Last week's bombing of a bus in the country's central business district has abruptly and mercilessly shattered our make believe that we were living in a safe world. In the age of globalization, terror knows no borders. What happens in the farthest and darkest corners of the globe will always ultimately find its way to almost anywhere else on the planet.

The savage act's perpetrators are both lacking in heart and soul, definitely. They neither had any originality, nor the courage to die with their victims like those suicide bombers we have been hearing and reading about do.

But let us not allow this savagery and lack of humanity to deprive us of our dignity as humans. We must remain unbowed. We must never cease asserting our right to live a normal life, unencumbered with fear and frightful uncertainty. We owe it to our forefathers who withstood much worse and much more despicable acts during our wars for liberty from Hispanic, American, and Japanese occupiers.

You think last week's bombing was bad? Imagine how hard it must have been for our grandfathers and grandmothers when the whole of Manila was burned down after the battle between American and Japanese forces over the so-called Pearl of the Orient. Maiming, killing, raping, and pillaging were done on a wholesale basis.

So today we mourn our losses. We commiserate with those who lost their loved ones. We join hands with those who were injured. We gather around, we stand as one with their families and friends. We also remember those who fell in similar fashion from similar dastardly acts.

But we shall never give in to fear. The best way we can fight back – push back the darkness that threatens to engulf us – is continuing living our normal everyday lives.
 
Samsung's Newest, Budget-Friendly

Samsung recently unveiled four derivatives of its bestselling smartphone, the Galaxy S.

Aimed at customers looking for smart but pocket-friendly mobile phones, the Ace, Fit, Gio, and mini Galaxy smartphones are being launched in China, Russia, and other markets outside the United States. Each of these phones comes with features and design elements that would remind consumers of the genetically superior Galaxy S.

Clearly, Samsung is going after Nokia's crown – world domination of the mobile devices market. The company will show off these phones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from February 14 to 17.
 
LG's Quarter Lacks Fun

Lower prices for flat screen TVs and tight competition from the iPhone and other smartphones for its mobile phone business brought LG Electronics one rather unpleasant quarter. The Korean electronics giant suffered $229.4 million in the quarter ending December 31, its first quarterly loss in almost two years of continuous healthy bottom line.

However, LG Electronics, currently the world's second-largest flat screen TV manufacturer and third-biggest in mobile phones, should find some consolation from the fact that its fourth-quarter bleeding was not as bad as analysts predicted it would be.

That's all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.