I am a man of the future. I do not need to wear a watch anymore as I can easily look at the time with my nifty Nokia phone. Those who wear watches just wear them either to show-off or create a fashion statement. The concept of time will never be the same again...

Don't know what to do with those old, useless cellular phones? How about organizing a Mobile Phone Throwing Contest for you and your friends?

In a contest recently conducted in Savonlinna, Finland, participants were allowed to choose any cellphone they wish, and then throw it as far as they could.

We thought it might take forever to make the leap out of 2500 with the AA bodies, but apparently, AccuPower's 2900mAh spotted here (presuming it is indeed batteries capable of holding that much energy) is gonna hold the throne for awhile as the big names of the big battery business set their camps up at the magic number of 2700.

Last Tuesday (August 22, 2006), I attended a press conference by Millennium Computer Technology Corporation, as they, together with some officials from LaCie, launched some of LaCie's line of external hard disk products here in the Philippines. Some of you guys may have seen their products in various malls already, but allow me to share some of the products I saw during this event.

If they were true blue undeads back from the grave, you wish you had one of the shotguns shown above, but thank God they only exist in George Romero's movies, and games produced by zombie lovers Capcom and Sega. While computers are generally harmless (unless you die from a severe shock from a bad short or your whole life depended on one), they may become your worse nightmare, that is, if you fear zombies, spam and a dump full of trash. There have been reports by CipherTrust of a global rise of 23% of computers turning into zombie spammers controlled by botnet masters, thanks to the recent Windows XP MS06-040 vulnerability (good thing there's a patch) exploited by the Mocbot worm variant. How serious is this threat? Even the United States' Home Land Security is advising to apply the vaccine to your computers since the discovery of the vulnerability! More information here.

Our friends from Transcend has informed us about the proliferation of fake Transcent Jet Flash thumbdrives in the Philippines and has asked us to inform the public about such products. According to Transcend Account Manager, Ms. Renee, this particular Transcend JetFlash with model no. TSXXXJF2B (where XXX is the capacity, eg. 128, 256, 512...) as seen above hasn't been officially sold in the Philippines for more than a year now. Transcend has warned that such products sold as brand new today are not from them, but there's a 95% possibility that they're counterfeits (where else could they have come from?). Warranty is not covered by Transcend either and so is guarantee for quality storage, you can expect such a product to last you only for two to three months.

The Blue JetFlash shown above is the only known fake model as of date and is commonly found with 256MB of memory. One way to spot if it's a fake is to check the serial number at the rear of the package and see if it matches:

Part number: TS256MJF2B		S/N: 113727 4499 0513 

If you insist of purchasing such a model and are worried about the quality of the product, do ask which distributor to go to for warranty and double check if the distributor matches in Transcend's official list (select Philippines from the "select the region" drop box). You can also call up the official distributor(s) and see if the retail shop you're purchasing from is on their official list of retail partners. For more information about this issue it's best to e-mail Transcend.

First seen at Computex, the K-PEX is Kingston's entrance into the PMP / DAP market. Could Kingston emulate the phenomenal success that the SanDisk Sansa currently enjoys in the US with their K-PEX?

Looking more like a game console (Game & Watch anyone?) than anything else, the K-PEX comes with support for most popular audio and video file formats. Aside from audio and video, this handy device also supports .txt and JPEG files, comes with an FM radio and voice recorder, and can act as a USB host drive. 2GB of flash memory and an expandle miniSD slot (a 256MB card is provided free with the 2GB package) provide storage options, while a fairly competent 2-inch display serves up text, video and the GUI.

With 14 buttons overall, using the K-PEX can be confusing at first. Once over the learning curve, navigation becomes intuitive, given the interface that is typical of most media players made in China or Taiwan. Video quality is better than average on the 2.0" screen but, as with all smaller screen sizes, eye strain is a very real concern. Audio is also slightly above average, with our main concern being the less than clean delivery of the audio signal.

Overall, the K-PEX looks to be a device that is targetted towards those looking for an introduction into the world of digital media. At the same time, its solid but plastic build makes it a suitable device for the youth and those with active lifestyles.

Look for a comprehensive review soon in HWM's October issue.

More information on the K-PEX can be found here.

Stop looking at the PS3, the PS2 is not yet dead, I repeat it is not yet dead! The sheer amount of games that are still coming out is one of the testament to this fact and so is this: The new Limited Edition Pink Playstation 2!

"Ma'am/Ser, DVD, DVD? VCD? Tree-plex?"

Most of you probably know this dialogue as this line is commonly used by those "pirates" who want to sell you the latest movie in DVD format. And while most of you will say that "pirated" is better since it's cheaper than the original, I beg to disagree.

You see, pirates not only make copies of your favorite movie titles; they also provide consumers with software applications, bags, shoes, phones, mp3 players, computer parts, and even LCD screens.

Sure, they are cheap and all that, but how about quality control and assurance that what you see is what you really get?

Having a website with your e-mail published is a real pain when the spamalicious canned goods drop in your inbox. Protect your site with WPoison, a CGI script that sucks in e-mail botz to an infinite loop of gathering from a goldmine of fool's gold! Be sure to read the link on safety to prevent sucking in legit webcrawlers in the black hole!

Curious about where your viruses, trojies and crap-wares are coming from? Or how about the rate of their rampage or which areas of the planet they seem to be breeding in? Be sure to check out F-Secure's little world map here. You might call it as your little command center.

Cooler Master has come up with a rather spiffy way to market their latest products. If you go their Summer Promotion site, you stand a chance to win a Mystique 631 PC Chassis, an iGreen Power 500W PSU, an X-Craft Storage and a BLUE ICE PRO Cooler.

Hello, Dahlings!

Once again it is I, your fahbulous tech partyboy, dishing out the latest buzz on the loveliest to-be-seen events in the Metro. Well. Today I was at the launch of Sony's gorgeous new camera, the Alpha 100, held at the EDSA Shangri-la. I just knew my day would be mahvelous when I spied none other than INXS at the lobby of the hotel. Oh divah?

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