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Best and Popular Blog Posts of 2007

If this is your first time to visit my blog, you’d naturally be curious about the blog owner and this blog. To get straight to the point, read this interview by Mao Hermitanio , Her Life as a Blogger. Next question is “which entry should I read first?”. For first time visitors, it’s a great idea to list down interesting blog entries. In any blog, posts with the most comments, trackbacks or technorati and other links are said to be the popular ones but what about search engine queries? Let me list down all the interesting posts which others found entertaining, titillating or gave some sort of value and knowledge.

Most Number of Queries from Search Engines

  • Sex Education in the Philippines
  • When Kids Hear Their Parents Having Sex
  • boybastos.com:Everything is Political and It all Begins with Sex

    • Read More »Best and Popular Blog Posts of 2007

    On Lauren’s 11th Blog Anniversary

    A few days ago, Lauren announced that her interview appeared in the December 2007 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine, Philippine Edition.

    I cringed Ugh. Don’t tell me it’s about dating escapades? My voice raised a notch higher than usual. Most of Cosmo articles I read in the beauty salon revolve around dating and sex lives with a mishmash of fashion makeovers and token articles. Not that I am a prude, but uh please, sex escapades on cheating boyfriends/girlfriends or one-night stands are best kept private. Is that something to be proud of? Anyway, I digress.

    “No mom, it’s about my blog”.

    I heaved a sigh of relief. Not that I was doubting Lauren’s integrity but I didn’t have much faith in Cosmopolitan’s ability to churn out relevant self-help articles for young adult women.

    The feature article, Why More Women Blog, is perfect timing for Lauren’s 11th year in blogging. I believe it is one of Cosmo’s token feature article to tone down the sex-life-themed magazine.

    Read More »On Lauren’s 11th Blog Anniversary

    Future Happy Broadband User

    Stay-at-home-moms (SAHM) are so lucky these days. Online job and income opportunities such as a virtual assistant, researcher , problogger or web content writer now transforms them to work-at-home moms (WAHM). Moms get to balance family time, work and personal satisfaction. Now what is the main resource that online users need? A reliable, fast broadband connection, right? Slow connection means low productivity. High productivity means one is able to balance work load and mommy work. Mom’s work gets done fast. No connection at all might even cost loss of opportunities or risk getting replaced. I know of a web content writer working on rush job but missed a deadline because the internet connection died on her. That cost her to lose an income opportunity and reliability as a web content writer. That’s how bad our internet connection is in the Philippines.

    Over six months ago, I wrote about my three new Broadband internet providers (Globelines Broadband, Smart Bro and PLDT Mydsl) for which I pay around 4,000 pesos (or $95.00) a month. Am I happy with my three internet providers? I wrote a brief review about these providers a month ago. The ratings I gave those three providers are as follows:

    1. Globe Broadband (best)
    2. Smart Bro
    3. PLDT MyDSL (Worst)

    I’m about to file a complaint at the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for PLDT’s mydsl intermittent connection every 10 minutes or so. Come on, can you do better than that? I pay 1,520 pesos a month and I deserve a seamless connection at least 99% of the time. But what do they give me? Dropped connections every 10 minutes?

    Smart Bro has really been so good to me ever since I threatened to report them to NTC for non-existent connection for 2 months. Since then, connection has been excellent for over two months now. (knock on wood)

    Even if I rated Globelines Broadband as the best among the three, I am not quite happy with their up to 1 mbps connection speed since half the time, it’s 60% of 1mbps. I feel cheated that these three providers con us into :

    1. believing that “up to” is substantial. “Up to” is the maximum possible bandwidth promised.
    Why can’t you just say that your connection is 600kbps? You want us to believe that we can attain 1Mbps most of the time when in fact, it’s 20% of the time.

    2. Their connection is faster than dial up.
    Really now? Are we supposed to believe that we should continue to live in the dark ages of dial up? Stop using the byline line faster than dial-up when you promote your broadband ads . You can’t fool someone like me who has been using cable internet for 8 years now. Yes, you can fool the dialup users but how long can you fool them?

    So let’s see, when a new internet provider will dispel all the above marketing gimmicks of our current internet service providers, what will happen now? These unhappy internet users will definitely move to the new reliable internet provider who will make them happy broadband users.

    Who is this possible internet provider?

    Read More »Future Happy Broadband User

    Bringing Up A Mom (Blogger)

    momandme.jpgThe day Lauren wrote her essay on “Generation Next, Generation Net” 11 years ago, I had no idea I’d end up being a blogger just like her. During those days, diarist or online journallers were relegated to the twenty something and below. Moms did not blog. Our kids must have been so influential in inspiring moms like me to blog. I am not alone. Take a look at JAngelo and his mom, Dine or Aaron Roselo and his mom blogging at AMomandMore.

    Having read Lauren’s blog for many years sublimally prepared me for the launch of my blog 10 years later after she started in 1996. Let me count the ways:

    1. Content (Good and Original) is King.

    Good content shows the blogger’s own personality and flavor. Her story-telling style made it very interesting for her readers of all ages. Good content built a strong readership which she continues to enjoy until the present time. The power of stories to connect, captivate and persuade, creates a great way to grab hold of a reader.

    Read More »Bringing Up A Mom (Blogger)

    Lauren, A Young Internet User in 1996

    youngblogger.jpgLauren told me to scrounge around for her photo as a 10 year old using the computer because it was needed for a magazine article. As some of you might know, Lauren started an online journal (not called blogs then) on December 1996 so the photo had to be around that time. Oh no! It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. For days, I poured over stacks of photos because I have not been organizing them for the past 12 years. I finally found the photos of her in various poses with the computer. My geeky little Lauren.

    Lauren was 9 years old while M was 8 years old when I had an internet connection at home. Between the 2 girls, Lauren used the internet a lot more than M. My internet service provider in 1995 was Virtual Asia. For 500 pesos a month, I had 15 internet hours. Geesh, it was terribly expensive to get wired during those days. The internet at home was mainly used for email purposes as I wanted to save my precious internet hours. One summer day in 1996 , 9 year old Lauren got bored and demanded to go online to search for penpals. I foresaw the need to strike a balance for the wonders of the internet with the responsibility for accountability, self-discipline, and safety. The best defense I had was to make exploring the online world a family affair. Together, we surfed and discovered two kid sites , the kidscom.com and kidpub.com. What caught their interest in kidscom was the graffiti wall that served as a chat room but it wasn’t in real time. The kidspub was a fun place to submit writings. Lauren was raring to get her creative juices started with the kidspub. The thing was they wanted her to submit the articles in HTML.

    Read More »Lauren, A Young Internet User in 1996

    Boycott Manila Standard Today!

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    I am joining Nick ‘s Renewed Boycott Against Manila Standard Today.

    Here it is, our stand, because [tag]Manila Standard[/tag] Today has chosen to hide behind their term ““protocol” and issue a pardon to their most beloved columnist for all The Filipinos to see. This is a call to boycott, for the irresponsible behavior of Manila Standard Today, they have chosen to pass up the option of doing the right thing, and essentially show their true colors and the standards they are upholding.

    Do not go to their website, do not buy their paper, and anything that they write. Unless it is a declaration of firing [tag]Malu Fernandez[/tag], it will fall on deaf ears.

    Incidentally, Daily Inquirer wrote about this latest boycott campaign including Anton de Leon’s entry on Malu Fernandez who is based in Dubai. Apparently, the Filipino Channel will interview him today about the renewed boycott campaign and the OFWs sentiments.

    Yes I know that we should move on to other important issues like Justice for Cris Mendez but sadly, I still see a lot of hits coming into my blog because of the Malu Fernandez article. The Malu Fernandez issue refuses to die because she was not sincere in her apologies. The mere fact that she is still with Manila Standard speaks for itself.

    If you want to participate in this renewed boycott against Manila Standard, just read this entry and grab the badge for the boycott campaign.

    Hope you can join us.

    Edit – September 6, 2007- ABC 5 Jove Francisco featured some blogs in “Sidetracked”

    Read More »Boycott Manila Standard Today!

    Lessons Learned From Malu Fernandez

    malu fernandez
    (Via Annalyn.net)
    Tonight at 6:00 PM, Benj with other bloggers and journalists and possibly [tag]Malu Fernandez[/tag] will appear in Media In Focus at the ABS-CBN News Channel Studios. (Media in Focus replays: 11 PM tonight, SAT 6 AM and 5 PM ) I talked to Anton de Leon , a fellow blogger based in Dubai and he admits that:

    The reactions from people from all over the globe have been going strong. To this day, i have had reactions come from bloggers and readers who speak vehemently of Miss Malu and the acerbic wit she has pushed. It really has become an angry mob, but who is to blame here. Aside from Malu, i think part of it should be shifted to the people who allowed the commentary to be published. This is why, in this circle of work that i revolve in. we have these things called editors. Editors are supposed to make the call and check for content.

    Over 2000 angry comments expressed to date! I can understand their feelings. Feelings are just feelings; there is no morality in the feeling, only in our behavior. We can feel angry without hurting or abusing others or ourselves. The thing is not a lot of people can express their anger appropriately. I too have been guilty in the past of name-calling but I have learned. Anger is an emotion we’re all prone to experience. Yes, it’s okay to feel angry , I agree. It points to a problem. In this case, it signals a problem that needs to be solved. Sometimes , it points to boundaries we need to set. Sometimes , it’s the final burst of energy before letting go, or acceptance settles in.

    I would like to believe that this anger should now have a positive resolution. A few bloggers point out the lessons learned from the Malu Fernandez article:

    Read More »Lessons Learned From Malu Fernandez

    Lauren meets Loren

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    Senator Loren, this is Lauren, the first Pinoy blogger, Mike Abundo pulls the reluctant Lauren towards Senator Loren Legarda.

    Finally my Lauren meets the Loren, that people often mispell her name for. Lauren gets really annoyed whenever the Starbucks’ barista label her coffee cup as LOREN! Lauren being Lauren spells it out to these baristas. It just shows how popular Loren Legarda’s name is, huh?

    I had no idea why I was invited to an event in Manila Peninsula . All I knew was that Mike Abundo was going to be inducted as Vice President of something which Lauren couldn’t recall. The little I know of Mike Abundo is that he is often in cosplay , gaming or anime thing.

    Upon reaching the Manila Peninsula banquet hall, I was surprised to see a signage of the Philippine Internet Commerce Society ([tag]PICS07[/tag]) plastered by the door. What a relief that it wasn’t some cosplay event. To add to my pleasant surprise, Aileen Apolo, the birthday girl , Juned, Jayvee were also there to give support to Mike. Aww…

    aileen.jpg
    Read More »Lauren meets Loren

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    a mom blogger who advocates constructive engagement in issues on family & society.
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