Pavel Danilin, a 30-year-old Putin supporter and blogger whose onli
ne icon is the fearsome robot of the "Terminator" movie, works for a political
consulting company loyal to the Kremlin. He said he and his team, which include
d people from a youth movement called the Young Guard, quickly started blogging
that day about a smaller, pro-Kremlin march held at the same time.
They linked to one another repeatedly and soon, Danilin said, posts about the p
ro-Kremlin march had crowded out all the items about the opposition march on th
e Yandex Web portal's coveted ranking of the top five Russian blog posts.
FILIPINO blogger Ding Fuellos thought nobody would notice his simple act of ext
ending his sympathies for the families who have lost a loved one during last we
ek's mall blast that killed 11 people.
"Everyone seems to be blogging about what happened, to the point of pointing fi
ngers to every possible suspect in the country. Everyone is busy trying to know
what the cause of the blast was. Every blogger is interested on the political
angle, and its repercussions, too mechanical, too cognitive. But no one is payi
ng attention to the mourners themselves. I would have written my own blog abou
t this incident but what counted more was the fact that there seems to be no on
e expressing their sympathy to the families of the victims," he said in an e-ma
il interview.
Fuellos, author of the Inkblots: Life Unraveled blog, has urged bloggers to offer their prayers and post a photo of a flower in
their blogs.
Initially, the response was not very encouraging.
He decided to make a similar call on Flickr, an online photo sh
aring service.
He wrote in his blog, "Waiting for a few hours, and when no one heeded my call
to show sympathy to the bereaved, I asked 3 of my Flickr groups (Semana Santa F
ilipinas, Pinoycentric, and Pinoy Kodakero) to post their flower photos as a si
gn of sympathy to the bereaved. I was surprised with the response. I believe th
ese people are very busy, yet they found the time to post something for the Glo
rietta victims' families. Many have already responded, and I hope there would b
e more in the coming hours/days. I never thought it is possible. We usually/ no
rmally send real flowers. But this time, we realize e-flowers will make it poss
ible!"
To date, he said that more than 30 people have posted photos of flowers to supp
ort his cause.
"As of now, there are 32 photographers who have posted their photos. At least t
wo have posted more than 1 photo. We still have small number but I am praying t
here would be more," he said.
Fuellos said he wanted the families of the victims of the Glorietta 2 mall blas
t to see the outpouring of sympathy from different people.
"They can access the Internet and see for themselves the number of people from
different parts of the world who pay their last respects for the dead and show
sympathy to the bereaved. If I have my way, I would go to at least one of thos
e who are mourning to give a real flower. I have always believed that blogging
will always play a vital role in our lives and I thought of running this and se
e if we can achieve something by blogging and gather kind-hearted people who wi
ll show their sympathy," he added.
HERE'S an interesting entry from my erstwhile fellow CNET Asia tech blogger (be
fore I gave up the gig to concentrate on managing INQUIRER.net's blog network a
nd my other responsibilities as gaming and multimedia editor) Ignatius Javellan
a, who wrote about the news coverage of the Glorietta 2 blast by both mainstream media and citizen journalists.
Excerpt:
Itâs this type of speed and efficiency that frightens me. For one t
hing, back in the day, when events such as these would occur, it would take a w
hile for actual coverage of the event to even reach those who would probably be
only a few blocks away. Take the first EDSA Revolution back in 1986âI was sti
ll a kid then but it took hours for people to mobilize, and for the news to rea
ch us. But when it happened again in 2001, within minutes I received an SMS and Inquirer.net (then Inq7.net) alrea
dy had it on their headline. Because technology affords us this speed and effic
iencyâwireless connectivity, portable digital cameras, 3G cellphones and moreâa
ny newsworthy event can be broadcast in seconds.
And because of the growing popularity of blogging among Filipinos, news of this
latest terrible event spread like wildfire. Already within an hour there were
hundreds of blogs writing about the explosion, all with their own speculations
and theories as to what happened. Hundreds of photos of the carnage were being
sent over email, posted on photo blogs. And even better, actual, first-hand acc
ounts of the incident began to spring upâfrom people who were right there when
it happened to people who knew other people that were there even to people at t
he emergency room of the Makati Medical Center where most of the victims of the
explosion were brought. And to think this happened during the afternoon, durin
g a time when loads of people are still online, getting updates from friendsâ a
nd friends of friendsâ blogs.
My friend Azrael was one such person. Withi
n an hour of the explosion, he was watching the news and already posting images heâd taken from ANC on his blog
. An hour after that, another guy on Multiply started talking abo
ut his first hand experience of the explosion, even posting images he'd tak
en himself while he was there.
Indeed, news travels with blinding speed in the age of online media and citizen
journalism -- and so does fear.
The Chinese have a curse: May you live in interesting times. We're living in th
at kind of world right now.
APART from blog entries and photos of the Glorietta 2 blast, citizen journalists have also upl
oaded video clips to sites such as YouTube.
Here are two such clips from a concerned citizen that Tonyo
Cruz uploaded to YouTube -- thanks to Tonyo for the heads up.
Here's the first clip.
And here's the second clip.
Here's a c
lip from verin18.
And here are two clips from inthethickofthings.
Here's the first clip.
And here's the second clip:
Tonyo also blogged about citizen journalism in action in the Glorietta 2 blast
for Global Voices Online.
Here's an excerpt:
Manuel L. Quezon III rounded up first-hand accounts, initial reactions and updates. Als
o taking note of furious blogging about
the bombing was Blog Addicts. In fact, Inquirer came out with a special site
on the incident.
Photos of the crime scene or disaster area taken and posted b
y Disney Cute Land are now all over the internet, including the frontpage of th
e country most popular news website.
THE "LIKELY bomb" blast that has rocked the Glorietta 2 Mall is now reverberati
ng in the Philippine blogosphere, with bloggers even posting photos from the bl
ast site.
One such site is the Disney Cute Land blog on Multiply, which
has several photos already uploaded.
User disneycute wrote:
Very tragic day....I was 40m away when it happened....Thank God for
Ice Cream for it wasn't for it.....You know what I mean....I decided to buy on
e when I was coming back to Park Square 2 walkway....P***shet nanginginig pa di
n ako hanggang ngyon kasi i saw debris falling down when it exploded and people
were screaming and running coming out of the smoke......I dunno how many were
killed....
I am just hoping that the explosion is triggered by an LPG tank and
nothing else, because otherwise, it will be a big slap again to the economy of
the Philippines considerint that the explosion took place in the country's fin
ancial capital.
I was at Glorietta 2 a couple of weeks ago with my wife and my son en route to
Subic. It was crowded and very much alive. I am just hoping that the death toll
will not increase even as reports show more bodies inside the establishment.
Manuel L. Quezon III has a roundup of the blogosphere coverage here.
Excerpt:
There but for the grace of God, go we, must be the thought in many
a personâs mind. David Llorito definitely had that passing, sober, thought. Blo
gger ambonsamakati blogs about being in the vicinity (complete with snapshot of
crowds); Adventures in the Temporary Autonomous Zone blogs about sirens and wa
tching the action from a few blocks away. ongakusociety blogs about how her bro
ther had a close call. Sunny Side Up! was there. So was uchihayukiko:
Here's an excerpt from Edmund of BSCyouth.org:
Wow. Just when i was going to conclude with the final entry on our
Manila trip, there came news of an explosion at Glorietta Mall in Makati City t
his afternoon, the very city and the very same mall we were at only last Monday
.
The very mall where we looked around high and low for Fr Remi's Catholic store.
The same mall where we had lunch at Jollibee. The mall we spent the rest of th
e morning and early afternoon in before our flight back home.
At least 4 died in the Glorietta Mall explosion today at around 1:3
0 PM. Around 45 persons were also wounded. To think Glorietta was always a favo
rite hangout when we used to live in Makati. I doubt that the explosion emanate
d from a gas leak e because the explosion even blast the roof of Glorietta 2.
I am now watching the live coverage in the ANC channel and right now, the bomb
squad and canine units are scouring Glorietta mall to make sure that there are
no explosive remnants left behind. They have a large area to cover. Imagine 6 m
illion square feet. There is no official report that it was due to a bomb that
might have caused it.
BANGALORE, India--The mass blogging project, dubbed Blog Action Day, has attracted more than 20,000
blogs and close to 15 million readers, organizers reported.
Held on October 15, Blog Action Day was the first time bloggers worldwide unite
d to blog about a single topic: the environment.
"Measuring an initiative like Blog Action Day is difficult. In 2007 we asked bl
oggers to register their blogs and a rough count of RSS (really simple syndicat
ion) subscribers. It is worth remembering that RSS subscriber numbers are only
one half of the readership of a blog. Many and in some cases all of a blog's re
adership will simply be visitors to the site. The real reach of Blog Action Day
is far greater than the number below," the organizers said on their website.
The organizers said 20, 603 blogs participated, and 23, 327 blog posts were fou
nd on a Google Blog search. Meanwhile, RSS readers that supported the global b
logging initiative reached 14,631,038.
Blog Action Day also generated media buzz and support from the United Nations E
nvironmental Programme and European Union Commissioner for the Environment Stav
ros Dimas who held a special live Internet chat to coincide with Blog Action Da
y.
In the Philippines, a Google Blog search sea
rch of the term "'Blog Action Day AND Philippines" showed more than 50 blog
s joining the global action.
BLOG Action Day, a glob
al mass action among online diary sites or weblogs, has gathered more than 15,0
00 blogs and millions of readers, organizers said Monday.
Established to encourage people to blog about a chosen topic for a day, Blog Ac
tion Day is a form of "people power" in action that was conceptualized for the
Internet, they said.
Choosing the environment as this year's topic, Blog Action day organizers say t
hey hope they can make a difference by steering the "global conversation" towar
ds important issues.
"We believe that change in the world does not happen in events, but rather in p
rocesses. It's easy to think: 'What can one person do?' Or 'What change will bl
oggers really make?' The truth is by participating in Blog Action Day we are he
lping steer the global conversation, adding impetus to an already important iss
ue and driving social change in the only way that really matters, by changing p
eople's minds," said Sydney-based Collis Ta'eed who was one of the organizers o
f Blog Action Day, in a previous e-mail interview with INQUIRER.net.
The global blog initiative was eventually supported by international organizati
ons like the United Nations, Google, Wells Fargo, Opera, Reddit.com, among othe
rs.
This project has also encouraged people to donate their advertising revenues to
environmental charity.
As of this writing, a Google blog search
produces more than 9,000 blogs referring to this global mass blogging.
Blogger Jessica Gottlieb believes that words still ma
tter in a wired world, especially when it talks about the environment.
She wrote, "What the heck is Blog Action Day? I mean, how can I define this one
? It's a virtual March on Washington? It's a sit in? An online Earth Day? I don
't know what it is or how to describe it but I sure am proud to be part of it.
It's a new and exciting idea, that's for sure."
A PHILIPPINE Science High School social studies teacher, known to his students
as "Sir Martin," believes teachers can use blogs or other web-based tools to co
nnect to students.
"Blogging has allowed me to connect with my students this deeply," Martin Perez
said in a speech he made during a blogging forum organiz
ed to gather teachers who blog.
A blogger before he became a high school teacher, Perez admitted that blogging
is not easy. In fact, it meant extra teaching load.
But apart from being a convenient way to distribute content online, the Filipin
o high school teacher sees blogs as a way to hook students and fostering better
relationships with them.
"My current blog was born just this year -- January 6, 2007 to be precise. I cr
eated it with the vision of it becoming my work blog, a place where I can focus
on presenting material that would add value to what I teach. I wanted to go be
yond information dissemination and to really engage my students online. I would
use the blog to tease upcoming activities and give them a look into the origin
s of the different things we do in class. I would write about issues which inte
rest me, which I feel will interest them, and thus will be interesting to add t
o our course. I would write about my students, my work and my love for teaching
. But as I did all these, little did I know that I would realize something even
far more powerful. A while ago I mentioned that the Internet has the potential
to displace the teacher. I realized that through blogging, we teachers can win
back our place in the classroom," he said.
He stressed, however, that blogging is a decision teachers have to make.
"It takes a lot of commitment especially when it begins to work. Sure, there ar
e some blogs which don't take much effort -- a PowerPoint here, a link there, a
course description here, a table of deadlines there. But a blog is not a bulle
tin. It is an unending conversation and this is why it takes some commitment. T
hrough my blog, I get to talk with my students, parents, fellow teachers, and e
ven random people from Minneapolis to Mongolia," he added.
During one instance, Perez said one of his students wondered why he didn't incl
ude entries about his personal life. That got him thinking, and eventually he s
tarted writing about his life too.
"After all, one of the pillars of blogging is honesty. It does take a lot of co
urage, and I realize that sharing such information on the Internet is a huge ri
sk on my part. However, I also realize that the students I handle -- these teen
agers who are at the same moment hungry for life and sick of life -- appreciate
knowing that other people have been hurt, rejected and tested and yet have tur
ned out fine. For them to realize that their teacher had been one of them and t
hat this teacher now chooses to work among all of them is what it means to be c
redible in their eyes. And once you are seen as credible, they will trust you.
They will listen to you. They will respect you. They will take risks with you a
nd they will learn with you. Everything else follows from there -- what we teac
h, how we teach, and even why we teach," he said.
The BK Crew presents Bloggersâ Kapihan 2.0: Blog Ed 101. This time around, let us tackle the importance of blogging in learning,
learning in blogging and blogging as a tool for alternative education. The even
t will be held on October 13, 2007, 1:30 p.m. at the R
amon Magsaysay High School in Quezon City.
Blog Ed 101 is in cooperation with the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), a
nationwide network of educators from different schools, colleges and universiti
es.
Tonchi Tinio, chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, will also dive
into the controversial CyberEducation Project of the Department of Education d
uring the event.
MSNBC.COM has made its
first acquisition in its 11 years of existence, shelling out an undisclosed amo
unt to purchase citizen journalism/participatory news site Newsvine.
Here's an excerpt from the Computerworld article:
Mike Davidson, CEO and co-founder of Newsvine, noted that the deal
will allow more people to contribute to the site and helps "further the cause"
of citizen journalism.
"We founded the company with the notion that big and little media c
an interact in a way which respects established journalism and empowers the ind
ividual at the same time," Davidson said in a statement. "In MSNBC.com, we see
a world-class news organization who complements that vision."
Dan Gillmor, director for the Center for Citizen Media, noted in a blog post th
at the deal was significant for the world of citizen journalism.
"Now we need to see the experiment taken to a more logical conclusion, because
Newsvine and its competitors are getting only part of this right -- and a compa
ny with deep pockets could take it further," Gillmor wrote.
Will we see more mainstream media companies making similar acquisitions?
HERE'S an interesting Lo
s Angeles Times article on documentary filmmaker AJ Schnack, whose blog has taken on a life of
its own.
Shnack's latest documentary is "Kurt Cobain: About A Son," which we blogged about in Soundtrip. Here's an excerpt from t
he LA Times story:
Though the blog began in the summer of 2005 as a direct outgrowth o
f working on "About a Son," it has since taken on a life of its own. Schnack ha
s become something of an authority figure for the world of documentaries, cover
ing various issues faced by nonfiction filmmakers. In particular, he has writte
n about the recent changes to the Oscar qualifying rules for documentary featur
es, giving close attention to the newly mandated 14-city theatrical rollout for
all potential nominees. Unlike many in the documentary community, Schnack has
largely been in favor of the rollout, because it promotes theatrical exhibition
of documentary films.
Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scien
ces, said that the rollout rules will likely be "streamlined" for next year, in
no small part because of the response the academy has gotten from the document
ary community, both online and in a series of meetings between AMPAS governors
and filmmakers.
One sign of the growing influence of Schnack's blog is that while "About a Son"
has played at more than 50 film festivals, the filmmaker has begun to be accre
dited as a journalist at some festivals where his work has not been shown.
FILIPINO bloggers are reacting to a remark made by one of the characters in a r
ecent episode of television series "Desperate Housewives."
While many condemned the remark as a racist slur and called for a boycott of th
e show, others suggested that people write to the producers of the show to comp
lain.
The Filipino bloggers were reacting to a remark by the character Susan Mayer De
lfino, played by Teri Hatcher, who was objecting to being checked by a doctor u
ntil she was sure of the doctor's credentials.
"Can I check those diplomas? Coz I would just like to make sure they are not fr
om some med school in the Philippines," Delfino told her gynecologist during a
scene in a hospital where she went to ask why her menstrual cycle was off for s
everal months. (Editor's note: Click on Ruben Nepales' blog post to hear an MP3 file of the dia
logue between Delfino and her doctor.)
Filipino blogger Mike
in Manila agreed that the remark was unfair and racist, and that every Fili
pino had the right to get upset.
"So yes, do complain do get upset and do remark that they should do something a
bout it to make it up to the millions of nurses and doctors from the Philippine
s. Or just not watch the show- boycott it. But this is hardly a national insult
more of a call to DECS [education department], DOH [health department], and, M
edical Schools, to awaken and be aware of the need to clarify issues past of pr
oblems. A call to be aware of the problem which Mr. Nadal does, and makes other
s at ABC TV aware. It is also an image problem that needs to be addressed by CH
ED the DECS and others like the DOH. 'Di po ba?" the blogger wrote.
A scandal hit the nursing board examinations last year after some examinees exp
osed alleged massive cheating.
An e-mail from a certain Kevin Nadal, a Filipino performance artist, is now cir
culating on the Internet encouraging Filipinos to sign an online petition to
protest the remarks against Filipino doctors.
"This type of derogatory remark is not only unnecessary and hurtful, but is als
o unfounded, considering the presence of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in th
e health care industry⦠To belittle the education, experience, or value of Fil
ipino Americans in health care is disrespectful and plain and simply ignorant,"
Nadal wrote in his e-mail message now being passed on by other Filipinos throu
gh mailing lists and blogs.
"As Filipino Americans, we need to band together to ensure that this type of ha
teful message is not allowed to continue on our television and radio airwaves,"
he added.
A search on Google would indicate the
reactions of the Filipino bloggers.
Filipino doctor Martin Bautista, who practices in the US, said that Filipino ph
ysicians are in an uproar over the episode of "Desperate Housewives."
In his blog entry "Who's Desperate?" Bautista revealed that Filipino
doctors in the US have called for a boycott of the television show and demande
d an apology from the producers of the show.
A class action suit is also being weighed, he said.
"I totally understand the outrage considering all the racial, academic and fina
ncial obstacles we all had to hurdle. But let's examine this closer. Do I expec
t to lose a single patient in rural Oklahoma as a result of this comment? Are w
e Filipino doctors irreparably harmed? I don't think we doctors worked and stud
ied very hard just to become excessively threatened by insensitive and mediocre
scriptwriting. We should have a fair idea of how much we are truly worth.
"I admit I used to be awed by Harvard and company. Not anymore. I now know it i
sn't all in the school, no matter how plush their classrooms are and how much c
utting-edge technology is available in the laboratories or even in faculty memb
ers brimming with degrees. A physician's competence ultimately depends on one's
capacity to learn arising from a deep compassion to care for our patients," he
continued.
"So while I am not happy about the comment I will continue to be at the endosco
py unit at 6:45 am and see patients the whole day and get on with my practice a
nd give the best patient care that I can. I don't intend to be bothered by thos
e who will allow DH to influence their choice of physicians," he said.
The Palace has said that it will
ask the show producers to apologize for the racial slur in the popular US tele
vision show.
Filipino blogger Misteryosa also did not hold back words.
"Filipinos are talented and smart (but kinda stupid, yeah), and I can't underst
and why a show like Desperate Housewives would stoop so low as to offhandedly t
hrow an insult just like that," Misteryosa wrote in her blog.
Other bloggers provided a link to the YouTube video clip of the controversial remark
made by Hatcher's character.
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.netPAYPAL is finally opening
up to users based in the Philippines.
Paypal is an online service that allows payments and money transfers through th
e Internet. Emerging as an alternative means to checks and money order, it is c
urrently used to process payments for online vendors and auction sites like eBa
y. This e-commerce service in turn charges a fee.
Paypal's worldwide services indicate that Philippine residents can now use the
service to "send and receive money worldwide," the service's website said.
"With over 100 million accounts worldwide and growing, we help you securely, ea
sily and quickly pay and get paid locally and across borders," it added.
Filipino professional bloggers welcomed this development, but expressed dissati
sfaction with what it really offers.
"So what does this mean? Well, like many other countries listed as having Paypa
l support, it's not really what others would call "Full Paypal Support," Abe Ol
andres wrote in Pinoy Tech Blog .
He argued that while Filipinos can now receive payments via Paypal, they can on
ly use the money to buy services or goods online.
"This makes the recent limited support practically useless to 99.9% of Filipino
Paypal users in the country. In that end, one would still have to use other 3r
d party services like Xoom to actually send funds and deposit them to local ban
ks. That makes it more expensive actually since money will have to go thru 2 ch
annels now instead of one," Olandres lamented.
Reacting to Olandres' posting, Arnold Gamboa said in a comment that local bank
Unionbank's EON debit card could be used to receive funds using Paypal.
"In that case, there can really be a 'full cycle' of transactions, including th
e delivery of funds -- only, it's really much cheaper if it is deposited direct
ly to a bank, which isn't available yet," Gamboa added.
More than a year ago, professional blogger J. Angelo Racoma launched a campaign to bring PayPal into the Ph
ilippines.
The campaign hoped to reward Filipino knowledge workers earning a decent income
from doing outsourced jobs.
In a telephone interview, Racoma said this development is good for now since th
e service is slowly opening up to users in the country.
"But the service does not allow us to withdraw from Philippine banks. We can on
ly use US bank or local debit cards to receive funds with charges. But it can n
ow be used to pay for services online," he said.
Racoma has said Paypal can help local talent earn from outsourced work by provi
ding easier and more efficient payment gateway.
He has acknowledged that an "underground economy" that involves Filipino knowle
dge workers doing contract work for foreign firms now exists in the Philippines
. They are not working for any business process outsourcing firm based in the c
ountry.
"If only we had PayPal in the Philippines, then I think we would be able to ope
n to the world better means to access to our pool of talent. In the course of m
y freelance work as a writer/blogger I've had clients who paid via money transf
er and it took days, and it was expensive. Xoom? It's a good mid-way solution,
but still not as convenient as having the real deal (PayPal). After all, they s
till get a cut, and the paying party still has to register for an account, wher
e his PayPal details would then be keyed in," he said in his blog.
Paypal allowed Filipinos based in the Philippines to use a limited service more
than a year ago.
