Three stories in three weeks condemning the use of the Internet for freedom of speech. (Or libel, you decide.) We’re on a roll!
Listen.
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)
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
“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)
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
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:
Cute quote + Recycled article + Unusable technique + Questionable marketing + Awful title = 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!”
Update (12/13/08): For those who are keeping score, here’s the list of thinly-veiled disguises:
