Nominee for blogger’s choice award (UPDATE)

My good online buddy, Massa P., was kind enough to nominate Blogbastic! as best blog about stuff. 🙂 This is my first nomination but not sure if I would survive the contest as I’m pitted against some of the most read blogs on the blogosphere but it’s a good experience anyway.

You have to register though before you can vote. Unfortunately, I cannot vote for Massa P, or the other blogs or even my blog as I might violate the TOS I have here on wordpress.  I’m still on free blog. As I’ve told Massa P., I might just have to watch the votes from the sidelines and see if my blog will earn some votes.  With the registration requirement, any blogger who would take time to vote suuuuuureeeeely loooooovvvee Blogbastic!

For some reason or another, I was able to register just now and have an option to sign up or NOT with PPP (25 april, 9am bangkok time). So, again the invitation still holds, please vote and yes, the registration was not that tedious after all. 🙂 

One Day Blog Silence on 30 April

INQUIRER.net Blogs

Although not as fancy as gmanews.tv’s blog network page, you can find all of INQUIRER.net Blogs in one site. From one, they now have 11 blogs covering almost everything from technology, entertainment, money to current events. 🙂

• Joey Alarilla‘s @play blogging about technology.
• Inquirer.net blog team’s Blog Addicts blogging everything about blogging. 
• Salve Duplito’s Money Smarts blogging about “personal finance, business, financial independence, the economy and [how to give] the rat race a kick on the butt.”
• Inquirer.net’s Eleksyon 2007 blogging the Philippine 2007 election
• Babe Republic, Joey’s blog about the hottest babes, nope not the pig, but the gals! 🙂
• Manuel L. Quezon III and John Nery‘s Current blogging about current events. 
• Hackenlash blog about gaming.
• Ruben Nepales’ The Nepales Report blogging about the entertainment industry.
• Inside Science blogging about science.
• Vox Populi is the collective blog of Inquirer.net readers, where they can write their minds.
• Soundtrip blogging about music.

Now we have more than one choices in one roof.

When newsmen become the news (UPDATE)

The last thing that any journalist would want to end up with is being the news themselves. So, when I’ve learned that the Philippine Daily Inquirer issued a statement regarding a reported slay try on my former colleague, Mr. Delfin Mallari, Jr., it took me a while to believe what I’m reading. 

I met Ka Jun during one bureau meeting in Lucena City back when I was still with the PDI as a correspondent sometime between 1999 and 2000. I remember that my first impressions of him was that he’s a kind person, humble and seem to be a principled journalist add to that he’s quite a funny guy, too. His slay try came just a day after another newsman was found dead, apparently killed because of his chosen profession.

If you’re a journalist in the Philippines and your in a critical area covering a critical beat especially politics, drugs or illegal gambling, expect the worse to happen anytime you hit a sensitive spot of the industry. So, this would mean that your closest family member should be prepared when the time/day comes for you to be the news. I remember covering the news on the illegal numbers game or Jueteng in Laguna. One of my stories was published. A few days after, suspicious-looking men began surveying our house and was asking for me. It was pretty scary to think that I haven’t written, yet, a critical or explosive story. Suddenly, covering the games of the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association became interesting. 🙂

National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Chairperson Joe Torres described the events this week as another dark period for Philippine Media. He cited a number of cases of harrassment against journalists in just one week all over the country.

Ka Jun might have survived the slay try and I’m pretty sure that he’ll continue what he loves best but the bullet that almost took his life is still lodged in his body. A grim reminder that his chosen profession is anything but safe.

Ka Jun, second from left, during a rally in August 2004 in front of Camp Crame. They were condemning unresolved killings of journalists in the country. Three years after, he was almost one of the statistics. (From Prof. Danny Arao’s site)

DATESTAMP: 23 April 2007; 10.14pm, Bangkok time

Most of my Filipino readers might have read it over the Philippine Daily Inquirer but here’s an excerpt of Ka Jun’s thoughts on his slay try:

I now realize that being a part of a big national media entity, like the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and being a responsible media practitioner no longer guarantee one’s personal security.

I used to read in various articles about the Philippine media industry being under siege and about journalists being abducted, maimed, tortured and killed by enemies of press freedom.

After condemning the attacks, my naïve, provincial journalist frame of mind just brushed them off as part of the hazards of the profession. I thought that I would never be physically harmed as I had been circumspect in all my writings, no matter how explosive the topic was.

But these justifications seem not valid anymore.

Women benefits

My wife usually asks for an embrace whenever we go to sleep. I mean I don’t mind that but sometimes with my small physique my arms tire and would eventually let go. But hugging benefits women according to a BBC NEWS health article. The gist of the article is that women’s heart particularly benefits from this hugging (and loving?). The benefit is higher for people with loving relationship.

So, give someone a hug and help them have a better heart! and mean it!

Oh yes, by the way, I’M BACK!!! will tell you all in a few days what happened last week.

Inquirer.net & CNN.com blocked in Thailand??? (UPDATE)

(I originally posted this at around 8.30pm, Bangkok time, 11 April please read my update on this post below) 

I usually surf the news on the Internet after office hours, however, I was surprised of what I’ve discovered tonight. At about 8.06pm, Bangkok time, I typed Inquirer.net and this is what I’ve got.  

I’m not sure what’s happening but apparently after Youtube, Inquirer.net and CNN.com got the ire of the Thai Government for some reason.  

This is hot news, I informed Joey and Erwin re the possible blockade for their info. I said to myself, this might be an error on my computer, I refreshed my laptop but the same window.

I tried to check Inquirer Bloggers, to my relief, I can still view the site. 

I surfed CNN.com. Surprise, surprise, this is what I’ve got.

The small English script reads as follows:

ict.cyberclean.org

( Sorry! the web site you are accessing has been blocked by ministry of information and communication technology )

I lost my contacts in CNN so I’m not sure how to inform them but I’m sure they’ve already noticed as they have a regional office here in Bangkok.

They usually do this for pornographic sites but Inquirer.net and CNN.com?? Their news might be too sizzling for the Thai government, well I hope I’m wrong. I tried to key in other news media addresses. Al-Jazeera and BBC are still up, so I might probably be wrong and this might be a simple case of technical mistake???

****

Time stamp: 11.43pm, Bangkok Time, 11 April 2007 

I’m really puzzled of what happened early this evening it’s like I entered a Twilight Zone! When I surfed the internet just to check on the latest on Inquirer.net there was this announcement from Thailand’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. Good thing there’s print screen, so I have an evidence of what I saw and that I’m not just hallucinating.

After blogging about this apparent blockade, I tried to access the Tagalog site of WordPress. Guess what? I was directed to the cyberclean webpage again. I tried to access wordpress.com, while I was able to access it it was in its naked glory. I tried to access Chuckie’s website, it was also blocked!??? (hmm, is it because of Antoniella??).

I’ve received an inquiry from Yuga as to what ISP I’m hooked on, I was on True, which is a private company here. I took his lead and tried to ask my friends based here in Thailand to further confirm the possible blockade. A friend, who’s served by TOT, said the sites that I claimed to be blocked were fine (CNN, Inquirer.net, Tagalog WordPress, A Day In The Life, and yes even my blog), she can read all the news and all my blog entries! (by that time, I couldn’t access or update my blog on Blogbastic! as in only that site, I still have access to my other blogs on wordpress though).

Alas, when I asked two other friends, one confirmed that Inquirer.net was blocked the other confirmed that my blog was blocked, they were also on True. In the process of confirming the sites that they are surfing, one of them told me that she can now has access to part of my blog! I was puzzled and then after a while she can read most of the entries on my blog.

When I checked on my laptop, typed CNN, then Inquirer.net on one tab, then Chuckie’s blog on another, then WordPress Tagalog on another then my blog on another tab–I can see, I can see all of them (sigh…).

It made sense to me now, that last year, I started a blog for a network of communications officer here in the region and even before I could populate it with entries, it got blocked also by the MICT for some reason. When I emailed them for an explanation, no reply was made, I guess if this block was eventually for a longer period, my inquiries would have landed on deaf ears, too.

It was a great relief (to know I still have access on this blog in Bangkok, THAILAND!), puzzling but a bit scary. I’m supposed to be on a blogging hiatus because of an office work load and, have to admit this, because of the contagious moods of Massa P. and Shari. But this event was too good to pass not to be blogged.

Sayang I thought I had a scoop already, but that’s fine at least I have access to my blog again. Now, I can really relate to people having a site and then censored for no reason at all–I mean really no reason or provocation. Enough said.

Lastly, many thanks to Abe, Erwin and Joey for having the time to look into this info. Thanks to Liza and Danny, Mel and Ligh for helping me confirm this event.

Thai Youtube blockade sparks video wars

Thailand’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology got its wish from Google and Youtube. Traces of the offensive video have been removed, however, the issue sparked a number of protest and triggered an onset of attack on the Thai monarchy online.

So, brace for a prolonged battle of videos online. But nobody’s retaliating against the offensive video, but how are they going to hit back? This is just like Thailand’s battle down south–they don’t know who the enemies are.

Thailand blocks Youtube (UPDATED)

(JIM’s Notes: Italicized are additional edits for this post timestamp: 9.00pm, Bangkok time.)

If you happen to be in Thailand and try to access your Youtube account, you’ll be welcomed by this page.

The Bangkok Post reports that the Thai government blocked access to the popular website after Youtube turned down request to remove a clip about King Bhumibol that it deemed offensive.

Here’s an excerpt of the article:

Internet users reported on Wednesday that Thai authorities had blocked the popular website YouTube, over an insulting video of His Majesty the King.

Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, the minister of information and communication technology, told the Reuters news agency he personally ordered a block of the entire site from Thailand after the ministry’s attempts to block the offending page last week failed.

“Since Google (which owns YouTube) has rejected our repeated requests to withdraw the clip, we can’t help blocking the entire site in Thailand,” said Mr Sitthichai. “When they decide to withdraw the clip, we will withdraw the ban,” he said.

So, it’s a wait and see situation for us here. My kids have to settle for their regular Thai soap operas for now instead of their usual Philippine movies and Eat Bulaga excerpts.

CNN posted a report at around 0827 GMT (1527 Bangkok Time) today that the Offensive YouTube clip ‘removed by user’. While there are news that the ban might be lifted, Thai media, ironically, reported a way around the ban. They reported early this evening that users can still view Youtube via http://www.proxxxy.org.

I think Google has been very insensitive on this issue and to compare Thailand’s King to George Bush is simply illogical (I won’t elaborate on this). I think Google might have reacted differently had it been a different group. Enough said.

The 2007 Philippine Blog Awards winners

It was impossible for me to attend the awards night but followed the event online (well, waited fro the result this morning 🙂 And the winners are…

Best Personal Blog: Misteryosa
Best Home & Living Blog: Wifely Steps
Best Socio-Political Blog: Philippine Commentary
Best News & Media Blog: Inside PCIJ
Best Fashion & Lifestyle Blog: Bryanboy: Le Superstar Fabuleux
Podcast of the Year: HappySlip
Best Technology Blog: Leon Kilat: The Cybercafe Experiments
Best Business/Entrepreneur Blog: Reflections of a BizDrivenLife
Best Entertainment Blog: Retzwerx
Best Sports & Recreation Blog: Who rides a Vespa?
Best Travel Blog: Ivan About Town
PhotoBlog of the Year: Señor Enrique: Wish You Were Here

For the Special Awards winners, we have…

Best Blog Design: Far from Neutral Notions
Best Free Custom Theme: Blu3zin3
Best Plugin/Extension: iPap
Best OFW Blog: Kwentong Tambay
Bloggers’ Choice Awards: MarketManila

And last but not the least, the Globe Broadband Awards winners…

Blog Achievement Award: The Mommy Journals
Pinoy Ako Blog Award: ederic@cyberspace
Family Blog Award: About My Recovery
Blogirl Award: Well Whatever
Deliblog Award: Dessert Comes First

To the winners (also to the nominees and finalists) and organizers (great job!), congratulations!

Mabuhay kayong lahat!

It ain’t over till it’s over

The election for bloggers’ choice award is on!

My gut feeling was right all along my nominees were winners! well, not quite yet. Anyway, I already revealed that I nominated three blogs for the Philippine Blog Awards, two made it to the finalist list on the main awards category. Well, glad to see that the other blog that I nominated was nominated for the 2007 Philippine Bloggers’ Choice Award… yipeee!!! I think I’m also a winner as all of my nominees made it to the elite list.

Congratulations to fruityoaty and all the other nominees of the Bloggers’ Choice Award. To Filipino bloggers around the world, you still have until the awards ceremony to vote.

As they say, it isn’t over till it’s over!