Free Calls to US Numbers!

You can now call listed US numbers for free by dialling +1-800-FREE-411 (+1-800-373-3411) via SkypeOut and following the voice prompts. A few caveats: the number you're calling must be listed, and you must provide the name, city, and state of the party you're calling.

In case decades of telco propaganda actually bother your conscience, fear not: Free411 is ad-supported. Perhaps someday all traditional telephony will be. That is, before VoIP kills it.

(Via AdesBlog.)

BlogExploding Philippines

Just noticed that, as of this posting, the Philippines is among the top ten countries on the world's leading blog traffic exchange, BlogExplosion.

I myself use BlogExplosion; hearing others' ideas to promote your own also helps develop your own. Good to see blogs are helping more Filipinos learn basic online promotions -- and not in the messageblasting style of traditional ecommerce, but in the conversations of networked markets.

SEO & Dating Site Tips

Itzamatch's Mary Ann Go recently asked me for search engine optimization (SEO) tips for her site.

Hey, Mary Ann, check out this new list of ten SEO starting tips, posted just yesterday

Oh, and ditch that low-bitrate canned intro monologue on Itzamatch's front page. Dates aren't monologues, and dating sites shouldn't be. For more on what dating sites should be, check out Online Personals Watch.

Xbox 360 Hands-On

Joystiq posts a hands-on review of the Xbox 360.

"The Xbox 360 is not going to blow your mind. But I’ll be damned if after an hour or two of playtime you’re not wearing a big grin across your face."

MySpace Virus

Someone managed to become friend and hero to a million MySpace users in a mere 24 hours -- and they didn't even know it.

The secret of his explosive popularity? Viral JavaScript.

Philipp Lenssen hazards a guess on how the new virus works, saying "this worm is truly Web 2.0."

Ladyluck Digital Media

Dead tree rag Games Master has brought to my attention a fifth Filipino game development company: Ladyluck Digital Media. Oddly enough, nowhere does the article mention their site, and nowhere on their site do they mention that they're Filipino. The only online evidence that they are Filipino is artist Randy Valiente's blog, written in Filipino.

Vidcasting?

It's official: the video iPod is out.

As bandwidth gets cheaper, will vidcasting catch up to podcasting?

First Cosplayer in Space?

A cosplayer may orbit the Earth in 2006, dressed as anime space ace Char Aznable.

No, I'm not kidding.

(Via OmakeNews.)

YIMMSNM?

I always thought Yahoo's yellow smiley would look good on MSN's blue man.

The Wall Street Journal expects Yahoo and Microsoft to announce interoperability between their instant messaging apps tomorrow.

Podcast Chat with Dondi Mapa

Chatted with CICT Commissioner Dondi Mapa yesterday about outsourcing, e-governance, and hacking the digital divide. Download the MP3 here.

Cabscanning

Speaking of local cellcos, here's something they could make money from: Korean taxis now have cellphone readable barcodes you can send to friends and family to feel safer.

Philippine Cellcos Go 3G

(Via Migs) Gotta hand it to local cellco dark horse Sun Cellular -- they like to shake up the status quo. The Philippines' status as the SMS capital of the world kept the country's cellular giants Smart and Globe contented cows for years -- until Sun's unlimited call and text plans forced the cows to follow suit. Guess what the cows do, then, when Sun announces they'll offer 3G.

That's right, folks. Smart and Globe just applied for 3G licenses.

The Blogosphere Prophecy

Turns out a talented Russian prince predicted blogging -- in 1837.

What he failed to predict was how soon it would happen. He predicted "connected households" publishing "journals that replace common correspondence" would appear in the year 4338.

Dead Tree Thinking

The local SEC has been bugging a client of mine for the last two days, asking for the "original copy" of his company registration. Since the original document is in fact electronic, I dug it out and emailed it to him. To hurdle the insanely short login expirations on their site, I had to navigate really fast.

The SEC still didn't accept the document -- weird, considering it was generated and recorded on their own web-based system. Turns out the hardworking clerks at the SEC think "original" means "printed on dead trees and bearing overpriced documentary stamps made from dead trees".

I'm chatting with CICT Commissioner Dondi Mapa in three hours about e-governance. God knows this country needs it.

A Blogmaster With No Blog?

Yahoo's looking for a blogmaster. Oddly enough, actually having a blog is just a plus, and not a requirement.

100,000,000 Blogs

The Blog Herald now counts over 100,000,000 blogs in existence.

And to think there were only around three dozen in 1999.

Trackbacklinksomething

(Via John) Blogger introduces a new remote commenting standard similar to trackbacks -- "backlinks".

Wonder which one will emerge as the industry standard.

Google Personalized Page Proposal

John at FreshBlog proposes one-click subscription and RSS feed list imports (perhaps via OPML) for the Google Personalized Page.

Let's take it a step further: how about one-click subscription for both/either the Google Reader and/or the Google Personalized Home Page, user's choice?

Can you provide these features, Google?