IT’S been another tiring yet satisfying day, editing and uploading videos sent by our reporters from different parts of the metropolis as they covered the 22nd anniversary of the 1986 People Power revolution, and the pro- and anti-administration rallies that were held today in the wake of the national broadband network scandal.

I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish with INQUIRER.net VDO, in making online video a staple offering of INQUIRER.net, despite all the obstacles, despite the fact that we don’t have a broadcast background and are coming up with original video content rather than shoveling online the same stuff that’s already on TV. From the start, we knew that we couldn’t, and in fact shouldn’t, compete with TV. The traditional broadcast networks are giants who have a lot more money than we do. But to again use my favorite analogy, I liken the broadcast networks to the US when it was trying to fight a conventional war in Vietnam, while we’re like the Vietcong fighting a guerrilla war. The networks may have the money and the might, but we know the terrain — and we’re a lot more mobile. We know what works online, and I firmly believe that we have the advantage over traditional broadcasters when it comes to online video.

Anyway, here are the clips we uploaded today for our video coverage of the People Power anniversary. Check them out, and keep visiting INQUIRER.net VDO. You might also be interested in taking part in an online forum on the NBN deal — check out this article for more info.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

CHECK out another new service from INQUIRER.net, which allows you to view the details for each earthquake in the Philippines by clicking on the affected area in the Google Map.

Earthquake data provided by the US Geological Survey.

Oh, and in case you haven’t tried it out yet, check out our Weather Map, with weather data from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

MAYBE you’ve been away for a few days or didn’t have access to the Internet, and you’re out of touch with what’s been happening in the past week. Well, don’t worry about it, because even if you missed the news when we first broke it, now you have a convenient way of tracking the week’s most significant events.

We’ve just launched a new service called INQUIRER.net Week in Review.

Check it out and get the week’s top stories in Nation, Regions, Sports and Metro.

TODAY we did the soft launch of our new INQUIRER.net VDO page.

Contrary to what some people might think, our VDO service has always meant more than just, well, videos. It just so happened that online video was the most obvious “new thing” for INQUIRER.net, foreign territory for a company which has its roots in a print newspaper. What’s great and at times amusing, however, is that in a relatively short span of time, video has become one of the staples of INQUIRER.net. More and more people are coming to expect that video will be part of our coverage, and it’s even come to the point where some PR people would ask me, “When will the video interview come out?” in the same manner that they would once ask, “When is the story coming out?” or “Will you be able to use my press release?” In fact, I’ve even heard anecdotes of some people in print being asked when covering events if they’re also going to take videos.

Online video was once a novelty. Now, it’s becoming a necessity, if you want to gain a competitive advantage.

Of course, we’re just starting out and we know there’s a lot of room for improvement — and we’re addressing that. Moreover, video is a very important, but by no means the only component of our multimedia thrust. VDO is our hub for all our multimedia initiatives, including online video, blogs and podcasts — and yes, whatever new services we will launch in the months to come. I’m pretty excited over all the things that we’ll be rolling out this year, but for now I have to keep my mouth shut.

Anyway, let me leave you with this Technobabble video podcast, where Cisco Philippines country manager Luichi Robles and Cisco Systems (USA) Pte Ltd director for Asia Channel and Commercial Business Christian Hentschel give us a tour of the Cisco Network on Wheels mobile showcase, a container van featuring the latest Cisco solutions. Joseph Lee, Cisco Systems (USA) Pte Ltd director for Advanced Technologies in Asia, also demonstrates some of the solutions for the education sector.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

As we’ve been telling people inside and outside the organization time and again, we are no longer an online newspaper but have to transform ourselves into a multimedia news site. We have to move beyond just the news, and develop new content that will address different niches. The future won’t happen overnight, but it will come, whether you want it to or not, whether you’re prepared for it or not. So it’s really up to you how you deal with the inevitable.

Some might choose to worry over what tomorrow might bring. I’d rather embrace the future and take part in building something new.

SORRY it took some time, but our blog network is once more online!

I promise that we have a lot of new stuff in store for you this year, so don’t let technical difficulties and hiccups get you down heh

Are you excited to find out what 2008 has in store for the information and communications technology industry? What developments would you like to see in 2008?

On that note, check out what Sun Microsystems Philippines managing director Cynthia Mamon has to say about her company’s performance in 2007 and its prospects for 2008, and why we really need a Department of Information and Communications Technology. All this and more in Episode 4 of the Technobabble podcast.