Lol.

Thanks Jennifer Berman.

Just got home from the SEO Philippines Davao meetup I sponsored at the Blugre Cafe Landco. It really made me wonder where everyone was hiding all this time. I didn’t expect much of a turnout, but all in all, about 20 SEO’s, web developers, designers and bloggers showed up.

And of course, our guest of honor, Google’s country rep Aileen Apolo was there to talk a little bit about Google and the benefits of their Google Adwords Professional (GAP) certification program. Aileen gave away a Google shirt by asking us to write down as many Google products possible in 30 seconds. Dennis Agulo, who already won a shirt at Janette’s event, won another one! And he was using my pen and wrote on the registration form I prepared!! I was coaxing him to give me the shirt in exchange for a PR6 link but I was turned down! Yeah, I’m sourgraping just a tad. Hehe, it’s all good Dennis.
Read Full Entry

Ouch. Just like Marshall Kirkpatrick said here. I had but two subscribers to my blog seven months ago. But that was when I wasn’t serious about blogging.

Fast-forward to present: I now have 2800 subscribers. Looking at my Feedburner stats, most of my supposed subscribers come from feed aggregator Rojo. I have reported this concern to the Feedburner crew, and they replied with this (not verbatim):
Read Full Entry

Post-Digg kudos are in order:

Angelo Racoma - For telling me what to do before things went out of hand and when they did get out of hand!

Abe Olandres - For exhausting every option possible to help me out. You da man!

RJ Palabasan - For allowing me to rant like there was no tomorrow. Brib Wariur you are! Oops, did I just steal those keywords from you?

This is a paid review.

Three months ago, I wrote a short article on PayPerPost.com, a blog-for-pay company that received a lot of flak for luring bloggers to dish about stuff they couldn’t care less about sans disclosure.

Yesterday, I received an email from TextLinkAds saying that my blog was “pre-approved” to join a new blog advertising system called ReviewMe. Skeptic that I am, I was just about ready to mash this one like a poor potato. Bloggers like me are always on the lookout for ways to cash in, so to speak, either to make ends meet or speculate on our next trip abroad or gadget purchase. Honestly, I make enough to support myself and my cravings. I don’t make money from this blog per se, but it is the coat hanger of my credibilty. Nowhere else can anyone express themselves better than through their personal blogs. PayPerPost and ReviewMe puts our dignity as writers on a balance — perhaps tipped more heavily on their end. Half a decade ago blogging was nothing more than a hobby for everyone. Now it’s behaving more and more like mainstream media. People nowadays are scouring blogs for opinions, or perhaps information in aid of opinions. That’s because the blogosphere is still relatively unadulterated compared to television and print with minimal extraneous influences and advertising. But all of that is changing. Like it or not, bloggers are gaining leverage in our day-to-day influences. From cooking to buying stocks, which roof tile to buy and who to vote for, blogs are giving bookstores and libraries a run for their money. As their influence grows, it is inevitable that the subject of making money comes into the picture.
Read Full Entry

I’m not a practicing Catholic. I don’t go to church except when I’m forced to or when it’s Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. So really, there’s no place for me to give a righteous reaction to the current media/Internet circus surrounding Bryanboy. He’s getting exactly what he craves for: attention. And boy did he get it, albeit unexpectedly.

Honestly, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Bryanboy gave his opinion when he decided to post those controversial pictures of his European friend posing beside a statue of Jesus Christ, whom he considers “his fucking homeboy”. Some name-calling ensued, touting him the next Anti-Christ, one starting an online petition that, unsurprisingly, didn’t flourish. If you ask me, I couldn’t care less. I didn’t find anything offensive about those pictures, which take note, Bryanboy isn’t in. He did say he loved Jesus, right? “Fucking homeboy”, although quite crass, was vaguely well-intended. If you browse his site long enough, this guy isn’t supposed to be taken seriously. He’s a miles away from even a fraction of newsworthiness. It’s simple. If you don’t like him, stop going to his site! By the way, how and why did Kenneth Ocampo end up there in the first place?
Read Full Entry