The Geek Brewery

Hello guys. I’m gonna talk about a free service which saved me a considerable amount from my SMS expenses, Chikka. I’ve been using this service even way back in elementary, around seven years ago.

For those of you who are already acquainted to Chikka, you know very well that the most popular way to use their free text messaging service is through their very own Chikka Text Messenger. I personally don’t prefer this method because of the following reasons:

• They don’t have a Linux version of their messenger.
• In case you’re a Windows user, you still have to install it.
• Their messenger is also quite bloated, the only functionality I want is to send text messages.
• Lastly, you need to register an account which takes a short time (but then as the famous quote goes, time is gold).

If you frequently login to a chat server that uses XMPP such as GTalk or the chat inside GMail, here’s an easier (for me, at least) way to do things. Basically, you just have to:

• add 63[9-digit-number]@chikkatalk.com as your buddy, and
• send a chat conversation to your new buddy and you’re done!

No registration needed. You may add as many friends as you want!

I just received a text message from SMART Bonus. The text says:

Wla na po kayong load. Punta na sa pnkamalapit n SmartLoad retailer upang patuloy ang text at tawagan! Pwde p mgkaroon ng FREE 5 txts pg nag-load ka bago mg Sep 17. Ipgsawalang bhla ang msg na to kung nkpg-load n kayo.

SMART is giving me five free texts if I load before September 17? LOL.

It’s been a while since I last topped up my SMART account. I usually use it is a backup whenever the handset linked to my Globe account goes dead.

Globe Telecom recently launched Free Apps, a “portal” where subscribers can download free applications from Globe Labs developers and third-parties. Free Apps website can be accessed online thru your computer or mobile phone. There already have a handful of free apps available for download including my personal favorite, Globe Calls!

Globe Calls is a free app that keeps prefixes of Globe call promos. This means you don’t have to memorize all those prefixes as they are stored on the app itself. You just have to open the app and dial the number from there. As of now, the following promos are in the Globe Calls list:

• Sakto Calls (10 centavos per second, 5 centavos per second on Sundays)
• P10/3 min
• Tawag 236 (P20/20min)
• Unlicalls Nyt

The only problem I see in this app is that it doesn’t have an update option. Once all of those promos terminate, the application becomes useless. New promos are not added on the fly, too. It’s too hassle for end-users to download a version of the app manually everytime new promos are released.

Globe Calls has a Touch Mobile counterpart, TM Calls.

Globe Telecom uses a transparent proxy on it’s http.globe.com.ph access point. This means when you open a website, it passes thru their server for caching or whatever purpose it might server before it reaches your cellphone or computer.

URL of image when not cached.

I’ve noticed though that they replace the URL of images inside <img> tags with another URL on their server for caching. This, in turn, causes some problems with web applications that requires authentication and generates images on the fly such as StatCounter. This replacement/caching process is only done when Globe Telecom detects that you are using a web browser on a computer or on a mobile phone (I curl-ed this website and the output did not have any URL replacements).

URL after caching. Notice, the cached and compressed image is in Globe or a third-party partner’s server.

As a workaround, you can spoof your User-Agent by modifying the headers of your requests. You may do this in Firefox by:

1. Going to about:config. A warning will have to scare you but just continue.
2. Then, find the general.useragent.extra.firefox setting. Using the filter above may help you find it.
3. Once you find it, double click the entry and change it to whatever you want. For it to work, it should not contain words like Mozilla, Firefox, Safari or other web browsers. I’ve changed mine to MikkoFox.

Have fun browsing without cached images.

Last year, the search-engine giant Google launched Google Map Maker in the Philippines. It is an online mapping tool where people collaborate to map the world. Since it’s launch in the country, there has been a lot of moderated user-generated content that Google decided to push the Philippine Map Maker street-level data in some cities to Google Maps. Relative to other online collaboration tools such as Wikimapia, Google Map Maker has lesser vandals courtesy of their reputation and moderation algorithm designed by Googlers.

So what does this mean to the Philippines? To be short and concise, better Google Maps (Google Map Maker, and Google Earth) for us!!!

Google Maps Mobile can be easily installed on Sony Ericsson, Nokia and other compatible phones. All it takes is to download the mobile Java application and poof, you have a map in your hand! That was a lie; the data still lies on Google’s end so you need to have an active data packet connection (preferably 3.5G or 3G but GPRS would do) which I think all telcos in the Philippines offer for a competitive rate (despite different pricing scheme, it still sums up to 20/hour).

With Google Maps, you search, browse and hop thru different cities around the world. You can even plot your location on the map without an embedded GPS on your phone although having one gives more precise coordinates. In the absence of GPS or weak GPS connection, Google uses the cell information [further reading, Youtube video] on the header data of the packets sent by your handset, although this one gives less precise measurements.

There has been a countless times where I personally found this tool useful. I’ve used it to find buildings in the wilderness of the long Ayala Avenue. Another potential use of this app is for route mapping, which sadly isn’t supported yet in Metro Manila.

What do you think about Google Maps on Mobile? Have you used it? Share your insights.

It’s official, iPhone is coming to town. At last, we’ll see functional non-cracked iPhones in the country.

Here’s an excerpt from Globe Corporate Blog:

Globe, SingTel, Bharti Airtel and Optus to bring iPhone to the region
Manila, 12 May 2008 – Globe, SingTel, Bharti Airtel and Optus today announced that they have signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to the Philippines, Singapore, India, and Australia later this year.

More information will be released at a later date.

Woohoo! Smart should also have an agreement with Apple; especially now that 3G iPhones are being released.

[Build that Geek via Migs Mobile Network]

Hey guys!

I’ve recently got this set of 136 Java Games for Mobile available for download. You can get these cool games for a shining $0.00. Yep, read that right! It’s for free.

Prepare your fingers as you jam your phone’s keys.

These games are optimized for Sony Ericsson W550i but are compatible with virtually any mobile phone that supports Java (Nokia, Samsung, etc). More to come so subscribe to my feeds.

DUE TO COPYRIGHT ISSUES, the download links were removed. Sorry.

1. 3D Balloon Race
2. 1000 Words
3. 2004 Real Football Mobile
4. 2005 Real Soccer
5. Age of Empires II
6. Air Strike 1944
7. Alien vs Predator
8. And 1 Streetball
9. Asphalt Urban GT 2
10. Asphalt Urban GT
11. Batman Begins
12. Blade Trinity
13. Block Breaker Deluxe Christmas
14. Block Breaker Deluxe
15. Brain Challenge
16. Brother Bear
17. Brothers In Arms Earned In Blood
18. Call of Duty 2
19. Call of Duty
20. Cannon Fodder
21. Chessmaster
22. Crash Twinsanity 3D
23. Dancing Sweety
24. Deer Hunter By Sorrent
25. Diamond Rush Mobile
26. Disney Pixar’s Cars
27. Disney Pixar’s The Incredibles
28. Dogz
29. Doom RPG
30. Dragonslayer Junior
31. EA Air Hockey By Jamdat
32. EA Tetris Mania
33. Elektra Assassin
34. Etty Wall Ball 3D
35. Extreme Air Snowboarding
36. Fantastic Four 3D
37. FIFA Street 2
38. Friends The One With All The Trivia
39. Gameloft Backgammon
40. Gulo’s Tale
41. Happy Tree Friends HomeRun
42. Happy Tree Friends Spin Fun
43. I, Robot
44. Ice Age 2 Arctic Slide
45. Ice Age Skater
46. KingKong The Official Mobile Game Of The Movie
47. Knight Tales
48. LEGO Bricks
49. LEGO Star Wars
50. LEGO World Soccer
51. Lemmings
52. Lord Of The Rings The Two Towers
53. Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
54. Madagascar Going Wild
55. Major Carnage 3D
56. Marcel Desailly Pro Soccer
57. Medieval Combat Age Of Glory
58. Metal Slug
59. Miami Nights Single In The City
60. Midnight Bowling
61. Midnight Casino
62. Midnight Hold’em Poker
63. Midnight Pool
64. Might & Magic
65. Mission Impossible 3
66. Moto GP2
67. Moto GP3
68. Moto Racing Fever 3D
69. Muppet’s Dance Party
70. Mystery Mansion Pinball
71. Naval Battle Mission Commander
72. Nemo’s Aquarium
73. Paris Hilton’s Diamond Quest
74. Pirates Of The Caribbean Dead Man’s Chest
75. Platinum Sudoku
76. Poseidon Mobile
77. Prince Of Persia Harem Adventures
78. Prince Of Persia The Sands Of Time
79. Prince Of Persia The Two Thrones
80. Prince Of Persia Warrior Within
81. Ratchet & Clank Going
82. Rayman 3
83. Rayman Bowling
84. Rayman Golf
85. Real FootBall 2006
86. Rubik’s Cube
87. Sexy Poker 2004
88. Sexy Poker 2006
89. Sexy Poker Manga
90. Sexy Poker Top Models
91. Sexy Vegas
92. Siberian Strike Episode I
93. Siberian Strike Episode II
94. Sonic The Hedgehog Part One
95. South Park Sports Day
96. Speed Devils
97. Splinter Cell Extended Ops
98. SpongeBob SquarePants Bowling
99. Star Wars Battle Above Coruscant
100. Star Wars Battle For The Republic
101. Star Wars Episode III Revenge Of The Sith
102. Super Puzzle Bobble
103. Superman Returns 2D
104. The Crow
105. The Da Vinci Code – The Quest Begins
106. The Day After Tomorrow
107. The Fast And The Furious
108. The Fast And The Furious Tokyo 2D
109. The Fast And The Furious Tokyo 3D
110. The O.C.
111. The Punisher
112. The Scorpion King
113. The Sims 2
114. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Game
115. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3
116. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Lockdown
117. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
118. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow
119. Tomb Raider Elixir of Life
120. Tomb Raider Quest For Cinnabar
121. Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland
122. Top Gun Air Combat 2
123. Tropical Madness
124. Underworld Mobile
125. Vans Skate and Slam Feat. Geoff Rowley
126. Vijay Singh Pro Golf 2005
127. Wacky Races Mobile
128. War Of The Worlds
129. Woody Woodpecker Wacky Challenge
130. Worms 2006
131. Worms Forts Under Siege
132. Worms Golf
133. Worms Mobile
134. XIII
135. X-Men 3 The Mobile Game
136. X-Men Legends 2

More games to come soon so don’t forget to subscribe to my feeds.