By Candice Montenegro, Contributor
INQUIRER.net

ONE boredom buster I’ve shared with all my friends is Googling. It’s basically just typing in random words or names on Google and looking at the websites that the search returns. It’s actually a fun way to learn new things everyday. When you type the word “falafel,” for example, you can read the origin of the famous Middle Eastern food as well as yummy recipes that teach you how to make some.

Anyway, if you’re up for it, try typing in the word “Filipina.” Here are some of the results you’ll get — Filipina Penpals, Filipina Dating, Filipina Singles, Sexy Filipina, Pinay and Exotic Models. Yes, that’s apparently the stereotypical Filipina that is shown online.

Good thing the top-ranked site now is a blog called The Filipina Images.

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By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net

A FORMER and a current Filipino journalist have created a blog countdown that aims to gather the sentiments of Filipinos who are impatiently waiting for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to step down in 2010.

“It’s certainly not inspired by (Antonio) Trillanes IV. I’m not a fan. But yes, the Manila Peninsula incident did just happen to bring up the point again. Whether you believe in coups or not, everybody agrees that 2010 is a long way away,” said Bangkok-based journalist Roby Alampay in an interview, as he introduced the Ang Tagal Naman blog.

“Ang Tagal Naman” is a Filipino phrase that roughly translates to “This is taking too long.”

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A CERTAIN Teo Marasigan in a blog entry titled Kapirasong Kritika, has sparked a discussion on why Filipino activists should not blog. Pointing out that activists have failed to use the Internet to expose and denounce the dominant “reactionary” ideas in the Internet, Marasigan has suggested that activists-bloggers should stop blogging.

His post eventually elicited reactions from some progressive blogs, including Mongster’s Nest by Mong Palatino and Reds Care.

Writing in Filipino, Marasigan argued that the Filipino Internet activists have somehow failed to also state the reactionary character of the Internet.

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FILIPINO blogger Ding Fuellos thought nobody would notice his simple act of extending his sympathies for the families who have lost a loved one during last week’s mall blast that killed 11 people.

“Everyone seems to be blogging about what happened, to the point of pointing fingers 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 paying attention to the mourners themselves. I would have written my own blog about this incident but what counted more was the fact that there seems to be no one expressing their sympathy to the families of the victims,” he said in an e-mail 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.

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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 united to blog about a single topic: the environment.

“Measuring an initiative like Blog Action Day is difficult. In 2007 we asked bloggers to register their blogs and a rough count of RSS (really simple syndication) 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 readership 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 found on a Google Blog search. Meanwhile, RSS readers that supported the global blogging initiative reached 14,631,038.

Blog Action Day also generated media buzz and support from the United Nations Environmental Programme and European Union Commissioner for the Environment Stavros Dimas who held a special live Internet chat to coincide with Blog Action Day.

In the Philippines, a Google Blog search search of the term “‘Blog Action Day AND Philippines” showed more than 50 blogs joining the global action.

BLOG Action Day, a global mass action among online diary sites or weblogs, has gathered more than 15,000 blogs and millions of readers, organizers said Monday.

Established to encourage people to blog about a chosen topic for a day, Blog Action 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 they hope they can make a difference by steering the “global conversation” towards important issues.

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REMEMBER, Oct. 15 is Blog Action Day. Join thousands of bloggers around the world in uniting for the environment.

Here’s a video clip courtesy of ReVampTV.com.

And read Erwin Oliva’s previous blog post.

FILIPINO blog Tingog.com, which previously called for the resignation of Filipino lifestyle columnist Malu Fernandez, has renewed calls to boycott the newspaper she writes for.

“Here it is, our stand, because Manila Standard Today has chosen to hide behind their term ‘protocol’ and issue a pardon to their most beloved columnist for all The Filipinos to see. This is a call to boycott, for the irresponsible behavior of Manila Standard Today, they have chosen to pass up the option of doing the right thing, and essentially show their true colors and the standards they are upholding,” the blog said.

INQUIRER.net called the Manila Standard Today for a reaction to the boycott call but was told the paper was not issuing any statement.

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BLOGGERS around the world have been invited to join a mass blog effort for one day about one topic, starting with the environment.

“On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind — the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future,” the organizers behind the Blog Action Day announced on their blog.

As of this writing, the call has already attracted 1,358 blogs, the organizers said. A-list bloggers have already signed up first for this call to action, including Lifehack, Copyblogger, Get Rick Slowly, The Simple Dollar, and Zen Habits, among others.

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HERE’S an excerpt from a story from Ephraim Aguilar of the Inquirer Southern Luzon Bureau:

MASBATE CITY–Four youths here have found blogging a chance to tell the world not only about the beauty of the seas surrounding this island province but also about the threats that could doom their rich marine ecosystems.

Representing the country at the international forum “Fishes Feed Us,” Ralph Cedie Fabon, 13, Kristine Yentyl Esber, 14, Soccii Nenotchka Tuason, 15, and Philip Joseph Alarcon, 15, all from Masbate, joined the exchange of ideas with youths from India, Malaysia, Philippines, and the United States on the global fish crisis.

The Fishes Feed Us blog was a project of the Arts and Science Collaborations Inc., a nongovernment organization based in New York City devoted to exploring the intersections of arts and science.