SKK Chronos Ace Plus Product Review

Purchased a new smartphone a few days ago since my old one was having problems with the battery. The SKK Chronos Ace Plus was the closest product with specs similar to my old phone but at two-third's of my old phone's price. Moore's law is at work - at least with mobile phones.

Here's the specs for the SKK Chronos Plus based on the CPU-Z app from Google Play

Display: 4.59-inch 720 x 1280 pixels 320 dpi
Chipset: Mediatek MT6580
CPU: 1.3GHz Quad-core
GPU: Mali-400 MP graphics
RAM: 1976 MB
Memory: 5.12 GB internal storage
Main camera: 13 MP (rear)
Front camera: 5 MP
Connectivity: 3G/HSPA+, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS
Freebies: Smartphone case
Ports: microUSB
Android Version: 6.0 Marshmallow

So far, I've installed most of the apps I've been using like Clash Royale, Chrome, Kaspersky, etc. and these are working fine. There has been a time when the phone restarted and seemed to be stuck at the SKK logo for a long time. (This was quite a scare since the phone is just 3-days out of the box) I just long-pressed the power button and the phone was able to shut down. I restarted it and it seems to be working fine. I guess this is something I have to watch out for.

If you're a gamer, the battery will probably be drained in one to two hours so you'll find yourself recharging every few hours. But if you aren't using the phone for anything graphics intensive, a fully charged battery should last you an entire day.

The fact that the phone comes with its own case is a bit neat since it is hard to find a case for most unknown brands at phone-accessory shops. The phone has a light sensor near the front camera and when you close the case (eliminating light), the display changes to a clock which shows through the case hole.

The phone also comes with its own charger and ear phones. The manual could have been done better. There isn't even a diagram for the different parts of the phone. But I guess it is assumed that most people nowadays know their phone basics.

Anyway, at 2699 pesos, I can't complain (not yet). I've ran into an SKK page where there are customers who are dissatisfied with SKK products, calling these the worst smartphones and tablets in the Philippine market. But I hope I don't end up being one of them. If the phone lasts as long as my old smartphone did (1 year and a half), then I would say that I've gotten my money's worth out of it. I guess I'll be updating this post based on how the phone performs. Till then.

Bulging Battery on Coby CMP500 Nitrox

Coby CMP500 Nitrox

My Coby CMP500 Nitrox has served me well for almost a year and six months. But lately, it would power off on its own despite the battery charge still being above 60%. So I decided to check the battery by opening up the case.

CMP500 with the battery removed

I'm not sure if you can notice it, but the battery is bulging.

Slight bulge in the left side of the battery

When I checked the shop at SM North Edsa Annex where I purchased the unit, they said that they did not have available batteries with them. Their repair center in Manila probably has one, but it would cost around 800 pesos or roughly 20% of the original price of the unit. But with newer models from other brands costing only about 3 times that amount, I did not think replacing the battery made any sense if the unit would conk out soon enough.

Thank you Coby for a year and a half worth of service. But with unavailability of immediate service and replacement parts, you'll probably find yourself losing potentially loyal customers to new competition.

The Current State of Alteil in 2016

Alteil until now remains for me as one of the best card battle games available online. They have made significant improvements since they transitioned from a Flash based game to Html 5. I have now been able to play and finish games against both AI and human players compared to matches I've tried about two years ago when the transition began. It has been a slow process, but given the limited resources of the team behind the game, it is actually amazing that the game has been kept alive after all these years, considering I was already playing this game since 2008.

While there are still some random bugs, overall, the game is now playable. You might have to wait a long time since the images for the cards are cached in your browser. If you have a single deck for your card collection, the wait time might not be that long, but if you've amassed cards from the 1st set up to set 13, then you can imagine how long it will take to store all the card images on your device. But after the first time you do this, successive logins should be quick to load.

There are many ways to acquire cards even in this new version of Alteil. There are single player quests that can award a new player 1-star to 3-star cards upon the completion of a quest. Card rarities range from 1-star to 5-stars (rarest). There are also EX-cards that can be considered like 5-stars and are available for purchase during certain events or occasions. There is also the Free Daily Lotto that awards a player a single random card if the player has participated in a match with an AI or human that has at least ten turns. Winning against human players will also sometimes give the player a card for a prize, as well as materials for card crafting. I haven't really tried crafting yet, because the results seem to be random. But there are a few players who are trying to build a database / guide of materials that will result in certain cards on a consistent basis. I hope they succeed. And finally, you still get a card for every 10 levels you achieve in your rank. But it no longer gives you four choices like the old Alteil used to. (I think new players will still appreciate being given a choice from four cards from each primary sphere since when you are starting out, you initially chose a deck built around a certain sphere.) Point cards are still available. These are special cards which you can exchange for a card of your choice depending on the card rarity minimum. 1-star cards are worth 10 point cards while a 5-star card is worth 50 point cards, if I remember correctly.

Mirage Master is gone. This memory game used to be the most viable way of earning gran, one of Alteil's currencies. Now, you earn FM or fight money for every match against a human opponent. I used to use FM for purchasing avatar related items. I think that FM can also be used to purchase cards, but I haven't really tried it yet. As a point of comparison, I think that you will have to amass a lot of FM compared to gran to buy the same card. Only Premium players can sell cards now. To be a premium player means paying for membership. In the past, you could actually sell a card in exchange for gran. That means that if you had a fourth copy of a certain card, which you no longer need, you could at least recycle this copy in exchange for gran. Now, you can still try to sell these cards, but you sell them to fellow players, no longer to a recycling machine. So, it is possible that the card is stuck in the store since no one wants to buy it, especially if it is a common card. I hope that they bring back recycling so that fourth copies of cards, or cards that I don't plan on using since they are not part of the sphere I'm concentrated on could be exchanged for useful gran.

I greatly appreciate the number of ways you can win in this game. There are many different types of decks you can build. There are many different strategies for winning. That is why there are still players who have stayed loyal to this game all throughout the years. A player could be using a discarder (a strategy that diminishes the amount of cards that a player can draw from his card pile) on his first match, and an energy-drain deck on another (a strategy that prevents a user from putting cards into play since each card requires a certain amount of energy). Another player could use a deck that uses small fast units while another could rely on a single unit that wipes out most units on the field. Alteil is filled with variety, and even now, I'm surprised to see new strategies after playing this game for such a long time. (Yes, I'm talking about you Kraken users) Other card battle games, say like Clash Royale are pretty much one dimensional. And the player who can send out units the fastest will more likely win. But Alteil is like a chess match. You have to think about your moves from the first turn up to the last. Otherwise, you will lose to a well prepared player who built a deck out of common cards even though your deck is stuffed with rare cards. Card synergy, timing, and creativity are necessary for playing a masterful match.

There are currently about 5 to 15 players who are active daily. I wish more players played this game. A growing user base is necessary for a game to succeed. There are plans to roll out the game in Steam and also as a mobile app and I hope that it happens soon and it succeeds.

There are still a lot of things I could discuss about this game, but it is best for a person to try it out himself/herself. Perhaps then, you too will discover this gem of a game called Alteil. 

Limited Connectivity and DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG

Laptop was unable to connect to the Internet but mobile phones and the PC were connected. Laptop internet connection indicated "Limited Connectivity". The browser would also indicate the following: DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_BAD_CONFIG

Followed a lot of advice online but no go. Finally landed on the following page:

http://appuals.com/best-fix-steps-fix-dns_probe_finished_bad_config/

So far, it worked.

To summarize, first, run ipconfig /flushdns on a command prompt.

Second, set the wifi network adapter's IPv4 settings as follows:

Preferred DNS SERVER: 8.8.8.8
Alternate DNS SERVER 8.8.4.4

On hindsight, changing the power management options for the laptop's wifi connectivity to Maximum Performance may have helped, too. It seems that when the laptop is under battery power, it disables the Internet connection to preserve battery power when it only has a charge below 50% remaining. Make sure that the laptop is connected to the charger and is connected to the power outlet to avoid being hampered by this issue during troubleshooting.

Addendum:
Three days after posting this, my PC lost its internet connection while undergoing an update on AVG antivirus. I have a suspicion that the same thing happened to the laptop which is why it lost its internet connection. Aside from the commands above, the following have been useful in troubleshooting.

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
netsh winsock reset

Lea by Toto Guitar Chords

Here's a really cool song by Toto. Hope you like my chord attempt at the song. Enjoy!

Intro: 
AM7 - B - AM7 - B (x2)

Stanza Pattern:
 E                 EM7       AM7        Bsus - B
Here's to the few who fared my love
 E        EM7    AM7     DM7
Only for you I care my love
 C#m7         G#m7        AM7           Bsus - B
I've given it hope and I know it's only you
              F#m       Bsus - B
                            Encased in silence

Use Stanza Pattern:
Here's to the you who saved my love
Only to you I gave my love
I've given it thought and it's not all that appears
(4th line is just silence so still play like above Encased in silence part)

Refrain:
E - EM7 - E - EM7            C#m7        AM7
Lea, how long will you still want me to want you
        Bsus - B
In and around you
E - EM7 - E - EM7                  C#m7       AM7
Lea my concertina will you still want me to want you
        Bsus - B
(another silent line but play like the previous refrain pattern)

Use Stanza Pattern:
Here's to the you who dared my love
Only with you I shared my love
I've given it thought and it's not
All that appears            so I'm asking

Use Refrain Pattern:
Lea, how long will you still want me to want you
In and around you
Lea my concertina will you still want me to want you

Bridge:
DM7          AM7
Who cares what the cynics say
F#m       Bsus - B
I care if only you're on your way
E            C#m7 - AM7 - B         F#m   Bsus - B
My Lea, don't let the same be true

Fade out:
E                         C#m7         AM7
Lea, do you still want me to want you (repeat as many times as you want)

Online Food Delivery

If you don't have access to a landline, it can be difficult to call a food delivery service. It's a good thing that the following restaurants and fast food chains have an online ordering service. Once you register, using your login credentials should allow for easy re-ordering.

• Chowking http://chowkingdelivery.com/customer/account/login/
• Goldilocks http://www.goldilocksdelivery.com.ph/login
• Greenwich Pizza http://greenwichdelivery.com/
• Jollibee http://jollibeedelivery.com/customer/account/login/
• KFC https://www.kfcdelivery.com.ph/
• McDonalds https://mcdonalds.com.ph/mcdelivery/registration
• Pizzahut https://order.pizzahut.com.ph/en/frontend/home#
• Shakeys https://www.shakeyspizza.ph/order.asp?mode=delivery

Letter Calling for Ernest L. Cu's Resignation as Globe CEO

Since Globe customer service can't or refuses to give Mr. Cu's contact information, I will publish this letter in the hopes that this message reaches him.

Mr. Ernest L. Cu,

Globe's customer service, as a whole, is poor. My family has been with with Bayantel for more than 10 years and we have not encountered the type of service your agents have exhibited today. I called up the Globe customer service hotline at 4121212 at around 4 pm and first encountered an agent named Bea Morales. I asked to speak to her supervisor regarding a recurring issue, but after waiting to speak to her supervisor, the call was dropped.

I called up again, this time, speaking to a John De Leon. I asked for his supervisor, Mark Reyes. I asked for Mr. Reyes' supervisor, Lucas Pantanilla, but after waiting for a long time, my call ended back in the Globe telephone queue where you are asked to input numbers to get to the right department.

During the third call, I spoke with a Menchi Delmore. Her supervisor was Mirasol Llamera. While Menchi's handling of the call was excellent, I am still disappointed at the way Globe has handled my concern. If I asked to speak to a Bayantel supervisor in the past, my request was accommodated.

Sometimes, someone more seasoned is needed to understand why a recurring issue remains unresolved.

Please improve your services. Otherwise, please resign from your post as CEO and give the job to someone else who can do better instead of allowing Globe's reputation to remain in the gutter.