Healthy and Fun Gulaman

I recently encountered Super Gulaman(Agar) while doing my grocery at Parco. It makes 1.4Liters and costs under 11php. I didn't think much of it until I started reading about it and its health benefits.

It is easy to prepare and fun to eat. It is 80% fiber and absorbs lots of water so it is filling and aids digestion.

The only drawback I found with this brand is Pulverized Sugar which accounts for the 80 Calories per serving. I might look in to the pure Gulaman Bars sold in wet markets, as those are unsweetened. But in terms of its compact/powdered nature, this one might become a mainstay in my diet and can supplement my IF(Intermittent Fasting).

TCL L24D12 LCD TV Review

The TCL L24D12 is available at Abenson's for Php 9,995. My brother Xtian  got it as the grand prize in their office Christmas raffle and I'll give my review below.

[update] It seems its monitor native/optimal resolution is 1360x768, where it is sharp. Unfortunately even in this setting, it's slightly bright for my eyes, even at lowered brightness/backlight/contrast settings. The difference in brightness between a browser's background and photos is too great for it to be comfortable for programming or photo editing. I might have to relegate it to the second computer as movie display.

Pros:

• USB slot can play movies/media. This includes recent x264-LOL encoded mp4 files available for download.
• Sound in media player mode is acceptable.

Cons:

• The prize included wall mounting stuff. This is probably because the stand assembly is super wobbly and unstable. A breeze from an electric fan can probably bring it crashing down.
  [update] In the last page of the thin manual, it shows that you need to use 3 screws to stabilize the stand. duh! :P
• PC (1920x1080) resolution currently sucks big time. At the highest resolution, the entire picture is dark and dreary. Will try again soon with another 1080p device.
• At other resolutions, fonts and lines look fuzzy. (I get better sharpness from the older LG L1719S monitor and from a Sony Bravia)

I'll keep this post updated as I keep using it as a computer monitor.

[update] At wee hours in the morning, the startup sound is annoyingly loud, so I googled and found this:
http://www.fixya.com/support/t18690027-turn_off_startup_sound_tcl_lcd_tv_menu
which states this:

You can go service mode of your TV by menu>picture>contrast press 1950 within 3 seconds. 
When the menu appears, you choose Service Menu>Config>Pwon_music >> OFF
And exit.
Turn off and turn on TV to enjoy

and it works! Just be careful about changing the other settings. Unintentionally changed some setting and the display ended up weird and upside down. I reset enough settings to get things back to normal.