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@RageStev u really have a nice 'face shape.' angelina jolie minus the height. :) naa man sad ka brad pet :)
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@RageStev anyhoo,i'm glad we're having fun doing it :)
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@RageStev naa jud ni crown and sash :) hehe
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@RageStev thanks,che. but u'r setting quite a high standard. mabigat na competition! :)
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@czimon ganahan sad ko tan line. ako prob is how to show it off. hehe
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@keihlasmom @oblationkid soap opera na ni? :)
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@fredbaa @firedancer67 naay chocolate fondue unya? :)))
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cool! rt @czimon: evidence na unfair ang world. hot+talented with the violin+plays system of a down http://t.co/rUuwhrY4
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my wardrobe is either free singlets from running events or threadless. #wwwneedstoknow http://t.co/q3by7SKR
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I haz tan line! whatado whatado :)
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@Divanity Haha. So cute :)
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Overwhelmed at hugeness of j center mall's savemore. @_@
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Feels weird to be walking 'normally.' i think right knee no longer hates me! Buyag buyag buyag :)
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@paologlim Thanks, pao. Naa sad sa kang mark nga reader diay.
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@khristianie hehe. malingaw ra seguro. ask daw @keihlasmom =)29 hours ago from web | Reply, Retweet, Favorite
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i just lost my last entry in blogspot =(((29 hours ago from web | Reply, Retweet, Favorite
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29 hours ago from web | Reply, Retweet, Favorite
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off to intosan, ang swimming pool ng bayan, in a few.30 hours ago from web | Reply, Retweet, Favorite
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@captain70924719 Sorry. No mentions for now.
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@beachbumMD dm u. Thanks
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I was not really a big fan of 37signals before. I felt they’re such a hype. But just recently, I revisited them to check if we can use basecamp as our collaboration for our ideatoki projects. And, because my teammate Honee is a 37signals fan, so it just makes sense to go use 37signals. When I get to their main sign up page, I cannot help but get delighted.
It’s so plain and simple, nothing fancy. I love it.
With all the different web apps popping up with too eye-candy designs, and fancy aesthetics, 37signals design looks pale in comparison which gives a feeling that it’s not for non-sense. And, yes, I love straight-to-the-point, nothing fancy UI designs. I guess back in the early days of Web 2.0, 37signals looks fancy if you compare it to the corporate websites.
But one thing I realized just now is that 37signals has a very delightful content design. Their brief instructions, blurbs neatly place around their app is the strength of their design. Just enough, witty thoughts around their app makes you feel the people behind it really cares for their product.
Or, maybe how to learn just one factor of being a UX designer — interface designer, interaction designer, or content designer? Here in Philippines, schools or classes for designing for web or mobile or any software application for that matter is very unheard of (well for me). So it will be mostly self-learning:
- You can start with usability books by Steve Krug – but the thing with Krug’s books is that they are mostly about websites (note that websites are different from web apps). If you are into creating software applications, I guess it’s best you start with Alan Cooper’s book.
- If you think books are too expensive, and you do not have much patience of reading them. Try following designers’ blogs or even just their tweets. Creating Passionate Users blog by Kathy Sierra is a nice fun read — it’s such a waste that she stopped blogging. If you’re into eye-candy designs, you can check Smashing Magazine – from there you will find a good list of different designers who you can follow.
- Use as many software applications you can — from desktop to web to mobile and all sorts of applications. Then, observe how these applications are put up. You would notice that one application may be good at their interface design, another may be good at their workflow design, another maybe good at their content design. Just now, I notice that one thing that makes 37signals (note: I’m not a big fan of 37signals) is their content design. Their copywrite , their short instruction, their eeny weeny warning texts are simply delightful. So be mindful and observant in using applications – from their landing page, to sign up, to their settings page.
This morning I downloaded Rockmelt browser - they no longer have the beta invites, we can freely download it now. Since I need to live how the ‘social media’ experience for our ideatoki social media outfit (we’re based in Cebu, Philippines), I decided to download it for my social media needs.
After I click their Download button on their landing page, their ‘thank you’ page kind of delights me. It gives me a feeling that rockmelt team is genuine with their gratitude.
Exactly 1 year and 1 day from my last post, I’m back. I’d been meaning to just shut this blog down, and just transfer all the posts here to my personal-musings blog but I just did not have time to do it. One reason why I like to remove this blog because I came to accept that I’m just not fit for user experience (UX) designing. Add to that I’m from a place, Cebu, Philippines, where UX is %^$#%^#$%^$#% to everyone.
So what happen to me in a year:
* 2 web application products that were shelved off. I never see it as failure but as a very good learning experience. I guess I learned a lot of great deal about user experience design and such. In a way, I could say I have now more mature view about UX.
* 2 tech blogs focusing on Philippine scene which I’ll also be resurrecting soon from being shelved off. I really really love those 2 blogs. So help me, God.
My plan for this blog is, as usual, I’ll talk about my own view of user experience. I’ll try to write stuff that will make more sense for a 3rd-world country setting. Then, I’ll be posting here user interfaces and designs I find delightful. I guess I will be doing most of the latter since that’s easier to do.
This really looks good. But the thing is this is not usually how others work, not in our case do. With everybody in the team all developers, mostly they just code away then rewrite. Though, I believe this is a better way to do it. But I guess there are 1001 ways to kill an application. =)
Posted via web from Posterose
This book has been sitting on my desk for a month already but I keep delaying reading it. Instead I hop from one usability book to design related book to find answers to my question — How to design a workflow of a complex software application which is google to be used by a certain group of people but can also be applicable to a broader group of people?
I kind of ran out of books, plus all the previous books I read always makes reference to About Face of Alan Cooper so finally I decided tocut the chase, and pore myself into this ‘textbook.’ And, boy do I want to bang my head! Not because the book is bad. But because it is too beautiful, I want tosold myself for nt directly picking it up. I kind of ‘wasted’ time on other books (but not really. Books are always a treasure.)
It is something I want to finish fast so I could learn fast. But at the same time, it is something I want to take it slow — to relish the moments, to read and re-read it until I miss nothing.
I just read Chapter 1 but I learned basic important matter of software designing and that is Goal-oriented Design. Aesthetics and task-centered are all cotton-candy techy terms. It does not relate to best products. It’s the Goal-Oriented Design.
I promise to post a summary of important thoughts for every chapter so expect it from my future posts here.
Posted via web from Posterose
For a number of ‘pop’ blog sites I created, I notice that the ‘About’ page is rarely visited. It is something I cannot explain why because I am big fan of ‘About’ page. If I read an interesting post or not an interesting post, I always heed to the ‘About’ page before leaving a site. But somehow, it is not the case for most website viewers.
So sometimes I think, why go through the hassle of putting an ‘About’ page when only 1 or 5 in a month of viewers will only read that page?
So is being a non-hit page enough reason to not make an About page? Let us not forget about the 20/80 rule which goes something like that of all the users/subscribers of your application or website, 20% is the only most active, most interested, and are willing to pay for your product. I guess those very few people who landed on your About page is the 20% of your audience. As such, they do deserve an About page filled with relevant information as they are the most interested audience of yours. They do not deserve to left empty-handed.
So go create an About page with much passion, even if nobody will bother to read it.
Posted via web from Posterose
Posts
Most people, including doctors, have never seen a natural foot, unaltered by footwear. The following images of habitually bare feet are taken from a study performed almost 100 years ago, published 1905 in the American Journal of Orthopedic Surgery, which examined the feet of native barefoot populations in the Philippines and Central Africa. A line can be drawn that runs through the heel, ball, and big toe of a habitually bare foot. The little toes spread naturally and fan out to provide a wide, stable base for walking or standing.
How do our shod feet compare? The following more common image, also taken from the 1905 study, demonstrates feet that are shaped like the owner’s shoes. No such line can be drawn, and the little toes crowd to a point—a comparatively unstable, narrow base for walking or standing.
Finally, I saw an article about barefoot that mentioned about Philippines.
Somewhere along this stretch, the confluence of assorted feelings and emotions - pain, exhaustion, heat, sleep deprivation, hunger, frustration, thirst - got the best of me. And before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face. I could not recall the last time something like that happened to me, let alone during a run. I never saw it coming. And for the first time ever, after close to 15 hours of continuous running and walking, I asked myself this question: "Why the fuck am I doing this to myself?" Mind game. I slowed down and composed myself. Instead of trying to find the answer to the question, I told myself to just stay in the game, and to remember the short prayer that I whispered somewhere in Lubao. A son never forgets. And I was again on my way.
“The Philippines has a solid history of mobile technology innovations. The Hero contest leverages this strength to help address the challenges and needs of Philippine healthcare. No doubt this contest and the incubation lab will help pioneer the use of mobile health applications in solving real world problems,” said Dr. Mike Muin, chief information officer of The Medical City.
Mobile apps developers can participate in the Hero competition by submitting an 800-word description on his/her mHealth app idea to http://www.borderlesshealthcare.com/heroaward. The winning app will be judged on its usability, simplicity, design, and customization.
Subject: The Philippines is In!
As of March 29,1994 at 1:15 am Philippine time, unfortunately 2 days late due to slight technical difficulties, the Philippines was FINALLY connected to the Internet via SprintLink. The Philippine router, a Cisco 7000 router was attached via the services of PLDT and Sprint communications to SprintLink’s router at Stockton Ca. The gateway to the world for the Philippines will be via NASA Ames Research Center. For now, a 64K serial link is the information
highway to the rest of the Internet world.Calling Cebu
I receive this marketing text promising me a grand life in a premiere location for 15k. Sometimes I wonder why ‘marketing’ promises richer grander living. Are they assuming all people receiving their message are losers?
“Megaworld introduces THE VENICE at McKINLEY HILL!
NO DOWN 0% INTEREST, FOR AS LOW AS P15,000 A MONTH!!!
Now, you can live a grandeur life at the most premier location!
For more info, send name and email address.
- Charlie Calaguio
Megaworld Corporation"
These are probably what I will do:
- tweet about it
- take a pic (http://piclyf.com) of it
- blog about it
- eat it, then tweet that i’m eating it
- take a pic of myself eating it
- blog about the eating experience
- will plan 101 ways to make money out of it but never execute them
If life would give me lemons, i’d annoy mark to create an app for it.
I tried logging in to their iCloud.com when I got an incorrect-password error message with an 'iForgot' / 'OK' buttons. I feel it's just a joke but they also have iforgot.apple.com so it can be it's really part of their branding. But I feel the 'i' is too overused, it feels such a iOverkill.
This is probably the most important lesson I’ve learned in the platform business: the most valuable asset is not the technology we have built but your users.
People are not loyal to devices, but they are loyal to brands they respect. And it’s our job to address all the devices they will use.
He explained, “CT is the driving force behind the development of SM’s pop culture into global Hallyu. One of the elements of CT is our training system. Through auditions, we discover hidden talent and put them through three to seven years of music, dance, and acting training in order to create a star that’s close to perfection. It’s through this unique system that the Hallyu wave was created.”
3-7 years of training! WOW 10k hours!
APITALISM is a process of creative destruction. The new destroys the old. Both the creation and the destruction are essential to driving the economy forward. Entrepreneurs are central to the process of creative destruction; they bring the new technologies and the new concepts into active commercial use. They are the change agents of capitalism.
The old patterns of powerful vested interests must be broken if the new is to exist, but those vested interests fight back. They are not willing to fade quietly into the pages of history. Entrepreneurs built the national companies that destroyed local companies at the end of the nineteenth century, and they are building the global companies that are destroying national companies at the end of the twentieth century.
History teaches us that it is only too easy to stamp out entrepreneurship. It is a fundamental human characteristic but, despite its creative and destructive powers, an extremely fragile one. Among most peoples in most times and most places entrepreneurs do not exist. The economic possibilities exist, but they are not seen, the energy to realize them is lacking, or the risks they involve seem too great.
When societies aren't organized so that the old vested interests can be brushed aside, entrepreneurs cannot emerge. Social systems have to be built in which entrepreneurs have the freedom to destroy the old. Yet destroying the old can too easily be seen as a step into chaos. Societies that aren't ready to break with the past aren't willing to let entrepreneurs come into existence.
Being 'involved' in the 'tech startup' (quote and quote on tech startup because i know a lot will argue that there's no such thing as that in here), it lets me meet different kind of entrepreneurs in all kind of forms.
There are those who build product / service to attract investors.
While, there are also those people who build product not really keen of attracting investors.
So which is better?
You build to attract investors and the customers later?
Or, you build to attract customers and attract investors later?
See, if you put the average Silicon Valley geek in front of a TV and tell him to sit on the couch and watch TV for four hours they won’t know what to do. They will start building databases of their favorite shows, start figuring out how to optimize their DVRs so they can fast-forward through commercials faster, and stuff like that.
Normal/average users? They just want to watch TV and drink beer.
So, you getting where I’m going with this? Google+ is for the passionate users of tech. If you just want to sit back and have the system do all the work (which means it’s not perfect, but it’s good enough for most people) then Facebook is gonna be where you stay, especially since your friends are gonna lock you in for quite some time. But if you want to really be able to choose who you listen to, then Google+ is much better.
lollers.
The observation of social scientists Douglas Mitchell and Sharon Tucker in their analysis of Philippine society is relevant. They stated, “We have tended to think leadership has the capacity to initiate change and get things done.” This obsolete view keeps people from focusing on the importance of collective effort, teamwork and self reliance by relying so much on government. It also negates the people the pivotal role they play in transformative governance: the wellspring of progress in a democratic society
In the coming months, we’re going to retire two products that didn’t catch on the way we would have hoped, but did serve as influential models: Google Health (retiring January 1, 2012; data available for download through January 1, 2013) and Google PowerMeter (retiring September 16, 2011). Both were based on the idea that with more and better information, people can make smarter choices, whether in regard to managing personal health and wellness, or saving money and conserving energy at home. While they didn't scale as we had hoped, we believe they did highlight the importance of access to information in areas where it’s traditionally been difficult.
It looks like it's easier to make money from asking people to click ads, than asking them to be track their health.
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@Everything Yummy [food+love] (Piazza Elesia, Cabancalan Road)2 weeks ago in Cebu City, Cebu
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via @tweetitow
“The Philippines has a solid history of mobile technology innovations. The Hero contest leverages this strength to help address the challenges and needs of Philippine healthcare. No doubt this contest and the incubation lab will help pioneer the use of … Continue reading
Subject: The Philippines is In! As of March 29,1994 at 1:15 am Philippine time, unfortunately 2 days late due to slight technical difficulties, the Philippines was FINALLY connected to the Internet via SprintLink. The Philippine router, a Cisco 7000 router … Continue reading
I receive this marketing text promising me a grand life in a premiere location for 15k. Sometimes I wonder why ‘marketing’ promises richer grander living. Are they assuming all people receiving their message are losers? “Megaworld introduces THE VENICE at … Continue reading
These are probably what I will do: tweet about it take a pic (http://piclyf.com) of it blog about it eat it, then tweet that i’m eating it take a pic of myself eating it blog about the eating experience will … Continue reading
This is probably the most important lesson I’ve learned in the platform business: the most valuable asset is not the technology we have built but your users. People are not loyal to devices, but they are loyal to brands they … Continue reading
Sowing seeds by yiibu View more presentations from Bryan Rieger
I got this image from the slides below. I’m surprise to see that: * Japan loves Apple. I mean they’re known to be so advanced regarding mobile devices with their DOCOMO. But it seems they’re ditching their own for Apple. … Continue reading
We’ll I’d like to believe to. It’s just sooo yummy cute. I want to eat it!
Posts
Hello, everyone! The downtime of @tweetitow has nothing to do with our previous message about shutting it down this end of February. After 2 years plus of service, the local server which carries the receiver / sender of updates went dead. And, this time it needs a new replacement. It can no longer be aided with just restart.
With the death of server, following are affected:
* you cannot use the standard Globe and Sun numbers.
* For those with credits, no mentions for now.
* only the 23737033 is working since this one is with the Globe Labs. This number is free to Globe #s, P1 to TM users, and I’m not sure how it works with other networks.
* no new registrations can be done for now.
On the brighter side, we’re happy to say that @tweetitow will continue. It will not be stopped this February. I hope this comes as good news to you. Thanks to a couple of friends who will take over the operation and maintenance.
But we have to ask for a little more patience as we need a bit more time before we can put all things back to life. We need time:
* for finding and setting up the new server
* and transitioning to the new team — @fredbaa, @odina_, and few other friends. By the way, unlike @owrange and @markjeee, these 2 are not a couple and are more way younger than us. These two will soon be adding more blings and whistles to @tweetitow. If you have any wishes you want to see in @tweetitow, feel free to comment it here or message them.
I will soon post a more lengthy introduction of the new team. And, please do say hello to them.
Thank you!
For some reason, the Smart sims we installed kept having problems connecting with Smart. So we will no longer have a Smart gateway #. But Smart users can still use the other gateway numbers — Globe and Sun.
Or, maybe Smart has their own service for twitter, you can also try it. Please support them, they badly need your money. =)
Thank you.
To Smart users, the new number is broken. We got a ‘network denied’ error. We will replace it with a new number for the last time. If it will still be denied connection, then we have to stop supporting for smart. I think they have their own service for twitter so smart users, might as well support theirs.
So sorry about this.
Posts
Based on the data StatCounter Global Stats, UNKNOWN is the 3rd most-used mobile OS Filipinos use. This makes me wonder if 'unknown' refers to the celphones we call 'China phones.' If yes, then I guess it shows how big a market the 'China phones' are, and somehow, in a way proves that China phones work.
| Top 8 Mobile OSs in Philippines 2008-2011 |
* There is 'money' in unsexy stuff like 'unknown.' Willie Revillame probably knows this that's why he has 'Wil Phone' (by Cherry Mobile) coming.
* It seems Android has still a lot of catching up to do in also in Philippines.
* If we make a story out of the graph, it can be that a typical Pinoy like me wants an iPhone, but since it's too expensive, the Pinoy will just pick what is very familiar to him like a Nokia phone or go to the least expensive one (China phones) in the hope that soon he can save up for an iPhone.
* Android, if you want to get a foothold of the Philippines, you know who to get.
| Tumbly - a native symbian client for Tumblr |
As always, I am late in posting. Last March 23, 2011, Jojo Flores, who co-founded Plug and Play Tech Center which is a California-based incubator, presented 'Start up, Take a Pitch.' In the beginning, before they become Plug and Play Tech, they their business was more of a realty business. It was started by Saeed Amidi who is more in the merchandising industry. They have a garage-kind of building in the Silicon Valley where they had and have it rented out. It just happens that most of the people who came and come to rent their places where doing tech and web products. As such, the place somehow became a mecca of people building mostly web-based products / services.
The best thing about my new work is being surrounded with 'cool' people -- people who design and build stuff. They can already be more than enough subjects for my (make-believe) start-up stories.
| with Lord Norlan Mumar & TeachMate |
Infographic showing iOS apps downloads and sales statistics is nothing new but viewing an infographic of a Filipino mobile developer is very interesting because it is something close to us, and in a way inspiring. And, the more interesting thing about is that it is a one-man team, Erick Garayblas.
From the infographic, something I learned:
* You can not put ads on free iOS applications
* So a good way to market your other apps via free apps is to create your own free apps -- make sense?
I have to put this quick update after I got the following mention on an article of Piclyf/Eric Su on the The Next Web Asia. This place has been quiet for some time, not that any one cares. But I got busy with a start-up whirlwind romance, then moved on and get busy starting on a new 'day job.'
Since I'm mentioned in an article about 'The Filipino Start-up Community' so I though of putting down my thoughts about start-up in the Philippines.The Filipino startup community
I first asked Eric about the startup community in the Philippines, which he told me is very fragmented. There are a bunch of folks in Manila who are trying to sustain one with regular meetups like Roofcamp, and blogs like StartupPhilippines.com. The city of Cebu is also undergoing a fantastic birth of one, mainly through the efforts of Caresharing co-founder, Marc Buenconsejo, and his wife Rose, who is also the editor of Techboba.com. There are actually some fantastic startups like InSync, Infinite.ly and Cashcashpinoy but the problem is that most of these Filipino founders aren’t actively helping foster a community.
* All I can say is that start-up in Philippines is like a FAIRY TALE -- happy endings only happen in the book. In start-up case, happy endings only happen in Silicon Valley... And, just like in fairy tales, they key to success in PH startup is to foolishly believe in it (my best shot at trying to be poetic about it=)).
* I'm really sick and tired listening of comparing the start-up in Philippines to Silicon Valley. I guess aside from the programming language, there is no eeny weeny comparison between the two. So let's stop the disillusion of having the Silicon Valley start-up culture/environment here. My point is that it's like planting an apple tree in the dessert, I no longer know how to finish this line. But I don't mean to discourage us from creating start-ups, it's just let's not get frustrate of why we cannot have the Silicon Valley because we're not Silicon Valley. New York even wonder why they cannot get the Silicon Valley style of start-up so how much is the Philippines which is like 360 degrees away from the Valley.
* If Filipinos can unite for Edsa 1 to x, there's no reason why we cannot rally for a start-up effort. It's just a matter of pushing the right button in us but that's the big question -- what is the right button.
This is getting boring so I'll end here.
Anyhoo, I hope I'll be able to make some noise again here the soonest (until I get a grip of all the changes and such) to make up start-up fairytale stories, create my own imaginary start-up world, until the right buttons will be discovered.
This is the world wide web, and not just any world wide web, it is the PHILIPPINE web, so let's have some LOLZ.
Arts and Portfolio
* http://www.metromaniladirectory.com/ -- Why would a directory be part of this category?
* http://www.philippineartawards.org/ -- Typical of an 'artist' website, it uses dark tones. Why do most artists like dark colors?
* http://www.bridalbook.ph/ -- so so... It looks like since there is no wedding / bridal category, they thought of just placing it here.
* http://www.dottystylecreative.com/ -- Their home page clearly indicates their agency is located in Sydney, Australia. Duh, it's Philippine Web Awards.
* http://www.jeffsimonsdesign.com/ -- My 2nd bet.
* http://www.projectskyrocket.com/ -- Their website looks like it came out from one of Smashing Magazine's featured site. And, they have a tagline that sounds like Carsonified.
* http://www.manilafinancialcenter.com/ -- What does a financial website got to do with 'Arts & Portfolio'? Worse, it has this 'running' text at the very top of the page.
* http://www.manilasky.com/ -- It looks like this service provider created the other 2 nominees in this category. The best feature of their site is the rotating globe / earth at the top left -- it reminds me of the old Internet Explorer. And, yes, their home page has literally a sky, not only a sky but a moving sky.
From the looks of it, even this poopoo-looking site techboba can be a nominee of this category. There are still a lot of categories that needs my commentary, but they will to follow, if I have nothing better to do and if I need some comedy.
After one week of announcement of NowShowing.ph's beta launch, it is now live according to Jason Torres' facebook status.
If you're a movie buff, I know you would love NowShowing.ph -- better bookmark it now.
I've known Piclyf way back Twidl.it times. A few would ask why I keep on using Piclyf when there are other picture-sharing tools. The thing is I'm not really much into the product, but of the Piclyf team, the people behind the product. It's rare that you can find people here that are courageous enough to go against all odds.
So it was nice to see one of the co-founders, Eric Su, in live talking about Piclyf -- the product, their team, and their story. I'd done a short rough interview of him some time ago, which you can find here.
Most of us only know about start-ups when they're no longer start-ups, which, for me, is just the tip/ending of the story. The real story is when they're still yet to be discovered. So below, you can view the video of Eric Su talking about Piclyf's story, taken during the last meetup, and find out how they were able to survive with only one-week worth of cash for the their start-up team.
I'm sorry for the crappy quality, and I was not able to finish the whole talk since I ran out of batt. You can also find below a (incomplete) video of Eric Su's The Startup Game.
You can check the following links for Eric's slide presentation used during the meetup.
* The Startup Game
* Startup Tips
Based on the blurb on their beta launching site, NowShowing.ph is a way for you to discover new movies, get the perfect schedule, and stay updated with upcoming titles. I'm thinking it's kind of ClicktheCity and SureSeats.
NowShowing.ph is a ProudCloud product according to Jason Torres' tweets, which then I assumed that Jason is one of the developers of it.
Photo shows CEO and co-founder of Orange & Bronze Software Labs (O&B) Calen Martin Legaspi (3rd from left), gesturing as he fields a question from the media during the company’s formal launch at the O&B headquarters in Makati City. Looking on are (from left): O&B developer and online search site haybol.ph co-founder Edge Dalmacio, O&B chief technology officer and co-founder Butch Landingin and O&B head of consulting services Mike Mallete.
| with Albert |
| with Mark Yap and his team working on money remittance platform |
| finly got to have a pic with Vernon Go, president of Cebu Bloggers Society |
Instead, I'll talk and show you a few of the interesting people I met on that event, who, I bet, will have a big role in shaping up the Startup community culture here in Cebu. I missed on a lot of the other people who were there -- will make up on the next meet-ups.
Ms. Pauline Wade
She heads the newly opened incubator (co-working space) facility here in Cebu, UP Cebu DOST-TBI. The incubator facility in UP Cebu is all set-up, the only piece missing is you -- the rockstars, your idea, and your passion.
He is the Executive Director of Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology.
Marvis Sanchez
There's a long personal story behind that, but I will not bore you with that. But he and Mark had been working for different software projects before -- Cleverlearn/Bigfoot, LearningToGo, and there were more I can no longer recall the names.
| Marvis, Mark, Harm |
| Paolo, Engwan, Jean, Poy (half) |
Jesslee Cuizon
The fresh-from-Japan programmer I met via twitter. Thank you for coming.
Albert Padin & Spelldial Team
Spelldial is a new way of dialing a call. It's a Cebu-based start-up team.
| Albert Padin |
| Me & Albert |
| Spelldial girl, Nicole, Albert, Me, Honee (of Etroduce) |
| Dave and Kevin gave a talk |
| Dave |
| Kevin |
| with Jimbo |
| Paolo's presentation |
| Ian |
| Ian and Paul |
| Ademar and Leah |
To get a feel of this service, check the following video and slide.
I started being part of a team working on web / mobile product last week of December, 2011. Thus, I can hardly find time to update this blog because I have to be 'living' the so-called 'start-up life.'
I started working with only one person in the team, the hacker chick, Odina whose secret to not sleeping is Cobra Energy drink. (Sorry, too lazy to rotate this.)
| at some high-rise building =) |
| UP Cebu Incubator Space |
| at the condo |
| at some cozy place (condo) |
| Leah the foster mother. at Mr. Moon's turf |
| getting cozy |
"Mockaroo adds links to your mockup layouts (napkin doodles allowed) to let you create a prototype in minutes. Instead of coding your prototype in HTML and CSS, Mockaroo is the more effortless way of getting your idea in prototype mode. Actually, it's only a three-step process:
- Upload your mockup images ("Home page", "Dashboard", etc.)
- Add links to navigate between mockups
- Invite your collaborators to view and critique your site"
You can check a demo of Mockaroo in action here.
Mockaroo is a product of Percolait, a UI design and prototype development for startups shop, founded by a Filipino rails developer and designer Bobby Santiago.
Something was missing me ha. Apps now miss me.
I met him via Philippine Android Community online. He's an Android developer who happens to be on tour, and his first stop is Cebu, Philippines.
He also create robots for hobby. His robot is somewhere in the picture (sorry, I don't understand a thing from this Jap site http://jp.makezine.com/blog/2010/11/mtm06_announce.html). Ain't that cool! =)
He'll be here for 3 weeks in Cebu, Philippines. One thing I realized is that, I guess, Android enthusiast / developers is almost non-existent in Cebu. If you are interested to learn Android from him, you can check him out at http://twitter.com/itog_.
Top Recently Installed Apps of 2010
Insync, created by a team of Filipinos headed by Terence Pua, just launched last September 2010, and they are now in Top 10 Recently Installed Apps of 2010 in Google Apps Marketplace. This can be a signal of a great 2011 for the Philippines regarding technology and startup in general.
You can also use it for marketing -- you can send updates to your clients in one go. Then, it can be also a branding to your business since you have that unique number. And, then develop / create a bond with your customers with quick personal updates.
It also has a corresponding web app. I'll just share the public view of it. You can simply sign up a Groupsme account, and you can see how it works.
GroupsME is developed by Next Sparks (NSparks), a software start-up based in Cebu, Philippines. The main guys are Ian Bert Tusil and Stephen Paul Suarez.
| Ian (yellow shirt) and Paul |
| fan pic |
Last Thursday, I got a chance to visit the new Cebu Business Incubator for IT (CebuinIT), a UP Cebu-DOST TBI (Technology Business Incubator) project. I sat in the discussion of the incubator manager, a start-up enthusiast, and market entry guy -- they are all veterans. So I, somehow, was able to listen to 3 different point of views about ideas, innovation, team building, start-up, passion, culture and such. There are too many things I realized from that visit but let me keep this post to the facility first.
| Cubicle: 5 sq.m area per cubicle |
The 'room type' is like a size of a classroom. My classrooms back in college is below the UP TBI so I'm quite familiar with the size. |
| Room type: Each unit range from 17.17 to 34.34 sqm |
Question: What is the concept of your Pre-Incubation Program? How can we qualify?
Answer: Pre Incubation Program is offered to those qualified start-ups and will be allowed to occupy a cubicle and avail of the services/consultation free of charge for 3 to 6 months, upon approval of the business concept and other requirements.
- Entrance criteria to the pre-incubation program is the submission of a feasibility study or description of the business concept/idea to be approved by the advisory committee, entitling the proponent to a maximum stay of 3 months.
- Submission of a business plan and feasibility study (if not submitted already) for an additional extension of 3 months.
I believe whoever has experienced being in a start-up, you already know what's the importance of having an access to this kind of facility. Aside from being able to save from the space rental fees, it can provide you a place to exchange ideas with other people. Plus, UP Cebu-DOST has a pool of supportive experienced advisers you can take advantage of.
Being able to work with your team in one place helps in building a good relationship with your mates which can be more important than your product. With a good team bond/spirit, it can mean you can easily jump from one failed product to another (yes, that is reality.).
And, being located in a University campus, it means you have an easy access to community of users (very very important from my POV) and possible additional members to your team.
The facility (think of apartment in Social Network movie), pool of advisors and possible investors are all laid out to you by UP Cebu-DOST TBI. According to Ms. Pauline Wade (Incubator Manager), they are well-supported both from government agencies and private sectors. Now, the only piece missing is you and your idea. With all things in place, you can now go crazy with your idea as you have a very good support system at your back.
| Me, Ms. Wade, Mark, John taking the pic =) |
Posts
This can give you a quick understandable basics of blogging. Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
Going straight to the point, facebook is where I keep all my friends, relatives, acquaintances. Twitter is where I keep random people I meet.
Between friends/relatives and strangers, I prefer selling to random strangers. Because it is a true measure of how marketable my product is if I could make someone who does not know me buy it.
Also, people on Twitter are somehow more open to get unexpected invitations, messages, and pitches. Though, no guarantee that they will pay attention to your messages the first time but with not much being annoying about tweetig your target prospects, a few would get nudge, pay attention, and not necessarily buy right away. They can refer you to others, or keep you for future reference.
And really I'm not so comfortable spamming friends on facebook. I'd rather annoy strangers on Twitter.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
One of the things I really aim for in woodenfun.com is to make online payment very convenient. I used to be a 'shopper' from local online sellers here in Philippines until I got tired of the payment system (Please see my previous post about this here.). Paying via bank transfer/deposit, GCash, and remittance center is not much convenient. The essence of online shopping, I believe, is its convenience -- that buyers can buy at the comfort of their homes or wherever they are without moving the need to move their butts. But most Philippine online sellers (who are mostly starting up like me or just doing it for hobby or on a sideline), getting a merchant account to be able to process credit card payments is very expensive to set-up, not to mention the hassle of getting all the papers and documents bank will require.
So one easy and free-to-set-up method of processing credit card payments is via Paypal, which I already did for my woodenfun -- Cebu Wooden Toy Shop. (Thank God, upgrading a paypal account to business account is actually easy and hassle-free.) But I am not sure if majority of local buyers in Philippines are comfortable doing payment transactions via paypal, or with the use of credit card.
So the other form of payment I want to offer is GCash. I will start with GCash for now, over SmartMoney, for the reason that I am a Globe subscriber, and have experienced using GCash. This 'GCash vs Smart Money' is quite an insightful article regarding differences between the 2. When I saw multiply offering the option to pay via GCash to upgrade your account, I was ecstatic. But I was disappointed when the GCash customer support cannot provide any idea on how to implement multiply's GCash version. Instead, she refer GCash Click to me.
I thought that the GCash Click was like that of multiply's version where I can just enter my mobile number to pay, and the rest will be taken cared of. But unfortunately, GCash click is no near close to it. First thing first, I want to provide CONVENIENT online payment for my customers. What I mean by convenient is that users will only need a few clicks, and transaction is done. GCash Click, true to its name, provides more and more clicks, and more steps before finalizing the payment:
* Of course, you need to register for GCash.
* Then, buyers need to register to GCash Click to use it. (If I were a buyer who needs to go to this step, I am sorry, but I'll look for another seller.)
* Once I am registered to GCash Click, I need to input the item I want to purchase from a registered GCash Click seller on my GCash Click account.
* GCash Click will alert/email the buyer to respond to the order I placed on GCash Click.
* Then, I need to wait for the sellers reply.
I may not have the right to say this because I have not used the service, but really, it is too much of a hassle to go through.
GCash Click is more of an escrow and shipping services provider. I believe Delbros, Inc is the company that develops this GCash Click -- integrating GCash payment to escrow and shipping services. They will hold the buyers money until he/she receives the item before releasing it to the seller. On the part of the seller, the GCash Click will sort of be a third party witness that payment does exist, and also you are free from the shipping-worry because Delbros logistics will handle that part for you. The best thing with GCash Click is you are provided with security, too much security.
But where is convenience there?
Of course, I am concerned with security. But I have greater faith in the goodness of mankind. So yes, I prioritize convenience over security.
This is more of a continuation from my previous post,'The Missing Link in Shopping from Local Online Stores.'
I was pretty excited when I saw from my Multiply account that they now accept GCash payments for account upgrade. I am not interested with upgrading my account because I already have a premium multiply account. But what made me excited and interested is the possibility of having a more 'convenient online payment system' via GCash. As I mentioned in my previous post, there is 'brokenness' in our current local online payments -- which is that people need to go through an extra step (go to Globe center, banks, other payment facilities) before being able to finally pay.
Though, the GCash payment system in multiply still needs the extra step but what I like is their implementation of it on their website. In multiply, for me to pay via GCash, all I need is to input my mobile number.
If transaction is unsuccessful, the error message will display online, and you will also receive text message.
There is nothing much new there from the old way of texting the amount you like to pay to the seller's number. But what I like most about having this 'Pay-with-GCash button' are:
* It gives a more professional look. It is like having the Paypal button.
* The most advantage here is buyers sending to the wrong number will be prevented. I know people are pretty much careful when doing this GCash thing, but it is just more convenient when I only need to enter my mobile number, and the rest will be taken cared of.
* It provides a more 'secure' feeling to the buyer and seller as well.
But unfortunately, this is not available for other online sellers like me. I called up GCash hotline (2882) but the support rep who replied to me cannot say much about the Pay-with-GCash button used by multiply. She instead referred GCash Click -- which is more like of an escrow service.
One of the problems I see in creating an online store here in Philippines is how to make online payment convenient. Getting a merchant account is wayyy expensive and with all the documents required by the bank, it is definitely out of the league for starting businesses like my woodenfun.com (Cebu Wooden Toy Shop).
Being a Pinoy, we are creative and resourceful. Most local online stores here in Philippines (you can find a lot in Multiply and Ebay.ph), to accommodate their customers, accept payments via bank wire transfer, remittance center, paypal, and the most popular (correct me if I'm wrong)) is GCash and SmartMoney -- money transfer services of Globe and Smart. There are also meet-ups. I think GCash and SmartMoney is the most popular because text is a universal language here in Philippines. People from all walks of life know what is Globe and Smart, so introducing the product to people even in the remotest area is not that hard, compared to explaining wire transfer via banks or paypal.
These other forms of collecting payments is innovative except that it is not that CONVENIENT. There was a time when I got hooked with online shopping from local sellers here in Philippines. I was a frequent bidder in ebay.ph. I also frequent online sellers in multiply site. Then, for the tech gadgets, I go to muradito.com. At that time, no local online sellers can process credit card payments. There were a few who accept payments via paypal but they usually jack-up the price to offset the paypal charges -- a tad disappointing. So I had not much choice but to pay via bank wire transfer or GCash.
For me to pay via GCash or bank wire transfer, I need to go out of the house -- inconvenience starts here. My bank is BPI, BPI can process online transfer but I first need to register the other BPI account from the branch where I opened my account. So it's easier for me then to directly deposit the money to the seller's account because my BPI branch is sooo far from where I live. For GCash, I still need to go to a Globe Center to load up my number with money for payments. Of course, I can load it up with lots of money in advance so next purchase will be easier. But then, I'm cheap, why would I load up my celphone number with lots of money?
If you look at it, this is not really much of a disadvantage to the buyers, but to the sellers. If online payment via credit card can be made easier for buyers, can you imagine the sales you will get from impulsive buyers? There are a lot of things that can happen during the gap between having to go to a bank to deposit my payment or to Globe center to load up my GCash account, that can prevent the final sale.
* The buyer may find a better/cheaper stuff along the way to the bank, payment center, and others.
* Some more important things to buy may come up, thus cancelling the intended online purchase.
* The excitement of getting that item from an online store just wane off, until the buyer just totally lose his/her interest. However you will put warning to blacklist buyers from backing out from a sale will not scared off your buyer because they will have nothing to lose, and besides backing out from an agreement with the goods still in the seller's hand is not a major crime.
* The gap also gives chance for the buyers to sleep over their buying decision. And, you know what happens when people are given more time to think things over.
(I know I sound suggesting to take advantage of human's vulnerability towards buying, which is not really right.)
So the missing link in online shopping from local online stores is CONVENIENCE. With the lack of convenience in online payments, it leads to delayed gratification which can cause for a 'few' people to lose interest in online buying.
I just have a very very basic knowledge of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). And, one of the basic fact I know about SEO is that content is the king. But I do not really mind SEO that much, because with my first blog, most of the time, I only blog/write for my self, for my satisfaction.
But now putting up an online shop for my wooden toys, I see the need to learn about Search Engine Optimization, even just the basics just to make my website appear on google search results.
So I met with a good friend way back in college. She is a marketing manager, and she is very knowledgeable about online marketing and SEO. I asked her to meet with me so she can teach me about the basics of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). To prove that she is indeed very good at it, try to search 'marketing critic' on google. And, her blog, 'yhadz, the marketing critic,' ranks number 1 in search results.
The first SEO advise she gave me was that content is the king, update your blog/website regularly, and a dash of keywords you want to maintain. So really, I am not really that bad in this part. Then, she suggest I start with SEOpen firefox extension to check my website analytics. There are actually quite a few firefox extension related to SEO.
Anyway, I was excited and downloaded the SEOpen firefox extension. And, though the tool looks pretty simple, I understand the results it gave me but I just do not know what to make of it in the overall scene. Of course, I just started using it -- need time to get familiar with it.
After some time of tweaking on it and a tad disappointed of myself of why I could not get it, I realized that, really, Search Engine Optimization should not be my main concern. I should focus on what I do best, and that is just 'flaunting my thoughts' -- just writing and writing and writing. I mean in the end, content is the king. I should keep in my mind, that the first thing I should satisfy is myself, what is in my heart, and not google or any search engine for that matter. This makes SEO much easier to do.
As much as I force myself to write if the feeling is not there, I cannot do much unless I want to end up with passionless generic write-ups. I'm actually trying to finish writing tips for pre-nuptial photo shoots for tabongphotography.com which I've been maintaining for months already. And, I'm happy to share that Tabong already get 1 or 2 clients and a few inquiries from the websites. Having this new inspiration kind of pump me up to rush on putting updates to the website.
Some times we are always in the rush to do things, afraid to be left behind. But there are things that are meant to wait, and to be done slowly. Not because you are being lazy, but it is just something that should not be forced.
So if you are feeling in a hurry to finish it but is not in the mood to do it, ask yourself, if this task is something worth the while? Is this something worth wasting time on? Because any great things are worth doing slowly. (Idea is swiped from the 'Three Cups of Tea' by Greg Mortensen.)
Finally, with lots of help from Mr. Google, I finally found the official instructions page of GoDaddy on Mapping Your Domain to Work with a Blogger Blog, which is pretty helpful for a not-so-tech-savvy like me. The instruction is written step-by-step so you no longer will get lost.
But to give you a run down of it, go to your Account Manager in GoDaddy. Then, click on Domain Manager under My Products, located at the right side of the page. The setting up of the domain name to point to the blogger site would all be done in Domain Manager.
I wanted to get the customized domain name from blogger to do away with the hassle of setting up the domain name to point to my blogspot account. But blogger does not offer a .us address so I went of with godaddy.com -- because they are the domain provider that I know of which offers low prices. I got my my mogulicio.us domain name for $5.99 -- which I think is quite a steal. I followed all the steps outlined in blogger's help page, How do I use a custom domain name on my blog? So I thought I was set and done, and all I have to do is wait for a day or two and mogulicio.us will be up and running. But after almost a week, nothing happens.
So now I am literally lost. I just cannot understand what all this DNS, CNAME, MX, and all those jargons mean.
But I am never giving up.
I want to offer my customers an option to pay via their credit card for their convenience. Credit card payment is also a way for buyers to protect theirselves because of the 'online paper trails,' and the bank/merchant to protect them. But getting a merchant account here in Philippines is very very expensive -- you need to have a Php 500,000 time deposit in the bank. For now, BDO (correct me if I'm wrong) is the main source of merchant accounts to establishments here in Philippines. Well Php 500,000.00 is not really that big for big moneyed businesses but for my backyard business, it is not an option. But of course, I am looking forward to that direction.
For now, the only way I can accept credit card payments is via Paypal. I've been using paypal for years now but only for paying, not receiving payments. You do not really get any fees or charges when you pay via Paypal, because the 'recipient' (receiver of the money) is the one charged for it. But actually, the seller ('recipient' of your money) usually add the paypal/transaction costs to the price of the item you're buying.
So now that I will soon be on the other end, the receiving end, I am now trying to make sense of the different transaction fees. From what I understand, if payments are just from within Philippines:
Domestic Transaction Fee = Flat fee + 2.4% to 3.4% depending on your sales volume
So for my Php 1,500 toy sale, my paypal domestic transaction fee here in Philippines will be:
Php 15.00 + (0.034 x 1,500) = Php 66.00
Well, I think Php 66.00 is not really that bad in exchange for the convenience that I and my customer will get from it.
For payments from other countries, which they called as Cross-Border Payments, the price per transaction is slightly higher compared to the domestric transaction. It's 0.5% higher than the Domestic Transaction fee. Please refer to screenshot below for transaction fees for cross-border payments:
There are still a lot of things I need to learn about paypal, and so with other online payment option. For now, paypal transaction fees will do.
Profile
Summary
Customer relationship building is my forte since most of my experience is centered on the customers/users. I have been involved in the development of software applications at different stages as:
* customer relationship person -- technical support and training
*application tester
* technical and content writer
* marketing
I co-founded @tweetitow, http://tweetitow.com. It is an SMS and MMS based application for updating your twitter and posting full-length blog, and images / pics to the web.
I am passionate about software applications and human dynamics. And, I blog since 2004.
Experience
- Aug 2009 - PresentCo-Founder / TweetitowI handle all the non-programming stuff.
- Apr 2011 - PresentTester / CaresharingI test apps.
- Apr 2011 - PresentPromo Girl / ideatokiAnalyze how to best use / position social media in a business / individual campaign
- 2010 - PresentFarmer / techboba / phmobileappsI'm a one-man cheering squad for the Philippine web / mobile applications.
- Dec 2010 - PresentUser Person / EtroducePlan on the flow of the application for the users.
- Feb 2010 - PresentTester & Community Relationship Builder / CaresharingI seek and reach out to people who share the same vision with us -- promoting human wellness.
- Aug 2009 - PresentFreelance Writer / N/AI write web contents for content providers, and I also write for my own self.
- Mar 2009 - PresentUser Tester / Applic8I test the application for glitches/bugs as well as its usability performance. I also offer suggestions on some changes on how to improve the application from the user's point of view.
- Mar 2009 - PresentTechnical Writer / Applic8I was responsible for creating the user's manual for the HR application.
- Mar 2009 - PresentScreencast Maker / Applic8I created video tutorials for the HR application.
- Mar 2006 - PresentCustomer Support Representative / Distributed Website Corporation (DWC)I assist customers with their concerns regarding our applications -- school activity scheduler, facility scheduler, class registration, web content manager applications. I also gave short trainings to the customers. Guide them how to use the application. Show them tricks to make it easier on their end. I also train new customer support representative, and guide them until they can do it on their own.
- Mar 2006 - PresentBug Tester / Distributed Website Corporation (DWC)As the CSR of DWC, it is also my responsibility to report bugs discovered by me. I double check on the bugs reported by the clients. After that, I would create a documentation of the bug with screenshots and possible causes. I would also coordinate with the programmers regarding bugs reported. It was also my role to update the clients/customers with regards to the problems they reported.
- Mar 2006 - PresentTechnical Writer / Distributed Website Corporation (DWCI contributed to the making of the Help page of the different applications. I also created mini tutorials for the users on specific features of application. I also wrote quick start guides or how-to-get-started tutorials for the new users.
- Jun 2005 - PresentMarketing Staff / XlibrisI handle inquiries of prospect customers. Answer their various inquires about the company and its different products.
- Aug 2003 - PresentCustomer Support Representative / XlibrisI handled book orders related concerns like information about books, shipping, and others. I also handle inquiries about Xlibris' POD products.
- May 2002 - PresentField Researcher / AGB Nielsen Media ResearchI go around different locations to invite households to join the TV rating program research the company is conducting.
- Apr 2002 - PresentPlaygroup Teacher / Dynamic Access to Education, Inc.Handle playgroup classes; Prepare lesson plans and teaching aides; Provide tutorials for Mathematics, English, Reading Comprehension and Writing subjects
- 2001 - PresentData Entry Specialist (Project-Based) / Lepiten Law OfficeData entry; Initial statistical analysis
Education
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1998 - 2002University of the PhilippinesBA in PsychologyActivities: UPPSYMA (University of the Philippines Psychology Majors Association)
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1994 - 1998University of the PhilippinesBA in Psychology
