Meralco refund

I was pleasantly surprised to see my Meralco bill for the month of April was less than 1K php. Normally, this time of year, it should be close to 2K php. Careful examination of the document revealed that this is due to the Meralco refund of the overcharge late last year that was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court. "Overcharge" is too kind a word, let me rephrase that, Meralco returned the money they tried to steal last December because they got caught red handed, there, that's more like it. This is not the first time that this thieving company was caught trying to steal from the public and sadly it won't be the last. Maybe some bright lawyer out there can file criminal charges against the Meralco execs to teach them a lesson.

Smartbro Pocket Wifi

I have been testing SmartBro's pocket wifi for about a week now. And as a device, I find it very useful and convenient. It's about the size and weight of an old Nokia phone, and has it's own independent power source (i.e. battery) and therefore quite convenient if you're on the move. This little gadget can sniff out Smart's broadband signal even in places where the old SmartBro USB stick can not, and this without the hassle of putting up a canopy or anything of the sort.

First four days at home and the pocket wifi was clocking at over 4 mbps! It was advertised as "up to 7 mbps" so 4 mbps within the Metro Manila area seems fair enough. At almost 2K Php, it's definitely a good buy.

Oh except for one issue, and I found about it, ironically, because the pocket wifi did clock at an almost constant 4 mbps the first four days of my seven day unlisurf load.

Fifth day of the seven day unlisurf load, and the pocket wifi was down to 200 kbps tops. So I called *888 (smart tech support) and reported the issue. Each time  I called (I called three times) I get an immediate speed boost -- for about an hour or so and then it's back to 200 kbps or so. So I Google searched, and there I heard rumors of this mythical creature called the "Fair Usage Policy". While Smart has admitted to the existence of such a policy, they remain cryptic about the details of this creature -- how much is the cap? Talk about fine print! You need to be a psychic now, I guess. Just how fair is the "Fair Usage Policy" if Smart can not talk about it? Fine print using invisible ink, yeah, Smart, that seems fair!

Is Smart trying to kill it's post-paid business?

I have never bothered with the hassle of applying for a postpaid contract with an ISP provider. I have always been a prepaid subscriber of either Smart Bro or Globe Tattoo, depending on where I am currently residing, whether it is Smart or Globe territory. While prepaid services can be as much as 20 percent more expensive as postpaid, the appeal is the convenience of no long term contract. I hate you today, I'm moving on to another ISP. I don't even have to text or call you. We are done. It is as simple as that. That's the beauty of prepaid.

So what would be the advantage of postpaid? That it is cheaper or was cheaper -- for Smart, at least. With Smart's new pricing scheme for the Smart Bro UNLISURF packages, prepaid is now the same price as postpaid. 1 month service is 995 Php, 15 days is 500 Php, and 7 days is 250 Php. That being the new pricing scheme of Smart, I am thinking, why would anyone want a postpaid contract with Smart now? What's the value in that?

The only logical answer is that Smart is moving it's business from postpaid to prepaid. It saves them the hassle of collecting the monthly payments. Prepaid is convenient not only for the consumers but even for the providers. It makes perfect sense.

Iwata Evaporative Cooler

I bought my Iwata evaporative cooler, summer of last year, so this is a product review after one year or so of use.

First of all, after one year, my evaporative cooler is still working. I had been warned by some people that these coolers are fragile gizmos, prone to breakage and malfunction. Mine is working perfectly after one year use.

But do evaporative coolers work in the first place? Yes and no. If you are looking for an air conditioner, air coolers are definitely NOT the way to go. But if you are looking for a cheap way to cool off without having to pay the high price of electricity of an AC unit, you have to lower your expectations. My evaporative cooler is on the higher-end of the spectrum at around 6K Php but still, in no way comparable to an airconditioner.

But better than a fan at least? Definitely so. Just using unchilled water straight from the faucet will lower the temperature of the air being blown by the cooler to around 28 degrees Celsius. If you add 2 pieces of the 3 peso ice blocks you can buy from the sari-sari store, and the temperature will drop to as low as 22 degrees for about 3 hours depending on how hot the ambient temperature is.

So summertime, before going to bed, I load up my cooler with water and  2 to 3 pieces of  sari-sari store ice, then I am set for the night. By the time the ice effect is lost, it would be around 11 pm at night and the ambient temperature will be cool enough anyway. So yeah, it is a pretty good appliance if you ask me. Just know what you are buying -- it is NOT an air conditioner, it is rather inconvenient loading the thing with water and ice, and electric consumption is comparable to running two traditional electric fans.

Be a Human Call Reviewer

I just got paid 12 USD for reviewing phone calls for Humanatic. This is my first PayPal payout from this new online income stream. The job is as simple as simple can be. You work in your computer from home, you listen to phone calls -- I am currently reviewing phone calls to a car dealership somewhere in Texas, USA, and you just tag or label the conversation according to the definitions supplied to you by the system. Easy enough.

But it takes a lot of patience. Payout for one phone call reviewed is just 2 US cents (amounts vary depending on what calls you review). And it takes around 30 seconds, on average, to properly label a call -- of course, while listening to calls, I'm on another tab reading internet stuff, reason I am a bit slow.  So, in an hour, I make around 1.20 USD. And of course, if you are in the Philippines like me, it means that calls start coming in around 10 PM and ends at around 8 AM. So if you intend to make it to the leaderboard, some people actually make more than 30 USD, you have to stay up all night listening to calls.

So in conclusion, the site Humanatic.com is legit. They will pay you. You will earn based on your output. So it's a pretty solid income stream.