The Beanster Blog

So I have finally made the switch to OSX (sort of). Santa was very nice and gave me a 15inch Retina MacBook Pro It's a sweet machine with a beautiful display and really well built. It's superfast because of SSD. The downside is it's 256Gb can be a bit cramp for someone like me who has a huge iTunes library and dual boot to consider. I have been loosing sleep because of 4 major issues though. 1) BootCamp - I finally got this to work after about 3 attempts. I had mistakenly selected a partition size that would not fit Windows 8 (in the future). There is no official support for Windows 8 yet so I have sticked with Windows 7 Home Premium for now. I did purchase the $40 upgrade to Windows 8 Pro (valid only until 31-Jan-2013) but I will hold off installing that until BootCamp support becomes available. For now I am quite happy with the performance of Windows 7 on this machine. Instead of buying or pirating Office for Mac I have decided to install Office 2010 which I own on...

Wow smart is really beating the poop out of globe.  SMART Globe VBC Sent from my fruit phone 🍎

Mandaluyong City  SMART Globe VBC Sent from my fruit phone 🍎

Tested at Shangri-la Mall SMART Globe VBC Sent from my fruit phone 🍎

Globe  SMART VBC Sent from my fruit phone 🍎

Both networks really suck. Sheesh 😕 VBC Sent from my fruit phone 🍎

I've been using the iPhone 5 for a little over a week and here are my thoughts on AAPL's newest phone.  I won't bore you with specs, if you need it here is a link to the specs http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html Got these images off Apple's website so they own the images blah blah blah. It comes in Black & Slate or White & Silver. I like to alternate colors on my iPhone so this time I got Black & Slate, I got a 32Gb model from Singapore (thanks Rad) because when I had an iPhone 4S 64Gb I could not fill it up. Decided to get a smaller capacity device and save some moohlah.  First impressions. When I took the device out of the box the first thing I did was slap a screen protector on it and then put a GelaSkin on it. After I applied the skins I noticed that the device already had a scratch near the screws (bottom) I suspect this small scratch came out of the box. So yes the finish is gorgeous, yes the finish is very nice to the touch BUT it is s...

Located along Wilson (cross P. Guevarra) It's beside LBC and ShareTea. Nice place and interior looks clean. I went to this resto at 2:30pm on a Thursday afternoon. There were only 2 people who had just about finished eating already when I arrived.  I ordered the Beef & Tendon, chose thin noodles and miso soup. 240.00 PhP The order arrived in around 10 mins and was very hot.  Broth 5/10 - I chose miso while it was served piping hot it failed the taste test. It was like I was sipping watered down miso & beef broth Noodles 5/10 - clearly not fresh it was clumped together inside my bowl when I had finally separated them it was not chewy and had poor consistency  Toppings 7/10 the beef and tendon were tender and the portion was ok. flavor was ok too. Verdict - go else where for your noodle craving expensive for what you get.

It used to be that you could select which items you can sync to Outlook (I used to sync only contacts to Outlook on my machine) now it seems Apple has removed this option and you have to sync everything to Outlook. Less options = no fun.  I hope they bring the item selection back in future versions of this application. 

I’ve been bemoaning the total crap that has become of Maps on iOS6 ever since the first beta. As we wait for Apple to fix their maps let’s explore some alternatives… all these are FREE but require an internet connection. Don’t complain, a smartphone isn’t smart without a data plan. 1. WAZE – thanks to @byronini for this tip. It’s free, has turn-by-turn voice navigation, traffic, and a lot more features. Download this now. 2. Google Maps Web App. Go to maps.google.com on Mobile Safari and add to Home Screen for quick access. A far cry from the neutered Google Maps pre-iOS6 but still useful if only for the POI search. NB: Google is rumored to be working on a native Google Maps application for iOS (ala YouTube ) 3. Nokia Maps Web App – remember Nokia? Yeah those guys actually saw the writing on the mobile wall and have been steadily improving their location stuff over the years. Adding the web app won’t hurt. Their web-app also offers saving sections of maps. maps.nokia.com on Mo...

In a couple of weeks we would go into 4th Quarter 2012. So it's time to think about your device road-map for 2013.  I have analyzed my use case and I mostly use Google services like GMail, Calendar, YouTube, Maps the only thing I leave on iCloud is Contacts and Notes. So for PIM (personal info management) it would be a minor issue to move over to an Android device. A big plus would be getting Google Maps back since Apple has decided to discard it and YouTube in iOS6. Gmail, Calendar, Maps, YouTube all are free and all are great! Good job Google.  However when I look at applications, games, media (basically entertainment) it is clear that I am trapped in the iTunes ecosystem. I have spent a lot on the AppStore and I do not think it would be possible to make a clean break with it any time soon. Good job Apple.  I have always been pro-convergence. One device preferably pocket-able for communications, work, and play. However the escalating pla...

Here’s how to setup iCloud Email on an Android or other device… Start the Email Client and enter your credentials username = youricloudemail@me.com password = yourpassword Next! Incoming Mail Settings server = imap.mail.me.com port = 993 security type = SSL imap path prefix = blank Next! Outgoing Mail Settings server = smtp.me.com port = 587 security = TLS require sign-in = check, and enter your iCloud credentials again. Next Rename the account and add a display name. There you have it iCloud email on your Android (or other device). I hope this helps.

WhisperSync for Voice has been greenlit and I have been taken it for a spin this evening. It works really well! Good job Amazon. In a nutshell it makes switching between reading an ebook and listening to an audiobook really easy. Bram Stroker’s Dracula on Kindle for iPhone Dracula Audibook on Audible for Android. I’m a huge fan of Kindle ebooks and Audible audiobooks . Now I enjoy them even more! Tip: Here are some free ebooks and audiobooks from Amazon! Grab them while they are available! http://www.amazon.com/s/?node=5744839011

This short tutorial shows how to sync iCloud contacts to your Android device. you will need an app to do this. It's called CardDAV-Sync free beta https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dmfs.carddav.sync I chose to go 1 way sync with my iPhone being the primary device.

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SMART International Roaming Deposit is GONE... hooray we (the consumers) won! I don't know when this happened but I am sure glad it did! SMART has gotten get rid of this discriminatory, anti-consumer, flat-out-unfair, exploitative International Roaming Deposit policy. I have written about this before  (and some more ) which culminated in me settling my balance and closing my account with SMART for good . Food for thought: were did the interest for all those deposits go? did they credit those back to customers as well   or did they spend it on Ramon Bautista's TF for this hilarious switching video?   This comes as good news for me personally because... I am re-evaluating my current mobile subscription with Globe and most of us (subscribers) would say that it has been shitty for months. Globe has scheduled network improvements thru Q4 2012 but who has the patience to wait? Now that SMART has done away with IRD, I can seriously consider the...

Taken at Wack Wack Gardenville Townhomes

This is a public GOOGLE CALENDAR feel free to add it to your calendar. If you find any errors (or know of any corrections, or if you get the round 2 schedule) please send me a message via my contact page and I will try to fix/add it ASAP. Thanks. -- HOWTOGEEK guide on how to sync multiple Google Calendars to your iOS device -- This post brought to you by: Recoil Winders #LifeUntangled  exclusively distributed in the Philippines by   NextLevelGuys    Keep your cables in organized w/ Recoil Winders. Recoil Winders keeps #LifeUntangled. Comes in 3 sizes: Small (500), Medium (700), Large (900) and SML Bundle with Rack (1800). Available at  iStudio Apple Premium Reseller  Shangri-la, Bonifacio Highstreet,  Egghead Audiohub  Robinson's Galleria or direct from our multiply page . *cables not included*

Was really hoping the year old yodeling video would blow up and go viral but alas it looks like the week old  Australian hurdler video is really getting up there in views. I saw the 6 min full version the shorter (creepier version with music) edit is the one that is more popular of course... Hey it's youtube! Takeo Ischi - New Bibi Hendl 2011 Michelle Jenneke Dancing Sexy as Hell at Junior World Championships in Barcelona 2012

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Taken at Wack Wack Gardenville Townhomes

Taken at NextLevel HQ

My 45,000 tweet was not about food (or farts) hooray! As my profile says I tweet a lot… Anyway so here is the tweet" –> It’s about a product me and my partner are selling so that means you should all buy it! LOL   Follow @NextLevelGuys on Twitter and click the image to go to our facebook page.

Kids are awesome and they do love those iOS devices. Here is how to child-proof that iOS device before you hand it over to your kid or nieces and nephews. A. Device itself. These are no brainers, usually kids (or even adults) are not as gentle on devices as you would want to be. Screen protector Invest in a case (plus points if it has a hand-strap you can have the kid wear) or is really tough ala otterbox or even better LifeProof Backup your device regularly – you should be doing this even if you don’t lend your device to a child. B. The OS or operating system Keep passwords secure, may it be the device password, Apple ID password or your restrictions password. Enable Restrictions – This is a powerful feature available on ALL iOS devices that is seldom used by most people.  Restrictions… Settings > General > Restrictions > At first run you will be asked to enter a restrictions password. Choose a password. Make sure you keep this in a safe place away from kids. Ther...