Rattling off online and offline happenings interwined with one another.
UP Blogger’s Circle Meetup
BA, Marielle, Noel, J (and his family), Phillip, Garro, and I met at The Chocolate Kiss Cafe (downstairs then moved upstairs) for the first offline meeting of the UP Blogger’s Circle last Friday.
‘Twas difficult coming up with a rigid plan with all our questions, but we all agreed we wanted an offline presence—otherwise we won’t be able to differentiate ourselves from the big kahuna that is Peyups. I don’t know if the rest of the members actually fathom the potential of blogging and its role in a university setting, but I certainly do, and I’m sure those who were present at the meeting did, too.
There’s supposed to be a meeting today, right now, but I’ve taken two working days off already (last Friday and yesterday) that I can’t afford to go out anymore, and therefore have to work today, Labor Day. (Happy Spiderman 3, too!)
Have you noticed? Exactly when these blogging org meetings are held, it rains! (It has not rained here since the start of the hottest summer ever.)
“Creative Geeks”
Can’t think of any other title! Anyway, Garro, Phillip, and I met with Mia (long lost childhood friend!) later in the afternoon. We were brainstorming over some project (secret!) and throwing opinions around. Mostly about how pathetic Garro’s chauvinist quips were (maybe because he wasn’t prepared for meeting an offline Mia for the first time!), not the online discussions of bliss and haffinesh (2). You know what, though? College life and its orgs were not an excuse for me. They were opportunities in which I could apply myself and what I really wanted to do. I’ve been “forging armor and training horses” from the get-go, ever since I’ve discovered the beauty of extracurriculars. That’s what they’re good for: honing what you really love. If your org doesn’t do that for you, better leave it immediately.
#70 on Ratified
Ratified ranks Philippine blogs according to several statistics from Technorati and FeedBurner. Can’t believe I’m number 70!
Pinoy Web 2.0 Roundup
Basang Panaginip has a roundup of Web 2.0 activity in the Philippines, including our kababayans who have made their mark as probloggers and netrepreneurs. I’ve also been gathering a list of Web 2.0 applications made by Filipinos, (mostly) for Filipinos so I’ll be posting that one soon!
Philippine Sites Need to Be Registered?
Finally, another sign this country has gone to the dogs—dull, bamboozling, greedy mongrels to be exact. The Philippine National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is going to require online content registered (read: charged and regulated) as value-added services.
If approved, the NTC will charge a PHP 300 filing fee per application and PHP 6,000 for the first five services registered. Small change for a multinational but way out of reach for the great majority of Pinoy bloggers.
“The NTC said the draft was designed to protect consumers from sudden service rate increases and to promote healthy competition among industry players.”
How many of the NTC officials who came up with this (insert expletive) are bloggers? Bloggers who get it? Sudden service rate increases for what, my blog posts? Healthy competition? Isn’t that why problogging has boomed (and worsened) because the Web is an equal-opportunity playing field for earning money? Industry players? It sounds like the Web has suddenly turned into this boring virtual corporate wasteland.
I love the Web industry because it’s an undefined, unpredictable mass shaped by all of us online. Don’t let another stupid government head ruin this, please.