MANILA, Philippines — Is it just me, or have we really lost whatever vestige of civility we had left?

How did we end up like this? How did we accumulate all those vitriol and evil intent and store them deep inside our hearts?

Have we created a world that is turning us into animals filled with murderous rage and tendencies? Neighbors kill each other over some petty grudges and squabbles. A simple stare could ignite a massacre; an unintended bump can start a killing spree.

These interpersonal conflicts are mirrored in nations' relations with each other. Their differences in economic interests and ideologies, as well as struggle for international prestige (whatever that means), are prompting nations to lay low on diplomacy and highlight their fighting, warring stances.

Should we then move away from each other, and live as islands each?

Thou Shall Not Insult Apple

Last week's Super Bowl, the largest sporting fiesta in the United States, has always been a platform of sort for the world's leading advertising agencies and their clients to display their best (or worst, depending on who's talking) works.

Leading consumer electronics vendor Samsung also used the NFL event to air a television commercial touting its Galaxy Note smartphone-cum-tablet. Like a couple of its previous commercials, this one was a thinly disguised jab at the iPhone and the hordes of consumers the Korean company claims are blinded by their loyalty to the late Steve Jobs' company.

Unsurprisingly, Samsung and its commercial have been hit with plenty of not-so-friendly callouts on Twitter and other social networking sites. Most tweets were by users ridiculing the Galaxy Note's use of the stylus, a technology popular a decade or two ago.

Moral of the story? You should not use the name or images of you know who in vain. The same doctrine goes for that Taiwanese tablet maker whose TV commercial used a Steve Jobs lookalike. But that story is for another column.

HTC Low

Nope. That is not the name of a new smartphone from Taiwan's leading mobile vendor, HTC. Rather, that describes the smartphone maker's financial performance for the quarter ending in March 2012.

The company, seeking perhaps to ready its investors and market analysts, has announced that revenue forecast for the quarter is likely to do a 30-percent dive from year-ago levels.

Blaming the success of its main rivals Apple and Samsung, HTC says it is hopeful that the revenue malaise, which extended from its fourth quarter, would hit bottom and recover following its new product launches.

HTC Leak

In another development that HTC fans would not particularly like, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team has warned that some HTC Android phones are vulnerable to WiFi data leak.

According to the CERT, the HTC smartphone models covered by the security warning include the Desire HD, Glacier, Droid Incredible, Thunderbolt 4G, Sensation Z710e, Sensation 4G, Desire S, EVO 3D, and EVO 4G. Not all versions of the phone models, however, are believed to be vulnerable.

Owners of HTC Android phones should check the CERT Web site for more information about this security bulletin.

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