I Am Blogie

I gave a crash course on WordPress last week during a digital activism training for organizations and causes. The Asia Foundation brought together various human rights activists from all over Mindanao to learn hands-on about online social media and how Internet tools can be employed in their line of work. The TAF consultant who helped put it together, Tonyo Cruz, hashtagged it #eactivism.

It was a very fulfilling experience, seeing the unabashed interest and enthusiasm the seminar participants displayed during my entire 3-hour talk. I had feared they would fall asleep due to their lack of foreknowledge in technical stuff, but it wasn’t that way at all. And I’m glad for it, because I’m involved in activism myself, so I’m more than happy to help my brothers in arms get themselves equipped with today’s online tools.

It helped a whole lot that the WiFi access at the venue, Lantaka Hotel by the Sea, was more than adequate. There were more than 20 of us accessing the Internet and yet the bandwidth didn’t seem to suffer much. Thanks also to The Asia Foundation for providing laptops to those who weren’t able to bring their own.

The participants came from Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato, and other areas in Mindanao where Internet access isn’t all that reliable (to say the least). And yet, they embraced WordPress and knew instinctively what it could do for them. It was also very inspiring to see them immediately take to the other social media platforms presented to them by the other speakers. Twitter was a major hit!

I hope to continue this kind of WordPress evangelism, and hopefully I’ll be able to provide more hands-on training, especially for individuals and organizations who need to have their voices heard.

Some photos from the 2-day seminar held at Lantaka Hotel by the Sea, Zamboanga City.

I have promised to help the Digital Activism trainees further in their forays into the world WordPress. In particular, I will host any of them who might want to get a WordPress 3.0-powered website under the mindanaw.net domain.

Here’s the presentation I made for the seminar: Crash Course on WordPress.

Early this month, civil society delegates from all over Southeast Asia converged in Hong Kong to attend and contribute to the 1st Asia-Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF). The purpose was singular: to be heard in the global multi-stakeholder forum where there is an ongoing discussion on issues surrounding the Internet. The civil society group, after a week-long consultation, has come out with the following statement:

Civil society in Southeast Asia hopes that this statement will reach the ears of the global IGF, the fifth of which will be held in September 2010 at Vilnius, Lithuania. We hope that issues that affect us will be given more weight in discussions during the 5th IGF. To learn more about the Internet Governance Forum, please click here.

The 13th major update of WordPress is finally here! A little late coming, but more than welcome to all WordPress lovers. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s the merger of the two branches of WordPress and now it’s multi-site enabled.

I’m working on a Web project that’s built on WordPress 3.0 and that will take advantage of its multi-site functionality. It’s already live but not yet completed, and it’s on MINDANAW.net. It’ll be a site that will let dedicated bloggers of Mindanao have their own subdomained blogs. I’m still working on which plugins to deploy, as well as collecting WordPress themes (so far I’ve included free themes from Woothemes.com).

There’s going to be a catch, though: only blogs that commit to helping Mindanao, in one way or another, will be accepted. The service will be offered free of charge — just as long as the bloggers on board join the community in the advocacy of promoting peace & development in the Philippine South. I’ll announce the site’s launch once it’s ready via the Mindanao Bloggers Community site.

Kudos to Matt and his Automattic team for Thelonious (click the link to see a video of WP3.0).

Today is the 112th Independence Day of the Philippines, and I’m on my way to Hong Kong to represent the country in the Asia-Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF). Together with Juned Sonido (who was also in Hong Kong with me for BlogFest.Asia), Ernie Tomas of the newly-created Mindanao Development Authority (formerly the Mindanao Economic [...]

There’s very little opportunity for me to do any cooking, so I enjoy ‘interactive food’ whenever I can — think shabu shabu or cha nuong (Vietnamese rice-paper rolls). Or better yet, Wagyu yakiniku!

At Tsuru Japanese Restaurant’s branch in Damosa Gateway, they have several tables that are installed with iron grillers, perfect for yakiniku: Wagyu, Australian short rib, and ox tongue. Even scallops! I’m no connoisseur of Wagyu (和牛, lit.: Japanese beef), but I could tell that what Tsuru serves is high-grade beef that melts in your mouth and leaves you in a heavenly state of being.

I’m watching my diet, though, so what I appreciated more was actually the US Angus Short Ribs yakiniku. It’s meatier and has a more down-to-earth flavor that agrees with me. Both types of yakiniku are priced the same at Tsuru: ₱448/100g.

The marinated beef slices are served bite-sized and ready to cook. I recommend simply searing the meat on both sides, to leave the inside fresh and tasty — overcooking it will ruin the experience, trust me. And don’t overdo the dips either. Prime-cut beef has subtle flavors that you’ll lose if you put too much sauce.

I had lunch today at Tsuru in Damosa Gateway with my long-time friend, Christian (who took these photos for me), and his fiancée, Bhambee. (The main restaurant doesn’t have yakiniku grillers, but they do have two misono tables over there.) Besides the yakiniku, we also had sushi, sashimi and tenpura. Tsuru has always been known for excellent tenpura, by the way — my Japanese friends once told me it’s the closest to Japan-made tenpura that they’ve had.

To round off the meal, each of us had ice cream! Christian and I sampled their green tea ice cream, which is homemade, and Bhambee had the Banana Bonsai. The latter is a concoction of chocolate ice cream with churros and banana tenpura.

Here’s a locator map for the branch of Tsuru Japanese Restaurant in Damosa Gateway, Lanang, Davao City. Tel. no.: 233-0501.

Tsuru Japanese Restaurant
Damosa Gateway, Lanang, Davao City
Tel. 233-0501

Ria Robillo Lu, the Dabawenya who dreamed up Talecraft, and her creative team are venturing into a free comics magazine called Espresso. Read more about this exciting new project here.

This is from Komikasi Enterprise, the publisher of Espresso:

What is Espresso?

Espresso is a weekly comics magazine that features one-shot comic stories, as well as an ongoing comic series, by Filipino Comic Creators. Espresso will be distributed for FREE at the stations of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2.

Our Vision

We love comics. And because of that, our vision is to see the Filipino Comics Creator up there among the popular, best-selling, beloved and respected.

Our Mission

We have, therefore, taken it upon ourselves to provide a venue for new and old Filipino artists to showcase their works. Our mission is to help promote the works of Filipino Comic Creators throughout the country by printing quality comic features from different creators from all over the country, and distributing these comics for FREE!

Espresso will be launched this Saturday, 12 June 2010. It will be held at Mag:net Katipunan; cocktails will be served from 6:00pm.

How I wish such a creative publication would be available in Davao City as well…. Well, maybe once Espresso is already successful in Metro Manila, Komikasi might consider bringing it to the south.

Kudos to my cousin Ria! I hope the magazine takes off with a blast!

The Asian Institute of Management, Asia’s first and leading business school, is holding a preview of its renowned MBA program this 9 June 2010. It will be held at the Marco Polo from 5:30pm and will give Dabawenyos a chance to see why AIM’s business degrees are held in such high regard all over Asia. Here is the text of the invitation that I got today:

It is our privilege to be given an opportunity to share with you the programs of AIM, considered to be one of our country’s invaluable contributions to management development in the region.

AIM was co-founded by the Harvard Business School, Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University in 1968. It has had more than forty years of experience in training managers, entrepreneurs and development leaders in both the public and private sectors. Our degree programs — Master in Business Administration, Master in Management, and the Master in Development Management — and our executive, non-degree programs are practitioner-oriented. Using the case method, our programs have a distinctly Asian focus, providing intensive exposure to management principles and best practices in Asia.

The Asian Institute of Management has a strategic role in unlocking these opportunities and to carve the destiny of our region by being an active player in regional integration. Our goal is seek to develop managers, entrepreneurs and leaders who:

• Are knowledgeable and uniquely capable of operating effectively in Asia;
• Have a good understanding of the business opportunities presented by Asian regional economic integration (i.e. from West and South Asia to Southeast and Northeast Asia); and
• Are sensitive to the diverse cultures/belief systems, business structures, as well as governance and regulatory environment

AIM is fortunate to have had a head start as the pioneer business school in Asia, with its accompanying advantages:

• AIM has one of the largest and strategically positioned alumni networks in over 75 countries, with more than 33,000 alumni;
• We have among the most extensive lists of institutional private and public sector clients in the region; and
• Our faculty has had extensive teaching experience in Asia.

On behalf of AIM we would like to invite you to our events on June 9 & 10, 2010.

The AIM Preview on June 9, 5:30pm at the Marco Polo Hotel will highlight our Master in Business Administration and Masters in Management. Learn more about how these programs can bring your career to a higher level. Know more about AIM through your fellow Davaoeños who are students and graduates of AIM.

There will be a one-day admission process on 10 June, 9:00am. To avail of this opportunity, please email enrollment.management.aim [at] gmail.com for the application form. You may take the AIM Admission Test (AIMAT) at the Marco Polo Hotel. After passing the exam, you will be interviewed by the AIM faculty roster. Please confirm attendance by emailing the above address before 8 June, 5:00pm.

Alternatively, you may download the AIM application form from here.

Whatever state the economy is in, it can’t be denied that more and more vehicles are plying the highways, avenues, streets and even dirt roads of the country. In Davao City alone, we see a burgeoning number of private cars and PUVs that are starting to clog the city’s streets (the number of which has [...]

WD TV™ LIVE HD MEDIA PLAYER IS THE FIRST NETWORK MEDIA PLAYER COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS 7

WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today announced that the WD TV Live HD media player, featuring network capability and Full-HD 1080p resolution, is the first network media player compatible with Windows 7. The WD TV Live HD media player makes it easy for anyone to play media stored on USB and network drives, any PC on the home network, as well as content from popular websites, on the biggest television screen in their home.

Using the Windows 7 Play To feature, users can initiate and control the streaming of video, music or photos to the WD TV Live HD media player and home entertainment systems from any Windows 7-based PC on their network. Any compatible media file accessible from the PC — located either on the PC or on the network — can be played to the WD TV Live by right clicking on the file name in the folder or directly from within Windows Media Player 12 and choosing the WD TV Live HD media player as the playback device.

Current users of the WD TV Live will need to update their media player to the latest firmware in order to use the Windows 7 Play To feature. Instructions for updating the WD TV Live HD media player can be found here.

“Microsoft is pleased that Western Digital has earned the Compatible with Windows 7 logo and is supporting the Play To feature with WD TV Live HD media player,” said Mark Relph, senior director, Windows Ecosystem Product Management at Microsoft Corp. “Now more than 100 million Windows 7 customers will have an affordable and easy way to play files to their HD TVs and other devices from their PC.”

“We regularly engage with WD TV Live enthusiasts in our online community. Many have been asking for a way to “push” media from their PCs to their TV or home theater system, especially from laptops. With the new Windows 7 Play To feature, users can select music or movies from their laptop and play it on an HD TV connected to a WD TV Live HD media player, whether the HD TV is across the living room or in a different room altogether,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group. “WD worked closely with Microsoft on this exciting new feature to ensure the seamless compatibility of the WD TV Live HD media player with Windows 7 PC’s and deliver WD TV Live users what they want.”

WD TV Live HD Media Player

Features of the Windows 7-compatible WD TV Live HD media player include:

• Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation with the included remote control and crisp, animated navigation menus;
• Play a wide variety of file formats including support for the most popular file formats with no need to spend time transcoding;
• Play videos, music and photos from the Internet on your big screen TV and discover new music with Pandora® Internet radio or listen to thousands of radio stations via Live365 Internet radio;
• Ethernet port for wired or WiFi® connection¹ to access files anywhere on the network to play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on a home network;
• Turns a USB drive² into an HD media player and plays content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices;
• Unlimited media collection, just add more USB drives for more space;
• Two USB ports for seamless media playback from multiple USB drives and ability to access them simultaneously while a media library feature collects the content on all the drives into one list sorted by media type;
• Transfer files by copying, moving or deleting files stored on a USB drive, a network drive, a camcorder, or a camera to the attached USB drive using the on-screen menus;
• Picture Transfer Protocol support to show photos and movies directly from digital camera or video camera and/or any digital imaging device that supports Picture Transfer Protocol;
• Advanced navigation options including thumbnail and list views, media library and search;
• Photo viewing to create custom slide shows, zoom and pan and search;
• Movie viewing with fast-forward, rewind, pause, zoom and pan, view subtitles, and search;
• Music playback with fast-forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat and search;
• File copying between USB devices;
• HDMI® 1.3 port, composite video and component video output for the highest quality HDTV or home theater;
• SPDIF digital output that sends digital signals to your AV receiver for the best surround sound experience; and,
• Ultra-compact design to fit easily into a home entertainment center.

Pricing and Availability

The WD TV Live HD media player is distributed by Axis Global Technologies, Inc. and ATP Peripherals (Phils), Inc. and is available now at select retailers in Philippines. Covered by a 1-year limited warranty, the MSRP for WD TV Live HD media player is ₱7,500.

[Media Release]

Western Digital, WD, WD TV and the WD logo and My Book are registered trademarks; WD TV, World Edition and My Passport are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Other marks may be mentioned herein that belong to other companies. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies. One gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. One terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.

WD® Assigns Mascots to Help Consumers Choose the Right Hard Drive

Manila, 25 May 2010 — More than a year ago, WD® devised the WD Caviar® Blue™, WD Caviar® Green™ and WD Caviar® Black™ hard drive series, designed to help consumers make better informed choices in selecting their digital storage solutions. Now, in the Philippines, these hard drives have faces and personalities in the forms of Brent, Gus and Blake.

Brent represents the WD Caviar Blue hard drive, which is built for everyday computing. Gus represents the WD Caviar Green hard drive, engineered to be cool, quiet and eco-friendly for reducing carbon footprint and saving our Planet Earth. Blake represents the WD Caviar Black hard drive, which is built to be fast and powerful for gaming enthusiasts and overclocker fans who want speed at their fingertips.

Brent, Gus and Blake are fast gaining popularity and teasing chuckles out of netizens as their animated episodes pick up tens of thousands of views. Following the launch of the trailer episode last Christmas, the story of Brent continues with his misadventure with his extremely spontaneous girl. In episode three, Gus consults his disk doctor about his non-nature loving girl who is driving him up the wall. And in episode four, Blake is in therapy with his disk doctor and complaining of his girlfriend who is unable to appreciate the victory that he had achieved through his passion in racing. They all have something in common. Visit WD’s The Power of Choice website here to see Brent, Gus and Blake in action.

Together with the launch of episode four, WD introduces the new WD Blue, Green and Black Photo Hunt Contest. This is the 2nd online marketing campaign following the success of the BGB Photo and Digital Art Contest which had just announced the winners last April. Contestants for the Photo Hunt Contest are required to spot all the differences between the two photos before the time runs out. Pit against the clock for a high score and stand a chance to win attractive prizes like Canon EOS 550D digital SLR camera, Apple® iPad™ 64GB with Wi-Fi + 3G, Mac mini 160GB and more. Click here for the contest mechanics.

About WD

WD, one of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users’ data accessible and secure from loss. Its advanced technologies are configured into applications for client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own consumer storage and media products.

WD was founded in 1970. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital® and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s Web site to access a variety of financial and investor information.

[Media Release]

Western Digital, WD, the WD logo and WD Caviar are registered trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. in the US and other countries; Black, Green and Blue are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks herein are property of their respective owner. As used for storage capacity, one megabyte (MB) = one million bytes, one gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes, and one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.