1. Never share your password and other account details. “GMs will NEVER, NEVER, EVER ask for your password. We don’t need it, period… Don’t share your account details or passwords with anyone. Not even your guildmaster or close friends.”
2. Always check the source of emails claiming to be from staff. “We do not have email accounts in free email services like yahoo, gmail or others. The official domain is levelupgames.ph so always check that.”
3. Make sure to go to the right sites. GMTristan also warns that scammers “use more complicated methods; replicating a game’s customer support page, top up page or even log-in page.”
4. Trust your instincts. “If you are offered a prize, think twice; If it’s too good to be true, it probably ain’t.”

For avid online gamers, how do you protect yourself from scams? Feel free to share your own tips below.

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More specifically, the development of Simlish, the gibberish language used primarily in the The Sims series in place of real speech. According to Savvy Gamer:

The designers and voice talents that worked on the original Sims games decided to base this new virtual language on many real languages. They began to experiment with Tagalog, the language spoken officially in the Philippines. They also experimented with fragments of Ukrainian. They were also very inspired by the famous code talkers of the Second World War. These were the Navajo soldiers who created the unbreakable codes that could not be broken by the Japanese during the war. One of the original Sims creators, Will Wright, was interested in experimenting with the Navajo language, which many have feared will eventually be lost.

Why was Simlish created in the first place? Creator Wil Wright decided that real-language speech would sound repetitive. Hiring voice actors for different languages would also be a costly affair.

I’m not sure if any Tagalog actually made it to the Simlish players of The Sims 3 hear today. Or if it made to the first game for that matter. Perhaps the next time I play a Sims game (if at all), I’ll listen closely to what those virtual characters say.

Whatever the case, here’s an old video of voice actors recording Simlish for the first Sims.

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From the Facebook event page:

Tara na at Maki-fiesta from March 10 to May 2, 2010. Enjoy up to 50% off on selected models, buy 1 take 1 promo, swap your working or non working phone to a TV dual sim phone, loads of freebies and Hot New Phones! Abangan ang Special promos sa mga Mall Exhibits ng mga Cherry Mobile Kiosk.

I can easily imagine Cherry Mobile endorser John Lloyd Cruz saying that out loud! Brochures listing prices are below, click the thumbnails for a larger version:

Too small to read? I’ve sent an email out to the Cherry Mobile peeps, asking for higher-res versions. And I’ll have them up here as soon as possible.

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Find Out if You Have Money—Before Going to the ATM

Raise your hand if you’ve experienced the following: you’ve gone through a lot of trouble excusing yourself from work, to have the time to withdraw money from your payroll ATM account to deposit into your main bank account. Problem is, after rushing from the office, either all nearby ATM machines are down, or worse, your salary hasn’t been credited to your account yet.

You can avoid the resulting frustration by simply registering for your bank’s online banking system. At the very least, you won’t have to leave your computer to see if the money’s come in. You can then withdraw from the ATM at your leisure, confident that the funds are available.

Transfer Money and Pay Bills Online

Even better, any local online banking service (or at least those worth your time) make it possible to pay bills and transfer money to other accounts—even to other banks. Depending on the bank supporting the online banking service, it will take a day or so to register, and properly “enroll” your cell phone, utility bills, credit cards, etc. into the system. You most probably have to appear personally at the home branches of your accounts.

Yet once everything is set up, you can literally pay off everything and even schedule money transfers, all from the comfort of your internet-capable device. In most cases, paying off bills or transferring money through most online banking services is free.

List of Online Banking Services in the Philippines

I currently have a BPI Express Online account. I use it to pay off my credit card and cell phone bills, and move money from my payroll account to another account I’ve set up to never touch except in emergencies. Other major banks have their own online banking service; here’s a list to help you out:

I doubt if that’s a complete list, so if you use an online banking service not listed above, feel free to share below! Update: Reader mobius just shared bancnetonline, which supports multiple banks, and is an alternative service for some of the institutions I’ve listed above.

One more thing: If you ever decide to use an online banking service to handle your money (which I really recommend you do), make sure to use a good password!

Image: danielygo on Flickr

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After each voting precinct’s machine scans the ballots, it tallies the votes and sends the results to servers maintained by the COMELEC. The election returns are effectively in soft-copy form, easy to share with others. It’s like emailing your colleague a report, instead of printing it out and having it delivered to him.

Instead of just storing the returns, why not make them to other websites instantly? There are many ways to do this—while keeping the election returns themselves secure. Geeks would tell you that using XML feeds are a good choice, because they allow other people to automatically receive the information and format them for display.

Here’s a scenario: Websites A, B, C, and D (and many others) subscribe to the COMELEC’s publicly-available election returns feed. As the election returns are transmitted to COMELEC’s servers, they’re also made available through the feed, which are automatically shared with any website subscribed to it. Website A is programmed to automatically show election returns as a constantly-refreshing table; B will show them as updates in a blog format; C could provide a combination of both; and D can even present the votes as an animated graph. The point is that visitors to A, B, C, and D will know how the votes sway literally as they’re cast.

It’s very easy for the COMELEC to pull this off, because sharing feeds is a common activity online. Blogs ask readers to subscribe to an “RSS feed” to stay up-to-date on new content. Online sellers share “data feeds” with partner websites, so that when a new product becomes available, these partners display it immediately.

By allowing other websites instant access to election returns as they come in—aside from providing copies of the returns to accredited organizations like NAMFREL—the COMELEC will increase the transparency of the 2010 elections. With more people and organizations keeping track of what’s happening real-time, it becomes practically impossible for any inside job to fudge the votes after they’ve arrived on the COMELEC’s servers. Here’s the data we received as people voted; why is your final tally different?

Aside from time and expertise questions, I don’t see any issues preventing the implementation of this instantaneous data-sharing system. What do you think, dear readers? Feel free the share below.

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I was wondering if you could help me with the same problem. My Canon EOS 500D got stolen inside UP Manila campus today. It has body number 3820B008 [AA] and serial numbers (21)0680141431 / (21)5574040897. I just bought it 3 months ago so it is relatively new. Should it ever get sold to any of the readers, I would very much appreciate it if you can please contact me or the authorities regarding the matter. A complaint has been filed at the Ermita Police Station 5.

Kudos to Mary for reporting the crime to the police. For those with any relevant info to share, you may contact her at 09273676681 via mobile or mary_lee07 through YM. Dear readers, keep an eye out for any second-hand 500Ds out there!

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The full article is available here.

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The VPCF116FG/BI was designed as a media machine, but it can pretty much do anything. The Blu-Ray drive and 500 GB hard disk allow plenty of opportunities for HD video playback; the Core i7 720QM, 4GB of memory, and 1 GB of dedicated video RAM make the F series the most powerful laptop I’ve ever used.

Sony Vaio F Series (VPCF116FG) Specs

This laptop is large enough that the keyboard even has a numeric keypad, as well as space for a generously-size trackpad. The keys are well-spaced, and are very easy to type with. The satisfying click each press produces made typing this review a very pleasurable experience. Sony’s design cleverly integrates the power button on the right side of the hinge, and the port for the power cord on the opposite side.

With a high-capacity 6-cell battery, the F Series can last for around two-and-a-half hours without external power, even with everything on, and with the screen at full brightness. That’s long enough to play at least one HD movie that takes full advantage of the laptop’s 1920 x 1080 (full HD) 16.4″ display.

The Sony VAIO F Series is pretty good hardware-wise, but users may encounter some problems with the built-in software. Turn on this laptop for the first time and you’ll see that numerous programs aside from Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) are preinstalled.

Though most of them are designed to make the laptop easier to use, such as all those Sony-branded utilities, they are an unnecessary burden on the system. The F Series runs quickly enough with all these superfluous programs installed, with a WEI of 5.9. Power users may want to uninstall some applications however, to maximize the built-in hardware.

The 1920 x 1080 display provides a lot of visual real-estate, but by default renders text too small. You can change a Windows 7’s setting to “magnify” the text, but since many programs aren’t designed to inherit font sizes from the OS, some of your programs may look distorted. I had to constantly enlarge the text in my Firefox browser, so that I could read properly without leaning in close to the display. On the flipside however, there’s enough power under the hood to run the latest 3D games, even at the display’s full resolution.

But while the F series has all the hardware you need, including every port conceivable (HDMI, VGA, LAN, USB, Firewire), why did Sony only include two USB 2.0 ports with this laptop, and at the right side? Connecting a USB mouse leaves you with one USB port, and is awkward for right-handers, with the USB plug sticking on to the same side where you have to move the mouse around.

As a desktop replacement, VPCF116FG/BI is designed to stay on your desk, not for travel. It is literally nearly twice the size of a 10.1″ netbook, and will prove cumbersome when used on those relatively small coffee shop tables. Over 4 centimeters thick, this is easily the biggest and heaviest laptop I’ve ever used.

The VAIO F Series is a powerful behemoth, but at P90,000, power doesn’t come cheap. This is a laptop that can practically do everything you need quickly, and is one of the few computers with a Blu-Ray drive on the local market. But those who like bringing around their laptop should look for something else.

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Update: The Nokia X6 32GB is unfortunately not available locally yet. According to Nikka, it is only officially sold in countries supporting Nokia’s Comes With Music program.

I’ve just sent an email asking if the X6 32GB is also available locally through official channels, and at what price. Stay tuned! To recap, here’s are the specs of the Nokia X6:

Nokia X6 Specs

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Both devices can actually charge other gadgets via USB, even when off. A Samsung Philippines rep made a show of turning the N150 off, plugging in her phone (Samsung-branded of course) into one of the netbook’s 3 USB 2.0 ports, and proudly showed the mobile’s battery gauge filling up. Both the N150 and N220 can stream HD videos to other DLNA-capable devices, such as HDTVs.

Another showcase of the product demo was the Hyperspace instant-on OS, licensed from BIOS maker Phoenix. Hyperspace is a linux-derivative that allows users to access their emails, Twitter, and news items through its widget-based interface. Switching between Hyperspace and Windows 7 Starter takes a relatively quick 15 seconds.

What really caught my attention though was Samsung’s promise of good customer support. A local executive revealed that spare parts are kept in stock locally. This promises fast repairs, because replacement parts won’t have to be shipped from abroad.

The Samsung N150 costs P21,990, while the Samsung N220 will set you back by P24,990. They both feature the same specs, right down to a 6-cell battery, but the N220 can store more power. Samsung claims that the N150 and N220 will last up to 8 and 12 hours respectively, away from the wall socket. Both netbooks should be available from major gadget retailers as you read this.

Samsung N220 Specs

Samsung N150 Specs

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