Next big project for our printing services

What's next for Qwezer's backbone business of shirt printing? Something industrial looking, like this.



Up for some manly-work!

Day 113: Out of the shop, and into the wild

And the day has come. Finally, the chassis of our e-trike design is complete. We got the steel frames painted for rust protection and black theme color. As I have said from last time's post, we were delayed in finishing this part but now, it's already done. We can now go on doing further research and development of our half-finished product before having the casing manufactured in the fiber glass factory.

We also had a test run done yesterday (November 26) from the shop to our main office. It was fun! People were looking at us while we drive down the National Highway with our skeleton e-trike and our thick faces. Who wouldn't be fascinated seeing an alien automobile running on the highway? Good thing the TDRO was kind enough to let us drive on the street.

Watch and see the first complete adventure of our e-trike as we roll out from the shop to our Headquarters.



Hello, electric-driven automotive technology!

More photos of the chassis after the cut.

Day 105: It's rolling!

A long awaited update about Project Proton!

We admit, the schedule got derailed. Big time. We're so excited probably at first that we never anticipated the building of the chassis to last more than a month, which we projected would only take 2 weeks. Lesson learned, though. And a lot of lessons from life came suddenly into our realization. But amid the days of frustrations and loss of inspirations, the e-trike chassis finally was completed, like 95% of it is already done. The only thing left to modify is the braking system, since our earlier design could not fully function.

After we roll out the chassis from the shop, we will conduct test drives to assess its performance first. Housing production will then begin right after, to waste no valuable time. It's a new set of work to do. Nonetheless, the sight of your design functioning and moving means we're doing something right (haha, because if that trike explodes, then we're sure we did something wrong).

Here's a short clip showing the rolling of the trike. That's Allen, our CEO, currently driving our product. We're still checking the connection between the differential and the motor at this scene. Next time, we'll show the e-trike moving in a normal speed. The placement of the batteries is not yet final.



Bring it on, baby.

Day 72: Frames up, almost there

It's taking shape! Not your conventional chassis design, but powerful.

VOILA! Lower frame of the e-trike vehicle is now complete. Also, the roll cage on the passenger side is done. Next to be completed will be the differential axle position on the rear side together with the suspension. We are going to use semi-elliptic type leaf spring on the rear, same as being used in other common wheeled vehicles. For the front, we're planning to use the common motorcycle-type fork with shocks as part of the steering system.

We'll probably have the front side of the roll cage be done last, since it will require angled curvature on its shape. It's a delicate process, since the circular form will be the basis shape for the front fiber glass and hood of the trike.

In case you're wondering what the width of the trike is, it's approximately 1.5 meters, same as a regular owner-type Jeep. This will provide spacious leg room for passengers while entering or seating inside. Also, I checked on the clearance of the entrance and everything is good, with less constraint to the passengers.

I told the preacher I'm in no hurry

Yesterday, I learned how to deal with detachment. I guess it's time to let the seas cover the distance in between. For the lady and for her adventures on the land down under. Thank you. This is my final song for you.

'But if I broke her heart, then won't you tell her I'm sorry?'



Peace.

GIG! TONIGHT!

COMMAND YOUR STREET gig tonight!

Get a load of indie alternative music tonight as we play with other great bands in AMOS Cafe, Kamias, Quezon City. FREE ENTRANCE YO!

Day 65: Start the production!

Finally, the prototyping stage!

About 2 months since the official Day 1 of Project Proton, we enter into fabrication of the e-trike we are designing. Finally, it's taking shape in reality from just the 3D models, system concepts, and electrical diagrams the company is working on (a lot of debating ensued too) for the past days. I can't release the final look of the product yet to the public, since we're still making last updates for its patent.

To cap off, chassis is the first to be created, as it will be the primary basis for the casing and shape of the trike, along with the weight and capacity relations of the whole product. I can say pretty much the frame (shown below) was done in less than two days. Minor errors did occur though they were fixed immediately. Here's a tip: one (especially designers) must always take in mind that precise measurements in working drawings are not always the same when being done in production. There will be an offside more or less to the actual measurements. The best thing to do is to monitor the production and instruct the builder well. Don't be afraid to discuss what you want to come out from the creation process. (But also allow the builder to work on his own. Do not supervise them round-the-clock; they will hate that.)

We're projecting that the whole lower frame will be done by the end of the week, and the rolling cage (the top structure) will be finished by next week. Final chassis then will consist of the wheels, fork, handles, and the axle and brake systems all combined and working well together. Hoping we get on schedule, production of body will start within two weeks. Now that's more exciting to see!

YAY CHASSIS! Apparently, my hands were shaking when I took this photo.

We're estimating that the whole production of this first e-trike will be completed before December. That will be the fastest the production team can handle, and we think it's also fair. We'll see to it that the prototype will roll-out as soon as possible, so we can have more testing done, details revised, and then release it out on the market early next year. This is going to be an interesting last quarter of 2012! Who's getting pumped up? Well, we are.

Til the next update, mates!

You & the Nite, and every stories in between

It's never too early or late in the evening. The night is your comforting shroud.

Ladies, gentlemen, and people from out of this world: the fourth and last single off LEO37's EP album, FANFARE. I can still remember the release of Firedance, the kind of music enough to jump start the energy in any one who listens to the song. Now we've come to a more mellow type with soothing beats, honestly my favorite song from the EP, You & The Nite. Still present is producer John Poon's perfect rhythms and bass lines that go well with Leo's style, and also features the vocals of Lillian Chan, another talented and creative artist not only in the field of music but also in animation and film as well. If you give notice to every detail of the song: the lyrics, the rap, the drums, the tunes, you'll feel the same excitement I'll get.

Jumping from the street scene in the video of last single Gorgeous, You & The Nite showcases a blend in of reality and the animated 2D world. The story of the video tells of Leo's relationship with the night: the special time of the day when ideas come and an unusual kind of serenity envelopes the mind of any creative thinker. Artists, musicians, writers, adventurers, and a lot of people alike find comfort in the calming background of the velvet skies and the hovering dance of the moon. The song and this video describe that surreal scenario really well.

My Mother doesn't just teach

I have a teacher for a mother, and every time we had periodical tests in our school back in my elementary days, she prepares reviewer tests for me and my siblings, much like how they will appear in the exams. Pretty neat, but still I get fair scores. Came high school and college, my mother did not make me those reviewers anymore. I had to do it myself. And lo, I could say my grades did better that time. What I realized was that, when I found out how to mimic what my mom did in teaching me to actually learn from studying (it's like the knowledge-wisdom paradox; you have the ability to know, but simply knowing is not really wisdom), I had a better chance of storing the information I need and using it in the situations I come across up until today. Not that I say my mother spoon-feeding me like that in my younger days is not good, but it kind of taught me in a subliminal way the strategy I have to use in growing up. She may or may have not known of that all along. But hey, it's already embodied in me. For me, she isn't just a teacher who teach from the textbook. She's someone who knows how to teach a life-worth of education.

Thanks Mom. :)

9 Life Lessons from Gordon Dean

1. Never lose your capacity for enthusiasm.
2. Never lose your capacity for indignation.
3. Never judge people. Don’t type them too quickly. But in a pinch, never first assume that a man is bad; first assume that he is good and that, at worst, he is in the gray area between bad and good.
4. Never be impressed by wealth alone or thrown by poverty.
5. If you can’t be generous when it’s hard to be, you won’t be when it’s easy.
6. The greatest builder of confidence is the ability to do something--almost anything--well.
7. When confidence comes, then strive for humility; you aren’t as good as all that.
8. The way to become truly useful is to seek the best that other brains have to offer. Use them to supplement your own, and be prepared to give credit to them when they have helped.
9. The greatest tragedies in the world and personal events stem from misunderstandings. So communicate!

Putting it here so I can read it every time I log on to this blog.

Found on INC.'s website. http://www.inc.com/harvey-mackay/9-life-lessons-every-entrepreneur-needs.html

日本語で (Part 1)

ときどきだれかは他言語で話したい。今日は私のためがその日です。恰も好し、少しでも私が日本語が話せます。たとえ簡単言葉で使って、私の意味は人が分かられます。長い時間に私は日本語話せないんでした。前回は私がタイに住みました。日本に戻って来たい。東京のタワーをもう一回見たいです。そうして、大阪と静岡にまた行きたい。静か気持ちまたほしい。もうすぐ。多分。

'I think you just need someone to talk to'

A new formulated hypothesis for a never-ending social experiment I'm doing: just maybe, we need to meet new people not to always fall romantically in love with. Maybe we need to meet a new person, accidentally, just to talk and have plain conversations with, about fresh topics and funny stuff, minus the romance part what your typical movie, book, or even your closest friends tell you the scenario should be.

At least, the feeling of pressure of having someone to fall in love with will be out of the equation. You'll just get to enjoy that sparingly moment with a stranger, or who knows, a future friend.

--
Video has no relation to the topic of this post. I just woke up this morning with Drip playing inside my head. Very wonderful wake-up songs.

Hitler flirter

Because great leaders (and by great, I mean a leader who has ruled a country and tried to expand it; commanded a grand army; wages war against super countries without fear; one who has formulated his own ideals and influenced his people with it; his power felt worldwide; not on the grounds whether he was good or evil since morality I believe is based upon a person's own point of view) have smooth flirting moves too.

This was, as described, taken from Eva Braun's filming of the Führer. More discussions here.

Day 42: E-Trike 70% done, finalizing details, things to come

September. If you've seen August, a sea of red covered all the dates. Note: thesis means consultation services

I know I've been documenting the updates regarding the electric tricycle project we're working on right now just in words on this blog, and I really haven't included pictures of the product itself. It's not that I don't want to show it to you, just that I really can't show pictures yet at this stage. I'm bound by company secrets, you see. But once the prototyping comes soon, I will be able to upload pics about it so don't worry!

The total shape of the electric vehicle is done, and probably will just have minor details to modify over the days to come. Final details regarding the battery system, and accessories including the hand rails, safety features, and stuff are currently last in development. The electrical parts though has been halted in operation due to some other problems the company are currently handling right now. But we are hopeful to complete our goals and milestones before the end of the month. (That means busier days to come!) So yep, cheers?

But I still have time to do other fun things though. Coming up this week:

Forget about your house of cards

Current mood: track no. 4 on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club album. Last time's emo-senti outlook in life: look what's on track number 3. :P

I'm running out of ideas to write again. That means I'll have to say goodbye to melancholy days soon. Ah, no no. How I missed these days, and how I'm going to miss them soon. No more lonely stuff to talk about. Once I sense a new kind of adventure is set, my mind clears off and the sadness that blinds my thoughts are vanishing in exponential (mathematical!) speed.

Last night was spectacular. Finding old friends in unexpected places, talking about philosophy and idealism, listening to live sets of metal and indie music, planning future "saving-the-world" adventures. Fun always starts after 10 in the evening. I did not let a series of mishaps earlier that day to end my Thursday in shame. It was like a dazed night with Minus the Bear's new album playing in my head.

Last truth revealed: it's about a girl. Not really the whole though; there's about stress in business, work, communications, and confusing principles piling up in my head. But yeah, the majority is about the girl. The girl. My friend affirmed "it's always about the female class." Yet the feeling I get is not sadness from rejection or failure of not getting the girl you like (again, psssh). It's about finally deciding to forget. And there are two sides of fear when trying to forget: 1) fear that you'll forget the feelings for another person after all those times you think are now wasted but not really, and 2) fear that the other person will forget their memories of you too, and two you will fall into an Abyss of back to being strangers. Who would want that, of course. But a lot of people have accepted that and have done that already too. We do what we need to do, that is part of human nature. Well I guess, I'm about to embrace that too. The closure is here.

Coming back to the province earlier, I felt the urgent need to take a break from this dilemma again. Problems from the past six months are already cramped in and I haven't had any vacation yet. Good thing what happened last night contributed to ideas of a bright plan ahead.

A new set of cards.

Nothing feels good being under the gun

Today, I found myself listening to Mae's Breakdown over and over again. It's a song that keeps my aura in chaotic pattern, but something that keeps me at peace as well. The roll of the snare drums, the tune of the bassline, and the flow of the words in the lyrics. Damn, that poetry really sticks to the soul.

Funny how one song can calm a mind busy about serious business stuff.

--
Anyway, here's a wonderful topic me and my friend Marius was talking about earlier:

Marius Black: 
if guy1 say the sky is blue, then guys (sic) 2 says its red
then a third guy says it's not red it's blue
you don't necesarily believe in guy 1, but you now believe in guy 3
so ayun nga, where do you stand ba talaga? what if guy 4 comes?
and says all of them are wrong?

Evan Quinay: 
shouldn't I believe in what I see rather than believeing (sic) in what they say?

Marius Black:
what if you're blind?
hahaha

Evan Quinay:
if I'm blind, would it still matter to me if the sky is blue or red? 

Marius Black:
exactly!

Whatever you can decipher from this conversation, it will turn out right. :)

Hey, I'm already old! But here's a cute baby pic.

He not angry. He just cute.

This movie is not about you

The whole idea of a movie is for it to tell a vivid motion story about human interactions with their surroundings in a one-in-a-million chance of happening. Every scene, every episode tells the ultimate what-could-have-been. Gazing beyond the shore, contemplating about life and finally understanding what you must do. Picking up a coin by the gutter, then using it to gamble, and winning the lottery by the jackpot. Tripping on a small rock landing on the arms of your future love partner. It's so easy to believe in this type of movies, falling into belief that someday, somehow, your life will be the same as the last romantic-comedy, or drama, or even horror film you have seen.

Oddly enough, the same in a one-in-a-million chance, the right movie becomes your story too.

If that instance happens, how do you think you would feel? Will you recognize who the main characters are? Yes, it might be your life as the story, but are you really the protagonist who will encounter the greatest lesson of the whole tale? You could be the supporting actor, you could just be an extra as well. Or worse, you could be the enemy of the real star of the show.

In a complexity pattern of life being turned into movies and being turned back into your own story, you can never know what's going to be your part. You can never tell what's the total plot is all about. You can never guess if there will be a happy ending.

Before midnight struck

It was an incredible experience when you listen to music you love being performed live. The night of the 7th of September, before the next day arrived, I was swaying to the beats and rhythms of the songs I never knew will give me a new direction in life.

And that's when I realize, yeah, we have to let chance pass by, so that we can move forward.

Cheers to good music, and good life. :)

Day 29: Project Proton update

I'm in a company of electronics geeks and I'm feeling awesome :D

So we're on day 29 already of Project Proton (a substitute name for what I termed Project X before). So far, certain issues have been tackled, and the design for the whole housing and chassis is near preliminary completion. Modelling in 3D is until the end of this week, and revisions and smaller details will be tackled on next week. Electronic component testing is also being done in parallel. If you can just see how our office looks like today, it's not messy, but every corner has some electronic bits working, humming and lighting up. Pretty awesome, I tell you. Working with my engineer friends was a good choice! And hoping all goes well, by the third week of September, the fabrication of the prototype shall begin.

I'm kinda nervous on how it'll turn out. My first ever automobile design, and the first ever marketable (of course it should be marketable) product of our own ReThink Tech company. Who's not gonna be thrilled by that?

I'm also happy I got my friends as my workmates, and we can debate and argue about things in a professional level and still keep the brotherhood as cool as it should be.

Til the next post! There's still a lot to be done. :)

--
Plug it off BMO. Not sad, but that chapter ends here.

Pull the plug off if it ends, BMO

http://chocolatesquaredance.tumblr.com/post/30412144112/my-neighbour-totoro

Just because. I fear a wave of sadness will come in a few weeks' time. I'm someone who'll anticipate the events to happen, and I think I'm half prepared for this. Being a guy who thinks there is no wrong timing as everything is at the right place and moments, I guess we'll see if I am indeed just in the right time. Or maybe not me, but the other character is just too stuck in the future.

In case of emergency, pull the plug off, BMO. If it ends.

On getting a job or just doing your own thing

There is no relation between this pic and this post.

Most people tend to tell me I'm in good future whenever they find out I have no job but is already managing my own businesses. At first, I felt good about it. I feel proud. Just around two years after graduating from a university, I slowly got interested in studying more of business while working on my first job. I went under the  more usual phase: started off reading Kiyosaki books, playing Cashflow, joining an MLM organization, among others. Then things started to get serious; sleepless nights filling up calendars as I plan things I would like to do. Luckily, I found friends who also would love to try bigger things in the world of business with me. Although I was sent by my company to other countries to work at that time, the sense of doing business was already imbued within me. It was part-time work, part-time nurturing ideas during my whole stay abroad. After almost four years in my first job, I gracefully exited from it, and proceeded to work on the ideas intensely brewing in my head. And now, here I am, being my own boss and pulling off my hair on every decision-making episode. People will try to tell me that they want to start their business too, but they don't have any idea yet. But is doing business really for everyone? Is it really the achievement everyone should be rooting for?

Of course, the answer will be "maybe."

The man who thinks too much

I'm a man, and one of the many, who is an over-thinker. I had my belief before that there are no people who over-thinks; just those who use their brain well. Well shut that now, because I finally convinced myself that what I'm doing is abnormal, a very crazy habit. I have no idea on whom to blame with this "disease" I have. Is it because of my complex brain trained in multi-tasking that I tend to think way ahead before a scenario happens? Should I blame the society or the media for the subliminal message about I-don't-know's that get into my brain and silently infects it? Perhaps the ones to blame are the cosmos, the astral plane, the zodiacs and the spirit that guides the Universe even though I had little belief in such ideas? Investigating this current dilemma points to a loads of pros and cons.

Figures it was triggered by imagination in the first place.

Crystal fragile four-oh-nine

Nobody knows, even I don't know in particular, why I tend to chase and return the rabbit in this special cage over and over again. Yet I know the crystal cage can break, can shatter, can disappear anytime. I guess it's worth the third try. Why am I still awake. Oh, work!

Day 1: Project X Design

It's a little stereotype but I'll be calling our first work as Project X for the meantime. And yep, it's Day 1 today, or at least the official start. We've been planning the design development of an electric tricycle (E-trike for short) for a long time. Something me and my colleagues at ReThink Tech Inc, our newly established company, are aiming to promote and contribute to the welfare of our country regarding the green environment stage. Although the project has undergone a lot of phases already, today is the start of the two- (max of three) month project goal to finish the whole product and release it to potential investors, just about the same time the government through Department of Energy will open the market to other e-trike manufacturers as well. Nope it's no child play, it's the dream we were aiming for to become a reality, and almost at grasp.

Also, half of the reason why I started my own personal blog is to somehow document the important milestones of this project. Will we succeed? Are we going to fail? I guess I need to keep readers and enthusiasts updated with the progress and regress of this Project X. Haha. Hopefully everything turns out to be full of fun.

For a little information about ReThink Tech, you can visit our beta site at http://www.rethink-tech.com.

Ohrite, back to work! Til the next post. ;)

Alive in the 90's!

We were so glad to be part of Happy House Entertainment's 90's tribute gig last Friday at Black King's Bar in West Ave, QC. We opened our set with a sound check cover of The Raconteur's Hands, and then played Blur's Coffee & TV as our first song. The next songs were our own compositions: Nais Ko and Biyahe Bagahe. It was a super fun night! Also props to the band who performed Everlong in acoustic setting.

The only sort of sad thing about the event is that, I chugged down three 500ml Red Horse which means I have to burn the calories this week! Hahaha but anyway, at least the beer kept me out of being nervous and had a great time playing! (Or maybe I was the only one enjoying it haha)

Another video after the jump.

Mistress of Art: DIANNE DELA TORRE

In this long overdue post for another Mistress of Art feature, let me treat you to a different kind of artistry, mostly in the field of motion graphics.

I was lucky enough to stumble upon the profile of Dianne Dela Torre on Twitter while I was treasure hunting for artists to feature on our now-hiatus blog Extra Kanin. Dianne, currently based in London, UK is a multidisciplinary artist having done works in the field of multimedia, graphics animation, graphic design and illustration. I may have had a chance to talk to her (I think, I forgot already haha) over on Twitter before, and I kind of got interested to feature her works. What captured me with what she has already done are those character designs which, obviously, are moving. I see it as a combination of surreal and child-like environment, pressed with colors that are not tiring to see. You can see her artistry at play on her personal works, such as Dreams: Dorothie and Me and Numerophobia.


It's been a while since I saw her last works, but I'm guessing what she'll show us next on her portfolio are, it not amazing, really awesome! Check out her portfolio reel from 2011. More videos after the cut.

Imagine a world without form

"Imagine Life without ID" conceptualized by Kristoffer Carillo of DLS-CSB 

industrial design
- the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer (IDSA, link)

On June 29, 2012, industrial designers all over the world will celebrate the 5th World Industrial Design Day, a event started by International Council of Societies of Industrial Design half a decade ago to observe and recognize the profession of industrial design. For the past years, other countries in the world had held this event, and it will be the first time WIDD will be celebrated here in the Philippines. Organized by the newly-formed National Council of Industrial Designers of the Philippines (NCIDP), the event will showcase exhibitions, contests and seminars to provide further knowledge to practitioners about the profession. The carrying banners "Lead and Change by Design" and "Imagine A World Without Industrial Design" will leave everyone wondering how the world will turn out if all the inventions are still the way they are (example, the steam locomotive as the primary transport, and even your iPhone or Blackberry still looking like an 80's handy phone). Eventually, everyone will also be challenged to think more rationally and design responsibly on how to make the world a better place with industrial design.

World Industrial Design Day in the Philippines will be held on June 29, 2012, from 12pm to 7pm (*updated time) at the De La Salle College of St. Benilde- School of Design and the Arts, Pablo Ocampo St., Manila.

More information can be found on NCIDP's offical website at www.ncidp.cc and Facebook page.

See you at the event! image via Nielson Navarrete

Pen and ink

“Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating: It is either good or bad." 

- Salvador Dali

Let me leave this 2008 sketch right here to remind me that I can draw before. LOL. These days, all I sketch are cars and products and anything design-related. No room for art. No room for expression.

I guess the first person to criticize an artwork is the artist himself. Never mind how others see your work (unless you're a "professional artist", if there exists such a profession), because the the message you convey is limited to how far your imagination can go. And the main goal is to show how you feel or what you think, not what society is telling you to do.

Command Your Street: 3rd gig at Amos

Hear ye, hear ye! This song entitled Biyahe Bagahe (Travel Baggage) is one of the original compositions by my band Command Your Street. Video was recorded fresh off our June 14 gig at Amos Cafe, Kamias. Hope you enjoy! More after the jump.

The Piscean and the Sea

Summer is not summer unless there is beach involved.

Finally, after two years of not feeling the waves crash upon my legs and feet, I went back to the sea. It wasn't easy to come near the beach at those years, as I have worked abroad for a long time and travel wasn't much given a chance. So right then after I arrived back in the country, I immediately planned out how to get to the nearest sea to swim in. See how water-deprived this Fish was? Haha. But that didn't work out either, and I have to wait for a month to finally able to swim. The opportunity opened up when a Bicol trip was planned.

It was amazing. I haven't been to Bicol for about six years, so this travel was like a shot on two chances. I spent more than a week there, enjoying the current festival for Mayon in Albay, and then then going for a boat-ride and island hopping at the tip of Luzon in Sorsogon. I was also inspired enough to capture every moment in my camera. (That video posted up there says it all.) Definitely one good summer story.

Let the Fire bounce

He’ll eat you with his beats, and drown you with his rapid lyrics. And that will feel good.

Presenting the second single from LEO37, one of my top followed artists on the web (since I can’t watch his show live), from his upcoming EP. He’s back with some electrifying-con-jazzy words and sounds, things that has caught my attention since hearing his song Icarus and Morning. This fascination I once wrote on a blog post last year. Now with Fire Dance, he brings back the same energy, something that will fascinate your ear if you’re not a usual listener to his genre. But hey, it’s all good, it’s all cool, and moments later you’ll never know that you’ll be head-bobbing to his music. That’s how this song reached me after I fed it into my system.