Something tragic happened yesterday - drivebyshooter.net reached its bandwidth limit and had to turn everybody away. Good thing it was the end of the month - everything went back online this morning.

Does this mean I have to upgrade my hosting account?

image: No entry stencil by hugovk

Tags: 509, error, bandwidth, no entry, hugovk, flickr

Since I posted photos of the PhUV, several people have left comments on the vehicle. Quite a number have posed some questions. I hope the following literature will address most of the questions asked.

On that note, I might as well put in my two cents worth. The PhUV, you see, is a prototype - I’ve described at as a proof of concept. It proves that we can produce a vehicle locally, and proves that we can produce it for under half a million pesos.

Yes, some of the parts looked cheap. No, the vehicle was not completely or cleanly finished. Yes, it could have benefited from quite a deal of detailing. Keep in mind thought that the vehicle presented was, like I mentioned, a prototype. It was proof that we can do this.

As the vehicle moves closer to mass production, more improvements will start coming. We can start mass-producing curved panels, fine-tune the design, and clean up those little flaws that everybody picks on.

Having said all that, I’ll shut up and leave you to read the literature on the PhUV. [more…]

Yes, this is the PhUV. What do you think?

Tags: Philippine Utility Vehicle, Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association of the Philippines, PhUV, MVPMAP, Philippine Independence

Is this an actual picture of the MVPMAP’s PhUV?  [edit: Yes, it is!]

Find out. Head over to the Market! Market! Central Plaza and see it unveiled.

The exhibit will run from June 12 to 13, but they will unveil the vehicle at 6:00 p.m. today.
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Pauline Gevaña, 10 years old, has to undergo chemotherapy this June and would appreciate any help, financial or otherwise. This is her story, taken from my sister’s blog.

Back in August 1999 when she was 3, Pauline was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Her mother, Yolly, had to give up her job to be able to give her the full attention she needed. At the height of the medical crisis, her father left and ran to the arms of another woman. For the past 7 years, Pauline’s life has been a series of trips to and from their home in Sta. Rosa and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) in Quezon City for testing, medication, therapy, and sometimes hospital confinement. Her hair had fallen off and grown back many times; strangers would stare or say insensitive comments. Her treatments sometimes made her weak, disabling her from playing with her friends from the neighborhood. Her frequent absences have forced her to miss school, and even drop out many times.

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I love hearing about events like Rock Ed Radio’s Keep Your Promises series of concerts. What is it? Let me lift directly from Rock Ed Philippines:

A series of gigs entitled KEEP YOUR PROMISES will be launched on Saturday May 19. These are small gatherings of young voters (disenfranchised voters included) to have their voices heard. That we demand the fulfillment of promises made by candidates during the elections.

Now that we’ve done our part and voted our preferred candidates into office, it’s time for the step up and deliver on their campaign promises.

I love the whole idea and the idealism behind the event. You see, it’s too easy to lose hope in this country, but seeing people care enough to organize events like this gives me hope. Reading what other bloggers have to say gives me hope. Knowing how you care about this country gives me hope.

The thing is, like I mentioned before, I’m still a cynic. Yes, I kept blogging about the elections, but I always felt like it was too little. Yes, blogging gave me a reach beyond my immediate circle of friends, but it still wasn’t enough.

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When I discovered Pandora a little over a year ago, I had to dig up an old amplifier just to do justice to the music it served up.

Recently, I found a couple of neat applications for Pandora that had me raving about how I would never shut the box.

Now I’m eating my words. Pandora’s box is closing closed.

It isn’t my choice though - some sinister forces have forced this on me, as well as thousands of other devoted Pandora listeners.

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In celebration of the month that was, I’m sharing with you a picture that would have been perfect for an April Fool’s day joke. I say would have been because this picture isn’t part of a prank - it’s real.

Three years ago on the 31st of March, an Aratiles (or Muntingia) tree fell on my car.

Proof after the jump.

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