Cyberbaguioboy

Thanks to Manuel Villoria (who I follow on Twitter), I found this interesting take on web 2.0 by Sacha Chua.

Why do we blog? Why do we Twitter? Why do we spend time “poking” people on Facebook? Why do we keep growing our old Friendster profile? Why are we obsessed with social networking services on the Internet, devoting an hour or “less” on updating our profiles?

When I started blogging several years ago, some people were laughing at the idea of me blogging because I was already writing for an online news service. So I retorted, why not? Then there was Facebook. Less than a year into it, I’ve surpassed the 200-mark of friends. The rate of friends being added in my Facebook was higher than my Friendster years ago. Hmmm. This might mean people are moving to Facebook.

Lately, there was Twitter. I must admit, I’ve never used my Twitter account actively until recently when I started following more people (read: stalk, heh). Right now, I’m following close to a hundred people.

Ask yourself this: what is the first thing that you do in the morning besides hitting the bathroom because you drank too much water last night? You open your computer and check your e-mail? Or perhaps browse the Internet for news. Yes, I’m compelled every morning to boot my computer to see what has happened the night when I was asleep. I’m quite paranoid because some stories break while I’m asleep. But apart from reading the news, I also check my RSS subscriptions to blogs, and my Twitter friends. Of course, I also open my Facebook profile because another person has decided to add me as a friend.

We are creating a smaller world, thanks to the Internet. In fact, you’ll notice that in services like Facebook, you’re actually connected to the same people through friends, a friend of a friend, etc. This phenomenon is called “six degrees of separation,” a concept studied by a Harvard social psychologist. But it becomes very evident in social networking services and the Internet how our world has even become smaller.

Why are we doing it? I guess we are afraid of just being alone.

Twitter, an online service that allows people to send bursts of information from their mobile devices to an online platform, has become an important tool for reporting about the developments in China after the earthquake.

This news story from AFP reveals that news organizations were picking up leads from people who were twittering. Excerpt:

SAN FRANCISCO, California–The world had real-time news about China’s massive earthquake as victims dashed out “twitter” text messages while it took place, in what was being touted Tuesday as micro-blogging outshining mainstream news.

As the earth shook with tragic consequences, people in the parts of China that felt the quake used their mobile telephones to send terse messages using the service provided by the San Francisco-based Twitter Inc.

I’ve been using a four-year-old Blackberry that has retired after a bad fall. The fall damaged the USB slot used for charging the rechargeable battery and syncing the contents of device into a PC or a notebook. The unit might still work if I’m able to charge the battery. But I’ve been wanting to upgrade my unit. So when I heard about the Blackberry Bold, I just started salivating.

Research in Motion announced Blackberry Bold’s availability, but was short of disclosing its plans for the Asia Pacific region, including the Philippines. The launch of the new Blackberry unit coincided with Apple iPhone’s launch in the country, thanks to Globe Telecom.

I was with a colleague today, and we discussed these developments. We agreed that this year is turning out to be an interesting year for the telecommunications industry because non-traditional players like Apple are trying to take market share from traditional players likes of Nokia, Sony Ericsson, among others. According to this report, Apple might have a chance of getting more people to use its iPhone. Why? This analyst explains that Apple as a brand has been battle-tested.

Finally, here’s a video posted a year ago by CBS, which features a first look at the iPhone, a device that will change the way we see mobile phones and Internet devices.

The beach, a sandbar, a nice little hut, ahhh, i just love Bantayan Island, a best kept secret of Cebu.

We also made this video feature for INQUIRER.net. Watch it here.

Nice name for what used to be a gadget aimed at business users. It appears that Research in Motion wants to also capture consumers with its new Blackberry.

Check out this report.

Excerpt:

OTTAWA–Research in Motion unveiled Monday its latest BlackBerry smartphone with new styling and technology that aims to bite into Apple’s juicy iPhone sales.

Called the “BlackBerry Bold,” it is the first in the handset series to run on high-speed HSDPA networks and comes with integrated GPS, Wi-Fi and a “rich set of multimedia features,” the Canadian-based firm said.

Good news to all iPhone-loving Pinoys. Globe Telecom announced that it will start offering Apple’s iPhone to local subscribers. Here’s the same announcement from the local operator’s website.

Excerpt from INQUIRER.net:

MANILA, Philippines–Globe Telecom will be among the first telecom operators in Asia to officially carry Apple’s popular iPhone handset.

A two-paragraph statement on Globe’s website said the mobile communications firm had signed an agreement with Apple along with Singapore’s Singtel, India’s Bharti Airtel and Australia’s Optus.

The Commission on Elections is signing automation supply deals today and Monday, officials said.

They have three months to implement plans.

Excerpt:

CEBU, Philippines – (UPDATE) The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will sign Friday afternoon the contract for the automated election system to be used in parts of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) during regional elections there in August.

Interesting to know how much does an online game publisher make these days.

Check out this story on hackenslash:

Excerpt:

The RESURGENCE of interest of the online gaming community in a five-year-old game boosted revenues of local online game publisher Level Up! Philippines during the first quarter of 2008, a top executive told hackenslash.

Reports indicated that thousands were killed during the cyclone that hit Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).

Here’s an excerpt from the report from Agence France Presse:

YANGON — More than 22,000 people were killed in Myanmar’s devastating cyclone, the government said Tuesday, with thousands more feared dead after the storm left rice fields littered with corpses.

Tens of thousands are still missing four days after the storm slammed into the southern coast, the government said late Tuesday as it announced the sharply increased death toll on state television.

Here’s a short video news report from Al Jazeera found on YouTube.