By Carlo S. Ople

I was just reading the latest articles on the recently concluded Anti Con-Ass rally on Inquirer.Net. According to the police, this rally had the lowest turnout, around 6,000 based on their estimates.

The organizers, on the other hand, claim that they had 13,000-15,000 warm bodies. You got to ask yourself the question: despite all the outrage this issue has generated, why only 15,000 people went to the streets?

I’m sure there are varied reasons but at the end of the day the measurement of success for events like this is the number of participants. Sadly 15,000 is not representative of the majority of the Filipino people and can easily be dismissed by the politicians pushing for Con Ass.

However, the good news is that on the Internet, we have almost double the number of the people who went to the rally sign up on the “Stop Con Ass Now” cause on Facebook. As of this writing, there are almost 28,000 sign-ups on the cause.

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By Anna Valmero

THE Filipino online community slammed the approval of House Bill 1109 that set up a constituent assembly (ConAss) that might allow the administration to stay in power beyond 2010.

The approval of HB 1109 on Tuesday midnight empowered Congress to convene itself into a Constituent aseembly, where members of the House and the Senate could vote jointly to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Filipino quickly jumped on the issue, as they launched an online website called No to Con-Ass!. Others linked to this site, as they included an online badge that said, “Have you no shame?”

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By Niña Terol

(Editor’s note: Originally posted on author’s blog)

1. For writers and other creative souls, blogging is practice. Participants of my Freelance Writing for Dummies class know this: I cannot stress enough the importance of blogging, especially for an aspiring freelance writer. Blogging offers a free platform for writers and other creatives to test out their ideas, hone their writing style, explore various subject matters, and begin developing a relationship with an audience.

Writing is very serious work, and anyone who wants to become a writer—whether full-time or part-time—must treat it with utmost respect. It is a demanding art-craft that requires the reader’s full attention once the page is opened, so the writer must ensure that the written material is worth the ink, the space, and the reader’s time.

Blogging, then, is like the rehearsal before the actual performance. It allows the writer to flex those critical writing muscles and get into character so that once “real writing” is needed, the audience won’t be disappointed.

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Filipino bloggers are now picking up Filipino songwriter Gary Granada’s recorded complaint against GMA Kapuso Foundation, which he accuses of allegedly using his study without his permission.

A blog called “Ang Kape Ni LaTtex,” says Granada’s recorded complaint has been making the rounds via blogs, Plurk, Twitter and e-mail. The blog says:

In a nutshell, Mr. Granada, a noted Filipino singer-composer, voiced his sentiments against GMA Kapuso Foundation, regarding a jingle that he composed music for. According to Mr. Granada, GMA rejected his study for the jingle, but allegedly used his revisions for the lyrics (which was provided to him by GMA), and based the final tune on the musical structure of his study, all without attribution or pay. It would be best that you listen to the audio cast and hear it in detail and come up with your own opinions regarding the issue.

What makes this audiocast special, however, is the extent of Mr. Granada’s use of New Media — or, “Web two point oh” — to detail his complaint, in a totally unprecedented manner, and against Mainstream Media to boot!

Filipinovoices blog has also picked up on the issue.

Rarely do we ever write about the music industry here at FV, but this specific case will be an exception, only because this is a case of an entire media company denying a wrong that it has done, especially to a very talented composer like Gary Granada.

Songwriter and Composer, Gary Granada, was given lyrics which he was supposed to translate into music. This music would ultimately be used by GMA for a Kapuso foundation media campaign. But, GMA ended up not using Gary Granada, but it seems that they used his musical creation in the end, and basically ditched Gary and gave him nothing at all, not even a claim on the work itself, because as GMA says, Gary’s work was a “collective” work.

Ang Kape ni LatTex notes that Granada’s complaint is “totally unprecedented” because of the use of the Internet to air his sentiments.

What makes this audiocast special, however, is the extent of Mr. Granada’s use of New Media — or, “Web two point oh” — to detail his complaint, in a totally unprecedented manner, and against Mainstream Media to boot!

In the audiocast, he included a clip of his original study, the final product, and a detailed explanation on the musical structure of both, including the musical theory behind his gripes and a re-rendered tune comprising of his accompaniment and the tune used in the final cut of the jingle. To say that Mr. Granada maximized new media to explain his side is an understatement — he clearly understood that this is the best possible way to make people understand the situation in its fullest extent.

By Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON–TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington announced Wednesday he is taking a break from writing for his influential technology blog after being spat on at a conference and getting death threats.

Writing on techcrunch.com, Arrington, 38, said an unidentified man “walked up to me and quite deliberately spat in my face” on Tuesday at the Digital, Life, Design conference he was attending in Munich, Germany.

“In the past I’ve been grabbed, pulled, shoved and otherwise abused at events, but never spat on,” Arrington said. “I think this is where I’m going to draw a line.

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This case about Quezon City Science High school students supposedly criticizing their school’s policies through their blogs brings to mind issues of freedom of expression and responsibility.

Based on earlier reports, these four students blogged about certain policies they deemed “unfair.” For that, they were suspended. As one student recalled:

“It’s not true that there was due process. We were asked to submit letters of apology and we thought that was it. Next thing we knew, we were suspended for ten days,” he added.

The school reportedly submitted a recommendation that the four students be suspended for 10 days, which was later approved by the Department of Education’s division. Later –or after news about the suspension of these students was picked up by media, the DepEd revoked the suspension and ordered an investigation.

When I was still in high school, it was unthinkable to criticize school policies. We do discuss about such things. But they were all done privately among us, students. Back then, there was no Internet to speak of. No blogs. No social networks.

Today, it’s quite different, as some teachers and college professors I have talked to attest. Yes, some teachers know that students blog and that they are now more vocal about their feelings about school policies, subjects, and even the teachers themselves. Some teachers may find this “inappropriate.” But others chose to tolerate it.

Question is: what can teachers/principals/school official tolerate?

Based on this report, the students claim they were not given due process when they were suspended. Also, they claim that the blogs were “private,” meaning only “friends” have access to it.

The report indicates that the students’ blogs were allegedly critical of the school principal, Dr. Zenaida Sadsad.

At this point, it’s hard to say whether or not the school was right in suspending these students. Students do have the right to express what they feel, but since they were done “privately” albeit through the Internet (think of discussions in a private mailing list that are posted in a public list), are they answerable to the school?

On the flipside, it is also apt to ask whether or not these students have gone beyond merely venting their feelings to the point of already maligning persons involved.

What do you think?

By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net

SOCIAL networking sites continue to evolve and now shape up for a new career: in the political arena. At Facebook’s News Feed menu, you can identify friends who are attending the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama online.

In the study “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship” by Danah M. Boyd and Nicole B. Ellison, one of the first recognizable social network site launched is SixDegrees.com (1997), as well as Classmates.com which started in 1995.

Today, social networking sites abound boasting different features, such as multimedia sharing, links, messaging and micro-blogging.

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By Marjorie Gorospe

“UNHAPPY the land that is in need of heroes.”

This is a notable quotation from German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It is now the core message of Mae Paner’s (a.k.a. Juana Change) latest video posted on YouTube.

Taking the role of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW), Paner portrays a domestic helper who talks about how OFWs are often considered as “bagong bayani” or new heroes of the country due to sacrifices they make.

These new heroes work abroad, leaving their families behind to find jobs elsewhere.

“We do not need praises, we need money,” Juana Change says, as she tells a stranger on a plane about her feelings working abroad.

While more and more Filipinos work abroad as professionals, some end up doing jobs that are menial.

In the video, her character mocks government officials who go abroad to hide their ill-gotten wealth.

The video eventually ends with a familiar face: national hero Dr. Jose Rizal.

It was as if Paner was showing the two faces of heroes. Rizal sacrificed his life for the country; while OFWs continue to sacrifice comfort and dignity to support their family and eventually our economy.

But as Bretch’s saying goes, this country still needs more heroes who have the genuine interest to serve the country minus personal interest, desire for power and corruption.

Watch her video:

By Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON — Facebook is facing an online protest after removing pictures of breastfeeding mothers found to be overly revealing from the pages of members of the social network.

A Facebook group entitled “Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!” has attracted nearly 85,000 members as of Tuesday and a handful of activists held a rally outside its California headquarters over the weekend.

The organizers of the page, which is hosting a lively debate, receiving more than 10,000 comments, said they launched their “Official Petition to Facebook” after Facebook pulled profile pictures showing women nursing their babies.

“The pictures have been reported as ‘obscene’ and have been removed — their posters warned not to repost or fear being kicked off of Facebook,” the group’s organizers said.

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JUST a day after a golf club mauling incident was reported, dozens of blogs are denouncing alleged perpetrators who happen to be high-ranking government officials.

Masui, Lanao del Sur Mayor Nasser Pangandaman, Jr. and several of his golf companions and bodyguards figured in an altercation last December 26 with Delfin de la Paz and his 14-year old son Bino at the Valley Golf and Country Club in Antipolo City.

It was later found out that Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman Sr. was also present at the golf club but was said to have not been part of the alleged mauling.

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