Hi there! I am writing to you as an ePass Customer. I had recently bought an ePass tag kit, thinking that it will be more of a convenience to me, especially that the Skyway started charging the exits at Villamor Air Base / NAIA Terminal 3 going to Makati — which is my usual route going home from work. Appreciate if you can respond to this items the soonest possible time:

~ The day after I purchased my ePass tag kit at Shell Magallanes, I tried calling the Customer Hotline 776.7676 to inquire if my account has been activated already, but to no avail! It keeps on ringing and ringing. Thus, I opted to send the customer service email found at your website, and up to this very date, nor an acknowledgement receipt of my message was received from them. Very bad experience for a first time (and excited) ePass customer/user.

~ Why are there NO dedicated ePass lane(s) at the exits towards Makati? The ePass lanes indicate CASH/EPASS, whereas there are three (03) lanes in that area.

~ Most of the time when I pass by this area, my ePass tag kit is indeed read by your scanners at the toll booth, however, the barrier will simply NOT go up. The most recent one was last night, the toll booth teller even told me, "Sir, wala pong load ang ePass ninyo!" — I responded to her that it is rather IMPOSSIBLE, as I had topped up earlier yesterday with PHP500 worth of ePass load (and there’s something like PHP1,000++ of ePass load left prior to that reloading). On the very first week when I started using my ePass tag, there was even a time I was asked to pay PHP35 at the Skyway-NAIA Exit since your sensors were unable to read my tag kit. To my surprise, after paying the toll and passing through the barrier, the ePass tag kit sounded a "beep" — meaning I was charged, AGAIN! I did not complained, it’s just PHP35 anyway …

I do not experience the same inconvenience I encounter most of the time at these newly opened exits and any other Skyway exits, more particular at the Merville Exit.

I will wait for your prompt response and action on this matter. If there are technical difficulties at the newly opened exits along the Skyway-NAIA, you better check it out the soonest. Based on your website, using the ePass tag kits will lessen the time you spend at the Skyway exits, but what is happening is the exact opposite — it takes a minute or two before I can finally get through that exit!

My message was sent to CWD-BTRCP@dti.gov.ph copy-furnished customercare@skyway.com.ph.

The only response I got from Skyway O&M was through this:

I have already coordinated the matter with the systems provider. They are now working on the software change to correct the problem.

"Sent via BlackBerry from Smart" {ednep@skyway.com.ph} – I assume that this is from Mr. Ed Nepomuceno.

Then, just minutes ago, I received an email message from DTI and they had attached to it the response of Skyway O&M regarding my concerns:

Mr. Ramon Borromeo, what I did not liked about your response to DTI was this:

We are disappointed that Mr. Reyes does not take the time to inform government officials like your good self that complaints he writes about had eventually been addressed by us considering almost all of them were acted upon by us within twenty four (24) hours or even less.

Mr. Borromeo, sorry if my act of sending an email to DTI offended you. But what else do I have to do? If your office was kind enough to advise me of the concrete actions you will take (within 24 hours or less after you had read my complaints), then what is it for me to write the DTI Secretary an email for? Composing an email to a Cabinet Secretary is always my last resort if my issues fall on deaf ears. Please tell your personnel to better shape up, most-especially now that I heard MVP bought stake at the Skyway Corporation.

As I was recently appointed Localization Lead for the Firefox Aurora Tagalog translation efforts of the Mozilla Philippines Community. Two (02) weeks ago, I called for a MozCoffee event to all interested individuals to participate in the Tagalog Firefox project. The meeting was actually held this afternoon at McCafe Greenbelt 1; iced (or hot) mocha was on us!

Upon registration, each of the attendees received their coffee stub, which entitles them to a free hot or cold McCafe Mocha …

It was a very fruitful initial meeting, seeing old and new faces within the local IT circle. Most of them were not that aware of the localization (translation) efforts being made for Mozilla products, more particular: Firefox.

Thanks to the awesome people of McDonald’s Greenbelt 1! They managed to reserve a corner of their busy branch to accommodate the meeting attendees.

All those present during the meeting went home with some swags sent by Mozilla HQ (you are all awesome!).

We are now in the planning stage for the next meeting sometime middle of February this year. I’m thinking of having a hands-on type of walk-through about the Narro. Please do watch out for this event. Details will be posted in this blog soon.

If you want to be part of the Mozilla Philippines Localization Team, you may join our Facebook Group {tagalogfirefox@groups.facebook.com} and be sure to follow @TagalogFirefox in Twitter. Mabuhay!

After entering my Windows 7 user account password, I am stuck with a blue swirl and the Welcome screen on my laptop. I waited for a while, and when it seems that nothing is happening to my computer, I forcibly removed the battery from my laptop and rebooted. Then, it was back to normal.

Just this morning, I encountered the same problem again! The MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) in me prompted a visit to the Microsoft Support website and I stumble upon Article 2578159 (The logon process stops responding in Windows Server 2008 R2 or in Windows 7). It matches the symptoms my laptop encounters:

When you log on to a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7, the logon process stops responding and a blue swirl is shown on the Welcome screen indefinitely. After some time, the computer stops responding to any network-related commands. You must forcibly restart the computer to recover from this issue.

With its cause described as:

This issue occurs because of a race condition between the Windows Event Log service and the Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) tracing functions. When the race condition occurs, it causes a deadlock situation. This deadlock situation then causes the Winlogon.exe process to become unresponsive.

Good thing, a Hotfix file was able for download and my problem is now resolved!

Today, 23 Jan 2012 the entire Catholic church celebrates the feast day of one of its most loyal servants, San Ildefonso (Archbishop of Toledo, Spain; St. Ildephonsus in English). He died on 23 Jan 667. He is honored in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Story behind the picture above (excerpts from here):

It is recounted that on this feast of the Mother of God, Archbishop Ildephonsus, together with some of his clergy, hastened to church before the hour of Matins to honour Our Blessed Lady with their songs. Arriving close to the church, they found it all ablaze with a heavenly radiance. This so frightened the little band that all fled, except for Archbishop Ildephonsus and his two faithful deacons. Deacons, take note! With wildly beating hearts, these entered the church and made their way to the altar. A great mystery was about to unfold.

A Chasuble from the Treasury of Heaven

There, seated on the Archbishop’s throne, was the august Queen of Heaven surrounded by choirs of angels and holy virgins. The chants of paradise filled the air. Our Blessed Lady beckoned Ildephonsus to approach her. Looking upon him with tenderness and majesty, she said: “Thou art my chaplain and faithful notary. Receive from me this chasuble, which my Son sends you from His treasury.” Having said this, the Immaculate Virgin clothed Ildephonsus in the chasuble, and instructed him to wear it for the Holy Sacrifice on her festivals.

The account of this apparition, and of the miraculous chasuble, was deemed so certain and utterly beyond doubt, that news of it spread through the Church, even reaching the Ethiopians. The Church of Toledo honoured the event with a special proper Mass and Office. What was the miraculous chasuble like? Artists through the ages have sought to depict it, more often than not in rich brocades of gold and blue.

San Ildefonso, pray for us.

http://a.maimult.ro/lmo/projects.php?l=tl-PH&f=0

You can always send me an email should you be requiring assistance or check this article on Localizing with Narro. Thanks!

Junior <form> function() & .class (JFFC) will be the first web design conference for students in the Philippines, organized by UST TomasinoWeb (TomWeb) and the Philippine Web Designers Organization (PWDO). JFFC is the student counterpart of PWDO’s <form> function() & .class which is the first community-organized web design conference in Asia.

Visit http://tomasinoweb.org/jffc for details on how to register to this event (open to all students and students at heart).

Evernote

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.evernote | Price: FREE

As of the moment, the primary use of my Asus Eee Pad Transformer is a substitute to my good old laptop computer whenever I am attending meetings, most especially if they are held outside of the office building (i.e. at client locations). Note-taking on the tablet is never the same, thanks to Evernote! I can insert pictures in my notes using the tablet’s built-in camera, or from the Gallery. Formatting text is never a hard task to accomplish in this app. Another plus in using Evernote is the ability to sync my notes with a desktop PC counterpart of the Android app. Now, how kewl will that be not to mention that this is a FREE app?

FlightBoard

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mobiata.flightboard | Price: PHP176.02

While reading the tweets of @naiaguy, I noticed that he/she/it is using this Android app that mimics the flight information display found at airports. True enough, there was this app called FlightBoard, which can tell you almost every single flight detail (Arrival, Departure, Destination, Origin, etc.) in major airports around the globe. This app actually relies from the feeds of FlightStats.com. Being in the aviation industry, I must say that the data presented by this app is 95% accurate.

MobileSheets

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.zubersoft.mobilesheets | Price: PHP220.13

During weekends and during my free time, music is my favorite past time aside from using computers. But with the advent of technology, such as MIDI and PDF, I was able to get rid of the bulky clear books I bring every time I will play during the holy mass. All I need to bring now is my Asus Eee Pad Transfomer, loaded with all the music sheets I need while serving during the holy mass. MobileSheets allows you to catalogue your music sheets in image file formats such as JPG, PNG, and GIF or even in PDF. One kewl feature of this app is that it has a built-in Metronome, as well as the ability to attach an audio file alongside the music sheet(s). It also has an “auto scroll” feature that minimizes the tapping on your tablet’s screen during performances. If you’re an Android tablet owner and is also a musician, you should have this app in your device.

Mozilla Firefox for Android

https://market.android.com/details?id=org.mozilla.firefox | Price: FREE

Mozilla recently launched the most awesome version of Firefox for Mobile – the one for Android devices. I should say, aside from loving your very own, this is the most responsive version of Firefox that I had tried and tested on an Android Honeycomb device. Please check this blog post of mine regarding Mozilla Firefox for Android.

Tablet Talk

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.apdroid.tabtalk | Price: PHP131.90

Weeks after using my Asus Eee Pad Transformer, you will have this feeling of being envious with Samsung Galaxy Tab users – they have the freedom to play with an Android tablet and use the same device for their GSM communication needs (read as SMS). Just recently, I found out about this app, which just cost the same amount of Philippine Peso you will spend for a cup of glorified coffee in cafes that enables you to sync your Android mobile phone SMS messages into your Android tablet; and actually lets you send SMS from your Android tablet, which is connected via Bluetooth to your Android mobile phone. This app comes in handy, most especially if you’re in business meetings – they will think that you’re taking down notes, but actually you’re exchanging SMS with your friends as you’re bored already with the meeting :-)

Twitter for Android

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.twitter.android | Price: FREE

Question:
What will your mobile-internet-connected life will look like without Twitter?

Answer:
Senseless!

So far, those are the Android Honeycomb apps that I frequently use and are truly my favorites. Will update the list from time to time, so be sure to check out here more often.