Business, Human Interest, International, Science and Environment, Technology, The Media

SILICON VALLEY ENTREPRENEUR HAS SOLUTION FOR GROUP ‘SELFIES’ : RETRACTABLE BOOM POLES

April 30, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Silicon Valley, California – Had there been a Nobel Prize for social media entrepreneurship, a Silicon Valley man would have been nominated for his ingenious solution to group ‘selfies.’

It is estimated that 4 out of every 5 smart phone owners take a photo of themselves on an average of three times a week and post the ‘selfies’ on social media. More and more, however, thanks to that infamous selfie taken by Ellen DeGeneres at this year’s Oscars, selfie-enthusiasts are resorting to group selfies with their friends and family. The big challenge is that unless one has long arms, it is difficult to capture all the group members that needed to be in the photo.

Enter this entrepreneur who goes by a single name of Chakra. Like the Silicon Valley companies that have grown into multi-billion enterprises, Chakra operates his small business from his garage.

His solution for an all-inclusive group selfie? A retractable, telescopic boom pole similar to the boom poles used by film and broadcast companies to extend the reach for their microphones. Chakra’s invention which has been recently patented uses a thin telescopic pole which, when retracted , is about the size of a pen – thus making it easy to carry around anywhere for those instant selfie moments. At one end of the pole is a custom adjustable clip that can hold a smart phone or tablet. It is bluetooth-enabled so that the selfie taker can click the camera wirelessly from his or her end of the pole.

The Adobo Chronicles has learned that smartphone giants Samsung and Apple are competing to be the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of this new device.

Stay tuned. In the meantime, go get a ‘selfie.’

Business, International, Technology

TWITTER USERS NOW LIMITED TO 139 CHARACTERS PER TWEET

April 30, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Twitter's San Francisco Headquarters — Twitter’s San Francisco Headquarters

San Francisco, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – With almost 700 Million users worldwide, Twitter is fast approaching maximum capacity and has just announced new rules for its popular instant messaging network.

Twitter users will now be limited to 139 charcters per tweet, down from 140 characters, according to CEO Dick Costolo. “We understand this may upset our loyal account holders, but we are left with no choice but to try to explore all avenues to prevent our network from an overload,” he told reporters at a press conference held at the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco.

Costolo explained that reducing the chatacter limit will save the company 700 million characters per tweet, enough to prevent what could be a devastating network computer crash.

Twitter account holders will soon receive an email announcing the change, along with some suggestions on how to best deal with the new character reduction policy. Suggestions include using single instead of double exclamation points (!!) and question marks (??) in tweets, or eliminating the period (.) from the words Mr and Mrs

Costolo is confident that it will not take long before account holders will get used to the new character limit. “As soon as we complete expansion work on our network capacity, we will restore the 140 chatacter limit,” he said.

International, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics

U.S. TO RELOCATE PEARL HARBOR FROM HAWAII TO MANILA BAY

April 29, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii (The Adobo Chronicles) – Now that a new, ten-year agreement has been signed to allow increased U.S. military presence in the Philippines, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced today that Pearl Harbor will be relocated to Manila Bay, just behind the U.S. Embassy on Roxas Boulevard.

“It is part of the U.S. plan to be more strategic in the deployment of its troops, especially near hotspot areas in the Asian region, including China, North Korea and Russia,” Hagel said. He added that relocating Pearl Harbor to Manila makes perfect sense because of the proximity of the Philippines to the hotspot areas. Hagel also said that “after all, the Philippines is called the ‘Pearl of the the Orient Seas’ so Pearl Harbor fits right in.”

Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie was outraged at the federal government’s decision and threatened to join the Hawaii Independence Movement.

Meanwhile, Manila Mayor (and former Philippine President) Joseph Estrada was ecstatic and is planning a celebratory luau at the Manila Hotel this weekend.