Sunday, September 06, 2015

Is it time for Rafa Nadal to change coaches?

Rafael Nadal's 2015 US Open run crashed with a loud thud as he was downed by Pablo Fognini in 5 sets in the third round of the US Open.

I wonder if this is due to the regression brought about by one's health and age, or is it more of a mental challenge for Rafa, who seemed a step slower and whose "return all balls at all costs" game is now porous.

This is not without precedent. Two similar clay court specialists ground out with an accumulation of age and court time. Marcelo Rios was a top player who faded to obscurity the same time his reflexes went awry. Another name: Gustavo Kuerten.

I am beginning to wonder if this is an accumulation of all the small ails and injuries these past few years, or if he simply needs a new set of eyes to give him a new course of attack and perspective and tactics to go hand in hand with his uncle Toni.

Many in the sport think that Nadal should follow Federer's example in another way by hiring extra help to back-up Toni, who has coached him since he was four.

Federer brought Stefan Edberg on board to work alongside longtime coach Severin Luthi.

Novak Djokovic has Boris Becker teamed up with Marian Vajda while Andy Murray works with Jonas Bjorkman and Amelie Mauresmo.

This would be the first time Rafa in a decade that Rafa is without a grand slam win in a season. His losses weren't just to the elite, he has lost to unheralded players this year. 15 losses in 2015, 11 in 2014, and less than 10 on both 2012 and 2013 show that this is a slow decline and not just a one-off for this season. The only silver lining is that Nadal can look to his contemporary in Federer who won Wimbledon at age 31, in 2012.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Thinking of Converting your old light bulbs to LED? Well, I found something which may convince you to make that push.

Have you considered changing your lighting fixtures from incandescent or CFL bulbs to LED? The cost savings over a span of around 12 months would pay off the price of a LED bulb. However, what stops most of us from considering this is the high initial cost of LED bulbs compared to these older, cheaper, but high power consuming bulbs. I was trying to check for options and luckily enough found a posting for 6 9W bulbs [rough equivalent of 18-20W of CFL bulbs, or 50-60W incandescent, good enough for medium sized rooms] for the price of probably just 3 of these bulbs. It's worth a try to check if you're in the market and have huge electric bills you'd like to lower over time.

Go here to purchase these cheap and energy efficient LED bulbs while they are on sale.

If you prefer to buy things at Amazon, you can check them out here. Still a great value at $19 for 6 bulbs.

Saturday, August 01, 2015

Angry Birds released nth version and calls it Angry Birds 2

While looking around the Play Store, I saw a new game frim Rovio called Angry Birds 2. So, apparently all those versions and iterations are all considered to be part 1.

That sure rivals The Sims with the number of add-ons and versions.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Learn PHP - The Beginner Guide Video Course

I highly recommend this to people who have a lot of free time. It is simple to set up, and you can learn a lot in this YouTube video series about learning to program in PHP.



What most schools don't teach

Monday, July 20, 2015

8Ten 5MP SDV 5271 Action Camera

It seems that for the past year or so, the Action Camera segment has bloomed after GoPro started the trend. Other brands have made their own action cams and joined the fray. Now, to make it even more interesting, chinese-esque brands have joined the fray too with their own offerings. This only means more choices for consumers at different price points. You're not stuck with having to fork over an arm and a leg for a GoPro Hero if you feel that you won't need the entire suite of features. Other, more basic options are available.



One of the said options is 8Ten's SDV 5271 Action Camera. I just noticed this in Lazada's page, mainly because it was cheap. Looking at the reviews though is something else. This camera is being raved at by a lot of users garnering an average 4.16 out of 201 reviews. That, to me is a good indicator of value-for-money.

I then checked out YouTube for sample videos and I'm surprised that an unpopular brand has a lot of test videos for the camera [underwater, dashcam, helmet cam, etc]. I just had to ensure that I was watching the video at the highest video setting [click the gear icon at the lower right portion of the video to ensure you're watching the highest quality].



What I can say is that GoPro isn't sweating their pants over this, but this should work as a basic dashcam for cars, and other automobiles. Just make sure your expectations are clearly set, this camera should be a good buy if you need an action camera [underwater, biking, motorcycle riding, etc], and have a limited budget to pool from.

Link below if you want to check it out in Lazada. Available for cash-on-delivery so you don't have to worry about using credit cards or being scammed online. That to me, is a big plus in itself.

Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Briggs Automotive Company Mono sets record

305bhp Briggs Mono


Talk about setting speed records!

This is the 305bhp Briggs Automotive Company Mono. This car unofficially broke the car hill record at Goodwood, this car lapped in 1:55 - 9.5 seconds faster than a Porsche 911 GT3, 7 seconds faster than a Ferrari Speciale and hold on to your hats, 4.5 seconds faster than a McLaren P1 

BAC introduced the 2016 Model Year Mono to the world at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, with an unofficial road car record-breaking run on the famous hillclimb. With a series of runs comfortably sub 50-seconds, and a fastest time of 47.9, the Mono is able to compete with many dedicated racing cars.

The blistering runs capped off a successful Festival of Speed for BAC, where they met countless enthusiasts on the manufacturer lawn and entertained current and potential customers at the BAC bespoke customer experience zone, featuring several cars, a cutaway chassis, technical exhibits and an owners’ lounge. 

With BAC test driver Oliver Webb at the wheel, the Goodwood hillclimb time was set in BAC’s 2016 Model Year Mono, featuring an all-new 2.5-litre Mountune four-cylinder engine producing 305bhp – that’s up 25bhp on the previous 2.3-litre Cosworth engine. The revised car weighs in at just 580kg giving an incredible 526bhp per tonne. The new 2016 Model Year Mono also includes a drive-by-wire throttle as well as a bespoke driver fitment culminating in a custom steering wheel and seat tailor-made for the owner. 

What makes the hill time all the more impressive is the fact it was set while Oliver was not attempting a record as he was driving a car fitted with a pre-production prototype engine.

Monday, July 06, 2015

Decent, for daily use notebooks which won't break your bank

It seems that these days, we no longer have to associate a portable computing experience with expensive prices. Budget laptops these days can definitely get the job done for 90% of users, who spend most of their time in front of their device either a.) working on documents, spreadsheets, and/or presentations b.) social media such as facebook, and twitter c.) porn [hopefully in incognito] d.) talking to family and friends via applications like Skype, and e.) playing games.

Having come from an age where laptops were more of a luxury than a need [if you need to use a computer, grab a desktop, or rent at a computer shop]. The cheapest of laptops came with barebone specifications, which works, but not especially well. Then came local and some unknown international brands that provided decent specifications for a lower price than "branded" models. However, some encountered issues with heat, crashing, or just poor after sales support [drivers, warranty service, etc]. 

Still, tech companies like Intel, and AMD, keep churning out new processors and graphics solutions for their notebooks that fight for your computing dollar. Other considerations such as power consumption, and battery life, are also touted. Before, if you needed a machine which had 4 hours run-time battery, you'd have to carry a heavy laptop which would either a.) break your arm and/or b.) grow you some muscles. These days, you can carry a svelte portable and still be able to enjoy long battery life without compromising computing performance. With technology becoming more, and more powerful, yet more energy efficient, it makes great sense to transition to these new systems.

A quick search through Lazada's basic laptops page shows that a new laptop can be had for as low as P7,995, but let's take a look at something closer to it, the Asus X200MA, which costs slightly more [P9,995] but at the same time has a reliable brand, decent specifications, and a year's warranty. Now, some might shake their head at the Celeron processor, but hear me out. These aren't the days when Celeron was just an unwanted stepbrother of the Intel processor line. It consumes very low power [7 watts], has decent computing power [2.16Ghz with Turbo Boost 2.56Ghz], and can play recent games on low-to-medium settings. If you have a bit more budget to burn, you can go with a slight upgrade, and head over to an Ultrabook with a slightly bigger screen, twice the memory, better processor and a dedicated graphics card, which is the Asus X452MD for a shade under 19,000 pesos. 

I highly recommend switching over to portables because of the reduced power consumption. Power rates have increased and using a machine which allows you to accomplish more of the same with less electricity usage would be a big savings on a year-on-year look. Also, portability and space saved is important in a world where everything seems to get tighter and filled up with other things that we own. Of course, due diligence is required if the laptop that you'd purchase would suit best for your needs. I'm sure there are other items to consider [brand, warranty, build, OS, etc] which you should take note of as well. 

Links used are listed below:


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Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Lazada Exclusive Cubix Cube initial look - cheapest phone with 2GB RAM

As more and more companies are joining the Android bandwagon, it is only to be expected that better specced phones are being offered for lower prices. This was initially introduced by local brands like myPhone and Cherry Mobile, but in recent months, even notable brands like Asus, Acer, Huawei, and Xiaomi have thrown their names into the hat, making the mid-range market an even more competitive market. This, definitely benefits us, the consumers. 

Not to let themselves get lost in the race is Cherry Mobile, who, after being part of the Android One initiative with myPhone a few months back launched two mobile phones to look forward to: The Cubix Cube, which is an online exclusive via Lazada, and the Flare X.







Here's a quick specification overview of the Cubix Cube:

Cubix Cube specs:
5-inch HD IPS On-Cell display, 1280 x 720 @294ppi
1.4Ghz MediaTek MT6592M octa-core processor
ARM Mali-450MP4
2GB RAM
Expandable 16GB internal storage
Supports up to 64GB MicroSD card
13MP rear camera w/ LED flash
5MP front
Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
3G HSPA+
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS
2,000mAh battery


The first thing that pops out to me is the RAM. Cherry Mobile [along with other local handset brands] have released Octacore phones to much fanfare since last year. It is only now that someone upped the ante by raising the memory from the typical 1GB to 2GB. This helps out greatly in multitasking and memory intensive applications, which would mean that it would be a much smoother Android experience for the user. 

The screen is a pleasant surprise, as it is a 5-inch, IPS display, which guarantees fairly good viewing angles. Although it should be noted that none of the reference materials regarding this model indicates that this is a scratch-proof solution a la Gorilla Glass, so no practicing of car keys or dropping is recommended.

Internal storage is a pleasant surprise, as 16GB is an ample storage for your initial experience, allowing you to install many apps without worry that the internal space would run out, the latter being a common problem with budget smartphones. To help further, storage is expandable via the microSD slot [up to 64GB].

Not all is rosy out here though, as the glossy back cover attracts fingerprints and smudges. Also, some people might consider the dilemma that this phone does not have LTE, but that should only be an issue if you rely on data connectivity a lot and if your location has a good LTE signal. HSPA+ is fairly decent for the most part. Lastly would be the battery, which seem to be a bit on the low end at only 2000mAH. It would be interesting to see how optimized the software is to maximize the limited battery.

Pros:
- octa-core processor
- high RAM [2GB]
- good GPU
- good, clear display [HD IPS]
- default internal storage at 16GB [vs. typical budget phone storage of 2-8 GB]

Cons:
- battery is quite low for a relatively high-octane device
- glossy back cover is prone to fingerprint smudges
- no LTE [limited to HSPA+]

All-in-all, I think it is a very good deal considering the plusses it brings to the table, and for the price [P4,490]. It is a great offer to be had if you're looking for a new phone with decent specs without breaking your budget.

If you're looking at getting one, you can get it on this link, since as noted above, it is a Lazada exclusive item: Cherry Mobile Cubix Cube

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Are flagship phones still worth their price?

It seemed like only a few years ago that in order for one to get top-of-the-line specs and features, you'd have to really break the bank [see: P30,000-P40,000] to get it. Big time manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, LG, and HTC have made a lucrative business out of selling what they term as the best of the best, with various selling points: larger HD screens, more memory, higher processor, more processor cores, long battery life, better camera, etc. From hardware specs, to unique, although sometimes gimmicky features, manufacturers seem to keep on putting every bell and whistle in the book everytime a flagship is announced.

For the past year or so, though, local brands and manufacturers like Asus, Huawei, and ZTE have tilted the landscape quite a bit, by offering either a "close enough" experience to just flat out flagship experience for a fraction of the cost. From Cherry Mobile offering an annual iteration of their Flare series to myPhone countering with their Rio line, more and more people are getting the opportunity to have a great Android experience. 

For me, it started when Asus released their first Zenfone line which was received warmly and was given glowing reviews by most users. Now, even an international brand is starting the trend, and raises the question: Why break your budget when you can get this for something that would not dent your budget as much?

The Asus Zenfone 5 changed a lot of perception about mid-range priced smartphones.

This year, the argument is even more heated as other manufacturers like OnePlus, Asus, and Huawei upped their game. Even the local brands, which used to lord the budget smartphone market are in for a fight, and it seems to me that they are responding with enticing offers of their own.

As of today, Cherry Mobile has done a Lazada-exclusive release of the Cubix Cube, which I think is the cheapest smartphone in the market to sport an octa-core processor AND 2GB of RAM for only P4,490. Partner that with a discount code from Lazada [which depending on the date, may range from 200 to 500 pesos], and you can get this as low as P4,000. Really good deal, if you're not too brand conscious. Of course, there are caveats like a relatively small battery, and/or camera performance which is passable, but not eye popping. Then again, for the price, it's a tempting option.

Lazada-exclusive offer from Cherry Mobile
New brands such as SKK, Firefly and the like are releasing their own models to take their share of the smartphone market. Here are some phones which are worth a peep. Some have already been released, while some are just on the to-be-released phase, which should be within the next month or two.

SKK Lynx
Cherry Mobile Flare X
Firefly Allure 64 LTE
myPhone Rio 2
Huawei Honor 4X
Asus Zenfone 2

Surely, some of these phones don't have some "flagship exclusive" features like fingerprint readers, NFC, 4K video recording and display, but then again, these are mostly add-ons which you can live without for the most part [and even some of these features are now offered by these other brands].

Final Thoughts

While I think that flagship phones are still here to stay, with all the reveal events, press conferences, and the hype trains to ride along with, but the average joe should not feel too left out as more and more well-specced phones enter the market to grab their share of the smartphone pie. 

There is also the question of durability and quality control on these other local brands, which scares off some potential buyers. That's up to these brands to improve on, with their repair lead times, and after sales service, but for the actual devices themselves, they are looking pretty good and have caught up quite nicely with the top-tier counterparts.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Prove Them Wrong - Inspirational and Motivational Video

Oftentimes, we have people who whisper to us, and maybe even tell us flat out that we can't do it. What's troubling is that most of us give power or credence to what others say and we end up paralyzed and get stuck with what they say as our limits. It is time we turn it around and prove people wrong. Be strong and get it done.



Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Stephen Curry wins 2014-2015 NBA MVP



In what was anticipated to be a tight race among MVP candidates, Warriors point guard Steph Curry emerged victorious. Curry is named the NBA's Most Valuable Player after leading the Golden State Warriors to a franchise record 67 wins during the regular season.

The cream rose to the top as the voting results were released, showing Curry as a runaway winner for the award. He received 100 of a possible 130 first place votes to win by a landslide after a season of filled with debates between Curry and Harden, who led the Rockets to the West's 2nd seed.

Listed below are the top 5 for the MVP race:

1. Stephen Curry - 1,198 points [100 first place votes]
2. James Harden - 936 points [25 first place votes]
3. LeBron James - 552 points [5 first place votes]
4. Russell Westbrook - 352 points
5. Anthony Davis - 203 points

Sunday, May 03, 2015

Half-off for Jollibee Champ and Papa John's Pizzas today for Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown

Thinking of what to eat for the Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown? Two options are volunteering themselves to be part of your experience. 

Jollibee is offering their Champ [regular Champ, Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Champ, Amazing Aloha Champ] at 50% off on all branches, just for today, May 3, 2015.

Here's the ad I captured from their instagram feed:


Also, Papa John's is offering 50% off selected 14-inch pizzas for today. Here's what I found from their Facebook page [thanks to friend Jello Laloon for the tip]:


Are there other food places that are offering discounted food for today, or in the upcoming days/weeks? Share them! :)

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Jon Jones stripped of UFC Light Heavyweight Title; replaced at UFC 187


Jon "Bones" Jones has been officially stripped of his UFC Light Heavyweight title.

UFC president Dana White announced on Fox Sports 1 on Tuesday that the company had stripped Jones of the belt and suspended him indefinitely, only two days after Jones allegedly fled the scene of an auto accident in Albuquerque, N.M.

Daniel Cormier, who recently lost to Jones at UFC 182, will take his place and fight Anthony "Rumble" Johnson for the title stripped from Jones. It was noted that it would not be an interim championship belt as initially thought of. The winner will be the full champion and not the interim title-holder.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-strips-jon-jones-of-title--daniel-cormier-to-face-anthony-johnson-for-belt-040233974-mma.html

Thursday, March 26, 2015

How to download Youtube videos with no 3rd party software

At home, when I am watching some Youtube videos which I like to share, or at the very least, like to play on a bigger screen television, I normally use software like YTD downloader or other similar programs which allows you to extract the video and download it, and store on your computer for offline viewing. That's all well and dandy, but how about if you're outside, or at a public computer and you'd want to do the same?

Normally, as the set-up in most internet cafes, public libraries or other public computers, downloading, installing or running executable files may not be possible. So far, I have only found one alternative which may be helpful if you ever find yourself in a similar plight: wanting to download a video for later viewing, but not having the option to do so.

You can go to http://en.savefrom.net/ and input the video's URL and it would attempt to generate a download link for you for all the available qualities for the said video for you to choose.

Be wary, though, of the buttons to click, as some buttons are actually ads which lead to other third party websites.