Toasting to the New Year
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 1st, 2009
To 2008 … for experiments that were fun while they lasted. For renewed friendships, and friendships that were transformed beyond the workplace. For loyal friends and conflicts resolved. For losing friends. For wasting time. For prudence and unbridled gestures. Such is life. And in it, there is the folly of wisdom.
To 2009 … and hopefully more of the same. Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t. (Polonius, Hamlet)
Happy New Year!
N.B. the image above is a screen cap from an interesting … project I worked on *last* year that never went live. That’s me and Adel Gabot talking about Plurk. Ah yes, Plurk. The year was more interesting with it. 
Congratulations Moleskine winners!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 19th, 2008
Wow, what a run! We had 122 entries for the Moleskine contest we did last week and today we announce our two winners! For the first prize, we are giving away a Moleskine notebook courtesy of Jasper Ong of Avalon.PH. Many thanks to Jasper for sponsoring this contest.
Our winners had to answer the question, “when are you most inspired to write?” in the comments section to qualify.
And the winner of the ruled Moleskine notebook is ….
Juligel
I’m excited and inspired, mostly, after waking up and having a great vivid dream.
And our second prize winner for the three cahiers (courtesy of me) is …
Wrinkle
When I’m about to sleep, when I’m with rubber duckie, OR when someone pisses me off at work. 
Thanks for sending in valid emails! We’ll get your moleskine notebooks in your doorstep this week! I’ll be running a second contest very soon – to score tickets this time!
Didn’t win a Moleskine notebook? You can try to win one again from November 18 to November 21 at Viloria.net, where the next contest will be held.
Contest: Moleskine Giveaway from Avalon.PH
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 11th, 2008
Jasper Ong from Avalon was generous enough to sponsor this contest. It’s part of a blog marketing campaign being done by Avalon.PH. If you’re a fan of rare collectible books (signed by authors!) as well as used tomes and other gift items, Avalon’s online store is where it’s at.
Avalon is giving away a Moleskine Ruled Notebook for this raffle as the grand prize. I’m going to up the ante and give away a second prize – which is a spare set of three Moleskine Cahiers! Isn’t that cool?!
Contest Rules
1. This contest is open to Philippine based residents only.
2. To enter the contest, you need to leave a comment on this post with a valid email address
3. In the comment section you need to answer the question, “when are you most inspired to write?”
4. You can enter the raffle contest as many times as you want but you need to leave a different answer each time you join.
5. I will be drawing the winners when the contest closes using Luck of the Draw. The contest closes at 11:59 PM GMT+8 on November 18 2008.
The Perils of Being a Freelance Writer in the Philippines
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 11th, 2007This 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!
Code Monkey Unplugged Lyrics Chords and Tabs
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 3rd, 2007Songwriter 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.
My Facebook Behavior Findings
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 27th, 2007Here 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.
Do you also write for print?
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 15th, 2007In 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?
Have you ever accepted work from Craigslist?
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 9th, 2007You 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?
Two Blog Openings
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at October 17th, 2007Takashi 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.
SEMCON 2007 follow up and presentation slides
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at October 13th, 2007Talk 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’s Gnomedex brings over in the Western side of the globe.
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Free tickets and a ‘Thank You’ to my readers!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at October 5th, 2007
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!
