WHY I LOVE MY DS

Aside from its dual screen (DS), where characters can actually cross from one screen to the other, the touch screen and stylus, its wi-fi capabilities, where you can browse the net and play wirelessly with your other DS buddies, it's also MP3, video and JPEG capable, and the fact that most people have the PSP, the following is the best reason why I love my DS.

It started when I was taping for an episode of Lastikman. Hehe. Yes friends, I had a bit role in Lastikman. More about that in another post. I was so bored waiting for my scene, my iPod's battery was drained already, and I didn't even have anybody to talk to.

Enchong Dee, who was in the cast, saw me bummed out, and he introduced me to the Nintendo DS Lite. He said it was his answer to boredom. He also had a PSP, but he said the DS was a lot better.

So the next day, I went to Greenhills (where the best deals are) and bought myself a black, Nintendo DS Lite package, at P9,500. That was almost a year ago. Unit cost is only about P6,500.

The package included an adaptor called the R4, looks exactly like an original DS game cartridge, where you stick in the included 1GB Micro SD, loaded with games of course, and play away. It also included a Micro SD reader, which looks like a flash drive.

The store made me choose from a list of games I wanted, because the games came free too with the package. But every new game actually costs P100. They filled up the Micro SD and left around 10KB for save files (your saved games). So it was obvious to me that these games were files, and no way was I gonna pay P100 for each new game I wanted. And these game files were the actual games in the original cartridges. Sure, it was still cheaper than buying original cartridges at P1200 each, but still, I had to find their source. And plus, the package included the Micro SD reader, it obviously meant you could access your files, so you could delete the ones you don't want anymore, and just add in new ones.

Needless to say, with the power of Google and late nights of r&d, I found out how they got these games files. How and where I found out, I will not tell anyone. Well maybe some people, if you're nice to me. =)

So now, I have like over 100 games in my WD portable HD, and just change the games in my DS anytime I want. I also upgraded my Micro SD to 2GB, bought it from CDR King, who by the way, has the cheapest prices in memory cards. So from 20 games initially (1GB), I was able to almost double the games I have to around 35 games. The number of games you can load in your Micro SD depends of course on the size of each game. RPGs (role playing games, ie: Final Fantasy) are almost always heavy on file size, while arcade games are very light.

Just 2 weeks ago, I was at SM Megamall, and dropped by CDR King, and was floored when I saw a 4GB Micro SD! Of course I bought it. But unfortunately, something was awfully wrong. The games weren't loading, so I was clearly doing something wrong. So now I was stuck with a 2GB and 4GB Micro SD.

So I had to seek my friend Google's advice again, so more r&d brought me to discover that the R4 can't read memory cards higher than 2GB, but I wasn't screwed. I simply had to upgrade my R4 to this new thing called the TT DS. The TT DS can read memory cards of up to 4TB (terabytes). It looks exactly like the R4, but it's white. And I was sure good ol' Greenhills already had this.

And they did, but they didn't even know its difference from the R4, that there's a new 4GB Micro SD out, and that the R4 can't read memcards higher than 2GB.

So all's well now. My friend is just gonna buy my R4 and 2GB Micro SD for her son's DS.

And allow me to gloat. I now have 77 games in my DS. And a lot more space for vids, MP3s and pictures. =)

THE NETI POT

My friend Trina has the worst allergies I've seen. The slightest dust, smoke and pollution can set her sniffles off.

She is also an Oprah-nian, and she saw this feature on Oprah called the Neti Pot. And now she wants one.

It's a portable nasal irrigation system that is guaranteed to relieve you from nasal congestion.

It uses saline to cleanse the nasal passages, and it guarantees to give you instant relief.

The practice of nasal cleansing, known as Neti, has been used by practitioners of Ayurveda and Yoga in India for thousands of years. Neti is one of the 6 purification techniques performed prior to practicing yoga as a way of preparing the body for the yoga practice.

We were actually considering buying a gravy boat to use as a Neti Pot. Just make sure the spout is wide enough to fit exactly through your nostrils.

MARIAH'S NEW SINGLE

I'm a huge Mariah fan. Most of my friends will agree. I have all her albums, CD singles, remix singles, her exclusive Pepsi Ringtones, and some rarities such as a "Love Takes Time" promotional CD.

My friends have asked me to name my fave Mariah song. I couldn't even decide on just one.

Her newest album, called E=MC2 (eeew) is set to be released on April 15. She went through 2 other album titles, first was Sweet Soul Odyssey, then it was Your Girl, and now she's going with E=MC2.

The first single off the new album is "Touch My Body", a mid-tempo cut, where she talks about having a secret rendezvous with someone at a hotel room, and threatens the guy if he ever has a hidden camera in there, she'd better not see the video on YouTube or else, "I will hunt you down".

I'm not crazy about the track. I think it's not a first single track. It lacks that "wow factor" for a first single. So unlike "Vision of Love", "Honey" or "Fantasy". But people are raving about it, and I don't know why. But I have to agree with some people, it's that kinda track you don't mind hearing like 5 times an hour.

And plus I think she should give the whole rap, hip-hop thing a rest. She's 37 years old, clearly not getting any younger. So she should leave the trampy stuff to Beyonce, Rihanna and Britney.

But I suppose her fans will make this single and the album number one again, I'm sure. But wouldn't it be nice to gain some new fans?

Do you guys know that with "Don't Forget About Us", she is now tied with Elvis Presley, having 17 #1 singles? And if "Touch My Body" keeps up its pace in the charts, it would be her 18th #1, and she would be dethroning The King. Billboard also just crowned her as the only active recording artist in the 48 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958) with the potential to surpass the Beatles' all-time high of 20 #1 hits.

W-O-W!

Listen to TMB here: http://profile.imeem.com/Wc6ukZ/music/a3MPjBpd/mariah_carey_touch_my_body/

RAGS II RICHES

It hasn't been easy finding a protective slipcase for my Asus Eee PC. It does come with a free slipcase, but its material isn't thick enough to protect the laptop, especially when I'm using just any bag.

Dex, one of bestest friends, works for JesCom (Jesuit Communications), the production and publishing arm of Ateneo. She knew that I've been looking for a slipcase for the Asus, and she also knew how hard it was for me to look for one.

She gave me this slipcase which resembled an item almost all Pinoy households have, the fabric woven welcome mat.
It's by Rags II Riches, an organization/charity formed to give jobs to the Payatas women. These are all hand made by the women of Payatas, and is even signed individually by the one who made it. And the current product line of Rags II Riches, featuring the iconic welcome mat, is designed by Rajo Laurel.

Isn't it so chic? I thought it was so brilliant to use this material for these items. I first wished Dex gave me a darker color, maybe in black or gray. But the white one does go well with my laptop, and I kinda liked that it really looked like a welcome mat, especially with the random colored fabric that normally mixes with the white. The one she gave me was really a cosmetic case. It even had a black bow on the front. I took it off of course. They are coming out with laptop sleeves soon, but Dex figured they might not make one for the Asus's size. Good thinking my friend.

They also have more kikay stuff for you girls, like totes, clutches and even wine bottle slip cases.

I expressed my wanting to contribute to this cause to Dex, by putting together a fashion shoot featuring these products. The models, photographer, and everyone who will be involved will of course do this pro bono. I hope Dex could arrange it.

If you would like to support Rags II Riches in any way, or simply wanna purchase any of their chic creations, log on to their site at http://slb.ph/r2r/, or contact them at 4266101 loc 3440-41 or text/call 0905 3273999.

EARLY PREDICTION

This is David Archuleta. He's 16 years old, and he's from Salt Lake City, Utah. (kinda started to sound like a Unicef Ad)

If you haven't been watching the latest season of American Idol, you probably don't know who he is.

He's in the Top 24, and the youngest in the batch.

I am going to pull a Simon, and make an early prediction that this kid will be this year's American Idol.

He has a smokin' voice, he's goodlooking, very likeable, and has a winner smile too!

Randy Jackson is super impressed with him. Paula thinks he's adorable. And Simon says he's got the whole package.

And with the High School Musical fever still around, how can he not win? Kids are gonna adore him!

If Sanjaya Malakar was able to make that kid cry, wait 'til that kid hears David.

See what I mean. He even makes one of the back-up singers tear up:

PORTABLE HARD DRIVES

Most of us can't live on just the hard drive of our laptops and desktops.

Sure we can always burn large files to free up space on our hard drives, but we all know that can be such a pain.

Since I have the Asus Eee Pc, which only has 4GB of storage, that clearly wasn't enough. So I thought I needed to get an external HD too, which had to be as portable as the Asus. But I ended up getting a portable HD even before I wanted to get the Asus.

It all started when my home desktop was acting up. So I started freaking out, and realized that I had to back up my files ASAP, and have my PC reformatted.

So I went to the mall and looked for the best deal. My friends Dex and Bugsy recently also purchased a portable hard drive. It's not really a portable hard drive, it's actually a desktop hard drive inside a casing called an "enclosure", add a USB and voila! It becomes a portable hard drive.

This is a cheaper alternative, but available enclosures aren't guaranteed to give your hard drive a snug fit, so it might shake a little bit, and it might even damage the hard drive eventually, hence losing all your data.

I saw a lot of different brands of portable hard drives, but I ended up with a 160GB Western Digital Passport (pic shown above).

Its design is very modern, it's so compact that it can fit in your pocket, and it's even lighter than my mobile phone! And quite affordable too, at P4,500, it's so much cheaper than buying flash drives. They also have a 320GB HD which retails for about P9,500. And you know what else is amazing about the WD HDs? All their passports, from 60GB to 320GB are the same size! You would expect that the 320GB would be a little thicker, but it isn't. The 160GB iPod is even thicker than WD's 320GB HD.

It comes with a 3 year warranty too. I always say, the longer the warranty, the more durable the product is. And they have it in funky colors too.

So, happy with my purchase, I went home and started to work on backing up my files. And guess what happened? My PC just miraculously stopped acting up. I wasn't disappointed on buying the HD though. I knew I'd have some use for it soon. Now that I bought the Asus, the WD is perfect for it.

Lacie is also a famous brand of funky portable HDs. Ever see the ones that look like lego bricks? That's Lacie. And they only come with 2 years warranty. So WD is in the lead.
I am so fond of WD, that I had to research on what else they had.

They also have desktop external hard drives. It's not that portable, being a lot thicker and a little heavier than the passports, but if you don't mind the extra weight, then sure, it's still considered a portable HD.

These things were obviously built for graphic studios, musicians, sound engineers and photographers because of the capacity. I didn't even know this kind of capacity even existed. They call it "My Book".

Are you ready for this? Their hard drives have a whopping 2TB of space! A TB (terabyte) is equivalent to 1,000GB. You do the math. That's 600,000 photos, 500,000 songs, and 880 hours of DVD quality vids!

They also have a desktop hard drive, still with 2TB of space, and with remote access, called "My Book World Edition".

Meaning, while the HD is at home or in the office, you can access the files in this thing anywhere in the world using any computer or laptop! All you gotta do is pair it with your DSL, Broadband or WiFi connection, browse with Windows Explorer, and you can instantly access all your files wherever you are! Even when your computer at home is turned off. Say it with me...WOW!

WD Passports are available in most SM Cyberzones, Greenhills V-Mall and Gilmore Computer shops.

For WD HD capacities of more than 320GB to 2TB, order from their site at http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=324&language=en

LAPTOP BAGS

In my post about purchasing the Asus Eee PC, I mentioned that size mattered a lot, so it could easily fit into any bag, because I hated the common laptop bag.

Now there are more and more bag brands coming out with funky, laptop bags. So funky, they look like real bags that fit laptops.

This one above is a Zaum, from their Portabile line. I want it now! Their bags range from $60 to $200. Most of their bags have a vinyl exterior and a matching padded cloth interior. Very limited and one of a kind, so act fast. Visit http://zaumlab.com/ to purchase.

How about designing your own bag? M. Avery Designs (founded by designer Megan Avery) specialises in custom bags. As it says on their site: choose the bag, choose the fabric, choose the extras ... and in 2 weeks, it's yours. And if 2 weeks is too long to wait, they also have a "ready-made" section with some very funky fabrics. Fabric shown here is called Brora.

And then there's Pac Safe, which claims to be tamper, slash and snatch proof. It has exomesh, a patented material that lies beneath the bags farbric surface, adding extra protection from blades, knives and cutters. Pac Safe's anti-theft features can be viewed here.

And then there are also the solar powered laptop bags, which charges not only your laptop, but also your other devices such as your celphone, iPod, PDA, etc.

Voltaic Systems just came out with a 14 watt powered solar laptop, which also includes a built in lithium ion battery (which charges too via solar or outlet power), and different adaptors for your other devices. It retails at $599. That grid you see here is the actual solar panel.

Even though there have been a few solar laptop bags already out, the Voltaic Systems bag is the best one to date. One of the few which came out last year was by Picard, which I think looks a lot better than Voltaic's, and is a lot more pricey, retailing at $700. And ones by Noon Solar, which also has more girly ones, clutches and handbags, retails from $200 to $400.But of course with a laptop as small as my Asus, most of these bag brands don't make bags for micro notebooks. But at least, I can still put some of my stuff in with these bags.

For more funky laptops, go to Squidoo.