The Pork Barrel Scam: Let Justice Prevail

I've been seeing calls for the resignation of Revilla, Enrile, and Estrada. I believe in fair play so I say LET THEM FACE THE MUSIC AND HEAR WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY---THEN WE JUDGE THEM.

While this issue is truly an affront to the Filipino people, there is still due process to follow.  Something which I believe differentiates us from barbarians.  Let us listen to the facts and allow Lady Justice's scale of evidence discern their guilt.

 

In this day and age of social media it is important to make our own intellectual assessment and not just go with the bandwagon. I'm sure we all don't want to be similarly tried by publicity ourselves.   

 Just saying.

Bakit Amoy Bagoong ang Cubicle Ko?

When we were doing our grocery the other day my wife saw that I picked up a bag of crispy fried pusit and told me, "Naku, mangangamoy ka sa office nyan!"  Not heeding her advise and giving in to my hankering desire to get a taste of this spicy treat I just shrugged and went on with the purchase. 

 

At the office a while ago, I opened my crispy fried pusit and just like what my good wife predicted, out came that mordacious smell!  And with impeccable timing an officemate of mine drops by my cubicle and hands me my day's worth of invoices to sign and says, "Bakit amoy bagoong dito sa cubicle mo sir?!"  I just had to smile at the comment and corrected her saying, "Actually hindi amoy bagoong---amoy alipunga!" 

 

Breath mints please.  :)

Jinri Park Sizzles as FHM Covergirl for August 2013

When the social media started circulating that resident South Korean Jinri Park will grace the August cover of FHM a news article castigated it as TOO PROVOCATIVE.  Well, you don't name a magazine FOR HIM if you don't get to provoke the male senses.  Personally, I think the state of Jinri's spread is still tame compared to the others I've seen but it was enough to stir me to attempt to buy the magazine.  Good thing when I checked the torrents site I frequent a good soul Orion shared his copy!

 

Cheap Doesn't Neccessarily Mean Better

Many people believe that buying CHEAP is always a good thing.  Well...not necessarily true.  While buying cheap is good,  QUALITY should also be a prerequisite to every purchase.  Now when I say quality I'm not only referring to the robustness of the product.  Part of the quality requirement is SUPPORT.

So how do you go about your decision analysis before you spend your hard earned cash?

First, know how much you are willing to spend.  If budget is not an issue, GOOD; but if you're tied to a number, you need to be realistic as to your requirements to fit the spending money that you have.  Otherwise, it would be a futile exercise to define your requirements only to find out that you can't afford to cover the premium.

Second, define your requirements. Once the budget issue is put aside, you can now think of what to expect from your product.  Before I finally decided on buying a new TV I toured the various appliance centers to get a feel of what's in the market and then defined my must requirements: LED (for its energy saving feature), at least 21" screen, with a USB port that can read a 1TB external HDD, play all video formats---all within my 10K budget.

Third, product brand.  The best way to measure quality is by it's brand.  However, if you're on a tight budget, going with a well known brand can be a show stopper.  As the saying goes, "beggars can't be choosers".  So the next best thing is to research.  Google it!  If you don't have the convenience of an internet connection, you can just go on a tour of a couple of appliance centers and you'll get to know that a couple of "unknown exteriors"  actually have branded interiors.  Changchong for instance uses Toshiba technology in terms of its display. 

Lastly, think ahead---think SUPPORT.  This is the part that is almost always forgotten to be considered by buyers.  No product is perfect and users tend to overplay a brand's product quality promise by abusing it to a fault.  So unless you're a McGyver who's a fix-it-all, make sure that the product's support services is within convenient reach. 

The longer the warranty the better.  Never choose a product with a parts and service warranty less than one year.  Small products are carry-in.  Big products are usually home serviced.  Looking beyond the warranty period---this is an important thing to consider.  

With TLC, a product can last the warranty period without being serviced.  So unless you will be changing products every warranty end, the WHO and WHERE of the service provider is of utmost importance.  Unfortunately, many brands outsource services so I guess you only get to find out about service quality when the unit breaks down.  Pray it doesn't---at least for a long, long, long, time.