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At last, Camiguin Telephone Cooperative (CAMTECO) puts up an online phone listing. For tourists and Camiguingnons abroad, it’s a big help. I posted this to my other blog. Please proceed to http://lanvox.wordpress.com
Can you still remember your first email message?
Mine was in 1994, in the remote island of Camiguin. I was then connected with the Camiguin Telephone Project, a grant of the German government. At that time, there were no ISPs, surfing, cafes, Yahoo, Friendster, etc. It was just plain text BBS (bulletin board system) and email. I got the info about bbs, email and Internet from the pioneer himself, Joel Disini. He sent me a diskettes of a DOS program called FrontDoor and installed them on one of the project PCs - a 486!
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Wi-fi hotspots are sprouting everywhere - cafes, malls, hotels, airports, etc. During the testing phase of Waterfront Cebu WLAN network, I made VoIP calls using my laptop and USB phone. I was able to contact Camiguin, Cagayan de Oro and USA. The quality is good - not bad for a free call. What could be a better device to use than a WLAN-enabled mobile phone? Imagine you can even make free calls in hotspots and still be able to text/talk through your regular network? (more…)
Latest update: GoogleTalk now offers free call to USA/Canada from your Gmail account. If you’re in the Middle East, this might work to reach the ATA in the Philippines. Try this out!
My family and friends abroad loved my new trick for them to save on overseas calls. I give them an access number in their locality. When they call this Access Number then dial another number, my Internet phone in the Philippines rings! Free for them but not for me cuz’ I’m paying for the Internet connection. In this worsening economy, this is a big savings for everyone. Nothing beats free!
They were able to adapt easily because:
This is not an illegal hack but a legal way how to fully utilize new technology and gadgets being a telecom guy. Although it requires broadband Internet connection but the DSL monthly fee is peanuts compared to the savings in overseas calls.
How it’s done? (more…)
You can call me a vinyl junky because I still love to play records inspite of the CDs, DVDs and MP3/iPod’s around us. With the nostalgia of LPs I inherited from my father and the ones I bought during my first employment, I cannot just throw them away. For years, I kept my LPs with no turntable to play since my audio gear was carted away by a burglar years ago. The only time I can listen to LPs is - when I’m on vacation in our ancestral home in Kuguita, Mambajao, Camiguin (see the picture included in Ivan Henares’ blog)
My interest in pursuing turntables revived when I come across an article from Beat Reviews, a Singaporean hi-fi magazine, written by Gary Leonard Koh, CEO of Genesis Loudspeakers (http://www.genesisloudspeakers.com). The conclusion of his article "LPs vs SACDs" is - LPs are much better than SACDs! But that was before he discovered Black CDs. I believe him is because he’s an authority but there’s no substitute with first-hand experience. (more…)
One of the 10 most outstanding innovation released by Popular Mechanics magazine is the Windbelt invented by Shawn Frayne which he hopes to get funding for distribution to Third Word Countries. What I marvel in this invention is - it uses the very same mechanism to make our kites drone during our childhood days. With its simple design, very low cost and can be made from local materials, I remember the energy project started by our friend, Heinz Pomplun, a German consultant of the GTZ when we were still working on the Camiguin Rural Telephone Network project, when he donated a wind turbine to Mantigue Island, Camiguin. Its high cost is prohibitive to provide all households. However, the Windbelt is so easy and cheap to build that it can be a good science project for elementary and high scholl levels. I hope the Windbelt will spur concerned inviduals to continue the energy project in Mantigue.
Two years ago, I have come across an article written by Gary Leonard Koh, CEO of Genesis Loudspeakers, how Black CDs improved the sound of audio CDs. I had the privilege to personally met Gary because he is a former house tenant of my sister Daylinda here in Cebu. His white paper, In Quest of Absolute Fidelity: The Saga of Black CDs, (click here to view and download) details the process. I tried to copy some of my favorite selections to Black CDs. Lo and behold … I find the imaging (the location of the instruments and performers) more defined and the space acoustics somewhat widened even with my modest stereo system. Now, I end up copying almost all my original audio CDs into Black CDs.
