Published terribly early in the morning of March 28, 2008
Having my own company has always been a dream; I’ve always wanted my own startup. When Jayvee broached the idea of setting up an advertising network focused on local weblogs and advertisers, I knew it was going to be the perfect opportunity for me to hack away on web solutions I actually will use. The first time we met with Brad, we knew it was gonna be real we could almost feel it, but at the same time uneasy considering the long list of tasks we were about to face.
After weeks of meetings over countless slices of Yellow Cab pizza, we finally had our list of potential publishers and advertisers. We had our simple system of delivering ads to our publishers’ blogs, it was all we initially needed to get things off the ground. Two months later, we now have more than 200 active blogs from a good number of local publishers. We’ve completed three campaigns, with two more currently ongoing.
Earlier this month, we had our official launch at Red Box Greenbelt 3. Good to see our friends join us celebrate a momentous milestone for the BlogBank. Of course we have photos of the launch (also mirrored at multiply) and the ensuing after–party mayhem of a photoshoot. Good times with good company.
Now we have a mountain of work to do. Bear with us as we strive to deliver a service worthy of the pinoy blogosphere’s attention. It’s for us all. 
Note: If you want a hi–res copy of a photo from the set, just leave a comment here. 
Photo credits: Markku, Hana, Juned, Jayvee, Phoebe.
12 Replies·
2008.03.28
Published in the wee hours of March 18, 2008
The Nokia N82 is one of Nokia’s most hyped phone in recent months. It’s not exactly new, it was announced last year though the local (and regional) campaign promoting this model is still in full swing, called Nokia Nseries Soul of the Night. I’m sure you’ve seen or heard about the campaign as it’s almost everywhere!
So what’s to like about this phone?
- First and foremost, it is a functional phone that’s easy to use, be it for text messaging or phone calls.
- Wireless internet (WiFi) in a cellphone changes the way you interact with the web, it’s liberating just like when we first had WiFi on laptops.
- The phone’s OS, Nokia’s S60 3rd Edition, is the best of their Symbian–based platform. Fast enough without the quirks we used to notice in earlier Nokia S60 phones.
- The 5–megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and a Xenon flash is actually good; it’s responsive enough for casual snapshots. It’s now my default camera when I don’t feel like lugging an SLR.
- Along with the very usable camera, the phone features a multi–function gallery that makes it easy to share and showcase your photos and other media files. I even use it as my on–the–go portfolio viewer, putting its slideshow feature to good use.
- There is more than enough memory for SMS and contacts; 100MB internal along with 128MB of RAM makes this phone quite snappy to use.
Now of course, it would be impossible to find a gadget where there’s nothing that fails to impress you. Like what?
- The numeric keypad is on the small side, giving the impression that it’s hard to use. You have to actually try it to see that it’s far easier to use than you’d think. At its worst, if you have enormous fingers, it’s gonna take a day or two of getting used to.
- Battery life is not exactly spectacular at just two days. If I abuse it with calls and lots of photo snaps, it seems to give up just before you get an exact two days.
- Lastly, the hole for inserting a neck or a handstrap is positioned rather awkwardly, it should have been at the bottom. It feels weird when you shoot or type with your hand in the strap.
So is the phone worth buying? If you have the budget for it, then go for it. It’s roughly twenty thousand pesos well spent. Note though that there are cheaper Nokia models that may have some of the features you need. But if you want it all, there’s no reason not to get the Nokia N82.
7 Replies·
2008.03.18
Published in the late afternoon of March 7, 2008
Crawl inside, wait by the light of the moon.
I am forsaking all the rest, just to reach you, just to reach you. Just to reach you.
I don’t care what they think, I don’t care what they say.
Come to my window, I’ll be home soon.
This is my alternate set for the Epson photo essay contest we had in mystic Batanes. Hana wanted this one much better, but I chose the cows instead. I should’ve listened to her. I didn’t have a story for this back then, but now I think Melissa Etheridge’s Come To My Window somehow would’ve made it make sense.
Another five photos, on a Friday. I should do this more often.
7 Replies·
2008.03.07
Published mid-afternoon of March 5, 2008
Yesterday, I got my driver’s license renewed just in time for today’s deadline. It took just around thirty minutes, all in the comfort of a shopping mall. Wonderful.
And then I realized that as of today, I’m officially off the non–leap year February calendar, if you know what I mean. How fast time flies.
The thing about birthdays, it’s a time for reflection that we age like a linear function, yet the number of friends we keep grow exponentially. Thank God for good friends and family.
17 Replies·
2008.03.05
Published in the early evening of March 4, 2008
More often than not, a typical weekend gimik involves a few (or several) rounds of beer or some other alcoholic treat, followed by very late night, actually early morning coffee, just before heading home. Now you can have both, at the same time.
Delifrance brings us coffee that packs a punch, a first for local coffee shops. Simply coffee mixed with the likes of vodka or Bailey’s, it’s surprisingly good!
By the way, here’s a little not–so–secret: the password is “naughty with my coffee.” Spiked coffee after 5PM, spikedafter5.com.
4 Replies·
2008.03.04
Published just before lunchtime of March 1, 2008
This blog has been running on a customized 1.5–based WordPress for a few years now. As a result of my modifications, it has slowly showed its age and weaknesses in the backend. I’ve been unable to take advantage of the better plugins out there, though thinking about it now I still had all the features I needed in a functionally sound weblog publishing app.
A few weeks ago, I decided to finally move back to the latest version of WordPress and stop worrying about it. It took me a day to make my theme 2.x–compatible as I decided to wipe away some of the unnecessary code I already have forgotten about. I realized I’ve been using it even before WordPress had support for themes and pages. I overlooked one detail though, I forgot to revert my comment form and prevented new comments for a few days or so. The actual WordPress upgrade took all of five minutes.
Now all I need is a content upgrade.
8 Replies·
2008.03.01
