GBCs: Gamer-Blogger-Cosplayer Babes on the Rise

Remember when mainstream media babes were called MAWs (model-actress-whatevers)? With the rise of geek culture comes a new breed of social media babes: GBCs (gamer-blogger-cosplayers). Cases in point: Japan's Shoko Nakagawa and the Philippines' Alodia Gosiengfiao.




Watch this trend. We may soon be surrounded by pretty young GBCs.

Shocotan Teaches Otaku Culture

Gamer-blogger-cosplayer idol Shoko Nakagawa teaches otaku culture -- in a succession of costumes.



She should talk to marketing guru Seth Godin. He loves otaku.

Ask Google How to Improve the Philippine Economy

Ask Google how to improve the Philippine economy.

Yup, that's right: PayPal for the Philippines. We desperately need it to decentralize commerce, globalize prosumers, and unlock the Long Tail of Filipino talent.

Heck, if all the Filipinos using YouTube right now could use Revver, which pays through PayPal, we'd create a whole new export market for prosumer digital video advertising.

(Via Jason.)

Google in Talks to Buy YouTube for $ 1.6 Billion

If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em. Google is in talks to buy YouTube for $ 1.6 billion. That's even higher than last fortnight's asking price of $1.5 billion.

Viacom CEO Tom Freston got fired for not buying MySpace. Wonder who'll get the axe this time. Eat your hearts out, haters.

Rejoice, Filipino YouTubers. TV is dead. Long live YouTube.

(Via Fred Wilson.)

Creative Commons Video

And now, a public service message for the virally-impaired:



A video introducing Creative Commons.

Parody Motivator Generator

People have been making these on their own for years. Now Despair Inc. makes it virally easy with the Parody Motivator Generator.

Inq7 OPML

To show Filipinos one possible use of OPML, I've made an OPML file for top Philippine news site Inq7.net. Here's what it looks like in Grazr.

Inq7's Bobby Gantuangco can post this OPML file on Inq7 so people can import it into their feedreaders and subscribe to all of Inq7's feeds in one shot. Here's the new standard OPML icon.

TGS06 Babes on Flickr

Babes of Tokyo Game Show 2006 on Flickr. Also check out TGS06 cosplay cuties and booth babes at Asian Sirens.

Look What Google Says is Huge in the Philippines

Jerry Polence may be Filipina cosplay and Alodia Gosiengfiao may be the Filipina gamer, but look what Google search says is huge in the Philippines. Nice work, Steve.

Filipino YouTube Director Group

YouTube is huge in the Philippines. If you're a Filipino YouTube Director, join the Pinoy Director YouTube group and lead the assault on telenovelas. Already at the barricade are John Cuneta, Azrael Coladilla, Manuel Viloria, Gerry Alanguilan, Christine Rodgers, and myself.

Debbie Weil Coming to Manila

Debbie Weil is coming to Manila in January. Here's your chance to hear from the author of The Corporate Blogging Book.

Yes, Level Up, I'm looking at you.

Revver Player Now Flash

So the revenue-sharing embeddable Revver player is now Flash. Good. I fucking hated their preloading QuickTime player. The thing just loaded on and on, kinda like what the Ninja talks about in this video.

Too bad they still pay only through PayPal. We still don't have that in the Philippines. Guess it's still YouTube for us.

Level Up and netGames Complete Merger

At least access to Level Up games will soon be free. They'll sell items B2C a la netGames. We will be starting with ROSE Online in November and this will be followed by the other games, says the Philippine ops girl. Ragnarok merchants, sell your stuff: you'll soon be competing with the publisher itself.

Level Up and PLDT subsidiary netGames have completed their merger. Mercifully, they're not using the previously announced name Level Up netGames (LUnG).

While I'm glad Level Up's now got greater access to PLDT's resources (hopefully to improve their services) they'd better put in extra work to stay relevant in a time of peer trust, informed gamers, and infinite choice. I'd hate to see the pioneer in Philippine gaming become the next Infocom: a PLDT acquisition orphan.

GMA7 Splitting from Inq7?

Abe Olandres talks about Philippine network TV giant GMA7 splitting from top local news site Inq7. GMA7 partnered with local broadsheet Inquirer to put it up seven years ago, back when Big Media thought the key to online success was Even Bigger Media.

Having managed the online affairs of their former talent, I've known firsthand GMA7's cluelessness. Inq7's Mon Lizardo, Bobby Gantuangco, and Joey Alarilla are all quite capable of online media pwnage. They don't need network TV for that -- especially when TV is dying and Joey's looking to survive the death of newspapers.

Final Fantasy XII Torrent Leaked

The final English version of Final Fantasy XII has leaked to torrent. Do not download it. No, I will not post a torrent here. No, I will not direct you to a torrent search engine. No, I will not email you all 2.988 GB of it. Wait for the October 31 release, you pirate. If you're in New York on October 11, wait for Final Fantasy XII Day.

(Via GameAxis.com.)

Standard OPML Icon

For a moment, I thought it was the new standard porn icon.

The push to standardize the RSS icon was successful, so I also support the push to standardize the OPML icon.

I could crack at least five jokes about the current candidate, but I won't push any buttons lest I ring myself into becoming the target of a titty-twister and looking like a boob.

(Via Grazr.)

YouTube Makes Forbes Cover

YouTube lands the cover of Forbes.

Somewhere on Earth, a confused TV exec is contemplating suicide. He might be in the Philippines. Don't throw away your life, dude: YouTube is a friend, not a foe.

(Via Steve Rubel.)

Level Up Live 2006 on Flickr

Level Up Live 2006 on Flickr.

Next time, Level Up, do what TechCrunch does to encourage cross-platform multimedia viral marketing: promote a common tag per event. That goes for all offline events with online audiences.

YouTube Approves Two More Filipino Directors

To my knowledge, I am the first Filipino YouTube Director -- and for almost six months, the only one I knew of in the Philippines. Good to hear two more just got approved: Azrael Coladilla and John Cuneta.

Have fun, boys. YouTube is huge in the Philippines. Wonder if Alodia will join us.

Pinoy Cosplay Bookstore

The Pinoy Cosplay Bookstore for PinoyCosplay.com. Powered by Amazon.com.

DoAX2 Bikinis Unveiled at TGS06

Not to be upstaged by cosplay cuties and booth babes, the girls of Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 unveiled their new bikinis at Tokyo Game Show 2006.



No, your eyes do not deceive you. That's a string of pearls. I'd like to see somebody cosplay that. This girl comes damn close.

Google PageRank Update

Thanks for the extra juice from your PageRank update, Google. Now I can give even more of my juice to hot girls... er, technologies.

Google Reader New Look

Just when I was getting used to a feed stream, Google Reader rips off Bloglines and goes with folders. Not that I mind, of course: folders give me more of a bird's-eye view of things. And the Ajax is still smoother than Bloglines' frames. Having items marked read as you scroll through them is more useful than I first thought.



Here's a video from one of the engineers explaining the new look for n00bs. Gotta love how he never even says the word feed.

The Google Reader widget on my Google Personalized Homepage stays a stream. If a stream works anywhere, it's there.

Level Up Should Use YouTube

Popular Filipina gamer babe Alodia Gosiengfiao got a bit of talk time at game publisher Level Up's event today. The audience liked it.

I'd like to see more of that -- not just at events, but something more persistent. Level Up should sponsor an Alodia gaming vlog on YouTube. She's already comfortable with that platform. Vlog sponsorship is certainly not without precedent. Furthermore, YouTube is huge in the Philippines. Her videos would virally reach a Hell of a lot more online gamers than her live appearances could, at a fraction of the cost.



Oh, and Ben, you can get more cool machinima for your fan video contests with YouTube's new contest platform. Check out the first implementation. Level Up could have the distinction of being the first Philippine company to use it. If you want that distinction, better be quick: your competitor Mobius just discovered YouTube. Bet Rakion could make passable machinima.

Google Filipina Cosplay and See Who's On Top

While Alodia Gosiengfiao dominates the Google SERPs for Filipina gamer, Jerry Polence dominates Filipina cosplay. She is founder and administrator of Pinoy Cosplay, while Asian Sirens is a blog on beautiful Asian women.

Philippines Holds First SEO Contest

Here's my closing address for last night's Isulong SEOPH awards, the first Philippine SEO contest. Isulong is Filipino for bring it on. Congratulations to Marc Macalua for organizing the contest, Boris Kerbikov and Abe Olandres for sponsoring the prizes, and the winners for winning them. Expect even bigger prizes at the next contest.

If you cannot be searched, you do not exist. Today's market niches are no longer geographic, but psychographic. The old business mantra of location, location, location is now not as important as intention, intention, intention. It is imperative that the Philippines learn this new market reality to become globally competitive.

If you cannot be searched, you do not exist. If Philippine businesses cannot be searched, they do not exist. You, the search marketing professionals of the Philippines, are all that stand between this country and digital oblivion.

Stand your ground. Isulong SEO!