We’re ok – after the first floor of our house (in Marikina) got flooded, waist-deep. Will post in detail (including some photos) in the next few days. Still no power. I’m at the office now to charge cellphone battery and use the Internet – and get some work done as well. Will go home in a while to pass by the grocery. Very few stores are open in our area. We really need help with the garbage situation! I’ll update again tomorrow.
Category: Bulletin
To all motorists driving in the vicinity of Santolan Road/Project 4/Cubao, beware of the driver of said jeepney. Give him a wide berth on the road. This morning, he figured in an altercation (a mild term, considering what happened) with our shuttle driver over an almost-accident. It happened very near the intersection of 15th Ave. (I think) and Santolan Road, close to a Camp Aguinaldo gate.
It was a red light and traffic was quite heavy. The jeepney driver got off and walked up to our driver to challenge him to a fistfight. When our driver wouldn’t get out, he went back to his jeepney and got a metal tube that’s about a foot-and-a-half long to use as a weapon. Our driver was also a hot-head himself and was reaching for something in the glove compartment. The two lady passengers in front “hugged” him to prevent him from getting out of the vehicle. We were all pleading with him to just let it go for the sake of his passengers.
Meanwhile, the jeepney driver was like a madman outside, going around our shuttle, screaming and waving his weapon threateningly. When our driver didn’t get out, he hit the front of the vehicle, creating a dent and partially breaking the lower part of the windshield. He went back to his jeepney when the light turned green, but he lightly hit our shuttle’s bumper before speeding away, turning left to continue his route. Our driver chased him, instead of turning right to EDSA. We all told him to let us off first if he plans to chase the jeepney driver. Eventually, he was convinced to cool down and just report the incident. After all, as we told him, he has a shuttle full of witnesses, all of whom noted down the jeepney’s plate number. No one was able to take photos though. I guess we were all scared of the maniacal jeepney driver.
And the other sad thing? Uzis who couldn’t even be bothered to get the attention of the 2 MMDA personnel situated at the corner just a few meters away. There was even one guy who was smiling excitedly like he was just watching a minor ruckus, instead of a potentially dangerous and violent situation. Worse, those MMDA personnel suddenly turned blind and deaf during the incident. I know they’re not the police, but still, shouldn’t it be part of their job to address traffic incidents in the absence of traffic police?
We reported the incident to them after our driver gave up the chase. We all couldn’t believe that they didn’t notice anything that happened given their proximity. I only saw the last name of one of the MMDA personnel – Custodio Jr.
We eventually reached Makati without further incident. As we got off the shuttle, some passengers wished our driver good luck in pursuing his complaint.
Let’s always remind ourselves and one another to keep cool on the road. Better to lose an argument or suffer a little material damage than to risk our lives and the lives of other people.
We won! President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has already lifted the tax on imported books, and Finance Secretary Gary Teves promised to comply with the order immediately. All’s well that ends well. I hope…
Now the booksellers can claim the books still held by Customs, tax-free. I just hope that they don’t get astronomical storage fee bills. That might be where Customs would try to release bile and get the last say. Also, we must keep our guards up to make sure that they don’t sneak in something to circumvent the lift order or as a revenge on us.
But right now, this is a good day for all of us, especially those who did their part in fighting the book blockade. Big thanks to Robin Hemley, Manolo Quezon, Louie Aguinaldo and the Facebook group, and the major contributors to the fight. The pen is still mightier than the sword (literally and figuratively) even – or should I say, especially – in this digital age.
One of the iPhone/iPod Touch comics apps our company has been developing is finally up for sale ($0.99) at the iTunes store.
Here’s the description of the series:
From the Dead
Written and Drawn by Jonas DiegoWhen strange murders started happening all over the city the mysterious organization known only as “The Foundation” turns to their best operative, Frank to help them clean up the mess and solve the problem. The only problem is that Frank’s been retired for many years and less than enthusiastic about going back to work for his former employers.
The Foundation however has ways and means to convince him to take the case.
Having no choice in the matter he takes the case hoping to close it quickly and get The Foundation off his back.
Frank’s only lead is an informant belonging to a cult who could possibly shed some light on his case and point him in the right direction.
Things take a turn for the worse when his beautiful contact appears from nowhere, out of her mind, and being chased by monsters…which is about one of the worse things that could happen to Frank.
Because one of his few weaknesses are damsels in distress…
Though this is not the first iPhone app developed in the Philippines (I believe it’s iManila), this is the first comics and the first that is also relevant to the international market.
For now, we’re focusing on e-book applications. Next up (pending approval from Apple) will be the e-cookbooks – my pet project, yey! 😀
Calling on Filipino authors…if you have interesting e-book ideas, please get in touch with me through this blog. Leave your email address on the comment box (I won’t publish them) and I’ll contact you for the terms and conditions.
I normally try to keep this blog separate from work stuff, but I make exceptions every now and then, such as today. We’ve been working with Smart the last month and a half, and the promo already launched this week. The promo was conceptualized by Smart, in cooperation with the radio stations, and powered by our Mobilemo mobile site platform.
Get a chance to win a Nokia 6120 in a daily raffle. Register at www.mobilemo.com to create your own mobile site, then visit the Mobilemo mobile sites of Wave 89.1 (www.mobilemo.com/wave891) and Magic 89.9 (www.mobilemo.com/magic899) using your WAP-enabled mobile phone. Click on the Win Nokia 6120 link and answer the question correctly. Fill in the other required fields to qualify for the raffle. Tune in to Wave and Magic for the complete mechanics and for the programs where the promo will run.
* This promo is exclusive to Smart subscribers in the Philippines. Winners will be asked to present the Smart SIM they used to join the contest for verification purposes.
Interested in the Mobile Web? Help us in maximizing its potential. Join our team!
Qualifications:
- At least a Bachelor’s/College Degree or Post Graduate Diploma / Master’s Degree in Computer Science/Information Technology or equivalent
- Required skill(s): PHP/MySQL, J2ME, XHTML/CHTML/WAP
- At least 2 years work experience in related field
- Experienced in developing advanced, network-aware application on mobile devices using J2ME; Symbian is highly desirable
- Exposed in the delivery of successful client/server application through the full product lifecycle
- Conversant with, and have completed projects in at least three different programming languages (PHP included)
- Practical experience with mobile markup languages such as XHTML/CHTML/WAP, along with a good dose of server side development
- Required language(s): Filipino, English
- Willing to work in Makati City
- Filipino citizens or relevant residence status
- 2 Full-Time positions available
Fresh Graduates from reputable schools with a strong background in PHP Programming are encouraged to apply.
Email resume to hr@mrmstudios.com.
Under the Sun 