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Tying the knot. Wedding reception at Hotel Supreme, Baguio City. Typhoon Cosme. A day of unwinding at Manila Ocean Park and Mall of Asia. Unwinding turned almost into a nursing experience. My lactose intolerance may have tied my stomach with a local, instant noodle brand!

Things are getting more complicated if the internet is running in your bloodstream especially when being offline is like getting choked, so to speak. Globe’s Mobile Broadband isn’t that much help with its predominant GPRS coverage. But still, it’s better than nothing! Forget lousy SMART Bro and its prepaid counterpart. SMART is the equivalent of lousy AT&T in the US!

This is the world of 24×7 though this is far from NYTimes uber-blogging death scare!

And when you seem that you are at the top of things, little surprises are sure to ruin your day. Like getting a voltage surge on your BlackBerry which kind of knock off my battery. Or the nasty Norton antivirus software that broke loose the gates of hell, blocking Remote Desktop at its whim, and during at a time when tech support is 16 hours away. Add to that the wrath of typhoon Cosme which reminds me of the dark days after typhoon Milenyo wrought destruction in Manila.

Oh well, but that’s life. Sometimes you are going to get bad cards in the game of life. But that’s how nature works. Besides, how would you enjoy life if there is no pain nor difficulties? Sometimes, getting unwired will let you realize the more important things in life. Like doing nothing. Or just tuning to your inner self. Better yet, searching for the meaning of life…

I hate it when things break down. I hate it when things suddenly doesn’t work as it has used to. That’s the case with bureaucratic banks in the Philippines and their antiquated online banking. Online solutions need online support if need be, but local banks here would resort to traditional phone support or worse, will tell you to visit them in person. Case in point: BPI funds transfer to a third-party in the province. It used to work before and now, it doesn’t. Another case: BDO and their notorious enrollment of third-party accounts. Banks here are fond of snail mail, corporate bullshit and inflexible online functional design.

If Bank of America or ING Direct can make it easier for their customers, why can’t local banks do the same? Same with telcos and cellcos here. Maybe they could emulate Apple’s Genius Bar. It’s ironic that they cannot synchronize their communications and strategy from top management down to their rank and file in a seamless manner.

It’s a classic disconnect of strategy and execution. Strategies go hand in hand with sound design though it doesn’t guarantee a well-rounded CS experience. The top brass have to make sure that their rub elbows with their human resources below, and their customers as well.

Globe Telecom took so long to answer Smart’s P10/30mins web browsing rate, yet they come up short to what could be a simpler and user-friendly internet experience. In addition to per kilobyte browsing rate, Globe introduced a time-browsing rate of P5 per 15minutes. The catch?

If disconnected within the 15 minutes, reconnection will be considered a new session charged at P5. No refund will be made if disconnected before the 15mins are up.

Since mobile internet connections are fragile and prone to disconnects, Globe clients are better off with a sort of prepaid model. Instead of being charged P5 in case it was disconnected, users should be charged P5 the moment they have successfully connected with Globe until the next 15minutes regardless of number of disconnections during that time. Same for excess minutes (P5 for 15minutes) regardless of number of disconnections. That way, it is truly time-based, not connection-based.

Making it hassle-free and user-friendly, that’s the way to go!

Source: GMANews.tv

The famed Burnham Park is now a free WiFi zone. Visitors can access the Internet through their laptop computers and mobile phones for free.

The Mimo Corp. and the Baguio Tourism Council spent P300,000 to provide the WiFi network supplied by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company. The WiFi connection is available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The network is password-protected, but one can get the password, which is changed daily, from the tourism office near the park’s skating rink.

Burnham is the first public park in the country with a WiFi connection, said David Sanchez, Mico president.

Mayor Reinaldo Bautista said the move would not only attract tourists but also residents who want to surf the Internet.

Bautista assured computer users that security at the park would be beefed up to avoid laptop-snatching. Police will also monitor people who will surf for pornography.

Source: GMANews.tv

With a cold front affecting Luzon, Baguio City on Wednesday experienced its coldest temperature since 2003 at 10 degrees Celsius.

Bombo Radyo Bacolod reported that Joseph Rios, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration Baguio weather station chief meteorological officer, said the cold spell may last until end-March.

Rios said Pagasa Baguio recorded the city’s lowest temperature at 6.3 degrees on Jan. 18, 1961; 6.7 degrees on Feb. 28, 1963; 8.4 on Jan. 8, 2002; and 8.0 degrees on Jan. 18, 2003.

The normal temperature in Baguio City is 14 degrees Celsius.