The surest sign of a culture embracing a concept is the creation of slang surrounding that concept.
Filipino game publisher Level Up! recently released six songs inspired by the Philippine Ragnarok Online service. One of them sings the woes of a boy deceived by a chiksilog. Chiksilog, apparently, is Filipino gamer slang for a male gamer playing a female character online, possibly to have eager guys volunteer their help in quests.
It's smart gameplay, really. My highest-level Ragnarok character is a woman. ;)
Friday, April 15, 2005
Will Robots Have the Right to Fly?
Engadget reports a bunch of students who were barred from boarding a flight with their robot.
Perhaps future robotic activists will lobby for electromagnetically-shielded cabins. ;)
Perhaps future robotic activists will lobby for electromagnetically-shielded cabins. ;)
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Voogle
A while back, I posted that Google would launch a video upload service.
Well, here it is: Google Video (Beta) Video Upload Program.
Get those camphones ready. ;)
Well, here it is: Google Video (Beta) Video Upload Program.
Get those camphones ready. ;)
Integration = Acceleration
Though integration often sacrifices flexibility, integration creates ease-of-use -- and ease-of-use is key to accelerated adoption.
Microsoft's Mike Torres claims that MSN Spaces signed up more people in the past few days than existed in the first five years of the blogosphere.
Yahoo! 360º will no doubt have a similar effect once it goes public. The effect will be felt even more strongly here in the Philippines, where most online Filipinos use Yahoo! Messenger as their primary chat client.
While MSN Spaces has trackbacks and customization over Yahoo! 360º, the latter offers two things the former does not: integrated social networking, and (soon) the ability to receive RSS feeds as input for content posts. If MSN doesn't implement similar features, they could lose social networking mavens and existing hardcore bloggers to Yahoo!
Microsoft's Mike Torres claims that MSN Spaces signed up more people in the past few days than existed in the first five years of the blogosphere.
Yahoo! 360º will no doubt have a similar effect once it goes public. The effect will be felt even more strongly here in the Philippines, where most online Filipinos use Yahoo! Messenger as their primary chat client.
While MSN Spaces has trackbacks and customization over Yahoo! 360º, the latter offers two things the former does not: integrated social networking, and (soon) the ability to receive RSS feeds as input for content posts. If MSN doesn't implement similar features, they could lose social networking mavens and existing hardcore bloggers to Yahoo!
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Friendster: The Movie!
If you thought You've Got Mail was a shameless AOL plug, wait 'til you see Topher Grace in the upcoming Friendster movie, to be directed by Harold Ramis and released in 2006 by Universal. The romantic comedy will feature such technologies as IM, webcams, 'Net porn, and (of course) Friendster.
They should have gotten a Filipino for the part; half of all Friendster users are Filipino. Frankly, though, I think a MySpace movie would be sexier.
They should have gotten a Filipino for the part; half of all Friendster users are Filipino. Frankly, though, I think a MySpace movie would be sexier.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Hop On
The blogwagon's got a new passenger.
May I echo Steve Rubel in congratulating Carat Interactive on becoming the first major online agency to debut a blogging practice.
May I echo Steve Rubel in congratulating Carat Interactive on becoming the first major online agency to debut a blogging practice.
Opposing Counsel Beware
The Supreme Court just posted that my college buddy Neil Silva bagged ninth place in the Philippine Bar Exams.
With his capacity for high-endurance, high-intensity mental sparring, this is one guy you don't want to meet in a dark alley of the mind. Neil, who has the sheer brilliance to argue with a stubborn bastard like me for hours on end, will make an excellent lawyer.
With his capacity for high-endurance, high-intensity mental sparring, this is one guy you don't want to meet in a dark alley of the mind. Neil, who has the sheer brilliance to argue with a stubborn bastard like me for hours on end, will make an excellent lawyer.
Virtuality Show
Bill Gates' boys seem to see that gaming has moved out of geekspace and into coolspace, with the launch of XBox 2 slated not for E3, but for MTV.
Meanwhile, here in the Philippines, there's an initiative to turn electronic gaming into a spectator sport.
Everyone's a gamer. Most just don't know it yet.
Meanwhile, here in the Philippines, there's an initiative to turn electronic gaming into a spectator sport.
Everyone's a gamer. Most just don't know it yet.
Monday, April 11, 2005
Game Girls
At the Philippine Internet anniversary party, World Cybergames Philippine Team Captain Tjader Regis proposed that, even when a game is specifically targeted at a female audience, boys eager to impress girls will join them.
Last weekend, I finished Final Fantasy X-2, a role-playing game featuring three feisty heroines. Yup, you read that right -- all the playable characters of this hack-and-slash technomedieval fantasy are female. The secret ending even plays like a scene from a soap opera.
Today, I came across an article featuring an all-Filipina massively multiplayer online game club, the Clan of the Shadowmaidens.
Girls just wanna have fun -- and now, they're having it digitally.
Last weekend, I finished Final Fantasy X-2, a role-playing game featuring three feisty heroines. Yup, you read that right -- all the playable characters of this hack-and-slash technomedieval fantasy are female. The secret ending even plays like a scene from a soap opera.
Today, I came across an article featuring an all-Filipina massively multiplayer online game club, the Clan of the Shadowmaidens.
Girls just wanna have fun -- and now, they're having it digitally.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Up and Coming
At IDC's Asia/Pacific Small to Medium Business Conference 2005 last Friday, experts dished out how up-and-coming tycoons-to-be can benefit from up-and-coming information technologies.
"Abracadabra!" Kidding aside, some of the solutions outlined during the conference can work wonders for small-to-medium businesses.
Remember what your elementary schoolteachers told you about how stuff gets from the factory to your hands? Well, a lot of that's changed, thanks to innovations in supply chain management made possible by IT. IDC's Ng Buck Seng shows us how.
CICT Commissioner Dondi Mapa reveals his plans to make IT empowerment easier for Philippine businesses. This guy has twenty years of private sector IT experience -- and it shows in his concrete examples, meticulous plans, and precise targets. Get involved in the CICT's ICT Blueprint here.
That's me with the HP Compaq tc4200 Tablet PC, coming to the Philippines in May. This baby got me cozy with its comfy keyboard and three built-in pointing devices; those ergonomic improvements make it a better desktop replacement than the finger-cramping tc1100. Thanks to Mark Hipolito for taking the pic. Mark makes great feed management software; if you raise livestock, contact him here.
Between the richly informative presentations and the strangely addictive apple pies, the conference was dripping with great insights on how information technology can help world-class Filipino products and services compete globally.
Perhaps Filipino businesses can benefit from a little information narcosis.
"Abracadabra!" Kidding aside, some of the solutions outlined during the conference can work wonders for small-to-medium businesses.
Remember what your elementary schoolteachers told you about how stuff gets from the factory to your hands? Well, a lot of that's changed, thanks to innovations in supply chain management made possible by IT. IDC's Ng Buck Seng shows us how.
CICT Commissioner Dondi Mapa reveals his plans to make IT empowerment easier for Philippine businesses. This guy has twenty years of private sector IT experience -- and it shows in his concrete examples, meticulous plans, and precise targets. Get involved in the CICT's ICT Blueprint here.
That's me with the HP Compaq tc4200 Tablet PC, coming to the Philippines in May. This baby got me cozy with its comfy keyboard and three built-in pointing devices; those ergonomic improvements make it a better desktop replacement than the finger-cramping tc1100. Thanks to Mark Hipolito for taking the pic. Mark makes great feed management software; if you raise livestock, contact him here.
Between the richly informative presentations and the strangely addictive apple pies, the conference was dripping with great insights on how information technology can help world-class Filipino products and services compete globally.
Perhaps Filipino businesses can benefit from a little information narcosis.
