Year: 2019

How Omni Misleads and Defrauds Customers

I bought this Omni Model AEL-010 from Ace Hardware awhile back. It has been sitting in my living room for a while now. I can’t totally recall when exactly I bought this nor the Ace Hardware branch I purchased it from, not the actual price I paid it for. But it’s been a while — it could have been 6 months, it might even have been a year.

Now, in preparation for the for Typhoon Tisoy, I tried recharging this OMNI LED Emergency Light. Plugged it to the wall socket for like 8 hours. But when I unplugged and tested, it won’t turn on now.

It turns on fine while plugged, but not when I unplug. Thus, I searched around about this product. And this is the revelation about this good Omni Emergency Light: Continue reading

How Apple Could Bring Back the Glory to the iPhone?

As soon as the iPhone 11 series of iPhones hit the shelves in September, rumors about the next iPhones hit the rumor mill, like the new offerings don’t at all tickle the fancy of most people, the normal iPhone users and tech bloggers (and vloggers) alike. After all, except for the triple rear camera configuration, not much has changed in the design department from the previous iPhone.

MacRumors suggests there will still remain 3 varieties of the iPhone next year, and following this year’s naming convention, they’ll be called the iPhone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max, shunning away from the S-intermediary name.

iMore is saying Apple might bring back the metal frame just like that in the iPhone 4. That metal frame is iconic. I used to own an iPhone 4, and I loved it. I would have kept using that phone if not for its outdated specs.

The iconic iPhone 4

According to SBD, there is a good chance that the new iPhone generation brings in a 3D camera. I wonder if Apple will once again lead the innovation in the smartphone arena with this feature, if ever this comes to fruition.

Of course, we can’t ignore the obvious — 5G connectivity. Telcos might not be ready with the widespread connectivity given their current infrastructure, but Apple wouldn’t want to wait that long to keep in line.

For me, though, I liked the idea of a metal frame iPhone. Also, what kept the iPhone ahead of its competition in the past, in my opinion, is the idea of One iPhone to rule them all. I mean, if you get an iPhone, you get the iPhone. If you’re a little short in your budget, you get the older earlier versions.

Lastly, the price. It’s hard for me to stomach paying for a phone for more than $1,000. With how the market received the iPhone 11 series prices, as reflected in their sales figure, Apple should know better next time.

What Happens Now to Tumblr?

It has been like 3 months since Matt Mullenweg announced that Automattic acquired Tumblr. Until now, though, I have not seen any developments in my Tumblr Dashboard, nor any announcement for plans by Automattic on what to actually do with Tumblr. So what now? What current Tumblr functionalities will be dropped, and which WordPress features will be added?

Microsoft is the new Apple

Microsoft recently introduced a bunch of computer and phone (yes, a phone) line up. They certainly stole the spotlight from Apple and Samsung at how these announcements are being done. I’m quite sure they are now the brand to beat in the months to come.

The WordPress Bloat — Ten Years Later

Dumitru Brinzan of ilovewp.com writes:

Currently WordPress powers over 60 million websites, that is an estimated ~33% of the Internet. Some of these websites are large websites with tens of thousands of content pages. But a vast majority of WordPress websites are run by regular people and small businesses, many of them with probably less than 20 pages of content.

Now imagine that these millions of WordPress websites rely on thousands upon thousands of files, hundreds of megabytes worth of scripts and libraries, just to output a few hundred of cached kilobytes of “Hello World” content.

This has been my predicament 10 years ago. If I thought WordPress was bloated back then, more so it is now! My suggestion: have a 1.) WordPress full install script and 2.) WordPress core (or call it WordPress Lite, if you will), taking away functionalities like Gutenberg, Custom Post Types and Formats, and Multi-Site support.

The Ridiculously Exaggerated and Overrated YNAB Savings

With Dropbox gone the 3-Device Limit route, I needed to re-evaluate my YNAB Classic use.

YNAB has obviously abandoned the classic app in favor of its online, subscription-based platform. But the YNAB classic, at least the mobile app, only supports Dropbox for its cloud sync option — no Google Drive, no OneDrive.

Looking at my options, though, I came across the YNAB pricing, and the page suggests a ridiculously exaggerated savings of US$6,000 — that’s only in the first year, the YNAB culture can bring you:If you’re a common Filipino earning in Philippine Pesos, the $6,000 would probably be more than what you’ll ever earn in a year. If it ain’t ridiculous, tell me what that is.

Yet, if you’re an upper-middle class Filipino earning way more than that, the $84 per year fee is still not worth it. There ought to be a better free alternative.