“Its time for the odd to get even.” —Revenge of the Nerds, 1984
BEFORE anything else, let me just tell you that it feels so good to be back.
So I’d like to thank my editor, Gerard Ramos, for giving me this space and allowing me to share my thoughts in print form once again. A quick background: It’s been almost five years since I submitted my last column. I previously wrote about tech, gadgets and video games for almost 15 years for a few different newspapers before I entered showbiz (the beat, that is) and lifestyle. But my first love will always be anything tech and geek-related—hence the column name, The Technivore, which I hope would help you understand how to make all these gadgets and devices work for you instead of being eaten alive (figuratively, of course) because of ignorance and misinformation.
So instead of game tricks (and cheat codes), this time I’d be featuring the latest gadgets, tech news
and all-around geek stuff, plus a few bits of tech tips and trivia.
GEEK IS GOOD
UNLIKE millennials who were born into the digital world, I spent my teen years in the 1990s, when the words “geek” and “nerd” weren’t as cool as they are now. But thanks to Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and friends, we can now openly admit our geekery and nerdism without shame and fear of being outcast.
Being a geek no longer means a “boring and unattractive social misfit”; in fact, a survey by an advertising agency called Inferno indicates that the public now finds intelligence and passionate engagement with a hobby four times as attractive in a person than good looks or dressing well. Take that, beautiful people!
Geek is good, and geek is definitely in—and it goes way beyond the thick glasses and the statement shirts. All you have to do is check out those pop-culture conventions, which now sell tickets faster than concerts and other events. Even the most successful movies in recent years are either based on superheroes and science-fiction novels—and as the Marvel and DC cinematic universes continue to expand and the Star Wars saga plays on, there’s definitely no sign of slowing down.
Whether we like it or not, geek has become the new iteration of the mainstream, and we just can’t get enough of all the stuff that comes with it. In short, geek is the new chic.
AUTOBOTS TRANSFORM AND POWER UP
SPEAKING of stuff, have you heard about the new power bank from Hasbro?
Yup, the same Hasbro that makes the My Little Pony, Monopoly, Play Doh, Nerf, Marvel, Star Wars and Transformers toys (among others)?
Well, for the first time, they’re having their own convention, called HasCon, which kicks off in Rhode Island this September 8. Exclusive toys will be on sale, including a My Little Pony Dungeon & Dragons Dice Set, a Star Wars Captain Rex Black Series Toys a Marvel Legends Deadpool Uncanny X-Men edition figure and a limited-edition Optimus Prime Powerbank.
Instead of his usual semitruck mode, this exclusive Optimus Prime figure transforms into a functioning 6500-mAh battery pack. The anonymous gray block may not be the most exciting form for the Autobot leader but, hey, at least you now have a reason to bring him everywhere!
The robot figure, as you can see, actually looks quite good, and it takes 16 steps to open the block and turn it into Optimus Prime. His robot form also sports a shield and LED light-up sword, which you can plug into the pack’s USB port. You can almost hear him say, “I am Optimus Prime, and I swear to protect your gadgets from low battery.”
You can get it for $50 at HasCon, and a limited number of will be available after the convention through the company’s online toy shop.
CALL ON THE JUSTICE LEAGUE (SMARTPHONE)
YOU have the toys, watched the movies, bought the shirts and almost every other item related to the DC comic series, but one fan has decided to show the Justice League even more love by creating a Justice League Smartphone.
Edric Chua admits to being such a fan of the comic-book franchise, that his company Ekotek decided to partner with DC Comics to come up with Ekonic’s Justice League headphones, power banks, Bluetooth speakers and the world’s first-ever Justice League smartphone.
The smartphone sports a sleek, black body made more eye-catching with the four exclusive back cases featuring different Justice League member artworks done by Jim Lee, Jason Fabok, Francis Manapul and Ivan Reis. Also included in the package are several must-have accessories, such as the Lasso of Truth cable charger and the Scarlet Speedster earphones.
As far as specs go, the Ekonic Justice League Smartphone has a pretty good 5.5-inch HD IPS display, a MediaTek MTK 6737 quad-core CPU, Mali T720 GPU, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and is powered by a 2500-mAh battery. It also has an 8MP rear camera and 5MP front camera, runs the latest Android 7.0 Nougat and is dual-SIM 4G LTE (700MHz-ready) capable.
To make you really feel that you are part of the League, the boot sequence includes the Justice League logo, while the UI features high-definition wallpapers of Justice League members, as well as customized theme and icons.
But what makes this phone truly special is that only 5,000 units are being produced, so each piece will come with a number and seal of authenticity. You can be part of the elite league of collectors of this superhero package, simply by adding P400 to any Smart Postpaid plan and request the limited-edition smartphone.
Best paired with Smart Postpaid Plan 599, which comes with 5GB Data that allows you to stream CW’s The Flash if you subscribe to iflix. Plan 599 also comes with the following inclusions: 30 minutes all-net calls, unlimited all-net texts and free Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp and Viber.
/ Tech Thoughts: “Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity.”