Back on Board... Hopefully

Hi.

I know it's been 8 months since my last post and there have been lots of things to write and talk about in that period. But I have no other excuse for being away but I have been distracted, and perhaps that distraction will become the topic of most of my posts from hereon.

For now I hope that I'd spend more time with this blog and make it active again.

Nuffnang Philippines Takes You #Into The WILD in Blogpolis 2013

Get ready everyone. Nuffnang Philippines is taking you to the Information Jungle! Presenting Blogopolis 2013, a day-long event open to everyone – bloggers, social media influencers, students, digital marketing officers, and advertisers, and anyone who is interested in the world of digital, particularly social media. 

With the surge of social media, and other online platforms,  Nuffnang Philippines wants to help you make sense of the digital world..  The event will include plenary sessions in the afternoon, and a post-conference party at night where key influencers in the industry will be awarded. Key speakers will be discussing social media know-how and digital marketing and advertising trends. 

Here’s a list of speakers who will be sharing relevant digital marketing and social media insights:

• Abe Olandres for The Cycle of Ads: How to Make Social Media Advertising Effective 

• Aisa Ipac for Taking your Readers Offline: Successful Ways to Mount a Blog Event 

• Christine Dychiao for Blog Fund: 10 Ways to Guide Back Traffic to Your Blog Using Social Media 

• Googly Gooeys (Tippy and Pong Go) for The Media Kit: Creating a Compelling Blog and Social Media Proposal 

• Jim Paredes for The New Nation 2.0

• Josh Vilanueva for Youtube: The Next Frontier 

• Lori Baltazar for Podcasting 2.0: The Podcast is Alive

• Aris Olea (Creator of ConjuRain), Macky Lopez (Gwiyomi “Nasaan na si Mikay?”) for Going Viral 

Nuffnang will also hold its first Nuffie Awards to recognize the contributions of selected online influencers.  So if you're interested, come to Blogpolis 2013 #Into the Wild on November 16, 2013 at the Hotel Intercontinental Manila in Makati City.  Registration starts at 12:30PM.

For Blogopolis updates, visit Nuffnang’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. Or visit the official website: www.blogopolis.ph.

Transformers 3: Dark Side of Optimus Prime

The third installment of the Transformers titled Dark of the Moon is named appropriately.  It is dark, gloomy and violent.  It's all about lost friendship, betrayal and losing what you thought is yours.  We see some rays of hope here and there but even Optimus Prime has become more brooding and angry.

The movie begins with a little disruption in the space time continuum or rewriting of history if you will.  During the battle for Cybertron, a lone ship called the Ark and piloted by Sentinel Prime (voiced by SciFi god Leonard Nimoy) escaped the battle worn planet.  It carried the "Pillars", which could have shifted the battle in favor of the citizens of Cybertron.  The Ark crash landed on the moon and was promptly detected by NASA in 1961.  Thus began the space race between the two superpowers of the time, US and USSR.  

Until Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969 and found the wreckage of the Ark and brought home some artifacts, with the astronauts swearing never to tell a soul about the ship.  Hey, they even brought Buzz Aldrin in the movie to tell us what they saw during the 21 minute break in communication between earth and the moon 42 years ago.

Fast forward to the present and the Autobots are now allied with the Americans.  A botched operation in Chernobyl resulted in the discovery by Optimus of a power cell from the Ark.  This is where he started to, uhm, transform into a dark, moody, angry autobot.  Go watch the movie to find out what happened next.  

The movie is fast paced, action packed and violent.  We now see people getting killed by the Decepticons.  (By the way, was that blood coming from the Decepticon when they were hacked to pieces by the Autobots?)    In other words, the movie is all high testosterone.  Some parts however felt like I was watching Independence Day, especially when Optimus Prime made the speech about their fight for freedom. 


Speaking of testosterone, guys will not miss Megan Fox at all. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is super hot.  From her opening scene showing her derrière and yes, in that scene where she wore a body hugging white dress, she was just smoldering.  Seriously though, she needs to get some acting lessons. 

I saw the movie during the special screening sponsored by Nuffnang and PLDTMyDSL last night at the Shangrila Mall.  There were several cosplayers in the lobby before screening time who were in their autobot costumes.  Some were game enough to pose for pictures with their fans.

A group of young kids got the scare of their young lives when Bumblebee's head rolled on the floor. Literally.  Off went the cosplayer running after his headgear while the kids ran back to their parents.  Ugh... where's my camera when I needed it?

My thoughts on the national bloggers association

The Pinoy blogosphere is currently abuzz with the proposal for a national organization of Filipino bloggers.  A friend pointed me to an online version of the manifesto which was prepared by the proponents of the said organization.  I perused it several times before deciding to dive into the widening ocean of approving and dissenting voices.

The manifesto contains six objectives of the organization, mostly aimed at promoting the welfare of Filipino bloggers here and abroad.  It also stated what it wants to be as an organization, which is to be a democratic, voluntary and non-profit organization. 

I have come up with the following comments and questions regarding the objectives:

• Promote and defend the right to free speech and to free expression Isn't the Internet the bastion of free speech and expression?  Besides, these are supposed to be protected by the Constitution, unless there is a curtailment of these rights of which I do not know. 

•  Promote and develop blogging, vlogging, photoblogging, microblogging and other online creative and expressive forms in all their diverse categories, topics and types Okay, this one I like but then again, how many blogs are already out there?  I'd say 100 million or more.  Obviously blogging has developed a life of its own and it is growing still.  But why should we promote it in the first place? As an alternative livelihood?  As a hobby?

• Gather and share Philippine blogging’s best practices that reflect our contributions to ourselves and our online communities, media, causes, organizations and businesses, government, the nation and the world.  My mind went blank on this one.  

•  Draft and adopt a code of ethics that underscore the members’ and organization’s sense of responsibility and maturity.  In my opinion, this one raises a lot of questions about the very nature of this organization.  When you come up with a code of ethics, naturally someone will have to monitor for compliance of members. Then any breach of this code will have consequences. Who or what will enforce this code?  Will this organization be regulatory like the KBP before?  Will it regulate what we can post on our blogs and then punish those who violate such regulations? Also, what if my view does not jibe with that of the organization, will I still be able to blog about it or do I really need to toe the line?

• Discuss issues and concerns that confront our members. This of course is expected from an organization.  But what do we do after discussing the issues? Do we make representation to concerned authorities to bring to their attention these concerns?

• Campaign and work for more affordable, reliable and better internet access in the country  It's about time that someone should stand up and demand for this.  Hopefully, the telcos would sit and listen if the consumers of their services have banded together and speak in a collective voice.  

But we still haven't answered the basic question whether there is really a need for a national organization for Filipino bloggers.

There are already local and regional organization of bloggers in the country.  Here in Bulacan, I know one that is based in Baliwag although I am not yet a member.  Will the national organization act as an umbrella organization. a federation of all these groups?  Instead of dealing with individual members, they will just deal with the leaders of these smaller organizations.  If not, what will happen to these local groups?

Naturally, there are some resistance to this proposal but the proponents have opened venues for discussion of all these issues.  Hopefully they would be able to clear all the issues and let everyone understand what the national organization is really all about.  Begin by answering the question: Why?

Personally, I am not yet convinced we need one because I still believe that blogging is a personal experience and activity.  It should not be encumbered by everyday rules which may defeat its purpose.

Clowns in Forums?

I frequent several forums online to get connected with people who share my interests. Some of these are very good sources of information, especially those on technical and computer related topics since many experts of various fields also frequent these sites.

One of the advantages of these sites is I can get help on some technical problems almost swiftly and reliably because I am certain that those who answer my queries have encountered my problems or have information about them.

Lately though, I noticed that some members of my online groups have become dependent on this forum and became lazy to even do simple searches for their problems. In one computer related forum that I am in, answers to some of the problems raised were easily found in the user's manual or even in the Help option. I often wonder if these members are just too lazy to look for the solutions and rely on others to find it for them.

Another thing I noticed is the Off Topic option for many of these forums. Although it's okay to ask something like, where to get something for other things beside the topic on hand, other members actually ask mundane things.

In one forum, I was surprised to see a member asked where he could treat his son for his 1st birthday. Another member asked where he could find clowns. I think information for these things are found in classified ads or a simple Google search can give the member answers. To ask a forum that centers on computer related things about these mundane things is just too much for me. Of course I could choose not to read or respond to these queries but merely seeing them on that space is irritating. It muddles the forum and wastes bandwidth.

There are other "sins" committed on these online groups but one particular question that hits a raw nerve in me is "Please help me decide whether to buy this product." One time, I couldn't help it anymore, I responded by telling the person that other people cannot decide for him because only him knows what he needs. There were those who agreed with me and of course, some called me an a***ole.

I think some fora are made as  venues for sharing ideas and information of people who have a common interest. I would like my groups to remain that way. While some off-topics are permissible, I hope other people do not use it not because the information they need is not available elsewhere, but because they are just too lazy to look for it.

Olive Riley, World's Oldest Blogger is dead at 108

I just read this morning that Olive Riley, considered as the oldest blogger in the world, died over the weekend at a New South Wales nursing home after an illness. She was 108 years old.

Ms. Riley's posts contained a lot of childhood memories, such as how going to school was like 100 years ago. Her blogs give her followers a glimpse of what like was before the Internet, satellite and other modern means of communication made this world a global village. For that alone, she deserves a permanent place in the blogging world. In one of her latest posts, she wrote about how she regularly sing happy songs, with "Happy Days Are Here Again" as her favorite.

Others contend that Ms. Riley is technically not a blogger because she doesn't type her entries herself. She has someone else type her posts for her. But that did not diminish the importance of her posts in the blogging world. She reportedly receives a lot of communication from as far away as Russia.

108 years. With the way I live my life, I don't even expect to live until 80. Hopefully I would live until my retirement and enjoy it for sometime. However, to live as long as Olive did would be like hitting a jackpot of heavenly blessings!