MANILA, Philippines -- Last week, my family and I went to my wife’s hometown in Bicol. It has been a year since our last visit, and this time, I was happy to see at least a couple of bus companies offering onboard WiFi service.

On-demand Web access is one sure way to make an overnight bus ride more tolerable; in fact, it might even make the whole thing enjoyable.

So, when we bought our bus tickets, Internet access was the top criterion in choosing which bus we would be riding for at least eight hours.

On the night of our travel, we promptly showed up at the recently relocated bus terminal at the Araneta Center in Cubao. Unfortunately, WiFi service failed to show up. The wireless router of the bus we were riding conked out, according to the reliever driver, and was being serviced at the bus company’s main terminal somewhere in Batangas.

About a week later, it was time for us to return to the metropolis. Being wiser this time, we chose another bus company that also claimed its buses had WiFi onboard.

We reached Manila without seeing any Web page at all. Not even a single spam.

Question, Mr. DTI: What are we supposed to do with these bus companies that fraudulently claim they offer something that they in fact do not?

Samsung-Microsoft Tablet

Samsung and Microsoft are collaborating on a Windows 8-powered quad-core tablet computer, according to a report by the Korea Economic Daily, citing an unidentified industry source.

Rumors abound that Microsoft plans to present a quad-core tablet computer installed with Windows 8, the next-generation operating system scheduled for release in 2012.

This early, Microsoft has been providing updates and peeks into its soon-to-be-released OS via its “Building Windows 8” blog. Some of the software company’s pre-launch “marketing” moves remind me of Apple’s product-launch strategies.

In fact, I will not be surprised if a Microsoft employee would lose a Windows 8 prototype in a bar somewhere in California, soon.

9/11 Cyber Scams

I am as pro-human rights as the next guy. In fact, I believe that we as a race will never go far unless we truly learn to respect each other’s rights as human beings. You know, respect our differences, and all those stuff.

But while I respect their rights to earn a living, I can never ever find any reason to respect what online scammers and their ilk are doing. I can never come up with anything that remotely justifies whatever it is they are doing.

Take the case of those who create and maintain Web sites that claim to have in their possession details about the Sept. 11 terror attacks. These Web sites divert Internet users who are stupid, I mean intellectually challenged, enough to click those links to sites that are loaded with scareware and phishing traps.

These malicious perpetrators clearly do not respect other people’s right to a peaceful and productive experience online.

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