well. Good thing I saw the Cherry Mobile Alpha Shift before getting any of the other two. Although Asus is a great product which I also support, Cherry Mobile wins hands down because of the price difference and because it's made locally.

So is the Alpha Shift any good?

Well let's see. After Playing around with it for a bit I do have a few complaints but I have a lot more praises for it.

In tablet form, at 10 inches, it's quite big and can be a bit heavy unlike the smaller 7 inch tablets Cherry Mobile offers. So reading at night, in bed is a bit uncomfortable and can be a bit tiring. You can't complain about the size of the display though. After puting in a comic book reader and an ebook reader, I don't have to squint as much as I do with the 7 inchers. It also helps that the Intel HD graphics really makes things pop out. I had to adjust the brightness though cause it kinda hurt my eyes after having the tablet so close to my face reading all the comics and books I pre loaded into it.

Connecting the tab to the dock transforms it into a laptop and it feels sturdy enough to stand on its own without fear of it falling over. I just can't place it on my lap though because it kinda feels imbalanced. Still, I believe that working on your laptop should be done on a proper desk to promote more productivity. Get a desk!

All the programs seem to work. I have MS Word (I'm using it right now to type this out) and MS Excel. Having both of these programs is enough to complete my world in terms of productivity.

The chicklet type keys are a blessing for people like me who like typing 60 WPM, although it does feel quite cramped. To be fair, I'm quite used to typing things out on my larger Asus laptop which now serves me more as a desktop than a portable gadget. So I'm looking forward to bring the Alpha Shift along when I'm on the road. Expect some single finger typing.

I don't like using the mouse trackpad. Heck, I don't even like my Asus' trackpad. Good thing there's a USB slot for an external mouse. I use an A4Tech wireless mouse and it immediately recognized the device and installed the necessary drivers. Voila! No more trackpad issues!

Connecting to my Smart wireless modem device was also quick and easy. Just don't do what I did and open a lot of tabs quickly. It is still not a PC, so open a few tabs and you won't have any issues with lagging or anything like that.

I'm glad to say Skype was uninterrupted and doing Social Media stuff like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram was painless.

The sound coming from the device is tinny so if I were you get some headphones out. Sound quality through headphones is still pretty much standard, not too overwhelming but enough to let you hear the highs and lows well. Not much to say about that.

I may not be much of a techie but 32GB internal storage is just not enough for me. That's just about a third of the size of my digital comic collection. That does not include my ebooks. So yeah that's a problem for me and I hope the next product they come up with has an even bigger data storage in tablet form. It's a hassle to choose from my comic collection and wait for it to be stored inside the tablet. There's an option to expand the data on the tablet though via Micro SD card so that's another 32 GB of data you can cram into the tablet. The Dock has 500GB though and I wasn't expecting that.

Battery life isn't too impressive, I managed to get a couple of hours worth of life from it. I don't know how long it's supposed to really last. Here's what I did during those times, wrote some chapters of a book, created some Excel files, wasted time online on Facebook and chatted with some guys I work with on Skype. Oh yeah I kinda zoned out on a couple of Youtube videos too. So maybe I overworked the device. Still, it should allow you to do some work if you're more focused than I am.

The last concern that I have is the size of the screen, at 10 inches, I find it very small. But then I'm also kinda spoiled because of my 14 inch screen size on my Asus laptop. So prolonged usage of the Cherry Mobile Alpha Shift is only going to happen if I don't have my Asus nearby.

The Alpha Shift is relatively light for a laptop so it is nice to bring along without the fear of developing chronic back problems.

Turning it on and off is fast which is great when you're always on the go and inspiration strikes you in the oddest of places. So far, I've used mine in a few coffee shops, a gas station, a few food places, in my backyard, someone else's backyard, on a roof deck and on the beach. This baby has gone places in just a week's time.

So would I recommend it? If you've got 15K to spare and you really need a laptop/ tablet device, then this one's for you! Don't expect too much, this isn't a PC. If you're just going to do some light work with MS Word and MS Excel, this gadget is perfect. Going online isn't too much of a hassle, just don't open too many tabs.

Holding the tablet in your hands for prolonged periods can make you experience some discomfort so make sure you have some support for your arms and please adjust the brightness level if you're going to hold it near your face the whole night!

Ta ta for now, I need to read some more comics!

Puppy Therapy

While Chip's sick, here's some puppy therapy.

That's Pisces, Phat Boy Slim and Runty.

They were all born on March 6, 2015. That's the same day as Chip's birthday.

Will somebody please tell me what breed this cat is?

I have a tendency of being too weak when it comes to helpless animals.

This cat right here (who seems to be sitting/ lying down like a boss) is one of those strays I adopted.

When I first got him he had wounds all over his body from someone who probably threw boiling water at him. Now, I don't know why anyone would do that. I mean, can't they just shoo the cat away?

Anyway, so I saw this cat and although he had burn marks all over his body, he still seemed to hold himself with high dignity and was sitting down peacefully and staring at me while I was munching on some chips. I coaxed it over to me with a chip in hand and he silently approached, a bit wary but he was probably hungry at that time so most of his fear disappeared at the prospect of food.

Needless to say, he and I finished the whole bag of chips and he proceeded to lie down at my feet when all the food was gone.

A former neighbor of mine told me that this cat had already been hanging out there for a week and no one seemed to own him. He told me to just adopt the cat knowing that I'd take good care of it and that I was fond of animals.

So I picked him up and placed him inside the car and drove off.

That was more than 6 months ago, now he's a happy cat who loves prowling around in the neighborhood and lounging around my house when I'm writing.

I still don't know what breed he is.

He's obviously not just an ordinary cat. He moves like a panther, has a big head, a snub nose and piercing green eyes. Although there are still patches of fur missing on his body, his thick black fur is almost back and it's really soft to the touch. He has massive paws with enormous claws on each one and he has a long thick tail that he flicks around if something catches his attention.

He's usually just lounging around and sleeps most of the time and only wakes up for two things: when it's time to go outside and when he hears food coming. I may be at fault for his sudden weight gain because I spoil him with lots of cat food and sometimes some chips and crackers.

His weight may account for the fact that he plods around while he prowls his immediate vicinity and although he's a very quiet cat he can meow very loudly when he wants his food on his plate.

So there you have it, I have a massive black cat who loves to lounge around and eat until he falls asleep at his dish. I've caught him several times asleep at his dish and when he wakes up, he just resumes eating.

I still don't know what breed he is and I would really like to know, so if there are cat enthusiasts out there, maybe you could shed light on this for me.

Please help me by telling me what type of breed my cat is.

That's it for now because Shadow's (that's his name now) meowing for some food and he won't get off my lap. 

Finally! A White Carabao

It's been a couple of years since I posted something about a White Carabao and not having the opportunity to take a picture (or during that case, I just didn't stop the car long enough to take a picture which should've only taken a couple of seconds). Well, anyway, on my way to Agusan I chanced upon this impressive specimen and this time I stopped.

I hurried out of my car and took this pic with my trusty Samsung S3 and this is the best one I could take of this white Carabao.

After I'd bothered it long enough, I took a step back and just watched it as it went about its business of grazing.

I never actively pursued seeing or taking a picture of a white Carabao after my first post about it. I felt that should I ever see a white Carabao again, it should be by chance. Somehow, over the years, white Carabaos have become somewhat of a symbol of opportunity and good fortune for me.

I dunno, I can be a funny thinker sometimes.

Well, here you go... enjoy!

Yep! I'm fighting soon

My Cherry Mobile Breeze 2 Experience

Ok so I rarely buy any personal stuff but when my Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt gave up on me after a year of service I began searching for a replacement. I was sad I had to let go of my "best friend" but sooner or later it had to happen. Now, I rarely write any tech stuff cause I'm not much of a techie. Sure I can operate a computer and do some basic workarounds but when it comes to the more complicated stuff, I let the professionals handle that. My Fusion Bolt might still be able to live again if I bring it to a repair center soon enough but I'm thinking maybe I should let it rest for a bit.

Ok I guess I should move on to the Cherry Moble Breeze 2. Since I was very happy with the performance my Fusion Bolt gave me, I decided to buy another Cherry Mobile product. At first, I just wanted another Fusion Bolt but when I got to the Cherry Mobile page I saw a lot of new stuff, most particularly the Aura which was powered by ANdroid KitKat, the latest of the Android series. I searched high and low for a review of the Aura and just found a lot of blogs promoting the product and there weren't any real reviews of it.

Released in May, I was really hoping there'd be more blogs about the Aura. Now alongside the Aura, Cherry Mobile also released the Breeze 2. For some reason I kept ignoring it, just for the fact that the name "Aura" seemed more appealing than Breeze.

The price for the Aura seemed just right, barely breaking the 2000 peso mark. (And they did have a price drop which brought it down to below 2000!) I was sold on the idea of getting an Aura.

THe next step was calling some stores in my area and I was quite disappointed that they couldn't give me an answer if they had it in stock or not. (Maybe they were just trying to sell me their old stock, who knows right?)

Feeling down, I had to accept the fact that I may not be able to get an Aura any time soon.

That was until I had a chance to go to SM for a family dinner. I excused myself and just thought I'd pass by a Cherry Mobile store and see if they had it in stock. Lo and behold they had an AUra!

Although my initial excitement of owning one took over me, there was something aboutt he shape of the Aura that turned me off. First, It seemed taller and thinner than my Fusion Bolt, and I kinda got attached to my BOlt's size and shape already. Next, it was thicker probably by just a millimeter or so. The touch response was absolutely amazing though. Take note, we're talking about a 2000 peso gadget here. If it works well, it is amazing! Still, there was that issue about appearance.

I then asked about the Breeze 2, which was at the same price range and basically had the same specs. And they had it in stock too!

Fusion Breeze 2 Box front

Fusion Breeze 2 back view of box with specs

I wasn't as excited about the Breeze 2 as I was with the Aura but I gave it a try and basically had the same experience. Too bad they didn't have the accessories I need like the protective case and most definitely the screen protector. But since, it was almost the same dimension as my Fusion Bolt, I decided to go with the Breeze 2.

Fusion Breeze 2 and Fusion Bolt comparo

I then rejoined the family dinner and tried as hard as I could to keep my mind off my recent purchase. After dinner was done, I raced all the way home ignoring all speed limits and like a kid during christmas tore through the packaging and opened it up.

It connected immediately to my Wi-fi and started updating itself. It comes pre packaged with Google CHrome and Opera Mini so those are 2 browsers you won't have to worry about. Now I'm not much for games except for the occasional Candy Crush and Plants vs Zombies but I opted not to load those into my tablet for fear it'd eat up my time again.

I instead loaded it with the usual programs I had in my old FUsion Bolt. Namely Komiks, and an eBook reader. As you can see, the reason why my Fusion Bolt and I got along splendidly well was because I didn't demand too much from it. It basically served me as a reading companion and occasional gaming platform. The Breeze 2 will most probably serve me more as a reading companion for those long periods of waiting for my clients.

The basic specs that the Breeze 2 has are:

4.4 KitKat OS

Dual COre 1.5 GHz (For the tech savvy out there, is this almost the same as QuadCore?)

ROM 4GB 

RAM 512MB (This was almost a deal breaker for me because my Fusion Bolt came equipped with 1GB RAM)

7" TFT Capacitive 5 point touch screen

Front VGA and rear 2MP camera (Hah! As if I'd be using that!)

MIracast ready (Whatever that is)

and up to 32GB sd card

I'm pretty much a creature of habit so change is often hard for me to accept. Here are some niggles I had with my new Breeze 2.

It's definitely not what I've been used to. My Fusion Bolt has a rounded body form whereas the Breeze 2 is squarish. Removing the SD card from time to time to update it with new reading materials require me to shut down my new tablet for it to refresh. Icons are larger (especially on my KOmiks CBR app) which makes the thumbnails occupy a lot more space than what I had on my Fusion Bolt. I kinda end up misclicking it. My ebook reader also looks different than what I've been used to. I set my brightness level to the lowest setting but it seems like there's a slightly reflective film on my tab's screen that makes it a bit too bright. These are minor issues that haven't stopped me from enjoying it though.

Smudgy...

Komiks (my comic book reader)

Ebook reader

Battery life is awesome. Turning it on and off is quick. And Cherry Mobile sure has upped it's ante when it comes to product presentation. I won't go and compare it to Apple and Samsung tablets out there but for the budget conscious, this tablet (or these tablets) will do the job at the price that won't break the bank

All in all, I'm very happy with the Breeze 2 and maybe, just maybe I'll buy the Aura too just for the heck of it!

5 Tips for those who want to be writers

Wow it’s been a long time since I’ve actually posted anything here. For that I apologize, I’ve been so busy writing for others that I haven’t really found time to update my own blog.

Well it’s 2014 now and I found some time to write so here I am and I’m going to give out some tips again. In my years interacting with people and letting them in on the secret of making money on the side as a writer, I’ve always been asked the question. How do you become a writer?

Personally, I stumbled into writing as a serious hobby I could earn money off of. I’ve always been interested in writing and as I grew older I became more serious about it and eventually found my medium on the internet. I have now been writing for more than 10 years (let’s leave it at that cause if I tell you more I might end up sounding like an old fart).

So let’s get to it.

So you want to be a writer?

 

Good! That means you've just joined the many millions of people who think the same thing! But it takes a certain quality in a person to actually make that happen. And what's that?

Simple.

The follow-through.

You can wish all you want but if you don't actually start putting pen to paper, nothing's gonna happen.

 

I've probably repeated these 5 things to so many people asking me about what they need to do to become a writer so here it is.

 

1 - Live your life 

 

                Yes. Just because you're a writer doesn't mean you'll need to be stuck to your desk 24/7. Live your life. It doesn't have to involve crazy stunts (although I'm not stopping you) so you can get inspiration but it does help. Basically the more you experience, the more creative you'll be.

 

                The simple act of getting out of your house or tending your garden or whatever other interests you have can have a profound effect on your mind's creative abilities. Try it!

 

2 - Read

 

                Everyone needs a certain role model in life in order to achieve something and that's true for writing as well. But in order to become a good writer, you need to read. This is one of the best ways to learn writing styles, what works and what doesn't, new information about certain stuff etcetera etcetera. Just remember that reading stuff isn't supposed to lead to copying and pasting what they did and calling it your own. That's called plagiarism and that can kill your reputation as a writer dead on the spot!

 

                Read to learn. Read to get inspiration. Read so that you can take a different spin on what's already out there.

 

3 - Stick to a certain schedule

 

                Everyone thinks that being a writer means doing away with schedules and leading a bohemian lifestyle. Nothing could be further from the truth than that. Of course, if you choose to do just that, no one will be able to stop you but it can have a negative impact on your work.

 

                Writing is a job that requires your full attention because as you're living your life, you're taking in all these new information and processing it in your brain. You can't really do that if you're just lying in bed all day and stuck in a room.

 

                To be honest, I have a day job and it takes up the better part of my day. I took it because I needed some variety in my life and working is a great way to meet new and interesting people! But during that time all of the information I'm getting from talking to customers, getting to places, making deliveries and all that is a chance for me to interact and process new information. During that time, I don't write. I observe.

 

                After work hours, I switch on my active writer mode and write. And when I proofread my work, I sometimes find tidbits of information that is closely related to some of the interactions I've done during the day.

 

Note: try not to get a job that requires you to be confined in an office. Find a job that'll keep you active and provide lots of variety.

 

4 - Target specific dates for your blog entries

 

                This is a more technical aspect of the job as a writer. Targeting specific dates will help you enforce a personal schedule for writing. I make sure I have at least 6 hours to write every night and I have a personal quota of completing ten 500 word articles for different clients every day. For some that might be too much, but I found out the hard way that that is the number I'm comfortable with. Now my clients do the date targeting for me on when they'll publish my work but I too have set a target for myself, with them.

 

5 - KISS - Keep it short and simple

                This might seem contradictory to this post right now but yeah try to keep it short and simple so that you can get your message across instantly. Explaining about the KISS method is a lengthy discussion (ironically) but to get straight to the point, remember this:

 

You're a messenger, deliver the message and get out.

 

                Oh and proofread your work.

 

                Just remember, you don't have to be an English or Literary major to be a writer (but it sure helps to know the basics of composition and grammar!) nowadays. Anyone can be a writer as long as they have the right motivation and discipline to do so. Heck, I'm not the best writer in the world but I've been writing so many articles for clients that I've lost count of just how many I've made over the years! I'm far from perfect but I keep honing it and I'm glad to say I've earned enough from it to live a relatively comfortable life. Cheers!

 PS

I may have missed out some things so message me if you have an idea so we can discuss it :D

Acquiring The Proper Writer's Mindset - From Portablejobs.Biz

This is a post about how to achieve the proper writer's mindset, feel free to add your own. these are the techniques I use.

A writer needs to acquire three things to succeed. This article is what you’d call the proper writer's mindset.

Listening to Perfect Pitch Ear Training - Master Class by David Lucas Burge

I'm currently listening to Listening to Perfect Pitch Ear Training - Master Class by David  Lucas Burge to enhance my musical skills.