Microsoft Lumia 950XL: Favorite for Convenient Mobile Photo and Video Coverage

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Here are three experimental short movies I did using the slow motion video capturing feature of the Microsoft Lumia 950XL. It's becoming my real favorite in taking photos and videos during coverage of events as it is more convenient and lighter than my Sony mirrorless camera.

I am actually considering making it as my primary camera for my blog post rather than my original camera. The only thing I am disappointed with about the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is on taking videos using the front camera. The audio recording is too weak and you couldn't hear me do a video selfie. There's no problem using the rear camera for taking videos as the audio can be clearly captured.

Another shortcoming of the Microsoft Lumia 950XL is that it heats up when you leave it on, or when the last use was of the camera. Even if you put the screen off, I think the internal processing within the Windows phone is till running thus heating up when left unused for a long time.

Just like a desktop computer, there are also occurrences of hangs every now and then, and also slowdowns when viewing the grid view of all my photos.

However, as mentioned earlier, it works well when taking photos and videos at all kinds of events, as long as you use the rear camera, and it fits fine on my selfie stick or monopod despite being of a bigger size.

Solstice Bistro and Boulangerie: Rockwell's Newest Must-Experience Restaurant

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Your Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas was among the very few select bloggers who got an invite to taste the dishes being served at one of the newly opened restaurants located in Rockwell, Makati city. The restaurant is fairly new and opened just around the last quarter of last year (2015), and being just a few months old, they are still at a stage where they are experimenting on their food offerings including serving sizes and presentations.

When a good friend scheduled me to visit after a scheduled affair attending the opening day of the four-day Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, I immediately Googled for Solstice Bistro and Boulangerie, the name of the restaurant, so I can get a peak of what they are all about. It is a modern European restaurant concept that is now making a noise as one of the must experienced restaurant in Rockwell.

Solstice is actually all about the astrological transitions that happen in June (summer solstice - the longest day of the year) and December (winter solstice - the shortest day of the year). This is what inspired the Solstice Bistro and Boulangerie to be all about transitions.

Surprisingly, only one blog about the restaurant existed, and so it was an honor to be among the second group to dine at this particularly considered high-end establishment. This is where I've learned that it was newly opened and owned by two prominent restaurateurs namely Joseph Assad of One Way Restaurant, and Jack Rodriguez, the innovator behind the Bistro Group (TGI Fridays, Italiannis) and Global Restaurant Concepts (CPK, IHOP), and a third partner from the Antonino family.

Telecom Companies Fail to Provide Appropriate Services

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Here's what transpired with my online discussion with friends on Facebook about the failure of telecom companies, specifically PLDT Home, in immediately correcting our Internet service provision at home. I've been experiencing repetitive down-time or slow-time from our Internet connection taking into account the limited bandwidth available especially on the uploading part.

When my connection was first installed, I was uploading large-size video files, as big as 30-minute averaged videos on my YouTube account, but after a few months of usage, the connection will take an hour or more to upload even just a 6-minute video.

How do the PLDT contractors resolve the problem. They call somebody at PLDT and they correct it on their side. The contractor merely checks if the problem is with the physical lines, or with the desktop/laptop admin configuration setup.

They could not return my Internet connection to the original download and upload speeds. It seems they've intentionally capped the speeds to be able to support other subscribers. They keep on enticing the public to subscribe to their services even when their infrastructure could not handle the load. You see them flaunt bandwidth-hungry applications and services, they accept subscriptions so fast, and yet they remain inefficient for after-sales services where complaints about their poor network and slow action to resolve issues rise and last for several weeks to months.