July 2008 Archives

By Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net MANILA, Philippines -- Since he first started blogging in 2003, Filipino singer and composer Jim Paredes can still recall the thrill of putting his thoughts i n cyberspace and getting quick responses from people. "Itâs as if the Internet was my nervous system and cyberspace was my barangay," Paredes said as he described his feeling when he first started blogging. Paredes, who migrated with his family to Australia in 2006, has been known for his music and compositions, his career on Philippine television, and his being a member of the APO Hiking Society, a singing group composed of Danny Javier, B oboy Garrovillo and himself. "I've been blogging since 2003. I felt the need to express myself outside of my usual venues like music, recordings, TV, etc. I also discovered I like talking to a world audience and receiving quick reactions and feedback," Paredes said. Paredes writes, or as he puts it, "talks" about art, humor, feelings, music, tr avel, family, migration and issues that delve somewhat on the inner life and sp irituality in his blog. What does Paredes think about blogging? "Blogging has given me an added audience that I could not previously access. In a way, they have gotten to know me more intimately than what they could read a nd watch in traditional media. Even APO's traditional audience has reconnected with us through the net. The Internet is an intimate medium and people like tha t," he said. Paredes admitted that many of their recent gigs came about because "producers c an now access us directly." "Our audience can send us email regarding their song requests, and we get insta nt reactions right after the gigs. Then there's Youtube as well and their own b logs where they write reviews. It's a small cyberworld," he said. Paredes said his children also keep their own blogs. "It is a way for me to know where they are when I am physically away from them. In a strange way, our life in Sydney has become some sort of reality show in c yberspace since people follow up on how we are doing," he said. Paredes is all over cyberspace. "I have Multiply, Wordpress, Facebook and Blogger accounts. I will be blogging for a long time. It's a habit I have developed and I love to do it," he said. Asked about blogging's role for Filipino celebrities now living abroad, Paredes replied, "It is a lifeline to your audience. In a way, the distance between a celebrity and his audience is diminished somewhat since now, they can access a celebrity's family photos, read his or her thoughts and opinions, even about th ings that are personal and very recent which traditional media cannot always pr ovide. Cyberspace has made the world borderless. Chat, podcasts can keep everyo ne in touch."

A fake blog (see above scr eenshot) supposedly written by former Senator Ralph Recto has emeraged even if he has not even assumed his position as director general of the National Econom ic Development Authority. His staff said the blog is nothing but "black propaganda," as one post indicate d that those who did not vote for him were "stupid." INQUIRER.net reporter Veronica Uy has the story here. A quick check on the domain "ralphrecto.com" showed that the domain has been created sometime in April 2005. The registrar of the domai n is "Blue Razor Domains." The blog is hosted in the US .

MAKATI CITY, Philippines â Filipino bloggers and students visited the Commissio n on Elections (Comelec) last week to try their hands on the automated systems that will be used in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections in August. Led by the Bloggers' Kapihan, 20 students and bloggers participated in mock elections, where actor Pierce Brosna n won as regional governor for ARMM over mock candidates Kevin Costner, Leonard o DiCaprio, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Al Pacino and Shar on Stone, according to Comelec's blog. Vanessa Redgrave won as regional vice governor, beating Mariah Carey, Celine Di on, Michael Jackson, Tom Jones, Jennifer Lopez, Brian McKnight and David Pomera nz, Comelec added. You can read the rest of the story here.

Editor's Note: Updated and clarified quoted statement. The Philippines' first Wordcamp Philippines, a boot camp for free blogging platform Wordpress, nears, according to organizers. Led by Mindanao-based bloggers, the Wordcamp Philippines aims to bring both use rs and developers of the Wordpress. It also aims to bring together Filipino ent husiasts using this platform for the first time. According to this blog, the Wordcamp Philippines i s scheduled to happen on September 6, 2008 at the College of St. Benilde in Met ro Manila. Wordcamp Philippines is organized by Mindanao-based bloggers Oliver Robillo, Ma ria Jose, Migs Hipolito, Winston Almendras and Andrew dela Serna. Various Wordcamps have been held in the US and other parts of the world because it has become popular platform for web publishing.