Edsamail Eulogy

Long weekend.
A rainy night.

Gmail is loading unusually slow tonight. It made me think about my other non-Gmail email addys.
I remebered: Edsamail!

Remember those 56 kbps dial-up days? When the cheapest internet card was Rebel? It was Php 100 for 4 hours, and you can get a free email add with Rebel. Then Pacific offered Php 100 for 10 hours. Then came ISP Bonanza with Php 100 for 20 hours. I remember patting and talking to our dial-up modem to please please please connect to the internet during these days.

Enter DSL age. We got Bayantel's DSL package and kissed the 40-minute-per-mp3-download world goodbye. Hello YouTube!

During those dial up days, Edsamail was the savior of the students who wants to check their email for free. The edsamail CD installers were passed around class. There are these special email addys: ___@mariaclara.ph, ___@climbers.ph, etc. Lotsa jokes and videos were forwarded. I joined a lot of yahoogroups back then. However, there was just a 1MB limit on the size of the email attachments hence you could not forward an mp3. Everyone who had a computer and a dial-up modem had a free access to the email world.

Come my freshie days in 2001, Edsamail announced that their service is not for free anymore. One would have to pay Php 365 a year if you'll continue using their service (Add Php 100 to maintain your special email add). They marketed it in a way that the rate is still cheaper than a cellphone load. I fell for it. So I paid that Php 365. Then next year, they raised their fees to Php 500. I still paid that. And paid another Php 500 the next year. I maintained my Edsamail email till around my OJT days. Then I discovered Gmail with its Gigabyte capacity. I bid farewell to lorainefg@edsamail.com.ph.

Consumed by my Edsamail memories, I unearthed the free CD they gave out in malls back then.









I googled up on Edsamail, this is what I found:













That is the same URL of Edsamail during the days I accessed its web-based platform. Now it has a "Pinay Scandal" menu!!! What is Edsamail up to these days? It is scary to click on anything on their website now.

Good thing we are now in the Broadband era. Dial-up era is a scary time to remember.

Di Caprio iz Alive!

I wonder if this will be a cool but unforgettable action movie or be one of those in the likes of Iron Man, Spiderman and The Dark Knight.

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Warner Bros. Pictures presents the teaser trailer for INCEPTION. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film started its principal photography in July and will hit theaters July, 2010. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film is a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.

Cheers for Credit Cards

I finally got my own personal credit card last year and whispered a prayer that I may use it wisely. So far, I am. Not to brag, but I haven't paid any penalty so far for late payments (okay, so maybe a little bragging). In fact, I just realized that I am spending less (really) when I got it. Not because of paranoia, but because it affected my budgeting habit.

See, for example, I budget my total weekly expenses to be Php 1,500 for food, transpo, entertainment, mini expenses. I allocate Php 500 of that for CC purchases. So I only withdraw Php 1,000 for my weekly cash. Then by Friday that week, I would realize that I haven't swiped my CC for the week, and there's still leftover from my Php 1,000. Then I would miraculously survive a weekend gimik with that leftover. Now there's that excess Php 500 budgeted left unspent. Around Php 300 unspent if I swipe for coffee. With that set-up, I was saving unconsciously.

A sign in Bench Trinoma:


Moreover, I've been swiping petty expenses lately. Swiping earns you points. I recently bought toothpaste and tissue paper amounting to Php 70+-ish and presented my CC - just to test if they would accept. Hoorah! They accepted it! I am more confident now in using my CC even for cheap purchases. Who cares anyway if they think I don't have the cash? Bwaharhar.

And the freebies are simply love. With BPI, you can enjoy a multitude of snacks from using your BPI CC. Jollibee, Chowking, Goldilocks and back to Jollibee again. I even save more money since my merienda is also free. I do hope I can continue my no-late-payment record til eternity. Teeeheeehee.

Shop! Spend! Wisely.
Cheers!

Tying a Yellow Ribbon

This will be just one of the many blog entries in the internet paying tribute to Tita Cory Aquino.

We are not related, we are not close. But I call her "Tita Cory". And she also allows the rest of the world to call her such.

I was 19 months when the EDSA revolution took place in 1986. I was too young to recall any memories. I appreciate the freedom of speech in this country. But I cannot compare the difference between living during and after Martial Law. I can only rely on the stories of those who lived and appreciated the EDSA 1986. I remember Cory in the history textbooks. I remember that she revised the law where the default is a marriage of absolute instead of conjugal property. That's it.

I did not know she was a housewife before she became president. I did not know she majored in French. I did not know she has five kids. I did not know she was featured in TIME three times. I did not know that the 1986 EDSA Revolution inspired countries like China, Germany and East Timor. And I did not know that she helped and touched a lot of people. That much. A LOT. That crowd in her funeral speaks for itself.

Cory also speaks good English. Classy English. Unlike all the other presidents.

Some random thoughts on the Cory events:
-I got goosebumps watching that Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo. I got tears watching APO singing the Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo during the final service.
- Bong Bong Marcos looks like his dad. Should he run for president, people will remember his dad.
- Imee Marcos looks like she feels she can be shot anytime when she was at Manila Cathedral.
- Manila Cathedral is a very pretty church. Parang nasa ibang bansa yung ibang shots.
- Marcos children paying their respect to Cory was chilling, in a good way.
- I never saw James give Kris a hug or comforting pat during the entire time.
- That ABS-CBS thanks Cory commercial was overcooked. Bad acting involved.
- Semi-stalked the profiles of the Cory Apos in Facebook and Friendster (Yes, I opened my Friendster account)
- Kaloka: Ted Failon asked Jiggy Cruz: Napakilala mo ba sa Lola mo girlfriend mo? Answer: Yes po, yung una kong girlfriend
- Kaloka ulet: asked Jiggy Cruz: So, Jiggy, do you have any plans of having your own family na? Answer: No, not soon. Personal questions to the grandkids ha.
- Watch those YouTube videos on 1986 EDSA. Feel the passion. Appreciate the freedom. And laugh at the hairstyles.
- The Kris Aquino interviews made me cry. Really. And I wasn't expecting to shed tears.
- Lea Salonga singing Bayan Ko was eerie, in a good way.

GMA cut short her USA trip and hopped into a plane to go back in time for Cory's funeral. She spent 10 minutes in Manila Cathedral. She went out of her way to go somewhere where clearly, she was not welcome. And she can't even brag her accomplishments in USA.

The internet world is also grieving: Find the yellow ribbons.








With too much ugly politics in our country, it is good to be reminded that there were people who believed in our country. I hope something good and progressive comes out of this. I never thought that our country could grieve so much for a president.

Thanks to Tita Cory, we can blog freely.
I never felt more prouder being a Filipino.