Pinoy Blog Machine (Beta)

I'm getting excited for my next trip to Manila. My flight is scheduled to leave Davao on Saturday afternoon. Am I going for another vacation? No. I'm going to Manila to fix some things.

• Yearbook follow up - this is the official purpose of my trip. I need to follow-up the status of our yearbook in the printing press. We only have two months left for printing and binding and we still lack some materials. I'm going there to supervise the progress of our yearbook.
  
  
• Find lab equipment and materials - This is for my school project. We have not finished it yet because we lack some chips needed in our circuit design. I know a good place in Mandaluyong where I can get the parts needed.
  
  
• Meet my pal, Jehz - Yes...i'm going to meet him. I'm bringing along with me some fans of his friend Jemme
  
  
• Have my iPod earphone fixed - I'm going to Power Mac in Greenbelt and see if the apple people could possible fix my broken iPod headset since it's still covered under the warranty period.

Whew.. I'm going to have a busy weekend. By the way, we're going to Belly's Grill for our lunch. This is still part of the Davao Food Trip organized by Kuya Blogie. I heard that another resto wants to sponsor our next stop. Yummy!

This is an e-mail I sent to the Mindanao Bloggers mailing list. This is for those people who monetize their blogs. Please read.

Good day guys,

A couple of days ago, I made an entry (Jobless dilemma) with an in-line ad link. The entry was not a review of the advertiser, neither his site nor his products and services. (at some point, the entry's topic is related to the advertiser's ad).

But to my dismay, last night, when i checked the comments on that post.... I received a comment from someone. The person said "Maniniwala na sana ako kaso may sponsored links sa ibaba. Kaduda-duda na tuloy ang post nato.". WhaattT?? Ok......zipped

Let this be a reminder to us all, (especially those who monetize our blogs), making money out of our blogs is not bad. In fact, it's a good thing. But compromising our content for the sake of earning defeats the purpose of blogging. And placing an ad does not invalidate the message you are convey to your readers.

I would like to quote what Kuya Blogie said (a comment to that post): "having in-post ads doesn't invalidate the post's message. monetizing blogs is now an accepted activity"


Kind regards,
The Yagit Kid - http://www.batangyagit.com

The 24th International Seating Symposium will be held on March 5-8, 2008 at The Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, BC, Canada. This international symposium addresses current and future developments in the areas of seating, positioning and mobility. Topic areas include service delivery, product development, research and evaluation. The format for the symposium will include plenary, poster, instructional and paper sessions. Extensive opportunities are provided for networking with colleagues.

Symposium Objectives
At the completion of this symposium, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the range of seating and mobility techniques available for clients with a variety of disabilities.
2. Discuss the emerging research evidence supporting seating and mobility practices.
3. Locate resources for seating and mobility practice.
4. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of a number of innovative service models and new technologies.

Rates
The rates for the symposium are now available and listed below (All Rates Include GST).

Pre-Symposium Workshop Only
Full Day: $185
Half Day: $110

Attendence with Main Symposium
Full Day: $155
Half Day: $95

For more information on this event, you may download the full brochure here.

I think I'm not joining the fray on the television ratings brouhaha--yet. The amount of vitriol spewed everywhere by parties concerned and television fans over the controversy makes me dizzy even by just thinking about it. So maybe a bit later, but not now.

Here's an interesting journalism issue Howie Severino posted in his blog. Should journalists pay their sources?

The standard argument against checkbook journalism is that paying for information creates an additional incentive for subjects to lie or embellish the truth.

As the supposed watchdogs on power, journalists have to watch our own. We tiptoe through ethical minefields daily. Among my off-camera roles at our network is to sound a warning when we're about to blow our legs off. Of course no one is perfect so I'm glad that's just a figurative analogy or we'd have more than a few legless journalists crawling around.

Among those issues we wrestle with is how we should relate to our subjects/characters aka case studies, those people we focus our stories on. In long-format shows like I-Witness, we sometimes ask these folks, many of whom earn subsistence livelihoods, to spend days and often nights with us. Should we pay them for their efforts?

The gut reflex for journalists is to refuse because of the principle of non-payment for information. But I recently read a thoughtful essay reassessing that view in the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR).

Read here for more of Howie's thoughts on the issue.

For some reasons I think brought about by the deregulation of air travel with the help of competition and demand-and-supply the 3 major Philippines-based air carriers Cebu Pacific (domestic and international), Air Philippines (domestic) and Philippine Airlines (domestic) simultaneously have their own seat promotions. Whew! I'm now very torn when and where to go to take advantage of these seasonal offerings, additionally I'm confused what airline to choose.

I now truly believe that our country is being dominated by Chinese businessmen that the Chinese traits and beliefs in business are being adapted in this country because you will see the lucky number "8" everywhere. There's nothing wrong with that... In fact, I'm thankful because a domestic seat goes as low as 8 pesos and 888 pesos for Asian destinations.

I will no longer mention the different terms and mechanics on how to avail of the low fares being offered by the 3 airlines as I already mentioned them in my previous posts. Just visit their websites and book online to find out more.