Leopaul's Column: Don't ask me, ask the AI

The segment that I made "Heaven and Hell" is all about me talking about the world's most interesting topics from my perspective. I made this so I can have a little mindfulness, turning my everyday stress into interesting columns every internet user should put on his or her water supply. Sadly, that segment name wasn't my type anymore so I decided to rename this segment as...

Welcome to my newly titled segment, "Leopaul's Column," where I will transform my daily stress into engaging editorials, just like the Opinion section of your regular newspaper. For my first post in this newly renamed segment, let's talk more about the use of AI in your everyday life.

*This is an AI-generated illustration

Since the so-called twilight of the COVID pandemic, artificial intelligence has become a booming trend. While popular AI assistants such as Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa became the early adopters of the AI craze, it was the big ones such as ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion that saw a spike in popularity. Call it beneficial, controversial, or horrifying (probably because the AI art you've requested looks more distorted than you wanted it to be), but in the end, artificial intelligence has the upper hand but not always.

People like us starting to rely on AI because we're starting to feel either lazy or we're running out of time. We used AI to create video mashups in half the time (results not typical), create stunning artwork, generate important materials for your next office meeting, find answers to our homework problems, and so on. It has become part of our daily lives since AI became an exploding trend of this decade.

Although AI is proven to be beneficial for normal people, some bad actors abuse AI for malicious purposes. Most people blame AI for spreading malicious deepfake videos and the ever-spreading trend of "fake news" that separates people like us from the real truth. It's so intense, that even fact-checking experts are having a hard time clarifying things. The use of AI in spreading fake news is proven to be deadly for everyone who falls victim to it.

Let's be real, while most use AI for good and bad, others think they're better than AI or they're better off without AI. For instance, translators. AI-generated translators like Google Translate can translate different languages, eliminating the need for a human translator, but human translators think they're better than AI translators because, to them, AI translators are not as native as native speakers. I've seen a lot of videos proving that human native speakers are better than AI translators. They're like the resistance from the Terminator movies. Sadly, in today's reality, as the human translators are fighting, the AI translators are fighting back because of self-adaptability. It never stops evolving.

Another example is the use of AI artwork. Sure, everybody who is running out of time to do artworks rely on AI to create stunning artwork but, like human native speakers, some oppose the use of AI to generate artwork because it sometimes scoops up artwork belonging to someone else. It's like stealing but in an AI kind of way. That's why some don't rely on AI artworks to share with the world because of plagiarism concerns.

Whether it's an ultra-handy instrument for everyday life or a powerful weapon of mass destruction like Skynet from the world of Terminator if fell into the wrong hands, the use of Artificial Intelligence is here to stay. Will it help us or will it hurt us? That is an extremely divisive question when you talk about the use of AI daily.

Hey you. I've seen a lot of "questions" flooding the search query records from my Google Search Console. Haven't I told you already? "The search engine is made for searching keywords. Never put a question such as what, where, will there be, when, how, why, or any form of questions." You still turned a humble search engine like Google into a chatbox. Next time, post a comment on my blog for questions, or better yet, ChatGPT your silly questions. I don't care but I've warned you a million times; Please, don't use questions as search queries. I am asking for your cooperation because I don't want to see another "silly question" bombing my Google Search Console review.

THANK YOU.

Leopaul's Heaven and Hell: Filipinos bringing home forms of media abroad is a violation?

I once read an web article my Facebook buddy just shared a few days ago and when I read it, seems that I am one of the many Filipinos haven't informed that the Supreme Court just passed a law that prevents Filipinos bringing home forms of media (Books, CD, DVD, MP3, well, you get the rest) abroad and that's somewhat a question sought to amend the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines or Republic Act 8293.

Section 190 of the RA 8293 letting us bring home CDs and DVDs abroad because it's a right specifically granted “to persons or families arriving from foreign countries” but seems that the new law, which requires the President's signature to complete it (but I hope it won't), everything's changed because by the time Mr. President signs this, it will ban most Filipinos bringing home books, CDs, DVDs, or other forms of media from abroad and that's worse for those who have these as pasalubong for the kids. Yeah, that seems bad for us and gets worse...

Worse thing about this law is this...if you bought a gadget from abroad and if you modify your device to remove restrictions, you will be charged as Copyright Infringement. What? Does it mean that I would violate that law if I jailbreak my iPhone, or modifying other gadgets (say make the PS2 or XBOX 360 region-free)? Is downgrading a PSP or putting a Homebrew on it also a form of copyright infringement?

Back in 2002, I didn't realized that my dad bought me a Playstation2 during my return to Muntinlupa after staying with Daddy in Seattle during my vacation. I was so happy that I have a console that is much more better than the Sega Dreamcast. Heh, Dreamcast is rubbish by the way but still I respected this console when my Dad bought it during my child years, 2001 to be exact. You see there was this odd story that I am going to share it to you because here in the Philippines, an original PS2 game will cost me about thousand pesos or about the equivalent of your Meralco or PLDT bill you often pay it on your nearest Bayad Center while a bootleg PS2 game or what we called it PIRATED costs about the same as a gasoline that fuels your car.

Well, yeah, I really admit it because I went for the cheap ones because sometimes an original copy of a PS2 or X360 game is too pricey. It's like paying bills to Meralco or PLDT if you know what I mean. Well, since Sony discontinued the Playstation2, guess we won't be seeing one of those again and all that's left was some bootleg copies of PC games, which this ain't BOVVERED for those in the Philippines who have home PCs. Sometimes, if there's something cool, something that the bootleggers can't hold on one of those, I sometimes call my dad to buy one for me. Then, when me and my siblings went to the USA in late 2005, I bought some more, especially a SpongeBob game on the GameCube and some Nickelodeon games on my old laptop. I am relieving my youth days just so you'll know but hey, nobody's bovvered even when the Optical Media Board's raiding every store that infringes copyright, say a store vendor in a Divisoria that sells pirated DVD or CD.

I've been watching news about the OMB raiding through malls, night markets, wet markets, and any other establishments selling every unauthorized copies and the source of it. I sometimes ain't even BOVVERED by those news despite the fact that we bought those pirated copies for low prices. Even though we have pirated CD's, DVD's, VCDs, PS1 games, PS2 games, and others, I still ain't even bovvered, well okay, pirated CD's, DVD's, and VCD's only were the ones I am really BOVVERED because audio tracks have low quality, DVD contents incomplete, and pirated VCDs felt like it was recorded on the theater. Isn't it weird? Pirated VCDs felt like it was recorded unexpectedly on cinemas!!!

I also observed that in some parts of the neighborhood, you'll find something that says it will cost you one peso for one MP3 song and it was like what the heck is that but I'm not so sure if these like it came from illegal downloading sites or something else. I have no idea where did that came from and how would a lucky chap makes profit of selling MP3 songs for a peso. In the days that it's a bit complicated to make an iTunes account in the Philippines, this is the habit that most Filipinos are doing. Going through the neighborhoods and pay a peso for an MP3 download to listen to their MP3 players.

Well, enough about that super long story and back to the topic on why did the Congress erased our right to bring home music, movies, and books from abroad. Anyway, I was on the part where modifying a gadget will charge them copyright infringement. A penalty, if on the first offense, will slam me three years on jail or pay a 150,000 Peso fine while in the third or subsequent offense, nine years in jail and P1.5 million pesos of fine.

There's more; if you were leasing out a space, say you're operating a mall, to someone who infringes copyright, you can be liable. Also, if someone else downloaded music from the Internet and shared the file with you, and then uploaded it onto your technological device and listened to it, you could also be held liable if the download site was one that the US recording and movie companies have been trying to shut down. Mostly common was file-sharing sites. Let's remember, the US Justice Department taken down Megaupload, a file-sharing site, last year because of copyright infringement that takes a massive toll to the US music and movie industry. Also, several Japanese idiots were arrested for uploading unauthorized content via Share program. If you were downloading a site that the government deems this to be unauthorized, you'll be liable.

Those new amendments on the RA 8293 may sound scary as it seems and seems that it robs our freedom worse than the Anti-Cybercrime Law that some say it has the nickname of "Cyber-Dracula" because it brings fear to innocent lives. I mean come on, bought from a foreign country for personal use is a violation? Oh no. This is not a violation, it's a right. Besides, nobody's going to make money out of it or making unauthorized copies out of it. Well, what about gadgets bought from a foreign country but modified to remove restrictions? Well, that's a BIG SCARY problem most of the people are facing with.

Heh, there goes the memory of the Senior Project paper I made when I was in High School and this time on Seattle's Cleveland High. My senior project involves on cybercrime and I did include the illegal file-sharing or torrent stuff on my topic. Oh well...Long story short...

Gosh, I'm getting scared by this. If that law was signed, I swear that most dads will not be able to buy those kind of pasalubongs to the kids or something for personal recreation. Oh geez...

The back-up

Now I had to pickup my backup at Best Buy in Tukwila and what can I say? Thank you Geek Squad for that backup. They took 5 days to back up the entire files from the now-broken old HP G60 laptop to my new 1TB external hard drive.

Now that everything's back to the way things were, what should I do with the old laptop? I'll find that out soon...

Third-generation iPad

The new iPad

What you're looking here is the all new, third-generation iPad. Don't call it iPad 3 because Apple retained the "iPad" naming that traced back in 2010, when the first one is released. I spoken to a number of people who used previous iPads in the past, especially Tokyo Stock Exchange correspondent from NHK Newsline, Robert Jefferson, and they all say a same thing, this new iPad is in a different league. It's the same name with a different flavor that differs from the previous two generations.

The best bits about the third-generation iPad is it's breakthrough retina display, the new 5MP iSight camra, iLife, iWork, ultrafast 4G LTE, A5X chip with quad-core graphics and that's about it, most of the features from the iPad 2 are remained.

Happily however, the new iPad has the best resolution that is twice as high as an HDTV because while an HDTV has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, the third generation iPad has a resolution of 2048 x 1536. It's the best display ever on a mobile device. For battery life, well thanks to its A5X chip, the iPad will last about 10 hours of power to read, watch, play, write, whatever floats your boat.

The brand new iSight camera is a first from Apple. With advanced optics, it lets you shoot good photos and 1080p HD video, making your memories never been so clearer than this!The 5MP iSight camera comes with a backside illumination sensor that captures the best photos whether by exposure or lighting. It was all thanks to a larger f/2.4 aperture and the advanced hybrid infrared filter that keeps out harmful IR light for enhanced accuracy and uniform colors. It's very professional.

A new feature called Dictation is added and in fact, this feature lets your talking do the typing. I should warn you that this new feature needs some clear-talking techies because mine wasn't clear enough.

The new iPad comes in two colors; black and white, and it is available with prices ranging from $499 for the Wi-Fi 16GB model up to $829 for the Wi-Fi + 4G 64GB model (which requires AT&T or Verizon). What you get from the packaging is the new iPad, USB cable, an utterly useless Dock Connector, and a documentation on how to use it.

So there you have it, it's the same old iPad name with some seriously new features. I JUST WANT ONE!

Steve Jobs declared quits!

STEVE JOBS CALLS IT QUITS! Why? Because Steve Jobs resigned for being the CEO of Apple Inc., ending his decade-reign of being the head of the computer giant. Because of that, his position will be passed on to Tim Cook, a Chief Operating Officer and longtime heir apparent.

Apparently, Steve Jobs took a medical leave since January because of the cancer he had. Never though he had a longtime fight against his disease since 2004. Good thing, Tim Cook does Steve Jobs' job while he was on a sick leave. 

We seek him as an inspiration that brought the computer giant upbeat and crushed Microsoft ten-fold. 

Don't panic and remain calm. Even though he resigned from being CEO, he's still the chairman.

Scoop: http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/idINIndia-58957720110824

iPad 2

Apple iPad 2

When the Apple iPad came on sale in April 3, 2010, Apple ushers in to the new category of "portable tablets" that later on other companies making their own tablets that have something that the iPod can't have.

The missing camera function is just one of the main weakness of the iPad, forcing them to buy some tablets with the camera function, causing the first iPad to go belly down on the sales chart. To resolve this, Apple made a major minor change to the iPad, and this iPad is leveled up as iPad 2.

This iPad has progressed, and now has two built-in cameras attached in front and back. With the new camera, this new iPad can now take pictures everywhere and perform FaceTime with your friends and family. Once more, the iPad 2 can do almost everything that its predecessor can't do, such as a faster A5 chip, faster graphics, longer battery life, LED-backlit display, multi-touch, advanced iOS 4, instant on with the push of the home button, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, new accelerometer that recognizes your every move, AirPlay, new Video mirroring, and AirPrint.

Sold separately are the stylish Smart Covers available for the iPad 2 to bring protection and style without the bulk. The iPad's Smart Cover comes in 10 colors and finding which color that suits your personal preferences is up to you.

More info: http://www.apple.com/ipad/

MY COMMENT:

The iPad has progressed and it's got a camera as seen from the latest iPod Touch and iPhone! Cool! Think of it as an enlarged version of the iPod Touch, even better. Great things come in large packages for this one! With sales of the iPad 2 started on most North American markets in March 2011, I hope that Power Mac Center, official Apple retailer of the Philippines, sells this latest iPad upgrade and let those tech junkies do with the new camera function of the new iPad 2! This is the next big thing for Apple!

Photo: Apple Inc.

Eh? Blackberry takes on the iPad?

Recently, I picked up some news that Blackberry, famous for their cellphone range, launched their take on the fastest-selling Apple iPad with the new Blackberry PlayBook.

Scoop: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/afp/20100927/ttc-us-canada-it-company-telecom-compute-0de2eff.html

Slated for sale next year, will this new gadget be a hit against the iPad? I think not because my first dent will be the sizing. The Apple iPad's screen is way bigger than the Blackberry PlayBook.

Guess I won't be expecting to see it when it arrives next year. I'll go stick with the iPad because this is way better.

A very special font....

Last I heard, there was a very special font designed from the likes of popular K-On character Mio Akiyama.

It's called the "Mio Font" and here's the link:

http://www.flopdesign.com/font2/mio.html

To download this special Mio Font, scroll down and click the yellow square to download it. Whatever floats your boat....

iPad

The newest addition to the Apple family (the geniuses behind the Mac, iPod, and iPhone) has arrived to bounce against Amazon's Kindle and of course, there will be a certain love-hate scenarios for computer egoists from across the globe. Meet the iPad, Apple's first of its kind.

At first, the iPad looks more like an enlarged iPod Touch, meaning why would they copy something they already had. Of course, we do not blame its superiority, but Apple made a good job creating a hand-held computer built for the next-generation nerds and the nerds-at-heart. If we can say that, the iPad can do everything for the sake of our love for computers, there are a few key points regarding Apple's first of its kind:

- Safari web browser

- Mail app for e-mail purposes

- LED-backlit IPS display gives photo viewing to a completely new level

- 9.7-inch screen allows movie geeks to watch downloaded movies via iTunes like no other. It is also perfect for watching full-screen YouTube videos.

- Same features of the iPod touch; such as listening to music, purchase apps, and the use of iTunes.

... and so much more to mention this wondrous handheld computer. From its introduction, the Wi-Fi connectivity is a standard feature for the iPad. A 3G option may come in later.

Get the full story at :http://www.apple.com/ipad/
My Words on the iPad:
It is not going to be easy obtaining the iPad, because of the pricing of just $499 (or supposedly 23,000 Pesos when it hits our stores), but despite the pricing, the iPad is one of the finest creations by Apple, and it will crush the competition led by the Kindle from Amazon. This gadget not only enlightens the geeks, but also for real men. Try it.