PAL - Pilots All Leaving???

I just read about the cancellations of numerous Philippine Airlines flights because PAL pilots decided it was a good time to leave en masse, leaving passengers stranded and the air carrier scrambling to hire new pilots to fly the 320s.

I get it that the pilots left for better paying jobs abroad, but what I don't get is the selfishness and the lack of respect for a contract that these pilots showed. Is that an inherent Filipino trait? I am seriously angered by this and I am just wondering how the management of the air carrier is feeling right now. Pay for all the required training, flying hours required and honing these people to become good pilots and then betrayed.

Filipinos are always talking about utang na loob (debt of gratitude) but as these pilots showed, there is no such thing.

Post the names of the pilots that left and which airline they transfered to and boycott their asses!

Zinio and Pressreader...

are two of my favorite and most utilized apps for the iPad. To be honest, when I got the iPad, I had no idea what I am gonna use it for. It is a nice must want gadget but serves so real use to me.

Zinio and Pressreader are apps that lests you subscribe to magazines (Zinio) and newspapers (Pressreader) from all over the world. Right now, I use Zinio to get my Maxim, PC World, Macworld and PC Magazine subscription while I am still on the fence on subscribing to the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the Pressreader. (It is $9.99 for a month's worth of news which is cheaper than buying the newsprint in Manila).

I also tried using the iPad as an e-book reader but for me, it fails in that. Having to stare at a backlight LCD for hours strains the eyes badly, even at the least brightness level. I have placed my Kindle pre-order for the new version and is very excited to get it next month.

God fearing???

I have a problem with the term God fearing. It doesn't sound right and people are using it to describe a person that is deeply religious?

I don't buy in the concept that a deity should be someone you fear. Did the Catholic Church promote this way of thinking? I would think so. They, of all people, want the sheep just to follow their ideologies blindly, discouraging questions and doubts.

 God respecting would be a better term. I would like to think that people follow whoever they worship because they respect him rather than because of fear.


I sometimes say that religion is something we can perhaps do without. What we cannot do without are the basic spiritual qualities. - Dalai Lama

If I was Lebron

I would have also moved to Miami.

Bosh just signed with Miami, making Miami one of the top three teams in the East, along with Boston and Orlando. If I would have stayed with Cleveland, we might be the fourth best team. We definitely would not be that competitive next season. New York and New Jersey is fine, but honestly I don't see winning a ring in those cities.

I will not move to the West Coast. The market is just not there. I would make more money in the East Coast, unless I move to L.A. But, I will not, in any possible circumstance, play with Kobe or the Clippers.

I could have made more money in Cleveland, but I guess we have peaked a couple of years ago. Shaq isn't getting younger. My teammates are not that good. I hate carrying all the load all the time.

I don't mind not being the only superstar of the team. In fact, I kind of like it. Miami weather is gorgeous.  The beach is right THERE.

Thank God I got out of Cleveland. After seeing the reaction of the organization and the fans after my announcement, it broke my heart. For seven years, I have tried to bring the city and the whole state of Ohio the best basketball in the world. I gave them something to cheer about. I grew up in that town, my life is there. But I have to move on. To further my career and achieve my goal, I had to leave.

This decision is not about money, it is not about loyalty, it is not about anything else but winning.

Never again will people say, "O, ang laki na ng anak mo." or "The last time I saw you, you were just this big."

Thanks to Facebook for letting us share the growth of our child/children to the rest of the world, shoving it directly to people's computer screens and phones whether they like it or not. But as parents, nothing can make us prouder than the constant comments we receive every time we post our son's/daughter's picture making a weird face, being cute (which I have found out is extremely relative to the relationship one have with the said kid) or any accomplishment he or she might have achieved.

When our kids grow up, they will hate us for putting their entire childhood online.

The embarrassment of having your parents show your old pictures to your girlfriend/boyfriend is now merely a Google search away.

Philippines Election in less than a week

Our beloved country will be electing a new president in a few days - and it scares the hell out of me.

Here are my predictions:

President - Noynoy Aquino (not my choice but he will win. Unless the nation suddenly wakes up and votes for Gibo.)

VP - Jejomar Binay (6 years ago, I wanted Mar to run for Prez. until I realized he is bad in decision making. He married Korina Sanchez didn't he?)

Senators:

Who the F knows. I guess anyone with a famous last name? Sons, daughters, wives, husbands of politicians? Having to vote for 12 is too much when there are less than half that number of candidates who deserves to be in the Senate - of which none will win.

Streaming Napster made easy

I have encoded my CD collection more than a decade ago and it has made listening to my music very easy, I can listen to songs while on the computer or on the go with the iPod. I even bought Apple's Airport Express so I can stream songs directly to my home theater setup in the living room. I am very happy with this setup and could not ask for more.

Or could I?

Last week, Best Buy sent mail regarding free Napster music streaming for its Premier Silver members, plus 15 free song downloads every 3 months. Of couse I was excited. Now I am not confined to listening to music I own but now I have the world's largest music library at my disposal.

Now if only I can stream that music from the computer to the living room.

Enter Airfoil.

Airfoil uses the Airport Express that I already have and uses it to stream audio from any source from my Mac or PC straight to my A/V receiver. For $25 - the price of a couple of CDs, I can now listen to all the songs available on Napster.