Superb! (via The small picture - Views - livemint.com)
Quick guide to getting unlimited mobile internet plan in Philippines
In all my recent trips around Asia, I have managed to figure out ways to get unlimited 3G / GPRS working with prepaid sim right from the first day.
Philippines was a bit tricky, mostly because the operator’s don’t publicize their data plans that much. However, once I got it working, its been seamless and fast.
Here’s how.
- Get a SMART buddy prepaid SIM card (apparently Global works as well, but SMART has wider coverage). You can get one at the malls or the airport.
- It auto-activates, so you should be able to use it right away.
- Get a recharge card (see below).
- Dial *888 to get your account information
- Text ‘GPRS ON’ to 333 (and 211)
- To download the settings, you would have to know the exact phone model abbreviation - weird. Instead, just set your APN to ‘internet’
- Reboot your phone once if it doesn’t work right-away.
Now, here’s the catch - the surfing rates are extremely high with a normal plan. You may end up paying PHP 10,000 before you know it. I spent PHP 560 in a day with couple of hours of surfing.
The way around this is activating an unlimited data plan. Here’s how you do it -
Text ‘SURF’ to 211.
You would get a message back with details on unlimited surfing plans. Currently they are:
- Unli Surf Daily P50/day
- Unli Surf Weekly P300/week
- Unli Surf Monthly P1200/month
You would need the amount in your account before you can use one - so make sure you load up a bit of credit (you can buy at any seven-11 you see around).
Rejection letter to Kurt Vonnegut by Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
August 29, 1949
Dear Mr. Vonnegut:
We have been carrying out our usual summer house-cleaning of the manuscripts on our anxious bench and in the file, and among them I find the three papers which you have shown me as samples of your work. I am sincerely sorry that no one of them seems to us well adapted to for our purpose. Both the account of the bombing of Dresden and your article, “What’s a Fair Price for Golden Eggs?” have drawn commendation although neither one is quite compelling enough for final acceptance.
Our staff continues fully manned so I cannot hold out the hope of an editorial assignment, but I shall be glad to know that you have found a promising opening elsewhere.
Faithfully yours,
(Signed, ‘Edward Weeks’)
stories in my pocket - robert vijay gupta
@ INK Conference 2011 | inktalks.com
I close my eyes
And open my heart.
The music floats through the space
Between his inside
And mine.
His music brings me
Back to memories,
To childhood,
To the flowers I touched,
To the sunsets I kissed,
To the faces I’ve held.
The music brought me home.
In that space,
I connect with a man
I did not know but
Have come to know.
I go to strange places
I know.
Music speaks with the soul
If played from the soul.
His music is.
I need to get more lomos.
Canon camera advertisements from ‘78 to 91! Absolutely fabulous.
Hans Rosling and the magical washing machine. Superb!
(Source: ted.com)
Tablet Newspaper (1994) (by paleofuture)
Indian cinema, last ten years - Part 1
Its been raining incessantly for the last five days, which essentially implies house arrest. Apart from trudging with the dog to the ‘movie empire’, I have generally just spent hours on work, taxes, color correcting my film, sipping red wine and watching as much ‘Indian’ (and foreign) cinema as I possibly can.
Indian cinema is going through a new era of transformation, led by the highly stylized works of contemporary directors like Anurag Kashyap, or the superb productions by Aamir Khan’s production house, and recent works of well known directors like Hrituporno Ghosh.
Over the next few posts, I am going to list some of the Indian films of this decade that, I believe, are subtly transforming the industry into a space where creative films like Shaitaan can now get nationwide showings.
Directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dev D is his contemporary take on the famous Devdas novella originally written by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, and probably the most innovative adaption of the original tale. Superb.
Produced by Aamir Khan Productions, and directed by newcomer Abhinay Deo, this film reminds of the all-too-familiar ‘toilet explosion’ incident caused by the bellies too unaccustomed to Indian food. It might be just me, but its hard to comedy scripts this right.
Directed by Sudhir Mishra, the movie is set against the politically charged backdrop of 1970s India, during the time of the national emergency, and tells the story of three youngsters whose aspirations are intricately intertwined with the social upheavels of the time. Probably one of best depictions of the Naxalite movement I have seen on film.
(More in the next batch)…
Bangalore after four years
Quite a lot of stunning changes. The buses are great to sit and read in. The roads are drastically better. However, bars closing at eleven makes it a no go for survival.
