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

January 6, 2009 · 12 comments

twitlurk

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.

Entitlement

December 27, 2008 · 17 comments

“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

December 23, 2008 · 2 comments

Nodame Cantabile: Allegro Cantabile

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.

Singapore

December 15, 2008 · 5 comments
Singapore Flyer: Marina view

Singapore Flyer: Marina view

Christmas lights! Shopping malls! Spicy food! White tigers! Polar bears! Penguins! Hi-tech attractions! Gravity-defying rides! And the mythical Merlion! It’s Singapore in pictures:

2nd Mini Web Design Conference & Blue Beanie Day

November 26, 2008 · 1 comment

November 27 and 28 are two more significant dates in the web design scene, so be sure to participate!

2nd Mini Web Design Conference

The <form> function() & .class mini web design conference series is on its second leg and will be held tomorrow, November 27th. Same time (6:00pm), same place (G2VC TechBar, Exist, Orient Square), with a new mix of topics and speakers:

Sign up here!

Blue Beanie Day 2008

Also on its second round, Blue Beanie Day lets web standards and accessibility passionates show their support by donning a blue beanie on Friday, November 28th. Make sure to let the whole world see you’re wearing it by posting it at the Flickr group and changing your profile photo on whichever social networks you’re on.

  1. Make a personal commitment to fight Web Standards apathy. Show solidarity with the Standardistas on Friday, November 28th, 2008.
  2. Buy, beg, or borrow a Blue Beanie (blue hat or cap, even a black or grey one will do in a pinch.)
  3. Take a photo of yourself wearing the Blue Beanie. Or take a cool group photo of you and your friends wearing Blue Beanies.
  4. Post your photo, or photos to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and other social networks on Friday, November 28th, 2008. Remember to switch your Facebook profile photo that day.
  5. Promote Blue Beanie Day in your blog or wiki starting today, and tell all your friends to get ready for Blue Beanie Day. Start by inviting all your Facebook friends to this event.

How could a blue beanie possibly connected to web standards? Simple!

Cute quote + Recycled article + Unusable technique + Questionable marketing + Awful title = Worst Web Design Book of the Year

November 20, 2008 · 4 comments
Worst Web Design Book of the Year

But...why?

I said web design isn’t comparable to brain surgery, but it’s comforting to read appreciative remarks like this:

Today, a talented web designer must be a modern-day MacGyver—that 80s TV action hero who could turn a rubber band and three tin cans into a serviceable aircraft. Turning the average site design mockup into a living, breathing slice of HTML and CSS is a comparably delicate miracle, which must be accomplished using whatever makeshift tools happen to be lying around in current browsers.

Tables: The Next Evolution in CSS Layout by Kevin Yank

Except that I’ve seen at least three other incarnations of the rest of this article, and this is the first time the title changed since Kevin Yank and Rachel Andrew first yelled out “Everything You Know About CSS is Wrong!”

Really?

Update (12/13/08): For those who are keeping score, here’s the list of thinly-veiled disguises:

  1. SitePoint
  2. Digital Web
  3. Think Vitamin
  4. NETTUTS
  5. 24 Ways

The first Mini Web Design Conference is the first step

November 4, 2008 · 10 comments

Form Function Class logo

I’d like to thank everyone who organized, sponsored, and attended our first Mini Web Design Conference, last October 30. I can’t believe our fledgling group (kudos to Mae, Marie, JP, Helga, Aja, Regnard, Sarah, Kaffee!) pulled off something like it, and that there were other people who were excited about supporting the event.

It’s finally happening! Things are taking shape! And this mini conference is the first step. But first, a recap:

CEL Manila 2008

October 26, 2008 · 2 comments
Lots of wasted space.

Lots of wasted space.

Consumer Electronics Live! 2008 was disappointing. From its buggy, uninformative Flash-based website to a sparse SMX Exhibit Hall (it wasn’t even the last day!), this was another sign that modernity in this third world country is too brittle, too shallow at this point.

You’re invited to a mini web design conference!

October 14, 2008 · 1 comment

<form> function() & .class working logo by Rico Sta. Cruz

Date has been moved to October 30. Same time, same place. If you want to be a speaker, let us know your topic!

We’re going to hold a mini web design conference on October 30 October 31 at the G2VC Tech Bar in Ortigas, 6:00pm—and you’re invited!

Aside from the big event we’re planning—which actually has a cool, geeky name now! see logo!—we wanted to hold a mini event that’s quick and casual.

Here are the details:

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