I Blog, Therefore I Am.

When I started monetizing my blogs, one of the blogs I went to for tips and tricks is the blog of Michelle. I was able to learn a lot of techniques and money-making sites through her features and posts. As a way of gratitude, I am posting this as my support to her blog contest entry for Sulit.com.ph. Please support and vote for her!


Please vote for:
Sulitizen : The Epitome of Frugality
by blankPixels of Just Another Pixel


Sign Up at Sulit.com.ph
Buy and Sell Philippines

Goodluck, Michelle! Hoping you'll win!

I've been in Foursquare since January of this year but the last two weeks were probably the busiest and most popular time in Foursquare for me and my friends. A lot of my friends and on-line buddies are now joining Foursquare and I've been getting a lot of "what is that?" from buddies and colleagues who are yet to join and are curious about this new Social Networking craze.

What the heck is Foursquare?
Foursquare is the leading location-based Social Networking Site (also called "lo-so") that was introduced last year. If you will ask me, I see Foursquare as a mixed and blended Twitter + Google Maps application. If Twitter asks "what are you doing?" then Foursquare definitely asks "where are you?".




With the help of a mobile phone and GPS, Foursquarers can "check-in" to a place wherever they are anywhere in the world. They also have the option of posting it to Twitter and/or Facebook. A link will appear on the post directing readers to the logged-in site with a Google Map representation. Foursquare was designed for mobile phones so it has apps for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Palm Pre. Mobile users can also use it by going to the mobile site http://foursquare.com/mobile.


Why is it so great?
Like most users, I was hesitant at first to try it since you will actually shout to the whole world where YOU are at that exact moment. Foursquare created a solution for it with the [off the grid] feature where one can still check-in without revealing to people where they are. I personally find it addicting because it challenges me to go out and explore various places in my city and neighborhood. The foodie in me also loves it because it allows me to discover various venues to dine and hang-out. It's taking Twitter to the next level and it's also making Social Media addicts go out and be away from their laptops yet still be involved with their on-line line and friends.




It's also a game!
It's all about the "mayorship" for some. Each venue at Foursquare assigns a Mayor. A mayorship status can be attained if you're the most frequent visitor of that particular venue. It can be taken away from you once you are beaten by another person with more check-ins. It's really a very interesting competition especially for popular venues. I am currently a Mayor of 5 places and I intend to "protect my turf" to the best of my ability. Heh! It was 6 this morning but somebody took SM City Sta. Rosa from me. How cruel. :D

Foursquare is still on its infancy and a lot of people are still confused and weirded about it. But that's also how we viewed Twitter two years ago and look how it changed our lives! There are also other location-based SNS like Gowalla, Loopt, Google Latitude and Brightkite, but Foursquare is leading the pack with 500,000 users to date. Come and get an account now! You will surely love it and can be very addicting!

Join and let's discover places together! Add me up!

Photo Credits: Foursquare, Mashable

Google unveiled Tuesday the beta version for its new Internet browser called GOOGLE CHROME. I've been using it for a few hours now and so far it's good. 

Is it  good enough to replace the ever reliable Mozilla Firefox?
THAT'S the question.



Here are some of my initial observations:

1. Easy download and unzipping of the browser's program file.
2. Simple design and interface; and easy to learn tabs and menus.
3. Very fast loading of the WWW pages - definitely faster than IE and Firefox.
4. No add-on feature (YET) which is really a bummer.
5. I am having a hard time browsing some of Facebook's applications
6. Too sky blue and "too Google" for me. I love the colorful tabs of Firefox.
7. It's only available for Vista and XP Operating Systems. No MAC version yet.

I am still unsure if I will make the huge leap from Firefox to Chrome since I'm already very much settled with Firefox. But Google Chrome is definitely worth considering and is a nice alternative (or second browser at least) to the big brown Fox.

Interested? Here's the download link: Google Chrome
Let me know what you think! :)

I am so big on memories, celebrating life's journeys and how I preserve and keep them. I have this blog which have been a solid witness of my ups, downs and dramas for the last four and a half years, and I also have my Multiply where I usually connect and interact with friends and buddies.

Then came my Project 365 in Flickr.

I was introduced to the exciting Project 365 when I was browsing blogs a couple of months ago. Project 365 is a once-a-day photo blogging where you take random pictures each day which you will post in your blog or photo sharing sites like Flickr or Picasa. I chose Flickr because of it's dynamic picture resolution output, its steady interface and the cool people who are on it.

I am now on Day 56 and so far I am doing good. There were actually days when I don't have entries but that doesn't me for dropping the project altogether. Here are some of my favorite pictures and entries:






I was encouraged to do this project when I read a blog post that explains that "doing it will make you see your life in a whole new way". Talk about seeing your life flash before your eyes. I suggest that you also read it and start your own Project 365 as well! :)

How much of the Philippines have I visited?

I've already filled this up last year but my grade was not amazing so I decided not to post it. But I improved a bit this year with travels to some never-before-seen land so here I am proudly blogging about it.

My Lakbayan grade is C!
I intend to travel and do some more road trips this year and having this map would be a nice reminder and baseline for me. I've been to Vigan, Nueva Ecija and some parts of Rizal the first time this year and that contributed to my C grade.

Next on my travel wish list are Laoag, Pagudpod, Laiya, Sagada, Baler, Bohol, Palawan, Malapascua, Dumaguete, Tacloban, Camiguin and Gen. Santos. I am actually researching for travel fares and accommodations in Tacloban in the past days. I really want to go there and see the San Juanico Bridge and the MacArthur Landing Monument.

So how much of the Philippines have YOU visited? Find out your score at the Lakbayan site!

Since we have to downscale, minimize and micromize everything, I was not surprised when BLOGS were also simplified through micro-blogging.

So what is exactly "micro-blogging"? According to Wikipedia, micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allow users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. In other words, it's "TWITTER and the others".

Micro-blogging is probably one of the best things I like to do on-line. Twitter is usually one of the first websites I go to after log-in to feed and read updates. It's so fun to know "almost" on real-time what your friends and on-line buddies are up to. I update my micro-blogs religiously in lieu of real blog posts.

TWITTER

My first micro-blogging account is on Twitter. Twitter is the most popular among the lot. It is not unusual to see badges of "what am i doing" in people's blogs or social networking pages. I've been on Twitter for almost a year now and I've learned a lot of things through it (and not just the sosyalan kind). Just last month, I followed real-time updates of Apple's WDDC where the iPhone 3G was unveiled. I also learned about Pacquiao's recent win to Diaz by following Inquirer's Pacquiao Files in Twitter. Politicians are also using it to give updates on their campaigns like what John Edwards did before (but he abandoned it after 18 updates). There are several personalities and pop culture interest groups which give updates via Twitter. I suggest that you browse through the list for your fresh by-the-minute-update fix.



My Twitter Page

Twitter will always be my first love despite its flakiness (downtime again?). I know that there are other sites like Jaiku and Pownce who are much better but as they say...original is always the BEST! Do you have an account? Add me up HERE!

AND NOW THERE'S PLURK

Twitter might be resting on its laurels when the big, bad Plurk came. Plurk went into its "critical mass" (for the band of bloggers that is) just this June. I was twitting one June afternoon when all my twitter and blog friends could talk about was plurk this, plurk that, and "add me on Plurk". I got curious, joined and its been one helluva fun since. It's still new so there's only 200+ users to date here in the Philippines (and I'm the Top 102 user as of this moment! view it here!)

Plurk is just like Twitter and other micro-blogging sites but its more dynamic and addicting. It has a very nice timeline page where you can view and reply to your friends' updates anytime you want. It can actually be described as the new and improved Web 2.0 community chat room. One update of a friend can generate a threaded reply from one or all of his friends without creating a giant mess. It also allow users to post and share photos and videos which it automatically coverts into a thumbnail.


My Plurk Page

One of the things that's making Plurk addicting (and competitive) are the KARMA it gives to certain activities. Profile updating, inviting of friends, updating of plurks, and replying to friends' plurks will give you points. But try not updating even for just a few hours and you will see those karma points slipping.

Like Twitter, Plurk has also been a good source of information and updates for me. I learned about Ces Drillon's abduction a full 12 hours before ABS-CBN reported it because a Plurker from the South posted it. My officemates were all amazed where I got the "never-before-published" information.

Want to know and get ahead? Try Plurk! Add me up here and let us plurk-plurk together! Promise, it's FUN!

So the rumors are TRUE.

Steve Jobs announced today at exactly 11:32 AM, Pacific Standard Time, at the Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) the first phone to beat the iPhone! What else but the long-anticipated and rumored iPhone 3G!

I am not really an Apple fan and I did not intend to be up at 2:00 am, Philippine Time, just to hear live what fancy stuff Steve is going to announce and launch. But my body clock is screwed once more and my sleeping habit is a total wreck thus I "witnessed live" the launch of the world's most functional, network-friendly and fanciest phone. Thanks a lot to CrunchGear, Twitter and CNET for the live blogs and twits.



Here are some of the stuff about the iPhone 3G which I gathered in the last 30 minutes. Credits again to the above-mentioned sites.

> It's going to be thinner at the edges, with a black plastic back, and metal buttons on the side. It's has the same screen, with a camera, a flush-headphone jack, and improved audio.

> Steve compared the downloading time of 3G and EDGE with The National Geographic's home page. The download with 3G is 21 seconds and EDGE took 59 seconds (but we Filipinos all know this, right?).

> Jobs also compared the iPhone 3G to the Nokia N95 and Treo 750 and of course, iPhone was faster. He also said that the iPhone 3G will have 300 hours of standby time, improved from 8 hours to 10 hours on 2G talk time, and he quoted 5 hours of 3G talk time. Browsing should give 5-6 hours, video 7 hours, and audio 24 hours of continuous operation. It will also have GPS (poor, poor Nokia 95 - the most overrated Nokia phone in my opinion).

> iPhone 3G will be all over the world! It will be sold in 73 countries including THE PHILIPPINES! It's already listed in the iPhone 3G Coming Soon page! This also confirms Globe and Singtel's announcement weeks ago.

View the list and announcement here and here.



> Twenty-five countries will get the iPhone 3G first and they will all get it at the same time on July 11, Friday. Unfortunately, Philippines is not one of them. Launch here is still to be announced.

> iPhone 3G 8GB will be sold at $199 (Php 8,782) in the United States. Wow! Every Tom, Dick, Harry, Pedro and Juan can have one. So so cheap! Some Nokia basic 2G phones are even more expensive than that.

> The 16GB model will be $299 (Php 13,196) and that model will also be available in WHITE!

> The downside? It doesn't have a front camera like our Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung 3G phones. Meaning, no video calling. I also read in one update that there is no MMS facility. NOW that will be a problem. (Can someone confirm this?)

The launch of the iPhone 3G with el cheapo cost will make it more Philippine-friendly than ever (except if subscribers will NOT ignore the rumored no-MMS feature).

Now, where's the iTunes for Philippines, Steve?
Can you introduce iPhone 3G here without it? :) I don't think so.

I give up. I need help. This blog is best viewed through Mozilla Firefox. Screw Internet Explorer! I attempted to change the pixels and measurements of this blog the other day so it can be a one-size-fits-all whatever your display or pixel size may be. It worked for a day but when I checked it via Internet Explorer - it was all smashed up! My sidebar is now at the bottom of all my posts and I cannot do anything about it. I tried bringing back the old template (where it used to work on whatever browser you may have) but it is NOW broken and cannot be fixed no matter what pixel value I use. It's frustrating and I am contemplating on changing skins and templates BUT I really don't want to since I love the fresh and pure look of this one.

So, PLEASE...web techies out there...please, please HELP ME! :)

I was in Tagaytay City since Tuesday morning for our yearly National Conference. Though we had Wifi, airborne access kiosks, SMART BRO, 3G and all possible connections you can think of, I wasn't able to do my blog-hopping and on-line routine in the last 4 days due to the jam packed schedule (and some more).

So what did I miss? Apparently there were three issues last week that rocked the Filipino blogging community. First was about DJ Montano and the "Gucci Gang". A blog was published by an Australian named Brian Gorrell who claimed that he was the ex-boyfriend of DJ Montano. The blog's purpose is to demand payment to the thousands of dollars that DJ "borrowed" from his alleged ex-lover. Brian's tell-all tale was so juicy and was a certified "scandelilah" that made people scrambling for their refresh buttons all of last week. It documented not only the moolah issue but also the excessive use of coke and bad behavior of Manila's creme dela creme. It's truly Gossip Girl Manila version. The comment box of the posts were also blockbuster hits as everyone gawked at the dirty laundry being aired left and right for all people to see.

I don't know who DJ Montano is but the other members of the "Gucci Gang" are popular A-listers that you often see in society pages. According to the posts, the people involved tried to put down the blog by hacking the account and sending demand letters from the lawyers to Brian. It stopped for a while but Brian returned with a vengeance with more evidence and dirt. Too bad the juicier comment sections were disabled and posts were deleted (but thanks to Google's cache some of them are still available online). Whether it's true or not, members of the 'gang' like Celine Lopez, Tim Yap, Wendy Puyat, Tina Tinio and Jackie Cohen Antonio are surely not getting enough sleep these days. Be the judge and read it all here.

Reactions:

Delfin "DJ" Montano
Brewing pinoy high society scandal
It's over
Brian blogspot: the plot thickens - Inquirer.net

~*oOo*~

The next one is about Malu Fernandez. Yes, she's back. Being greatly ridiculed last year in the blogging community seemed was not enough for Malu. She wrote another controversial article the other day this time targeted to bloggers. If you remember, she rose to notoriety when she dissed in her People Asia article last year the OFWs who were with her in a flight to Greece. It outraged a lot of people and the bloggers were the front runners in making sure that she will take back all the nasty things she said. The Malu Fernandez brouhaha was indeed one of the most talked-about issues last year. Click this link to reminisce.

The article that Malu wrote last March 10 was called "The Problem With Blogging...". She wrote there offensive statements which caused her another batch of negative popularity in the cyberspace. Here's one of her paragraphs that is downright annoying:

"So let me continue, first of all I believe in the freedom of speech. By all means say what you need to say. Unfortunately for most of the bloggers without advertising you get paid nothing. If in fact you do get paid then hooray for you. But blogging, aside from Perez Hilton and the other big time bloggers (you know who you are) is for me a slacker job or a medium and pastime for lonely people to connect. Unless you’re in bloody Siberia or in a Gulag prison, try stepping outside your comfort zone and turn off the laptop or pc, you just might find some real live people to talk to instead of typing away in cyber space."

I pity you, Malu. You are again looking for trouble. I wonder why Manila Standard is still allowing you to post and write garbage like these that you call "articles". You've put your foot in your mouth again. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Reactions:

Malu Fernandez and Blogging As A Slacker Job
Si Malu Fernandez at ang mga napakong pangako ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Malu Fernandez thinks blogging is a slacker job

~*oOo*~

The last one is lighter than the two issues which involves the now famous newly-crowned Binibining Pilipinas World, Janina San Miguel, and her interview in the pageant last weekend. "I'm only 17 years old" is now a popular quip even in our NATCON last week. Here's the video (with subtitles):

Yup, she won and will be representing the Philippines in the Ms. World pageant this year. Whaaaat?

Credits to lechacal of Daily Motion for the video.

I am so proud of the above websites! They both have good content and well-executed design strategies. Both truly deserve Philippine Web Awards distinctions.

Please vote for them via SMS or through the Phil Webbys website.

For non-Smart subscribers, you may also vote through your mobile network by texting WEBBYS VOTE 35 and send it to 2973 for the Smart Corporate site or WEBBYS VOTE 90 and send it to 2973 for the Smart School site.

For my friends who are still on other networks, voting is the least that you can do for me! :)