Category Archives: Asides

Logitech C270 – plagued by a design flaw

Logitech C270 has a design flaw

As with most other users of the Logitech C270, my unit started to show the dreaded ‘white screen’ error. It has become so bad I had to take it apart and fiddle with its innards as it is the most common temporary fix coming from other users. By all indications, the C270 seems to be suffering from a design flaw which is a shame because I’ve always held Logitech products in high regard.

Now I’m shopping around for a replacement although this doesn’t mean I’m parting ways with Logitech, as maybe this is the universe’s way of telling me to finally get that C920 or C930C that’s been in my shopping cart for almost three years now.

Mask Upgrade

My employer has started to gradually transition us to working at the office after almost three years of working remotely because of the pandemic. So I decided to finally upgrade the face mask that I wear to the office from a KN95 to an Aura 1870+ Respirator N95 Face Mask by 3M.

3M 1870+ Respirator N95 Face Mask
  • Here’s what I like with the Aura N95 compared to the KN95:
    Straps that go over the back of my head and neck, so virtually no strain on my ear lobes
  • Has a better fit hence a better seal over my mouth and nose
  • Give me more confidence that I have better protection from airborne pathogens and pollution

Three years since the pandemic began and I’m quite proud to say that my family has been able to avoid getting COVID-19. We plan to stay that way because masks work. COVID-19 is still here. COVID is airborne.

Problems with Converge in Cavite

Converge no internet connection

Just in the second month of having Converge as our primary ISP here in Cavite, we’ve already experienced an outage that lasted almost 12 hours. The following day, the connection was intermittent. The most frustrating of all is how difficult it’s been to contact their Customer Service, regardless of the channel.

I first reported the outage through their official Twitter account, and they responded after 5 hours! Tried to call their hotline and the feature to automatically generate a support ticket failed to work. So I patiently waited for almost 15 minutes to actually speak to someone, but when they were about to create a support ticket for a tech visit, the call got disconnected!

What I feared finally came to pass, it’s really hard and frustrating to get a reliable and responsive ISP outside of the capital.

When UP Diliman made headlines for having more than fifty percent of this year’s graduating class finish with Latin honors, it raised a lot of eyebrows from both members of the UP community and outsiders. Author Butch Dalisay who teaches at UP has weighed in on the peculiar issue, attributing the seeming generosity of the prestigious state university with Latin honors to the relaxation of academic policies brought about by the COVID pandemic. Citing a few studies critiquing the Latin honors system, he’s on point in saying that the time has come to find a better way of recognizing and rewarding academic achievements. In general, the problem also exists at other education levels.