UPDATE: The Multimedia section of the Glorietta Blast site is already up. Here’s a screenshot of the Flash interactive map that Justin Calingasan of our Tech team developed.

IT’S another tragedy, and sometimes it really gets disheartening to be the messenger who brings you the bad news. But it’s a job that somebody has to do.

Our Glorietta Blast Special Site is already up to give you all the latest developments on this tragedy.

You could also check out my Breaking News story on some of the bloggers who covered the Makati blast.

Here’s an interesting postscript: one of the bloggers I cited in my Blog Addicts entry and the Breaking News story apparently has been getting a lot of comments from visitors who stumbled upon his Multiply site via INQUIRER.net.

The blogger, whose nickname is Disney, gave INQUIRER.net permission to use his photos, some of which you can now see on our homepage as of this writing.

I believe you’ll see even more of this kind of convergence between mainstream media and bloggers/citizen journalists. Thanks again, Disney.

I’M happy to announce that blogger Toni Platon-Tiu of Wifely Steps has agreed to blog for INQUIRER.net, and that we’ve launched her blog Happy Nest, which is all about positivity and the good things that can make your every day better.

Lord knows we could all use a dose of positivity, what with all the horrors and injustices we read about all the time. I’m not saying journalists should sugarcoat things — the truth should be the truth, no matter how bitter a pill it may be to swallow — but we also have to find a way to balance things. To take a break from the outrages we’re exposed to everyday. To show readers that not everything has to be tragic in order to be newsworthy.

Because the truth is that the world isn’t completely evil or hopeless. The truth is that a lot of good is happening out there. And people have to know about it.

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WE’VE just added two more blogs to the INQUIRER.net Blogs network, Soundtrip and Vox Populi. And, as you’ve noticed, we now have a homepage for our blogs.

The initial members of the Soundtrip music team blog are INQUIRER.net reporters Lawrence Casiraya and Erwin Oliva.

You can check out Lawrence’s first entry here and Erwin’s initial post here.

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WE’VE launched two more blogs, for a total of nine sites in the INQUIRER.net Blogs network — and counting.

First up, we have Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Ruben Nepales’ showbiz blog, The Nepales Report.

Here’s an excerpt from the Breaking News story:

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HERE’S the list of Philippine Blog Awards winners in the major award categories:

Podcast – Happy Slip

Photo Blog – Senor Enrique

Fashion and Lifestyle – Bryanboy

Sports – Who Rides Vespa?

Business — Reflections of a BizDriven Life

News and Media — Inside PCIJ

Sociopolotical — Philippine Commentary

Home and Living — Wifely Steps

Entertainment — Retzwerk

Travel — Ivan About Town

Tech — Kilat: The Cybercafe Experiments

Personal — Misteryosa.com

And the special category awards winners are:

• Far from Neutral for best blog design
• Kwentong Tambay for best OFW blog
• Blu3zin3 for best Free Custom Theme
• iPAP for best plugin/extension blog

Blogger’s Choice Award winner: Market Manila