Stellify

The easy way out

ia — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:27:43 +0000

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

ia — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:06:53 +0000

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.)

After a couple of hours of tweeting and retweeting, #bookblockade finally made it to the trending topics on Twitter’s sidebar. There’s also a nod to it on The Blog Herald.

It’s exhilarating to realize that in a short span of time you can make a difference. While our efforts haven’t eradicated the taxation of imported books or fired the officials who can’t see how novels are educational or hit the headlines as of yet, it’s still progress. This is the kind of influence that people dabbling in social media—whether personally or professionally—should focus on.

Now go read the timeline so far on the Book Blockade. And keep up the good tweets.

form function & class and the Philippine Web Designers Organization

ia — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:46:25 +0000

function() & class logo" width="196" height="88" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1005" />

Websites for

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!

Learn

Our speakers:

Rico Sta. Cruz – Creative Director, U.S. Auto Parts Philippines
Nap Lara – Software Developer, Friendster
Regnard Raquedan – Web & Usability Consultant
Jojo Esposa – Founder, Philippine Web Accessibility Group
Marco Palinar – User Interface/Web Design Consultant
Gail dela Cruz-Villanueva – Creative Director, Sheero Media
Luis Buenaventura II – Co-founder and Social Software Architect, Syndeo Labs Director of Engineering, Exist Global

Win

Get a chance to win an Adobe Creative Suite 4 bundle (either Web Standard or Design Standard) courtesy of the Adobe User Group – Philippines. Join AUGPhil and become eligible for this raffle.

Sponsor

Download our sponsorship packages here!

Socialize

Add us on Twitter, Plurk, Facebook, and LinkedIn too!

And the award for Best Use of Plurk goes to…

ia — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 03:13:42 +0000

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)

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.

Philippine literature 2.0: Jose Rizal (@laonglaan )

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.

Bob Ong (@BobOng) also deserves props since he’s influential in his own right: although I’m told the owner of the account is just a fan, not the already enigmatic author, the reply counts on his posts are off the charts. Taking advantage of online anonymity plus his own take on Pinoy experiences, particularly humorous ones, is refreshing to experience in a place like Plurk.

See also: William Shakespeare (@ WilliamShakespeare)

Satire at its best: George W. Bush (@GeorgeWBush)

He may be out of the White House and is no longer that active as a plurker, but George W. Bush has the probably the best quips in the timeline. And they’re always in context, since they contain links to the news he refers to.

Don’t disappear, because I’ll miss you dearly, GeorgieBoy!

Winner: Paulo Coelho (@PauloCoelho)

Paulo Coelho (of The Alchemist, Veronika Decides to Die, The Witch of Portobello) is a staggeringly industrious writer who’s built an online presence every which way. He blogs, vlogs, tweets, plurks, and more.

He’s got the social media thing down pat, not because he wants to make money but because he wants to engage with his audience. If he’s not discussing developments on his latest book or sharing both funny and inspiring tidbits, he invites his readers to sound off.

Note: Paulo Coelho seems to be the only real person in here.

Special mentions: @phPlurk and @whengmaresigns

I just want to mention phPlurk and thank the people behind it for their generous efforts. An SMS gateway is much more accessible than loading Plurk mobile through 3G or Wi-Fi, and that’s something only Filipinos who actually use Plurk—neither the Western startups nor the big mobile phone networks—would understand. Plurk (and Twitter) are bridging the gap between the Internet and mobile communication, but keep in mind that executing a webapp idea varies across continents too.

And some shameless plugging: When GMA Resigns displays plurk replies in a random fashion and makes for a fun single-serving site. More on it here.

So, who’s up for a local microblogging conference?

Postscript: A rant about Twitter Politicians

Remember the 2007 Philippine local and legislative elections going online? We’re less than a year away from electing a new president, and online campaigning has gotten worse.

I wasn’t going to mention Twitter here but this is to show the other side of the coin, i.e., how to not get it. I’d like to give the Worst Use of Twitter award to Jejomar Binay ~~and even more so, Corazon Aquino~~. Update (05/10/09): Scratch that, Corazon Aquino’s Twitter account looks thoroughly trashed now—by a French DJ. That is, whoever’s fronting for them, abusing their names, and proclaiming how all this “new media” / “social media” crap will get them sworn into office just like Obama. Philippine campaign season always been about the theatrics instead of the platforms, after all. We just got an upgrade.

But there’s no room for trapo techniques in a medium as simple and transparent as microblogging. So I’ll grab some popcorn then watch them crash and burn in excruciatingly slow motion, as though they haven’t already.

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

ia — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:39:26 +0000

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

Speakers

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:

Starting out with Concrete5 CMS by Jan Pabellon
SEO and Web Design by Alfredo Palconit
Pricing your web design work by Regnard Raquedan
How to Write a Good ALT Text by Jojo Esposa
Overview on front-end optimization and best practices by JP dela Torre
An intro to Textpattern by Eugene Alvin Villar

Download the slides for the presentations here. And please share your feedback so we can improve on future events.

Sketchnotes!

You know what’s even better than slides? Sketchnotes of the event, made by my dear friend Mia Sereno, that’s what!

It’s actually inspired by the creative conference note-taking Mike Rohde started. I fell in love with the idea the second I saw them and now I’m glad we have our own version! You can find more brilliant inspiration at this Flickr group.

Big conference: soon!

So what about the big conference we keep mentioning? All we can say right now is we’ve set a date (July 10th) and a venue (the Asian Institute of Management). So clear your schedules, tell your friends, and wait till we open registrations. If you’re interested in helping us out, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

Lastly: I’ve created a Google Calendar for all FF&C conferences with email alerts the day before (or did you want a week prior?). Subcribe (XML or iCal) to keep track of our future events. We send Facebook invites too, although we want you to register officially through the signup sheets we link to.

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

ia — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:47:57 +0000

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

The cabinet secretary

Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman pleaded to bloggers to stop blogging about the Valley Golf incident because the whole issue has gotten so big that it has traumatized his family, especially his grandson.

“I appeal to the bloggers to stop this. They also have their families, they have parents and siblings. Our family is already hurting. I hope this doesn’t happen to you (bloggers),” the secretary said.

The de la Pazes and Pangandamans are battling it out in the courts. Both parties have been penalized by the golf club. But everybody was traumatized by this, Mr. Secretary, and not just your grandson. It’s why we blogged about it.

The hospital owner and the journalists

Visayan Star columnist Primo Esleyer concludes that Congress should move to regulate the Internet because he received word from a hospital owner that its officials are “using the Internet to malign her”.

Congress should press a law regulating the use of Internet. Dr. Evangeline Johnson, owner of Our Lady of Mercy Hospital and another hospital in Iloilo complained to the NBI of hospital secretary and the other nursing college secretary allegedly using the Internet to malign her.

We believe the NBI can do the job. We want to help Dr. Johnson by getting in touch with our friend, local NBI Boss, Atty. Mamerto Cortez. But, what is necessary is having Congress to enact a law to stop abuses through the Internet.

Businesses and personalities can be destroyed. Libel law must include the Internet. We are confident Dr. Evangeline Johnson will stand up and fight.

This opinion was later echoed by Panay News Philippines:

THERE must be a law regulating the use of the internet.

This is because there are many bloggers abusing this wonderful communication facility never before imagined by previous generations.

Bloggers with evil minds use the internet to malign and vilify innocent people.

Even granting for the sake of argument that they have reasons to vilify and libel their subjects for personal reasons, such act is tantamount to condemnation without due process of law.

This is true in the case of Dr. Evangeline Camarista Johnson, who has been the object of scurrilous, libelous and defamatory allegations not proven beyond reasonable doubt before a court of law.

Internet posts about her paint her as inhuman, not capale of doing the right things, and an evil woman who victimizes unsuspecting rich people for pecuniary gain.

We pity her because she has been vilified, villainized and scandalized.

We agree with Bacolod City columnist Primo Esleyer that Congress should pass a law regulating the use of the internet, and that libel laws must include the internet because of abuses by charlatans and people with evil minds.

We know the author of the blog that continuously maligns Dr. Johnson.

We hope he will come to his sense that what he is doing is not right and that later on, the law of karma will fatally strike him.

I agree that we should not tolerate any kind of abuse, including libel. But regulating the Internet is a dreadful scenario that just erases our right to call our country a democracy.

The science high school principal

Update (01/18/09): The suspension has been lifted by the Department of Education. Please read the clarifications by one of the 4 students involved.

Four students from Quezon City Science High school were suspended for 10 days because they defamed their principal Dr. Zenaida Panti Sadsad on their blogs.

While Sadsad cites the school’s code of discipline as grounds for the suspension, Department of Education Undersecretary Franklin Sunga warned against it:

“We have to be very careful about punishing students for what they are going to write because of the constitutional right of all persons, including the students, the right of the freedom of expression and of the speech. Public officials should not have onion skin. They should be more tolerant about criticism,” Sunga said in an interview with QTV’s Trisha Zafra.

Now you have to look at the situation in QueSci that led to these students being suspended. These students seem to be reacting to what Dr. Zenaida Panti Sadsad has done to their school.

From shenanigans? at my alma mater? SAY IT AIN’T SO! (June 22, 2008):

“Removed Mr. Rex San Diego from his position as school paper adviser”
“Stopped the operation of both The Electron and The Banyuhay”
“Stopped Quesci from joining any local competitions…All other competitions without an international level—the MTAP included—are to be ignored completely”
“Varsity squads have already been disbanded”

From Happy Birthday, Quesci! (September 17, 2008):

Condemned the use of the Internet and blogging during its foundation day and graduation: “Wala nang inter internet, pa-blog blog. Kalimutan na ang mga internet, mga blog blog.”
Barred their school choir Himig Xientia from singing
Advised teachers, “pakialaman niyo naman ang mga ibang bagay ng mga bata”
Declared “walang magagawa ang sinuman sa anumang nangyayari sa Kisay”

How can a principal cause this much damage to a school and get away with it? If there were to be a dialogue between the administration and the student body, however, how can it not be a futile exercise if her actions are so dictatorial and demoralizing?

The posts at GOD SAVE THE QUEEN OUST SADSAD show that the resistance continues. While the insulting images, jokes, songs, and acts of vandalism were just begging for disciplinary action, I’d say it’s a sign of how bad things have gotten. The principal will maintain her chokehold because of the students, and the students will continue act out because of the principal.

I hope things get fixed soon. I don’t want to see one of the best high schools in the country go down in flames like this.

The vilified

Can these people just stop running around with their lawsuits or bills or suspensions and settle things in a civilized manner?

They couldn’t. That’s why the de la Pazes, the hospital and nursing college secretaries, and the Quezon City Science high school students resorted to blogging. They felt nobody was listening to them, and nothing was being done about their grievances. Is it any coincidence that these three groups were up against persons with greater power than them?

The worst part is that Sec. Pangandaman, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Esleyer, and Dr. Sadsad blame the Internet for directing insult towards them, and conclude that regulating or banning its use would solve the problem. What ignorant, paranoid, and ungrateful wretches.

Listen.

ia — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:27:37 +0000

There have been two big headlines in Philippine news this past few weeks. I’ve already written about one of them; it’s time for the second—which, unfortunately, involves a dear friend.

If there’s one thing I know about this guy, it’s how disarmingly honest he is. And from what I know, this trait also belongs to his father, who happens to be one of the DOJ prosecutors accused of bribery (50 million pesos) in the “Alabang Boys” drug case.

So please take a moment to read his letter to The Philippine Star and hear them out. Excerpts have also been published in Jarius Bondoc’s column.

I’ve talked about politicians’ tendencies before, but what about ours? We tend to close off the possibility that there are, indeed, people in the government who endure and sacrifice to serve the country.

It’s time we listen to their side.

Elitist geek haters vs. emo jologs Friendsters (Twitter vs. Plurk)

ia — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:18:26 +0000

Warning: comparing Twitter and Plurk is messy. Both are different things to different people, and unless these people agree to disagree the debate will never end.

Here’s my response to The Death of Plurk and the comments on it. This is by no means comprehensive, just lengthy enough to be a standalone post.

Does it matter to you?

Things like API and portability of updates matter to some people, but to others they may not. Several web services have managed to extract Plurk feeds anyway, so at least it’s kind of portable. (Yay?)

And people almost always adopt services because of the peers that surround them. I’ve called several Pinoy tweeple elistist geek haters, and they’ve called Pinoy plurkers the emo, jologs, Friendster crowd. You decide if it’s stereotyping or truth.

I like that Plurk is compassionate, generous, festive, lets you embed images and video, does not require http:// for URLs, and yes, has hardly any elitist geek haters on it. I like that Twitter is cute, flexible, and inspirational. So what features matter to you?

There is crap on both Twitter and Plurk

Now onto the negatives. Both are imperfect and have things that add no value whatsoever, even detract from them. These are what particularly irk me:

Inane replies, ranging from interjections like “nerd!” to acronyms and smileys.
@replies directed to a single person without context whatsoever on Twitter.
Spam (ugh, Be-A-Magpie).
And of course the phishing scams.

People tend to see nothing but the bad in things, but their overall experience really depends on how they use the services.

Fix it yourself

I’m not very fond of conversations on Twitter, not without threaded replies at least. I avoid doing it even if other people do.

I’m not very fond of updating Plurk every 4 hours just to keep karma from falling. I don’t plurk as much even if other people do.

I don’t see how you can’t improve your Plurk or Twitter experience by avoiding the things that irk you:

Unfollow people who encourage nonsense. Or elitism. Or hate.
Use better clients (but to me, Plurk isn’t Plurk without the horizontal timeline).
Use Plurk or Twitter less often (so they go down less often).

To each his own. Get rid of the herd mentality and do as you please, or get out.

I don’t hate Twitter. It’s inspiring.

Yes, I’ve let it all go. Just thought I’d macroblog it. Wink.

Entitlement

ia — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 11:56:17 +0000

“Sorry na po, sorry na po…tama na…tama na po…”

“Hindi nila kami kilala! Sabihin mo nga sa kanila kung sino ako!”

“Nakakahiya kayo. Singkwenta’y sais anyos ang tatay ko. And kapatid ko kakatorse anyos. Anong ilalaban nila sayo?”

“Tatandaan kita!”

“Maam, umalis na po kayo, may mga baril sila…Maam…umalis na po kayo please…”

Friday, December 26, 2008. Bambee dela Paz and her family had an encounter with a father-son political tandem on the golf course. They ended up beating her father and brother. (More links here: Ade Magnaye’s plurk and Noemi Dado’s blog)

At around 1:30 PM today, at Valley Golf and Country Club, Antipolo City, Mayor Nasser Pangandaman, Jr., Mayor of Masiu City, Lanao del Sur, his father, Secretary Nasser Pangandaman of the Department of Agrarian Reform, and company, beat my defenseless 56-year-old dad and my 14-year-old brother to a pulp because of some stupid misunderstanding on the golf course.

The world has gone crazy. by Bambee dela Paz

Politicians tend to have this twisted sense of entitlement and propensity to violence once they get sworn into office. It’s the money, the fame, the power.

But you are public servants, not rock stars. You were elected into office because we, the people, were somehow convinced that you are capable of steering the country in a better direction. Mauling people just because you were wronged in some petty way is not part of your job description. Nor is it an excuse to display the power put into your hands by us, the people.

Look, we all crave for the money, the fame, the power. We all feel deprived and deserving of a better life, whether as citizens of a third-world country or a receding global economy.

But you are not gods among humans. You and I are mere specks in the universe.

Classical Europe meets contemporary Japan (Nodame Cantabile)

ia — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:04:09 +0000

Nodame Cantabile has done a great job at bringing classical music appreciation to an unlikely crowd: the manga-reading, anime-watching one. (Then again, anime/manga has always been an unusual yet innovative medium.)

It has done so not only through its story, the love and music of a chaotic pianist who plays everything by ear and an acrophobic, thalassophobic, arrogant musical genius who dreams of becoming a conductor.

Not only through accessible personal and academic interpretations of the music, where performers play tug-of-war with following the composer’s intent and developing their signature styles.

No, Nodame Cantabile also did it by melding old, classical, European and new, modern, Japanese musical styles into the soundtrack.

Paris Hen

Let’s start with the opening and ending songs of the Paris Chapter. The main melody of Sky High by The Gospellers is clearly from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no. 3 in C Minor op. 18: III Allegro scherzando. But while Rachmaninoff’s piece is strong and dark, Sky High plays true to its name.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard Rachmaninoff in the series. Chiaki played Piano Concerto no. 2 in the first season (Nodame too), which is probably my favorite classical piece of all time. (Rachmaninoff is the rock!)

Meanwhile, Tokyo et Paris by Emiri Miyamoto x solita has echoes of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro in it, although in smaller amounts compared to Sky High. Considering Bolero’s tune is so famous, the differentness of Tokyo et Paris is an accomplishment. Boléro is also shaping up to be a key performance piece for Chiaki just as the second piano concerto was in the first season.

Remembering Season 1

Songs from the first season are also notable for choosing “classical” instruments like the piano, violin, and other orchestral instruments while maintaining that J-Pop vibe: Allegro Cantabile and Sagittarius by Suemitsu and the Suemith are energetic piano-rock pieces while Konna ni Chikaku de by Crystal Kay is all about strings and soulful vocals.

More Nodame love!

As if the manga, 2 anime seasons, live-action season, and live-action special weren’t enough, it looks like 2 more Nodame Cantabile movies are in the works! This franchise continues to surprise, impress, and deliver.

If you haven’t started following Nodame Cantabile yet, pick at least one incarnation, and soon you’ll admire the classical and Japanese music this series has to offer.

Stellify

The easy way out

Related posts

Today in the Philippine Twittersphere: fighting the Book Blockade

Related posts

form function & class and the Philippine Web Designers Organization

Learn

Win

Sponsor

Socialize

Related posts

And the award for Best Use of Plurk goes to…

The Runners-up

Comic haven from velociraptors: XKCD (@xkcd)

Philippine literature 2.0: Jose Rizal (@laonglaan )

Satire at its best: George W. Bush (@GeorgeWBush)

Winner: Paulo Coelho (@PauloCoelho)

Special mentions: @phPlurk and @whengmaresigns

Postscript: A rant about Twitter Politicians

Related posts

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

Speakers

Sketchnotes!

Sponsors

Big conference: soon!

Related posts

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

The cabinet secretary

The hospital owner and the journalists

The science high school principal

The vilified

Related posts

Listen.

Related posts

Elitist geek haters vs. emo jologs Friendsters (Twitter vs. Plurk)

Does it matter to you?

There is crap on both Twitter and Plurk

Fix it yourself

Related posts

Entitlement

Related posts

Classical Europe meets contemporary Japan (Nodame Cantabile)

Paris Hen

Remembering Season 1

More Nodame love!

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