Thanks to Mr. Bond, James Bond, everytime the number 007 is mentioned, it automatically suggests something that is spy-related. Like the latest high-tech spy phone which is aptly named, the phone-007. Phone-007 is yet another gadget made to assuage the vast ocean of human insecurities.

The phone offers a lot of can-do features for electronic eavesdropping. The only basic requirement are, a computer and an Internet connection. The unit stays at your home, or in your bedroom. It has a built in microphone, enabling it to record embient sounds around it. So don’t be surprised when you listen to the recorder and hearing other voice inside your bedroom, when you left your wife home alone. Phone-007 is web connected device, which makes you able to hear the recordings on any computer for free.

Like other phones, Phone-007 can record every calls made on it. Phone 007, however, has an added feature. When Phone-007 start recording, owner will also get notification sms or notification calls to a specified number being set. Call this high technology bugging. It would not have been difficult for us had Garci used this kind of phone when he called Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

So to make you at least assured that everything is doing fine with your family, have a Phone-007. But wait, have you checked on your mobile phone or your car lately? If you see a miniscule device with a number 007 embedded on it, be wary. Your wife might be more updated on spy gizmos and gadgets than you think she can handle.

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I haven’t had a personal mailbox. Although some of my colleagues had personal mailboxes, I really never felt the need to have one. First, because I don’t have many personal correspondences or any subscriptions to anticipate, and secondly, I simply don’t have the time to go through the usual bureaucratic maze in order to get one. The idea of having a personal mailbox simply did not tickle my fancy, especially at a time when my lifestyle was so mobile, fast paced and spartan. But this was yesterday.

When you settle down, your pace becomes slower. But you realize that it is only yourself who had slowed down, the things around you remain in a perpetual mad rush. Then you understand why people need mailboxes. Because mailboxes serve as catchments collecting the flow of material information addressed to you. Even how fast the flow of things are, those that are intended for you can easily find their way to your mailbox. And all you have to do is collect them.

This is perhaps the reason why commercial mailboxes came into existence. Before, personal mailboxes are only available at the Post Office. Now, you can find and apply for a commercial mailbox inside shopping malls. I was surprised to see such commercial mail boxes when I entered a Parcel Service store inside a mall. This is indeed a novel and effective idea. If you have one of those mailboxes, you can now pick up your mails while shopping in a mall.

The thought of having one myself is now no longer far fetched.

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Finding a new office is not easy as it sounds. First you will consider the cost, then the space that you need and the other pros and cons (i.e., car park, water supply, neighborhood, etc.). Next difficulty is the negotiation with the owner of the house. There are house landlords who will give you a litany of stiff rules to be observed, like a curfew, number of visitors allowed, pets are limited, and so on and so forth.

This is what we did since last month. We are currently looking for a space, a house, for our office. But aside from confronting the difficulties mentioned above, the most annoying in our quest for a new office is our boss’s fickle-mindedness. When we found a house-for-rent with a lower rental cost, he would say the space is too small. So off we go again to find another one. And when we find a big one with a higher rental cost, the first thing he’d ask if that house has a big lawn for a garden.

My boss wanted an office that has the semblance of one of our offices before in Quezon City. We once had a big office with a beautiful lawn, like it’s maintained by TruGreen, and on it was a long table where we all used to have our lunch al fresco.

So on we go and continue our quest for an office with a nice lawn - this now becomes our main requirement in finding a good office.

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If you frequently pass the highways of Mindanao countrysides, you will see many beautiful and quaint old structures and houses standing proud like honor guards in a parade. A magnificent view to behold, a sight that gives respite to every passing weary traveler.

It amazes me how such ancient structures can retain its beauty and still exude the aura of its past grandeur. Even when viewed only in fleeting seconds, these houses never fail to tell me something. In my mind I make up stories about the place, about the people living in that house. Perhaps it is only through our fictional reconstruction of stories about these structures and its habitues shall they be assured of longer existence. Because in most cases, they are faced with the dreadful eventuality of being demolished to give way for modern structures.

I find it saddening and disturbing all together, our proclivity of demolishing old structures in order to build new ones. In Europe and anywhere else in the world they maintain and preserve old structures not only because they serve as aesthetic monuments of anachronism, but for their sense of history and intrensic value as places of abode.

If only we learn to appreciate that houses are silent witnesses to the making of family histories. They are structures that we will always visit when we stroll down memory lane at night. We can no longer re-invent history, but we can preserve our family histories by making sure that our Homes, like those being served and protected by American Home Shield, are maintained to stand the test of time.

My Mindanao, Other Stories

Its summer time and most people choose to tread the beaten paths of summer destinations, like beaches, or chill out to places like Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines. Those who can afford, fly to holiday tours somewhere else in the world.

But there are other alternative summer escapades for those who want to spend less but enjoy more. It’s an offbeat track, a road less traveled by summeristas, a less costly yet full of excitment and discovery adventure trip. To go to places in the Philippines where you’ve never been to armed only with a few cash, a sense of adventure and stories from friends who’ve been there, which serve as irreverent yet important guide books. It’s a backpaker’s fare, or a localized Ian-Wright-lonely-planet type of back channel adventure trip.

So here’s some tips for those who want to have a back channel adventure trip this summer. For starters, travel light. Aside from your basic light-wash-and-wear-dark-colored clothing, bring only necessary stuff like a Cambodian Krama or any shawl, a flashlight, a standard compact digital camera, (a dslr is not advisable) loose change or coins, a cheap cellphone, a bottle of water, some candies, alcohol, few basic medicines including insect repelent lotions. Of course, don’t forget to bring your own identification cards.

Choose the place at random, i.e., put a map on the corkboard or a dartboard, shoot a dart on it and wherever it lands - that’s where you go. Take three shots so you will have three different spots to go, one after the other. Look for some friends who are from these places or has been to these places before. Ask them for some basic information about the place, like: transportation, local culture, do’s and don’ts, interesting places to go, cheap watering holes and eateries, extra advices and tips and of course referals to and contact details of persons in the locality in case of emergency or when some snafu arise. It is also important to know where the cheapest hotels and lodging houses are. Hotels or lodging houses in second class municipalities are hard to find. If you can find one, more often they’re pest infested. Mosquitos and bedbugs will keep you busy the whole night and cockroaches keep you company while you stay awake and dream of Terminix.

It would add spice to your adventure if you ride the popular mode of public transport in going to or commuting within the locality, like the train, the tricycles, pedicab, an ordinary bus (not the airconditioned buses). Try riding on the “taplod” (topload), a logging truck or the “habal-habal,” a single motorcycle with nine passengers riding on it. In all these travels, try not to attract too much attention. Blend with the crowd, it is important to be conscious about and maintain liminality. Using fancy gadgets is a no-no. Try not to overdo your get up by looking too fancy - like you’re a CNN embeded journalist in Iraq, a National Geographic reporter or a typical tourist on Four S (shorts-sandals-shirts-and-shades). Always have that warm smile and talk to people in tagalog if you do not know the local dialect. Don’t try to talk in the local language if you do not know how to speak it. You will not only sound and look stupid but more importantly you might insult some sensitivities. On back channel adventures like this, the most basic rule is, if you’re in doubt about something, don’t try it.

Try this adventure trip with friends. Three is the ideal number to compose a group for this kind of adventure. And for best result, travel with no detailed plans or even maps. Let the adventure current take you and go where ever your feet will take you.

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