Faith through Rock Music - Flyleaf

Flyleaf

Who among you guys haven’t heard of ‘em?
For starters they belong to  Rock / Alternative Genres and most likely, those who doesn’t feel like listening to rock music isn’t that familiar with then.

I started hearing them I guess, 4 or 5 years ago and found their music amusing and so powerful. At first for aspiring musicians, we didn’t easily understand the meaning of the  lyrics that they’re trying to imprint in our memories and in our hearts. We just found their music a great motivation for our dreams to gain strength. We started downloading their songs, playing them in some computer cafes and even sharing them with some of our friends. (Unfortunately, none of us were able to buy their album) If I remembered it correctly and if what I’ve read was right, the last album that they release was “Memento Mori”.

Articles say that they didn’t claim to be a Christian band but it felt like they were, specially because of the lyrics of the songs they wrote.  Another thing was that, when they combined “You are my Joy” with “From the inside out”. It was such a great piece and if I could make a request, I’d definitely want that song to be in their next album. Every part of their work was meaningful and even though there are some parts where the verse of the song was just repeated, I never felt that it was! Instead, I get the feeling that they were carving every thought, every meaning of the song to my heart and head for  me to be able to understand what they are really trying to say.

They did make a difference in my life through their music and I want to thank them for that. Hopefully sooner or later, they could perform here in the Philippines.

This was posted January 26, 2012 from my previous blog.

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Legally Downloaded - Online Music Store

This is a post from my previous blog which was posted last January 30, 2012

With all of these commotion with regards to piracy, some of our fellow countrymen thought of an idea that I thought should be shared. Here it goes.

Php. 25.00 – 35.00 to “legally” download a song.

Reported on Yahoo Philippines last January 20, 2012 is a way to legally acquire a song through the process of our very precious “downloading” technique. MyMusicStore Philippines, a website supported by 15 other group of recording companies (Based on the Partners they listed on their footer). Though there are some issues or questions that I have in mind with regards to this process, this is something that could actually change the whole thing with regards to piracy.

Honestly, I haven’t tried it yet and haven’t run a few checks on their site ( not that I’m that good on checking stuff ’cause frankly, I’m just a spectator here ) But here’s like most of the common questions I have heard when I discussed this to my friends and also some of the popular feedback on yahoo news…

• What would happen if I accidentally removed/deleted my downloaded file from the site? Do I have the rights to re-claim a copy?
• Php. 35.00 is so expensive for just one song! Could you perhaps make it a bit cheaper?
• Credit Cards? What if I don’t have one? From what I’ve heard Paypal needs to be linked to a debit card and I don’t want that.
• Why not make “prepaid cards” to top-up on an account?

I’m not even a user of iTunes so I can’t really compare the two but for some reasons, I found their feedback reasonable and worth considering. Normally, an original CD holds up to 14 songs (Just from my experiences) and if I downloaded all of them that would also cost me as much as buying an original CD or sometimes even less! But since CD sales are declining, I think this isn’t as bad as it sound. Some of us doesn’t really listen to all of the songs listed there anyway. There is always one song that tops the whole album. Besides, though not practical, the amount of one song doesn’t seem like it was too much. Some of us could actually spend Php. 40.00 and above for cigarette packs (a day) or even other vices.

Still, the decision is up to us users… Which one will we consider worth buying? Which is more practical or more appropriate?

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The 3 Saving Words

Today I just wanted to share these 3 words that I’ve heard last Sunday. These 3 Saving words are Stop, Look and Listen. Three words that are very common for us specially when we were kids. Words that help us grow andwords that unconsciously help us survive all through out the years. All of these are actually self explanatory but how can they save us you might ask? 

I’ll just share this on my own opinion and ideas.

Stop - when we’re still learning how to stand on our own or better yet, during our primary years in school some of us might have heard our elders or authorities telling us to stop, we stop whatever we’re doing and give them our attention. Normally, someone with power / authority won’t tell us to stop unless we’re doing something wrong. The moment they tell us to stop means there is something more important or inappropriate with what we’re doing. As a kid we always hear them saying that we should listen to those who are more experienced or older than us though some of those information were sometimes wrong, we will still find most of their words sooner or later useful, maybe not in your life but to someone who is dear to you.

Look - is best described to be an analyzation part of our lives. As thoughts play in our mind we normally analyze things before jumping into conclusions, ’cause frankly, when we don’t analyze such things we always end up messed, confused or miserable in the end. Most of us have heard this famous quotation saying “regrets were always found in the end”. From small to huge decisions, we always found someone if not ourselves regretting something that they done and what better way to solve this situation than observing and analyzing them.

Listen - now this is something that we can’t escape from since the moment we open our eyes until the momentwe close them. It might not be something worth hearing, or it could be noise, senseless information or could be something that can change our lives. Have you ever heard the saying “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”? This is a good example (on my own opinion) when it comes to listening. Each word, each data is vital in a battle and if listening isn’t a part of your hobbies you might actually fall. Being someone who talks to much is not that bad, just always remember to not over do that. Because you might be called a “Know-it-all” which can ruin your image. Listen to what you’re saying and you must know when to stop talking.

Be cautious, be saved.
Stop, Look and Listen – before crossing the street to prevent accidents
Stop, Look and Listen – before jumping to huge decisions to avoid jeopardy
Stop, Look and Listen – before everything else.

There’s always a right way, but there’s always a way which is fun.
From time to time, it’s not that bad to be cautious.

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BayanCars.com.ph - Cars for Every Juan

As the growth of technology increases, sellers and buyers also go for innovating practices like online selling and buying. As we all know, there are a lot of site which serves as a venue for people to sell and look for the things they need including cars. And that’s the part where BayanCars.com.ph comes to place.

From different platforms to one is what BayanCars targets to give their users. This includes deals, posting of events, services, car parts, news/articles and specially the car-ads. To further discuss the features of this emerging site, I've personally tried and experienced the things that they offer.

The Events Shout Box which is a free space where users can post any events that they wish to publicize. After posting the desired event will came an e-mail that will request you to activate the post. As we all know, spam posts are always an issue for other sites and this serves as their Anti-Spam in their Shout Box.

Have you heard about deals offering huge discount for their customers? Well, that's what BayanCars also intend to do. Offer huge discount for their users through the form of deals and merchants has their way to gain access on posting their car-related deals for other consumers to enjoy.

So now for the main purpose of the site. Car-Ads, Services, Car Parts and Car for Rents. The site also offer VIP posting so that interested buyers has easy access on trusted and dealers. For those who experienced VIP posting from other e-commerce sites, VIP ads from BayanCars were also prioritize from their search engine.

To sum it all up, BayanCars indeed made its way to provide access to all car-related things in the industry. Keeping viewers to an up-to-date news and events, tips and articles and everything that car buyers might need.

How about you guys? Care to share your experience with the site?

Feel free to post your comments below.

Till the next time!

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How to avoid hold-ups on PUVs - Philippines

A thing that caught my attention is the increasing incident of robbery. While Christmas vacation was near, many were trying their best to gain money either the nice way or the hard way. But for those who have their dark sides, the easiest way seems to be the best way.

So what happened actually?

There was just this unregistered vehicle which imitates those PUVs (Public Utility Vehicles) to gather passengers at night and when the people or the timing was right will declare hold-up to those who were inside to gain valuable goods or money.

The suspects doesn’t only include some passengers but also the driver was a partner in crime.

How to avoid them?

·         Make sure that you are riding legitimate and registered vehicles only.

·         Registered PUVs wear yellow plate number

·         Doesn’t use heavy tinted mirrors

·         UV Express has a printed sign on the body indicating that it was a legitimate

The love for knowledge and awareness doesn’t hurt. It is the only thing standing between tragedy and ourselves so we should regularly update ourselves with the latest strategies to help us during certain situations.

Aside from all of the information shared to you by anyone. The primary attitude that we should observe all the time is to be vigilant.

Be safe, be observant, and be vigilant.

May we all have a blessed year!

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Repeal or Replace the Anti-Cybercrime Law

Pros and Cons arise at different latitudes of the country. **Well, most of what I’ve heard was cons.

So what is it anyway? If you would take time to read the law which is naturally long at the Philippine’s Official Gazette, you’d notice that most of them are naturally known crimes. It’s just that, they are punishable by law now.

It was known as Republic Act No. 10175 or more commonly referred to as the Anti-Cybercrime Law.

For some, we knew that doing deviant acts is naturally wrong while some wait for the law to consider it a crime. Way back in the year 2000, a virus was accidentally spread by a Filipino, which we commonly knew as the “ILOVEYOU” virus. If my memory serves me well, they told us that we didn’t have any CyberCrime Law back then unlike what we’re experiencing now. There were two suspects at that time namely Reomel Ramores  and Onel de Guzman and when they were arrested, the NBI didn’t knew what to charge them with so they were released with all charges dropped by state prosecutors. After the incident which obtained a world record then resulted to the birth of Republic Act No. 8792 which was also known as E-Commerce Law in July 2000.

Back to the topic… What’s hot?

What’s hot was that you could accuse someone with libel because of the said law, restricting most of us to our freedom to express our thoughts.

Brad Adams, Asia director for HRW said that “Allegedly libelous speech, online or offline, should be handled as a private civil matter, not a crime,” – Yahoo News

And also from the news, libel has a large scope specially when attached to Cyber Crime. Who should be punished? The one who expressed his/her thoughts? The one who agreed with them? Or the one who shared and spread the issue?

While the author of the Law said,

"We have to give the law a chance and see how it will be implemented. Only then will the loopholes and the gaps be identified and properly addressed. But as it is, I believe this law is a milestone for ICT in the country,"

So what would happen to someone who was charged during the law then was revised during his punishment? Would he be entitled to criminal record? What about the years/months or any charges filed against him?

If we wait for loopholes or gaps, then many will suffer before we realize what we’ve done wrong. That’s why, before passing a law/bill, it should be read and analyzed thousands of times.

A crime is a crime there is no doubt about that. But it wouldn’t hurt us to think about the innocent that will be affected.

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