From diamonds to Project Utopia
Pictures of a supposed diamond-studded Mercedes Benz had been going around a while now. The email I got claims it to be the umpteenth car of Saudi Prince Waleed.
With Serena's signature for the Man Blog forums auto-rewinding and manifesting itself in my mind like those neon signs along Burgos Street in Makati (quoting the quote, it goes, "Some people get so rich they lose all respect for humanity. That's how rich I want to be. --- Rita Rudner,"), the following exchange happened between me and an officemate:
Midori X: Here, would owning this take you up to the wealth-level where you supposedly "lose all respect for humanity?"
Fritz: Maybe! But if I should become that rich, I'd be low key. I would not need to sport a diamond-studded car to announce it. Ever. Besides, it's already been done. I'll have for myself crystal-blue colored, diamond corneas. My irises, black diamonds. All diamonds must pass the clarity test with a perfect rating. That's internally flawless (IF) under 100x magnification, instead of the usual 10x. The operation would first have to be 100% viable, tested, and safe so I may still see with the 20/20 I have now. That length I'd have to go through just to get to feel how to see behind ultra-expensive eyes. Priceless.
Midori X: Holy guacul... guacum... guacomol... uhm... Holy avocados! Now, THAT is loaded! The stuff you could think of when you get to be filthy rich!
Fritz: I have already outlined what it is I would do with that kind of money: I'll make a fully-functional prototype of a Utopian City, scale 1:1, where its inhabitants live perfectly free of poverty, war, hunger, and the commonly corrupted democratic form of government. The experience will be rendered to the visitor in virtual-realistic hologram sequences. It will, beyond a feather of doubt, be a major tourist destination from day one of its initial opening. Spectators or visitors could walk around made-up streets and gaze at the most amazing of architecture constructed over a 10,000-acre lot poised in the midst of a barren land like the Sahara or Gobi Desert, where weather condition will be closely monitored and controlled. Details on culture and language will also be reflected in the way the made-up population of the city behaves and interacts (Absent-mindedly bump a virtual-reality rendered Utopian national and they say "sorry"). Visitors may take as long as they want inside the controlled environment as real lodgings are provided in a hotel-structure sitting at the center of the perfect city (hotel prices quoted separately from entrance fee to Utopia). What may seem to be undirected events within the city will be povided by an intricate web of programs generating sequences of random instances where probability of several occurences ever happening in concurrence is marginally infinitesimal (mathematically translated to come close to a ratio of 1 to a googleplex raised to a googleplex). A reset will be done after a period of exactly 5 years. A partition of the venue would be donated to science where experimets will be done on aetherlike-near-human subjects mimicing life. An alien-invasion will occur on the fifth year before the entire program is reset. Science-donated partition will not be affected by alien-invasion. Visa restrictions may apply when required by the destination country where Utopia is from the national of an originating country.
Midori X: I just have to say, veering away from your Quixote dream sequence, that that quote is so positive in all its sarcastic glory. I so agree.
Since I'm only making this thing up, I took it upon myself to explode my dream big time.
Labels: Humor, Vertigo
Just over a year ago, I was this speck-of-a-newbie to the blogosphere. I still am. But seeing the referred links from Google on a daily basis means I must have been writing the right stuff to generate a helping of hits which I hope had been at least relevant to the clicker/surfer/researcher/porn-whore visitor.
I have first read of blogging from Jeremy Wagstaff's "
Loose Wire" column in the Far Eastern Economic Review magazine I was subscribed to. Having no patience to seek out a decent webhost then, and not knowing even the basics of html scripts and java and other publishing-related stuff, I'd forgotten on purpose that an eagerness spark once gleamed from my eyes for the want to try and make writing-on-the-side work for me as my non-day job. Not that writing and blogging has been putting food on my plate at the moment as I had never gotten a cent from this endeavor, but it certainly puts things on perspective. At least, personally.
I could still remember visiting high-traffic blogsites and commenting and signing off with a link to this site with a premise of getting hitbacks. In time, I had put an end to my blog-whoring act. Maybe, let's just say I had gotten tired and realized the cheapness magnitude of the act. I now bloghop with a scan-here-skim-there naive air about me, momentarily stopping when something catches my attention.
Point of this whole intro bit is, it feels great to be acknowledged. Personally, it is inspiring to see yourself grow, and change, and get better in time. Moreso, it is rewarding to be classified as one of the coolest blogs there is locally, content-wise. Affirmation courtesy of
Dashmedia, a new blog network dedicated on, and I quote:
"... lead[ing] the way to slightly more intelligent blogging. We are currently sifting through this shitpool called the blogosphere hoping to find a few well written blogs."There are 23 sites who were painstakingly chosen and inducted as the first members of the Dashmedia Network. They, or shall I say
we, are
(cue drum roll and fanfare here please!):
The Noisy Noisy Man
Faded Boxers
Just Wandering
Complex Vertigo
Time and Tide
Writings on the wall
As above me, so below me
Talkin' Tech
Tech Stop, Tech stuff
Guttervomit
Poldo's procrastination
Project Manila
Nonstandardized
More, More, I want more!
Renaissance girl
Lamentations beta
Xenia Maria
Qwerky
Girl from the gutter
Hail to the queen
Nitpicky.org
Songs of the salamander
The Man Blog
Click on the links and check out what set these guys apart from the more-than-a-hundred submissions to the network.
Labels: Blogging, Plugs
Like clockwork, I always make it a point to drop by the Levi's store at the Glorietta whenever their show window sports a new ad. This time, it's the Redwire DLX, hyped to be the first ever iPod compatible jeans in the market. It has a control mechanism poised over the watch pocket area that can easily connect to an any-sized iPod. The watch pocket comes off and snaps on easily via buttons and velcro and with it comes all non-washable electronic-related parts. It also comes with a pair of customary-designed earphones. The denim has dark blue hue and is accented a prominently thicker white stitch detail that sets it apart from other current Levi's articles.
As only 540 units are available locally, you may only pre-order this baby via select Levi's outlets/stores. I have seen, first-hand, the engineering detail on one demo unit and I must say I must have been drooling with I-want-this-and-that-means-I-bloody-want-this reflected from my eyes when Eds, the most friendly sales person I have ever met and known, approached me and snapped me off my reverie. I asked her more on the details of the product. Eds said that for a very limited time, those who'd actually get a pair gets a free shirt and belt, like the ones worn by the model on the show-window. You don't only get cool jeans, you also get to look like the rockin' model! And they are so not kidding!
The jeans come in fits for both men and women. I asked Eds if she'd recommend for me to get one to which she replied I may not like the cut as they only come in Comfort Fit. She knew by heart, God bless her sweet soul, that I only get slim or narrow-leg jeans so I don't get to look shorter than I already am. Now THAT, my friends, is the essence of the pinnacle of customer service orientation!
The jeans may not suit my common purchases, but heck, I'd get a pair of this baby if only I have an iPod. Bummer. Visit your nearest Levi's stores to marvel at the Redwire DLX's beauty. You may also check out the Redwire DLX site via the links I provided on this post. They have FAQs there that might address all your "but... how... um, ok... but... but..." concerns.
Labels: Gadgets, Lifestyle, Plugs
Rest In Peace, my beloved XDA II
It has been said that I would not last a day without my trusty XDA phone. Like there has been too much going on in that nifty piece of equipment that just stretches its presupposed use beyond its original design and capacity. That nothing could wedge it out of my vice-like grip. Well, flash news everyone. My phone got stolen last Friday. But, like most who have lost a thing dear to them, I had already mourned its death and moved on .
The moving on was easy since I got that unit for free, anyway. It's replacing it that's a major pain in the butt. It's either I shell out an unbudgeted sum on a similar gadget or I change the lifestyle I had easily molded to revolve around the PDA phone. I chose to downgrade to a clam-shell with a 3G trade-off to functionality. It's fashionably savvy and svelte. It's smaller. It's a limited edition, silver colored V3X from Motorola.
Right now, I'm generally loving the stereo surround sound from the unit's speakers and headset. Its silver color lend it an executive's-phone look, unlike its rubber-coated and colored variants. Power packed with a 4G-speed browser, dual-cam for video conferencing, and an expandable external TransFlash memory of up to 1Gb, the V3X is a tech junkie's manna from heaven.
I'm now loving my new toy.
To the thieves who stole my ex-unit, you won't be able to ever use it, I'm sorry. It has a 128-bit encrypted alphanumeric security code and another sensor that will send me SMS-es every 180 seconds when the SIM is changed. I had also gone through normal wear and tear, evident on its heavily tarnished housing and the faulty charger jack. It also hard-resets every day due to its early-version and bug-ridden OS. Let's just say that my unit has the defects only its parent-slash-original-owner could love. So, good luck, fools!
Labels: Gadgets, Memoir
