Saturday, February 03, 2007
Hindi Makatulog
Hindi ako insomniac. May mga gabi lang talagang hindi ako makatulog. Madalas hindi ko alam kung bakit hindi ako makatulog. Madalas ang dahilan ay pananabik sa mangyayari kinabukasan. Pero wala namang mangyayari bukas na kapanapanabik para sa akin. Gigising lang naman ako nang ilang oras bago mag-tanghalian. Babangon ako sa kama at bubuksan ang kompyuter. Hindi na ako mag-hihilamos o mag-mumumog. Hindi ko nakagawian ang mga iyon. Titignan ko kung may bagong laman ang inbox ko. Tapos titignan ko itong blog ko kung may nag-comment. Tapos titignan ko yung mga blog na madalas kong puntahan. Unti-unti akong mababagot dahil lahat ng website na puntahan ko ay napuntahan ko na ilang oras pa lang ang nakalilipas. Tapos, maglalaro ako ng O2Jam. Mababa pa lang level ko kaya matapos ng ilang laro, magsasawa na ako. Tapos, susubukan kong maglaro ng DotA sa GG Client. Kaso, mabagal ang BayanTel sa umaga kaya sobrang lag at mag-quit din ako sa paglalaro. Kung swertehin ako, kapag natapos ko nang gawin ang lahat ng ito, malapit nang mag-12 kaya naman lalabas ako para kumain. Dahil magulo ang buhok kapag gumigising, magsusuot ako ng asul na sumbrero. Gagamitin ko yung pink na havanas na tsinelas na medyo maliit para sa paa ko. Bibili ako ng kalahating ulam at isa't kalahating kanin. Bibigyan nila ako ng mainit-init na sabaw. Tapos, bibili na rin ako ng sakto kasi medyo mainit. Kapag natapos na, magbabayad ako ng 36 pesos at uuwi na. Pagdating ko sa kwarto, uupo ako sa kama. Tutunga. Matutuliro. Titingin-tingin sa cellphone ko at iisipin kung sino ang pwede kong makulit. Mag-tetext siguro ako sa mga kaibigan ko. Kaso, dahil may sari-sarili silang mga buhay, matagal bago sila magreply. Madalas ang sagot nila sa "hi" at "psst" ko ay "hello" at "psst din". Tapos, magkakamustahan kami at magkakatanungan kung ano ang ginagawa ng isa't isa. Tapos, kung interesado ako sa kanya, sasabihin ko sa kanya na magkwento naman siya. Sasabihin niya, wala siyang kwento kaya ako na lang ang magkwento. Sasabihin ko naman na wala akong kwento kaya magtanong na lang siya sa akin. Sasabihin naman niya na wala siyang tanong. Tapos sasabihin ko "ngek" at sasabihin din niya "niyek".
Matapos ang mga ito, malamang, alas-12 na. Maliligo na. Saglit lang ako maligo. Malamig kasi ang tubig at medyo takot ako sa loob ng banyo. Natakot kasi ako sa Pscyho ni Hitchcock. Mabilis na pagsabon at mabilis na pagbanlaw. Tapos, magsisipilyo ako. Iyon ang una't huling beses na magsisipilyo ako sa araw na iyon. Tapos, magbibihis ako. Susuotin ko siguro yung pantalong sinuot ko kinahapunan. Magsusuot ako ng t-shirt na babagay sa area na pupuntahan ko sa Payatas. Tapos, mapapaisip ako kung paano kaya makakapag-NSTP ang klaseng hawak ko kung may field trip din sila sa S.A. Hindi ko kakayaning sagutin ang tanong na ito kaya sasabihin ko na lang na bahala na.
Minsan, medyo maarte ako sa buhok. Baka sa pagkakataon na iyon, maarte ako kaya medyo magtatagal ako sa pagsusuklay. Matitigilan ako nang malaman ko na 12:40 na. 1:00Pm ay aalis na ang jeep. Hindi ako pwedeng maiwan dahil ako ang magbabantay sa mga sophomores na mag-NSTP. Iisipin ko na kung wala ako, marami sa kanila ang magpapa-bandying-bandying lang dahil alam naman naming lahat na ayaw nilang magturo sa mga Grade2 ng Payatas C Elementary School lalo na kung pagbabasa ito. Magmamadali na ako. Kukunin ko yung maliit kong bag na Giordano na binili ko pa noong 4ht year ako gamit ang perang napanalunan ko sa isang essay writing contest. Wala nang natira sa pera na iyon dahil pinambili ko na nang kung anu-ano, tulad nang khaki na bag sa Giordano. Ipapasok ko sa bag ang aking itim na payong na de-tupi, isang ballpen na napulot ko sa caf, ilang ikot ng tisyu, bimpo, at yung librong binabasa ko. Magmamadali akong lalabas sa kwarto. Malamang makakalimutan ko ang susi ko pero sana maisip ko iyon bago ko ma-lock yung pinto.
Bababa ako ng tatlong palapag at lalabas sa gate. Maghahanap ako ng tricycle papuntang Ateneo. Tatanungin ako nang manong kung special na. Sasabihin ko dahil handa akong magbayad ng 21 pesos para lang huwag ma-late.
Dahil tanghali na, medyo ma-traffic sa Katipunan. Pero aabot naman ako sa jeep na kinasasakyan ng mga sophomores. Magpapansin muna ako sa kanila tapos hahanapin sina Ada at Hilbert. Sasakay ako sa harap ng jeep at maglalakbay kami papuntang Payatas C. Pagdating doon, bibilangin ko ang mga estudyante. Tapos, papasok na kami sa eskwelahan. Medyo maliit lang iyo, halos kasing laki lang ng quadrangle ng Manila Science. Dahil may make-up classes sila, maraming bata doon at karamihan ay Grade1. Magsisipuntahan na ang mga sophomores sa mga kwarto nila at hahanapin ang mga tutees nila. Malamang dahil may mga sophomores na wala dahil sa S.A. field trip, maraming tutors ang magkakaroon ng maraming tutees. Ok lang iyon, sanay na sila doon. Medyo hindi regular kasi ang attendance ng mga bata. Ganun talaga sa public, hindi kayang masigurado ng mga guro kung makakapasok ba ang mga bata nila.
Babantayan ko ang mga sophomores kung paano sila mag-turo. Sisiguraduhin ko na lahat ay nagtuturo. Dahil maraming may ayaw sa pagtuturo, marami ang mukhang tamad na tamad. Kukulitin ko sila. Hindi dahil gusto ko silang asarin pero para malaman nila na bibgyan ko sila ng grade ayon sa kung paano sila magturo.
Matapos ang ilang oras, titipunin ko sila at paguusapan ang mga naganap sa dalawang oras na pamamalagi doon. Malamang medyo magsesermon uli ako tulad noong nakaraang sabado. Tapos, magisisalisan na kami at sasakay na sa mga jeep. Medyo matagal ang pag-uwi dahil traffic. Maraming tutors ang pagod kaya makakatulog sila sa jeep. Ako, hindi pwedeng matulog pero sasakit ng todo ang ulo ko.
Pagbalik sa Ateneo, tatambay muna ako sa ACED office. Matapos ang ilang saglit, uuwi na ako sa dorm at mageempake ng maduduming damit. Matapos ang ilang saglit na pagpapahinga, aalis na ako para umuwi. Sasakay ako ng LRT papuntang Cubao at MRT papunta Ayala. Tapos, sasakay ako ng shuttle papuntang Sucat. Malamang gutom ako kaya kakain muna ako. Madalas sa KFC ako kumakain kaya baka doon uli ako kakain. Medyo mag-window shopping narin ako pero sobrang sandali lang. Wala akong pera eh. Didiretso na ako papunta sa Ayala terminal ng mga shuttle. 40 pesos ang bayad at bibigyan ako ng parang itim na card na ibibgay ko sa driver ng shuttle. Masikip ang shuttle dahil isa siyang van na may pinagkasya pang isa pang upuan. Gayunpaman, magkakasya ako. Medyo matagal ang biyahe dahil traffic ulit kaya makakatulog ako. Pagmulat ko ng mata 3 bagay lang nag pwedeng mangyari: 1. lumagpas ako, 2. wala pa sa 4ht Estate 3. wala pang nangyayari.
Ano pa man ang mangyari, makakauwi ako sa amin. Tatanungin ako ng mommy ko kung kumain na ako. Sasabihin ko oo, sasabihin niya, "Ganon?". Pagtanggal ko ng sapatos ko at paglapag ko ng bag ko, didiretso na ako sa kwarto ko at hihiga na. Malamang, mkakatulog ako. Hindi tulad ngayon.
Hindi tulad ngayon, hindi ako iinom ng Extra Joss para kunwari juice.
@ 
Friday, February 02, 2007
Halalan 2007: Greatest Circus on Earth
Richard Gomez joins administration senatorial slate
Edu joins Lakas senatorial ticket
Senator Biazon welcomes movie stars as senators
Bonus material: Report: Pacquiao gunning for GenSan mayoralty race. Death to us all!
The Sanggunian General Election is nearing. Partido Agila and Partido Ignatio are up each other's throats. There is rumor of smear campaigning. Complaints are being raised. Miting de Avance proves to be exciting. But when all the smoke settles, will the good men (and women) be the ones left standing?
More on the Unlitxt
People are obviously infuriated by the recent price hike of Globe's unlimited texting service. More and more are pissed off by this exertion of market power by the oligopoly Globe. TxtPower has issued a complaint to the NTC regarding to price hike. Their main point is that Sun and the old Unlimitxt service have shown that a text message costs less than a peso, and therefore this price hike is uncompetitive and oligopolistic.
A certain blog entry stipulates that since SMS is integrated in the GSM technology, theoretically, texting should be free or should be very cheap. Unfortunately this is not the case. As we learn in our basic Economic class, oligopolies are freakin' inefficient and they put a price mark-up and on top of that, a profit-margin. Therefore we, the consumers, don't get our money's worth.
Do you want more proof that Globe and Smart are acting like a cartel? Let us go back to February 2005. During that month, the Ayalas' Globe and Pangilinan's Smart asked the NTC to stop Gokongwei's Sun's 24/7 Unlimited offers. The two telecom giants called Sun's promo as predatory and is exercising cut-throat pricing.
In my view, Smart and Globe are unrealistic. They own more than 90% of the market. I see no reason why they are threatened by a new comer such as Sun. Sun is trying to win by the bulk. There is little profit per subscriber, therefore, massive volume is needed to get the needed margin. But I think the entry of Sun has exposed the fiendish pricing of Smart and Globe. Sun has exposed us to the reality that telecommunications is a very lucrative business and the cartel is robbing us of our hard-earned peso. The entry of Sun also showed how willing companies are to spending millions and millions of pesos in advertising just to win in the subscribers race. Such a waste of money!
As the market for cellphones is slowly getting saturated, Globe, Smart, and Sun are pumping funds in advertising and trying to make new schemes to attract subscribers from the opponents. Telecommunications is slowly dawning on a plateau. Thus, it's no wonder that they would have price hikes such as that of Globe's Unlitxt.
A friend of mine told me that Sun is slowly losing in the race. Is it true that the by-the-bulk strategy is not winning over Smart and Globe? I am not sure of this and I will look for more information about this.
What is the implication of all these?
The Philippines is said to be the texting capital of the world with subscribers averaging about 15 text messages a day. It's a pity that our telecommunications service providers are not as efficient as they should be. Busy networks, late notifications, arbitrary pricing, hidden charges - these are just some of the evils of the telecos. It's a pity that all these capitalists do is exploit the text-addict Filipinos.
Globe Unlitxt Mystery Unravelled
Yesterday, word has been going around that Globe Telecom has increased their unlimited texting service. Indeed, they have increased their rates from the optimal P10/day to P20/day. With such a change comes the surge of text messages urging for users to boycott the new UNLITXT service. But I doubt if Globe subscribers would really stop UNLITXTing given these changes.
In addition to these new rates, Globe is also offering these DAYTIME and NIGHTSHIFT promos. The text message from 2870 doesn't offer any information regarding the service, therefore as of late, Filipinos are still left in the dark.
Today, rumor has it that the new UNLITXT service is more expensive because it is not only exclusive for Globe-to-Globe texting but also to non-Globe subscribers as well. I think given such a condition, the increased rate would be understandable and even welcome to most texters.
With all these rumors running around, I took the liberty of calling the Globe hotline (730-1000). After 5 minutes of waiting on the line for the operator, I was able to ask my pesky questions.
First, I asked about these DAYTIME and NIGHTSHIFT rates. According to the operator, the DAYTIME unlitxt service goes from 8:00AM to 4:59PM, while the NIGHTSHIFT unlitxt service goes from 10:00PM to 8:00AM. Then, I asked why did Globe changed their unlimited texting service and introduced these new schemes. The operator's answer to me was that the Filipinos have diverse lifestyles that they (Globe) want to cater to. The increase in the UNLITXT rate from the optimal P10/day (with the UNLIMITXT50) to P20/day (with the UNLITXT80), was according to him, due to the numerous services that they are offering. I say that this is a load of crap.
Analyzing the given rates and the REAL texting habits of the Filipinos, Globe is only seeking to maximize revenues. The hours covered by the DAYTIME and NIGHTSHIFT are totally outrageous. Who texts at those hours? I say that texting peaks at around dinner-time (6:00PM to 8:00PM). These hours are not covered by the new time-bounded rates. Take note, the only one of these 3 innovations that can match the price range of the old service is the NIGHTSHIFT which is also P10/day. But as I've said, the time 10:00PM to 8:00AM is outrageous. Given this analysis, I think that Globe is exercising its market powers to the disadvantage of the consumers.
The bigger question is, what do we do now?
While Googling for details regarding the new UNLITXT, I stumbled upon something called TXT2SAWA. This, allegedly, allows unlimited texting to all networks. The rate is P100 for 15 days, that is equal to P6.67/day. With that rate, it's the cheapest unlimited texting service of all-time! Yup, it's too good to be true! What do we know about things that are too good to be true?
Something smells fishy here.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
New Unlimitxt: Oligopoly at Work
Good news! Ang GLOBE UNLIMITED TEXTING SERVICES ay mas pinasulit na! Para maka-enjoy ng ALL DAY UNLIMITED TEXTING, text UNLITXT20 for P20/1day, UNLITXT40 for P40/2days, UNLITXT80 for P80/4days. Send to 2870.
To boycott or not to boycott, that is the question!
During DS101, we discussed about the UNDP's Human Development Index as a basic-needs/capabilities approach towards development. It is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living for countries worldwide. Upon research I found out that the Philippines ranks 84th in the list whose top countries are Norway, Iceland, and Australia.
Surprisingly, Borat's Kazakhstan ranks higher that the Philippines as it is pegged at top 79. This only shows how stupid the film is. Well, it is funny as hell but it's totally wrong. Nonetheless, I still see it as a gem of a movie. It only shows how stupid some people are since they actually believe that Borat's Kazakhstan is the real Kazakhstan. Pathetic.
If you remember the issue last year about Taiwanese smugglers who sell melted one peso coins to China then it would be nostalgic to hear that the U.S.A is having similar problems. In an article in the NY Times, it is said that America is having a problem with their penny. The common solutions are either to make the coins from cheaper material or to abolish the coins altogether. The problem with making coins from cheaper materials is that eventually, due to scarcity of resources, the cost of producing the coin would overtake its token value. Thus, the solution proposed is to increase the value of a penny from 1 cent to 5 cents, and so the government would earn profits from the pennies.
My question is: is it a smart move?