Form Function & Class Mini Web Design Conference on November 14

November 12, 2009 · 3 comments

Update (01/05/10): Slides are up.

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Year 2, here we go!

The <form> function & class mini web design conference season is back in full swing and the first one is happening on Saturday, November 14, in Rm. 409, Benilde Building, De La Salle –College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) from 1:00-4:00 pm. Brought to you by the Philippine Web Designers Organization and the Association of Information Management of DLS-CSB.

For the uninitiated: Unlike the annual conference, The FFC Mini Web Design Conferences are small, informal gatherings held every other month, where anybody can talk and learn about web design. For free.

Register now!

Why go local: Para Sa Tabi, May Pasok Ba?, and Facebuko

August 21, 2009 · 4 comments

Going local

There’s really not much profit (monetary or otherwise) to be had in making local “copies” of the most popular sites today; you’ll probably just be called unimaginative and lame (read: jologs). But these sites are fun little ideas that stir up the chunks in our cultural halo-halo and remind us that quirky is interesting and copying is okay, as long as we make it our own.

(But first, sites that didn’t make the cut:

  1. akomismo.com
  2. akalamo.com
  3. mysandbox.com
  4. twinoy.com

Go figure.) Now, onto the honorable mentions:

Lessons from the 1st Form Function & Class Philippine Web Design Conference

July 31, 2009 · 6 comments

Ia Lucero Introduces PWDO

An unapologetic, uncensored list of lessons learned from the <form> function() & class Philippine Web Design Conference last July 10 at the Asian Institute of Management, Makati—because if we have to figure out how we can improve next time, we might as well start with ourselves.

The easy way out

June 19, 2009 · 5 comments

Japan's lifesize Gundam

Someone deleted this comment because it was supposedly irrelevant to the discussion:

Meh. I prefer Japan, it’s got the mothaf*cken lifesize Gundam.

Of course someone who can’t see how Lapu-Lapu, Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal, and Jose Abad Santos are worthy of being called heroes of this country would have even more difficulty parsing said sarcasm.

You can’t see how people who sacrificed themselves contributed to the country’s well-being; it’s easier to just accuse them of being sensationalist, petty, and disruptive. You can’t see how the Philippines can crawl out of this deep hole of poverty, corruption, and illiteracy; it’s easier to just run off to some some country where the climate, economy, and telenovelas are better.

But if it were me giving up and running off, I’d pick Japan. It’s got the mothaf*cken lifesize Gundam.

Of course, it’s just you.

Happy birthday, Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal Alonzo y Realonda. Here’s to not dying in vain.


Seriously, what kind of person worships a country because they’ve got awesome telenovelas? What kind of person closes his comment form and takes back his words after repeatedly defending them just because he can’t stand the heat.

Seriously, I want to go see that Gundam.

Today in the Philippine Twittersphere: fighting the Book Blockade

May 14, 2009 · 6 comments

Update (05/25/09): The Philippine Star reports that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has lifted the book tax imposed by the Department of Finance / Bureau of Customs. Also, a postscript from Robin Hemley, the first to write about the whole thing.

The Great Book Blockade of 2009 has been buzzing for a few weeks now, but not as loudly as one would have wanted. It’s about the taxation of books and the pathetic notion by Philippine customs that books are not educational. It seems a lot of things are more newsworthy than this.

Like how American Idol finalist David Archuleta appeared on Philippine noontime show Eat Bulaga and suddenly Pinoy twitterers were gushing about him so much that it hit Twitter’s most popular keywords. Unfortunately Filipinos seem to care more about singing sensations than this pressing issue (even Neil Gaiman tweeted about it before most), but some of us realized we could piggyback on the existing buzz. (To be sure, we posted on Plurk too.)

form function & class and the Philippine Web Designers Organization

April 29, 2009 · 1 comment

<form> function() & class logo Philippine Web Designers Organization (PWDO) logo

Websites for <form> function() & .class, the first web design conference in the Philippines and Asia, and the Philippine Web Designers Organization (PWDO) are now up. Visit the site, register for the big event on July 10, and spread the word!

And the award for Best Use of Plurk goes to…

February 28, 2009 · 1 comment

Reasons I love Plurk, told in a different way. Like many things on the web, microblogging is a popularity contest, but it’s not just what these personalities say. It’s how they use the medium. Add these model citizens, okay?

The Runners-up

Comic haven from velociraptors: XKCD (@xkcd)

XKCD avatar

One of the greatest, geekiest web comics of all time, XKCD’s syndication on Plurk feels like a match made in heaven and not just a Ping.fm post that reeks of afterthought.

Each comic strip is a click and an inline popup away. Then the “mouseover-text” you find on the website appears as the first reply in the thread, and followers can comment away. XKCD also cares about its new fans, so it also posts old strips aside from the new ones.

See also: The Fail Blog (@failblog) and I Can Has Cheezburger (@ICanHasCheezburger)

Philippine literature 2.0: Jose Rizal (@laonglaan )

Jose Rizal avatar

Unfortunately somebody snapped up @joserizal already, but what a great way to bring pen names into the 21st century.

More importantly, what a modern way to preserve and propagate the works of our national hero—which in all likelihood will never get read again outside of required readings in high school and college.

3rd Mini Web Design Conference: speakers, sponsors, sketchnotes!

January 25, 2009 · 2 comments

3rd Mini Web Design Conference participants at CIIT lobby

The Philippine Web Designers Organization held another successful <form> function() & .class Mini Web Design Conference last January 22, and we’re really thankful for everybody who supported us once more.

Speakers

3rd mini web design conference topics in icons

It was a full roster again for the night, and it’s amazing how topics remain fresh and diverse each time. See if you can match the images above to the talks below:

Stop blogging, regulate the Internet – Pangandaman, Esleyer, Sadsad

January 15, 2009 · 10 comments

Three stories in three weeks condemning the use of the Internet for freedom of speech. (Or libel, you decide.) We’re on a roll!

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