The Gadget God's Secret.

Today the Gadget gods whispered something in my ear.

They said: no more excuses. Here, this should make your life a wee bit easier.

With that I held in my hands the tool to recording interviews for my thesis and a player to keep me company as I walk (soon jog) my way to fitness.

This is part of Philips Go Gear collection, a line of MP3 players that not only offers top notch sound quality, but also caters to the style gods and goddesses in us all. With a whole array of models to choose from, there definitely is one that suits your needs.
What makes the Go Gear collection a better buy compared to other similar products on the market? Well, for one, as was pointed out during the launch, Philips' quality and technology has been tried and tested. Plus their prices are now quite competitive!

For me, I've honestly never been a big music player fan. I am more of a TV type of person, but one thing I've been looking for honestly is a player that does voice recordings well and with a long battery life for recording interviews. My Ipod doesn't support that technology without an external gadget, so I had to buy a mic thingy that you plug into the bottom of the ipod. It drains the battery so quickly though. The Philips Go Gear Aria has a built in microphone that allows you to do voice recordings. It also says something about FM recordings, but I have to explore it further to see how it works. Also, you can watch videos and view pictures in it. It also has a text reader, so I assume you can read documents or what not with it. As I get to know the product better, do expect a better review on the features! For now, all I can say is thus far, I'm impressed.

Oh, and take a look at this cool gadget:

photo courtesy of Philips

This pretty little gadget is actually an MP3 player with a Bluetooth handset. It allows you to listen to your music then easily switch to pick up you calls on a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. Ummm...again don't ask me how...I was just drawn by its uber chicness!!!

Click here for more details :-)

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Too Late a Hero.

On tonight's news, it was reported that Dr. Hayden Kho will be charged with abusing his victim, Katrina Halili. On one hand I am glad that there the problem of pornography and "sexting" is being addressed, but on the other, I can't help but be grossly disappointed by the whole system. Why? Because this problem has been existing for so long and they never did anything till now. Yes, they are indeed too late the hero.

It's so sad that the only reason this problem has gotten this much attention is only because of the personalities involved. Why, when it was the cases of unknown students and people, there was no senate or NBI investigation? This just goes to show how backward our justice system still is. Let me give credit where credit is due though: finally they are paying attention to the problem. Maybe with this redemption can be found.

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Home Makeover in the Making

Lately I've been thinking about giving my house the makeover it deserves. From fixing the roof to a new paint job, and even perhaps new furniture and accessories, I think that this will give the house a more homey feel. Since I got a 10 day reprieve from work, I decided to browse for furniture online. I came across a site that featured a wide selection or bedroom, living room, dining room and even home office furniture. My favorites, perhaps, were the featured storage beds, as it's perfect for small rooms. Looking at the photos, the pieces looked very stylish and modern. I also liked how the site had lots of very detailed photos of the furniture in one page, so I did not have to go from one page to another, although the pictures were not that large. Nonetheless, the sites design is streamlined enough so you can immediately see all your options.

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My Mandatory 10 Day Vacation.

A case of AH1N1 was confirmed in one of the students in DLSU and as per DOH directives, the school is under campus closure.

The university has handled it well, I think. Within a few hours bulletins have been sent, the school guards and discipline officers went from room to room to inform the students and faculty about the situation and within 2-3 hours, bulletins were up in the school website.

Given that we were the first to really start classes (given the trimestral system), it seems that this can be deemed a "test case" of what should be done should there be further cases.

It makes me wonder though: should classes still start as scheduled?!? Or is a postponement necessary at this point?

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More Water Problems.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my leaking roof. Thankfully there was a lull in the rainy weather, thus our handyman was able to work on the leak. So far so good...no more major leaks from the roof. However, this does not mean an end to my water woes. Last night, the kitchen sink decided to let out its own flood in my kitchen. Well, okay...that's a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe a puddle is a better word to describe it. Nonetheless there's a whole bunch of water under the sink. I don’t think the pipes burst or what not, because there’s no constant leak or anything. I’m thinking that it’s clogged up badly. The problem here is I'm not sure our houseboy-slash-handyman can manage that. If only solving these water problems was as simple as calling Denver Plumbing then I wouldn't be stressing about it. For me, I always feel more comfortable knowing I am getting a professional to work on my home concerns. Even though I know there are people who can manage to do simple repairs or what not when it comes to these kind of things, I feel more secure with a pro. Wouldn’t you? After all, I worked hard to get my house the way it is…it deserves the best.

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My Most Unforgettable Teacher.

Have you stopped to thank and/or honor that one person who has made a big impact in your life? I know I have!

Check out the online contest here and get a chance to win 300 pesos worth of gift certificates from National Bookstore.

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Online Learning.

One of my favorite resources for classroom discussion is the World Wide Web. I love how it opens so many avenues for learning, although I always remind my students that they should take information from the web with a grain of salt. Nonetheless I feel that the highly dynamic and opinionated discussions in online forums and the like allow my students to see many sides of the same issue. For example, this coming 2010 the Philippines will once again be electing a new president. By checking out what forums or what different political bloggers have to say, one can make a better, more well informed choice.

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Teacher's Heart Aches.

In as much as we teachers try to say we don't play favorites, we can't help but have them. I personally don't see it possibly happening, not getting emotionally drawn to a special few, I mean. I just take it in as fact that it exists but I do my darndest to not let my emotions cloud my judgement. My heart aches today because I had to bid farewell to a sweet little girl who made my year back from semi-retirement an immense pleasure. Yes, she is one of those kids who found their way to a corner of my heart and burrowed themselves deep in it's recesses that it's taking a lot of effort to dig out of there.

To be honest, she was not one of those kids who I immediately enjoyed. At first, I couldn't see why the other teachers were so fond of her. Actually, she was somewhat of a challenge at first because she was so clingy to her nanny and she would not talk to me at all, not even to say hi to me when she'd come to school. But little by little, she began to adjust to me and before I knew it, she no longer cried for yaya. Given my hectic schedule, there were days when my partner in class had to take over and I'd be away but she'd always tell me 'Cara was asking about you today'. As cheesy as it may sound, she was definitely a bright ray of sunshine that warmed my heart in the last year.

In about two weeks, another school year will start, without my little miss sunshine, but with the bright promise that I'll have a new set of kids who will work their magic with me. But for now, I just have to stand back and say my heart aches.

and making this even more about me....days like these highlight feelings of sadness about not having my "someone" to whine and complain to....thank God for my blog!

and btw...grrrr...of all days to forget my camera at home.

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Hit Me, Baby!

Well, maybe the right term is tag me baby! My dear blogger friend Earth gave me this link lovin' tag and all I can say is THANKS!


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This is the easy way and the fastest way to :1. Make your Authority Technorati explode. 2. Increase your Google Page Rank. 3. Get more traffic to your blog. 4. Makes more new friends.

Rules :

1. Start copy from “Begin Copy” until “End Copy” to your blog.
2. Put your own blog name and link.
3. Tag your friends as much as you can.

1. Picturing of Life 2. Juliana’s Site 3. Hazel-My Life, My Hope, My Future.4. Jeanne-The Callalily Space5.My Family is my Life 6. The Simple Life of a Baghag 7. On A Wonderful Day Like Today 8. House Everything 9. The Creativity in Me 10. Travel and Photography 11. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 12. You Are My Sunshine 13.Song to Remember 14. Super Blog 15. Philiippine Tv Marathon 16.Simply Blue 17. Breaking the Boundaries 18. Top Five 19. A Simple Life 20. Simple Happy Life 21.Mom’s Special Diary 22. The Mommy Journey 23. Mom Writes for a Cause 24.Earthlingorgeous.com 25. The Accidental Teacher 26. Daydream Believer 27. You're next!

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Thanks again to Ms. Gorgeous for the tag, and I'm now passing it on to my blogger friends Sire, Monique, Ryan, Jenn, Cathie, Rochelle and Jennai.

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Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Hot off the heels of the Slumdog Millionaire's success, TV5 brings to Philippine viewers an old favorite! Starting May 23, Who Wants to be a Millionaire will be aired in our own local network. Truly, they are shaking up television as we know it!

The show will be hosted by none other than the Philippines' Bossing, Vic Sotto. The show will maintain the original British format where contestants from all over the country will have the chance to compete for the 2 million peso jackpot prize by answering a series of 15 multiple choice questions.

Do you want to be a millionaire? Interested contestants all over the country are given the chance to win millions by just simply typing in "MILLION (space) Name" to 2910 on their mobile phones, wherein an automated reply will be sent to the subscriber for the next steps.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire airs every Saturday, 6PM only at TV5.

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Summer Hiatus? Not with Direct TV!

Much as I love the summer, I hate how it marks the end of television seasons. Just last Thursday Grey's Anatomy featured the season finale. The week before it was Private Practice. Gossip Girl comes next....for the next few months, there's nothing left to watch on TV. Okay, while the summer can be a good time to do other things, nothing beats a spending the day locked in your room with the AC full blast with your friends watching something on the boob tube, right? How I wish directv was available here in the Philippines for fans like me.

Direct TV offers commercial-free exclusive programming including sports shows like NASCAR, reruns of old cable TV shows and movie channels galore. Compared to the typical cable subsciptions, Direct TV offers 100% digital and high def or HD programming.

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Movie Night: Angels and Demons

One of the flicks I have been eagerly waiting for was Angels and Demons. Thanks to TV5 and Myk, I finally got to see it!

The set was captivating! I think I got a wee bit caught up in the magnanimity of the way Rome and the Vatican was recreated that all I could mutter under my breath was "oh my gosh...". I promised myself one day I would get to go see those places for myself.

Back tracking a bit, the story is an intense suspense thriller highlighting the divide between science and religion during one of the Roman Catholic Church's darkest moments. As the Church mourns the loss of the Holy Father, crisis strikes when just before the conclave convenes, the favored cardinals for succession of the papacy are kidnapped. The tension rises as the legendary Illuminati makes its dark forces known. Symbologist Robert Langdon is then called in to unravel the mystery.

I enjoyed the movie immensely! Thank you again to TV5 and to Myk for the special screening tickets!

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