Prince Harry Eulogy

The text (from Yahoo News) of Prince Harry's eulogy for his mother, Princess Diana, delivered Friday, 31 August at a memorial service in London:

William and I can separate life into two parts. There were those years when we were blessed with the physical presence beside us of both our mother and father. (Photo of Prince Harry by Reuters)

And then there are the 10 years since our mother's death. When she was alive, we completely took for granted her unrivaled love of life, laughter, fun and folly. She was our guardian, friend and protector.

She never once allowed her unfaltering love for us to go unspoken or undemonstrated.

She will always be remembered for her amazing public work. But behind the media glare, to us, just two loving children, she was quite simply the best mother in the world.

We would say that, wouldn't we.

But we miss her. She kissed us last thing at night. Her beaming smile greeted us from school. She laughed hysterically and uncontrollably when sharing something silly she might have said or done that day. She encouraged us when we were nervous or unsure. (Photo from Associated Press)

She — like our father — was determined to provide us with a stable and secure childhood.

To lose a parent so suddenly at such a young age, as others have experienced, is indescribably shocking and sad. It was an event which changed our lives forever, as it must have done for everyone who lost someone that night.

But what is far more important to us now, and into the future, is that we remember our mother as she would have wished to be remembered as she was: fun-loving, generous, down-to-earth, entirely genuine.

We both think of her every day.

We speak about her and laugh together at all the memories.

Put simply, she made us, and so many other people, happy. May this be the way that she is remembered.

Princess Diana

Just a quiet moment for a princess. (Photo from http://www.leninimports.com)

The Big Difference

Yesterday, I read a column of Manolo Inigo of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He wrote about Carlos Loyzaga.

And suddenly I remembered the “Big Difference” and his continuing presence in Philippine basketball history. I recount the old MICCA days, the predecessor of the PBA. I remember my favorite team, Mariwasa, who had a young lady at its manager. She was Nikki Coseteng, daughter of the late Emerson Coseteng.

I remember players like Yoyong Martirez (running fast across the court), Atoy Co (with his Beatle’s haircut), Mom Fernandez, Adriano Papa (who could shoot beyond the three-point area even before there was the arc), David Regullano (with his famous black rubber shoes) and Robert Jaworski (with his famous number 7 jersey).

But among all the top players, nobody beats what Caloy Loyzaga has achieved for flag and country.He was born August 29, 1930 in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. He was first called “The Big Difference” by sportscaster Willie Hernandez.

He led the Philippine National team to a Bronze Medal finish in the 1954 FIBA World Championship and was named to the Mythical Team of that tournament. This third place finish remains the highest finish of any Asian team in the history of the tournament. And it looks like it will never be repeated or broken. Our team just lost the FIBA qualifying tournament.

Before Caloy could be a Thomasian player, Coach Fely Felicisimo Fajardo, took him to San Beda where Fely polished his playing style and then shined in the NCAA.

He also played for the Yco Painters during MICCA (Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association) from 1954 to 1956.
He was a two-time Olympian (Helsinki,1952 and the 1956 Melbourne, 1956) and led the national team to winning four consecutive Asian Games gold medals and two consecutive FIBA Asia Championships. After his playing years, he turned to coaching by coaching the Philippine team during the 1967 ABC tournament and earning 13th place during 1968 Mexico Olympics.

Manolo Iñigo writes, “There is no question that Carlos “Caloy” Loyzaga is the greatest Filipino basketball player in history” I agree.

Pride and Presence of Madz

Many Filipinos around the world continue to make us proud with their presence. From Efren Bata Jr. to Lea Salonga, their presence alone on any form of stage will make Pinoys like me proud.

Add the The Philippine Madrigal Singers to the list of Filipinos. They recently won the prestigious European Grand Prix for Choral Singing held last Sunday in at the Church of Sta. Maria della Pieve in Arezzo, Italy.

The 44-strong Philippine choir is the first and only choir to win twice in what is known as the choral Olympics of the world. The Madrigals beat formidable choirs such as Russia’s Vesna Children’s Choir, Hungary’s Cantemos Mixed Choir, Cuba’s Schola Cantorum Coralina and the Taipei Chamber Singers.

“Its overwhelming. Up to now we are very happy and pleased. No words can describe it,” Mark Anthony Carpio, the Madrigal’s choirmaster in a article published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Founded in 1963 by National Artist for Music Andrea O. Veneracion, The Philippine Madrigal Singers has won many choral competitions from all over the world.

Their impressive track record and musical virtuosity, they are now regarded as the one of the world's best choirs.

The Madrigal Singers first earned critical acclaim during their performance in the First Choruses of the World Festival at the Lincoln Center in New York in 1969.

They have performed before for royalty and heads of state like Pope Paul VI, Presidents Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, King Juan Carlos de Bourbon and Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Find out more about the Madrigal singers at: http://www.philippinemadrigalsingers.com/

Family Guy

Last night, for the first time, I caught an episode of Family Guy on "Jack TV." In fact, Chief had seen a couple of episodes and was able to describe to me how the characters relate to each other.

I did some research and learned about this animated TV series, which first made it’s presence on Fox in 1999. It is about a family residing in Rhode Island and was created by Seth MacFarlane. There is even talk of a possible movie. Following the footsteps of "The Simpsons."

The series was cancelled once in 2000 and again in 2002, but strong DVD sales and the large viewership of reruns on Cartoon Network's convinced FOX to resume the show in 2005. Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Last night episode showed how the son, Chris Griffin, helped arrest a criminal until the FBI relocated the family to the “south.” Here they adjust to the “southern” lifestyle.

There were some real fun moments specially, when there was a “brokeback” kiss until the son finds out that the boy is a girl, when she invites him for a swim and she strips down to her underwear.

When the criminal catches up with the family, their southerner neighbors come to the rescue and kill the criminal. Chris and his girlfriend kiss goodbye.

If you want a couple of good laughs on a Sunday night, why not catch an episode of “The Family Guy.”

Diana's Legacy on AIDS

Even after 20 years, Princess Diana, continues to reach out the less-fortunate people around the world through her organizations and her two sons, Princes William and Harry.

Here is what Bill Clinton said about Princess Diana, back in December 2001 during the “Diana, Princess of Wales Lecture on AIDS. “In 1987, when so many still believed that AIDS could be contracted through casual contact, Princess Diana sat on the sickbed of a man with AIDS and held his hand. She showed the world that people with AIDS deserve no isolation, but compassion and kindness. It helped change world's opinion, and gave hope to people with AIDS.” (Photo courtesy of http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk)

Our Team

Will write about our team soon.

Ultimatum

Often, when our presence is not recognized by other persons, we would issue an ultimatum. Often, people don’t recognize the presence of other with whom they don’t have faith and trust in. Credibility is important.

For Jason Bourne (played by Matt Damon), he chases his past from Paris, Madrid, Tangiers to New York to make his presence within himself.

Last Sunday after Mass at Don Bosco Church, Chief and I watched “The Bourne Ultimatum.” This is the third sequel from the Bourne Trilogy based from the characters created by Robert Ludlum.

Damon goes through a series of shoot-puts and car chases until he finally discovers his real presence when he comes face to face with Dr. Albert Hirsh (played by Albert Finney). Dr. Hirsh did some “psychological conditioning” on the real David Webb to establish Jason Bourne.

The movie has already grossed $69.3 million in ticket sales in its first weekend of release in North America. Here in Makati, Jason competes with Lee and Taylor (Rush Hour 3) at the cinemas.

(Photos courtesy of IMDB.com)

Quentin's Presence in a Pedicab!

Last week, Egay brought rains to the country. Schools didn't have classes. Many, like me, where working from home while Quentin Tarantino made his presence felt to many aspiring filmmakers during the 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival.

While the Lifetime Achievement Award he received from the festival made the news, his pedicab ride through Manila’s flooded streets made the front pages of many newspapers last Wednesday. This pedicab brought him to Malacanang Palace to receive a film award from Pres. Macapagal.

The 44-year old director, wearing a traditional Filipino formal shirt and sandals, had been stuck in traffic for about 2 1/2 hours on a bridge near the presidential palace. Filipino filmmaker “Tikoy” Aguiluz provided the solution out of the traffic. Pedicabs. Within 15 minutes later, both filmmakers were near the palace gates where a car picked them up. (Photo courtesy of Phil.Daily Inquirer)

"It was a lot of fun. It's the way it is, I guess. ... It was wild," he told reporters. "No worries. I've done more serious things than that."

While in Manila, got to meet Eddie Romero during a film forum. He also says that he is a huge fan of the late National Artist Gerry de Leon. “I’m a huge, huge fan…” he told film students. His exposure and experience will help shape the book on Filipino movies he is writing called “Bamboo Gods, Iron Men and Wonder Women.”

The film director, actor and screenwriter’s presence has surely inspired many young independent (and even mainstream) Filipino filmmakers. I just hope that all that inspiration help bring back quality films, like those done by Lino Brocka and Mike de Leon.

Now, I would like to watch "Kill Bill 2" again, which Chief and I last saw in Vietnam!

Rocking The World

40 years ago today, (August 16, 1977), the world felt the lost of “The King of Rock and Roll.” Elvis Aaron Presley died (or others claim, simply disappeared) from the limelight. Today is the 30th death anniversary of "The King."

But his continues to make his presence felt as a singer, musician and actor. His music continues to be played many FM stations around the world, and even here at RJ 100.3 Khz, specially, on weekends.

Elvis was one of the first performers that “rocked” or shaked the world with an upbeat uptempo fusion of country and rhythm and blues. Whether it was on television or on stage, songs like "Jailhouse Rock" and "Hound Dog" got people singing and swinging to his groove. . Throughout his career and up to the present, he continues to sell “re-mastered” copies records and CDs plus DVDs of his concerts and movies. He continues to influence other artists around the world with his music.

Today, he would have been 72 years old... and am watching a segment on the "Today" Show that is showing friends and fans visiting Graceland and paying tribute to "The King."

Elvis Lives

Tomorow, I will write about Elvis Aaron Presley as he continues to make his presence felt as a singer and musician.

Castro turns 81

Last Monday, Fidel Alejandro Castro (born August 13, 1926) celebrated his 81st presence. He is probably one of the remaining “relics” of the Cold War who continues to worry his neighbors in North America.

I remember watching an old movie based on his life and revolution when he overthrew the government Fulgencio Batista in 1959. In that movie, I remember a young Castro leading a failed attack on a military camp (1953) and much later, a guerrilla invasion of Cuba (December 1956).

His name and face has always made a presence whenever there is a movie made on the Cuban Missile Crisis or on the JFK presidency.

While many outside Cuba and maybe, even within the country see Castro as a tyrant, there are still who see the charismatic leader in him.

At home, Fidel Castro has probably achieved more in areas of public health care and education than most modern countries in the world.

Cuba ranks better than many countries on the United Nations' List of countries by infant mortality rate, which is claimed by Castro's supporters as a success of his regime. Today, since July 31, 2006, Cuba is being led by his younger brother, Raul Castro.

While much has been written about his political life and views, let me scribble a few words about his relationship with the Church. Did you know he as was raised a Roman Catholic as a child but has renounced the Christian faith.

In 1962, he was excommunicated by Pope John XXIII on the basis of a 1949 decree by Pope Pius XII forbidding Catholics from supporting communist governments. During the 90s, Castro allowed to Catholics to join the Cuban Communist Party.


And by 1998, Pope John Paul II visited Cuba . This was the first visit by a reigning pontiff to the island. There are many images Castro and the Pope appeared side by side in public during the visit. During the Pontiff’s visit, the Pope said that true liberation "cannot be reduced to its social and political aspects," but must also include "the exercise of freedom of conscience — the basis and foundation of all other human rights." (Photo courtesy of Baltimore Sun)

The Pope also criticized widespread abortion in Cuban hospitals and urged Castro to end the government's monopoly on education to allow the return of Catholic schools. A month later Castro condemned the use of abortion as a form of birth control.

And by December 1998, Catholic Cubans were finally able to celebrate Christmas openly as Castro formally re-instated Christmas Day as the official celebration after it abolished it in 1969. The Pope sent a telegram to Castro thanking him for restoring Christmas as a public holiday.

After the Pope's death in April 2005, an emotional Castro attended a mass in his honor in Havana's cathedral. "Rest in peace, tireless fighter for friendship among peoples, enemy of war and friend of the poor,” Castro wrote in the condolences book at the Vatican’s mission in Havana. Cuba had 3 days of mourning. Thousands visited the cathedral and followed the service led by Cardinal Jaime Ortega. (Photo of Castro reading the condolence book by Jorge Rey/AP)

It was during the wedding of one of his sisters, back in 1959, when Castro last visited this cathedral.

While media and public presence continues to decline but his historical and cultural presence will continue beyond many years. His presence would continue to be read in history books and felt in the streets of Cuba for many many years. Maybe, one day, Chief and I could visit Havana, before it is overtaken by commercialism.

No. 756

Two days before my birthday would be another significant day in the world of sports as Barry Bonds made his strong presence felt at the Stadium, and all of San Francisco and all of the United States to hit home run No. 756.

Now, he earns a permanent presence in baseball with the MLB home run record, overpassing Hank Aaron’s 33-year old long standing home run record. He broke Hank Aaron's storied record with one out in the fifth inning, hitting a full-count, 84 mph pitch from Washington's Mike Bacsik. He sent the ball arcing high into the night, 435 feet into the right-center field seats.

Bonds has seven Most Valuable Player awards and is the all-time career leader in both walks (2540) and intentional walks (679). In 2001, he made 73 home runs and set the single-season Major League record for home runs.

In an article published at the ESPN website, Bonds said, "Thank you very much. I got to thank all of you, all the fans here in San Francisco. It's been fantastic." He also thanked all his teammates, his family and children and his late dad.



Hank Aaron, in the same published report, says "It is a great accomplishment which required skill, longevity and determination."Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years. I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historic achievement."

"My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams," Hank said.

Yes, I hope that with No. 756, Bonds will inspire many young kids to pursue their dreams and make their presence felt on any kind of court. Reminds me, when will I pick up that tennis racket that Chief gave me a couple of years ago when we were still living and working in Vietnam. Paging, Jovy Mamawal!



And now, many baseball fans will continue to debate between Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. Me, I would go for Babe Ruth. Why? He was the first to set those home run records!

Polanski's Presence at Rush Hour 3

Chief and I watched “Rush Hour 3” at Cinema 3 of the Glorietta Cinemas last Friday night, after I attended the 1st ever IMMAP Conference at Hotel Intercon.

These blogs are all about presence and in the third installment in the martial arts/action-adventure Rush Hour franchise starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, there is the surprise presence of Roman Polanski.

Yes, the acclaimed director Roman Polanski, who like me was born on the month of August. (August 18, 1933). He is an Academy Award winning film director, writer, actor, producer but now is also popular as an internationally wanted fugitive from law.

He directed such movies as Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Chinatown (1974). In 1969, his wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered by the Manson Family. In 1978, after pleading guilty to having unlawful sexual intercourse with a thirteen year old girl, Polanski fled to France, where he now resides. Polanski is unwilling to return to the US as he will definitely face arrest. He continues to worl and I believe the last movie I saw which he made his directorial presence felt was winning The Pianist (2002), which won honors during Cannes Film Festival.

In Rush Hour 3, which was released one day after my birthday, on August 10, 2007, Roman Polanski appears as a French police official who meets Chan and Tucker's characters at the airport and tortures them at their butts.

At the final scene, after escape Lee and Carter escape from the triad from the top of the Eiffel Tower. They usithe use a French flag as a parachute and float to safety. On the ground, they are confronted by Reynard (played by Max Von Sydow) who is holding Genevieve (played by Noemi Leonor) hostage.



Fortunately, another interesting character, George (played by Yvan Attal) arrives and shoots Reynard before he can harm anybody else. The police, led by Detective Revi (Polanski) arrive. Both Lee and Carter punch Detective Revi in the face and leave the scene dancing to War.

Beckham Makes Presence @ Galaxy

It was a rain-soaked evening in Washington when David Beckham made his presence felt, yesterdat at the RFK Stadium in Washington.

It was also a stormy weather here in Manila.

His made his presence to sellout crowd of 46,686 all watching his every move on his No. 23 jersey which has made huge sales across California.

Their team Galaxy trailed by a goal as Beckham entered the game at 71:01 and ultimately loss the game, 1-0.

The midfielder's presence had no highs and dives as fans have seen in his games at Manchester United or Real Madrid. No fancy footwork or dribbles.

According to a report by Graham Jones published in the LA Times, “he did seem to settle a disorganized Galaxy midfield simply by his presence.”

"I was happy to be out there and at least get 20 minutes," Beckham said. "It's a big step forward for me tonight.



"It's not nice to disappoint people who have paid a lot of money to see the game, so I was thankful to actually get on the pitch. So it was a good night, but also a bad night because we ended up losing."

Beckham seemed to enjoy it all and was laughing with Cobi Jones on the Galaxy bench, perhaps amused by a huge sign that read: "We Sing Better Than Your Wife."

His famous wife, Victoria Beckham was not present.

(Photo from the LA Times)

Aileen and Enrique

Today, on the 2nd day of the 1st ever IMMAP Conference, there were two speakers who made me sit and listen to what they really had to say. Enrique Gonzalez and Aileen Apollo.

Why Enrique and Aileen?

Enrique is CEO of IPVG, one of our biggest clients and one fastest growing companies in the Philippines. IPVG’s group of companies include e-Games which brings the presence together of young male and female on-line gamers in a virtual world. Here, gamers have been known to play for hours and hours long. Some have been known to play for 72 hours while other “pay” professional gamers to continue their game while they rest their eyes from the computer monitor.

Enrique says that 2.6 Million online gaming population in the Philippines is expected to increase their presence to 6.3M –242% in three years.

The young CEO also said that in 2004, there were 11.8 million internet users. This was projected to reach more than 20 million users by 2007.

For e-Games alone, they had over 4,000,000 registered users, with over 1,500,000 active users per month. Over 40,000 players online at a given time, many of them make their presence felt in over 5,000 iCafe partners around the country.

The “front page” of the computer monitor belongs to Google, which recently launched it environment friendly “black” Google. Aileen gave the audience a peek into Google, although most of the audience already knew what Google really means. I was hoping to hear some insights about Brin and Page (which reminds me I have to finish the book, “The Google Story). But why I really wanted to meet Aileen was to meet the “blogger” in her, specially the “lakwatsera” in her. I missed those days in UST when I was a “lakwatsera” myself.

Which remind me, I have to bring Chief to Taste Asia at the Mall of Asia. Soon, we will make our presence felt at that restaurant!

2nd Day at the IMMAP Conference

On the 2nd day of the IMMAP Conference, I finally found a seat. On the same table were a couple of guys from J Walter Thompson. A guy from Repertory, who most of the time was punching the keys of his new iBook. That quickly reminded me of the "Freedom from Connectivity" column I recently wrote at the Tech Page of the Manila Times.

Beside me, towards my left is an an expat (half American, half-French) named Mark Haufmann. He had been an expat here in the Philppines for 12 years. We shared stories about other countries from Prague to Ho Chi Minh City. We both agreed that Cuba would be a nice place to visit, before commercialism and the digital universe takes over.

And besides him were a couple of participants from PS Bank.

Sheila Rada of IPVG joined us later in the afternoon, after Enrique had given his presentation.

Today's session had Yota Mitsunobo talks about his digital experiences in Japan. Yota during a light moment after his presentation says that "Mitsunobo" means light. The key buzz word that made a sttrong presence was AISAS, which means, Awareness, Interest, Search, Action and Share. I will talk about that buzz word in a separate blog.

Unfortunately, the program host still thinks that the agency Alcantara DYR still exists. Haha.

Enrique Gonzalez and Aileen Apoli also gave presentationsm but they deserve a separate blog.

The KFC One Hand Challenge

This case study was one of the most interesting and funny case study during the 1st IMMAP Conference. And the user-generated content video submitted to the KFC website made a lot of the participants laugh.

1st day of IMMAP Conference

Just what is digital marketing? That question was answered today at the first-ever Internet and Mobile Marketing Conference held at the Hotel Inter in Makati City.

It was a full-packed venue at the Grand Ballroom of the hotel Nearly 400 plus attendees. And people say that the organizers under estimated participation. They had expected only 200 but around 400 showed up and joined the conference.

The first day had presentations from Tom Sipple of Yahoo, whch I found most interesting of all. He had described how Sony Ericsson had partnered with Yahoo for it's on-line campaign. Being a Sony Ericsson user all my life, I have an established biased for this brand. Nothing wrong with Nokia or Samsung. But for me, Sony Ericsson enjoys a stronger communication presence for me. He also cited numerous other examples like Sheraton, Accenture and even Jollibee.

Most interesting example was from KFC Taiwan.

The presentation of Matec Villanueva on "Digital Brand Experince" was okey, but was really skewed for advertising, given her experience at McCann and Publicis. She only cited a couple of "digital examples" like Nescafe.

People I met on the 1st Day of IMMAP

First day of the first-ever IMMAP Conference and Exhibit is done. And am here at Hotel Intercon enjoying the benefits of Glove Visibility to get connected on-line. Shai Golpeo, formerly of McCann Erickson, saw me punching the keys of my 6 year old iBook and said to me, "Thank God for wi-fi."

Shai was among the few people I met today. I met Rosalind Tan, Senior Sales Manager of Yahoo Southeast Asia. She joined us for lunch, together with the e-Games team led by Ed Passion. Lunch was just okey. Not really filling, even on my birthday. Yup, it is my birthday today and that would be a whole different blog.

Other people I met include Abe Cordero who is now Benedicto Cordero Technology Corporation who was doing a "pitch" for me for his tech business that gives companies and brands a live on-line presence. We were together nearly 15 years ago during my short presence at Ateneo Grad School.

Also met Jenny Oria who is now with Zoo, a mobile marketing company. I have bumped into Jenny twice during the past week. She didn't know it was my birthday today. hehehe. Niether did my best friend, Guy Oria (her elder brother.)

Also met Sandra Flores of the DMAP Secretariat. She helped facillitate my accreditation (as a columnist from Manila Times) as I also helped DMAP get a speaker for their own conference next month. Sheila Rada had just confirmed that Steve Tsao will be giving a presentation on "digital marketing" during that conference.

And finally, I bumped into Janice Soriano Alimarante, from St. Paul College, Quezon City. She now works for Hotel Intercon, handling Room Sales for the Ortigas Area. She is now a lady, in full corporate attire and I really didn't recognize her at first. But she still knew me after all these years.

Hopefully, I would get to meet Aileen Apollo tomorrow. I have heard much about her from the tech side of the business and have been starting to read her blogs, which I find interesting and gives a smile on a stormy day like today.

All the people above made their presence felt to me today at the 1st IMMAP Conference.

Freedom from connectivity

Osborne 1, produced in 1981, is considered by most tech historians to be the first commercially available portable computer. It weighed 24 pounds and cost $1,795. It had a five-inch screen, modem port, two 5 1/4 floppy drives and software programs like Wordstar word processor.

But laptops appeared much earlier. In the late 70s, Bill Moggridge, designed the GRiD Compass 1101, a 340K-byte bubble memory laptop computer with die-cast magnesium case. This was used during the early years of the NASA space shuttle program. It’s price? Nearly US$10,000!

Definitely, the early portable computers definitely didn’t look like the ones we see today. But they were already “lapable.” And portable.

I got my first laptop in 1998. It was a secondhand Macintosh Powerbook 520c. It had a trackpad, which was then a revolutionary input device. It weighed 6.4 lbs and cost around $1000, which I bought in a shop in Akihabara, Tokyo’s famous electronics district.

Today, laptops are packed with a range of features that would dwarf the laptops of the 80s. They are lighter, have more efficient batteries and smaller CPUs with faster processing power. They also have improved interconnectivity through internal modems and all types of ports that gets you and your gadgets connected to it. And even, fingerprint recognition technology and with large-capacity flash storage units instead of hard drives, plus, they are also shock resistant and come in neon colors and “lifestyle” designs. Remember those neon-colored iBook Clamshells? Recently, Dell introduced its own version of multi-colored laptops. Anyone for ”sunshine yellow” and “flamingo pink?” The cost? $749.00.

According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarter PC Tracker report, laptops will constitute more than 50 percent of all client PCs worldwide by 2011. Already in the US, laptops had overtaken desktops.

In 2006, IDC said that the volume of portable systems, excluding handheld devices, rose by 26.3 per- cent to 82.4 million units while the volume of desktop shipments grew less than 2 percent over 2005 to 138.3 million units. The sales of portables are more robust despite higher ASP (average system price) of portables compared to desktop. The ASP of portables in Asia was $1,157 while a desktop was at $617.

“In Singapore, laptops seem to be everywhere. It is a country where everyone shops for technology products from laptops to other gadgets. You can see business executives, students, even schools kids everywhere furiously punching into them all across the island, from morning to night, be it fast-food restaurants or coffee shops,” said Neeraj Mehra, knowledge manager, McCann Worldgroup Asia-Pacific.

Even my thesis students at UST bring their laptops to school. Their laptops are faster and fancier than the 6-year-old iBook that I currently use.

Laptop + connectivity

“Singapore is fast becoming the wireless nation. More than anything else there’s been a rapid growth of WiFi hot spots to plug and get online —­almost 2,500 of them as quoted in a recent article in the Singapore press. These days after all, a laptop + wireless connectivity = a mobile office, isn’t it?” Neeraj said.

“Because of the connectivity and mobility offered by a laptop, one is essentially free, which means you own your time,” said Tere Pacis, external communication manager of Intel Philippines, “but need to be disciplined on its use.”

Pacis adds that laptops have become ubiquitous. Laptops are definitely around us, at work, in school and even on the road. It is impossible to not to see someone doing work on a laptop in a coffee shop around Makati or Ortigas business districts. “With PC, you have to go to your work station, to your office. But with a laptop, you can work anywhere, which sometimes leads to work controlling your life.”

An exit strategy?

While laptops gives us access to work, often professionals are left without an exit strategy. Among us, many can’t find the strong urge to shut down our laptops and focus on family or achieving a work and life balance.

“Yes, laptops make our work more efficient but when you are out of the office and have your laptop, you are always wondering or anticipating about an e-mail coming into your inbox,” explained Neal Tieng, vice-president for operations at Kelseat Corporation. He uses an IBM Think Pad.

Tieng added that for many businessmen, there is little choice over the growing dependency on laptops. “Laptops have become the artery to connectivity. Other gadgets and gizmos need to be connected to them,” he said.

“If you have a laptop, it is like a badge of success. But with that badge, comes responsibility to yourself, your work and your family,” said Pacis.

Yes, a responsibility that leads to a work and life balance.

Studies show when a person’s personal life is balanced with his or her own job, this balance reduces stress levels, increase job satisfaction and productivity and reduces employee turnover for companies.

Given laptop’s connectivity and mobility brought about by fast-changing technology, laptops will remain an integral part of businesspersons’ lifestyle, who at some time would need freedom from connectivity.

Or we can simply, press control alt delete.

(This was published as my 3rd column at the Technology Section of the Manila Times
last Monday, 06 August 2007)

Nimoy's presence at Com-con 2007

Back in college, my classmate, George Nava True, used to call me “Spock” after Leonard Nimoy’s character in the original and first “Star Trek” series.

Today, every Saturday night, Chief and I would catch the last few episodes of “Enterprise” on Star World. It is the last season for the series. And I though that I would have to wait long for another “Star Trek” on the big screen.

Last July 26, 2007, J.J. Abrams and his creative team announced the new Star Trek movie at the Comic-Con in San Diego.

And Heroes star Zachary Quinto will be playing Spock!

Even Leonard Nimoy made a surprise appearance to the delight of 6,500 crowd. Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy will be playing dual-aged versions of "Spock" in the 2008 film. Abrams said they were still looking for an actor to play a young Kirk. But William Shatner won't be appearing in the movie.

Here a part of the conversation between Quinto and Nimoy

Quinto: Hi Leonard, how are you doing?

Nimoy: Great, how are you?

Quinto: I'm great. What do you think of the casting choice that they chose to replace you in the new film?

Nimoy:: People have been asking me why I'm doing this movie, and I think the answer is pretty simple — we have a great director and a wonderful actor playing Spock, the young Spock, and the answer is: It was logical!

During the event, Abrams also revealed new artwork for the second teaser poster with the original series look — but this time the logo is inverted and written with starry letters, all on a white background.

Can’t wait to watch this movie and feel a stong logical presence of Vulcans on the big screen again.

Long live and prosper!

(Photo credits and part of transcript from www.startrek.com)

Tiger's Presence Over Blue Eagles

Lsst night, the UST Growling Tigers made a strong presence felt at the Cuneta Astrodome as they defeated the Ateneo Blue Eagles.

The Tigers ended the first round of the 70th edition of UAAP with a landslide 87-74 win over the Blue Eagles. It was the first time in three years that Ateneo lost back-to-back games, losing to FEU Tamaraws and UST Tigers.

The Tigers started to leave the Blue Eagles behind with an 18-2 run for an 80-63 lead with with 4:17 left.
All Star Jervy Cruz and 6-4 rookie forward, Khasim Mirza, played big roles for this victory. Of course, it was still a total team effort under the leadership and mentorship of Coach Pido Jarencio. Mirza in 28 minutes of action had 25 points and five rebounds. Jervy Cruz backed him with 19 points and 21 boards in a 34-minute stint.

Chief observes that Jarencio’s style is “hand-holding” the players. Not applying much pressure but rather letting the players enjoy the game. “He is more a motivational coach,” says Chief

Dad Gabutina texted Chief after the game saying, “Tinalo ang eagles ng tigers.”

Here are the box scores:

UST 87 — Mirza 25, Cruz 19, Ababou 10, Canlas 9, Espiritu 7, Gile 6, Cuan 5, Cortez 3, Allera 2, Dizon 1,Scott 0, Badua 0, Taylor 0.

ATENEO 74 — Salamat 15, Laterre 13, Nkemakolam 10, Tiu 9, Baclao 8, Long 6, Reyes 6, Baldos 2, Barracoso 2, Al-Hussaini 2, Arao 1.

Sorry, Cesar, your team lost.