My iBooks Library

I have been salivating over this app since it first came out with the launch of iOS4 last year. Having a 3rd generation 8gb iPod Touch, I cannot upgrade to the latest OS because so many people have been complaining of having their devices laggy and unresponsive because the hardware could not take the load. So for more than a year, I've been goggling over colored home screens and beautiful iBooks libraries while being stuck with my non-updated Stanza. 

But alas, here we are, with my new bigger and better device, now powerful enough to handle this most coveted virtual library. 

The first thing that I can say is that the interface is simply stunning. The virtual bookshelf with large cover images neatly displayed in rows makes me want to gobble them up one after the other. I was also able to separate my Read list in another library, sorted chronologically of course and divided into which year I finished them. Yes, I'm a computer files Neat Freak and it translates into iPod files. Unfortunately, this characteristic did not cross over to my bedroom.

As for the reading experience, I like how the everything is neater with this app. The chapters don't get messed up and you can clearly see how many pages you have left to read, a feat Stanza failed on tremendously. In Stanza's defense, I did not update my app for more than a year so I cannot speak for the latest versions, but you get the drift. The paragraphs and spacing are cleaner too, with less irritating formatting errors. For a 3.5 inch screen, these minor improvements are a blessing. 

I still prefer the slide-down-to-dim-screen and slide-up-to-brighten format of Stanza though. The screen adjustments on iBooks are too sensitive for my liking. And it's irritating how the brightness reverts back to its original settings every time the screen is locked and unlocked. This is the OC in me talking, please ignore her.

Overall, I do not regret my upgrade. Hopefully, this striking virtual library will help add some more read novels to my pathetic 2011 list. 

Cheers to the worlds that can only come from words!

RIP Steve Jobs, Thank You for the Magic

(CNN) -- Steve Jobs, the visionary in the black turtleneck who co-founded Apple in a Silicon Valley garage, built it into the world's leading tech company and led a mobile-computing revolution with wildly popular devices such as the iPhone, died Wednesday. He was 56.

The hard-driving executive pioneered the concept of the personal computer and of navigating them by clicking onscreen images with a mouse. In more recent years, he introduced the iPod portable music player, the iPhone and the iPad tablet -- all of which changed how we consume content in the digital age. 

His friends and Apple fans on Wednesday night mourned the passing of a tech titan. 

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives," Apple said in a statement. "The world is immeasurably better because of Steve." 

See reactions from Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and many others

More than one pundit, praising Jobs' ability to transform entire industries with his inventions, called him a modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci. 

"Steve Jobs is one of the great innovators in the history of modern capitalism," New York Times columnist Joe Nocera said in August. "His intuition has been phenomenal over the years." 

Jobs' death, while dreaded by Apple's legions of fans, was not unexpected. He had battled cancer for years, took a medical leave from Apple in January and stepped down as chief executive in August because he could "no longer meet (his) duties and expectations." 

Born February 24, 1955, and then adopted, Jobs grew up in Cupertino, California -- which would become home to Apple's headquarters -- and showed an early interest in electronics. As a teenager, he phoned William Hewlett, president of Hewlett-Packard, to request parts for a school project. He got them, along with an offer of a summer job at HP. 

Jobs dropped out of Oregon's Reed College after one semester, although he returned to audit a class in calligraphy, which he says influenced Apple's graceful, minimalist aesthetic. He quit one of his first jobs, designing video games for Atari, to backpack across India and take psychedelic drugs. Those experiences, Jobs said later, shaped his creative vision. 

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future," he told Stanford University graduates during a commencement speech in 2005. "You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

I've never been this upset about the death of someone I've never met. 

Steve, thank you for making our lives more magical. You are definitely an inspiration.

Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs. The world just lost a genius.

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs

Thou Shalt Not Pleasure Thyself

House Bill 4509: “An act penalizing the distribution, possession with intent to distribute and production of any device for the physical stimulation of human genitals for anything of pecuniary value and providing penalties for violations thereof.”

After reading this statement, a few questions popped into mind: What about electric toothbrushes? Back massagers? Bathroom bidets? Cellphones on vibrate? What about vegetables? Are eggplants going to be banned?? I'm going to miss my tortang talong! What about *gasp* hands?

 Ban sex toys in PH, bill urges 

MANILA, Philippines - Two party-list lawmakers are proposing a bill that would prohibit the ownership and distribution of sex toys in the country. 

House Bill 4509, authored by Buhay party-list Reps. Irwin Tieng and Mariano Michael Velarde, aims to "protect the morals of the society," they said in a statement. 

If passed, violators would be penalized with one-year imprisonment and a P30,000 fine. 

"The influence of obscene devices primarily for the physical stimulation of human genitals may seem unnoticed. The proliferation of these obscene devices which are insensitively and openly displayed in shops or stalls is very alarming," Tieng said. 

"This is also in keeping with the policy of the state to value the dignity of every human person and to promote and safeguard its integrity and the moral, spiritual and social being of its citizenry from the pernicious effects of obscene devices," Velarde added. 

Tieng and Velarde defined sex toys as any device that "can be used to stimulate human genitals," "could trigger sexually impure ideas" or "can give room to sex-related offenses." 

HB 4509 came on the heels of a debate among lawmakers on the Reproductive Health Bill, which would see the state give condoms to the poor. 

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/06/07/11/ban-sex-toys-ph-bill-urges

Let me get this straight, if this is just for the regulation of the sale and display of said adult toys then I can support this bill. That shops should have adult sections in their stores and that the bangketa display of these kinds of materials in populated areas be prohibited is not at all that bad. However, from the generalization of the terms and the reason presented for this kind of law to-be, I think these politicians are trying to bite off more than it should chew.

Fine, we can rationalize this as a measure for maintaining the innocence of the minds of our Filipino youth (because, God forbid, they should have zero knowledge about sexuality and even on how their own bodies work), but saying that these kind of gadgets can "trigger sexually impure ideas" and "can give room to sex related offenses" is just plain rash.

A piece of advice, if they want to ban sexually impure ideas, then ban brains instead. Thoughts are one thing that one cannot control but acting upon an idea/fantasy is another. Objects are just inanimate things that solely rely on the person using them. These rubber-made / battery operated devices have no intention nor motive to stain the world with lust and violence. And if these respectable gentlemen worry about proliferation of sex related crimes, instead of banning sex toys, maybe they should ban PRIESTS instead. But seriously, I think having a working and updated sex offenders' database is better than banning everything that vibrates and is shaped like a penis from the market.

Why is it that these holier-than-thou religious folks treat any thing related to sex and pleasure without the main intention of creating a child as automatically evil and immoral? I quote Stephen Fry on this when he said,

It’s the strange thing about this church, it is obsessed with sex, absolutely obsessed. Now, they will say we with our permissive society and our rude jokes, we are obsessed. No, we have a healthy attitude, we like it, it’s fun, it’s jolly, because it’s a primary impulse it can be dangerous and dark and difficult, it’s a bit like food in that respect only even more exciting. The only people who are obsessed with food are anorexics and the morbidly obese, and that in erotic terms is the Catholic Church in a nutshell.

Source: BBC's Intelligence Squared Debate: Is Catholicism Force of Good in the World?

Look who's copying who, now?

A world of freedom of expression, of informed choice and accessibility to that choice is upon us. A society free from religious jurisdictions and twisted dogmas. I believe these nuisance bills are just to further delay the widely contested RH Bill which actually values the intellect of the Filipino people.  They may dilly dally all they want, but the reality that women are dying everyday, because some people are too blind to see the facts that are staring at them in face, is still here to stay. Unless we do something about it.

Reality or dogma. You choose.

The word of the cleric is not the word of God. It is the word of a man who has studied the word of God.  

- Sen. Miriam Santiago

34 Books I've Read in 2010

Okay, so I did not succeed in my 50 books read this year goal but 34 books is not that bad. Especially since I virtually did not spend a cent in getting all these wonderful novels (unless you count Internet provider fees). Reading is a lifelong passion and unless I go blind in the future, I don't think I will ever stop what I love most. Even then I'll probably just listen to audio books. Anyway, here is the grand list of all the books, all the worlds and unique lives that I've lived in this year.

In chronological order:

1. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
2. The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
3. The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks
4. The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
5. Claiming of Sleeping Beauty - Anne Rice
6. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
7. Draco Dormiens - Cassandra Claire (Fanfiction, read for the 3rd time)
8. Dear John - Nicholas Sparks
9. The Reader - Bernhard Schlink
10. Beauty's Punishment - Anne Rice
11. Nights in Rodanthe - Nicholas Sparks
12. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire
13. Draco Sinister - Cassandra Claire (Fanfiction, read for the 2nd time)
14. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marguez
15. The Winner Stands Alone - Paulo Coelho
16. The Ultimate Harry Potter Cliche Catalogue - Clam Chowder (Fanfiction, read for the 2nd time)
17. Draco Veritas - Cassandra Claire (Fanfiction)
18. Hush Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
19. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
20. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
21. Atonement - Ian McEwan
22. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
23. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
24. Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing Rat - Maya (Fanfiction, read for the 2nd time)
25. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
26. The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie
27. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
28. Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver
29. He's Just Not That Into You - Greg Brehrendt
30. The Carrie Diaries - Candace Bushnell
31. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
32. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling (Read for the 5th time)
33. I Am Number Four - Pittacus Lore
34. Uglies - Scott Westerfeid

Let's all see together if 2011 can top off this one. As for the meantime, my first ever annual book awards is up next. My dearest wish is that the future generation will lay off the PSPs and the Farmvilles for just a while, crack open a book and discover the possibilities.

Top 10 FREE iPhone / iPod Touch Games

10. Tiki Totems

I love puzzle games, especially ones with loads of free levels on them. The mission is simple, tap the blocks and safely land the Tiki God without dropping or 'hurting' him. Sound simple. Well, yes, for the first few levels at least.

9. Sky Patrol

I can almost call this app "Luxor Free" as it is free and is a complete replica of the dynamics of the said game. You travel along a rustic map as you shoot along the levels. Although, never start a new game since it will permanently erase all your hard earned progress.

8. Topple 2

All the cuteness and the bright colors will drive you crazy before you even play your first level. The goal is to stack up various shaped blocks to reach a predesignated line. The game gets harder with more odd shapes and higher height requirement.

7. Zombie Flick
The world is being invaded by zombies and a pile of trash is your last line of defense. And trust me, it's an addictive game even with the ridiculous premise. I found myself flicking random items like crazy. The 4-way alley of zombies keep you always on the lookout. Play with headphones on and you're immediately immersed in its deathly universe.

6.  Paper Toss

Who knew that such a simple game could be so addicting? Paper Toss is exactly just what it name suggest. You toss a paper in a trashcan and it counts how many successful consecutive throws you can do. That's it. Although there is always a fan nearby to deflect your throws so the game is more interesting that it sounds. The different scenes such as the Basement and Airport modes are beautiful to look at by the way.

5. Asphalt Free

I've downloaded more than a few free trial versions of various racing games from the App Store and found that this one is definitely one of the best. The controls are precise and you zoom through the road  quite accurately. The graphics are quite good and the number of power-ups that can be acquired on the road makes it more interesting that its counterparts.

4. Doodle Army Boot Camp

A stick man with a gun. That's all I can say in terms of visual. But even with the mediocre effects, this game is surprisingly addictive and enjoyable. The task is to guide the stick man into a boot camp filled with other soldiers shooting guns and dropping bombs at you. The availability of various weapons to chose from is a big plus in your quest to boot camp domination.

3. Ragdoll Blaster

At first, I was a bit hesitant to download this app because of the gloomy and depressing backdrop in the screencaps. But in the end, I'm glad I did. Its wonderfully imaginative levels transformed a normally dull game play into a maze of brain-bending challenges that will daunt even the smartest of minds. I recommend this for everyone who likes to think and have fun at the same time.

2. The Creeps

One of the most unappreciated game in the App Store, in my opinion at least. A tower defense game with cute monsters and a child cowering in his bed has never been more addictive and delightful. Honestly, I spent hours playing this game and did not even notice how fast the time flew. This game is great for those who strives of strategies and plans.

1. Tap Tap Revenge 3

The game did not get worldwide famous because of nothing. I started appreciating Tap Tap Revenge when we finally installed a WiFi router at home. I enjoyed downloading all the free tracks with new tap format and playing them for the first time since I already got tired of the 3 default songs that came with the initial installation of the game. Playing in 2 player mode doubles the fun and is great for slumber parties. Definitely worth the flash drive space.

How to Transfer Your Entire iTunes Library From One Computer to Another

Your computer is years old, laggy and has a machine-health of a sickly senior citizen so you decide to end its suffering (and yours) by buying a new one. The new machine arrives at your home, all shiny and robust and you excitedly transfer all your files by DVD backups or by the traditional copy and paste method. But wait, one problem: Your entire iTunes library is left behind. All your music, settings and apps, all dear to you, is stuck on your other computer.

Common knowledge dictates that if you sync a loaded iPod into an empty iTunes, your iPod will also lose all its data. You can copy al...

From: How to Transfer Your Entire ITunes Library From One Computer to Another: The Easiest Way

 Click to read more!

Lenovo Ideapad Z460

Everybody, welcome my new Gadget Baby, Mr. Lenovo Ideapad Z460, the latest addition to my gadget addiction. I think his foster siblings, iPod Touch, Sony Cybercam and Samsung Ultratouch mobile will not be pleased. Definitely, this is the apple of my eye at the moment. But despite the sibling rivalry, I expect them to work harmoniously together.

We were supposed to buy this model's smaller 13.3", Intel Core i3, non-video card sister (Z360) but due to their less than 2k price difference and my surprising savings on software installation, we decided to go for the big brother.

IdeaPad Z460 Specifications

Processor
Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 460M
(2.53GHz up to 2.8GHz / 1066 MHz / 3MB L3 Cache)
Operating system
PC-DOS
Memory
2048MB (1x2048) DDR3
Hard drive
500GB
Optical device
DVD SuperMulti
Graphics
Nvidia GeForce 310M DDR3 1G
Display type
14" WXGA LED
Communication
LAN,Lenovo b/g/n,Bluetooth,HDMI
Integrated Camera
1.3MP Camera
Sound
2.0 Dolby
Other
Veriface (Face Recognition Technology), One Key Rescue System
Media card reader
5-in-1 card reader
Battery
6 cell
Warranty
1 Year Parts & Labour

Right now, I am loving the chiclet keyboard. It's so easy to type in and I did notice a significant increase in my speed. Makes me want to write more blog posts, stories et. al. just to be able to type on it. I also adore Windows 7. After almost a decade on XP, I am ready for a change.

As for the things that did not come with the notebook, I bought a cheap mouse and this pretty circular mouse pad I saw on Electronics Boutique. If you can't figure it out from the picture, it has words on it like Create, Begin, Think, Dream and I thought how fitting it was since I plan to use the laptop for precisely just that. And, not to mention, how my Lenovo is aptly named IDEApad. Chills.

Honestly, one of the main reasons why I've always wanted to have a laptop is to be able to write, surf the web and just do my business without somebody breathing over my neck and looking at the screen, which proved impossible with a family shared desktop computer. I don't really need great specs for office applications but it sure doesn't hurt to have them, especially if I plan to use and love this laptop for a long while.

See, I do love gadgets and buy rather brand consciously but I do take care of them and rarely, if ever, abandon them. I actually develop a kind of fondness over my electronic companions and am not the kind of person who changes phones every year just to get the newest release.

That said, I feel so content right now, like I have everything I ever wanted (object-wise) I have nothing to wish for this Christmas except love and peace and safety and good health and all those cliches. Wow, thank you for this wonderful life. :)

Fitnity App Review

I recently bought a weighing scale about a week ago. I stepped on it and almost had a heart attack after looking at the figure that evil red line was pointing at. This can't be! I've bought a faulty unit, I'm going to bring it back as soon as I have the chance. But no, the scale is correct and my brain is the one who has grown delusional.

Since then, I have been using Fitnity on my iPod Touch to control my calorie consumption. It's not a Magic Weight Loss App but it keeps me aware if I've been eating way too much throughout the day. The thing I like about it the most is it's interface. Not perfect but definitely prettier than others that it makes me want to use it more. It has built in diets and exercise options that I could follow but which I rarely do.

You have the choice whether to follow a diet or to just compute the calories via it's intuitive (and very pretty) meal calculator. There are also charts and diary logs where you can see your progress and edit previously entered data. It even tracks water intake, mood and of course, your weight. And yes, alleluja, no ads.

Best thing about it, it works offline. Which is invaluable to an iPod Touch user like me who doesn't always have the luxury of being connected to the internet 24/7.

So far, I'm having a blast recording on it everything that I eat. You can record up to six meals a day and the button turns green or red whether you have exceeded the maximum allotted calories for each meal. Same thing with working out, the 'Burned' button turns green whenever there's inputted data on it.

I have yet to find out whether my change in routine will affect my weight. One thing I do vow is that I will fight this God forsaken metabolism if it's the last thing I do.

Unresponsive / Over Responsive Ipod Touch Screen

2 months from purchase date, my iPod Touch is in for repairs / replacement. Honestly, I'd rather they just replace the whole thing rather than having one that has already been tinkered and prodded open.

I brought it today to Power Mac Center Megamall Branch to have it looked at and they did admit a possible hardware defect though I was quite irritated at first because my iPod was trying its best to act fault-free exactly at the time I needed it to do a tantrum. Thankfully, I was able to convince the people there that it was indeed a problematic unit.

The Problem:

It started from a tiny strip of unresponsive part of the screen, approximately 2 mm thick. I wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't from the drawing app I installed and tried to use. It was when I tried to draw a circle on the virtual canvas that I observed that the circles that I was making tend to be lopsided on the left part of the screen. I tried to shade the whole screen with "ink" with vertical strokes and there I saw a strip of canvass that wouldn't fill up. I tried horizontal strokes and the strip was shaded reluctantly.

I ignored it for weeks because aside from the drawing app, it wasn't disturbing any of the iPod's functions and my day to day interaction with it. But then it started interfering with my typing and I couldn't press the letter E and the number 3 in an upright keyboard but when rotate via landscape, I was able to type freely so I let it go. Then things started going horribly wrong.

The unresponsive strip was beginning to thicken and now, when rotated to a landscape view, all the letters on the third row of the keyboard with Z, X, C etc. and the backspace key would not respond to touch. I also experienced some weird, alarming things with the faulty screen. Two times it happened that when I touch and hold on the defective part (while viewing a photo), the screen would start twitching like it's having a gadget-seizure. Afterwards, just hovering my finger on the screen would make it select things on its own like a possessed iPod in need of exorcism. Sometimes it would even open applications when my finger is nowhere near the device. (These are the problems that my iPod pretended not to have while speaking  and doing a demo with Power Mac's representative. I told them about it although I don't know if they believed me.)

Just a day before finally giving in on having my iPod  (and all my ebooks on Stanza. *gasp!*) temporarily taken away from me for at least two weeks so that it could be repaired and/or replaced (Thank Obama for the 1-year Warranty) I could not even select the apps on the left most side of the screen including music etc. without repeated touching so I guess that left me no choice.

Thankfully, the representatives at Power Mac were quite accommodating and it didn't matter that I didn't bought the unit from their store. They didn't even look at the receipt, the only proof that it was still under warranty, and 10 minutes later, I was out the door with an acknowledgment receipt with a number to call in case I want to check on my unit in their San Juan Service Center branch.

Hopefully, my good mood will prevail in the 2-3 weeks that I have to painstakingly wait for the return of my beloved non-human companion. Am crossing fingers that I will get a replacement unit. Now that will make me very happy.

Word of Caution to Stanza Users

Do NOT (I should say NEVER) update the app to version 2.1 if you are using USB cable to transfer books from PC to device. Apple has reportedly demanded the removal of the USB sharing feature in Stanza, a popular application for reading ebooks among iPhone / iPod Touch users. And since I have no wifi connection at home and transfer my books primarily that way, I see this as a huge setback to my most beloved and thoroughly used app.

I know I mentioned a few weeks back that I was using the download-from-email feature of the app to transfer my books from my PC to my iPod but that was before I grew tired of searching for a commercial wifi signal every time I have a new book that I want to put into my Stanza library. Being able to transfer via USB cable is practically a gift from the heavens as I was able to do bulk transfer to the device almost instantly and without leaving the comfort of my home.

Now, I almost never update my apps and just this day I decided to look at the 30 updates iTunes has been prompting me to download and I was surprised to see Stanza was one of them. Thank Obama I was able to read first what the update was about before downloading it or else my reading heaven would have been totally screwed up.

It is no secret that Apple has been trying to pave its way into the ebook business, and especially with the release of their latest (and should I mention useless) creation, the iPAD, I see clever marketing ploy to handicap one of their competitors in the market.

Boo Apple. You have disappointed me.

Growing Digital LIbrary

Books I have on Stanza as of this date. Still open to book suggestions and am now willing to divulge information on secret source. Just leave a comment below and I'll do my best to get back to you.

(In alphabetical order)

• 19 Minutes by Jodie Picoult
  

• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
  
• Atonement by Ian McEwan
  

• A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
  
• The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
• Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
• Bridget Jones's Diary: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
  

• The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
• Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
  

• The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho
  

• Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
  

• For One More Day by Mitch Albom
  

• The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie
  

• Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
  

• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  

• The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
• The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
  

• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
• Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
• My Sister's Keeper by Jodie Picoult
  

• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
• New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
• Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  

• The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory 

• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger
  
• Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
  

• Under the Dome by Stephen King
  

• Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen
• Wicked. The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

Seven down, loads to go. Am now perusing Under The Dome by Stephen King and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. And yes, I tend to read multiple books at the same time depending on my mood. :) Ah, bliss.

Good Reads

The dawn of a new era has come. Since installing Stanza on my iPod Touch, I have gathered these great titles and am now perusing each literary worlds one by one. I just finished two books and am now on my third, all read through this wonderful gadget and app I had the luck of discovering. Here's the list of books in my virtual library on Stanza. All of them I got for freeee... *does happy dance*.

• The Other Boleyn Girl  by Philippa Gregory
• The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
• Atonement by Ian McEwan
• Under The Dome by Stephen King
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
• My Sister's Keeper by Jodie Picoult
• Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
• New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
  
• Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
  
• Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
  
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
  
• The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
  
• Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
  
• A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
  
• The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
  
• Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

Now I'm not that of a fan of Nicholas Sparks, much less Stephanie Meyer (Twilight and New Moon read from a borrowed book) but they were there staring at me waiting for me to download them so I didn't let the opportunity pass. From the amount of books I am going to have the luxury of reading, I am sensing a loving and attention-filled relationship with my Touch and Stanza. Hooray for technology!

Any other great titles worth reading? Suggestions will be greatly appreciated. :)

Stanza App - Hundreds of Books at the Palm of Your Hand

Since having the iPod touch, aside from the music, videos, games and the internet (which I can only use when I'm in wifi hotspots since we don't have a wireless router at home), one function that now proves indispensable to me is being able to read novels (in ebook format) straight from my iPod.

I've been hearing tons of raves about the Touch being a great ebook reader, and even from my own experience reading the free Pride and Prejudice I've downloaded from the App store, I was determined to find a way to put my pdf files in my iPod since it is impossible to do so with iTunes.

First, I thought Files Lite was my answer but then it needs my computer and the Touch to be on the same online network which is not possible in my case. The Eureka moment came with the widely popular ebook reader app to the name of Stanza. After downloading the application, I read numerous pages on how to get my ebooks into my iPod without requiring the same network connection, although after successfully doing so, I couldn't believe it was that easy.

Here's how I did it:

(For those people relying only on free wifi connections from wifi hotspots across the Metro. Requires a Gmail email account.)

1. Download the Stanza app from iTunes. Open the application on your iPod.

2. Select Get Books -> Shared -> Add Webpage. Under the name type: Gmail, under the url: gmail.com. Tap Save.

3. On your desktop computer, gather all your pdf files. You need to convert all of them first to .epub format before being able to put them to and be read properly by Stanza. I used epub2go.com for this task. Just upload the pdf file into it and it will finish converting after a minute or so. Afterwards, you can either send it to your email address directly or download the file into your computer then attach it to an email and send the mail to yourself. I actually prefer downloading the file first because your converted file may be erased from epub2go's database after two days and would be a potential problem if you haven't downloaded it yet to your iPod. Also, from experience, I noticed that downloading from their database tend to be slower than downloading from a direct attachment I sent to myself.

4. Now, get out of the house and find yourself a nice free wifi spot and a comfy chair. Although you won't really need a chair because downloading a file takes only about 5 seconds to finish. About 20 if you're downloading from epub2go's server because you still have to be redirected to the file. I went to Sta.Lucia East Grand Mall for this one and found their connection to be surprisingly great.

5. Open Stanza -> Get Books -> Shared -> Gmail. Stanza will then open its embedded browser. Log in to Gmail.

Important There is a bug in how gmail.com interacts with the iPhone's embedded browser, which means that clicking on an attachment in a message from the mobile window won't do anything. You first need to scroll to the very bottom of the page where it says "View Gmail in:" and tap the "Desktop" link to display the non-mobile version of the site.

6. Open the mail you sent to yourself with the attachment of the .epub files or the emails your requested epub2go.com to send to your address.  Tap on the attachment or link and the Stanza browser will ask you if you want to download the file. Tap Download and you're all set.

7. You can now see all your books in Library. You can edit the name, author etc. afterwards. Though I am now researching on how to add cover arts for my downloaded novels.

I now have a significant number of novels in my Library including Dan Brown's The Last Symbol (which I am reading right now), the Twilight Series (which I dislike but compelled to read to have a legitimate opinon), The Mortal Instruments Trilogy by Cassandra Claire (a fanfiction idol) and 5 books from Nicholas Sparks. I cannot wait to read them all. And to think I got them all for free. The amount I paid for my iPod Touch will most likely be reimbursed by the amount of novels I get to read for free.

Bookworm Heaven.

Ipod Touch Love

So I've recently jumped on the bandwagon and purchased my own ipod. It has been forever that I have been salivating over these music/video/games-playing, photo-browsing and internet-surfing exquisite creatures of Appledom. And now that I have the thing in my hand and that it's working incredibly well, I couldn't be happier.

I actually could not believe, being the self-proclaimed novice techie that I am, that I've never heard of even the existence of such a gadget before last month when I accidentally saw one on the Abenson Christmas Catalogue. Because it looks almost exactly like an iphone, I just assumed it was the latter that I have been seeing all around the geek section at the malls. When I finally remembered to google for it, I realized the sheer brilliance of this device and decided to purchase it after some heavy price canvassing and feature researching.

What I like best with the Touch is it's almost like an iphone without the phone feature and camera, which is fantastic because I already have a perfectly good phone with an even better camera. When I lost my old Nokia 3230 I contemplated on replacing it with an iphone but decided not to because it was (and still is) unbelievably expensive. Now, I have all the features of the iphone that I want with only a third of the price. *does happy dance*

One drawback that I can see is I have to charge it via usb port in my computer as it doesn't come with a wall charger. But other than that, this device is really a joy to have. I've installed more than 60 apps (all free) in my unit and they barely take up a gigabyte. They are mostly games but I also have some really useful ones like a non-online dictionary which is proving to be really helpful for me. I've also downloaded Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and am now reading it via my ipod touch every night. It's a really cool way to get to know the classics, I must add. :)

Despite all the greatness, one inescapable part of having one is the endless smudges and fingerprints you get on it by just literally holding the device. Moreover, the back portion of the gadget gets pretty slippery when  coated and double coated with human oil extracts and other things you don't want to think of, thus there is an increased possibility of ipod slippage. Mortal Sin #1. Therefore, a skin is compulsory. Not only does it prevent scratches, your Touch is virtually smudge proof. At least from the back. I recommend the rubber ones rather than the clear crystal cases because they feel so much better in your hands.

Speaking of which, I recently bought one that looks exactly like this one but in a different color. I found this picture at some US ipod accessory selling site. It retails for $ 4.95 ( 229 PHP ), I bought mine in Bangketa de Morayta for P80. :)

More raves soon, definitely. Pardon the excited blogger.

My Samsung 8300 Tocco / Ultratouch Review

I've been using this phone since May this year. It's a graduation gift from my mom because I lost my Nokia 3230 last January and have been using an ancient Nokia model as substitute phone. Orginally, I was supposed to wait for the release of Nokia N86, my previous dream phone, because its Nokia's first 8MP and I was a loyal user of such brand and I love taking pictures with my phone. Compared to a digicam, my cp is something I take with me everywhere and it should be ready to take those impromptu stills. And upon researching about it for the nth time, as if fate decided for me, I discovered this beautiful Samsung touch on gsmarena.com, my favorite phone web resource. And it was love at first sight.

It was one of the prettiest mobiles out there. Still is, actually. Plus, it has everything I ever wanted in a phone (except wifi). It has an ultra responsive touch screen that pops with vibrant colors. I still have so much fun changing the wallpapers because all of which I tried looks great.

You need not press the screen for it to respond. The phone is heat sensitive so it measures the amount of heat of your thumb instead of the pressure on the screen so you just have to 'touch' it, literally. Downside is that, stylus, nails, pens, other items and cold-blooded vampire Edward Cullen cannot be used in handling this mobile. Otherwise, this feature is pretty cool.

Key features:

• Classy touchscreen slider with an alphanumeric keypad
• Commendable build quality
• Quad-band GSM and 3G with HSDPA support
• 8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, image stabilization, wide dynamic range and D1 video@30 fps
• 2.8" 16M color AMOLED touchscreen display with 400 x 240 pixel resolution
• Anti-scratch screen surface
• Accelerometer for screen auto rotate
• Proximity sensor for auto screen turn-off
• MicroSD card slot (up to 16 GB), 1 GB included
• Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support, Google Maps
• Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
• DivX/XviD video support
• Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM recording
• Document viewer
• Photo Contact
• Smart dialing

Main disadvantages

• User interface sometimes lags, especially when viewing pictures. Can be irritating.
• No Wi-Fi connectivity. That means I'm stuck with Globe's horrible internet connection with appalling fees.
• It's hard editing text, going back to a word and putting the cursor in the right place using only your fingers as there are no navigation keys. Takes practice but it's doable.

No virtual QWERTY keyboard, but who needs one? I text with one hand, sometimes even looking at another direction and the virtual keypad works great for me. I hardly use the actual keypad anymore as I find it hard texting with it with one hand because the phone is hard to balance with an open slide as it is too long.

As for its main feature, the camera works fantastic. Every shot looks crystal clear. The problem is that viewing the pictures you have just taken requires patience. Lots of it, as picture browsing sometimes hang and the transition is not as smooth as I would have preferred. Just transfer the pics to your PC with the handy dandy USB cable for viewing and problem solved.

With regards to battery life, the standby time's more than what I expected. The phone could last up to 2-3 days with minor usage, profile set on silent and no vibration, (as what I did with the Ondoy blackout phenomena). However, I could have set the backlight brightness and duration to a minimum and I'm pretty confident it could last another day.

Heavy usage of the phone's features (especially the camera, web browser and games) may drain your phone in less than one day's time. A flaw on the otherwise superb phone. :(

All in all, this mobile definitely suits me as I love touch screens and an amazing camera built in my phone. I'm not the kind of person who changes phones every month (I've only had 3 phones my entire life, this is the 4th one) and I'm pretty sure I'd be staying with my Tocco for at least a year. Hopefully, it doesn't get taken away by professional snatchers like my other phones. That would be pretty depressing. And costly.