This morning, “Big Brian” Ligsay made me listen to a radio drama he read titled Kawatanan ng Rentas Internas which is the sad yet humorous reality of applying for a TIN or tax number at the Bureau of Internal Revenue in this developing country I’ve come to love. Now that I look back into my professional life, I’m glad that I jump started my career in a reputable corporation so as not having any problems acquiring my TIN and not being subject for questioning for my credit card application. Personal advice — work for a company first to get your act together, then quit your job to become an entrepreneur.
Paano pala kung kailangan mo ng lisensya para magsulat? Isang physical manifestation ng concept ng poetic license? Kung sa drivers license may mga restrictions tulad ng “vehicle - up to 4500 kg GVW” [...] paano kaya yung sa poetic license? (1) haiku and short essays only (2) essays up to 500 words and free verse up to 5 stanzas (3) essays above 500 words and free verse above 5 stazas (4) critical essays, short fiction, poetry, etc.”
[What if you needed a license to write? A physical manifestation of the concept of "poetic license?" If in the driver's license you have restrictions such as ...]
You can listen to this well read radio drama. The show is entirely in Taglish, an amalgamation of English and our local language Filipino. Highly recommended for us freelancers!
Songwriter Jonathan Coulton dedicates this song to anyone who has served as a code monkey in a software corporation. The song is great stuff but what really struck a chord was when he performed an unplugged version that turned the entire thing into a ballad.
So yeah it struck a chord, so I decided to transcribe bits and pieces of the song into tabs for all your guitar folks to try out. For reference, this is the plugged in version of the song and this is the unplugged version. He also has a YouTube video up for the acoustic version of Code Monkey.
Here are some personal observations of my FaceBook habits. Are yours similar or completely different?
Deleting and ignoring apps can be a tedious process. Do you add every application that’s sent to you? The process is so tiring, it can be similar to writing off an entire cheque book or signing papers.
Some apps get old quickly. Some don’t. I’ve deleted WarBook, but kept my Big Photos. Yeah, it’s a matter of preference. As to what I’m more fascinated about is what makes an application stay in someone’s page. What are the benefits involved?
More of amusing really - that I’ve been using Facebook’s Inbox messaging system to conduct meetings with two or more people in threads. I’ve been finding it easier to use for managing conversations between three or more people as compared to using a group email system. What you can’t do however (at least from what I’ve tried) is add another person midway into the thread.
In the Philippines, a number of bloggers I know have begun contribution stints for magazines because of their blogs. In the same light, a number of contributing writers for print have also begun writing blogs.
Here are some of the publications I have written for in the past. I currently write for some of these till today:
Mobile Philippines
PC Magazine Philippines
GAME! Magazine
CHALK Magazine (umm long story!)
Rogue Magazine
MANUAL Magazine
EPSON Vision Corporate Magazine
CANON Images Corporate Magazine
Do you also write for print publications? If so, which ones are they? Do they allow you to place your author bi-line with your blog address?
You know, one of my favorite blogs on the tech channel is The Craigslist’s Curmudgeon. The “Curmudgeon” exposes the @$$ side of Craigslist, a site dedicated to online work mostly related to copywriting. But really though, Craigslist can help you earn a few hundred bucks on the side if you’re a freelancer. As an alternative to blogging, Craigslist can become a good source of online income for us starving artists.
Have you ever browsed through Craigslist’s job board? Have you ever taken up any offers from there? What was it like?
Takashi of Yanko Design is looking for contributing authors for his blog. Yanko Design is perhaps one of the more famous, if not the most prominent blog on anything to do with design and innovation. I’ve been in touch with the guy for the past few months and he’s pretty cool to deal with. If you’re interested in applying please leave a comment and I’ll hook you up with him. Takashi is looking for authors who are passionate in the field of concept and design. The site speaks for itself. Check it out!
In a similar light, I am also looking for someone to take over an iPhone blog that was recently acquired by b5media. For interested applicants, please head over to http://www.b5media.com/jobs and send in your application form. This is the regular process of application as applicants need to be entered into the b5media database.
Talk about following up your SEM strategy - it’s been almost a week since I updated. Right after the two day conference, I headed out to Fort Ilocandia for a business conference with EPSON. Though wireless connection was available during the two day show, SmartBRO prohibited me from accessing the Philippine blogoshpere.
So better late than never: I’d like to thank everyone who attended SEMCON 2007. The event was a huge success, as the number of participants apparently exceeded expectations. Thank you to everyone for staying awake at the “unholy hour” after lunch to listen to my non-conventional approach to web copywriting. As I mentioned during the talk, there are so many tips on the Internet describing how exactly you should go about churning your 2,000 words per day.
After my talk, Anton Diaz reaffirmed my stand on developing a sense of rhythm for your copy. He says that rhythm is, more than artistic - a cultural trait. Filipinos are considered to be good writers because of our colorful musical culture, which according to Inigo and Inaki, is attributed to our Iberian Heritage.
Thank you to those who gave me your business cards. Silly me, I forgot to bring my own. But I have emailed everyone who sent me their contact information. Thank you.
It was a pleasure to meet Aaron Wall and his lovely wife. It was a pleasure to mingle with the other speakers as well. I also had the chance to join Marc, his lovely fiancee and the delegates from Malaysia for some clubbing before my flight. Thank you also to Lourd de Veyra for helping me out with his short audio clip. Of course, many thanks to Anton Sheker, Marc Macalua and the other organizers for SEMCON 2007. This conference can very well turn into what Chris Pirillo’sGnomedex brings over in the Western side of the globe. Read more »
True Faith belting it out. A glimpse of what’s in store on October 20
Some bloggers are giving away tickets for the Toblerone Thank You Day concert at the Mall of Asia. I recently wrote about how October 20 has been declared National Thank You Day, with Manila being the Thank You capital in the Philippines.
I have 300 tickets to the concert this coming October 20 at the Mall of Asia. Bands include (but are not limited to) Cynthia Alexander, Reggae Mistress, Stone Free, Salindiwa, Mozzie and The Dawn!
To claim your free ticket, all you need to do is leave a comment expressing your desire to come. As an added bonus, Toblerone will be giving a special prize to the commenter who posts the most creative way of saying THANK YOU
After you have left a comment, you will be contacted by Alma. If you wish to reach her to claim your tickets ahead of time, you may do so by texting her at 09175344624 or emailing thankyoudayphilippines at gmail dot com. See you there!
Raphael Bartholomew writes a piece on Philippine basketball culture for the New York Times. He talks about the rivalry between Ateneo and La Salle, the culture of college basketball, game fixing, and the obtuse difference between the players of each school:
Although Ateneo and La Salle have similar upper-class student bodies, their respective basketball teams are very different.
The Ateneo players have a squeaky-clean image. The team’s prize freshman, Kirk Long, came from Faith Academy, a high school in suburban Manila for the children of foreign missionaries. Guard Eric Salamat’s surname means thank you in Tagalog.
La Salle’s players have a menacing swagger, with tattoos, headbands, shaved heads and chin-strap beards. In 2005, La Salle revealed that two of its players had used phony high school equivalency results in their applications, and the team was suspended for the 2006 season. [Read]
So what do you think? Is this article accurate? I’m from neither school so I can’t really say anything. The part about the tattoos and squeaky clean image are a bit blunt though.
I wrote a piece for the September issue of Rogue Magazine on “the new food critics,” revealing food and travel bloggers as authorities in the art and science of degustation.
In the 1950’s, the dawning of the food critic gave rise to a certain fear in the food and beverage industry. The New York Times, one of the pioneers in the food writing industry, released a weekly column that reviewed restaurants and hotspots. By the decade, the food critic wielded a powerful pen as reviews could literally make or break a restaurant. [buy the latest September 2007 issue with Cristina Garcia for the rest of the article]
Rogue sells for P180.00 and boasts an impressive lineup of contributors including Andy Maluche, Lourd de Veyra, Yvette Tan, Eggy Tioseco, Arnold Arre, and Quark Henares.
