Internet connectivity has slowed to a crawl today as undersea cable were affected by the recent earthquake in Japan.
Reports from ComputerWorld indicates the Philippines is one of the affected countries:
At about 10:50 a.m. on Wednesday, local time, an alarm signaled a cable fault on Segment 7 of APCN2, which connects Hong Kong and Shantou, China. The disruption caused a temporary loss of service on the undersea link but all customers that use the cable were soon shifted to capacity on other cables, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The APCN2 cable is owned by a consortium of 26 telecom operators from 14 different countries. The cable links Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea and Japan.
Looks like PLDT is the most heavily affected. Some sites appear down as DNS routing are not resolvin
Just re-installed a secondary OS on my main PC and decided to go with the 64-bit version of Windows 7. Been wondering that for the longest time, people have not really cozied up with 64-bit Windows. It’s been like close to a half a decade now that 64-bit editions of Windows are available and yet it hasn’t gone mainstream (the x86-64 was introduced in 2003). Before, the main concern is that even if the OS and the hardware is capable of 64-bit, majority of the softwares are compiled into 32-bit code so you don’t really get any significant improvement. Moreover, with the 32-bit Windows OS, it can only use up to about 3GB of RAM so even if you have 2 sticks of 2GB RAM (4GB total), your system can only see 3GB and the remaining 1GB is unused.
The biggest issue that’s causing the slow adaptation is because most device drivers aren’t compatible for 64-bit. If your printer, scanner, etc were manufactured before 2007, chances are they don’t have drivers for 64-bit OS (I have 2 USB WiFi dongles from LinkSys and they don’t have drivers for 64-bit Vista). Maybe in a couple more years, we’ll see 64-bit take on a larger user base. For now, I’m enjoying the speed bump running Windows 7 64-bit on an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 with a full 4GB of RAM. Firing up Adobe Photoshop CS4 64-bit is a joy (launch time: 4 seconds). Anybody out there running a 64-bit Windows OS?
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Whenever I see a new notebook that sports an Intel CULV, it always reminded me of the Timeline. This newly announced Lenovo IdeaPad U450p is one of them (and I can already see the trend now). Just like the Acer Timeline and the Gateway LT series, the Lenovo Ideapad U450p on a low-powered Intel Core 2 Solo with 2 configurations.
Intel Pentium SU2700 1.3GHz or Core 2 Solo SU3500 1.4GHz Intel Integrated Graphics X4500 3GB or 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 RAM 14″ HD AntiGlare 1366×768 display screen 250GB or 320GB SATA HDD WiFi 802.11 b/g DVD+R 6-cell battery Price ranges between $799 to $899 so that’s about the same price that Acer is selling their Timeline series for although this model is is not yet available in the Philippines. |
MSI’s next Wind U-series netbook line is dropping the Atom for a Pentium CULV processor in its upcoming 12? MSI Wind u200 ultra-mobile notebook.
The specs of this Wind U200 is very similar to that of Acer’s Timeline and Gateway LT series.
Intel Pentium CULV SU2700 @ 1.3GHz 12? dislay screen @ 1366×768 pixel resolution Intel Mobile GS40 Express chipset 4GB DDR2 RAM 320GB HDD 5400rpm Gigabit Ethernet WiFi 802.11b/g/n 3 x USB 2.0 ports 1 HDMI port 4-in-1 card reader 1.3 MP webcam 6-cell battery Microsoft Vista Home Premium
No idea when will this be shipped to the Philippines or how much they’ll cost but since MSI is also offering the X-Slim series between Php30k to Php40k, it might end up somewhere near that price point.
The blogosphere is about to explode with buzz about CYXYMU, a Georgian blogger writing predominantly in Russian, who may have been the real target of cyber-attacks that made Twitter, Facebook, and LiveJournal inaccessible on August 06, 2009 (ominously close to the anniversary of the Russian-Georgian war of the last year). I won't lie: I am happy we are finally beginning to address this issue. CYXYMU's problems - which have plagued his blogging for more than a year now - have turned him into the first "digital refugee", perhaps, the best term to describe his tireless forced migration between various blogging sites to ensure that his message gets heard. I have been calling attention to CYXYMU's problems for months now, and this brought no results. Here's me in February 2009 in Project Syndicate
Whenever manipulation efforts fail, cyber-attacks offer yet another powerful tool to crack down on dissent without triggering public accusations of formal censorship. This is what happened to a Georgian (known by the screen name cyxymu) who used his blog on LiveJournal to criticize how both governments handled last summer’s war. A series of cyber-attacks followed, and was so devastating that the entire service – with its millions of other blogs – crashed, forcing LiveJournal administrators to delete his account temporarily.
And here is me again on the same issue just a few months ago in Dissent (full version of the article is also available from my Web-site)
A refugee from the earlier war in Abkhazia, CYXYMU emerged as one of the most visible and consistent critics of how both the Russian and Georgian governments handled last year’s war in South Ossetia. Blogging in Russian, he has cultivated a relatively large following in both countries, particularly among the users of LiveJournal, one of the most popular blogging platforms in post-Soviet cyberspace. However, in October 2008, somebody got angry at his writings, and his blog—also hosted by LiveJournal—fell victim to a massive wave of cyber attacks, so severe that millions of other LiveJournal blogs became inaccessible for more than an hour. The only way to reduce the damage was temporarily to delete CYXYMU’s account from LiveJournal, which its administrators did. Cyberattacks followed the blogger even after he set up a new blog on WordPress.com, another popular blogging platform (his account was quickly deleted from there as well). DDOS attacks against his new and old URLs continued unabated for more than six months. We should recognize CYXYMU for what he is—a “digital refugee” and a victim of geopolitics playing out in cyberspace, where free speech is possible in theory, but increasingly unavailable in practice.
So as someone who has been watching CYXYMU's problems for a while now, I have a more nuanced take on what has happened. In short, I think that the current wave of attacks had one objective: to flesh attackers' cyber-muscles by revealing the kind of leverage that CYXYMU's detractors have on the Internet's most popular sites. Make no mistake: these attacks on Twitter and Facebook were NOT about silencing him down or thwarting the distribution of information that would Kremlin feel uncomfortable. Most of CYXYMU's critical views are to be found elsewhere: they are published on his LiveJournal blog (and its back-up version, also hosted by LiveJournal, to be used when the main one is not accessible), which also suffers from regular cyber-induced outages (LiveJournal itself also suffered in the current wave of attacks).
If you carefully look at CYXYMU's Twitter account (most of it in Russian), you will see that there is really no information of ANY political significance there. He's been tweeting since late December 2008, produced 41 updates, and most of them had nothing to do with politics (here are some typical updates: "Summer is good!", "Life is great! I am recalling all the jokes about mothers-in-law", "Oh those bureaucrats"). This is definitely not the kind of stuff that threatens Kremlin. For those who do not follow the Russian-speaking blogosphere, I should point out that CYXYMY is not a crusading investigative journalist who produces breaking stories that challenge the regime; he's more of a pundit who has very articulate and predictably Kremlin-bashing views on the regional conflicts. His blog is also somewhat of a news hub: he has done an amazing job of keeping his followers in the loop as to what happens in Abkhazia and Georgia, the two regions that are not exactly in the center of media attention (even in Russia). He's definitely NOT the blogosphere's version of Anna Politkovskaia; it is his opinions and visibility - rather than his revelations - that have made him an important target. Thus, I think that the attackers' real goal was humiliation, not censorship (however, more on the censorship part at the very end). A secondary goal was to generate awe-inducing headlines about Russia's cyberpower all over the Web; there is no better way to do it these days than to make Twitter inaccessible for a few hours.
However, we should keep in mind that we still don't really know if there is any connection to the Kremlin, even though the scale of the attacks (and the costs associated with it) suggest that they probably had a sponsor (nevertheless, it's also true that there are plenty of rich people in Russia who are not exactly fans of the current Georgian government; furthermore, there are surely some people in Georgia who think that generating negative PR for Russia by attacking a Georgian blogger is not exactly a bad deal). The amateurization of cyberwarfare has been one permanent feature of virtually all recent cyber-attacks that somehow implicated Russia; it may be part of a broader Kremlin effort to "crowdsource" its defenses and offenses to groups of nationalistic vigilantes, not just in cyberspace. Thus, recent news reports suggest that Nashi, Kremlin's youth arm, will soon be recruiting up to 100,000 problematic teenagers to form ARMED militia units that would patrol the streets. It would make some sense if they also invest into units of "cyber-vigilantes" who would be patrolling cyberspace, particularly given the rising importance of the Internet in Russia's public life.
None of this, of course, excludes the possibility that some ordinary non-Nashi net-savvy Russians might be behind the recent attacks; we simply do not know it for sure (well, to show you how much this debate is driven by conspiracy theories: we do not even know if CYXYMU himself may have attacking his own web-sites to generate additional publicity for himself or the Georgian cause; this is not likely but plausible). However, now that the media bomb has now finally exploded, we are poised to see thousands of stories about CYXYMU. However, I actually disagree with those who think that attacks on CYXYMU's blog would backfire through the Streisand effect, i.e. make the previously unknown CYXYMU into a global blogging star.
That's unlikely to happen for several reasons: first, he doesn't speak English well enough to muster international support and attract a huge following (however, this is where people close to Saakashivili, Georgia's President, have to be really creative and spend their lavish PR budgets on working with CYXYMU and presenting him as a martyr of free speech: his story has all the right ingredients to generate more publicity and compassion than Saakashvili himself could ever dream of). Second, let's not kid ourselves: in the absence of Twitter downtime, nobody gives a damn about Abkhazia and Georgia.
One immediate danger here is that we will spend the next few days arguing about Russia's cyberwarfare ambitions, while, in fact, we should be talking about ways to protect freedom of expression online. Yes, the attacks - and their consequences - did show the fragility of the Internet, but even more so they revealed that we do not yet have robust and resilient models of protecting free expression online. Remember what happened to CYXYMU's blogs in last year's attacks, when they were not nearly as publicized as this year? Yes, that's right: CYXYMU's blogs were deleted by the platforms that had been attacked (LiveJournal and WordPress amongst them), since there was no other way to stop them.
By now, CYXYMU is too public for Twitter or Facebook to remove his accounts without causing universal outrage, but how many other bloggers like him are there? There was virtually no coverage in the English-language press of the earlier attacks on CYXYMU - in part, because they targeted sites like LiveJournal and WordPress that are not in the news as often as Twitter - but I am afraid that much of the controversial and really critical blogging happens precisely on sites like this (e.g. QQ in China or Orkut in Brazil and India, etc). Thus, we don't really know how many other bloggers are in CYXYMY's shoes these days. But I bet that there are quite a few - and there will be many more, as the cyberwarfare options becomes even more available to amateurs. The real problem here is that in the absence of strong and public commitments to defending freedom of expression, most Web2.0 companies would inevitably lean towards organizational efficiency and cost-optimization - i.e. deleting problematic users, particularly if solving their problems eats up too much of corporate resources and staff time.
However, these problematic bloggers - the new dissidents - are usually the ones who need protection the most, simply because they find it even harder to deal with censorship and cyber-attacks on stand-alone blogs and web-sites. Thus, they flea to Facebook and LiveJournal, thinking that the scale of those services will help to protect them. However, as we have just witnessed, the offensive capacity of those launching cyber-attacks currently outweighs the defensive capacity of those who find themselves on the receiving end. Targeted cyber-attacks on popular Web services like Twitter and Facebook also present the strongest antidote to Ethan Zuckerman's Cute Cat Theory, which states that to avoid being censored activists should place their online presence right in the middle of mundane and trivial spaces (e.g. people sharing videos of cats), because their governments won't be bold enough to censor those ones. Well, as we have seen in the case of CYXYMU, if bloggers do irk somebody, they might be still be silenced - this time not by a government fiat blocking the service, but by targeted cyberwarfare campaigns against the sites that host that blogger, no matter how trivial those are.
This is what I call "Terms of Service Censorship", because, technically, the blogger's account would be deleted beause they violate the site's terms of service (i.e. attracting cyber-attacks and thus slowing down the site for everyone else) and thus it all appears perfectly legal and acceptable; thousands of accounts are removed because of "ToS", so adding a few more is not going to be a problem.
I do hope that in the current media storm over CYXYMU, we would at least broach this subject, because, as far as I am concerned, suppression of free speech is the most significant and dangerous consequence of cyber-attacks on popular blogging and social networking services.
There been a number of evidence pointing to a smaller Nokia N97 Mini that is rumored to be formally announced this September during the annual Nokia World 2009.
The Nokia N97 Mini will have a smaller 2.9″ screen at 640×360 pixels. See photo below for comparison {via}:
Storage will also be bumped down to options for 8GB and 16GB. And of course, they will also be cheaper. The Mini N97 looks legit since Nokia has been doing the same positioning with the E63 for the E71 and the 5530XM to the 5800XM.
This might indicate that the N97 was a success and Nokia just wants to offer the same to the low-budget market.
| And I thought we won’t get to see Fujitsu’s netbook here in the Philippines until I found one listed on Asianic. The Fujitsu M2010 is now available in the Philippines for a retail price of Php26,900.
Intel Atom N280 @ 1.66GHz 1 GB DDR2 RAM 10.1" display screen @ 1024×600 pixel 160 GB SATA HDD WiFi 802.11 b/g Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR 3 x USB 2.0 1.3MP webcam 4-in-1 card reader Windows XP Home Weighs at 1.15kg and is available in black and pink. |
| Spotted on display at one of the store shelves at CyberZone MegaMall is the sleek Lenovo IdeaPad U110. This 11.1″ notebook came out in the US as early as May but has only been available locally lately. The U110 is a slim one at only 0.72 to 0.88″ at the thickest base.
Lenovo IdeaPad U110 specs: 11.1″ display screen @ 1366×768 pixels Intel Core 2 Duo LV L7500 1.6GHz (low voltage) 2GB DDR2 RAM 120GB SATA HDD Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Dual-layer DVD+RW writer 1.3MP webcam WiFi 802.11 b/g/n Biometric Login (Face Recognition) Windows Vista Home Premium 
This model would definitely go head to head with the Php120k 11.1″ Sony Vaio T. There are 2 battery types — a 4-cell 1750mAh prismatic battery or a 7-cell hybrid that claims up to 6 hours of battery life. The price at VillMan is Php99,900 and as shown in the photo above, it’s now down to just Php68,800. For it’s size, the Lenovo U110 is super light at just 1.13kg or 2.4lbs (similar to that of 10-inch netbooks out there). |
| Asus has come up with its very own ultra-low voltage and slim notebook line which practically goes head to head with the Acer Timeline, HP Pavillion DV2 and the Gateway LT series we’ve seen earlier. Of particular interest is the 12.1″ Asus U20A notebook which is already available at PC Bodega.
At first glance, the design looks like a bigger Asus Eee PC Seashell edition. It’s not really a netbook but falls under the ultra-mobile notebook category. Asus U20A 12.1″ display screen @ 1280×800 pixels Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 1.2GHz 4GB DDR2 RAM 500GB SATA HDD @ 5400rpm Intel GMA 4500MHD WiFi 802.11 b/g 1.3MP webcam 4 x USB 2.0 ports Gigabit LAN 8-in-1 card reader Express Card slot Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR Vista Home Premium The notebook comes with an external DVD writer and a standard 6-cell battery that can last up to 8.5 hours. Weighs about 1.78kg (3.91 lbs). Listed price at PC Bodega is Php62,500. |
Nikon gets a new first in the digital camera segment — the Nikon CoolPix S1000pj has a built-in projector. It comes with its own stand and remote control.
 12.1 megapixel 5x zoom Nikkor lens 2.7 inch high-resolution LCD monitor 36MB internal memory with SD/SDHC card ISO 80 to 6400 The projector’s brightness goes up to 10 lumens with an optimal projection distance of 2 meters and battery life of 1 hour. A digital camera with project makes sense — that means you can project your images and videos into a screen/wall on-the-go. |
| The X-Mini II has been out for a while now but it’s only recently that I got one to test out. This 2nd generation capsule speaker is now bigger and more bad-ass.
A bigger chamber could only mean a better bass and the X-Mini 2 did not disappoint. The sound is fuller, the volume is louder and you still get that nice crisp audio quality that made the previous one popular.
Power output of the speaker is at 1.9 watts and the battery capacity is now at 400mAh (33% more than the old one) so you get somewhere between 4 to 8 hours of playback depending on the volume settings. This new one has an internal volume control and a buddy jack so you can hook it up to another X-Mini and daisy-chain dozens of them in a single audio line.
Among the three (X-Mini, and X-Mini Max) I liked this one better. You’ll have to shell out Php1,600 for the X-Mini II but IMO it’s still well worth it. |
Got intrigued by this jar of gooey compund which claims to be able to help clean devices and gadgets on the fly. So I bought one and tried it at home. The compound, call Cyber Clean, feels like synthetic clay or Play Dough, just a little soft and slimier. It doesn’t break up easily too so when you mash it against the gadget you’re cleaning, it doesn’t leave any trace of the substance.
What it does is it sticks/attaches to your device and removes small dirts and dusts along with it. The advantage is that it can get into the hard-to-get corners and openings of devices like your computer keyboard, grooves of the lens body or your cellphone keypad. If you tried cleaning your laptop keyboard with water and cotton buds without much success, then this one might help.
If the dirt has already settled into the device, this compound can’t remove it and the dirt also remains within the compound so after several uses, you’ll have to dispose of it.
They sell them in a small sachet of 50 grams for Php150 and the 140 gram bottle for Php350. |
| Asus finally made some nice external DVD writer to match their pretty netbooks and nettops — the Asus SDRW-08D1S-U External DVD-RW Drive matches the finish of the Eee PC and the form factor of the Eee Box.
This super-multi DVD burner can do almost any disk formats, except maybe Blu-ray. But that’s just it — an external DVD burner that should stylishly match any of your current Asus netbook.
There’s no more power cable, just the USB cable. There are 4 paddings on the bottom part, it also comes with a cradle so you can position it upright. Still have to run some burn-in test but Asus claims an 8x speed on DVD and 24x on CD. Burned a 2GB file into a DVD in just 6 mins 58 secs.
Don’t know yet how much this one would cost but I don’t think it’s gonna be cheap. Expect somewhere between Php3-Php5k for this one. Of course, there will be other alternatives out there but if you have an Asus netbook/nettop, it’s nice to pair with wit an Asus ODD. |
| The MSI Wind Top AE1900 that I spotted a couple months back looks like it’s already in the market. There are 3 variants with prices varying between Php25,000 to Php35,000. The MSI Wind Top uses both an Intel Atom 230 1.6GHz or an Atom 330 Dual Core.
Standard specs: 18.5″ display screen 1GB RAM Intel GMA 950 Graphics 160GB HDD DVD+RW Drive 1.3MP webcam 4 USB 2.0 ports Card Reader WiFi 802.11 b/g/n Intel Atom 230 1.6GHz Non-touchscreen display Price: Php25,999 Intel Atom 230 1.6GHz Touchscreen display Price: Php30,999 Intel Atom 330 1.6GHz Dual Core Touchscreen display Price: Php35,999 Comes in acrylic white and acrylic black. |
Asus sent in one of their newest netbook accessories for review. They also included the Eee PC T91 tablet netbook to go along with it. See live shots after the break.
The Asus Eee PC T91 is a tablet netbook with an 8.9″ (1024×768 pxiels) touchscreen display. It’s slim (1-inch) and light (2lbs) too.
The netbook is powered by an Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz with 1 GB of RAM. It runs Windows XP and performs quite faster than what I’d normally expected for the specs.
More on this tablet netbook later; I’ll finish reviewing the accessory first.
Sony doesn’t make the smallest laptops; Fujitsu does with their LifeBook U series. The latest one is this Fujitsu LifeBook U2010 Ultra Portable that runs on an Atom Z530 1.6GHz CPU.
5.6-inch display screen @ 1280×800 pixels with touch screen 1GB DDR2 533MHz 60GB HDD or 64GB SSD Bluetooth 2.1 SD card reader CF card slot WiFi 802.11n 1.3MP camera
Battery Options: 2-cell Li-Ion 2900mAh: 3.5 hours on HDD, 4 hours on SSD 4-cell Li-Ion 5800mAh: 7.5 hours on HDD, 8.5 hours on SSD
Weighs just 0.61kg (1.34 lbs) with the standard 2-cell battery. The swivel base, touchscreen and stylus combo makes this the smallest ultraportable tablet we’ve seen. And the price — Php69,995 (in the same neighborhood as the Sony Vaio P).
Samsung Philippines sent this LED TV over just this morning. I was actually drooling over it when I first saw the TV last April but it’s just beyond my budget at the moment so I’ll settle for a loaner at the meantime. See unboxed photos after the jump.
This 40″ Full HD LED TV is prolly the thinnest I’ve ever seen in the market at just 29.9mm or 1.18 inches (about the same thickness as a regular netbook).
The Full HD 1080p has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. I’m not sure but from memory, this LED has a dynamic contrast ratio of 1 million to 1.
At the back panel — 4 x HDMI, 2 x USB, Optical Out, VGA, PC Audio Input, DVI Audio Input, Component, Composite, LAN, RF Input.
This egg-shaped remote controls the channel and volume. It’s just an add-on to the usual full remote by Samsung (apparently, that remote isn’t in the box when it was delivered).
I was shopping around for a Macbook Pro on the Apple Store yesterday when I tried configuring some custom upgrades of an entry-level 13″ MacPro. When I started bumping the DDR3 RAM from 2GB to 8GB, I could not believe what I saw. The upgrade is almost as expensive as a new MacPro — at Php59,300.
I guess DDR3 RAMs aren’t that cheap as I thought they would be. |
Two new smartphones from Samsung are coming to town soon — online reservations for the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 qwerty phone and the Samsung Omnia 2 i8000 are up.
 The Samsung B7320 is a full qwerty phone with HSDPA, WiFi, GPS, FM Radio, Bluetooth and 3MP camera. It’s powered by Windows Mobile 6.1. The Samsung Omina II i8000 is a full touchscreen with 3.7″ AMOLED display. Has HSUPA 5.76Mbps, HSDPA 7.2Mbps and WiFi 802.11 b/g capabilities with storage of up to 48GB. The Omnia 2 also boasts of 800MHz CPU. Reservations from August 17 to September 13 and get a free 8GB microSD for the i8000 and 512MB microSD for Omnia Pro B7320. Samsung Philippines has not indicated any retail price yet. Check out the online reservation here. |
Not sure if I’ve seen this before but Ozaki is shipping a ton of these iPills to the Philippines this August. The iPill is a microphone accessory for the iPod Nano (4th Gen) and the iPod Touch (2nd Gen). It has a capsule-like shape, with one half is the protective cover and the other half is the 3.5mm jack.
Ozaki promises better audio recording quality but that remains to be seen. They don’t have SRP yet (will update when these arrives in August). |
| In my years of reviewing phones, I’ve only tried two HTC phones. One is the Windows Mobile powered HTC Touch Dual and the Android-powered HTC Dream. Before that, HTC was way down my list of phone brands. Until Android came. Today, the HTC Magic is probably one of the most sought-after smartphones locally (although the price kinda ruined all that excitement). The phone was also the subject of focus between telco-rivals Smart and Globe.
Yet, I can’t shake the
The HTC Magic isn’t the most powerful phone from HTC. I reckon that the forgotten HTC Touch HD was better specs-wise but I have yet to see someone owning that model ever since it was launched. My the coolness factor that comes with Google Android, I would bet HTC will be going all-out Android in most of its upcoming handsets. |
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