The Anthem Philatelist

A few months ago, I visited a link in Delcampe , a stamp and collectibles auction site, about "Cyber Philately: Computer Stamps- from Abacus to Internet", and I was transported back in time to my love affair with the "ultimate machine".   Pocket computer --- desktop --- laptop --- notebook --- netbook --- tablet PC . In a nutshell, that's the evolution of my computers.    Back in 1983, when I was in my second year high school in UP Cebu , my dad gifted me from Japan , my first computer- the Casio PB-300 , a pocket computer with a built in thermal printer. To my knowledge, it was the first computer with a built-in thermal printer but had only 2KB of RAM compared to mammoth 4GB of today. There were no elaborate graphics and software programs then. You can only see 12 characters in a line on a monochrome LCD for simple games and computation of algebraic formulas which was very helpful in my elective Calculus subject in high school in UP Cebu.   Only a hand...

This was my first night run in Cebu . My UP classmate and Sunstar editor, Michelle So , had been prodding me to join their weekly "Ungo" (vampire) night runs from their office to IT park and I always had my excuses. I had my apprehensions about night runs considering the unpredictable temperament of our drivers and the condition and safety of our roads. The lighting around some portions of the North Reclamation area around Parkmall was also not very good. One slip due to a puddle can twist those Achilles tendons or tear you tarsal ligaments.    But this was different; my wife wanted to have a trial run before their STC  Reunion Fun Run later this month and so we decided to run together- a sort of test run. Also knowing that you are helping the hearing-impaired provided further incentive to race in the night. But due to unfortunate events which will take afew additional pages to explain, I was left to run alone.   It was drizzling that afternoon, and the wet...