Archives for Events

The Anti Camcording Act (RA 10088)

I highly doubt any of my readers sneak in cameras to document movies, but if you’re a fan of the flea market DVD bonanza, you’ll know what I mean. It’s no secret that movie piracy is rampant in this country, and there is definitely a blind eye cast upon this. It appears that the fines are slapped on those caught recording inside movie theaters.

Today, it’s now a law. And here are the penalties:

Any person who will be found guilty of violating the provisions of the Anti-Camcording Law shall be subject to a fine of PhP 50,000 to PhP 750, 000 (US$ 1,000 to 17,000) and will face imprisonment of a minimum six months and one day to six years and one day. Individuals who commit the punishable acts for the purpose of sale, rental or other commercial distribution shall suffer the penalty in the maximum. Foreign offenders shall face immediate deportation after payment of the fine and serving his/her sentence, and will permanently be refused entry to the Philippines. Offenders who are employees of or hold a seat in government will perpetually be disqualified from public office, and will forfeit his/her right to vote and participate in public election for five (5) years.

Attached below is the full press release.

Anti Piracy Law

So what do you think? Personally, it’s a small start but a start nonetheless. Are we bound to see anti-piracy laws for bootleg software and file sharing through torrents?

Speaking at …

For anyone who’s interested, I am part of the following upcoming speaking engagements / panels:

August 20 2010 – IMMAP
No presentation here. I’m part of a panel moderated by Janette Toral.

September 11 2010 – National PR Congress for Students
I’ll be with Chuvaness and newly married Carlo Ople (congratulations to you and your lovely wife!). We’ll be talking about …. guess what? Blogs and social networking. Surprising?

October 2 2010 – Wordcamp Philippines
It seems that I’ll be speaking once again for Wordcamp Philippines. According to the organizers, I’ll also be doing something special. Exciting. See you all there!

Preparing for Malapascua

I’ll be going on a much anticipated trip to Malapascua by the end of the week. Threshers,Mantas and Mandarin fish (mating) await! Here’s an email detailing the proposed itinerary for 10 dives. There’s an error in the time between Bogtong Bato and the second Monad Shoal dive on day one as it didn’t take surface interval time into consideration.

Dive itinerary proposed by Evolution
=======================
“On your arrival day I am going to suggest we let you relax a little rather then jumping straight in so how about we start your diving day with an 830am dive at Monad. We like to go there as all the boats have left after the 530am dive and we think there is a spike of activity then. The sharks do spend less time on the stations but we still see them. I took customers there this week and we got shark, Manta and 20 plus Devil Rays so everyone was happy.

Then we can dive again at 11am – perhaps a local dive site like Bogtong Bato for great macro. In the afternoon we can do another macro dive or if the group prefers go back to Monad for more Manta hunting. Then you can do the Mandarin fish dive at 5pm.”

On Day Two I suggest 5am for Monad Shoal, followed by a day trip to the Dona Marylin and Gato Island (apply fuel surcharge of 350/person). I really think they are worth doing. Then we can do a night dive at Bantigue Bay at 630 and get back in time for beer and food!

On your last day I think its 5am Thresher dive again and a 930 dive on one of our local Macro sites – Lapus Lapus or Gilleano.

DAY ONE
830 Monad Shoal
1100 Bogtong Bato
1200 Monad Shoal
1730 Lighthouse (Mandarin Dive)

DAY TWO
0500 Monad Shoal
0900 Day Trip Dona Marylin / Gato (+350/person fuel surcharge)
1830 Night Dive Bantigue Bay

DAY THREE
0500 Monad Shoal
0930 Gileano or Lapus Lapus

On an ending note, I’d really love to level up my conversation with the video lens into what these guys are doing with their commentary:

Google and The World Cup

Football is the only sport I really played when I was younger. Google has made it easier for fans by putting this up whenever you search for “World Cup.” Good job!

Warning (GRAPHIC): Sniper kills red shirts in Thailand

A little something from Rachel Lobangco’s DRENCH Project

Sharing with you three photos from the upcoming DRENCH Project by Rachel Lobangco. I was invited to pose in front of the camera and get wet. For charity! Bambi had asked me to bring either my wetsuit or a vintage pinstrip coat I had in the closet but since the latter belonged to my late grandfather, I opted for the apparel that would stand to be more resilient drenched in water. Note that I don’t think that the shots I’m posting here are the final edits for the actual exhibit. I think they got me as a tech blogger. In a wetsuit. Hrhrhr.

A few notes:

In one of the shots I’m holding the first QWERTY HP Pocket PC device, the HP iPAQ 4355 which I had broken many years ago while playing air hockey. So we drenched it as well.

In another shot I’m holding one of two AQUATEC underwater LED lights which I use for night and wreck diving. These things go as far as 100 meters deep at 100 lumens.

Oh and just to share with you the photo that made me want do this — I found it trippy how Chef Laudico was in on it with his chef knife.

Photos by Mike Yu
Make up by Bambi de la Cruz

Congratulations Jay and Aileen!

Jay has converted and is moving to the south. We (southern bloggers) are growing!

Congrats guys! More here.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, Internet friends!

Congratulations Mike and Maffy!

A photo filled with WIN!

Note to Self

Some notes I’ve been mentally taking down at random times during the year. Ding! Happy birthday to me!

———

Note to Self
in sporadic bursts

Celebrate today with friends. Celebrate every day’s mysteries with the wonderment of a two year old. Take notes of all your journeys and share them with the world. Even if they may not understand what you mean, maybe their children will.

Be good to others. Speak about others as if they were in the same room as you.

Always seek adventure. It comes in the office cubicle, while you sign checks or break for lunch. It comes in your endeavors above and underwater. Launch into the deep. Squeeze the juice of life and share it with others. Even if they are only your acquaintances.

Flirt less.

Learn to make the best coffee. Grill meats the way Bobby Flay would.

Treat the mere twitching of your finger as the beginnings of an apostolate of love. Follow through.

Mourn for lost friends. Forgive, but be firm. Surround yourself with passionate people. Preferably within a 5 year age gap. These will be your comrades when you all decide to change the world. Live in each others’ excitement. Revel with the memories you have built with friends. Have at least one friend who knows everything about you. But not more than 5.

Don’t yawn when listening to people. Don’t fold your arms either.

Write more music. Release an album through the Internet. Stop making excuses.

Be kind to animals. Expose children and even your friends to the joys of keeping pets. They will become gentler and mild mannered, as proven by science.

Say yes. But get used to saying no as well. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Again.

Create your masterpiece and celebrate it when you reach 30.

Happy birthday, kind sir.

[photo above by Jan Acosta. This is a shot of me with the strobe light on a Hawkbill Turtle on the way to Shark Caves, Puerto Galera]

And now, ladies and gents, a break from tech products

“My fez is byooteeful”
– overheard

Huzzah! It’s beauty time again! This is becoming a scary, albeit addicting habit of showing off beauty products that I fancy. Today I will show you the secret to a flawless face. This is by recommendation of Fritz which right now can be bought from Sophie Uy of Beautynomics. It cost around P1,6xx.00 from the Moon Bazaar thing at Rockwell. You can order directly from her. It really works. I’m on day 4

Speaking of “Flawless” (yes, beauty mode still on) I got an interesting piece of news from an industry friend for a contest that’s currently underway with Flawless (the pink derma place all over town that’s owned by the Belo group). Guys (and gals), get this: they’re having a contest that’s awarding P800,000.00 cash and a 1 million peso billboard ad deal for two individuals.

So lets get on to the details. For the remaining weekends of October, visit the Flawless booth at the following SM branches:

SM Megamall
SM North
SM Mall of Asia
SM Bacoor
SM Manila
SM Pampanga
SM Lipa
SM Cebu

Ever Bilena will do you hair and make up on the fly once you get there. So girls, don’t put on product first. Professional photographers will take your photo. Your picture will be open to the public for voting. And then, next year, contestants will be narrowed down to 18 finalists, one male and one female. It doesn’t matter if you are straight or gay. The two winners will get the 800,000 cash prize and a one million peso endorsement on a billboard located at a major thoroughfare.

For more details call 1-800-10-FLAWLESS or visit www.flawless.ph.

Azrael, join na. You too, Juned. Si Coy din.

Or … maybe we can social media this whole thing and crowd source the voting for Bim. He gets a billboard ad, and the blog community splits the P800k. Mwehehe.

[ beauty mode off ]

Let’s go back to tech products… have you seen the new iMacs? I’d love to run Windows 7 on those