Before I set up this video, let me preface it by saying that this is slightly NSFW (which is what makes it a lot of fun). As much as Anthony Bourdain's "fisting a Samoan" quip.

Anywho, my Mom tells this story of a police-led sting operation in my hometown which led to the arrest of the kidnap-for-ransom gang. The gang is led by a certain "Fred", who, by most reliable accounts, is the mastermind. He, of shockingly close acquaintance to the family, apparently selects the gang's next target by "fingering" them. I do a bit of Katie Couric vs. Sarah Palin in the interview, but my mom delivers all the punchlines.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Kamay sa ilalim ng baba... PORMA!:

1. I have a boo boo in my bellybutton that, when I press, it makes me pee involuntarily.

2. This whole degenerative disc business has me worried about overall cartilage health. Since I can't take shellfish-based glucosamine, I'm in the market for vegan versions. Question is, do they work as well?

3. Robin Padilla must have the healthiest lungs and liver in the world.

4. Coron Island, ancestral land of the Tagbanwa, is the last frontier. You. Must. See. It.

5. I thought it was funny how managers (coaches) of professional baseball teams wear the same clothes/kit their players do -- as opposed to other professional sports where most managers are either in a suit or a tracksuit. Then I had a vision of Pat Riley wearing shorts, hightops and a sleeveless jersey yelling at the ref. Or an American football coach wearing tights.

6. Whatever it is, it should fold easily, and in seconds.

7. Fiction foreshadows reality.

8. More sports: you'd think "pinch hitter" and "dump" would be one of sports' worst-named positions, but I think "tight end" takes the medal. Maybe they should be playing at Hooker Field in Virginia, or, more famous, Taco Bell Arena.

9. Now that I am middle aged, I can be more cynical, if that's possible.

10. I've been asked to endorse a President for the U.S. I listened to Obama rally in Missouri and in the Pennsylvania pouring rain, and I was in tears. But, after taking the test at glassbooth.org, it seems Ralph Nader's my man.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 01:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Here goes:

1. It seems that having a sex tape is tantamount to celebrity-hood. For guys, getting away with it is a precursor to just plain old douchebaggery.

2. David Brooks will change how you look at China:

You try to tell them that China isn’t a communist country anymore. It’s got a different system: meritocratic paternalism. You joke: Imagine the Ivy League taking over the shell of the Communist Party and deciding not to change the name. Imagine the Harvard Alumni Association with an army.

3. This stuff will work really well here in Manila.

4. The Stiletto 2 lets you listen to satellite radio on the go (with a player about the size of an ipod). Who needs an ipod?

5. Paypal moves to Linux:

It is currently processing $1,571 worth of transactions per second in 17 different currencies. In 2006, the online payments firm, which started out over a bakery in Palo Alto, processed a total of $37.6 billion in transactions. It's headed toward $50 billion this year.

6. Hillary Clinton can turn just about anyone on.

7. 25 skillz every bro must know. Including mix concrete and clean a bolt-action rifle.

8. Even dead people can go shopping at Costco. Don't forget to bring your ID!

9. Crickets can tell time. Not! Just the temperature.

10. 2007 Top Pinoy Probloggers.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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I get a lot of email from readers, mostly to sell viagra and pictures and stuff, but I do get the rare "need advice" letter.

Here's one:

Dear Bulletproofvest,

My girlfriend's been reading your blog lately. She says you're a funny writer. She says to me, "Why can't you be as funny as this guy?" You've given me problems now. I hate you.

Thanks,

[Name removed]

My answer:

Dear [name]

I apologize. I can't help being funny! It's really all I've got to impress the girls.

Thanks,

Bulletproofvest

P.S. Can you send me a pic of your girlfriend? Thanks, man!

Here's another one:

Dear Bulletpoint,

I really like your blog. I also think that you are nicer, kinder and handsomer in person. You should stop faking it.

XXX

My answer:

Dear [name]

Outstanding! I'm very flattered that you like my blog. How do you know me personally? Or are you just sensing that about me? I can't fake a good thing, but if you send me a picture, maybe we can talk about it.

Bulletproofvest

P.S. Please try not to refer to me as bulletpoint.
P.P.S. "Handsomer" is not a word, I think. But send me your pic, and we'll talk about it.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I've been so busy lately that I don't even have time to browse, much more blog.

But a friend of mine sent me this article that I found really interesting. It describes the phenomenon of YouTube watching and, in a classic marketing move, labels these YouTube addicts as "streamies". Knowledge Networks/SRI calls this the "watershed moment".

People are morphing over to this medium and are beginning to use in a way that is becoming important for advertisers to understand as they look for new ways to reach consumers.

Blah, blah, blah. So, only now, months after Google bought YouTube for $15 gazillion, do you recognize it as a marketing opportunity? Exactly how?

The research, which tracks the way average consumers spend their day consuming media, found that the highest percentage of streamies - people who streamed video or audio content online at least once during the past week - are most likely to be younger demos.

Forty-three percent of boys ages 12 to 17, and 40% of girls the same age qualify as streamies vs. 36% of men 18 to 34 and 16% of women 18 to 34, and only 21% of men 35 to 64 and 11% of women 35 to 64.

"Qualify" meaning they streamed video or audio content online at least once during the past week. If you're telling me that 43% of boys and 40% of girls are streamies, then the next American Idol should be on YouTube, because I believe that we're not too far away from "at least once *a day*." (There's my own episode of clarity.)

Furthermore:

Teen streamies spend 28% more time, young adult streamies spend 41% more time and older adult streamies spend 67% more time online than their non-streamie counterparts, he says.

These are the same kids that use Wikipedia as a reference.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Now that we know Richard Gomez isn't going to be a senator, we want to consider whether Cesar Montano should become one as well. I think he should, but for a different reason.

Montano, equally handsome and evidently much more talented than Gomez, is currently one-to-two strokes behind the 12-spot in the surveys, along with Mike Defensor, John Osmena and Prospero Pichay. These gentlemen are chasing Honasan, Pimentel, Noynoy, Zubiri and Roco, who all are poised, with one last push before election day, to sneak into the 12.

The reason why you must vote for Montano is that, along with Roco, they are the only "hill" candidates worth your vote. And, if you don't vote for them, it statistically increases the chances of crooks like Pichay and Defensor, trapos like Osmena, or old-rich scions like Zubiri (biodiesel = subsidies for sugar hacienderos) to sneak in -- a result that's a lot less palatable. In more simple words, Montano is a better vote than a non-vote that leads to a Senator Defensor.

Why not vote for, oh say, a Kapatiran candidate? Well, you're wasting your vote, because the surveys say they're miles away -- it's not worth "making the statement" in my opinion. You're better off trying to stop people like Pichay from getting into the Senate by voting for someone who has the same chances of sneaking into the 12 as much as he does, even if it means voting for an actor.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
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1. No one's called them on this yet, but I dare put forth that a prophecy has come to pass: That a son, born of the stalwarts of two warring families, will unite this nation.

Forty eight years from now, James Yap, Jr., grandchild of two former presidents, offspring of a basketball player slash womanizer and, well, "Kris Aquino", and five time PBA MVP winner, will run for the highest office in the country and will deliver us to the promised land where the BIR is corruption-free and every Filipino can dunk. Before then, we shall suffer 48 more years of incompetency.

2. Spiderman 3 now on DVD in Beijing.

3. Amazon.com sales explode on membership product.

4. Eraser in My Head has the full transcript of Mikaela Fudolig's speech. Fudolig is the 16 year-old summa cum laude from UP who delivered last weekend's commencement address. Her GPA in Physics was 1.09 if I heard it right.

Continue reading "James Yap Jr. Leads the Roundup" »

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Filed under the Ha! Department:

The Poynter Institute's recent eye-tracking study released a few weeks ago point to some really interesting findings among newspaper readers.

For one, online readers read 77% of what they chose to read, compared to 62% of broadsheet readers (that is, online readers read 77% of an article they choose to read).More useful: once an online reader chooses to read a particular item, 2/3rds of them read ALL of the text.

A more interesting note for page designers is that it seems people learn more from what they read when presented different ways of understanding one story.

Watch the video of the findings here.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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1. Four months after the Typhoon Durian left Bicol devastated -- leaving 1,300 people dead or missing -- Filipinos are still living in makeshift shelters and old school gyms. Only six percent of the estimated $46 million in aid needed have come in.

2. Agakhan Sharief has nicknamed himself Usama bin Laden to help voters remember his name.

3. Journalists in this country still dead men walking.

4. It was really hot Tuesday. It'll get hotter still.

5. Speaking of hot... now, I can't wait to watch those hanging leg raisers.

6. Internet radio is in trouble. If you're a Pandora or Last.fm user, you should read this.

7. Happiness is making a career out of helping others.

8. Twelve kinds of clients and how to work with them (freelancers must read).

9. The leading partylists, based on an April 16 Pulse Asia survey.

10. Froogle. R.I.P. 2002-2007 (now Google Product Search.).

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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I've been wondering about this, and this entry is only half-thought out.

Food safety woes in China are now coming to everyone's centerscreen, what with pet food tainted with melamine killing all those animals in the United States. Pet food, you ask, what does that have to do with me?

The list of Chinese food exports rejected at American ports reads like a chef's nightmare: pesticide-laden pea pods, drug-laced catfish, filthy plums and crawfish contaminated with salmonella.

Just as with manufactured goods, exports of meat, produce, and processed foods from China have soared in recent years, prompting outcries from foreign farm sectors that are feeling pinched by low Chinese prices.

Worried about losing access to foreign markets and stung by tainted food products scandals at home, China has in recent years tried to improve inspections, with limited success.

The problems the government faces are legion. Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are used in excess to boost yields while harmful antibiotics are widely administered to control disease in seafood and livestock. Rampant industrial pollution risks introducing heavy metals into the food chain.

Continue reading "Chinese Takeout" »

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Ride with me. If you don't have a bike, let me know, and I'll see what I can do.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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After being named the most corrupt economy in Asia, what new depths shall our government plumb? Being named the most corrupt economy, for sure, is one of the lowest possible.

In a grading system with zero as the best possible score and 10 the worst, the Philippines got 9.40, worsening sharply from its grade of 7.80 last year. Indonesia had been deemed Asia’s most corrupt country in 2006.

Until, of course, The Palace starts huffing like a toddler defending itself, with number like these:

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez said the PERC survey failed to factor in inroads in the fight against corruption. She said that as a result of reforms being implemented in her office, Sandiganbayan conviction rate rose to 77 percent between January and March 2007 alone, from 33 percent in 2005.

The convicted officials include four municipal mayors, a metropolitan trial court judge, and a president of a state university.

In the SWS survey, Ermita said the percentage of companies that were asked to pay bribes for certain transactions significantly went down from 55 percent in 2000 to 36 percent in 2005.

Ermita said one of the anti-corruption initiatives of the government is the doubling of the budget of the Office of the Ombudsman to P960 million.

A P2-billion anti-graft fund has also been established to intensify the drive against tax cheats and smugglers as well as finance the hiring of more investigators for the Ombudsman, Ermita said.

Let's see, Imelda is at large, government's made peace with Erap (despite an unresolved case), Singson's running for Senator, the President herself was caught cheating during the last elections, I can't remember what happened to Atong Ang, I get it now: we get corrupted because we're just a bunch of pussies. And, being called a pussy is, to me, a new depth.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Before I go any further, here's the roundup for hump day:

1. How much is YouTube worth? $1 billion in copyright infringements.

2. And what makes them guilty.

3. Is Clinton working his way to UN Secretary General?

4. 300 versus 10,000 of mine, and I get bitched-slapped? Sure, I'd be mad too. (Yet another reason to draw nuke plans.)

5. Kermit demonstrates 15 stretches.

6. Free project managment software at Unfuddle.

7. What would you and I start a wiki on? Any ideas?

8. Check in to 5-star amenities... in a giant concret pipe?

9. Fake or not, I wish I was at this wedding. (Warning, meanness about to ensue.)

10. How to beat anyone in Rock, Paper, Scissors. In summary, never lead with a Rock, rookies will tend to throw the same throw twice in a row.So, when you see two Scissors back to back, you know that the next one will either be Paper or Rock. (Okay, just read it here.)

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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A week ago, I was at a book launching in Los Banos and I sat through a talk by Emil Javier, former Chancellor of UPLB, former UP President, National Academician and former TAC Chair. He was campaigning for the Agham Partylist, whose website is here. (The site could use a little SEO maintenance.)

Continue reading "Science Project" »

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Ah, made it to hump day. To celebrate, I bring the links:

1. The most awesome things you can make out of paper.

2. A free online FLV converter. What is that, you say? Grab the link from your favorite YouTube video, paste it here, and download the video in a format you can watch on your PC.

3. A free online mindmapper. What is that, you say? I really don't know, but I know people who do this all the time.(Still on private beta.)

4. Free timesheets and timetracking. A nice idea for those of you with small businesses (but I'm sure by now you've got a nice system going).

5. Izmi lets you serve all sorts of files straight from your PC (Windows) to anyone with a Web browser.

6. Call your IM buddies from your mobile phone (at local costs) with Nimbuzz. Yup, you heard me right.

7. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by... (here comes the hellfire).

8. A free PDF converter.

9. You should be tracking your comments in other blogs.

10. And if you're traveling to China, you might want to bring the Internet with you.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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I went away for the weekend -- riding in Batangas. Met a local rider and we went maybe 50 kilometers (just over 30 mils) around Batangas, from the beach out near the edge of Taal Lake, then back up north where the road forks to Tagaytay, then back out to Nasugbu and halfway down to Calatagan. A super ride, with some good climbs, made better with the sea waiting at the end.

So, here's the weekly link roundup of neat bits and pieces, flavored by the wild.

1. Chimpanzees making spears. With females leading the hunts. Looks like they will evolve to a better women-led civilization.

2. Suicide by jaguar?

3. I want a new drug

4. Manage your family.

5. Legislating poor taste (or, fake privates).

6. Really stupid online business ideas that made someone really rich.

7. Consumer angst empowered?

8. An upside to global warming (not that there is one)?

9. Best logos of 2006.

10. It's raining today.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Here's the Weekend Roundup

1. I'm aware of the IE 6 bug (it doesn't read the div widths properly) that forces the main content to the bottom of the page. The problem is I can't get to fixing it because a. I don't have time b. I don't have IE 6 anywhere. I'll try the weekend.

2. I just started a consultancy in Makati, which has me driving about an hour a day to my client's office. I've had it, like many people living in the city, with traffic, and while I wait to get out of one clusterf*ck after another, I can just see the cost of transaction (and the effect on the GDP) count down like big dollar signs hovering over the city sky.

3. Catholics are the victims? Maybe after "The Da Vinci Code", they've gotten a bit over-sensitive? This really isn't an attack (NSFW) on Catholics is it? (Here's an article that deals with one that clearly is.) So, why this then?

4. The stuff of movies. Maybe, Pinoy movies. She makes friends with a younger person, and treats her like her own child. Her finding her own family makes for a sweeping bittersweet moment.

5. Get your grills on.

6. How to be a good Republican, or Democrat.

7. Kill some time with Flickr and this photo selector based on background colors.

8. Who's going to play Rob and Fabrice? Will they fake it as well?

9. Death by Alphabet.

10. Finally, for the bloggers: Performancing has found an owner.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I had really tired of the old look, and had wanted to redesign the blog for the looooongest time. Never had the time though, but the weekend provided just the right number of hours to put something up.

Of course, there are bugs. So, I'm still fixing those. (Safari has one I could see, and so does the blockquote style.) But all in all I started with fixing a few things, ended spending about two days designing (changed my mind several times), markup, coding, testing, etc. etc.

Now, I can get back to blogging.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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1. The folks over at Microsoft have actually done the impossible: let a computer talk his way into suicide.

Microsoft has admitted that speech recognition features in Vista could be hijacked so that a PC tells itself to delete files or folders.

Vista can respond to vocal commands and concern has been raised about malicious audio on websites or sent via e-mail.

In one scenario outlined by users an MP3 file of voice instructions was used to tell the PC to delete documents.

2. SEO triumph: Bush no longer tops Google search for "miserable failure". Instead, it's about Google bombing, and the "miserable failure" links to Bush.

3. Bring back the size-0 models: Binge eating disorder more common than anorexia or bulimia combined.

4. Share your stories about mistakes you've made. No, this doesn't require a postcard.

5. Teach your kids about marijuana.The book is free until Valentine's Day.

6. Kevin Smith does his Top Films of 2006. He saw 85 movies, and Borat, The Departed and Perfume were on his list.

7. Love thy neighbor (who needs cash).

8. New Gmail feature: view and edit attachments (spreadsheets and docs) via Google Docs & Spreadsheets within Gmail. Bring the office anywhere!

9. Artist community Humble Voice.

10. And, I still want a Wii, dammit.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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CNet is reporting:

By proactively delisting auctions for property from virtual worlds and online games, eBay may be effectively forcing players who participate in such trades into the hands of giant third-party operations that buy and sell virtual goods.

The estimate of sales of virtual products, everything from virtual characters, to virtual currencies and clothes, is somewhere in the "multi-hundred-million-dollars". Too much fraud? Or the possibilty of these sales actually violating the terms of service between the game publishers and their users? Either way, whoever captures this market will make a nice pile of cash in the near-term.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I like reading about happiness, and what makes people happy, justifying my idea that, if you come into this world with nothing, and leave with nothing, then you should have something cool while you're here.

Evidently, that's not the case. Affluenza, a term noted British psychologist Oliver James uses to refer to the worldwide compulsive pursuit of money and possessions which makes people richer, but sadder. He went around the world interviewing people from New York to Sydney.

Bigger houses, more cars, larger televisions, younger faces -- these goals are frenetically pursued by middle-class workaholics afflicted by "Affluenza."

"Studies in lots of different nations show that if you place high value on those things, you are more likely to suffer depression, anxiety, addictions and personality disorders," he said.

The biggest bombshell: People in English-speaking nations are twice as likely to be mentally ill as people living in mainland western Europe.

James freely admits that interviewing the affluent in Sydney was a depressing job, calling it "the Dolly Parton of cities in Australia, the most vacuous

Singapore, where he found shopping to be the national obsession, suffered from "sad, unplayful deadness."

Tama na muna yang Ingles, nakakabaliw pala talaga yan. Kaya pala ang gastos gastos nung mga Call Center agents.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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After months of speculation on these two seemingly redundant products, Google has just announced that Google Video will now return search results from YouTube -- and Google says inevitably everywhere and anywhere else.

More importantly, Google says that "Google Video will become even more comprehensive as it evolves into a service where users can search for the world's online video content, irrespective of where it may be hosted," according to a company statement.

All that's left is monetizing YouTube, which shouldn't be too hard now that Google can search it. Within the year, we will probably see entire episodes of Lost and The Biggest Loser available as pay-per-view videos on YouTube, supported by free promotional clips.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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The wait is over. Becks goes to Hollywood.

I'm a big enough sports fan to know that Posh Spice would like nothing better than to move to LA. And, $250 million sounds like a good start to her career.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• Terapad.com - Beyond Blogging
  Free blogging, Paypal ready, event calendar, image gallery, even jobs board and forums -- these guys covered it all.
• Welcome To Truphone - Mobile VoIP has arrived
  VoIP comes to the cellphone. Only thing left is someone starts offering it for free.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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• Gas-like odor spreads through NYC - Yahoo! News
  New York City stinks
  (tags: NYC)
• The DIY Guide to Roasting Your Own Coffee! on Squidoo
  Coffee! Mmmm!

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• Ando was king of instant ramen | The Japan Times Online
  Founder of instant ramen dies.
• Open Culture: 50+ Free Courses from UC Berkeley for Your Ipod
  Free courses from UC Berkeley on your ipod.
• Filipino doc picks life as nurse in U.S. - Yahoo! News
  Before someone sticks a needle into you.
  (tags: Philippines)

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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If you think your boss is a jerk, you're not alone. A recent survey in the U.S. found that bosses jerk people around like it's their job.

Nearly two of five bosses in U.S. workplaces do not keep their word and more than a fourth bad-mouth those they supervise to co- workers, a university study shows.

The results of the study are scheduled for publication in the autumn 2007 issue of The Leadership Quarterly, a journal aimed at consultants, managers and executives.

The findings of the study show that:

39 percent of workers said their supervisors had failed to keep promises.

37 percent said their supervisors had failed to give credit when due.

31 percent said their supervisors had given them the "silent treatment" in the past year.

27 percent said their supervisors had made negative comments about them to other employees or managers.

24 percent said their supervisors had invaded their privacy.

23 percent said their supervisors had blamed others to cover up mistakes or to minimize embarrassment.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Teachers, concerned ones, are going to the Supreme Court to challenge a bill that mandates the use of English as the medium of instruction in all subjects (including Filipino?), in what could only be described as: "sapilipinaslangmerongganitongkalokohan", or everyday BS to you and me.

Continue reading "EFL: English as the First Language" »

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 01:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Blender Magazine's 50 Worst Artists article reads like a who's who in Odyssey's CD section.

Can't. Really. Agree. With. Every. Selection. Particularly, "Live" (#34) and "Paul Oakenfold" (#35), the latter very useful when at the gym. I agree with Richard Marx ("Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you."), Color Me Badd ("I wanna sex you up!"), Crash Test Dummies ("Mmmmmmmmmmm... bop!") and Celine Dion (#26 - only?). But Kenny G (#4) and Michael Bolton (#3) should have been tied for #1.

Meanwhile, Starship (#5) reminds me of a frat boy drinking game where an innumerable amount of kegs are laid out and someone spins "We Built This City" non-stop until all the kegs are finished.

At the end of the article, there's a nice little quiz to determine whether your band could be worse. My favorite question:

4 The name of your band is…
a) A favorite phrase from a William S. Burroughs novel.
b) An action verb, followed by an even number.
c) Indistinguishable from that of an accounting firm.

Red Tape Rocks! Read the article here.

Tags: music, Blender, Paul+Oakenfold, Color+Me+Badd, Crash+Test+Dummies, Celine+Dion, Kenny+G, Michael+Bolton, Starship

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
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I want to award two medals of standup heroism to two people today. One, Renato Constantino, Jr., who stuck it to the man.

And another, somewhat less newsworthy, but noteworthy nonetheless, to Vina Morales, who clocked Borgy Manotoc at Greenbelt for bragging about bedding her.

"Noong pagkakita ko sa kanya tumaas talaga ang presyon ko. Hindi ko po talaga napigilan kung hindi nilapitan ko siya, sinampal ko kaagad. Nagulat din siya tapos sabi niya: 'Oh my God!' Tapos 'yung girlfriend niya tumayo. 'Oh my God! What’s happening?'"

What's happening is that Borgy got b*tch-slapped, that's what. Congratulations. People get what they deserve.

Tags: Vina+Morales, Borgy+Manotoc, Renato+Constantino, Philippines

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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As part of her birthday celebration on Dec. 16, Quezon City Councilor Aiko Melendez is holding a Miss Gay Sinta ng Bayan at the SB Nova Plaza at 8 p.m. on that day. Aiko has invited her friends Gelli de Belen, Carmina Villarroel, Tuesday Vargas, Vhong Navarro, Candy Pangilinan and Sami (of Punchline) as guests of honor. Direk Maryo J. delos Reyes’ new all-male group Engaged will perform. Proceeds from the affair will go to the day-care centers of District 2. Among the sponsors are the Calayan Surgical Clinic, Pepsi Herrera, Avon, Sogo Hotels, Secret Garden Flowers Unlimited, Agua Jana and Bambbi Fuentes.

"This is my birthday treat to my constituents," said Aiko.

I'm secretly hoping that "Gay Sinta ng Bayan" is a typo for "Gay Santa ng Bayan". Man, that would be a great show.

Tags: Philippines, Quezon+City, Gay+Santa, Aiko+Melendez

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Inevitably, they want web procucers to provide content as far up the food chain as it can go.

Starting tomorrow, the photos and videos submitted will be placed throughout Reuters.com and Yahoo News, the most popular news Web site in the United States, according to comScore MediaMetrix. Reuters said that it would also start to distribute some of the submissions next year to the thousands of print, online and broadcast media outlets that subscribe to its news service. Reuters said it hoped to develop a service devoted entirely to user-submitted photographs and video.

The project is among the most ambitious efforts in what has become known as citizen journalism, attempts by bloggers, start-up local news sites and by global news organizations like CNN and the BBC to see if readers can also become reporters.

Many news organizations turned to photographs taken by amateurs to supplement coverage of events like the London subway bombing and the Asian tsunami. Yahoo’s news division has already used images that were originally posted on Flickr, the company’s photo-sharing site. For example, it created a slide show of images from Thailand after the coup there in September.

I want a site where I can post all my pics of smoke-belching buses and trucks, including some from the MMDA.

Read here. And see the original, which is still the best.

Tags: Reuters, Yahoo, camera+phone, JFK, Zapruder, CNN, BBC

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Not good news for anybody. This could be the so-called "big one".

Tags: Typhoon+Durian, Philippines, Manila

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I've long wondered why people get those flatscreen high-definition televisions. On the one hand, it is impressive, especially if you set it up ala home theater system and you've got nice seats and popcorn. On the other hand, it'll leave you two bucks short of broke and your wife will want to know where all her jewelry went.

Watching TV on these things, as I have witnessed, isn't the same experience -- that's because not everyone broadcasts in HD format. The FCC in the U.S. wants HDTV to be the de facto standard, forcing everyone to upgrade pretty much everything. But it seems now that the advertisers -- who the networks want to share, if not foot, the bill for these changes -- couldn't give a hoot (frankly, I think they're just worried about YouTube and TiVo).

Speaking on the opening day of a two-week regulatory probe into the state of Canada's television sector, CBC president Robert Rabinovich said advertisers are not willing to pay more for commercials on high-definition channels or during HD programs.

That has left Canadian broadcasters struggling to figure out how the industry will pay for the massive shift towards high-definition, which requires new infrastructure and programming costs that are roughly 25 per cent higher.

“There's no evidence either in Canada or the United States that we have found for advertisers willing to pay a premium for a program that's in HD,” Mr. Rabinovich said. “So basically they're saying if you want to shoot in HD, that's your business, we're not going to pay you more.”

Worse, it seems that networks are looking at dropping over-the-air signals as a solution to cut costs. In the developing world where most viewers are not cabled or dished, HDTV, and its lack of mass appeal, it seems will be decades away. So, hold on to your money, it'll be some time before you can watch any real HDTV. By that time, you'll probably watching it from the Internet.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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McDonald's wants to patent the method and apparatus used to prepare their sandwiches, arguably changing how millions of Americans flip their burgers in barbecues, including how we simultaneously toast the "bread component", or er, bread.

Garnishes of lettuce, onions and tomatoes, as well as salt, pepper and ketchup, are inserted into a cavity in a 'sandwich delivery tool'.

So, if I insert my sandwich into a toaster (cavity) with my hand (delivery tool), WHAM! Copyright infringement! No wonder people take these things lightly.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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December means more spending than anything else, including online. The e-commerce people might be happy to know that traffic seems to be ticking up earlier than usual, as buyers look to purchase things online not as a last resort but possibly as an early first one.

Looks like Ebay.ph is picking up steam (sell anything, longtail), as well as myayala.com, which makes most of its money from OFWs buying for their local relatives. Tracking yehey.com for comparison.

Tags: Christmas, myayala, buyandsellph, online+shopping, Philippines

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Everybody wants to leave the country. I have nothing but "bests of luck" and "farewells" to them, especially the doctors (who become nurses) and nurses. Makes me feel better about the quality of work those sticking needles in my arm can produce.

I digress. A friend of mine, an ad executive gainfully employed in a top agency once quipped: "Mag babarista na lang ako sa Montreal." Sure, he's kidding. After all, he's got 15 years experience, plus his degree.

But it seems that that is exactly what happens: there's a "non-recognition of their foreign-earned credentials" that lead to "institutionalized de-skilling, de-professionalization and institutional obstacles," according to one group in Ontario, who is telling the Ontario Legislature all this in a hearing.

“As a group,” the group said, “Filipinos are highly educated. In 2001 almost 57 percent of Filipino immigrants in Toronto had some university-level education. This compared with 33 per cent for all immigrant groups, and just under 35 per cent for residents. Moreover, most Filipinos arrive with a strong command of English and a familiarity with North American institutions. Despite these high levels of human capital, the average wage levels for Filipino men and women are substantially below a variety of comparison groups. Statistical analyses have shown that Filipinos have among the highest levels of occupational segmentation of any immigrant groups (Hiebert, 1999; Kelly, 2005).

The main cause identified in the survey and focus groups was the systemic non-recognition of Philippine-earned education and experience.  As a result of this systemic barrier, Filipinos are forced to take on survival jobs to support themselves and their families and to meet financial obligations such as debts incurred due to the high cost of immigration. Survival jobs provide no surplus to finance tuition or professional upgrading.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Daddy Warbucks tops Forbes Magazine's richest fictional character, having zoomed up the rankings to an estimated $36.2 billion net worth.

Best of the list:

1. Santa Claus, who would have topped the list, was removed from it because Forbes was bombarded with letters of outraged children insisting that Mr. Claus is real.

2. Lex Luther blows away billions trying to take over the world, and plummets down the rankings.

3. A spam entrepreneur from Nigeria and a videogame plumber makes the list as well.

4. Bruce Wayne and Lucius Malfoy all heir it out, the former being more astute with his investments.

5. Mr Monopoly and Tony Montana ("Say hello to my little friend!") make the list for real estate and cocaine.

6. And my favorite: Charles Montgomery Burns is worth an estimated $16.8 billion after announcing a "technology exchange" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Read here. The complete list is here.

Tags: Forbes+magazine, richest, Daddy+Warbucks, Santa+Claus, Lex+Luther, Charles+Burns

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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In what reads like a lecture you'd get from your own run-of-the-mill boss, a senior executive at Yahoo, through a memo published by The Wall Street Journal, pours his soul out, uses sports, breakfast and farming analogies, and pinpoints exactly where the internet giant is headed: nowhere.

I've heard our strategy described as spreading peanut butter across the myriad opportunities that continue to evolve in the online world. The result: a thin layer of investment spread across everything we do and thus we focus on nothing in particular.

I hate peanut butter. We all should.

We have lost our passion to win. Far too many employees are "phoning" it in, lacking the passion and commitment to be a part of the solution. We sit idly by while -- at all levels -- employees are enabled to "hang around". Where is the accountability?

And, finally:

a) The current business unit structure must go away.

b) We must dramatically decentralize and eliminate as much of the matrix as possible.

c) We must reduce our headcount by 15-20%.

Hopefully, you're not in that 15-20%. The entire thing, just for the rah-rah-rah language, is worth reading here.

Tags: Yahoo!, Yahoo+Memo

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• Globe Customer Service
  Possibly the worst customer service experience I've ever had.
  (tags: Globe Telecoms, Philippines, Handyphone, Ayala, Ayala Philippines)

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• PC World - The 13 Most Embarrassing Web Moments
  Lean back, have fun.
• More Vicious than Rape
  This will make you weep.
• What Films 22 Comedians Would Bring With Them On A Desert Island
  This, to make you laugh again.
• fliptrack: put your life to music
  Kill some time and make me a video.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Dang, I used to like this guy. He and my mom went to school together (funny how he mentions it in his article). But it's this intolerance -- and the soapbox he uses to trumpet it -- that puts him on my *other* list.

Is our population getting to be predominantly pansy? Must we allow homosexuality to march unobstructed until we are converted into a nation of sexless persons without the virility of males and the grace of females but only an insipid mix of these diluted virtues? Let us be warned against the gay population, which is per se a compromise between the strong and the weak and therefore only somewhat and not the absolute of either of the two qualities. Be alert lest the Philippine flag be made of delicate lace and adorned with embroidered frills.

Mr. Cruz, I'm sure your perfectly "macho" sons won't stoop to your level. I mean, c'mon, how can you diss on Ellen Degeneres?

Read here.

Tags: homophobia, gay+bashing, total+BS, Isagani+Cruz, pink+triangle

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I never thought this would happen in my lifetime, and maybe it still will:

The government announced Thursday its plan to construct a road and railway system around the 220-kilometer Laguna Lake through a $2.4-billion build-operate-transfer (BOT) project.

The main objective of the project is to provide adequate accessibility to the towns and cities surrounding Laguna Lake to Metro Manila’s principal road arteries and railway systems to transform all the provinces in the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon and Aurora area into progressive industrial centers.

The first option that the proponents are now looking at is the “shoreline embankment and causeway road” composed of approximately 150 kms of shoreline embankment road, 30 kms of causeway structure, 25 kms of land-based on-grade road and railway.

I would love to take a train from Los Banos and get off somewhere in Makati. No tolls, no traffic. Now if only they make sure that there's ample parking.

Read here.

Tags: Laguna, Philippines, trains, Laguna+Lake, Metro+Manila

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Interesting read in CNN.com about what makes people in the U.S. happy.

Americans will spend $750 million on self-help books this year and more than $1 billion on motivational speakers. More than 100 colleges now offer classes in positive psychology -- the science of happiness. With all those resources focused on achieving happiness, we should all be brimming with joy.

But from lottery winners to people with disabilities, happiness is relative -- nothing new. In fact, this reminds me of the story of a little bird that fell into some cow turd, but that's for another entry.

Some of the more interesting findings were that married couples are happier than singles. College grads are happier than those without degrees. Religious people are happier than those who are not. And Sunbelt residents (think Florida) are happier than other U.S. residents.

So, get a degree, get married, go to church and get some sun and you're all set.

But what about buying neat things like iPods?

Our culture implores us to buy bigger, newer, better things, but research shows "stuff" does not buy happiness. By and large, money buys happiness only for those who lack the basic needs. Once you pass an income of $50,000, more money doesn't buy much more happiness.

Er, what happened to: let's get to $50,000 a year and I'll cross that bridge when I get there?

Read here.

Tags: money, philippines, happiness, CNN

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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My sleepy hometown, once the unfortunate site of Mayor Sanchez's gruesome virgin fetishes, has recently been waking up to some Manila-style assassinations. Election jitters? That's the least of my worries.

From the news I'm hearing, one baranggay councilor was shot to death near the International Rice Research Institute while he was heading to work. According to my sources, little is known about any possible motives, and who the killer or killers were.

A day later, again in the early morning, another man, whose identity is unknown or unclear to those I spoke to (probably someone not from Los Banos), was found dead from bullet wounds not too far away from where the first man was found. Again, no knowledge of motives, or any eyewitness reports. It is also unclear at this point whether either man were related in any way.

I was told that the locals were afraid to speak to authorities, for fear of their own lives. Assassinations come to my sleepy hometown, we really are in desperate times.

Tags: Los+Banos, Philippines, killings, Laguna

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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• Chinese Public Health Posters
  Fascinating! Hi-res pics await. Plus, check out the cholera posters -- niiice!

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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The annoying surcharge you get when you use your credit card (it really is extortion) is no more, so says the DTI. It's punishable by up to 6 months imprisonment. Most especially annoying since I'm used to going around without cash. And, with the holidays coming up, and 5 million Filipinos carrying plastic, the timing can't be any better.

I think. Read here.

Tags: DTI, credit+card, philippines, surcharge

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• FormLogix
  Create web forms for free -- I like!
  (tags: web2.0)
• Funbeat
  I just joined this community. I hope to keep track of my training, meet new workout partners, and stay motivated. Link up, and let's see how it works.
  (tags: web2.0)

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• Google Torrents
  Google+Torrents=btjunkie.org
  (tags: Google Torrents)
• Remains of Backlegs in a Bottlenose Dolphin
  A dolphin has an extra set of fins that could be remains of back legs.
  (tags: evolution dolphin)
• Armstrong: I Bit Off More Than I Could Chew
  Lance Armstrong finishes a hair below 3 hours and says the NY Marathon is the hardest physical thing he has ever done.
  (tags: lance+armstrong ny+marathon)
• Weebly | Website Creation Made Easy
  Free website creation. Check out the video.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I may be preaching to the choir here, but it often is so: those who do, don't ask.

So here I ask, what have we bloggers done that has been relevant? Sure, there's the collapse of time and place, and the depth, quality (suspect) and quantity of information we get from blogs, mostly personal, sometimes insignificant.

Tiger Woods (stay with me here) is probably one of the greatest icons in recent memory, and we all know he's not done yet. But I bring him into this discussion because of what he stands for: he's half-African American, half-Asian, and, even at half the age of the average golfer, is a giant in the predominantly White, and notoriously snooty sport. These days, you'll find it hard to find a golfer not inspired by him.

Now, what does that have to do with blogging? The Pew Internet reports that:

The most distinguishing characteristic of bloggers is their youth. More than half (54%) of bloggers are under the age of 30.

Another distinguishing characteristic is that bloggers are less likely to be white than the general internet population. Sixty percent of bloggers are white, 11% are African American, 19% are English-speaking Hispanic and 10% identify as some other race. By contrast, 74% of internet users are white, 9% are African American, 11% are English-speaking Hispanic and 6% identify as some other race.

They've become journalists, creators, entertainers, motivators. Their voices, personal or otherwise, are now part of a greater whole.

And, curiously, blogging seems to make them more involved, more relevant: they could also be the most well-informed among us.

72% of bloggers look online for news or information about politics; by contrast, just 58% of all internet users do so. 45% of bloggers say they prefer getting news from sources that do not have a particular political point of view; roughly the same percentage of the general internet population agrees.

And they want people to talk back almost all the time: 87% of bloggers allow comments on their blog.

There is a strong, almost pure, spirit of democracy here. Now, draw your own conclusions. I'll keep blogging.

Tags: Blogging, Internet, Pew+Internet

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Just wanted to mash up two little news items that came to my centerscreen. One, was a post from Bryanboy, spotted here, that, well, is irreverent to say the least.

And, here, Playboy goes to school, and a little bit about how a Filipina co-ed sparkles at breaking into modeling.

Senior community health major Katrina Guevara said her family, which is from the Philippines, is conservative - but that her aunt had said modeling for Playboy with clothing on was acceptable.

Guevara, 24, of Tylertown, said she was concerned about how the community might react.

I'm more concerned about your aunt thinking that models in Playboy can keep their clothes on.

Tags: Bryanboy+Philippines+Playboy+Filipina

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Ah, Filipinos at their finest:

The few souls who braved the rains of Typhoon “Paeng” on Monday night were drawn to a downtown bar to watch its employees staple cardboard tombstones to its walls.

Andy Sinquian, owner of Rumour’s bar, calls the tableau of tombstones a “wailing wall.”

For P100, customers can buy space on the wall to put up their own cardboard tombstone and bury their pet peeves and negative thoughts for Halloween and All Saints’ Day, said Sinquian.

Now, what would you possible pay P100 for for a chance to write on a piece of cardboard and "bury"?

Another patron also paid to “bury” television host Kris Aquino and her game show “Deal or No Deal.”

The unknown patron added an epitaph that was so ambiguous it became a topic of conversation: “There are about a hundred or more kernels in an ear of corn. You are the tops.”

The ghost of Krismas Aquino? Yeah, I'd pay P100 for that. I'm off to Baguio this weekend.

Read here.

Tags: Kris+Aquino, Philippines

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Okay, that's really not nice to say, but there are rumors that Katherine Luna, star of "Masahista" (which I saw and liked) is having a hard time making ends meet and has now returned to her exotic dancing career.

Tough.

Naghihirap na nga sa Katherine Luna para aminin niyang bumalik na siya sa club para magsayaw ulit. Kumbaga balik sa dating gawi ang drama ngayon ng multi-awarded actress. Ayon kay Katherine, napilitan siyang magsayaw muli sa club dahil sa kakapusan niya sa pera.

Real talent, it seems, doesn't pay. You're better off having no talent at all.

Tags: Katherine+Luna, Philippines

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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• The Most Important Image Ever Taken
  Short clip that will make you want to join the Federation.
  (tags: Hubble Space)
• How To Keep Good Posture When In Front of A Computer
  A must know for all of us professional internet surfers.
  (tags: back+pain)
• Newspaper Circulation Falls
  Less analog readers. More online?
  (tags: newspaper mass+media)
• USB Device Records Web and FM
  This is what I want for Christmas, ya hear?
  (tags: cool usb fm+radio)
• 10 Things You Need To Know about a Mac PC Network
  I've got this running at home, and these tips are very useful. Now I know why PCs can't find the Macs.
  (tags: Mac Windows)

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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With a 25-year lease (short in my opinion), Ayala is creating an ideal venue for the geeks in U.P. to do (read: find funding) for research, and deploy it quickly.

The envisioned UP North Science and Technology Park will have low-rise office buildings to be complemented by retail, residential and hotel components. Development will start in the first half of 2007.

Ayala Land president Jaime Ayala (no relation to the Zobel de Ayala family that controls Ayala Land) said in a statement that the science and technology park would create an environment in which high-technology enterprises could interact with the academe in research and development.

Maybe a good place to build a studio?

Read here.

Tags: Philippines, Ayala, University+Philippines

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I used to have a Planters Bank TD that gave me life insurance to boot. That was five years ago. Now, Citibank Philippines has a savings product that gives you free life insurance, the size of the latter depending on your deposit. Php100,000 gets you a P2 million life insurance coverage.

There's also a US dollar account that starts at US$2,000.

Read here.

Tags: Citibank, Philippines, Planters+Bank

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Someone asked me -- no, told me -- to watch "Heroes" which I've been told by others is one good show. Right now, five shows are enough, and I have a hard time fending off people who yell "What do you mean you don't watch 'Lost'?!?!". I'm, like, zip it, they'll never get found.

Here are my top 5 TV shows, the only shows I watch, in no particular order:

1. House -- True, there's always a part where House's team of indefatigable doctors get to the "If we do it, we could kill him. But if we don't do it, he's going to die anyway." part, but, hey, how they get there is always exciting to watch. Plus, I like watching jerks win.

2. Battlestar Galactica - I needed to replace Star Trek, a franchise that for the last two and a half decades, had something on. Galactica (which is my DVD-pimp's code name for me) is an excellent substitute. Although the acting is uneven and the storyline gets a little bumpy at times, it's nice to see how corrupt, weak and immature human beings deal with the fact that the fate of the human race is in their hands. Watch out for Grace Park and Tricia Helfer.

3. Prison Break - Truth is, there's a lot of hot guys in this show. Yes, there are people getting shot to death or a hand or two hacked every episode (and that's nothing compared to CSI), but if I looked anything like Wentworth Miller, girls would like me better. And, a better storyline than "Lost": you see, the actually got out of prison.

4. Gilmore Girls - Or, like the DVD says: "Las Chicas Gilmore". If I'd met any one of these two in college, I'd be a different man altogether. Filled with a cast of characters that resemble friends I never had, the Gilmore Girls make me believe that if you're anywhere this cute, go ahead, you can break my heart all you want. I'll keep coming back.

5. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Best show this year (yeah, say what you "Lost" or "Heroes" fans want). Aaron Sorkin at his best, with no-miss casting. If you're a fan of "The West Wing" then you'll be right at home, down to the production crew and even the typography. And, here's to Matthew Perry, who, as it turns out, is really much more than Chandler Bing.

UPDATE:

There are rumors that Studio 60 will be cancelled this season.

Cast members are already confiding in friends that the end is near. It's likely NBC will pull the plug shortly I am told by insiders.

Last week, Studio 60 had 7.7 million viewers. Compare that with competing "CSI: Miami," with 17.5 million. That gap cannot be closed.

But 'Studio 60' has trouble internally at NBC, forget its intramural rivals. According to ratings stats, the "Saturday Night Live" behind the scenes soap opera loses almost half the viewers delivered to it a few minutes earlier by another new show, "Heroes," which has become a surprise cult hit.

NBC will probably fill the lost 'Studio 60' timeslot with 'Deal-No Deal: The Next Generation,' or some such thing. So the losers here will be the audience, which is about to be pummelled by more reality and game shows.

Ick. Read here.

UPDATE 2:

Better news:

October 30, 2006 -- SCI FI channel is pushing ahead with plans to de velop a spin-off to "Battlestar Galactica," the network's most buzzed about show ever.

The first drafts of "Caprica" scripts - a series that would take place about 50 years before the war between machines and man at the heart of "Galactica" - arrived at the network this week.

This would make it a franchise. Read here.

Tags: Studio+60, House, Aaron+Sorkin, Gilmore+Girls, Wentworth+Miller, Battlestar+Galactica, Prison+Break, TV

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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• Email, Calendaring and Collaboration Services for Your Business from BlueTie
  Free! Anything free is worth a link!
• Scrybe
  Interesting enough
• VOX - See It. Hear It. Vox It.
  New blogging service from MT makers. Tsk, tsk, now I really feel neglected.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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This All Saint's Day, as we remember and pray for our dearly departed, there could be some surprises waiting for us when we visit their graves.

For years, Manila North Cemetery, a public graveyard in the centre of the capital of 12 million people, has been a thriving community for those evicted from their homes or flocking from the provinces for better opportunities in the big city.

They claim that, so far, they haven't seen any ghosts.

Seriously though, the Philippines is bursting at the seams, with a growth rate of 5,400 new babies a day. At that rate, we'll be 100 million in 7 years. And the last thing we'll worry about is having strangers sleeping with our dead.

UPDATE:

It may be that the Manila Times reads my blog. Okay, I said "may be". I'll take today's editorial as a nice reponse.

BETWEEN 2010 and 2012 the Philippines will welcome its 100 millionth citizen and become the 13th most populous country in the world.

Tags: Philippines, population, Manila

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• theproguy: Most expensive adwords - 'Loan consolidation' clear winner
  The 50 Most Expensive Google Adwords

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• Lie By Lie

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• Espacios publicitarios - a photoset on Flickr
  Wow! Some really beautiful posters. Design inspiration anyone?

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• Digital Tampering in the Media, Politics and Law
  Digital tampering -- news photos yes. But we do it in advertising everyday.

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• IT|Redux » My Office 2.0 Setup
  Office 2.0

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• Famster is your family's home on the Internet!
  Nice, DIY web destination for families. Family tree, scrapbook, calendar, recipes. And it's all free.
  (tags: web2.0)
• Instructables: step-by-step collaboration
  Speaking of DIY, here's a big depository of some very interesting -- and doable -- DIY projects.

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• FreeTextBox
  A nice free HTML editor for ASP.NET.
  (tags: ASP, .NET, HTML)

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Last October, while boarding a Continental flight to Buffalo, NY, I was alerted by the authorities that I was on the no-fly list. Of course, had this anything to do with my credit limit, or a prank from the State Department, I would have understood.

Today, I discovered that I share names with, among others, a known ETA terrorist. Fascinating to read about someone who doesn't have a cheeky nickname, and instead is known simply as "Demon". Although I would like to add that that George Harrison thing that he has going is pretty sharp.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• How To Crack 128-bit Wireless Networks In 60 Seconds
  Why we should stop using WEP.

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• HDR images in photography - About Dynamic Range, Tone Mapping and HDR Imaging for Photography
  High Dynamic Range Photography

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• * popularity dialer
  I'd love to have this little service for Manila. Just check out the sample calls. They're hilarious!
• rminder.com — quick and easy reminders
  Yet another service I'd like to see here in Manila.
  (tags: phone, memo, web2.0)

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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• The World's Most Photorealistic Vector Art
  Most impressive gradient meshing. And a delicious tag from a pinoy too.
• about kip
  Software that makes me want to buy a scanner.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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From one author to another, I had a chance to do an email interview with B+B, author of "Pink Shoes," a somewhat intimidating survey of the postmodern intersection of anime and the British Arts and Crafts movement.

Nah, I haven't read the book. But here's the exclusive interview:

1. I haven't read your book. Is it any good?

Pink Shoes isn't going to be a classic novel, and no one will be forced to read it for their classes in 'Masterpieces of English Literature', which is ultimately a good thing, I think. It's the sort of thing you pick up when you want to be entertained and your cable's out. But I think I wrote it nicely, I agonized over it during the editing process, it made me laugh and...well, what I'm really trying to say is that I think its good, so you better take my word for it.

2. As a self-respecting adult male, why would I want to read "Pink Shoes"?

Pussy! Where is your copy of Hustler?! No self-respecting adult male would get within ten feet of a book that is a.) completely Pink and b.) revolves around a footwear fetish -- although if cutesy pink ballet shoes get your juices flowing, then I guess your thinly veiled attraction to my book is the least of your problems.

3. Your characters are all whiners. Are you a whiner?

Not so much a whiner as a whinee - you know, the chosen receptacle which receives the whines disguised as queries for advice and sister-solidarity-building share time.

4. If you could choose anyone to play your characters in a full-feature film, who would you choose? Why? What about to direct? Why?

I want M Night Shyalamanamanabadabing to direct the film so that there can be this anticlimactic oh-my-God-I-didn't-see-that-coming! twist ten minutes before the credits. Like, the characters are all part of a great cosmic experiment by a race of superior alien beings trying to determine if women really are from Venus. I want old-school 70s starlets from 'Temptation Island' to play the characters and Joey Gosengfiao to write the screenplay, so that when the plot gets boring they can start dancing seductively or barbecue the lone gay character.

5. What's the best way to read your book? Why?

There's a funny, witty, non-bitter way to answer this question (without referencing snotty CW majors *cough*book launch*cough*). I just haven't thought of it yet.

6. There's another book on the hopper. Is there going to be more sex? Oral? Anal?

The second book is about a fag hag with a defective gaydar, and the first sentence is "Mario has a Screaming Orgasm in one hand, a Blow Job in the other." What do you think?

7. What do you hope your readers get out of your first book? Will you tame their insecurities? What about the second one?

By the end of Pink Shoes I want women to realized that there is no problem that can't be solved by a well-deployed mini-skirt with appropriately matching footwear (never wear minis with high heels, as they will make you look slutty). Mostly, I just want my readers to stop wearing unflattering gaucho pants, prairie skirts, cullottes or those annoying knee-length bloomers. We're short enough, please.

8. Can you relate "Pink Shoes" to call centers and world peace?

Durr, I'm stumped. So! Aside from my lack of height, jiggling belly rolls, un-telegenic square face and uncooperative hair, here's another reason why I'll never win Miss Universe. Tangina kanina pa ako nakatitig sa tanong na ito wala ako maisip na isagot.

9. How come you're never online?

Blogger, YouTube, YM, Gmail and everything else that makes life worth living is blocked by my office's Nazi IT firewall.

10. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Uh...about 20, I guess. I have three athletic shoes, four beach shoes, three flats (black, bronze and silver), two brown sandals, five pairs of black shoes in varying designs, and about four or five pairs that are broken or out of style that I'm hoping will make a comeback. No, I don't have pink shoes.

The book is available in National Bookstore.

Tags: Pink+Shoes, chicklit, Pinoy

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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• 20 pro tips - .net magazine
  Basic tips for UI designers.

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• CHEATSHEETS & REFERENCE
  Cheatsheets for all sorts of web-related activities. No RPGs though.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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If anyone wants to see yesterday's (July 24, 2006) State of the Nation Address, I recorded it as an AVI file. It's not digitally-remastered, but with those nasty beveled graphics, who wants a clear picture?

The whole shebang (it is quite entertaining) is available if you drop your email in the comment box. I shall yousendit to you.

Tags: SONA, GMA, Philippines, Philippines+politics

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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• LifeClever ;-) » One desktop background to rule them all
  Very nice little desktop hack for web designers. Clever and simple, like design should be.
  (tags: webdesign, desktop)
• webcast.berkeley | Courses | Schedule
  UC Berkeley Courses on webcasts and podcasts.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• SEOmoz Blog | 10 Remarkably Effective Strategies for Driving Traffic
  SEO tips from Seomoz.org. This one for driving traffic to your site.
  (tags: SEO)
• Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully - in Ten Minutes, by Stephen King
  From Stephen King, in case you missed it.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• The Form Assembly - Free Web Form Templates
  Veer's useful CSS stuff.
• MODx Content Management System | Home
  An AJAX CMS I'd like to play with in the near future. Some new projects could bring it to use in a LAMP environment. Although Joomla!'s said to be friendlier.
• Web2.0 List, Web 2.0 Site
  Here's a list of Web 2.0 stuff. If you're looking, look here.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• LogoPond - A Place To Fish For Ideas
  Site to unblock the block. Lots of interesting eye candy.
• 150 Cheap Places To Live - Forbes.com
  For the internet telecommuter (in the U.S.) -- and why not move to Buffalo?
• stu nicholls | CSS PLaY | CSS menus
  A bunch of nice free CSS stuff

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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According to BigResearch.com (cited here), 87% of shoppers (most for consumer electronics) do research on the internet first. About 22% of them go to Google first and, well, google the product name. What's crucial here is that Google is ahead of Yahoo, Amazon and eBay combined.

Hence, the game here is to turn those research hits into an actual sale. For those shoppers who spend the most money grazing, this means we ought to put more information -- and bigger pictures -- of our products online.

Tags: shopping, Google, research

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• Hawk Wings » Blog Archive » Ten Mac tools for Getting Things Done
• mikons.com beta | create and connect
• RightCart.com
• Zookoda
• twttr
  A lot like Dodgeball.
• Urban Fonts. Download Free Fonts and Free Dingbats for PC and MAC
  Well designed free font database.
• Is There Money in MySpace?
  So, you're the biggest site in the U.S. Now, can we make some money?
  (tags: Myspace, web2.0, social+networking, startups)

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• Vitaly Friedman's Notebook: 25 Best Free Quality Fonts
• Virtual Karma: Complete List of Web 2.0 Applications | Rian's blog
  Not so complete, since the list dates six months ago.
• The Logos of Web 2.0 | The FontShop FontFeed | Font blog, typography tips, and design news.
• Directory of Illustration
• Ars Moriendi - How to die in a proper way
• The Pop vs. Soda Page
• Modern Living / Neurotica series
• The Secret Life of Lobsters - The Lobster Blog: food and sex
  (tags: Lobster, Cool)
• TypeNavigator

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• A List Apart: Articles: Automatic Magazine Layout
• Wired News: 'Imitation IPod' Invades Radio
• Drupal will have an install system (and some other goods) | drupal.org
• A CSS Solution to Image Blocking | Articles/Tips - Campaign Monitor Blog

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I've had this entry in mind for a while, delayed, possibly, by the simultaneously eye-numbing and hypnotic sensation caused by the daily visual assault of advertising.

Here's some observations I believe are good enough proof advertising's gone from a respectable industry to a bunch chest-thumping gorillas:

1. We've all seen the innumerable amount of billboards in the city, some of which seriously lack taste, never mind decent art direction. Many are calling for an end to the "carpet bombing." Seriously, our streets are getting uglier with all those beveled type.

2. Both GMA and ABS-CBN have renounced their membership with the broadcasting body KBP, allowing them to control how much advertising to air and when to air it. That's really long-hand for: P&G and Unilever can take their war to the people untramelled. So, now, you never know which show starts when. It just starts sometime after the show before it.

3. The INQ7.net website, that, according to Alexa.com is the most popular site based in the Philippines, has a homepage that's a whopping 851 KB!! Even worse, the ABS-CBN news site checks in at a monstrous 1104 KB. Compare that to this blog at 264 KB, 292 KB for CNN.com or 416 KB for NYTimes.com. How can you read that if you're on dial-up like most Filipinos are? Maybe Filipinos abroad can deal with the weight, and it seems like the advertisers are targeting them anyway.

(Even if there are some elements cached in your browser, those local news sites still take upwards of 700 KB to load.)

And the reason why these sites are overweight? It's not the fries and milkshakes. (Actually, in a way, it is.)

So, with advertising getting in the way of access to information, entertainment and a decent drive (actually, it's more like the government allowing this to happen by refusing to regulate the industry), the best thing to do is stay home, hide the car keys and read a book.

P.S. No need to remind me of my Masters degree.

Tags: advertising, philippines, media, media+issues, media+literacy, outdoor+advertising, Alexa, Philippine+Daily+Inquirer, ABS-CBN, KBP

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• TechCrunch » Blog Archive » Watch internet users’ behaviour with ClickTale
• Strobist: How To: DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio
• Garrett Dimon / My Process from Comp to Page
• Sun.Star Manila - Pre-marital sex among RP youths on the rise: study
  (tags: Filipino, pre-marital+sex, Philippines)
• Stopdesign | CSS Organization Tip 1: Flags
• dodgeball.com :: mobile social software
• KickApps — User-Generated Video & Social Networking at Your Website

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Dodgeball:

So, I've been lusting for a social networking service like Dodgeball to appear here in Manila. I think cellphone users here will take to it like crack, especially, damn, if it mashes up with Friendster.

More interestingly:

Dodgeball in particular is built on a mix of three different kinds of maps: maps of location (118 rivington St), maps of place (a bar called The Magician), and maps of social environment (“I’m here. Where are my friends?”) By mixing them, Dodgeball mingles informational and social aspects of a user’s life into something more valuable than either of those things in isolation.

I would like to meet other people who hangout in the same place I do, like my house, or Jollibee E. Rodriguez (suck!). Still, the marketing aspect is tremendous. Think on-time, on-site coupons. Globe, Smart, are you listening?

Tags: Dodgeball, social+networking, mobile+networking, Web+2.0

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Why on earth (or the Philippines) would you not be interested in Mirant's cash-rich high-efficiency megawatt powerplants operating at a long-term power purchasing agreement with the country where ownership will not only make you insanely rich but will also give you the power to flick the bird, break the deal and walk off the negotiation table with the highest government officials in the country? (If that entire mouthfull gets you off, then you're one of the hatless.)

With strong overseas interest, the single-syllable tycoons, the big banks (even PLDT) and the government in play, this might as well be a celebrity Survivor edition.

Just minutes after getting wind of Mirant’s plan to sell its assets in the Philippines, the top players in Philippine business -- banking tycoon George Ty, the old-rich Ayala and Aboitiz families, and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. chairman Manuel Pangilinan -- expressed strong interest in what is being touted as the powerhouse deal of the century.

Representative Jose Salceda, a former stockbroker and an economic adviser to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said: “It’s a rare chance to buy in one shot an energy platform of 2,203-megawatts power plants assembled over three administrations in the power-hungry Philippine market.”

And, here's the prelude to this Survivor series: these plants have just been recapitalized. So there's little buyer beware here. The only skeletons left are those in GMA's closet.

My money's on her coming out the winner.

Tags: Mirant, Philippines, GMA, Pagbilao, tycoon

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• DHTML Lemmings™ by crisp - Menu
• TechEBlog » Top 10 Coolest Designer Gadgets
• Welcome to Growl!
• AppZapper - Making uninstalls as simple as installs.
• Daring Fireball: The Mac OS X Tipping Point
• Wired 14.07: What Kind of Genius Are You?
• A Whole Features: Beyond the Blog
• Brad Choate: Doing your whole site with MT

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• NO!SPEC » Bad for Design
• 10 Killer Post Ideas | Performancing.com
• Realmac Software | Made for Mac
• The Big Religion Comparison Chart - ReligionFacts
• InstantRailsWiki: Instant Rails
  (tags: Ruby+on+Rails)
• Protolize.org - Essential web tools in one place
• Max Kiesler - Downloadable AJAX Galleries, Slideshows and Effects
• everystockphoto.com - your source for free photos
• Layout Gala: a collection of 40 CSS layouts based on the same markup and ready for download!
• Design Observer: writings about design & culture
• Clean CSS - A Resource for Web Designers - Optmize and Format your CSS
• iLifeStuff
• Pixel Groovy - front page
• Metro Manila Transit Network 2026?
  (tags: Metro+Manila, LRT, MRT, Philippines+Transit, Transit+Network)
• Nice Clean Free Icons

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Right about now -- there -- you've had just about enough with the armed conflict raging in various parts of the country. Well, mainly two: ARMM and the Cordilleras.

Nice to know that we're safe and sound wherever it is we are. We're not getting shot at, mortared, displaced, evacuated, "salvaged" -- none of that, we're just fine.

There's a slight possibility that you're not aware of a few things, so they should be said:

1. These conflicts are the leading reason why this country lags behind its neighbors. Countries like Thailand and Vietnam, where government corruption is conspicuous, continue to prosper because of the influx of foreign investment: corruption can be dealt with, armed thugs are another thing.

2. Citing data from the gross regional domestic product released yesterday, the NSCB said real per capita GRDP was highest in the National Capital Region at P35,742 in 2005 based on constant prices.

This was more than 10 times the per capita GRDP of ARMM at P3,433, which was the lowest among the country’s 17 regions last year. ARMM, an area impoverished by more than four decades of armed conflict, relies heavily on agriculture and fishery.

The disparity is even wider if current prices are used to measure income. Average per capita income in Metro Manila was P184,758 in 2005 at current prices, or 2.9 times the national average of P63,556. It was also 12.2 times ARMM’s P15,161.

3. Hundreds of thousands of families living in the countryside are either living in fear or have been displaced from their homes because of the conflict. Just imagine if armed goons came up to your door and asked for food and money at gunpoint, every other day.

4. History will show us -- from Tikrit to Sri Lanka to Chechen to the Gaza Strip -- that fighting fire with fire is not the answer. This is asymmetric warfare, and George W. Bush can shock and awe all he wants, but no one's really watching.

And so, while we're preoccupied with becoming nurses, working in call centers, Joelle Pelaez and trying to impeach the President, a fire is burning in our backyard. And we're putting it out with more tinder.

Tags: NPA, Philippines, MILF, ARMM, Conflict+Philippines, Maguindanao, Cordillera

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• ‘Why Middle Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke’ - Today: Money - MSNBC.com
  for bankruptcy. Or at least, that’s what they thought.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• 63 Resources on Web2.0 Beta programs you just HAVE to be in  - Listible!
• Logahead - Just blog.
• Emily Chang - Strategic Designer
• Famous Quotes and Quotations at BrainyQuote
• UXD - User eXperience Design: Multi Column layout in CSS
• Hidden Google Video Categories
• macTV (Jemca) - Home
• Bot Obedience: Herding Googlebot

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I was reading an article not long ago about a self-published book called "Midwinter Turns to Spring" by a Filipina from the Left Coast. Amazon has the book description, with special focus on it's novelty:

"Midwinter Turns to Spring" is the first-ever novel that comes with its own music soundtrack.

First Paragraph: "Some things that are hidden from view were meant to remain hidden, but others are preordained to reappear at destiny’s prompting. An artist might conceal the fervent brushwork of his original sentiment under fresh layers of paint--but the underlying image often begs to resurface. Such is the sentiment of this story. Having been kept a secret for twenty-six years, it wants to live again."

Here's the article I read:

Maria Veloso, author of "Midwinter Turns to Spring," the first-ever novel with its own music soundtrack consisting of songs that she wrote, stands up to the New York publishers that snubbed her innovative approach to novel-writing, by taking her plea to Oprah Winfrey. Considering Oprah to be the real benchmark as to whether the American people will embrace multi-media storytelling or not, she has launched a daring campaign to have her book nominated by 1 million people for Oprah's Book Club.

Well, too bad nobody wanted to publish her work, she had to bankroll it herself. In the article, Veloso discloses:

"I understand that a new paradigm, such as a novel with a music soundtrack, is looked upon with skepticism, and is often rejected by publishers because there's no evidence that it will sell," says Veloso, who subsequently self-published "Midwinter Turns to Spring. "But what the publishers don't see is that music is the ultimate way of enriching the fiction reader's experience because it intensifies the emotional involvement of the reader much like a film score intensifies the emotional appeal of a movie."

Agreed, a book with its own soundtrack sounds a bit too much. But if it's a romance novel, I can see the value in that. In marketing her book, she says:

"I obviously can't compete with the mega-bucks of the giant publishers, who often allocate a national marketing budget of $1 million to land a book on the New York Times bestseller list. Therefore, I'm asking the American people - and the entire population of readers -- to nominate 'Midwinter Turns to Spring' for Oprah's Book Club because that's the best chance I have at touching and healing people's hearts through my novel and its music soundtrack.

Now, that's all well and good. No doubt, the dopeheads at ABS-CBN picked up the same PR release and, in their trademark insouciant fashion, spun this story:

What if a Filipina author wrote a novel with a music soundtrack, and it landed on The New York Times Bestseller List? What if she thereafter wrote the accompanying screenplay, which turned into a blockbuster Hollywood movie? What if the songs on the music soundtrack CD topped the music charts as well? How proud would you be? Meet Filipina author Maria Veloso and find out.

Hey, does that mean her book's on the NYTimes Bestseller List? After all, the writer buried it under real Filipino successes (um, The Black Eyed Peas?) with the headline: "Maria Veloso headed for Oprah Book Club", a line that in no way hesitates to lie.

Of course, I'm not an idiot. It's a call to help out the writer, who wants the fame and glory of Lea Salonga and Andrew Cunanan. But if you were an idiot, and you were reading this, and if you didn't see the gut of the story six paragraphs deep, well, you'd think Maria Veloso's book already made it.

So, the headline should be: "What if A Filipino Made it to Oprah's Book of the Month Club?"

Then, I guess, it wouldn't be a story.

Tags: Maria+Veloso, ABS-CBN, Oprah's+Book+Club, Midwinter+Turns+To+Spring

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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If you didn't read about and follow Kyle MacDonald's quest to swap his way up to a house (in just about so many places out there, especially mainstream media), then it's too late: he's done it.

A great anecdotal demonstration of the power of the internet to bring people together over a bunch of useless things.

(Honestly, when he got to a used Skidoo, I knew he was going to make it.)

Tags: One+Red+Paperclip, craigslist, swapping, internet

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• Nudist Trampolining
• Music Videos From the 80's :: Over 1,400 Videos!
• Finally! The difference between PHP, ASP and other scripting languages. - Easy Webbers :: Webmasters Blog
• Imagination Cubed
• Wisdump
• Vyew.com - Free Web-Based Collaboration - Vyew.com - Free Web-Based Collaboration
• New Scientist Features - 13 things that do not make sense

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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• HTML and CSS Tutorials, References, Articles and News - HTML Dog
• plasticbag.org - a weblog by Tom Coates
• Web Design from Scratch - Free web design course - basics, layout, free tutorials, case studies, how to guides and examples
• Open Clip Art Library :: openclipart.org :: Drawing Together.
• eConsultant : Ultimate Web Developer Lists, Web 2.0 Directory, Technical Tips and Lists
• retroCRUSH: The World's Greatest Pop Culture Site
• Fifty Ways to Take Notes
• Cannes Lions Live 2006
• PhillRyu.com - The Top Ten Most Beautiful OS X Apps
• Web Host Directory: The best free source of web hosting services in a searchable web host directory. Powerful web host search engines, reviewed web hosts, awards, news and much more!
• CSpace
• Ultimate Web Developer Lists : 4000+ Web Development Links in 200+ Topics : eConsultant

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Tuition fees for incoming students in all UP campuses (even Open U?) are going up. In Diliman, LB and Manila, it'll go up by 300%.

In a letter to the Philippine Collegian, UP President Emer Roman (go LB!) stated the following:

The tuition proposal is still a proposal at this stage. It will further
be refined depending on comments and suggestions we will get from the faculty, alumni and students. The increase from P300 to P1000 will be for Diliman, LB and Manila. The tuition rate for the other campuses will be lower.

I believe there is sufficient justification for a tuition increase. UP has not increased tuition for many years now - over 15 years. If we adjust for inflation generally, the tuition of P300 (set in 1989) is worth only a third of the value in 1989. The real value of the P300 per unit(set in 1989) in 2005 controlling for inflation is only about P98 per unit. The real value in 2005 controlling for increase in the prices of education services if P42 per unit.

The new tuition rates are proposed to apply only to entering freshmen and entering transferees from other schools. Those already in will pay the old rate. However, we will undertake an information campaign regarding the proposed tuition.

A few questions:

1. Can Congress augment this as well?

2. Can Congress exclude faculty from being classified as "government employees" so they can be renumerated on a different pay scale more reflective of their work, education and experience?

3. Can we now buy better laboratory equipment?

These questions may sound naive, but really that's how easy the problems are. Faculty is being paid pittance, the laboratory and other facilities are disintegrating and Congress is not doing enough to keep the state system from falling apart. It'll be 100 years old in about three years, maybe it'll turn the tide soon before it's too late.

Tags: University+Philippines, tuition, tuition+hike, Philippine+Collegian, Philippine+congress

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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I'm not an economist, but from what I understand, I can tell that:

1. VAT is a way to tax consumers, because they can't get the big bad ass tax evaders. Taxes, of course, buy guns n' ammo to fight communism, terrorism, poverty, squatters, muslim insurgents and charter change.

2. EVAT means more taxes on consumers, and more cash for the government. In simple terms, no more tipping at the cutters. It also helps that the government, masters of power generation, can raise power rates -- rates that are about the highest in Asia -- and have done so.

3. All told, VAT and EVAT improves the country's overall fiscal position, since, well, now the taxes are collected.

4. A better fiscal position means better credit.

5. Like $400 million dollars better.

I'm sure all that money will go to "countryside development". I know it's not that simple. But even the folks at congress can't figure it out themselves:

But the ability to make full use of the World Bank loans will be limited by the failure of Congress to pass this year's budget. Without a new spending plan, the government is obliged to spend no more than last year, or 16 per cent lower than the proposed 2006 budget.

Tags: Philippines, EVAT, Philippines+economy, World+Bank

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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It seems that Gloria's campaign to eradicate the communist rebels has crossed borders -- inevitably, you fire enough mortars, you're bound to hit something you weren't supposed to. Like, the MILF.

The original AFP front, in its all-out war, was only against the communist rebels. The MILF is supposed to be in peace talks with the government. Top Philippine officials have many times expressed optimism that a final government-MILF peace agreement will be signed in September.

In Maguindanao, it's hard to tell, apparently, which are MILF militants and which are communist rebels. GMA is scrambling to get things back in order. There's an unofficial tally of this anti-communist campaign:

From January 1 to June 27, 104 soldiers were killed, 17 more than the 87 deaths that the New People's Army (NPA) incurred during the same period, according to a military briefing paper, during a security meeting in Camp Aguinaldo.

From 59 deaths in the first quarter, the number of NPA fatalities dropped 52 percent to 28 deaths. During the same period, military casualties dropped only 20 percent from 58 to 46, the document showed.

This excludes all these other people, about 690. Not to mention all the families displaced.

Another troubling report is how the AFP seems to be arming civilian volunteers in several villages in Maguindanao, which only serves to befuddle the conflict even more.

Tags: GMA, NPA, Maguindanao, Philippines+rebels, MILF, Philippines

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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AOL is looking for Member Retention Specialists -- must be one of the hardest things to do.

As a member retention consultant in our casual environment, you will be responsible for managing inbound calls from members who wish to cancel their AOL account. Your goal will be to resell the member their AOL account. Although you will experience a variety of calls every day, including billing related calls, most calls that you will handle in the Member Retention department involve retaining current AOL Members. AOL Retention Consultants identify member needs, educate our members about how AOL is an invaluable part of their lives and resell the member on AOL products and services. You must be able to respond with confidence and enthusiasm in order to effectively retain each member.

I wonder if they ever thought of outsourcing the work to the Philippines.

Customer: I'm calling to discontinue my AOL service for the umpteenth time.

Pinoy Call Center: Why? AOL is an invaluable part of your life!

Customer: (Astonished) Shut up!

Read the job here in Yahoo Hotjobs.

Tags: AOL, Outsourcing, Hotjobs

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Not surprisingly, nearly everytime Apple has a new laptop out, there's something wrong with it. Mine had white spots on the monitor (which doesn't bother me, since I always hook it up to a larger screen).

This time around, it seems pretty bad.

A substantial number of MacBook users are reporting inexplicable and seemingly impervious discolorations occuring to their otherwise sleek machines. The discoloration seems to be focused in areas that recieve (sic) frequent touching or contact with hands, fingers, and/or wrists.

Waiting on Apple to reply.

Tecnorati Tags: Apple, MacBooks, Defect+Apple

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 06:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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In the spirit of Web 2.0, Yahoo Messenger opens up its arms to developers everywhere, in the hopes of getting ahead of fierce competition from the likes of Skype and AIM.

Maybe we're going to see something new for the Yahoo Messenger for Mac OS X, which has been neglected for quite a while, like some decent webcam support (other than Isight). Tsk, tsk, and I have such a "oh-my-god-that's-you!" avatar.

The Messenger Plug-in SDK is a JavaScript and C++ API that you use to create add-ons with collaborative features that can run inside Yahoo! Messenger. Plug-ins run in the main Messenger window, or as part of an IM conversation. Yahoo! users can download Plug-ins from the Yahoo! Messenger Plug-in Gallery. Create plug-ins that are as simple as an HTML web page, or as sophisticated as a map collaboration tool that uses ActiveX, Flash, DHTML, AJAX or any other browser-based technology.

Technorati Tags: Yahoo+Messenger, Web+2.0, Mac+OSX

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 02:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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And so it goes, Office 2007 is to come out, and companies are finding it harder to justify paying for the upgrade.

Gartner principal research analyst Annette Jump said that research done by the group showed that only about 2 percent of companies that weren’t signed up to Microsoft’s Software Assurance plan had adopted the previous version of the productivity suite--Office 2003.

That's 98% that didn't want to pay up -- a very large majority. Of course, 98% of people only use 2% of all of the new, upgraded Office features. Basic users (and that's most people) don't need all the fancy new features to actually be productive (looking cool is another thing).

But here's the real reason. More and more enterprises are finding it more cost-effective to use Gmail instead of Outlook, and Backpack instead of the notoriously unstable Office products.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Geez. How come I never tune in when these are on?

I mean, they're not that bad.

There we meet typical rural grandmothers tending to fields or seeing patients as barangay health volunteers. But on the day of a local wedding, they are transformed into uninhibited wenches, dressed like clowns called lukayo and teasing newlyweds with wooden male organs taken out of their hiding places.

These wooden organs are elephantine.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 01:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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The entire cast of characters will be missed.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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DESPITE the dropping cost of broadband Internet access services in the country, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) showed that a large chunk of its Internet subscribers still uses the slow dial-up service.

As of March 2006, PLDT said that there are 420,000 subscribers to its PLDT Vibe, an Internet dial-up service versus 140,000 broadband (both wireless and fixed line) Internet subscribers.

First, Mr. Oliva, you are obviously not one of the best tech reporters. Discrepancies like these are more likely due to penetration (broadband requires either higher-grade cables or digital lines) and access (dial-up is much cheaper, last I checked).

I'd also like to say that if getting DSL is as easy and as fast as getting Vibe, that discrepancy wouldn't be that big. Then again, maybe this is a way for PLDT to deflect the rumored 5-month backlog on DSL applications?

Naturally, you missed the real meat of the article (or maybe your editor did):

The telephone company is, however, optimistic as it expects to double its broadband subscriber base in 2006, with prices dropping to less than 1,000 pesos a month for DSL service, PLDT figures showed.

To me that either says one of two things:

1. The prices are going to drop

2. The prices are going to drop

Either one of the two will make some good news. The question is whether this is just a tease for people thinking of jumping to broadband -- and choosing cable -- versus waiting for DSL prices to drop then applying to PLDT instead or whether the rumors about the backlog are not true (read here) and PLDT has reached critical mass with DSL.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Never happened before, but someone pointed out to me that the blog, which I haven't really paid attention to that much lately, is now numero uno when searching for "bulletproof vest" in Google. The same for Yahoo search. Is it because of my IP address, and that it comes from the Philippines? Anyone out there outside the country who can verify this?

Seems like blogging = SEO.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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There is much personal introspection now for all the proof that's in the news and how my current apostasy may not be in vain.

There may not be a higher being. Maybe there are other ways to get to heaven.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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On the company's web site, if you click on "Telegrams" in the left-side navigation bar, you're taken to a page that ends a technological era with about as little fanfare as possible:

"Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a customer service representative."

Next up: CD players.

Read here.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 04:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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America Online and Yahoo, two of the world's largest providers of e-mail accounts, are about to start using a system that gives preferential treatment to messages from companies that pay from 1/4 of a cent to a penny each to have them delivered. The senders must promise to contact only people who have agreed to receive their messages, or risk being blocked entirely.

The companies argue its a way to stop spam. Also a nice way to make a neat million or two. Besides, what's to stop spammers from paying the fee? Even worse, they will *still* let the unpaid through, but those who paid e-postage, in contrast, will be "treated preferentially."

Plus:

The system will apply not only to mass mailings but also to individual commercial messages like order confirmations from online stores and customized low-fare notices from airlines.

Read here.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Then I remembered this stat, which, as stats go, is strikingly coincidental:

Speaking during the launch of a new DOTS center in the Silliman Medical Center in Dumaguete City, Benedicto said TB claims the lives of 75 Filipinos daily.

Everyday the same number of people die of tuberculosis. Every day, day in and out. These people at the ULTRA just happened to be healthy enough to roll out of their cots and stand up in the heat for days -- the eery 75 that could otherwise have died of TB a day later. Reduced to a statistic like that, it seems palatable. But if it happens in live television, the needlessness we have come to ignore becomes spectacular.

At the end of the day, it's the same poverty that drove these people to camp out for days to get a chance to win one jackpot worth $384. Today, another 75 will die of TB, and tomorrow as well. As morbid as this sounds, those who suffer TB would probably choose to die on television rather than quietly pass away into a statistic. When poverty kills, even the choices are without dignity.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Last December, we applied for a DSL line, and the same connections were, well, re-connected. Several rounds of emails and phone calls later -- one asking for proof of billing, to which my sister-in-law responded huh? we've been PLDT customers for decades and you want proof of billing? -- we still did not have a date for a broadband connection.

About a week ago I had inquired and filled up an application for Sky Cable's internet service, called ZPDee. Three days from filling up an online application, we received a phone call from Sky Cable asking us, very specifically, when they can come and install.

Four days later, here we are: 700 square meters of wireless heaven. They even helped in installing our home network. And, should we want to be hard-wired, a 5-port switch is ready to accommodate. Meanwhile, PLDT's still twiddling their thumbs.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 02:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Nikon, the camera people not the electric fan people, has an excellent gallery of things that are hard to see.

Michael Slack is one of my favorite editorial illustrator. I found his site, filled with other beautiful work, like illustrations for children's books, random sketches, and animated shorts. Check it out here.

Finally, if you liked Barney versus Tupac, this might tickle too.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Then, there are the changes at CNN, which has axed the sleazebag know-it-all named Aaron, and given Cooper -- a media-acknowledged gay rod -- a primetime slot and more hours. Advertisers should be happily taking their dollars off Will and Grace. Cooper's cute, Brown has a comb over and Jack is getting really annoying.

Finally, there's elven erotic art. Fans of Orlando Bloom, who as Legolas looked prettier than the average woman, will find this quite disturbing. Meanwhile, Hugo Weaving is quite at home.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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