I was in shock upon hearing the news of the death of Pamana (or Legacy), a critically-endangered Philippine Eagle, who was found shot dead in the Mt. Hamiguitan at Davao Oriental weeks after she was released in the wild. Although the locals are said to be “committed” to protect the area as it homes to an astonishing diversity of species, including at least 10 Philippine Eagle. But still, incident such as the killing of Pamana occurred. 

Photo credit to: Manila Bulletin

It’s a sad day for us Filipino to know that Pamana is now dead, Philippine Eagle is the nation’s national bird and their number is declining due to deforestation and wild-life hunting which is still prevalent in this country inspite of increased awareness of the endangered species. People may wonder, “what’s the value of an endangered species?” While the answer may vary in different perspective but one thing I know for sure; through their instincts they play an important role to balance the nature in which human race absolutely rely on, is all.

What I fear is when time comes that a great number of species would suddenly disappear on this planet and when people realizes their significance but it’s all too late. It’s never impossible, though I’m probably dead by then, so why do I care? If your selfishness has reached to the point of not valuing the welfare of others and of the future generations, then I guess you are nothing but nothing. Unless if you’re a bee, but you’re not.

The other day I took an afternoon nap since I’ve been awake for like 20 hours straight, depriving my body to have its appropriate rest time, but I don’t usually sleep during afternoon because I can’t go to bed early at night. So before I went to sleep I set alarm on my phone giving me at least 2 hours rest and when I thought I’ve heard the alarm while I’m sleeping I immediately woke up, but what comes next is very unexpected.

So I get off the bed and walked straight to the door but when I tried to turn the knob it was locked and there is no way it could locked from the outside. Then I remember that my doorknob is kinda faulty that if you forcibly turn it while it’s locked it’ll turn the whole thing as in all of its layered plates, whatever you call it! Unfortunately, it didn’t work that time. However, I suddenly noticed that I feel so light like I’ve been floating then I realized I’m in the state of dreaming. It’s just a little odd because I’m seeing myself and it’s the very first time it ever occurred in my life.

When I took a research the result says “astral projection” which I don’t think it was since in astral projection you should see yourself motionless, while in my case I see myself moving. Another result is “lucid dreaming” it may have been lucid dreaming but as it states that you are aware that you’re dreaming (Yes! I am) and you can control everything in dreamland; you could have super power and maybe destroy the entire universe in which I can’t do any of it since I’m just simply standing at the corner while watching myself finding a way out. I’m fully aware that I’m just dreaming and being trapped in my room is just an imaginary scenario which will eventually disappear by the time I’m awake, thus, I don’t feel scared, no rapid palpitation, just the feeling of weightlessness.

Soon after, I woke up without worrying what just happened because, once again, I’m just dreaming, no big deal. I can still remember during that dream when my room is field of its regular dimness with bluish light entering from my jealousy window, I was floating and my motion was of like underwater, the temperature is cold, there’s no other entity in my room but just me and the other me, and while I’m watching myself my vision was kinda blurry like you’re watching through a smudged glass.

The strange thing is, I’ve been encountering odd situations in my room while I'm sleeping. I get nightmares, I feel like someone is watching me, there are kids playing on my bed that sometimes they woke me up for stepping on my leg and it really feels like the feet was of the size of a toddler. Nevertheless, I get used to it.

While I was roaming around the bookstore the other day browsing to every book aisle and scanning through books that I thought to be interesting which I hope to buy, I end up on the center isle which appears to be the children’s section. I can move along and get back to my business but I couldn’t leave just by then as I watched this child reading a book. I stayed there for a couple of minutes secretly glancing at him while he’s reading every paragraph of every page he turned.

For some people it could be just another image of a child reading a book or scanning through pages as they are obviously being fascinated with the drawings. But for me it was like a sneak peek of what kind of future will we get if during our childhood we nurtured our brain with the knowledge that are widely available to possess. Though the internet can let us access the vast collections of knowledge but somehow in my observation the opportunity has been wasted either ignored.

Reading a book could be a challenging act of sincere self-submission while it depends on several desires like those that you need to learn, you need to understand, or you need to be inspired. Now that technology offers the eBook or the digital book that is evidently convenient because you can carry it around since you can have it on your phone, on your tab, or your laptop and PC with the availability of online library or apps like Wattpad. But in my perspective reading on your device isn’t that self-motivating as you can be distracted with your apps in anyway or perhaps you’re getting low-bat. While it’s true that finishing a book is so rewarding but in my part it feels more rewarding flipping each page until you close it to the back cover than flicking your finger across your device and realize you’ve reached the end. Moreover, who wouldn’t love the smell of the paper of a real book? That fragrance of knowledge as it kisses the olfactory, stimulating a sensation of euphoria. 

PS: This doesn’t mean I’m accountable to discuss matters about human behavior and other related studies but instead I can share my opinion as to how I understand things by experience.

It was in February 2014 when I bought my Nokia Lumia 925 (now Microsoft Mobile), the first Windows Phone I owned and by far my experience grows more amazing from time to time.

When we talk about smart phone, most people would immediately think about Android and iPhone never minding Windows Phone, BBM, the newly developed Ubuntu and Firefox OS for phone that both runs under Android OS and the ARA project of Motorola that I guess will be running an Android OS as well. Among these phone OS I can’t deny that Android and iPhone is at tight competition, both are widely recognize across the globe with a vast collections of apps on the app store. When it comes to build quality Android phones ranges from low end to high end, of course you’ll get less if you buy a cheaper one. While iPhone remains classy with their specs along with their OS. 

But how about Windows Phone?

Last February this year marks my first year as a WP user, particularly Nokia Lumia 925, and along the timeline of my usage, I’ve been through lots of frustrations to the point that I regret of spending my cash on such I formerly labelled as a “dumb phone”. The only reason why I bought it is my enthrallment of MS Windows since my first hand-on of Windows 98 and now that I’m running Windows 8.1. I was expecting of the same satisfying experience with the phone version so I considered of getting one. I don’t have any knowledge of WP that time that I made a research, read some reviews, and viewed some videos until I’ve chosen the unit I’d buy. What baffled me though is the build quality and indeed it’s quite impressive. However, on the early stages of my experience I was like “meh… WTF!” I was having issues on the user interface and later concluded that it’s not a friendly-user type of a phone, perhaps I’ve grown more familiar with the Android. I don’t have any choice but to deal with it instead of dumping it aside as if I could totally buy a new one but not WP. 

Then over the time I suddenly realize I’m lucky of getting a WP than Android or iPhone, not because I could play games on it or brag people on the social media about my life’s activity but because it has been very helpful with my job. For those who are not familiar with WP it comes with MS Office apps like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. I’m a timekeeper by profession, responsible with the daily time record of each employee, the status of the warehouse inventory, and the work progress of the project. Surely there will be many note takings happening since I can’t bring the PC around with me. Instead of carrying a notebook and a pen, I managed to utilize my phone by using MS Excel app on WP, though other phone OS could have the same app but the functionality may differ since WP is able not just to view the file but to edit as well or create a new one with the same formats you’ll get on the PC version. With just a few tap on my phone I could easily update the records then email the files to my boss through my phone.

Another great feature of WP is the HERE app. With the kind of job I have, I expect to be relocated to different places and since I’m not familiar with the directions like how to get to the market, to the mall, to the beach resort, restaurants, convenience store, gasoline stations, bus terminal, and other establishments. I could just open the HERE City Lens and it automatically scans different establishments around the vicinity. How about planning to go somewhere yet I don’t know how long will it take me to be there? Well, there’s HERE Maps that can calculate the approximate distance from point of origin to the destination and the approximate time to consume. Same with if I don’t know where I am on the planet, I can just look it up on the HERE Maps which tells me where exactly I am. Another app is the HERE Drive, a voice navigation app showing the route to my destination and the speed limit of a certain area which alarms me whenever I exceeded the speed limit. All these HERE apps can work without either internet connection or mobile signal, all I need to do is to switch on my GPS on the background. 

I’m also thankful of having WP over Android or iPhone because I can’t overuse it. When it comes to apps, WP is at the tail end of the popular trend. I’m a gamer and because WP lacks popular gaming apps like CoC I can’t play with it on my phone which in turn I don’t have to recharge my phone several times a day that somehow preserves my battery and at least served the approximate life expectancy. Though Facebook is an official app but the development is kinda slow, same goes with YouTube and Instagram that remains BETA, Vine, Twitter, and the holy realm of 9Gag. Yet, they have alternatives and some may even overstep the official app. 

Taking everything into account, my experience with WP is excellent! Not because it’s better than the other phone OS but because it’s simple, smooth, and professional. Like what Joe Belfiore said that they aim to give phone user a much more “personalized phone experience” and WP truly serves its purpose.