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Much has been said about the search for truth.

When I speak of truth, I’m not necessarily referring to some profound truth like the meaning of life, or some controversial truth in relation to politics or world events, like the truth behind the ZTE scandal (which we still don’t know) or the truth of whether there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or not (apparently there weren’t any). I’m talking about truth in general. Or as they used to say in the old tongue, veritas.

Is it just me or are there more...hmm...wait. ”Liar” is such an ugly word...I’ve always disliked the word “liar”, and its connotation of malicious dishonesty and deceit. Let’s instead use the term “insincere people”. Going back, is it me or are there more “insincere people” today than there ever was? The problem is, nowadays, people whether they realize it or not, hardly mean what they say anymore, and we see it everywhere, from the headlines on this morning’s newspaper, to friends, colleagues, superiors, peers, subordinates, contemporaries, lovers, ex-lovers, politicians and so on and so forth. Everyone seems to be lying to everyone else, as if it was ingrained into the very fabric of our society.

Why do people lie? Mostly to gain some sort of advantage. Knowing the truth is an advantage in itself in facing life’s myriad situations, and this advantage is apparently not something most of us are will to share, or give up.

The irony is, while there may be a surfeit of liars today, there’s a scarcity of really good ones. It’s one thing if a person lies to your face, but if that person lies to your face and you know or learn later on that that person is lying, it’s a bit pathetic. If a person is going to lie, that person should at least know how to lie without being caught. And if you’re a keen observer of human behavior, it really isn’t that difficult to tell when a person is lying or not.

Returning to the topic at hand, is honesty passé? Is telling the truth still considered virtuous when hardly anyone does it anymore?

Let’s take Jun Lozada as an example. Allegedly a victim of abduction by the police, and whistleblower for the alleged massive kickbacks in the stillborn National Broadband Network project, he has lost his former way of life, that is, his job, his friends in the bureaucracy, his privacy, his safety, his peace of mind. And for what? The ZTE-NBN issue has already been supplanted in people’s consciousness by other issues, led by the rising costs of fuel, power and food. Those he has named as participants and beneficiaries in the so-called conspiracy to defraud taxpayers of millions of pesos still roam free and sleep soundly at night, while he lays trapped, so to speak, within the confines of LaSalle Greenhills or some other safe house, his life before he testified before the Senate nothing more than a distant memory.

And what about the rice shortage? Anyone who’s anyone in government used to claim not so long ago that we don’t have a rice shortage, and yet, the price per kilo of rice is going through the roof, NFA rice is being rationed, and people are lining up everywhere just to buy the cheaper, government subsidized rice. The government has still maintained that there’s no such thing as a local rice crisis, a laughable declaration considering that this phenomenon is global, due to overpopulation and reduced yields.

Some people still insist that global warming is a myth, and yet, local temperatures are breaking previous highs. While the Earth may has a history of warming up and cooling down on its own, unchecked release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere have, for all intents and purposes, upset the delicate balance that our planet has enjoyed for thousands of years and accelerated climate change with results that can actually feel.

What is it with people today?

Has truth become some trivial and inconsequential that no one bothers seeking it anymore, much less speaking it? Are we as a people, as a race, so incapable of stating flatly what is instead of wrapping up truth in a web of deceit, lies, and confusion?

Are we by nature more deceitful than we are sincere?

Call me pessimistic and cynical, but somehow, it seems that way.

Quite a shame really, and worryingly so, if you really think about it.

Once we’ve crossed the line to the point of being comfortable with and even believing our own gross falsehoods, our own undoing becomes inevitable. Lies stack up on each other, creating even more lies, breeding suspicion and mistrust, and eventually manifests itself in the future as some destructive force which will remain a mystery to us until it is too late.

Man, by nature, is a social animal. One need not be a sociologist to imagine what long-term damage a surplus of lies and fabrications can do to man’s complex social structures.

History has shown us that civilizations and societies have fallen from ills, one way or another, emanating from man’s deceit. It has happened before. It will probably happen again.

It won’t happen overnight though. It may not even within our lifetimes, or our children’s children’s lifetimes. But trust me on this. We’re on our way unless we see the error of our ways.

Globe now offers its subscribers, both prepaid and postpaid, the option of choosing either per kilobyte charging (P0.15/KB) or time-based charging (P5/15 minutes) for its mobile internet services.

This is good news to Globe subscribers looking for an affordable way to surf the net via their mobile phones.

I'm a Globe subscriber, but I have a prepaid Smart mobile phone solely for the purpose of mobile web browsing. Smart offers mobile browsing via GPRS/3G at a rate of P10 per 30 minutes. Globe used to offer only per kilobyte charging at P0.15 per kilobyte, and if you're browsing one of those websites with lots of text, graphics or multimedia, billing charges can really add up.

While time-based charging is long overdue for Globe, after reading the fine print, I think I'll be sticking with Smart for my mobile browsing needs. While Globe presumably offers faster connections at up to HSDPA or 3.5G speeds (Smart only supports up to 3G speeds), and seemingly similar pricing schemes at P5 per 15 minutes, Globe doesn't charge per 15 minute block, unlike Smart which charges per 30 minute block. What this means is that if you log on the internet using your Globe mobile and you're disconnected even before your 15 minutes are up, reconnecting will cost you another P5. Smart charges in 30 minute blocks, so if you log in via Smart and get disconnected, reconnecting will not cost you as long as you reconnect within 30 minutes of your initial connection. If you reconnect more than 30 minutes after your initial connection, you're charged P10 for a fresh 30 minute block.

Compare for yourself:

From Globe's website:

*Time Browsing Rate is open to Globe Prepaid, Postpaid Consumer Accounts, SME and Corporate accounts. Not applicable to subscribers on Data Plans (i.e. Visibility). Time Browsing rate effective upon receipt of text confirmation. Succeeding connections will be charged P5 for 15 minutes. If disconnected within the 15 minutes, reconnection will be considered a new session charged at P5. No refund will be made if disconnected before the 15mins are up. Applicable to browsing within the Philippines only.

From Smart's website:

You will be charged P10 for every 30 minutes. To illustrate the 30-minute block metering, example:

Scenario 1:

Anna connects to the internet at 8:30, then disconnects at 8:50 (total of 20 minutes) -> consumption is already rounded off to 30 minutes (note: this is the first 30-minute block)

Scenario 2:

Anna connects to the internet at 8:30, then disconnects at 8:50 (total of 20 minutes), then reconnects again at 8:55 up to 9:00. (total of 5 minutes). Consumption is only counted as one block of 30-minute since this is within the first 30-minute block.

Scenario 3:

Anna connects to the internet at 8:30, then disconnects at 8:50 (total of 20 minutes), then reconnects again at 8:55 up to 9:05 (total of 10 minutes) -> consumption is already counted as two (2) blocks of 30-minutes, wherein:

usage from 8:30 to 8:50, then 8:55 to 9:00 is for the first 30-minute block (note: that this is the first 30-minute block)
usage from 9:01 to 9:05 is for the second 30-minute block.

All in all, Globe's offering may not be perfect, but is still a welcome change from their archaic per kilobyte system. Whether it's right for you, or whether or not it's a better deal than what Smart is offering, you decide.

It's a good thing market competition is still alive and kicking.

Iba't ibang makahulugang SIGNS:

1. BAWAL OMEHI DITO. ANG MAHOLI BOG-BOG TSAKA MULTA P1000

2. DON'T PARKING

3. WANTED BOY WAITRESS

4. PONKAN: 5 PESOS PER EACH

5. SWEAT CORN. MAY LUTO

6. UKAY-UKAY. MORE ON THE 2ND FLOOR UPSTAIRS

7. SORRY WE'RE CLOSE. LUNCH BRAKE

8. NO URINATING OVER THE WALLS

9. TOL BOX

10. WE REFAIR ELECTRIC PAN

11. BUY ONE, TAKE HOME

Forwarded via SMS.

Ever since I was young, I was always taught that if you do good things, good things will happen to you. As the old adage goes, “As you sow so shall you reap”.

For years I have tried my best to live by this philosophy, always trying to do the right thing and at the same time being wary of fate’s retribution should I stray for even a moment from the straight and proper, destiny’s payback, or what we often refer to as karma.

It is ironic though, that despite my efforts to avoid doing the wrong thing, success, or at least my personal visions of it, has been somewhat elusive.

Don’t get me wrong, I have had a lot of blessings through the years for which I am grateful. I’m reasonably well-educated, I have what qualifies to most as a well paying job, I get to pay all of the bills and still have a little left over, I have a happy and healthy son who’s doing well in school, I have my parents and siblings, and I have my health, despite occasional bouts of hypochondria.

But like everyone else, I tend to notice the things that are absent in my life, the same way you notice a missing piece in a huge jigsaw puzzle. You may have all the other pieces, but somehow, it doesn’t take away the fact that there’s still a gaping hole somewhere in the picture.

And I have lots of holes. Okay, maybe not that many if you really think about it, but if you’ve ever spent time solving a jigsaw puzzle, you soon realize that even a single missing piece is enough to ruin the experience.

I won’t go through the details of each and every one, lest I come across as an insatiable and thankless ingrate for the things that I do have that many other people don’t, but sometimes, in the back of my mind, I ask myself what it is I have done to deserve the absence of certain pieces in my jigsaw puzzle.

I’m well aware that I am not perfect, that I have screwed up a lot of things in my life, and made a lot of bad decisions, but then again, all of us have, at one time or another. What lifts me up though, is the realization that despite everything that has happened, both good and bad, I have, at least in my own estimation, remained "good", and have for the most part avoided doing anything truly "evil". Of course, this is all relative, since what is good for one may be considered evil by another. The point is, I have tried to remain true to myself, avoided as much as possible the prospect of deliberately causing pain or harm to other people, and refrained from activities which would grant me opportunities for gain at the expense of other people. At the end of the day though, I really don’t have much to show for it except for the altruistic sense of satisfaction that I haven’t turned to the dark side.

But in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?

I have seen people get ahead in life by stepping over anyone and everyone who get in their way. I have seen people resort to all sorts of dirty tactics in order to get what they want. I have seen people cheat and lie their way to success. No doubt you’ve seen your share of such people as well. We often console ourselves with the thought that someday, karma will catch up with them, but other than the rules we have imposed on ourselves by virtue of human laws, morality, religion, or some other abstract sentimentality, there doesn’t seem to be any natural precept which punishes anyone or anything for being “evil”. Speaking purely from a natural sense, nothing in nature is truly “evil” or truly “good”. It just is. “Good” and “evil” can be considered nothing more than labels which we have adhered to things in our realms of existence in an attempt to anthromorphize and rationalize everything we see around us.

A lion eating a deer is no more or less evil than say, a deer eating grass, or arguably, a hunter shooting down a lion (despite the fact that it may be illegal if it’s in a protected wilderness area). It’s just the way things are. Nature is a cycle, and every living thing no matter how big or small is part of that cycle. Then there's Darwin's theory of evolution. Weak things give way to stronger things. Survival of the fittest.

Perhaps it’s the same with our lives. Maybe nothing is truly evil. We just do whatever it is we need to do in order to get ahead. I don’t know. It may be true, but somehow, I am not really comfortable with that prospect. I’d like to think that as human beings, we are above the amorality of nature, that we have a sense of what is good, and what is not. That’s why we have advanced to the point of developing laws, philosophies, morals and religion, in order to reinforce our concepts and beliefs of what is right and wrong. We have to accept though, that there are some of us choose to ignore these rules and instead choose to do what is necessary to get ahead. Does that make them evil?

It really depends on your point of view.

And what you’re comfortable with.

Maybe, just maybe...I have to start doing what's necessary. Or at the very least find something else to do.

A boss wondered why one of his most valued employees had not phoned in sick one day. Having an urgent problem with one of the main computers, he dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper. ' Hello ? '

'Is your daddy home?' he asked.

' Yes ,' whispered the small voice.

May I talk with him?'

The child whispered, 'No .'

Surprised and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, 'Is your Mommy there?'

' Yes .'

'May I talk with her?'

Again the small voice whispered, 'No .'

Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, 'Is there anybody else there?'

' Yes ,' whispered the child, ' a policeman '.

Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, 'May I speak with the policeman?'

' No, he's busy ', whispered the child.

'Busy doing what?'

' Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman ,' came the whispered answer.

Growing more worried as he heard a loud noise in the background through the earpiece on the phone, the boss asked, 'What is that noise?'

' A helicopter ' answered the whispering voice.

'What is going on there?' demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.

Again, whispering, the child answered, ' The search team just landed a helicopter .'

Alarmed, concerned and a little frustrated the boss asked, 'What are they searching for?'

Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle... ' ME!’

Another one from my inbox. :-)

An excerpt...

When everybody on earth was dead and waiting to enter Paradise, God appeared and said, "I want the men to make two lines. One line for the men who were true heads of their household, and the other line for the men who were dominated by their women. I want all the women to report to St. Peter."

Soon, the women were gone, and there were two lines of men. The line of the men who were dominated by their wives was 100 miles long, and in the line of men who truly were heads of their household, there was only one man.

God said, "You men should be ashamed of yourselves, I created you to be the head of your household! You have been disobedient and have not fulfilled your purpose! Of all of you, only one obeyed. Learn from him."

God turned to the one man, "How did you manage to be the only one in this line?"

The man replied, "My wife told me to stand here."

From my inbox. :-)

In the past I've posted a number of more or less scathing entries regarding e-Games' support (or lack thereof) for the the popular local MMORPG RAN Online. It's been several months, but I have to hand it to them. The service has indeed improved a lot. It's still nowhere the level of service I would like to expect from them, but compared to the dismal performance they have been showing not so long ago, the playing experience has definitely changed for the better.

Gone but not missed is the dreaded connection error dialogue box.

It's been months since I last encountered a user's account is being connected error message.

The number of disconnections that I have experienced lately has dropped significantly.

"Server resets", that is, when everyone logged in is abruptly disconnected when the server is full to capacity, are things of the past.

The missing EXP events seem to have disappeared as well.

I'm not in a position to state whether or not all players have enjoyed these improvements, but I can say with certainty that at least from my vantage point, the gameplay has graduated from being merely "tolerable" to actually being "enjoyable". Given the dismal state Ran Online was in a few months ago, this represents a huge leap for them.

Of course some things never change.

Lag, for instance, can never be really totally eliminated, particularly during peak hours since network conditions are highly variable both on the server and client side. I still see a number of partymates get disconnected now and then, in all likelihood due to gaming cafes connecting as many clients as they can to a single broadband connection.

I haven't had any recent experiences with e-Games' helpdesk facilities as of late though, so I really can't say if the quality of support provided by helpdesk personnel has improved, or if their issue resolution response times have been reduced.

Of course, there is still e-Game's penchant for adopting schemes that maximize its profit margin. For example, they have driven up demand for 3x EXP Ultima Rosaries by virtually eliminating 3x EXP events. Such schemes don't really come as a surprise, though. Business is business, as they say.

It's probably worth taking note that I haven't been playing the game as often as I used to, since nowadays I only play about once a week or perhaps twice a week at most. On other days I usually just keep a vendor minimized in the background. So I guess it's possible that the reason I haven't been experiencing many problems lately is because I haven't been playing much at all.

But all things considered, it can be safely conceded that there has indeed been an improvement in RAN Online's quality of service and gameplay.

Who knows? Maybe they got tired of the sea of complaints and finally decided to get their act together. Maybe some of the complaints even got into the hands of some government bureaucrat or politician who's in a position to pressure e-Games to resolve the complaints leveled against it. Your guess is as good as mine. The main thing is, the service and support has improved, and whether its a huge or small improvement, it's still good news to us Ran Online players.

Hopefully, e-Games will be able to sustain this, and that this recent turn of good luck as far as us players are concerned isn't just a fluke or one-off.

Only time will tell though.