Netflix Marvel's The Defenders S01E01

Review:

This 51-minute episode seemed like a very long opening credit. Speaking of the opening credit, I find it cute. Each character was associated with a color, reminiscent of Super Sentai minus the pink one.

The story picks up from where each stand alone street level superhero story left off.  It just shows you who the characters will be in this season. It did introduce a new character and her motivation for fast-tracking her plans. Other than that, this episode can easily be skipped especially if you are on limited data. If there is something I liked about this episode, it is the fact that the main villain is white.

There is a dragging feeling while watching this episode. The episode doesn't even end with a cliffhanger so one has less motivation to watch the next episode immediately.

Firefly Mobile Aurii Faulty System Update

The screencaps in this blog post is from a Facebook group, Firefly Mobile Aurii Envy Philippines (Official). It is a closed group so the information shared in that group is not easily accessible to non-members. The information may be helpful to others. You may join the group for tips on how to resolve the problem on your own.

The Faulty Update

Sometime in July 2017, Firefly Mobile Aurii Envy units automatically received over-the-air system updates which downloaded and installed itself without permission from the owner of the smart phone. That update rendered numerous Envy units unusable.

Firefly Mobile was willing to repair the affected units but when asked regarding the cause of the problem, they said that they are still investigating the problem. Without knowing the cause of the problem, the earlier batch of the repaired Envy units experienced the problem again.

Firefly Mobile Service Center later realized that the problem was to due to the faulty system update, an update they knew nothing about. Firefly Mobile claimed that they did not push the system update to the smart phones. To prevent further system updates, the Service Center disabled the wireless system update in the succeeding batch of units they repaired.

It has been around one month since the problem was first reported but new units are still being affected by the faulty system update. There was no action to stop the system update since the company have no idea about the system update.

The Inconvenient Experience

If you try to contact Firefly Mobile's Facebook account, they will only advise the person to go to the store or service center. They have no information on any of their social media accounts about the problem, how to avoid it nor how to fix it; a public apology should not be expected.

It takes one to three weeks to repair the phone. If the phone was returned to the store for repair, it may take longer as delivery to/from a store is usually scheduled for only once a week. The official receipt or cash invoice is required before the phone will be accepted for repair. The units that are still under warranty are repaired for free. Mine was still under warranty so I didn't have to pay.

The service center landline are usually busy, while some stores where the phone was returned didn't reply to the text messages and calls. With Firefly Mobile's social media account unable to address any of the repair issue, the customer is left with no proper customer support.

Reflection on the Firefly Brand

Although Aurii Envy is a smart phone that offers affordable phones, Firefly Mobile, the company that offers it does not have enough resources to control a problem like this from spreading to other units. At the moment, the company still has no official statement as to the cause of the problem. This could mean that they have no capacity to identify the cause. They do have qualified service center technicians that can fix the phone without losing valuable data on the phone.

This will probably be the last phone I will buy from this company. The few thousand peso I saved from buying this unit is not worth the weeks I have to manage without the phone.

Online Banking Comparison (BDO, BPI and Metrobank)

Online banking allows the customer to conveniently transact anywhere an internet connection is available. While I enjoy this convenience from three of the major banks in the Philippines, namely Banco De Oro, Bank of the Philippine Islands and Metrobank, some are more convenient than others.

One of the differences in the online processing of the three banks involves the OTP or one-time password. The one-time password is sent via SMS to the customer's registered mobile number. Some online transactions cannot proceed without the OTP.

For BPI, the OTP is only used for online purchases. The OTP is not required for balance inquiry, online payments and fund transfer.

For Metrobank, the OTP is used for online purchases and fund transfers for over PhP20,000 even if you are moving funds between your accounts. Their system should only require the OTP if funds will be transferred to a third party's account. The OTP is not required for balance inquiry and online payments.

For BDO, all online transactions will require an OTP, including balance inquiry. The OTP is required immediately upon logging in BDO online. You either key in the OTP or answer security questions.

While the OTP adds another layer of security, it may also introduce unnecessary inconvenience. Telco services is very unreliable in certain areas of the Philippines. This will prevent the customer from receiving the OTP via SMS on time. The same is true for Filipinos abroad who would rather not avail of the roaming services.

There are also a lot of Filipinos who are not post-paid subscribers. Losing a phone may add to the inconvenience of having to update the bank in case the customer has to change her prepaid number.

Of the three banks mentioned, only BPI does not require an OTP for most online transactions. They only require the OTP for online purchases. BDO, on the other hand, requires the OTP for all online transactions making their transactions not really online, but mobile-online. I think it's silly to always have a mobile phone in hand while doing online bank transaction.