John C. Maxwell Opens MySpace Profile

Social media creates unprecedented opportunities for global thought leadership, so I'm not surprised world-famous leadership guru John C. Maxwell opened a MySpace profile yesterday.



I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Maxwell when he visited the Philippines last year. So far, I've read three of his books: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, and Thinking for a Change.

This dude rocks. Wonder when he'll blog.

The Existential Dilemma of Avatars

I just woke up from the weirdest dream: an argument between myself and one of my Guild Wars avatars, about level caps.

The weird part? She won.

Unintentionally Funny URLs

I'm so glad PinoyCosplay.com will never make the list of top 10 unintentionally worst company URLs:

1. A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is
www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at
www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company…
www.powergenitalia.com

Hey, that fifth one ain't so bad. More here.

Heck, if I weren't around, Gov.ph would've become the redundant PhilGov.ph.

(Via J. Angelo Racoma.)

Call for PayPal in the Philippines

A recent bash held by XMG for Philippine IT movers and shakers opened with projected snapshots of the Philippine urban poor, to remind us who we're really working to uplift. When I mentioned that to Filipina cosplay celeb Jerry Polence this afternoon, she was kinda puzzled.

Maybe this post will clear that up for ya, Jerry. Personally, I have zero faith in both PayPal and the Philippine government (even though I chose their frickin' domain name), and most Philippine banks are incredibly clueless, but what the Hell: I support J. Angelo Racoma's call for PayPal in the Philippines. Hell, I'll even digg it.

Of course, I also hope GBuy kicks their sorry racist asses from Aparri to Jolo.

What if Friendster Patented Offline Relationships?

Five million Filipinos use Friendster.



We should move to MySpace.

Children's Book Teaches Folly of DRM

Even a child can see that DRM is dumb. That's what the new children's book The Pig and the Box teaches. Abundance, children, abundance.

I'm the crazy squirrel.

Update, July 17: Buy a Pig and the Box shirt. While you're at it, buy a Pinoy Cosplay shirt.

The Physical Analogue Fallacy

Marketeers still drool at the prospect of the Net replicating the top-down broadcast model wherein glitzy "content" is developed at great cost in remote studios and jammed down a one-way pipe into millions of living rooms. TV with a buy button! Wowee!
-- Christopher Locke, The Cluetrain Manifesto.

One of the greatest mistakes of the dotcom crash was the assumption that everything on the Web had a physical-world analogue. That assumption caused many early ecommerce plays to play by the wrong rules.

The things that comprise the Web's unique value proposition don't have physical-world anlogues. Indeed, some of those things are reversals of physical-world models.

MySpace Popularity Contest

Another MySpace feeder business launched Sunday: MySpace Popular, a MySpace popularity contest. Check it out.

Where the Hell is Matt Video Meme

Remember Where the Hell is Matt?, that video featuring a guy doing a goofy dance in places he's been around the world? Well, that video's spawned a video meme.

Here's Where the &%*# is Chris!, featuring a guy doing goofy dances in... uh... unusual locations.



Here's one that's particularly close to my heart: Where the Hell is Matt? - Guild Wars!

Marissa Mayer on Google Privacy and Data Retention

Google VP Marissa Mayer is so hot.



I love the way she describes Google's privacy and data retention practices.

(Via Gina Trapani.)

Chimp Plays Ms. Pacman

Anyone who sucks at classic arcade games will feel really, really, really bad after watching this next clip.



Don't say I didn't warn you.

(Via Scott Johnson.)

FHM Philippines Redesigns Site

Good: The FHM Philippines site redesign now puts more assets upfront.

Bad: Autoplay annoyance continues.

GetRight Now Supports Torrents

I've been using GetRight as my download manager for years, so I'm glad to hear their latest upgrade now supports mixing torrents with direct download sources. Very cool.

Speaking of which, Level Up, where'd your torrents go? They're 404-ing.

Dell Hell Anonymous Flamer Caught

A summer intern at GCI, one of Dell's PR firms, was just caught anonymously flaming Dell critic Jeff Jarvis.

To GCI's credit, they quickly resolved the issue. That intern's about to have a very bad day.

PR king Richard Edelman hits the nail on the head: a serious case of malpractice.

Bush Sings Antiwar Anthem

After delivering a stunning antiwar speech...



...Bush follows up by singing the antiwar anthem Sunday Bloody Sunday.

(Via Cliff Sawit.)

M. Bison Beats a Mario Level

I dedicate this moment of gamer Zen to the Capcom Team...



...as M. Bison beats a Mario level.

The Wisdom of Mentos, the Hypocrisy of Coke

Drop Mentos into Diet Coke, and it shoots like a geyser. The phenomenon is now a viral video meme.

Mentos loves it. They're making a contest out of it.

Coke hates it. They love it only if it's on their site.

One of these companies is smart. The other is a bunch of clueless hypocrites. Can you guess which is which?

This is why Mentos is the Freshmaker, and Coke just makes you jittery.

Dell Blog Clueless

Dell's blogging.

They still don't get it.

They should read this.

How Hollywood Hides the Fall of the Hit

An anonymous Chris Anderson reader reveals how Hollywood hides the fall of the hit:

I happened to be riding to work with an exec from one of the major studios this morning, and he mentioned that the studios are increasingly making deals with theaters to inflate opening numbers. In particular, they will give the theaters very high revenue share for the first X days of the movie (he mentioned 100% for the first 3 days), incentivizing the theater to maximize the number of screens the movie's shown on, inflating opening numbers.

The particular example of Superman and Pirates were actually the ones he brought up - that Superman's decline was partially due to the theathers' incentive period running out.

(Via JC Yuviengco.)

Scoble Gets 3,000 New Subscribers

Think Scoble's weaker without Microsoft? Think again. He just got 3,000 new subscribers.

Maybe now Microsoft Philippines knows who he is.

Gamevertising Primer

Yes, Starbucks is everywhere. Even in London Taxi Rush Hour.

Youniversal Branding provides an excellent primer on gamevertising, with stats, tips, examples, and agencies.

The optimum role for a brand within a game is to enhance the gamer's sense of escapism, by strengthening the alternate reality experience.

That's why I call it gamevertising, not advergaming. The game defines the campaign, not vice-versa.

(Via JC Cuneta.)

US Soldiers Killed for Rape

The boys in the Subic rape case have it easy. Militant Islamic Web sites claim two US soldiers were kidnapped and killed last month as retaliation for rape.

Rape by soldiers is part of what Eisenhower predicted: we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

Rape isn't about sex. It's about power.

Hits are Dead

When The Tall Head sinks into The Long Tail, the result is a level playing field.



Chris Anderson chronicles The Rise and Fall of the Hit.

The mainstream is dead. Long live the niche.

ToyCon V Cosplay Video

Filipina cosplayer Dianne Lopez covers two days of cosplay at ToyCon V.



Video courtesy of Hero.

World of Warcraft Philippines?

AMDG sells Guild Wars in the Philippines -- and I love it -- so I'm glad to hear they may enter a joint venture to bring World of Warcraft to the Philippines.

Ronald Allan Aquino, sales manager at AMDG, said that the Vivendi has released beta copies of the World of Warcraft to three evaluators in the Philippines, namely AMDG, Mobius Online Games Inc., and ePLDT's gaming arm Netgames.

"It is likely that Vivendi would grant rights to (World of Warcraft) game to a joint venture composed of AMDG and another company," Aquino said.

Aquino noted that online gaming in the Philippines is now a growing industry with revenues averaging 9.6 million dollars a year.

(Via Siopao Master.)

Brand You

Tim Swanson: If more people like Mike Abundo took Seth Godin’s advice on “BrandYou” we might all have the great fortune of being the talk of the town.

Brand you, people. Brand you.