My generation is jaded with politics. And how can we not be jaded? I grew up in the Philippines of the ‘80s. We are the That’s Entertainment generation. We are the poster children for the jaded. We grew up against the backdrop of the Aquino assassination, the snap elections, the Mendiola massacre, the power outages, the Metro Manila Film Fest fiasco, and the showbiz career of Kris Aquino. We’ve survived an earthquake, the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption, waist-deep floods, dengue outbreaks, three days of darkness, bird flu, and the showbiz career of Kris Aquino. Somedays, I feel like we’re trapped in a poorly written sitcom that is starring bad actors with poor makeup, in a show that is in a perpetual state of re-runs—with Kris Aquino. [A Note from the Editor]
The photo above illustrates 75% of all the gadgets under my custody. I own 50% of that. Inside the boxes and crates are more gadgets, chargers, cables, and over 10 lensesfor my SLR. Not seen in the photo are my podcasting equipment (mic, desktop and boom stands), 2 portable drives, ACER desktop, two MacBooks, all in one printer, Quad Core rig, my dive gear, my Randall amplifier, and extra LCD monitor.
I run a tech blog with a pinch of travel and food here and there. Before blogging, I was a tech journalist and have, in sum, reviewed hundreds of gadgets. Several dozens of reviews and 7 years later I’m still doing what I love to do. I’ve written 60 issues worth of tech-related articles and overflowed the rest into 2,500 blog posts across various sites.
I salute the more established tech journalists who have done so much more! 🙂
THEME: Display Your Gadgets
Show me yours and I’ll show you mine! The photo above is an example. Take a shot of all your gadgets and tell me your story. For such an impersonal piece of amalgamated plastic and aluminum, there is always a good human interest story somewhere there. That’s what I want you to narrate.
P.S. You know, the term “gadgets” isn’t limited to tech. If you’re a beauty blogger, show us your loot! If you’re a travel blogger, show us your gear. Show off your passion!
My favorite gadget thus far was a freebie from a press conference. It’s what I use to communicate with Art Samaniego. Clue: it’s not the mic.
The contest rules can be found here. This will run from today till Sunday 11:59 PM.
Have fun!
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I’d like to announce the winner of my contest for the second week. The winner is Hannah Villasis of FlairCandy.com. She wins a P2,000.00 GC from Ayala Malls and a chance to win a Nokia phone at the end of the contest period! 🙂
Sorry Carl I know you uploaded a ton of photos during the latter part of the week, but oh well. Better luck next time! 😉
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would have noticed that Google is road testing a new version of their search engine. Not only is it faster, the results are also different. Should be interesting to see how this unfolds in the next few months.
But going back, the cheap-ass reason why I like this new search is because finally, my complete name pops up first in the suggestions for autocomplete when you type the word “jayvee.” Before, it would always lead to the Jayvee Dance Performance Arts Theater at jayveedance.net (BAH!)
Try out the new search in preview and share your stories.
Congratulations! You have reached Rank 28!
You have gained Intelligence +1
You have gained Wisdom +2
You have gained Strength -1
You have gained Endurance -1
You have gained skill: “Receding Hairline Rank 2”
You will now take an additional 10% Fatigue from running
You have gained ability: “Peace of Mind” which can be used once per day
A rant to self:
You’re probably the most stubborn person I know, who can’t afford to glue himself to work in an office desk. You try your best to be calm and composed outside, but inside you are probably laughing, because you like to imagine people wearing clown suits (red nose, white make up) while they walk the streets or when they are talking to you. You are passionate and to a fault unbridled and it’s hard to predict what you’re going to do. You’re lazy. You’re not lazy. You get lost in what you do and when you finally come to your senses, you always wonder – hey, what did I just do? Thankfully you haven’t embarrassed yourself in public, at least not yet. Talk less. But make it count. Remember to always protect those close to you and never step on anybody if you want to succeed.
You need to play more guitar and drink less. Even though you claim to look like Joaquin Phoenix, you will still be Mr. Bean.
Just got home from Wordcamp Philippines ’08 at CSB. I gave away something new to those who attended my talk today. I talked about dreams and goalsala Randy Pausche – and equated these to 3 important aspects of publishing: editorial, sales, and marketing. In detail, discussed one way to determine engagement, two sources in dealing with patrons, and four ways to determine media value for blogs in the Philippine setting that are actually being practiced. To those who attended, thanks so much!
“Serious” Photo Matt
“Let your hair down” Photo Matt
I also got to spend some time with Matt Mullenweg. This episode of Wordcamp is significant to the Philippines because it is the very first State of the Word address in South East Asia. It was also the first time globally that Matt did a live demo of the “CrazyHorse” WP 2.7 release (movable objects, security, better auto-plugin install, post stickies, etc). He also mentioned that the Philippines had the most kick ass WordCamp tees + logo ever designed. On an impressive note, Matt singled out Markku “Mr. Plugin” Segguera of Rebelpixel, being one of the first WP users in the Philippines.
Blogging is a huge global industry. And in South East Asia, the Philippines is leading.
Thanks to the Mindanao bloggers for setting up this event and see you next year for WordCamp 2009 in Manila! More photos from the event can be found here.
Matt Mullenweg is the founder of WordPress, one of the most popular blogging platforms used globally by consumers, corporations and government agencies.
BONUS: My inaudible recording of Matt talking during the impromptu press conference:
