Published in the late afternoon of October 31, 2004
As you may have heard, Apple just released the iPod U2 Special Edition, a beautifully black piece of hardware containing most of U2’s hits, old and new. Unknown to many, the iPod U2 SE is just one of many upcoming special edition releases — the iPod DF SE and the iPod kottke.org SE are some of the popular ones. And then this:
Yes, I present to you the iPod Rebelpixel Productions Special Edition. At just $349, you get 20 GB of space for your music collection, and you get an ultra–cool orange–colored pair of earbuds in addition to the signature white ones. Samplers of this year’s OPM hits will also be included, as well as Nanet’s acoustic cover of Tattooed On My Mind. But the highlight of this limited edition novelty is the collection of originals and covers of my band pop ratio, containing tracks all the way from 1995! Leave a comment for advanced orders, or you may head to my online store to place a reservation.
[ Idea blatantly copied from John Gruber and Jason Kottke. Thanks guys! 
]
17 Replies·
2004.10.31
Published late at night of October 25, 2004
Yes, that could be you. I really don’t know why, but since I saw you watching our basketball game last Friday night, I’ve been having problems hiding this huge smile on my face, and I end up looking forward to having lunch everyday. I’ve been dying to get your number, but I couldn’t muster the courage to do so.
So help me with this thing, coz I’m not so good at matters of attractions and emotions. My email is markku@gmail.com, or you could just leave a comment, or something. Maybe I’ll talk to you and ask for it when we bump into each other at the office… Oh, and by the way — hope you had a very happy birthday.
24 Replies·
2004.10.25
Published in the early evening of October 21, 2004
I haven’t been writing again, probably because I’m too busy especially with this battle with COBOL programming. It’s like raising a dinosaur, I must say.
Last Friday, I finally got to see Wimbledon with her, and it was a great feel–good movie to top a great night. If you’re going out on a date, take your girl (or guy) to this one.
These past days I’ve been active in the blogging world, though not on my own weblog. Aside from commenting on each of Joey’s entries, I’ve been busy drooling over Jake’s latest adventures, as well as reading Jaemark’s new blog. Yes, that Jaemark, the pornstar guy. Hehehe. By the way, I just discovered this hilarious pinoy weblog, feeling mo mga tambay talaga kausap mo.
One last thing, listen to this mp3, that’s my friend singing. Great voice, right?
One really last thing, happy 8th year anniversary to Karl and Mimi, wishing you the best in your current love.
20 Replies·
2004.10.21
Published at around evening time of October 16, 2004
After the initial stream of entries inspired by an entry from The Sassy Lawyer, a response from PDI’s Joey Alarilla surfaces on his weblog — with a very personal tone.
It’s come to my attention that the launch of INQ7.net’s Talking Points blog has elicited a negative reaction among certain members of the Philippine blogging community — you know who you are.
I don’t think there’s a valid point of contention on what he can write on his own site, just as I can write about “Talking Points” shortcomings, as well as other issues with the INQ7.net site. But to imply that our words are just “rants” is totally unacceptable. Most of us are regular readers of your paper’s online version, and my family has been reading the Inquirer since God–knows–when; I’ve been scanning it from cover–to–cover (well, figuratively) since my early grade school days. To say that “no one’s forcing you to use it if you don’t like it” even in your personal weblog is a display of gross disrespect to your employer and more importantly, your readers.
We were raising technical and journalistic issues with your weblog–of–sorts, you responded with a lecture on what we can and cannot do. And what about permalinks, archives, comments, and other things that typically describe a weblog, do we get another rant for that? It wouldn’t really take much if you go to wikipedia and read what permalinks are and why you need them in your so–called–weblog.
You mentioned something hilarious; now what I find hilarious is your admission that you just started blogging and you refuse to honor the value of linking, the “living” part of this thing we call the living web. The Fallenstar couldn’t have said it more appropriately.
What is my point, really? INQ7.net has all the resources to roll out a proper weblog, one that benefits its readers and harmoniously blends with the rest of the online community, bloggers and all. On a lighter note, if you’ve been having technical problems implementing the necessary weblog features, you can actually signup at blogger and make a “Talking Points” weblog, and then just do a PHP include() in your /talkingpoints/index.php file. Of course it’s a joke.
6 Replies·
2004.10.16
Published in the wee hours of October 14, 2004
The Sassy Lawyer notes the launch of “Talking Points,” INQ7.net’s attempt at weblogs, or something pretending to be one. As described on their site, it is “used to chronicle news events as they happen, to post selected readers’ comments as they’re sent — much like a weblog.” And this is where things get interesting.
First of all, they select what opinions to publish, contrary to the journalistic freedom of the blogosphere. Ideally, and what has always been the case, the worldwide weblog community is self–correcting — no false information remains uncorrected for an extended period of time. The need for “selective publishing” is eliminated, since those that don’t make sense will not be noticed (well, not that much). Weblogs allow you to say what you want, but also allowing other bloggers to react, whether positively or the contrary.
Apparently, this weblog–of–sorts they’re diving into was inspired by American journalist and blogger Andrew Sullivan. Interestingly, they featured two articles about Filipino bloggers not too long ago, but wasn’t cited at all as one of the influences for “Talking Points.” This is what bothers many pinoy bloggers — they’re trying to sound like they’re pioneering local blogging, based on the American blogging comunity, when in fact Filipinos have been doing this before 2002, even before I started.
Technically, they’re not faring any better at all. Permalinks — are they really that hard to implement? Links to INQ7.net articles die after several days, aside from usability issues they never addressed. And now in “Talking Points,” you cannot link to each reply or comment. Next time you do something like this, get someone who knows the subject matter. If you’re gonna be late in the game, make sure you do it right. If you’ll go blogging, get bloggers to get things rolling.
This is a campaign for them to pause and listen, and everyone is on this:
4 Replies·
2004.10.14
Published just before lunchtime of October 13, 2004
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write for example, ‘The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.’
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.
To hear immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to a pasture.
What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is shattered and she is not with me.
This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
My sight searches for her as though to go to her.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.
The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.
I no longer love her, that’s certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.
Another’s. She will be another’s. Like my kisses before.
Her voice. Her bright body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, that’s certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is short, forgetting is so long.
Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.
***
I just rediscovered Pablo Neruda, after reading the kwentong tambay weblog. The first time I fell in love with this particular poem was way back in college, in Communications III class. Now it’s back in my mind. Beautiful, ain’t it?
Love na naman ang usapan? Hahaha.
8 Replies·
2004.10.13
Published in the wee hours of October 10, 2004
A lot of people would say, “imitation is the greatest form of flattery.” And it sounds really great, knowing that people try to emulate you and your work. However, there are times when you end up grabbing too much of someone else’s ideas, and you don’t realize you’re already shouting another person’s creed.
In web design, the best get imitated. A lot. Look at Zeldman. Only God knows how many aspiring designers do File > Save Page As... on his site, every single day. If you go through Dave Shea’s CSS Zen Garden, and then browse through Scriv’s CSS Vault, you know that design ideas really do get around. But almost everyone knows how to expound inspirations, and somehow make it their own.
A few days ago, I got an email from someone in Malaysia asking if he could use the CSS producing the dots–and–arrows link styling on this site. But when I visited his site, it turns out he was already using them—colors, graphics, hover behavior and all. I promptly replied asking that he can use my work as an inspiration, but to please use different graphics and colors. And change them he did—he tinted them with another color.
And as I scanned around his site, it turns out this guy is one big fan of mine. Not that I’m good, maybe he’s just lazy and decided to copy a few details from a few good sites, mine included. I was thinking, “maybe I’m famous enough now so I’ll just let it pass.” But I changed my mind.
First of all, go read my about section, specifically the second paragraph of that page. Done? Now read this. I know my about section is now outdated, but that’s not the point, right? So, can he really do that? The following graphic illustrates my first point.
And we’re just getting started. A few months ago, when I felt all in–love and mushy, I posted lyrics of Ric Segreto’s Loving You, with matching dedication. Of course it’s pretty clear that I don’t own the copyright to the words of the song, but do you really think he’d think of the same song one day after I posted them on my weblog? What are the chances that he knows a song made popular only here in the Philippines, and many years ago at that?
Now let’s try diving deeper. Let’s say, stylesheet deep. rev2.css is my stylesheet, and kinki.css is his. I have another graphic below, with brief snippets of code. Similarities? Or copy–and–paste magic? Look at his comment form in the entry pages—familiar, right? And then my style rules for the increasing/decreasing textarea (made famous by Dunstan), what is it doing in his code when it’s not used at all?
It turns out, he’s also into photography. He even uses iPAP, and wrote to let us know. Too bad he changed the generator meta tag. But that code is GPL, so maybe I should let it pass.
I know that maybe in a few hours I’ll realize I’m overreacting, and we all go through this stage. Yes, I do save the best pages and study their code. But never to the point of uploading them to a webserver, and use it in a public environment, like in a weblog. Personally, I’m more offended about the grossly reused content than the design aspect of things. My friend, learn from this experience and move on. You are way much better than that.
37 Replies·
2004.10.10
Published in the early morning of October 5, 2004
In love na naman ba ako? Hahaha.
Today, my sister Charla celebrates her 23rd birthday. I’d love to get her an mp3 player, like an iPod, but I couldn’t even afford one for myself. 
So for now, Happy Birthday my dear Cha-cha!
I’ll just share with you this beautiful passage:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
18 Replies·
2004.10.05
Published in the wee hours of October 5, 2004
Death is inevitable. A few days ago, Richard Avedon—one of history’s greatest photographers—has moved on to the afterlife. He leaves us some of the world’s most striking portraits.
Now if you’ve been watching the local news a few hours ago, you probably know why I’m writing about dying and living. Less than 24 hours ago, Rio Diaz–Cojuangco—probably the most noted Filipino celebrity with cancer—has finally taken her last brave steps to be with our maker. After almost six years of battling colon cancer, starting way back in December 1998, she leaves us a vivid memory of how to live life knowing that each new day is just another gift from God.
Her story is one filled with never–ending triumphs, and not just once has she been so close to losing life, only to recover again and be an inspiring surprise not just for Filipinos but other cancer–afflicted people worldwide. The past few years, she has shown us how to face great adversity with hope and never–waning faith in the Lord. That no matter how bad life seems to be, there is someone up there that continues to direct the screenplay of life, and everything is part of His great masterplan.
Today, she did not lose the battle; by accepting her fate and trusting in the Lord, it was a war she won a long, long time ago.
Our prayers are with her and her family.
Live each day like it’s your last, and don’t fear the challenges, don’t be afraid to love, and be loved in return. Learn to express your love for those around you, after all, we are all made for love. Lastly, love the struggles that rain on us, it really isn’t just about the destination, but the steps and strides in this journey called life.
7 Replies·
2004.10.05
