THERE is no escaping the Pacquiao frenzy, even on the Web. Come Sunday in Manila, INQUIRER.net will again deliver breaking news, a running account and even Twitter posts about the Pacquiao-Diaz fight.

To whet the appetites of Filipinos and other boxing fans worldwide, INQUIRER.net has also put up The Pacquiao Files, a webpage dedicated to the Filipino boxing hero. The Twitter entries will also appear on The Pacquiao Files site itself.

The site contains news and feature articles on Pacquiao leading to his upcoming bout against WBC lightweight champ Diaz. Plus of course photos and video clips of Pacquiao in action.

INQUIRER.net has been doing running accounts of the previous Pacquiao fights, including the last slugfest with Juan Manuel Marquez. In case you can’t watch TV this Sunday and you’re in front of the computer, your best bet is to go to The Pacquiao Files.

A DAY after an apparent news embargo on the abduction of ABS-CBN reporter Ces Drilon, two of her crew and a professor from the Mindanao State University, the online Filipino community of bloggers and forums is already alive with exchanges about their fates. Some offered prayers and praises for her while others speculated as to the purpose of the media blackout.

Since Monday, there has been speculation regarding the alleged abduction. Forums such as PinoyExchange.com and Peyups.com have dedicated threads on the issue and have been exchanging ideas since June 9. One member of Peyups.com posted a story from the online version of The Mindanao Examiner, though some members questioned the veracity of the story, stating that they have not picked up the story from other news websites and that it could be a hoax.

It was on June 9 when ABS-CBN executives “requested” other media outfits to embargo the story until 6 a.m. of June 10, stating concerns about the safety of Drilon and her companions. This was also later criticized by some Peyups.com and Pinoyexchange.com members.

Nevertheless, they still offered their sympathies and hoped that the abducted group would be released unharmed.

A few bloggers have started discussing the story. Warrior Lawyer’s blog post stressed the dangers of journalists going after stories, especially in war-torn areas, noting the story of American journalist Daniel Pearl who was beheaded by his abductors in Iraq.

“…the safety of all journalists is our collective concern. Without them, our democracy risks being reduced, in the words of Chief Justice Puno, to the ’sovereignty of the deaf and the dumb,’” Warrior Lawyer said.

Others criticized the apparent media blackout on the abduction. Willie Galang saw the embargo on the story as a form of control by a media institution. “Look who’s doing news blackouts now! Look who’s asking everyone concerned to be circumspect on their brand of journalism! I never thought these words would actually be part of an official statement from ABS-CBN. It just appears funny coming from the not-so-responsible network itself.”

Some critics had less-than-kind words for Drilon, the company she works for and the media in general. One comment on the blog post of Ellen Tordesillas states: “By the way, why is it that whenever someone gets kidnapped (not from media), the media is all over it even on the pleadings of the victim’s family not to report it. But when it’s their own who gets kidnapped they had a news blackout? Their reason? “… with utmost consideration for the safety of our news team” Whoa.. as if the other victims safety is of no importance to them. Sorry guys can’t help it. I knew someone who has been kidnapped before and these media outfits are like leeches.. the relatives just couldn’t shake them off!!!”

Another comment on a Tagpuan.com blog post disapproved of media’s continuous efforts to take dangerous assignments without security detail:”Very irresponsible kasi, dapat laging may kasamang security or any provincial police pag pumupunta sa mga liblilb na lugar sa Pilipinas… Yan ang advice ng government sa mga journalist, pero hindi nakikinig ang ABS [CBN]…”

Mike’s blogs include The Mike Abundo Effect, Inside Online Video and Tech Side Up.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania.

Check out their blog — their latest entry is about Hannah’s Beijing adventure.

SAN FRANCISCO, California–The world had real-time news about China’s massive earthquake as victims dashed out “twitter” text messages while it took place, in what was being touted Tuesday as micro-blogging outshining mainstream news.

As the earth shook with tragic consequences, people in the parts of China that felt the quake used their mobile telephones to send terse messages using the service provided by the San Francisco-based Twitter Inc.

News of the deadly catastrophe reached Twitter devotees such as blogger Robert Scoble in San Francisco even before the massive temblor, which killed more than 12,000 people in Sichuan province, was reported by news organizations and the earthquake-tracking US Geological Survey.

“Several people in China reported to me they felt the quake while it was going on!,” Scoble wrote in his popular Scobleizer blog.

Twitters are abbreviated text messages that can be instantly posted on online bulletin boards and personal websites and sent to the mobile telephones of selected friends.

They were at the forefront of a gush of quake pictures and video swiftly posted online via services such as Yahoo’s Flickr, Google’s YouTube, and French entrepreneur Loic Le Meur’s fledgling Seesmic, which has been called the “Twitter of video.”

Twitter reportedly became a source of information for major news organizations covering the China earthquake.

“This event has the potential to bring mainstream media into the Twitter world,” Alec Saunders wrote in his Personal Soapbox blog.

Twitter launched in March of 2006 and ignited a “micro-blogging” trend by letting people share their every move, mundane or dazzling, with friends every moment of the day.

Twitter users get a maximum of 140 characters a message; ironically, Twitter designer Biz Stone envisioned its potential as a communication tool by a “tweet” warning he received about a California earthquake while about to board a train last year.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey told AFP in a 2007 interview that inspiration for the service came from his experience writing software for courier and emergency service dispatchers that need to route people between locations.

“It was an immediate pulse that sums up the zeitgeist of Twitter,” Stone told AFP. Twitter’s role spreading word about China’s earthquake seems to have won others to Stone’s camp, but skeptics remain.

Search Engine Land blogger Danny Sullivan called it “absurd” to suggest that Twitter users knew of the Sichuan earthquake before the US Geological Survey, which uses seismic equipment positioned around the world to record such events, and then after a scientist’s review sends out notices of the events.

“Reading some of the accounts, you’d get the impression Twitter seemed to alert the USGS to the news,” Sullivan said.

FROM WRITING about showbiz to politics to Davao City and even the whole of Mindanao, Maria Jose has been making the virtual rounds among Mindanao’s growing blogging community. She’s also become popular among Manila’s blogging community, even representing herself during the recently held iBlog4 conference at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Jose, known as Ria to her friends and the blogging community, holds the distinction of having such a diverse string of blogs covering politics, lifestyle, entertainment and even gaming. The young Davaoeña, who works as a staffer for Davao City councilor Louie Bonguyan, still has time to write for her various blogs and even organize events for her colleagues in the blogging community as well as her gaming group. Her blogs include Alleba Politics, Chikadora.com, Shopchicks.com, Shoppingera.net, and the DotA Blog, among others.

Surprisingly, Jose said her motivation for blogging was to combat boredom. As a student of Environmental Science at the Ateneo De Manila University in the late 1990s, she had too much time on her hands. She started writing essays and posting them in a mailing list. Some of the her friends started commenting on her essays, so she moved to posting them on her personal website. Jose credits her knowledge in web development as well as her entry into the blogging community to Andrew de la Serna, a search engine expert working in Davao City.

In the early years of 2000 Jose wrote more about politics. She also wrote a piece that landed in the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Youngblood section sometime in 2003. Jose’s online posts got the attention of many bloggers in the Mindanao area, and even that of Davao councilor Peter Laviña, who has his own blog and is probably one of the most prolific politician-bloggers in the country.

Jose and De la Serna, with the help of some Manila-based bloggers, organized a small gathering of bloggers in Davao. Though they expected only 20 people, the event drew about 50 other bloggers in the same area, which she said goes to show that there is a healthy community of bloggers in Davao. Later on, the group held the first Mindanao Bloggers Summit last year to help strengthen their community in the south.

Jose said that she’s turning her eyes now towards promoting the cultural aspects of Mindanao and Davao City. While much has been written about Mindanao, Jose emphasized that much has not been spoken about Mindanao and Davao. In fact, many of the articles written about Mindanao are negative, pertaining to the insurgency in the area, as well as the Abu Sayyaf.

“What other people think about Mindanao and Davao is that it’s a war-torn place. In reality, there are only small places in Mindanao where violence occurs and most of it remains intact. There are so many things other people don’t know about us that I think that perception should change,” Jose said.

Editor’s note: Video taken by INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania.

NOW on its fourth year, the recently held iBlog blogging forum at the University of the Philippines Diliman Law Center showcased different aspects of blogging, with several bloggers serving as speakers.

Charo Nuguid, who maintains The Geekette Speaketh, gave first-time bloggers an overview of blogging, as well as resources where users can get tools that will get them into the social networking scene.

Controversial Australian blogger Brian Gorrell also made his presence felt in the event through a video blog that welcomed the participants. Gorrell emphasized the need for people to speak out their minds. However, he cautioned that while blogging can be a form of communication, bloggers will almost always receive flak from those who do not agree with certain missives. Nevertheless, Gorrell stressed that bloggers should continue with their craft.

As blogging becomes a powerful communication tool, some have taken the concept to the next level as professional bloggers. One example is computer engineering student blogger Juan Karlo Licudine, who shared his experience as a problogger who earns an income through blogging.

The young Licudine explained that he has found a niche in problogging. When queried about how much he earns as a problogger, he said that it could reach as high as $1,000.

However, he said problogging also involves risks, in particular the high risk of failure and lack of useful work experience.

“It’s also unpredictable and constantly changing,” he added.

Here’s a video I took of Licudine’s mom asking him after his presentation if he still needs an allowance.

Podcasting and video blogging

In the afternoon session, Google country consultant for the Philippines Aileen Apolo and video blogger Coy Caballes introduced podcasts and video blogs. In fact, the two didn’t present and instead recorded themselves prior to the event, using a video to explain what podcasts and video blogs are.

Apolo also spoke a bit about video blogging as a form of citizen journalism, wherein a video blogger can serve as a journalist by submitting their videos to an online media site. Although quite new, Apolo and Caballes said video blogging can create new concepts not normally used in traditional broadcast media.

Here’s Apolo responding to a question on video blogging as a form of news reporting, and pointing out the difference between bloggers and journalists. With her is Caballes.

Blogging and 2010 elections

Veteran journalist Luz Rimban and columnist and socio-political analyst Manuel L. Quezon III had their say on what the blogging community can contribute to the coverage of the upcoming 2010 elections. This was the main highlight of the iBlog4 summit and at some point prepared bloggers for what they can do.

Rimban and Quezon had different approaches as to the responsibilities of the blogger but agreed that bloggers, with their wide social network, can play a role in ensuring clean and honest elections in 2010.

Rimban narrated that media outfits had limitations in coverages and so bloggers had filled up some of the gaps. Rimban said that in the 2010 elections, bloggers can again fill the gaps that mainstream media could not cover. Bloggers can even report about stories not normally reported in broadcast or print.

“Citizen journalists can help reconnect the public with the political processes, revive interest in elections, and create a sense of community among voters,” Rimban said.

For his part, Quezon emphasized the need to spur on voters against corruption, saying that a blogger covering the election should be a “pain-in-the-ass.” On the other hand, he noted that the low level of acceptance by voters of bloggers’ reportage of the elections could go beyond 2010 when more Filipinos get access to broadband Internet connection, especially in the provinces.

“It may take until 2016 for blogging to make an impact,” Quezon said.

In this video, Rimban answers a question about tapping bloggers for news coverage. With her in the video is Quezon.

Meanwhile, lawyer JJ Disini talked about the legal culpability of bloggers when it comes to copyright infringement and libelous statements. He cited the example of blogger Gorrell, who made allegations on the wayward lifestyles of members of high society.

Here’s a video of Disini talking about the copyright issues that bloggers must take into account and explaining the concept of fair use.

Editor’s note: Videos taken by INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania.

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.

The Filipina Images is an advocacy blog and news site that aims to, as its header proudly says, “Reshape the Filipina Image Online.” The Filipina is more than just mail order brides or models — she is a mother, a sister, a professional, a beautiful person inside and out — and the blog aims to show the world exactly who she is.

Created in August 2007 by Lorna Lardizabal-Dietz, Dine Racoma and Noemi Lardizabal-Dado, the site aims to “balance” the Filipina image available online by gathering blog entries, stories and news items that highlight accomplishments of Pinays here and abroad.

The blog contains stories ranging from Pinay talents winning competitions abroad to Pinays who made a difference in other people’s lives. It also provides links to other blogs that contain entries that help promote their advocacy of showing a more diverse and more complex Filipina.

It doesn’t try to cover up the truth that there really are Filipina mail order brides. What it tries to promote is the fact that all Filipinas, no matter what their careers are, have dignity and deserve the right to empower themselves.

The Filipina Images offers three easy ways for ordinary bloggers like you and me to help change the Filipina image online.

First, they encourage bloggers (men and women alike) to post entries and discuss anything about the Filipina. The use of the word in discussing things apart from penpals or online dates will help in slowly changing the sites in the search engine results page (SERP).

Second, they encourage a Google bombing campaign — an attempt to influence the ranking of a given page by linking certain words to a particular site. A Filipino-American production group called Touchblue once suggested a similar campaign to Google bomb the word Filipina and to link it to websites such as the Gabriela Network and Babae San Francisco. However, this Google bombing campaign encourages people to link to just one site — the Filipina Women’s Network (FWN) site — which makes it more effective and more likely to affect the SERP.

Lastly, the site provides a cute little badge that says “Yan ang Pinay,” which bloggers can use to link to the FWN site or to the Filipina Images site.

The blog is a solid effort to consolidate stories that empower the image not only of Filipino women but Filipinos in general. It breaks the stereotypes and shows the world what we have and what we truly are. But more importantly, it reminds fellow Filipinos that there’s so much we have to offer. More than just changing the image of Filipinas online, The Filipina Image changes the way we look at ourselves. It makes us proud of our fellow Filipinas, and there’s no need for Googling to know that at the end of the day, that’s what matters most.

WE’RE always told that the world is our classroom. Now, blogging gives a whole new meaning to that cliché and proves there really is a virtual classroom in the world (wide web).

Edublogs are blogs primarily used for educational purposes. These include blogs written by teachers (for a class or co-teachers) and those maintained by students for a particular school subject or class.

The blog is becoming a popular outlet for education-related discussions because it provides a fast and convenient way to share insights, resources and even homework. It is easy to update regularly, and feedback can come in the form of comments.

Edublogs are a great way for teachers to find information related to their discipline or interests. Edublogs.org, for instance, categorizes other edublogs, offering an organized list of links related to the subject you need. It can also be used to communicate with teachers from other schools and even other parts of the world.

Teachers also use edublogs to provide additional input for a class. Examples and homework can be posted on a blog. Teachers can post tips or even website links and activities to help students understand a particular lesson. The edublogs then become a convenient extension of the class discussion.

Other teachers also use edublogs to communicate with the class. Announcements and schedules can be posted on a blog that both student and parent can access. It removes the need to print and distribute letters with reply slips that are often not returned on time anyway.

Edublogs are also very beneficial for students. Just as teachers post tips and extra input, the students can post questions and clarifications through comments. And the good thing is other students can join in the discussion and learn from others’ questions as well. It becomes an online class recitation, where everybody replies almost instantaneously to the comments.

It can also be used as a collaborative tool for the class, especially when students post their insights on a particular topic or subject. Some edublogs even cater to students from different schools that are taking up the same class. Working in a group becomes much easier, and the easy archiving enables students to just click on a link and go back to a discussion that he or she missed.

The advantage of an edublog is its accessibility. Often, there is not enough time to discuss everything inside the classroom. Not all students are given the chance to speak up, while some consciously choose not to recite at all. Edublogs give both teachers and students an almost unlimited ability to communicate, so that everyone has an equal chance to participate in the discussion.

On the other hand, edublogs will only serve their purpose if all students have access to the Internet. In the Philippines, only 15 percent of our population had Internet access in 2007, and some students do not even have their own books, let alone their own computers. While it may work for private schools and universities, it will take time before they can become truly beneficial for all our students and teachers.

Nevertheless, the edublog is just one of the many innovations that will push education forward, so that it can continuously adapt to the changing times. It provides a different approach to teacher-student communication and even faculty relations, and proves that learning can indeed go beyond the four walls of the classroom.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia.