IS THE iPhone REALLY WORTH THE HYPE?

I have to admit, I love how the iPhone looks. The design is uncluttered -- streamlined. It's got fun features. But is it really worth the hype that it has generated? That I do not know. Yet. But based from the specs and reviews I have been reading about in several websites, it might not be as great a device that some consumers think it is.

It would be very likely that a trendsetting "techie"-slash-fashionista (ugh) here in the Philippines, who's got the money to burn, would gladly, willingly, shell out $500 - $600 just so he/she could be among the very first to have this device.

600 bucks? I could buy a laptop or a PS3 with that amount, which I'd likely get to use more often. Or I could get myself some more, already-hard-to-find Sigma 6's, and some 25th Anniversary GI Joes. Or a Lance Armstrong Oakley Radar and a pair of Oakley Standard Issue Assault Boots.

So, what's my verdict on this device? I'd prefer to wait. And here are some reasons why:

4Gb: $500. 8Gb: $600. The 8Gb will only hold about 2,000 songs and a handful of videos and full-length movies. If you're thinking this would replace your iPod, think again. And I've read that at the moment, it's only available thru AT&T (in the US). So you have to buy this at full price, plus sign a two-year contract - the cheapest plan: $60 for 450 minutes, plus an additional $36 for the activation. So, for two years, that's close to spending $2,000 just for the service. And if one thinks that the iPhone can be used without service, Apple's website states that the two-year agreement is required for activation which includes iPhone's features.

The iPhone does not run on a 3G network. It runs on the slower EDGE network. A comparable phone like the Treo 750 ($199 with a two-year contract) runs on 3G. I've also read that it does not have the ability to sync with corporate internal email systems, lacks a keyboard, and there are reservations regarding battery life. And the fact that it's still a first generation gadget, justifies my decision to wait -- and wait long enough: the iPhone will only be available in Asia by next year -- let's just hope Apple has improved this product by then.

WHY PLASTICS YELLOW

I'm reposting an article originally written in about.com by Matt Guzy, about why action figures discolor and even turn brittle, when they get old:

While there's been formal research done on the topic, it's going to be tough to find. I don't know what kind of library you have around you, but any book on polymer photodegradation should give you some basic info, which is what I'll try to do here. But I have to point out that its a complicated issue. I don't know what specific polymer figures are made of. I can make a guess, but well, I won't. I do know that different materials are used for different parts of figures, for example, the torso and limbs of POTF2 figures are different polymers. Same goes for vintage too, I think. I tried getting some information on this out of a few companies for a column I'd like to write, but they aren't sharing. Without that information I can't give you specific references, sorry.

Ok, quick crash course in polymer chemistry. Polymers are large molecules that are made up of many units of a smaller molecule, the monomer. And I mean large, polymers can have thousands and thousands of these units in a chain. What your figures are made of is a mixture of a polymer (or more than one) and a bunch of additives. For example there's probably a UV-absorber (I'll get back to this), plasticizer (same here), unreacted catalyst, short chains of polymer, and unreacted monomers. These aren't simple materials, and the properties of the material are governed in part by this mixture of components.

Alright...moving on to photodegradation. Most people will say keep your toys out of direct sunlight and that's totally right. In fact, that's what causes the discoloration in vintage StormTroopers and Snow Job. This discoloration is the effect of interactions of the material and UV-radiation (light, but the UV wavelength range is the problem-causing area). In both cases there, a piece of the polymer molecule is broken off of the main chain and creates a free radical. These free radicals cause all sorts of problems. Damage may be manifest through discoloration, chalking, blistering, brittleness, loss of strength, warping and cracking. What I'm saying is that there's a whole lot going on. I think that the discoloration that occurs results from a change in the electronic structure of the polymer backbone, which will change its absorbance spectrum and its color, but don't hold me to that.

What polymer chemists do is add materials to the polymer blends to prevent this. That's where the UV-absorbers come in. These chemicals gobble up the radicals that are produced, preventing them from reacting on their own. But these materials can only prolong the life of the polymers, not extend them indefinately. But if you keep the figs out of direct sunlight newer figures should last a long, long time. Polymer technologies have come a long way in 20 years, and we get to take advantage of that.

People also say not to smoke around toys... but that's just a stain, not anything chemical.

Ok... one last thing. A word about plasticizers. Actually quite a few words about plasticizers. Firstly they're materials that are added to polymers to make them more flexible and easily processible (the injection molding step for example). You know that smell when you open a McFarlane figure? That's plasticizer. New car smell? Plasticizer. In time and with exposure to heat, plasticizer will evaporate out of the material...as my car's dash will support. The loss of plasticizer causes materials to become more brittle and rigid.

Wrapping this up... you don't need to worry about your figures turning into a puddle of goo. Unless you melt them, which I don't suggest because that can kill you. There is genuine concern regarding discoloration, but if you keep your figures out of direct sunlight they'll last a long time.

CAR SHOW, MARCH 2007

I attended a car show last March 2007. Here are some of the cool cars that were on display:

Ferrari 575M Maranello

Ferrari F430

Ford GT40Nissan Skyline GT-RPorsche (forgot which model this one was, though)

And, the cream of the crop (for me at least): Lamborghini Gallardo

Here's my pic taken with the Gallardo. I had to sneak myself in 'coz they weren't really letting the people get near the cars. I can't really blame 'em though. I'd be fuming mad myself, if this were mine and I find out that the paint/glass/etc. has been scratched by an exhibit attendee while trying to get his/her pic taken alongside the car.

I just wished that they laid a neutral carpet color for this exhibit. The bright red carpet was too strong a color, and made some of the cars seem to be a part of the floor rather than stand out (like the Ferraris).

I didn't have time to take pics of the girls in the car show, though -- I was too busy ogling the Gallardo. *lol*

LOL! CATS!

I just recently discovered this funny cat macro while mindlessly surfing the Web. Some really hilarious posts, worth checking out on one's spare time. For cat persons only.

PERSONAL COLLECTION #1: GI JOE Sigma 6 8" NightOps Snake Eyes

After so much deliberation, I finally gave in and purchased my very first 8-inch G.I. Joe figure, late last February. Feeling traumatized all these years for having sold my 60+-piece 3.75" GI Joe figs -- which was a stupidly desperate decision on my part -- I had promised myself that I would never get into another Joe collection.

And so I find myself wandering off to a hobby shop in a mall close to where I live, and finding this on the pegs. NightOps Snake Eyes. I initially resisted the urge to get this, since I was still in my Tamiya Mini4WD phase and I had already burned a lot of cash for those little buggers. After admitting to myself that the local Mini4WD scene has been, to put it nicely, "so-so", with the lack of any nearby tracks to test my car setups and race events that always contradict with my work schedule, I decided to get this one. Just this one. Shyeeahhhh riiiight.

What drew me into buying this - aside from the reason that Snake Eyes had always been my favorite character in the JoeVerse - was its 27 points of articulation (did I count that correctly?). And while 3.75" purists and 6" purists might be bashing this line due to it's size, I thought it was a cool concept -- not that I abhor 3.75" nowadays (hey, it's all good to me -- 2.5", 3.75", 6", 8", even 12" or bigger! As long as I like the figure, I'll definitely be getting it), but if I were to look for and buy back each and every one of those figures I sold, I would have to subsist on noodles, handwashing my laundry, and no cellphone service for a year or so.

What I had to get used to, was how these figures were sculpted. The Sigma 6 line has a distinct anime-like style, so one will see angled muscles and bowling ball shoulders as the norm. Another thing I noticed was how Snake Eyes seemed to be anorexic compared to his 3.75" versions where he was somewhat muscular.

For his accessories, he comes with two grenades, a mini-whipstar, a webgear that doubles as a sword sheath at the back, grappling hook, a sword which has a retractable blade underneath the handle, and cool NV goggles.

Disappointingly, his main weapon is a spring-loaded rocket launcher whose barrel can be tilted 90 degrees either left or right. On the outset, I thought that its sideways-firing capability was silly until I remembered that there's already an actual 'bendable' weapon designed for and used by SWAT and special forces.

So what's my verdict? For it's price (Soldier class, which is about US$7.00) and the fact that this is my first Sigma 6 toy, this is a very respectable product.

REMEMBERING KATE JHIN

06.24: Should have been your 25th. Today you celebrate it with God and His angels. Happy Birthday my personal angel.

ALL DONE!

Took a picture of the two hard-to-find Lt. Stone figures, which were to be sent to a friend in Bedford, PA. I had to remove the batteries since the shipping couriers nowadays are being very careful - to the point of being paranoid, IMO - ever since that 9/11 thing happened.

So I finally got down to resealing them in clear tape and wrapping them in bubblewrap, only to find out from the local DHL outlet that they need to OPEN THE PACKAGE FOR INSPECTION.

And since I found out that it would cost me more to ship them over to Pennsylvania in their original, bulky boxes, I finally conceded and had to undo everything I've done with my packaging job. Luckily, I found a box to fit those Lt. Stones in, and finally got them shipped over to Amy in Bedford.

I now await the items she's traded for those Lt. Stones.

You know what? I forgot to get a Lt. Stone figure for my own.

THE FIRST POST

Welcome to the blog!

I haven't been much of a blogger, nor do I always have something in mind to post up even though it wanders freely in thought most of the time. But I finally decided to put one up, and as of this moment I do not know which direction this blog will head to. Perhaps personal thoughts on events and other stuff. Maybe some announcements here and there. Could even be about things that piss me off. *Lol*

Whatever they will be, one thing for sure is that it's all going to be random. One might like a post I've put up, while another person might think it's all too boring. But hey, I can't please everybody everytime.