GOD, I love the Internet!

If you still doubt how much the Web has changed the way we live, and how it brings together people from all over the world, consider this: back in 2006, I was a fan watching HappySlip’s videos on YouTube. And now, here she is in Manila — and we’re covering the press conference that formally introduced her as the Department of Tourism’s ambassadress for North America.

And yup, Filipino-American Christine Gambito a.k.a. HappySlip, is also amazed that the video blogs she started for fun have led to her actually being invited to visit the Philippines for a two-week tour of different travel destinations. She’ll be video blogging her Philippine tour, allowing thousands of users to share the experience with her and get to know the Philippines a little better. How cool is that?

Here’s a photo of me and HappySlip after the video interview we conducted for INQUIRER.net VDO.

It’s also interesting to note what Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano said in his presentation on why the government agency is tapping the Internet in promoting Philippine tourist destinations to the North American market: “Traditional media doesn’t work as much as it used to.”

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YUP, the YouTube sensation will now be promoting Philippine tourist destinations as an endorser for the Department of Tourism Team North America. Filipino-American Christine Gambito, better known to thousands of fans of her video blogs as HappySlip, will be in town for a two-week tour of our country’s travel destinations.

HappySlip will be video blogging her Philippine trip, and the vlogs will be posted on both the HappySlip and Experience Philippines sites.

Here’s HappySlip’s video announcement about her Philippine trip.

We’ll get to meet her in a press briefing which will be held this Thursday, where HappySlip and Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano will be on hand to answer questions. So stay tuned for more updates on HappySlip’s Philippine odyssey.

YUP, we still love HappySlip Christine May the “HappySlip Jingle” put a smile on your face.

WHO doesn’t hate spam? If we had our way, we’d live in a world without spam — and maybe even impose the death penalty on spammers, heh

Just how much time do we waste dealing with spam?

Watch this educational clip from The Official Google Channel on YouTube.

I’ve been a Gmail fan from the start, and honestly, I can’t imagine going back to webmail in the year B.G. (Before Gmail). So yeah, even though sometimes Gmail acts up, it’s still my e-mail of choice — the way e-mail should be.

I’VE been so busy today that it’s a good thing Erwin Oliva reminded me that Hulu, the ambitious online video site which is a joint venture between network giants NBC Universal and News Corp., is now open for private beta testing. So if you haven’t received an invite yet, go to the site and sign up.

It’s interesting to see how this will all play out as the TV networks attempt to chart their own online destiny, and how this will affect the future of sites such as YouTube. NBC pulled out its clips from YouTube and closed down its YouTube promotional channel prior in preparation for the launch of Hulu.

Here’s an excerpt from today’s post on the Hulu blog.

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