Yahoo! What have you done?

2009-08-22

Techcrunch first reported on the biggest Yahoo fail ever on August 21st. Later that day, they announced that Flickr shut down the forum discussing the photo removed. As an added insult to our intelligence, Flickr replies


What ever happened to freedom of speech?

I've always been loyal to Yahoo. My email and IM are all on Yahoo. I use the Yahoo Messenger desktop client and their beta product Zimbra desktop as an Outlook alternative. I stream my music from Yahoo, get my news from Yahoo and have My Yahoo as my homepage. But I also love freedom of expression more - Yahoo is falling into trap with what they did on Flickr. Techcrunch reported another Yahoo fail the day before - advertising both IE and FF on the same page. What's happening?



Photos critical of Bush were never deleted - why that of Obama? If copyright laws were infringed in that picture, why aren't other pictures taken down? Fact is, majority of people hate Bush and love Obama - does this mean that keeping that photo up will generate controversy and put Flickr down?

And, suppose the photo was really infringing copyright laws - what gives you the right to take down the forum, too? Surely that doesn't infringe copyright. The thread, ridiculous or not IN YOUR VIEWS, is still a from of freedom of expression. There was no spam there. Just because you think the thread is ridiculous is not enough reason to deprive them of the ability to discuss it.

Introducing Music for the Month!

2009-08-21

To provide more content from my reviews-riddled blog, I decided to introduce a new feature - Music for the Month - which describes and reviews some of the better mainstream songs I managed to chance upon on the radio, plus some music videos should I chance find time to embed some. I'm making it a point to publish the entries every last weekend of the month. Now, you have something to look forward to. :D

Review: Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic

2009-08-16

It's been a week since I blogged. I was supposed to do some school stuff but the inability for Outlook to open made me abandon such pursuit. I've tried everything - nothing worked. So in the end, I had to reinstall the whole thing - and that's what I'm doing right now.

So - Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic is widely advertised on so many music videos like that of Katy Perry's "Waking Up In Vegas." Hyped publicity have left lots of music lovers drooling saliva over their shirts, clamoring for one. And, I must say, they are not disappointed. I've been using the phone for about a month now, and though power users may not like it, the casual music-loving student will especially fall in love with it. The phone is advertised with the slogan "Play. Touch. Share." and I think it's fitting to make a review around those three concepts.

But before that, you must know how the phone feels like. Out of the box, the phone looks like heaven for music lovers - the black minimalistic design with few clutter. The phone is solid and can be firmly gripped on one hand - a bit bulky but not really adding a bulge on your pocket. The battery cover, decoratively patterned, is quite stable - but may not feel so and creaks quite a lot. One of the few eccentricities of the phone is the SIM slot located at the side - taking out the SIM is quite confusing and Nokia prints the instructions on the back cover.

Play - As can be expected, Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic's features outstanding music and video playback. Music playback with the loudspeaker is crisp and crystal clear, louder than most phones in the same niche, and with very VERY little static. But that's nothing compared to the headset it came with - you wouldn't realize you're listening through earphones unless you actually hold them. That's quite characteristic of Nokia headsets, so it's nothing much; however, compared to the headsets from the likes of Samsung, Nokia plays ahead of it's game. The music player still features that same interface as Nokia's other Xpressmusic and N phones. As Cnet says,

For all its hype, the 5800's music player is comparable with most Nokia N-series models. The interface is simple and it offers album art, but it's not particularly flashy.
But the music player is as customizable as it an get, with stereo widening, bass booster, equalizer options and so much. Support for podcasting and an FM Radio also adds as a plus for the phone - on that note, 5800's FM radio rocks, with good reception and clear playback.

Video and photo playback is equally dazzling. Personally, I didn't feel the need for a separate video centre - the gallery would have been enough - but it's still greatly appreciated. The screen features sharp colors, great quality and depth slightly exceeding most of it's competitors. This, combined with great sound, makes it perfect for video podcasts and watching movies on the go.

A great addition is the media bar, accesed when the media button next to the Xpressmusic branding is pressed. The media bar makes the Shortcut bar on the homepage quite useless - so it's best you switch it to the contacts bar.

Touch - Nokia finally releases it's first post-iPhone touch phone - and with Nokia jumping quite late in the bandwagon, you wouldn't be surprised if that touch feel isn't really that if iPhone's. Nokia's haptic feedback and accelerometer are sensitive enough, but several reviews are hating the resistive touchscreen like those in PDA's. Personally, the resistive touchscreen is a plus - it gives me the feel of pushing buttons and solid ground - but several users will still want the ease of touching in other touchscreen phones.

The UI doesn't fair much better. While the S60 interface is very familiar to the Nokia user - such as myself - the fact that one has to double click in lists is really annoying and collectively time-consuming. Several users have claimed it to be confusing. The UI itself doesn't really make use of the full capabilities of the touchscreen - lacking those favorite iPhone strokes like the finger sweep.

Input methods fare better than the UI. With 4 possible methods for data, the 5800 is quite flexible. The keys are big enough for pressing. Several users hate the inclusion of the stylus, but that's not for phone use - it's simply for handwriting recognition. The plastic plectrum adds style to the phone - mainly reinforcement of it's Xpressmusic branding - and the inclusion is quite appealing.

In the end, the UI is still easy enough to learn. It's not-so-good as other touchscreen UI's out there but as Nokia is still being cautious of these new waters, it is well as an achievement.

Share - While the UI is a bit on the minus for the phone on the love-hate meter, connectivity is very much on a plus side. Incoming calls sound good on the phone and callers claim that I sound good on their end. Network connectivity is blazing fast and with WiFi support, you can't get better than that.

One of the best parts of the dimensions of the touchscreen is that it is perfect for viewing web pages - the iPhone's screen is a bit too wide and most others are too small for good viewing. While the UI may lack those great strokes, the browser employs them in it's workings, providing great browsing experience. The browser doesn't support flash but few phones do, so it isn't really much of a problem.

Another great feature is the Contacts Bar - where you can see recent SMS, 2 web feeds and links to four of your favorite contacts. Sharing online is also integrated with the gallery, and the Nokia Music Store is a great alternative to iTunes'. The camera provides basic photo shooting and slightly better video capture. It's a bit good in daylight but a bit noisy on low light. Many users hate the lack of camera features - they must remember that the phone is a music phone, not a camera phone.

The 5800 Xpressmusic is placed at mid-range costing about 400 dollars (Php 20000), so it's not as expensive as such a high-end phone would be. The phone still packs a lot of punch - with goodies like Nokia Maps and A-GPS Positioning installed that as Techradar notes

It may line up as Nokia's flagship music phone, but it has a set of functionality more akin to the Nseries high-end phone roster.

The phone may not be quite as impressive to the power phone user, but it's a must buy for the everyday music- and technology-lover and a bargain for the normal phone user.

A Salute

2009-08-07

As any respectable Filipino should know, former president Cory Aquino died of cardiorespiratory arrest after complications of her colon cancer at the age of 76 on August 1, 2009, 3:18 a.m., at the Makati Medical Center. No other woman has been as symolic, as influential as our late former president. The week following her death has been one of the most tragic and heartbeaking in Philippine history.

The fifth of August has been accorded the honor of being a special non-working holiday in honor of President Cory's funeral. I woke up on that rainy Wednesday morning with my father watching a live coverage of the requiem mass in her honor. It was then that her death became so real, and for a few hours I was overcome with grief, touched by how much Filipinos love her, where he memory is reserved a special place in each of Filipino people's hearts. On the way to the dormitory that afternoon, we met her convoy, already on their sixth hour on the road, near the junction where the Skyway and the expressway meet. A few dozen people carrying a banner for her ran to meet the convoy, chanting "Cory! Cory!" with the thousands of people lining her way, over the din of the clanging bells symbolizing the arrival of her wake. There amidst the hundreds of "L"s being waved, lies our late former president, adorned with yellow flowers with four guard standing over for her protection. It would take a hundred lifetimes to forget such experience.

President Cory Aquino is remembered not as the most efficient president of the still-young Republic of the Philippines, but as the most honest, the most righteous. She is remembered for her strength and courage, fighting against twenty years of authoritarian rule that has changed the course of Philippine history. But most of all, she is a beacon of democracy and human rights, showing the Filipinos the way, a candle amidst the darkness where suppression of the freedom of speech, though underground, still exists and takes the form of murder of several influential journalists. As our English teacher puts it
Ninoy Aquino once said, "The Filipino is worth dying for." Well, Cory stayed a while longer to prove that the Filipinos are also worth living for.
And so, to our late President, I give a final salute. Her memory will always be remembered in books, in words and in the hearts of everyone in our freedom-loving nation. It was President Cory, the unwilling president, that has carved the biggest chunk in Philippine history. President Cory has become immortalized by the love she has received from her people.









widget by BloggerStop