Technobiography

Technobiography has a new home!

2005-09-30T12:48:00.000+08:00

Technobiography has moved to a new home!
http://technobiography.edongskey.com
Please update your links.

Come to my Blog Warming week, Oct 3 to Oct 8, 2005.
Drop a note, bring a friend!

The place is still a bit cluttered, but there's enough there to read.
I assure you, there'll be something new everyday.

Thanks to Blogger for being a good host most of the time.
Thanks to Abe, Rain and Kates for helping me sa pag-Lipat Bahay.
Thanks to my readers for keeping me company in this blogging world.

Tuloy ang ligaya sa Technobiography. Tuloy po kayo ...

ka edong

Calliope! Clap clap clap!

2005-09-29T12:54:00.000+08:00

Galing!!

I took my first tour of Calliope today. Calliope is the content management system behind i.ph .

Galing! That's what I can say. It's superior to blogger as far as interface is concerned. Very intuitive interface. Very simple. No html needed, so far. This one's ideal for newbie bloggers.

I started out with edongskey.i.ph today to upload some of my travel photos. Along the way, I got to check out the i.ph templates, changing background images, changing fonts and other options.

I also posted a few articles. Three, to be exact! hahaha! That was an accident. In the posting window, when I clicked on the "Add entry" button, I got a "page could not be found" error. So I tried to post the article again. And I tried a third time. Yun pala, na-po-post din pala yung article.

I tried to delete at least the third (identical) article, pero i still get the "page could not be found" error. And this time, the delete function wouldn't work.

And then!... here's the part when I announce my photo gallery. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to upload my photos. :-(

i.ph uses Gallery Remote - "a client-side Java application that provides users with a rich front-end to Gallery. This application makes it easier to resize and upload images to your Gallery. Use this if you wish to upload photos from your desktop."

Hyerp. I'm not at my laptop now and I don't want to install this Gallery Remote software in a public computer. I'll just have to wait until tonight to try to upload some photos.

Question in my mind: Will I be able to slip in some of *my* Google Ads in my photo gallery and blog? .... hmmmm.....

Abangan!

ka edong

Edong's Photos

2005-09-27T20:27:00.000+08:00

Alam ko na! I'll use i.ph for my photo blog.

I have a CD full of photos. Guimbal, Cebu, Corregidor, Boracay, Palawan, etc...

But I'm not yet ready to use up my webspace with photos. Saka na pag-malaki na ang webhosting ko.

It's a chance and a good goal too for playing with i.ph. Tutal, hosting photos and videos are among the good-looking features of i.ph.

The thing I want to try out is if I can insert google ads in my i.ph photo albums.

Ahh, so much to play with, so little time.

ka edong
waiting for my's key

Lipat Bahay

2005-09-27T19:21:00.000+08:00

I'm moving Technobiography to a new address and it hasn't been easy. I've been spending some time learning Word Press.

It would have been nice if I could invite readers to my new home, all clean and tidy. But it's not happening - it's not yet clean, it's not yet tidy. It's a work in progress.

I'll let people in early, maybe they could help me with plumbing or carpentry of my new home. Want to get in early? Leave a comment here.

Ready or not, expect a new Technobiography home within the next few days.

ka edong
naglilipat bahay
moblogging at MRT

"See it, hear it, blog it"

2005-09-26T13:41:00.000+08:00

Max Limpag published a story on Sun.Star Cebu entitled See it, hear it, blog it about blogging and journalism in line with Sun.Star's celebration of press freedom week.

I'm honoured to be one of Max's interviewees. I was among a group of blogging biggies that include Sassy, Manuel L. Quezon and Yuga.

Two things:

* It would have been interesting to see how the group of interviewees could collaborate with the interviewer through Max's Wiki. Unfortunately, we weren't able to use it much when Max was downed by illness.

* I considered the interview a thought exercise for me. The questions Max posed were highly insightful by themselves. It was nice taking time out to reflect on Max's questions.

Thus, I wrote to Max:

Max, it hasn't been easy writing replies to your questions ;-) But it has been a good thought exercise for me.

At the end of it all, I'd like to think about what blogging can do for the Filipino.

I think blogging is giving Filipinos a way to connect with each other. It can help us keep an open mind, what with the varying ideas and opinions we will come across through blogs.

It will also connect us with our past. On a personal note, it will allow me to look back and see how much I have grown in knowledge and in thinking.

I took sheer pleasure in reading the handwritten love letters of my grandfather to my grandmother, people who I did not have the chance to interact with. I am looking forward to the time when my own great grand children will have the chance to go back and read what their grandfather was doing in 2005.

- ka edong

G-Cash at SM: short of my (good) expectations

2005-09-26T00:10:00.000+08:00

I've tried transacting G-Cash at SM Megamall.

The long and short of it: long transaction, falls short of my (good) expectations.

I bought an item at SM Megamall last Saturday. I informed the cashier that I wanted to pay via G-Cash. With a doubtful tone, the cashier told her bagger partner: "Kuya, G-Cash daw." Bagger man said reassuringly, "Sige, kaya natin 'yan."

I keyed in the SMS message in my phone:

PAY SM 009113 100

009113 - store code unique to each cashier
100 - amount to be paid
I sent the message to 2318

Response from G-Cash 2882:

1/2 Shoemart requests to deduct 100.00 of G-Cash from your wallet. Reply to this messge with your MPIN if you want to confirm.

2/2 No response after 5 mins. cancels the transaction. Please note that your MPIN will validate the txn but it will not be disclosed to any party. P1.00/txn.

I replied with my 4-digit MPIN

Within a few seconds, the G-Cash system replied (from 2882):

You have sent 100.00 of G-Cash to Shoemart on 09/23/05 08:54 PM. Your new balance is 29.75. Ref. no 29781695

And then there's this odd message from 2318:

Thank you for shopping at SM using your G-Cash. P1.50 fee for this transaction. Trace# 438251.

I could dwell in the P1.50 fee, but I won't at this time. I'll just note that either this transaction fee is hidden or in fine print in the G-Cash at SM brochures (to be verified later).

What is remarkable about the transaction is that: it took me 15 minutes to accomplish this transaction!

I'll tell you more about that in another story.

In the meantime, let me just share with you that the G-Cash in SM system isn't perfect yet. Tsk tsk tsk. Not good. This will scare away "normal" G-Cash customers. Note that by "normal", I refer to regular G-Cash customers. I consider myself "abnormal" ( my wife describes me that way too ) because I go through great lengths just to test services like these. Not many are crazy enough to put up with these experimentations.

Ah, the pleasure ... the adjective "masochist" comes to mind ...

Next time, I'll share why it took me 15 mins. I'll also share stories of G-Cash transactions gone wild.

ka edong

article length rating: a little too long

Passport service goes mobile

2005-09-23T18:38:00.000+08:00

The Mobile Passport Service (MPS) in Oriental Mindoro will hold its processing days on Sept 29-30 and Oct 1 at the provincial capitol complex.

- Reference: Madonna Virola, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau

Nice. This has nothing to do with mobile phones. There is a passport issuing office of DFA that sets up camp in different cities for a limited number of days. Thus "mobile" or being able to move or transfer.

This, in effect, brings government services closer to people.

From another perspective, the Mobile Passport Service help more Filipinos leave the country more easily.

- ka edong

Bancnet to G-Cash

2005-09-23T14:38:00.000+08:00

From Nox @ Work, I see G-Cash has finally worked on Cash-In through ATM to G-Cash.

This has been a long running mystery for me why Globe hadn't done this earlier. The mystery continues as they implemented it through an obscure bank (Asia United Bank)instead of through BPI (a kind of ... err ... "sister company" of Globe).

Quoting a previous comment:

jepoyeng,
> gcash should just partner with BPI to offer ATM withdrawals

That is one thing that eludes me. Hindi ko abot-maunawaan kung bakit hanggang ngayon ay di pa ito nagagawa ng Globe. Eh yung BPI to Globe Load via ATM nga ay nagawa na, eh di dapat madali nalang gawin ang BPI to G-Cash via ATM.

ka edong

Blog =? Gold

2005-09-23T11:20:00.000+08:00

Can bloggers turn their Blog into Gold? Some can, some do, most don't.

Picked this up from fellow Pinoy.Tech.Blogger Marc Macalua:

Can blogger Strike it Rich?

Whew, those blog revenue figures are just teeny weenie small tad above my five figure revenue from Google Adsense. That is, five figures including the decimal point and the two digits to the right of the decimal – nyahahaha!!

In the Philippine context, I’m still wondering how much Connie and Rickey are doing as the top two bloggers in the country. It’s enough to make them full-time bloggers, so one could guess at least a lower-limit to how much they’re making. I won’t make an attempt here.

Yuga, in the meantime, is making a good amount. I won’t divulge the figure here but let’s just say it makes me … “envious”. ;-) He’s been planting seeds towards growing this amount many-fold.

Another friend is making US$500-700 per month. He brushes it off as small, but I know that he puts in a large amount of time, energy and some money in maintaining his site.

Pinoy bloggers, to infinity and beyond!

ka edong

Group blogging for beginners

2005-09-21T17:25:00.000+08:00

My friends, Eloy and Aloy, asked me to help them out with their blog. They want to establish a group blog about social development.

Both of them individually maintain friendster blogs. Eloy doesn’t do html. Aloy has some experience Blogger, but walked away from it after facing some html difficulties.

Aloy left blogger at a time when Blogger didn’t host images – it was too complicated for her to upload photos in another site and link to the photos from Blogger. When I told her that Blogger now has image uploading and hosting, she was genuinely pleased and declared “magbabalik-luob na ako sa Blogger!”

For their group blog, they want to be able to invite people to blog about development. I showed them how to add members to the group blog. They also wanted a tagboard. I showed them shoutboxes.com .

They uploaded a sample story with a picture included. I, in the meantime, learned that photos can be resized in Blogger by pulling on the “ear tags” of the photo instead of doing it manually on html. When they saw how easy it was, they concluded: “para pala siyang friendster”. I wouldn’t know, I never used Friendster blogs.

Great! Now it’s done, I’ve given them a good enough overview of group blogging on Blogger. I gave them a few bilins, like: “you know where to go if you need help” (“No! not me, go to blogger help!”).

Pa-baon: i.ph

But then, I complicated their lives with a little pa-baon: i.ph .

I showed them the interface of i.ph, I showed them some spiffy templates, I showed them the features and I logged-in to show them the control panel. They liked it. They liked it a lot!

But then they asked, “could we group blog with it?”

Frankly, I’m not sure. If it’s any indication, the i.ph tagline is “domains for individuals”.

Have you seen any group blogs on i.ph lately? Where? What's it like?

ka edong

PTB on Manila Bulletin

2005-09-19T10:33:00.000+08:00

Read about Pinoy.Tech.Blog on Manila Bulletin online

A G-Cash Machine

2005-09-17T22:24:00.000+08:00

They call it "AGM Cash-In". It stands for Automated G-Cash Machine for Cash-In. I saw it at a G-Cash booth at the main entrance of Megamall bldg B.

It's a lot smaller than the G-Cash ATM. It's around the size of a regular desktop CPU. It has a slot where paper bills are inserted, an LCD display for instructions and a numeric keypad to enter the cellphone number.
The man I spoke to said it's good only for Cash-In and not Cash-Out. I'm told the machine accepts 20, 50, 100 peso bills (unlike the bigger G-Cash ATM that only accepts P100, P500, P1000).

I wanted to try out the machine but it wasn't functioning the time I was there. Tignan ko nga mamaya kung may balat ako sa pwet.

The machine's side was open and was awaiting repair. I got a chance to see the inside. Only thing I recognized was an antenna, presumably for a GSM modem for the G-Cash transactions.

The G-Cash guy told me that normally, the machine would be bolted firmly unto the table for security.

The AGM Cash-in machine is cheaper to manufacture because it doesn't need a touchscreen monitor. It's smaller and easier to deploy than its ATM big brother. It will fit on a 7-11 tabletop, for example, without much real estate space needed.

Upside is, as usual, an additional way to Cash-in.

But the thing is, this machine still requires maintenance. Who will collect the bills when the machine is full?

The AGM Cash-in machine is fine. It could be a solution for some companies, agencies, malls or local governments accepting G-Cash payments. But it won't be the solution to the currently limited ways to accessing G-Cash nationwide.

But hey, the AGM Cash-in machine is good. It needs to find its niche, to find where it belongs, to find where the technology will make the biggest impact.

ka edong
mobile posting
megamall to malakas to boni

Text the MRT

2005-09-17T17:38:00.001+08:00

Contact the Metro Rail Transit via your cellphone.

Type "MRT" and send to 2950. You'll receive this list of keywords:

Available keywords for this service are: MRT STATIONS, MRT FARE <origin> TO <destination> (Ex: MRT FARE Cubao TO Ayala), MRT COMMENT <message> <name> (Ex: MRT COMMENT Thank you MRT =)! Juan Dela Cruz). Send keywords to 2950. P2.50/txt

They should add a keyword for SCHEDULES and STATUS. I'd like to have easy access to info next time I have doubts if the train system is running normally (e.g. during power outages, typhoons or holidays).

ka edong
starbucks Julia Vargas
aga elat sa mga Tarangay alin Cuyo

Blogging Resolutions

2005-09-17T17:38:00.000+08:00

Last week, I scrounged around Kurdapia (my laptop) and Batito (my flashdisk) looking for some blog article drafts. I compiled them into a word document and found I had 12 pages (!) of article drafts!

I need to improve my blogging style if I want to catch up with my blogging thoughts. I want to blog meaningfully but I don't want blogging to take too much of my time.

So here's my blogging resolution:

* Mobile blog
* Blog short
* Write story summaries and then unravel the details in future posts (a tip from Yuga)
* Long article? Trim the fat before posting
* Imperfect post? Chill. Don't edit unless veeery important. Typos are tolrable.
* Don't bother editing the article for non-crucial additional info. Just use comments area.
* Keep within 500 words.
* Old drafts? Post it already, will you?

Let's see if these resolutions will come true.

- Edwin
Starbucks
aga elat para engued

My mobile email ad is not Gmail SPAM

2005-09-14T23:08:00.000+08:00

How do I teach Gmail that my mobile email address is NOT SPAM?

I've used my phone's email client for many months now. But these past month or so, Gmail has been identifying my mobile email as SPAM.

I've consistently gone into my Gmail SPAM folder. I always find my mobile emails (addressed to my regular Gmail account) in the SPAM folder.

What I do is select the mobile email messages, then click "Not SPAM". This puts back the message in the Inbox. But, subsequent emails still find their way into the SPAM folder.

How do I teach Gmail that my mobile email address is _not_ SPAM?

Any suggestions from my readers?

ka edong

G-Cash in SM Malls

2005-09-14T17:31:00.000+08:00

In Nov 2004, I wrote about a concept of G-Cash in SM using their POS Converged Machines (Part I):

That's also good news for G-Cash. I can imagine that we will one day be able to pay SM via G-Cash through Mighty POS.

SM won't need a hundred G-Cash cellphones (one per kahera) to accept G-Cash payments. I imagine that an SM mall will need just one GSM modem connected to the system running Mighty POS's (Mighty POS's boss).

And here's my experience in using Smart Money in SM.

Today, I posted this on Pinoy.Tech.Blog:

You see those Point-Of-Sale (POS) machines in SM? The machines that slurp your credit card when you make a purchase (I call it slurp, but most call it “swipe”). The integrated machines that accept almost any credit card, debit card, and almost “any” payment card.

Now these POS machines at SM accept G-Cash payments! No, the machines won’t slurp your Globe cellphone (your dog will do that for you). But these POS machines will accept payments via text messaging!

G-Cash to POS payments are currently available at Megamall and will be rolled out in other SM malls “soon”, says a press release on last Sunday’s broadsheets.

Whereas credit card payments are “slurped in” by the POS, G-Cash payments are “texted in” via SMS to SM’s POS system.

After texting in your G-Cash payment, you will receive an SMS requesting confirmation of the payment. Upon sending your confirmation, payment will be debited from your existing G-Cash. I imagine that SM kahera will see the payment received in her cashier’s machine and, possibly, a tape receipt will slither out of the POS machine.

What would increase G-Cash transactions in SM?

For starters, SM could start issuing gift certificates via G-Cash (GC via GC!). Malapit na ang pasko. Sell SM-G-Cash gift certificates to ninongs and ninangs so that they could send these mobile gift certificates to their inaanaks via SMS! How kewl is that, huh?

Sino kayang groovy ninong ko ang mag-sesend sa akin ng G-Cash gift certs?

;-)
edwin

Sky Internet VoIP - Super Over …

2005-09-14T14:41:00.000+08:00

Posted on Pinoy.Tech.Blog:

There’s a service called Sky Internet VoIP launched two months ago in partnership with BayanTel. Interesting how all these companies are opening all sorts of services around VoIP. Ah, we like this!

Full story here...

i.ph – outside looking in

2005-09-14T11:33:00.000+08:00

Now, let’s try to verify my knowledge of i.ph . Let’s check which of the perceptions I wrote about are approximately accurate, and which aren’t. ...

i.ph = spiffy layouts

Yup yup yup. Things are spiffy in here. I took a tour of the featured blogs. Well designed interfaces, I might say. You’ll see very well that the templates bloggers started out with were very pretty right from the start. I did notice a lot of material customized by the individual bloggers. I found out from i.ph’s knowledge base that Calliope has a control panel where bloggers can change a handful of properties of their blog such as header style, watermark, header image etc. I’m sure advanced bloggers can do so much more if they get their hands dirty.

Calliope – not foreign, but locally developed

The dictionary meaning of Calliope is "a musical instrument" pala. It has Greek origins. As for Calliope of Dot.ph, it is a locally developed content management software. It has such a cosmopolitan name because it’s being marketed not just here in the Philippines but also in other countries. Goodluck to the marketing team! You have a good product here, from what I’ve seen so far. (But a lot of competition too!)

i.ph for free?

Yes. You can get an i.ph blog for free. What I tried to do was to find out the limitations of a free account. For example, something to the tune of 200Mb blogspace, or some blogging features available only for paid accounts. I couldn’t find that information yet.

What I did find was that i.ph’s FAQs seem to be outdated. Whereas the first half of the FAQs speak of setting up a free account, the second half of the FAQs reverberates with echoes of paid accounts:

How long will it take to register and activate an i.ph domain?
Upon payment, the i.ph domain can take up 8 to 24 hours before it is fully visible across the Internet.

multi-media blogging?

photo blogging? – Check
video blogging? – Check
audio blogging? – Not really.
Theoretically though, you can upload your audio files anywhere on the net and link to those files from i.ph. But I didn’t find anything on i.ph that integrates audio blogging into calliope.

My total score: 3 2/3 out of 4.

What else shall we investigate about i.ph?

What features did I miss?

· Blog integration with other online services such as “Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ and AOL Instant Messenger, Skype, FWD, Friendster, Tagboard, Links, and MORE...”. I wonder how well Calliope will keep up with the ever emerging and evolving IM’s. For example, will Calliope integrate with Google Talk, too?
· Online tagboard to SMS (a text message to the owner of the blog) – the sender needs to be a registered user of Chikka.com .
· E-mail to blog! Ah, this is something for people like me! I like writing articles on the fly using Brosia, my SmartPhone. I am able to send articles via mobile e-mail. This will work perfectly with i.ph . What’s more, i.ph allows gallery upload via e-mail. I’ll be able to upload mobilephone photos via MMS e-mail to i.ph ! Worth a try. Will write about that in the future.
· There is an announcement about earning through your blog. But it isn’t up and running yet.
· I’ve visited the i.ph forums. I don’t see much activity there.

So how much of i.ph did I know of? Well enough.

That’s me from the outside looking in. After i.ph came out with free accounts, I get the impression that more people started looking into i.ph. Well, at least that’s the attitude I am personally taking.

What’s next?

I’m on the hunt for user feedback. After checking out i.ph from the outside, I’d like to hear what other people have to say about i.ph . Consider this as getting a second opinion. So I’ll be going around, searching for i.ph and non-i.ph blogs, checking out what people think of i.ph . Tignan natin what I find.

Until the next article!

ka edong
i.ph think therefore i.ph am.

i blog the i.ph

2005-09-12T22:37:00.000+08:00

I’ve been asked to by fellow-PTB blogger, J Angelo, to write my thoughts about i.ph . I told him I would do that but I was quick to add that I’ll “tell it as it is” whether upside or downside.

In the next few weeks, expect some articles about i.ph . I’m looking forward to taking the i.ph CMS for a ride too. But let’s start from the very beginning… a very good place to start ...

i.ph – First impressions

Let me quiz myself first and try to recall what I know about i.ph without looking at any web references.

I first heard about i.ph from an Airfagev friend, Randy Nivales. He uploaded a couple of our Airfagev EB photos on his i.ph photo album. The album had an organized layout, not cluttered. It looked very clean and spiffy.

Ah, first impressions last. I had a feeling the design people behind i.ph had put in a lot of thought into the look of i.ph .

So what is i.ph? It’s a blogging service by Dot.ph, the domain name registry for the Philippines. I remember that behind i.ph was a content management system (CMS) called “Calliope”. Sounds foreign-jer, doesn’t it? The whole time, I thought that it was French or Italian. Only recently did I discover that Calliope is a locally developed CMS. And it’s been two years in the making, I hear. Whew! It’s been in the making that long and I came to know about it only about ten months ago?! Where’s it been for so long?

Among the first things I checked out about the i.ph blogging service was whether it was free or not. At that time, there were no free accounts. My thinking was this: given my existing Technobiography blog in free service blogger.com, I don't see any reasons for me to shift to i.ph . That’s still the position I maintain. But I’m open. Especially when I’ve seen recently that i.ph has opened options for free accounts. Ah… free … my most favorite price in the whole entire world. Let’s check that out later.

I also remember writing about i.ph in a previous Technobiography article. I believe it was about audio blogging or video blogging. I do remember seeing a video of an i.ph blogger on top of a mountain.

Hmmmm… i.ph is up to something, I thought. i.ph was starting to look like a blogging service that would do well for blogs with a lot of multi-media content.

Oh, yes, I remember one more thing. I remember being visited by an i.ph blogger. He left a comment on Technobiography. But the comment looked to me as rather impersonal. I felt that he didn’t read my blog, and instead just wanted me to visit his blog. I brushed it off, maximum tolerance for blog visitors, that's what I do. I even replied to him on his blog, if I remember correctly. I found out later on that he was making the rounds among pinoy bloggers. Even read about him getting into a tussle with a blogging biggie. Tsk tsk, not good.

Nevertheless, writing about i.ph is something I can help out with. I won’t be one sided, I will “tell it as it is”. I’ll be critical too and will arm myself with a favorite quotation for times like this: “It is easier to be critical than to be correct!” ;-)

Finished or not finished, pass your papers!

And that’s what I remember about i.ph .

In my next article, let’s see how many correct answers I got. And let’s see if I could find other first impressions of i.ph from fellow pinoy bloggers. I wonder too if there are some i.ph users from other countries. Let’s see.

Ka edong
black i.ph
“Where is the love … where is the love, the love, the love ….”

Credit Card to G-Cash

2005-09-11T22:53:00.000+08:00

I got hold of a wallet-size codigo of G-Cash. It’s available at Globe stalls and fits snugly inside your pocket or wallet. Not a bad idea. It’s an alternative to texting “info” to 2882 to receive a list of keywords for G-Cash transactions.

They have the list of transactions starting with Registration, Cash-in, Cash-out, person-to-person transfer (P2P), payment at partner merchants, domestic and international remittance, load, bills payment, payment for food deliveries, donations to charity and purchasing G-Cash using credit cards.

That’s nice, quite a full menu of services.

The last item is rather interesting. G-Cash subscribers can use their Visa, Mastercard or JCB credit cards to buy G-Cash.

Up-side, it’s an addition to the currently limited number of ways of getting G-Cash into your phone (known as “Cash-in”). I'm sure that there's a way to enhance this service such that it becomes useful.

Down-sides: uhm, how much time do you have?

• Users need to fill-out a paper application form. I guess this so that Globe gets the authority to charge your credit card.
• Aside from the paper application form, subscribers will need to make an SMS registration.
• The SMS registration uses an un-familiar access code, 2201, which is different from the usual 2882 access code used in almost all other G-Cash transactions. This just adds unnecessary confusion. Why kaya did Globe use 2201 when they could have used 2882?
• The G-Cash you buy with your credit card will be charged. (kaching kaching, another charge?)
• I was assisted by Jay and JD of the G-Cash hotline in my inquiries. They told me that the charges are Php 49 for “cash advance” (buying G-Cash using your credit card).
• JD said that this Php49 will be charged to the user’s G-Cash account. I doubt if this is correct. My logic tells me that the credit card company will be the right group to charge me that Php49.
• JD added that this Php49 is low compared to a Php500 cash-advance charge if a customer uses an ATM cash-advance. Pwede.
• Lastly, JD told me that this service was on a promo only until August 31, 2005. Yipes! I just found out about the service and the promo period is over?! Well, I’m quite sure they’ll “re-instate” this promo.

Credit card system and G-Cash

Frankly, I was expecting to see Cash-in using ATMs before seeing Cash-in using credit cards.

So, what do we make of this creditcard-to-G-Cash service?

Call me a skeptic, but I don’t see this service flying. At least not the way it’s currently designed.

Who would be patient enough to go through a paper registration and an SMS registration to be able to use a credit card to buy G-Cash? Well, some, but not many. I think this service can use some revisiting. The technology is there (creditcard-to-G-Cash), but it needs a little more imagination before we find a more useful way of using the service.

Another thing. Customers who use a credit card – these are customers who already have access to many other financial tools. These are customers who can do most of their financial needs using the ATM, the credit card, the phone, the internet. These are customers who have many other alternatives to G-Cash.

What’s key? I think that people behind G-Cash need to compare G-Cash to other financial tools such as the ATM, credit card, online banking, regular banking, remittance centers and, of course, cash (!). Given this comparison, there is a fundamental question that begs to be answered:

What can G-Cash deliver for a customer that other financial tools cannot?

When that question has been answered, that’s the start of designing G-Cash applications that are compelling and useful for customers.

I have my own answers to this fundamental question. I’ve written about some of them before. I’ll share them again in this blog in an upcoming article.

ka edong

Anti-Blog Spamming

2005-09-10T10:15:00.000+08:00

Blogspot has put a little tiny defense against Blog Spamming.

They call it word verification. When turned on in a blogger account, visitors will have to type in an additional word before their comment is posted.

A little help in the fight against blog spam.

Read: Blag iSpamd

ka edong

What's cooking at G-Cash?

2005-09-07T23:35:00.000+08:00

By the way, I was in a couple of meetings last week with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Globe, RBAP-MABS and a few other organizations.

There are some developments in G-Cash that will soon see action outside the confines of confidentiality clauses...

I am not at liberty to say what this service is. But I’ve discussed the service in past articles as a concept. The description of the service is among these past articles, written at a time when the service was not yet created:

Converged Machines (Part I)
Explorations: G-Cash Mines
G-Cash kicks butt, but ... (Part 3 of 3)

Which G-Cash service do you think will be launched soon? Care to make a guess?

ka edong

Push G-Cash the AutoloadMax way …

2005-09-07T20:28:00.000+08:00

During my pilot study of m-commerce for microfinance, we identified that there was low uptake of G-Cash. I trained people in the use of G-Cash and I called them G-Cash Retailers (GCRs). Most of these GCR’s were existing AutoloadMax retailers (AMRs).

The AutoloadMax business nets around 14% for an AutoloadMax dealer. That is, out of P100 peso investment in AutoloadMax, they can earn an additional P14.

On the other hand, G-Cash Cash-in partners (Cash-in is the conversion of Cash to G-Cash) earn only 1 to 3% through the service fee they charge the customer. This means ... that for a Cash-in (a purchase) of P1,000 worth of G-Cash, a customer needs to pay P10 or more.

Put AutoloadMax Retailing and G-Cash Retailing side-by-side and you’ll see that it’s a better business to retail AutoloadMax.

There are tens of thousands of AutoloadMax dealers but only a few hundred G-Cash outlets in the Philippines.

Question: How do you increase the number of G-Cash outlets / G-Cash Retailers?

My Answer: Use the AutoloadMax model.

The AutoloadMax business model is…

For every P100 worth of AutoloadMax a retailer sells, the retailer will get a bonus of P14 worth of AutoloadMax. She can sell this at cost to her customers and thus earns P14 for every P100.

Do the same with G-Cash.

For every P100 worth of G-Cash “sold” (Cash-in) by a G-Cash Retailer, the GCR gets P14 worth of *Autoload* (not G-Cash). The GCR can then sell this P14 worth of AutoloadMax at cost. This is the same markup as AutoloadMax at 14%.

Here’s an example.

Maria is a GCR and has P1,000 worth of G-Cash.
Pedro wants to buy P1,000 worth of G-Cash which he will send to his daughter in the province.
Pedro hands over P1,000 cash to Maria.
Maria sends P1,000 worth of G-Cash to Pedro.
For this transaction, Maria will get P140 worth of AutoloadMax which she can sell to her other customers at cost.

Can this happen?

Is there anything stopping Globe from shelling out that 14% worth of AutoloadMax?
Well, why not? They’re doing exactly that for AutoloadMax retailing.
They’re also shelling out 5% worth of G-Cash each time subscribers use the G-Cash to Load service (I just tried it tonight).

Will it work?

A similar model was used by G-Cash last year for Mercury Drug.
They were “giving away G-Cash” but it could be thought of as giving away load. (See explanation here).

So, do you think it will work?
Unless I missed something, I think it will work.
I’d like to hear from my readers (paging markku and jepoy).
What do you think? Will it work?

Edwin

TV on her Tummy

2005-09-06T19:53:00.000+08:00

There's this humongous billboard at Guadalupe with a rather pretty "larger-than-life" model.

Couple of things:
* Rent at that gargantuan Lupe billboard cranks up to 6 Million pesos per month, I hear. Ang yaman ng advertiser? Ang yaman ng Lupe!

More...

* The current advertiser is Dove for their Campaign for Real Beauty. A lady with a little more weight than your average image model. It says "Extra Large or Extra Sexy?". Tapos there's a tally of SMS votes. I had the impression the tally is real-time based on incoming SMS votes. That would have been interesting. But upon closer inspection, I think the numbers are manually replaced every so often.

* We could have done this for our previous presidential election! Brilliant idea, that Ad is, ha!
* But wait! What's this flickering TV-thingy on her belly? It's a Samsung TV and it took them a month before they finally got it to work. At one time they were testing it, they were showing korean advertisements.

* Now the TV displays the makati.gov.ph url and has a couple of Makati City ad campaigns

* Is the Lupe billboard still worth P6M? Even if the TV, 1/8th the size of the billboard, covers a big part of the billboard most of the time?

My vote? Extra-sexy.
My other vote? Tech wins over size.

ka edong

They just had to text me

2005-09-06T16:26:00.000+08:00

I guess they just couldn't resist texting me:

From 209
FW: SMART FREE ALERT:D WAY U LUK 2NYT:'Some--- wen I'm awfly low'A)day B)wer.Tx d ans 2 d misin lyric(Ex:A).Join KARAOKE IDOL 4chans 2 win P5K 2day.P2.5/txt.DTI4793

This is after I applied for "Text Exclusion", a request to never receive SpaSMS - unsolicited SMS messages.

But, they just *had* to text me with this super dooper karaoke promo. Hrmps...

ka edong

Class Suspension? Check DepEd Text Service

2005-09-05T23:28:00.000+08:00

I posted this on Pinoy.Tech.Blog:

The Department of Education launched an SMS service. Among other things, the service allows users to check information on suspension of classes.

Check it out over at PTB.

ka edong

Snapshooting 101

2005-08-24T22:34:00.000+08:00

I just wrote my first Snapshooting article on Pinoy.Tech.Blog. It's the first of three which I'll be publishing in the next days.

Excerpt:

I’m not a professional photographer. Call me a veteran amateur snapshot photographer instead.

I’ve been using ordinary cameras since I was a kid. None of those high-tech large lensed cameras. But I make do with whatever camera I get my hands on. And I think the tips and tricks I’ve developed are worth sharing. If you’re an amateur photographer with an ordinary digital camera, and want to improve the composition of your photos, check these out and see if they’re helpful.

Chairs!

ka edong

Happy Birthday!

2005-08-24T11:51:00.000+08:00

It is *not* my birthday.

But today, my Google Adsense is one year old.

I referred to Google Adsense at first as "passive income" when I told a friend about it last year.

And after one year, I haven't reached that elusive US$100! hahaha! I'm up to a measely US$88.78 total and at this rate, it'll take me until Christmas before I get that cheque!

I haven't been putting much time into improving my Google revenue. But with Abe and Marc's infectious articles on pushing for Google revenue, I am starting bit by bit to spruce up some of my Google ads.

I failed to celebrate my Technobiography Birthday (April 11) and my Gmail birthday (19 June 2005).

I made sure to make a post about my Google Adsense birthday.

Happy Birthday, my google adsense! Blowout naman diyan!

phhhhhhhhhhhhhhhffffftt!

ka edong
(what's that smell? \c")/

Looking for PESO Teammates

2005-08-22T22:46:00.000+08:00

I've been blogging on Pinoy.Tech.Blog the past week. And doing other stuff too, of course. That explains why Technobiography hasn't been updated much lately.

But here's one for anybody interested. And I mean interested and committed. I'm joining the Philippine Emerging Startup Open. Basically, it's a "pagalingan ng business plan" contest.

Some say Filipinos are good at planning, but not good at implementing. Well I say, plan first and if the plan makes the investors smile, you're off to a good start.

The prize for the best business plan: capital infusion from investors. It has to be a technology-enabled business plan.

I have a business in mind and I'm looking for teammates work with me. Are you up to it?

I'm searching for teammates:
1.) with a finance/banking background
2.) non-techie business management student comfortable making presentations

I will be the techie-na-rin in the group.

I'm a also open to having a fourth teammate based outside the
Philippines. Consider this an experiment in online team collaboration.

Drop me an email if you're interested. Tell me something about yourself and what you'd like to gain from joining the team and the PESO challenge.

ka edong

Pyramid Scam, m-Commerce Style

2005-08-16T12:35:00.000+08:00

I've concluded that this get rich quick e-mail is a scam.
I've written about it at Pinoy.Tech.Blog (check there if there's a discussion going). I'm providing additional reference emails on this post.

ka edong

From : *e** **o** <********@westlink.com.ph>
Reply-To : <*******@gmail.com>
Sent : Thursday, August 11, 2005 7:36 PM
To : <*******@gmail.com>
Subject : Earn W/ Your G-Cash & Smart Money Account

Hi,

WANNA DO BUSINESS PASSIVELY, USING INTERNET AND MOBILE TECHNOLOGY???

FOR JUST 300 PESOS ONE TIME INVESTMENT (TOTAL COSTS TO YOU, NO HIDDEN
CHARGES) YOU'LL EXPERIENCE TO OWN AN ONLINE-MOBILE BUSINESS THAT RUNS EVEN WHILE YOU SLEEP...

SIMPLY EMAIL *******@gmail.com, subject "MOBILECASH"
AND YOU'LL BE IN A VIABLE ELECTRONIC BUSINESS IN NO TIME.

and ill send the manual to your email address for free...

Once you read the manual, you'll find out, why your g-cash/smart money account can generate you millions passively and legally provided you do your part... It will let you earn even while you sleep...

Ask for the e-book now, , and dare to do something, only few dares to try...

Here's a favorite quote of mine: "the difference between the millionaires and the poor is simple, millionaires dared to do what others fear to even hear or see.."

Ask for the e-book now, and make a change, just read it, if you think it make sense, then good for you, if you don't see the gold in it..then you may discard it..

THANKS AND MORE POWER!

THIS IS A BUSINESS THAT RUNS 24/7...DEFINITELY WORTH A TRY..

*e** **o**
*******@gmail.com

Note:

This manual comes free to every Filipino with an email, and g-cash or smart money account...

****MobileCash is not associated with Globe and Smart Telecoms. FYI****

His reply after I told him I was interested and skeptical:

>From: ********* ********@gmail.com
>To: ka_edong@hotmail.com
>Subject: MobileCash Philippines ebook attached...
>Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 11:35:28 +0800
>
>Hi,
>
>Here's the MobileCash Philippines manual...
>
>This ebook will show you the MobileCash Profit System that let's you earn
>passive income through your g-cash/smart money account. When I received
>this
>ebook report, I was really sceptical bout the whole thing, but a friend of
>mine who is using the system for self employment testified that MobileCash
>Profit System is legitimate and that it works. So, I gave it a try, few
>weeks after using the system discussed in the MobileCash Manual, I was
>surprised how much money my g-cash account is turning in. I really thought
>that this is just globe and smart's gimmik to turn in more sales, but when
>i
>kept on receiving money transfer confirmation on my cellphone, this system
>has turned me into a believer myself...
>
>I just couldn't believe how much money I'm making now, and that's passive
>income!
>
>Click on the attachment and download it, it's a small pdf file that you can
>save on a diskette, read it thouroughly and understand the whole concept.
>This works, and i can testify that, it's working for me... as what the
>manual says, "see for yourself"...
>
>*********
>********@gmail.com
> mobilecashV010.pdf

Finally, my second reply which has not received any responses from the email sender:

Hi ****,

Thanks for your reply.
I browsed through the PDF file.

Basically, my question is: Where does the money come from?

And so far, the answer I have found is: The money comes from new members.

If you could point out otherwise, I would like to hear it.

I won't burden you with freshman questions. Reply only if you still have the
patience to answer my questions.

Normally, I just trash this kind of email. But this concerns my area of
study (m-commerce, I'm sure you've found that out through my blog) and it is
coming from a fellow IT professional, thus I am not dismissing it too
easily.

My interest is to understand.

Thanks and peace,

Edwin

Read: m-Commerce Pyramid Scheme?
on Pinoy.Tech.Blog: A Pyramid Scam, m-Commerce style

m-Commerce Pyramid Scheme?

2005-08-15T15:41:00.000+08:00

Scheme, Scam, Spam -- they all sound the same.

I'm used to deleting spam from my public hotmail email box. But one email caught my attention:

Sender: *e** **o**
Subject: Earn W/ Your G-Cash & Smart Money Account

The subject caught my attention not because of the promise of "quick cash" but because G-Cash and Smart Money are within my field of consultancy.

I investigated further and found myself browsing through a 17 page PDF file. The "eBook" was screaming with all caps and so many exclamation points that my heartbeat went up!

I didn't have the time to read the fine print. But with all that I had seen, I still didn't find the legitimate business model.

I sent a reply and told the sender that I'm both interested and skeptical. He replied quickly (less than half an hour) saying he too was skeptical at first. But he continues to say that he started to believe when cash (G-Cash and Smart Money) was flowing into his cellphone.

I sent a second reply with excerpts copied below:

Hi *e**,
Basically, my question is: Where does the money come from?

And so far, the answer I have found is: The money comes from new members.

If you could point out otherwise, I would like to hear it.

Normally, I just trash this kind of email. But this concerns my area of
study (m-commerce, I'm sure you've found that out through my blog) and it is
coming from a fellow IT professional, thus I am not dismissing it too
easily.

My interest is to understand.

Thanks and peace,

Edwin

After around 6 hours I haven't heard from him.

If and when I do, I'll write about it.

In the meantime, I hesitantly give out their URL (http : / / mobilecashphilippines . com) . I don't want to help advertise what I perceive is a pyramid ~~scam~~ scheme. I do not have enough info nor time either to definitively declare this as a scam. So I am opening it up to readers who have the time to read through the get rich quick website.

I am giving my fellow IT person the benefit of the doubt. But so far, I see more to doubt than to benefit.

If I don't receive an email from this person, I feel it is safe to say that the money indeed comes from the new "members" of the pyramid ~~scam~~ scheme.

m-commerce users beware!

ka edong
Read: Pyramid Scam, m-commerce style
Text Scam (?) - "tonights lotto draw"

Maiden issue on Pinoy.Tech.Blog

2005-08-15T14:57:00.000+08:00

And nooooowwwww.....
Preeeeeeezzzzzentiiiiinnnnngggghhhhh.....
Ka Edong's fiiiiiiirrrrsst artiiiiicccclllle on Pinoy.Tech.Blooooooogggggg.....

(drumroll)

EZ does it on MRT and Buses!

(applause)

Shucks, it wasn't as is-peck-ta-kyular as I would have wanted. But, hey, let's not get tooooo pressured, okay?

I have some snapshot photography tips too on draft mode. Watch out for those posts.

Mabu-hey!

ka edong

Pinoy.Tech.Blog: We have lift-off!

2005-08-12T17:59:00.000+08:00

My email box has been a-buzz these past two weeks. A large part of it is because of the planning and discussion for Pinoy.TechBlog.

And finally, while I was in Singapore, Pinoy.Tech.Blog was launched! So fast! Yan ang speed of bits and bytes, yan ang kailangan ng Pilipinas sa ganitong panahon!

Pinoy.Tech.Blog is the premiere group blog for technology in the Philippines. Expect to have real-world gadget reviews, tips and tricks, digital photography, media and a whole onslaught of everything tech in the Philippines.

I am honored to be included in this elite team of bloggers. It won’t be a walk in the park writing for Pinoy.Tech.Blog. For one, I will have to uphold a higher standard of writing compared to my own Technobiography blog.

I have yet to post my first article there. Now, which of my many stories shall I call my debut article on Pinoy.Tech.Blog?

Mga kablog sa Pinoy.Tech.Blog, this is the start of what could be something big.

To infinity and beyond!

Mabu-hey!

Ka edong

Yet to blog:

EZ card
Got to get WP
Singapore National Library
Internet vendo
WiFi Hunting: Singapo
atmbp (at marami pang iba)

The iBook has landed!

2005-08-12T17:58:00.000+08:00

My ex-online friend, Nocs (no longer just an online friend), asked me to buy an iBook for him. We got a good deal in Singapore. But we got crap when we reached Customs at Clark International Airport.

We were being unexpectedly charged 10% VAT for the brand-new iBook. This despite Nocs’ past experiences of having two hand-carried laptops brought into the country without tax. All the excitement of delivering his baby lappy top was doused when I had to leave baby iBook in the hands (in the holding room, actually) of the customs officials.

I’m crossing my fingers that Nocs gets his baby lappy top without problems today.

Photo bug

2005-08-12T17:57:00.000+08:00

My name is Edwin S. Soriano and I am a photo bug. So much so that during our wedding, I kept directing our photographers on how to take shots of my beautiful bride and myself.

While we were in Singapore, I realized that ... my veteran amateur photographer skills (I’ve been an amateur instamatic photographer since I was a kid) are something that I could share. I’m no expert, but there are things other people can learn from me.

So I’ve compiled a few digital photography tips and tricks (including samples) during our Singapore trip which I will share through Technobiography in the coming weeks.

Singapore at 40

2005-08-12T17:55:00.000+08:00

Inspiring!

That’s the word I use to describe my experience in Singapore. Inspiring because in the span of 40 years of independence (Singapore was “booted out” of the Malaysian Federation in 1965), they’ve grown from third world to first world. They pulled it off despite the lack of natural resources, despite being a very young country, despite being a small country (Davao is bigger than Singapore), despite the many races that thrive in Singapore (Singaporeans are a mix of Chinese 77%, Malays ~12%, Indians ~7% and Eurasians and other minorities).

They made it! They made it work! And impressively!

Maya and I saw a photo exhibit at the Singapore National library. And from the photos, we saw that just 20 years ago, there was a lot of crime and many gangs, people didn’t have food and homes, the Singapore river was polluted. But now there is an almost zero crime rate, 90% of their people live in subsidized housing (their flats always have a swimming pool nearby) and the Singapore River is host to tourists and promenading lovers.

My dad’s take on Singapore is: “They had no choice. It was a matter of pride.”

And I feel it. I feel the Singapore pride. Not the pompous pride. But the pride that tells me: “Singaporeans have excelled despite the odds.”

They made it! They made it work! And impressively!

The Philippines too can make it! Yes, we can! and I won't hear otherwise.

"Biyahe Tayo" Blog

2005-08-12T17:53:00.000+08:00

It’s our second trip together, Maya and I, to a foreign country. In 2003, we went to Hong Kong. It’s a lot of fun going on a tour. There’s a lot to learn and experience in traveling.

Among other places, we’ve also gone to Cagayan de Oro, Bohol and Davao together. Maya has traveled most parts of Mindanao in connection with her work. I’ve gone to Cuyo, Palawan and to Sagada. These are some of the places we plan to blog about in the future.

I also realized that when planning a tour, it’s important to have enough relevant information about a place. For us, first-timers in Singapore, it would have been nice if we got some tips from fellow travelers who have gone ahead of us. In turn, Maya and I would like to share some of our travel tips for those who will come after us.

So, watch out for Biyahe Tayo! (http://biyahetayo.blogspot.com), our latest blog. You’ll soon find some travel tips and info there.

I'm back, with more shorts!

2005-08-12T17:37:00.000+08:00

I’m back!

Maya and I went to Singapore for a tour and for some business in between. I have sooooo many stories to share, so many reflections, so many pictures, so many stuff. Too many, in fact, that I’ll have to write shorter articles in the meantime. And I’ll also have to be more selective of writing the stories that matter.

Let’s start the shorts…

shorts b4 i leave

2005-08-05T18:01:00.000+08:00

Let me slip in a blog post before I go offline for a few days.

I was blog hopping this afternoon. In particular, taking a look at websites linking to Technobiography. Found some interesting stuff via Who Links To Me and some via Technorati.

Dexter says: This blog was inspired by Ka Edong's Technobiography, a great pinoy site for learning and knowing about anything and everything mobile.
I'm touched. Really!

Two blogs written in Chinese link to me. Hmmm.... that's curious. Exotic ~~animal~~ kaya ang hitsura ko?

First is Shen Chihwei's Slip into the Underworld. Most of it is written in Chinese, I don't know what to make of it. I wonder how Shen Chihwei found me.

Second is Timothy and Jacy's House. I found this on their side bar:

Edwin
最新科技介紹

First thing I did was send an e-mail asking my Chinese classmate, Li Ling, to translate it for me.

But on second thought, why not search the web for an online translator? This is what I got from 1-800-Translate:

Chinese: 最新科技介紹
English: The latest science and technology introduce

Not bad. Not bad. Correctly if I'm wrong, but this sounds so much like Li Ling! ;-)

Thanks for the links, folks!

Before I leave, my to blog list (I'm going to sound like Sacha for a while):

Website archives
What to do with m-commerce
Profile for Abe, Pinoy Tech Blog
Tech blogs to sing about
Travel stories
Nocs gets a lappy! (top, not dance!)
BPI buhay
Smart Money, not an international card?
Trying out Smart/Globe international remittances
ICT4D!

See you next week, folks!

ka edong
biyahero

SM at SM - Smart Money at SM Malls

2005-08-02T20:20:00.000+08:00

I was at SM the other night with my wife. When we were about to pay for our purchase, I noticed a small sign at the cashier’s desk. It said I could pay for my purchases at SM using Smart Money. I had seen something similar at Robinson’s Movie World.

On a Saturday evening, with my phone in my pocket and some time to spare, I’m in a good mood to try out this Smart Money service. Ma-subukan nga....

The SM at SM transaction

The Smart Money sign had simple payment instructions in SMS format. The format was “[unique cashier account number] [amount]” send to an access number. (I swapped phones with my brother that day, and I don’t have the exact smart money message in my phone. I’ll provide a sample message next time).

I was ready to send. But was the cashier ready to receive?

When I told the cashier that I’ll pay via Smart Money, she asked her colleague if she had seen a Smart Money transaction before. After a short discussion, the cashier left her post and walked away to what I presumed was a supervisor or a help desk. The customers behind me were getting impatient with the un-necessary delay - I could have paid cash, afterall. In my mind, I said, “Back-off, emkonomist at work!”. The cashier came back around 5 minutes later with a brand new Smart Money card in her hand.

And then we continued our transaction. She punched in my purchase, I sent the Smart Money payment via an SMS message, she validated the payment on her machine and I received a transaction receipt on my phone. She also asked me to sign a duplicate credit card receipt – the same piece of paper we sign when we make credit card purchases. Lastly, she issued me a tape receipt for my purchase. I don’t recall how the cashier used her Smart Money card.

Some observations…

Good

Transaction handled well. The cashier handled the Smart Money transaction rather well. It appeared to be the first time the cashier was conducting a Smart Money transaction. I was expecting some transaction bloopers during that transaction. But the transaction went well. Seems like the SM cashiers have been trained well.

Quick Transaction. The core transaction was rather quick. Excluding the time when the cashier had to get her Smart Money card, the core transaction was done within a minute or less. After sending my Smart Money payment SMS, I received a transaction receipt within 30 seconds or so. I presume the cashier “received” my Smart Money payment within the same amount of time.

Simple Instructions. I had to read the purchase instructions twice. I was expecting to make the purchase via the SIM Tool Kit or STK (Smart Money menu). But the purchase was done via SMS. The upside of it was the relative simplicity of the instructions and the transaction. If the transaction was via the STK, the instructions would sound something like this:

“On you Smart cellphone, go to your Smart Menu. Select Smart Money. Select Transfer. Select Others” …. etc. etc.

That’s a lot more complicated than the simple SMS instructions. But there are downsides.

Not good

Tawagin ang Guard! The downside is the apparent lack of security of the transaction. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Smart Money is their ultra-high-tech encryption of transactions via the STK. Smart says they use a security standard that is comparable to the standard used by banks.

But in this SMS transaction, I do not see how any security or encryption was implemented.

Why no PIN? On top of that, the SM purchase did not require a PIN. Where are the security measures then? Well, one is when I was asked for a written signature. But unlike in a credit card purchase, my signature was not compared to any specimen signature for purposes of validation.

What are the implications? If a person who has P10,000 of Smart Money loses his phone, his Smart Money can be used for purchasing products at SM, and it would be easy to get away. There are no PINs required and a bogus signature isn’t being verified anyway.

Of course, a cellphone owner can report the loss of a cellphone. I wonder if reporting a lost phone will automatically suspend the associated Smart Money account. I hope so because if I lose my phone (knock on wood), reporting to Smart Money will not be on the top of my head.

The verdict

All in all, I see the emergence of Smart Money purchases at SM as a positive step. What I see is a development of the service much longed for after a deep slumber on the part of Smart Money. It tells me that Smart Money is back in the m-commerce game 8 months after G-Cash started kicking butt.

The simplified transaction is definitely a welcome improvement. Although I observed a security risk, I think many regular users of Smart Money won’t mind the doing the un-encrypted SMS transactions. But the lack of PIN – this opens up the doors to more ways for criminals to exploit a lost cellphone.

Is it “User beware”? Or should it be “Smart beware”?

Ka edong
emkonomist

Search Technobiography: Smart Money, G-Cash

m-Commerce: a Building Material (Part V)

2005-08-01T14:29:00.000+08:00

M-Commerce is a building material. A material for nation-building, that is.

I realized this with most powerfully a few months ago when I went on my four-day cross country sojourn from Davao to Manila via boat + bus + jeep + tricycle + tsinelas.

It was a time for me to see the Philippines. It was a time for me to learn. It was a time for me to reflect. It was a time for me to renew my acquaintance with the Filipino.

Let me take you through some parts of my journey. Let’s travel...

Roads

My wife and I were traveling from Davao to Cagayan De Oro. At one point, we passed through BUDA (Bukidnon-Davao highway) amidst a vast valley with winding roads. I watched with awe how vast our country was outside of Manila. I kept telling my wife, “Ang lawak pala ng Pilipinas! Hindi lang pala Manila ang Pilipinas!” Of course I was just exaggerating my ignorance. But at the same time, it underlined for me how much of the Philippines I had not yet visited.

It also sent me the message that without these winding roads nestled in these boondocks, it would be so difficult for the countryside to develop. Without these roads, trade between cities will be more costly and would take a lot more time. Without these roads, the many neighboring communities would be left behind - mapag-iiwanan ng panahon.

Bridges

I found myself crossing many bridges along the way. And each time I crossed a bridge, I took a look at the surrounding terrain. I tried to imagine what the place was like before the bridge was built. How did people get across the river or leap to the next island? How did they transport their goods? How did they get their food, their news, or their education before this bridge was made?

Our bridges connected our islands, overcame cliffs, leapt over rivers. And if these bridges weren't there, we would remain separated by rivers and seas, separated by distance, separated by mis-communication, separated by time.

Roll-On, Roll-Off piers

I took two ferry rides in my journey from Davao to Manila. All four piers I passed through were Roll-On, Roll-Off (RoRo) piers. I took pleasure watching buses and trucks and cars taking a piggy-back ride on the ship. Watching all the trade goods (fish, rice, vegetables, handicraft, motorcycles) get on the ship helped me realize the benefits of the RoRo: how goods would be shipped more quickly and with less cost.

Let me illustrate further. I remember one time in 1999 at Puerto Princesa, Palawan when our ship couldn’t set sail because it was raining. The captain was waiting for the rain to stop. They had a shipment of rice that had yet to be loaded into the ship. But the kargadors needed to carry the bags of rice one by one into the ship. Because of the rains, they couldn’t transfer the bags of rice, lest the rice get wet and spoiled. If the ship sailed without the rice, there would be a rice shortage at the ship’s destination: Cuyo.

That was before the RoRo piers. Now with RoRo and the Nautical highway, trade and commerce is made simpler, easier, quicker. All these "er"s put together improves our economy and improves more lives.

Nation building

Roads, bridges and the RoRo piers – all of these facilitate transport. All these facilitate trade and commerce through safer, quicker, more affordable transactions. All these help build a nation.

Somewhere out there, there are people who helped build these structures and systems. There were people – laborers, foremen, engineers, architects and visionaries – who helped built these structures. People who worked at improving the infrastructure that would pave the way for further development. All these people helped to build a nation.

m-Commerce for Nation building

m-Commerce facilitates trade transactions through over-the-air payment. Imagine being able to send money from Davao to Manila with just a click on your cellphone. m-Commerce helps in making trade transactions faster.

As roads, bridges and piers help to build our country by facilitating trade, so it is with m-Commerce. M-Commerce facilitates trade and commerce through quicker and cheaper transactions.

As laborers and engineers help build our country by creating roads, bridges and piers, so it is with us who work to improve m-commerce in the Philippines. We are building the next highway that will improve the Philippine economy and the lives of our fellow Filipinos.

Let’s build!

ka edong
emkonomist

Read:
m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited (Part 1),
m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited again (Part 2),
Adbertisement Muna, G-Cash Revisited (Part 3), Mano y Mano - comparison of Smart Money and G-Cash
Search Technobiography:
Smart Padala, Smart Money, G-Cash

The day I hit 40

2005-07-29T12:10:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, my site statistics reached 40,000 hits.

Whew! It was a long journey. Took almost one whole year to reach 40,000. Here are some milestones / highlights in Technobiography stats:

Totals as of July 29 2005:
* Page Loads : 40,176
* Unique Visitors : 22,587
* First Time Visitors : 18,686
* Returning Visitors : 3,901
Daily averages:
* Page Load : 184
* Unique Visitors : 114
* First Time Visitors : 96
* Returning Visitors : 19
Most hits in one day: 529 hits, October 26, 2004
(the day Technobiography was featured on Inq7.net)

What thoughts shall I share on the day I hit 40? Well, I've become more conscious of statistics lately. Mostly because of my renewed interest with Google Adsense revenues. My interest was renewed after reading an article of Abe about a blogger earning US$14,000+ from blogging in more than 20 blogs. Will I ever hit 14, ya think? Will I ever hit US$100 per month, like abe does? Ah, time to day dream and *do* again ...

It's also especially nice when I see some visitors going through my archives, going through my favorite articles, going through many links within Technobiography. It send me the message that some people like what I write.

I haven't had any hate mail naman. So I don't think I've been stepping on other people's toes. But I did get some creepy texts. And I blogged about it as "therapy" to relieve me of my horrors.

And of course, I'm delighted to get word from people around the world, most especially those who are interested in my work in m-commerce for microfinance. In fact, I've had a couple of phone calls from the US and another one this morning asking me about my research. Neat, huh? ;-)

Curious visitors

I get most of my hits from search engines. Some of the curious searches that turn up on Technobiography:

Kuya Germs
Juliana Palermo
Chynna Hortaleza
Pia Hontiveros
Robin Padilla
Alfie Vargas
Namfrel
Techie Agbayani pics (hahaha!)
ano pa ba? ... madagdagan nga ito next time ...

Friends of Technobiography

What else should I note down on the day I hit 40?

Well, I'd like to thank some of my regular/irregular visitors, although I won't be able to mention all (especially yung mga hindi nagpapa-ramdam): Lyra, Jepoyeng, Airwind, Emmanslayer, Binoe, Sky, Claire, Monicai, Ivory, JM, CC, estee, aymskee, wilson, techunk, andre faura (nahan ka na?), dadi Arnold (nahan ka na rin? balita ko manila ka na) and others ...
and the folks with mobile Technobiography in their Pocket: MM and ka rey

If you're a regular Technobiography or Pocket Technobiography or RSS reader, do let me know by sending me a note online. Para naman makilala ko kayo ;-). Tapos friends na tayo.

Thanks also to maiskee, my boss, who tolerates my blogging hobby and sometimes (sometimes lang) shows some degree of delight with my sometimes (sometimes lang) funny articles.

To a million hits and beyond!

ka edong
tumatanda na, batang isip nga lang

Load load load your phone, load your phone ulit....

2005-07-29T11:56:00.000+08:00

I featured two online loading services in my previous article: load.com.ph and etoload.com .

But there's more! Lot's more!

Visit:

sendmeload.com - Credit card payments online with PayPal for Globe and Smart subscribers
loadwallet.com - Only for Smart subscribers. I'm not clear about the payment method for this service.
http://autoload.yehey.com/ - Buy Globe AutoloadMax via PayPlus using Megalink, Bancnet ATMs
Globe AutloloadMax Corporate Edition - A solution for enterprises for allotting prepaid load to their staff. It may as well be used as a loading business, I wonder if they Globe has clients that do that.
LoadXtreme - All sorts of prepaid load open for wholesalers and retailers.

I'd like to share a chat session I had with Richard of sendmeload.com . It gives us an insight about the online loading business....

** You are now speaking with Richard D., Live Support Department. **
Richard D. : Hello, how may I help you?
ka edong : hi richard d
ka edong : what countries do you cater to? Which country is sending the most load to the Philippines?
Richard D. : The United States is the majority of our business
ka edong : i'm writing an article. in fact, the first part came out already ... sandali
Richard D. : I see, what other questions may I answer for you?
ka edong : http://technobiography.blogspot.com/2005/07/load-load-load-your-phone-gently-down.html
ka edong : how long do your transactions take? from payment to delivery of load?
Richard D. : Only about 1 hour on average
ka edong : What's the most serious problem you've encountered so far with your site?
ka edong : I've heard about hacking problems in other sites. have you experienced anything similar?
Richard D. : No, we have not had that problem.
ka edong : Would you have any figures that would indicate how big the online loading business is? like total load delivered per month?
ka edong : ballparks or a range would suffice
Richard D. : It is a pretty new concept. The market potential is great. We are gaining new customers daily. I am really not at liberty to discuss the financial details though, sorry.
ka edong : no problem.
ka edong : I think that will be all for now. I might login again later if I have more questions
ka edong : Thanks, Richard
Richard D. : Ok sure, or you can email me at richard@247csr.com
Richard D. : Thanks, and good luck with your article. Please let me know when it is published. Take care.
ka edong : hmmm... interesting ... i'll look up that 247 address.
Richard D. : Please do
ka edong : G'day. logging off

With the many loading services available online, which is the better one for you? I couldn't tell. Maybe some feedback from other users would be of more help. So, do share if you have any experience with these services.

Load away, folks!

Read: Send cellphone load from other countries, Load load load your phone, gently down the web

ka edong
usiyosero

ps. to blog about: 247csr.com

Load, load, load your phone, gently down the web....

2005-07-29T06:57:00.000+08:00

I frequently monitor my site statistics. I get hits from Google searches and one of the common searches is “send load to the Philippines”. I didn’t realize until this afternoon that I am on top of the search results.

Visitors get an article from November 2004, “Send cellphone load from other countries” about a service of Globe making AutoloadMax retailers available around the world. But this is not what people are looking for.

So it’s about time I write about two online services that allow users to send load through the web: load.com.ph and etoload.com ....

Load.com.ph

Load.com.ph e-loads/e-pins

First up is load.com.ph established by Erik Kalugdan, maker of InfoTXT (GiveMeUnlimited) SMS software and 3-time winner of the e-services awards.

Load.com.ph allows online loading of cellphones, internet pre-paid cards, network gaming, PLDT phone cards and others. It accepts payments via PayPlus which makes use of Bancnet and Megalink ATMs in the Philippines.

When Erick presented at the NCC, he also discussed how load.com.ph can be used for a loading business. He explained that cellphone load is discounted on load.com.ph and that users can make a profit by getting cellphone load online and retailing the load to officemates or friends.

Downside: So far, this service can be used by Bancnet and Megalink clients only. I’m quite sure Erick is putting together a credit card payment system. Just visit load.com.ph to see updates of the service.

Etoload.com

Etoload.com is a younger player established by online friend Arnold Gamboa.

Etoload.com caters to cellphone load of the three mobile phone telcos in the Philippines; Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular. The etoload.com website has a more appealing user interface. It makes me feel like it’s easier to transact with Etoload.com .

Another interesting feature is the forums page. That would give a little more customer support, but so far I haven't seen much activity there. Well, the service is new, afterall.

Etoload has a promo that gives out additional 10% load to early registrants. Etoload.com accepts payments via credit card.

The Verdict:

If you’re abroad and need to send load to the Philippines, Etoload.com is for you (you’ll need a credit card).

If you’re in the Philippines and need to load all sorts of prepaid cards, load.com.ph is for you (you’ll need a Megalink or Bancnet ATM).

I’d like to invite users of the two services to share their feedback. Have you used the online loading services? Are you satisfied? Encountered any problems? Share naman diyan!

Ka edong
budding technopreneur
budding as in flower bud. Not the third sex kind of budding! ;-p

P.S. Ooops! there's more! See upcoming article for another dose of online loading.

Digital luggage - Evacuating a Burning PC

2005-07-28T00:19:00.000+08:00

I was with FIT-ED for around 3 years from 2001-2004. The last work-PC I used at that office was filled to the brim with files - work-related files and some personal files. When it was time to leave, it wasn't a breeze leaving all my 3 years worth of files.

This what I went through:

Organize and backup official files
CD burn official emails
CD burn personal photos
Delete unnecessary files

It wasn't easy... I went through many folders to determine which to keep, which to junk. Frankly, it felt a lot like moving out of a house.

What's funny is that among the first things I moved out of my PC were:
my many digital photos.

Reminds me of a question I was asked when I was in college:
Q: "After all lives are saved from your burning home, what *thing* would you save to avoid losing it?"

A: My answer: Photo Albums

Some parallelisms of my digital life and my so called real life.

ka edong
digital kargador

Philippine IT Statistics (early 2004)

2005-07-27T11:44:00.000+08:00

Chin Wong has an article opening up a discussion on number of .ph websites there are. The figure he has is 125,000. The figure I had in 2004 was 30,851. I also had a 2004 estimate for number of Philippine-related websites: 181,403 (in 2004).

From my digital archives, I thus resurrect some Philippine IT stats. These figures are from my research when I helped write a paper in 1st Quarter 2004. Read the notes further below for links (expect some loose liks) and other explanations.

Philippine facts
Total population (2002 projection): 79,503,675 a
Rural population as a percentage of total population: 42.32 % b
Key economic sectors: Agriculture, Services, Industry c
Literacy in national languages: 93.9% d
Functional literacy: 83.79 e
Computer ownership per 100 inhabitants: 1.93 f
Telephone lines per 100 inhabitants (2001): 8.91 g
Internet hosts per 10,000 inhabitants: 2.54 h
Internet café/telecentre per 10,000 inhabitants: 0.165 i
Internet users per 100 inhabitants: 4.27 j
Cell phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants: 15.897 k
Number of websites in the national language: 1,814 l
Number of websites in English and other languages: 181,403 m
National bandwidth within the country:
* Partial aggregate data: 31Mbps o
National bandwidth to and from the country:
* Partial aggregate data: 367 Mbps p
Ratio of incoming and outgoing Internet traffic volume:
80% incoming: 20% outgoing q

Sources for the chart “Philippines facts”
(a) Population projection 2002 http://www.doh.gov.ph/data_stat/html/population.htm
(b) As of 1999, Global Competitiveness Report (2001-2002) Harvard http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cr/profiles/Philippines.pdf
Definition: http://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/articles/con_urbanrural.htm
(c) National Economic and Development Authority (31 January 2002) 2001 Full Year Economic Performance (link)
(d) National Statistical and Coordination Board http://www.nscb.gov.ph/secstat/d_educ.htm
Basic or simple literacy is defined by the National Statistics Office (NSO) as the ability to read and write with understanding simple messages in any language or
dialect.
http://www.nscb.gov.ph/glossary/educ.htm
(e) NSO Functional literacy http://www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/1994/fl9406li.txt
Functional literacy is a significantly higher level of literacy which includes not only reading and writing skills but also numeracy skills. The skills must be sufficiently advanced to enable the individual to participate fully and
efficiently in activities commonly occurring in his life situation that require a reasonable capability of communicating by written language.
http://www.nscb.gov.ph/glossary/educ.htm
(f) Global Competitiveness Report (2001-2002) Harvard
http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cr/profiles/Philippines.pdf
(g) As of 2001. National Telecommunications Commission.
Total lines: 6,938,762 (2001)
http://www.ntc.gov.ph/images/consumer/wireline.jpg
(h) Global Competitiveness Report (2001-2002) – Harvard
http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cr/profiles/Philippines.pdf
(i) Based on 1,312 estimated cafés in 12 major cities in the Philippines
http://www.digitalfilipino.com/content.asp?FileName= percent5Cstatistics
percent5Cdemographics.ini
Denominator used is 79.5 million Filipinos
(j) Based on 3.4 million Internet users. Internet Users Study by ACNielsen Consulting, June 2002 (as reported by ITNetcentral)
http://www.itnetcentral.com.article.asp?id=10562
(k) As of June 2002. Based on 12,638,375 mobile phone subscribers as reported by Computerworld 2 September 2002, p.12. Denominator used is 79.5 million Filipinos.
(l) Through an e-mail interview, Ken Ilio (webmaster and owner of Filipinolinks.com since 1986), the trend is one national language site per 100 English sites.
(m) (i) Statistics from Yehey.com indicate that it has a ratio of 5.88 Philippine related websites per .ph website.
(ii) Figures from http://www.isc.org/ds/WWW-200201/dist-bynum.html indicate that there are 30,851 .ph websites.
(iii) Multiply total .ph websites to ratio and we have an estimate of Philippines related websites = 181,403 websites.
(n) National bandwidth within the country: 31Mbps (Partial aggregate data).
There are three Internet exchanges in the Philippines. The figure above does not include private peering of ISPs (ISP1 connecting to ISP2 without going through an Internet exchange).
References: Telephone and e-mail interviews http://www.apia.org/nl8/IXPhilippine.html published January 2002.
(o) National bandwidth to and from the country: 367 Mbps (Partial aggregate data)
(p) 80 percent incoming: 20 percent outgoing (As per e-mail interview)

Feel free to contact me or leave a comment if you have any questions or concerns. I'm good for discussions. ;-)

ka edong

Smart WiFi wondering

2005-07-26T16:38:00.000+08:00

I’ve been poking around Smart WiFi lately. My interest, as usual, is how it can be used to bring technology to the people.

Smart WiFi is a new service of Smart telecommunications that delivers Internet to users without the need for telephone lines.

Here’s what I’ve found out so far about Smart WiFi.

• Smart WiFi is not WiFi. But a techie Smart WiFi user has suggested on the ph-mobiletech yahoogroups that Smart WiFi may in fact be using WiFi within the network but not for delivery of Internet to the end-user.
• Smart WiFi can deliver internet speeds of 128 Kbps ~~Mbps~~ – twice that of the regular dial-up speeds.
• To get Smart WiFi, a user will need to have a clear line of sight to a Smart cellsite. If a tree gets in the way of the line of sight, the internet connection suffers.
• Smart WiFi is initially being deployed outside Metro Manila
• You don’t need to be a Smart subscriber to get Smart WiFi
• Introductory price of around P788 per month and plus around P1,000 installation fee.
• Installation fee includes an antenna on the residence or building roof that is pointed to the nearest Smart cellphone tower.

Some thoughts:

• I’m excited about this technology because it theoretically can deliver last mile Internet access to any island in our archipelago that has a Smart cellsite. And that means almost everywhere in the country (even in the Kalayaan group of islands!).
• As expected, we are hearing some complaints from early adopters of Smart WiFi. Some are complaining about poor customer service and basic lack of awareness of Smart staff about the facts of the service. I say that this is expected because I have come to understand that new services are difficult to disseminate to a large bureaucracy like Smart. It will take some time before their customer service representatives will gain enough knowledge to sufficiently support Smart WiFi inquiries from customers.
• I’m excited about connecting remote areas of the Philippines with Smart WiFi. If, in the past, the requirements to bring internet access to an area were: electricity and telephone lines, now these are no longer prerequisites! Now we can bring internet access to Cuyo Palawan, where there are no telephone lines!
• I was wondering why there wasn’t much talk about Smart WiFi, considering that it is a technology that can change the game of providing Internet access. Well, the online discussions on Smart WiFi are gaining ground.
• Ooops, almost forgot. I feel it’s a disservice that the service was named WiFi. It just adds to the confusion in this already confused country.

In the meantime, I’m on the lookout for feedback from Smart WiFi subscribers.

Ka edong

Read: Smart WiFi
Search Technobiography: Smart WiFi

PC Praning - TypeRecorder spyware

2005-07-24T19:59:00.000+08:00

Akala ni wifey ko kung sino ang naka-away ko.

We were at an internet shop to check mail on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of a three day weekend sa province.

After reading a few emails in my Gmailbox, a pop-up message came up. It said that the computer had a trial software called TYPERECORDER.

First reaction: "Sheet! What have I typed?!"

After verification at the software developer's website, I confirmed what I suspected: The computer I was using had a software that was recording each and every key I was typing!

The software is a key logger. A text file hidden somewhere in the computer has my Gmail username and password! Buti I hadn't typed anything more sensitive than that.

Imagine if I used that computer to login my BPI Express Online account (I never use my BPI Online on public computers). Anyone who gains access to the key log file will have my password and access to my BPI account. Scary!

I consider myself lucky that I found out about the software. Fact is, the software could be running on ANY computer and the users would never know. Tsk tsk tsk.

I told my wifey that we were leaving the Internet shop. I called the attention of the shop attendant. I told him:

"It is the responsibility of the shop owner to ensure that their computers don't have software like this," showing him the pop-up message on the computer screen.

He replied that they couldn't avoid it. He said a technician was coming the next day to find the erring software and fix it.

Too late, your explanation. We're leaving! Sabay irap, parinig sa ibang users kung bakit galit, sabay walk-out. Ang taray!

It pays to be vigilant and informed.

I wonder if there's an online service that I could run when I use a public PC that will indicate whether the computer is "clean" and free from keyloggers or other spyware.

Time to change my Gmail password before anybody tries to get in.

ka edong
tech praning

Mababaw. Bow. (Friendster SPAMocide)

2005-07-22T13:50:00.000+08:00

I started getting a deluge of Friendster SPAM when more people started using the Friendster blogging service.

The SPAM hailed:

Mike has updated his Friendster Blog
Michelle has updated her Friendster Blog
Bonifacio has updated his Friendster Blog
Ildefonso has updated his Friendster Blog
Procopio has updated his Friendster Blog
Maxima has updated her Friendster Blog
Bantay has updated his Friendster Blog

Whew! What the what????!!! I don't logon to Friendster regularly and I do not intend to visit a friend's blog each and every time it is updated!

How do I get out of this SPAM dump? Here's how I did it and it's been working fine:

Login to your friendster account
Click account settings (upper right side of webpage)
In "Receive Notification Emails", select No
In "Receive Friend Updates", select No
Click Save

Whew! A relief from Friendster SPAM.
Need relief from Smart SMS SPAM (SPASMS)? Try this: Txt Exclusion

Ah... makes me crave for a SPAM breakfast on Sunday ....

ka edong
spam killer

G-nius!

2005-07-21T06:48:00.000+08:00

There's an idea!

Globe launched a "Search for the great G-Cash idea"!

This is a G-Cash Concept Application Contest open to college/university students. It calls for students to come up with a great idea for using G-Cash. Winner gets a million pesos (cash and G-cash)! Not bad!

That's the right way to go! I had this same idea in mind when I realized that there are just so many ways to make use of G-Cash and we shouldn't leave it to the engineers (like me) to figure things out. We need to get the help of people in the real world with real needs to figure out how they want to use G-Cash.

Goodluck to the participants of the contest! I'm looking forward to seeing some brilliant ideas from our students.

ka_edong
teacher, teachee

Search Technobiography: G-Cash

Texting while Fighting

2005-07-20T06:08:00.000+08:00

On the Inq7.net: Text messaging Army's indispensable tool in war

That story reminds me of a few minutes watching TV-coverage of the Oakwood Mutiny back in 2003....

I was watching a live TV-coverage of the Oakwook Mutiny. The cameras focused on a group of 4 government-side soldiers at the foot of the flyover that leads from Ayala Ave to EDSA. The soldiers kept cover behind the concrete pavement of the flyover, taking quick and careful glances towards Oakwood. They were armed with rifles and bullets and grenades and a staunch "Rambo" look splattered on their faces.

After a minute or two on live television, one of the soldiers grabbed something from his pocket. It was a cellphone. He took a call. Then he surveyed the vicinity, looking for something.

When he saw the TV cameras, he smiled!

Your guess is as good as mine, but I could only imagine this cellphone conversation that triggered his smile:

Misis: "Sweetheart! Ayusin mo ang buhok mo, nasa TV ka!"

Then he whispered something to his fellow-soldiers. And then they smiled behind the war paint on their faces!

Ah, comic relief in the middle of the tension of the Oakwood Mutiny.

ka edong
cellphone warrior

Read: Texting while driving

3G, m-commerce and the farmer

2005-07-19T09:26:00.000+08:00

I'm recycling an e-mail I sent to a Geneva-based professor yesterday. He wrote me after reading about my study on m-Commerce for microfinance. For his privacy, I won't publish his name. The point of this post is to share my thoughts, as I've written yesterday in Blog ang Mundo.

Professor writes:
> I'll be interested to have your opinion on (a) how you think 3G will help Philippine farmers...

Hi xxxxxxxxxx,

The Philippines is highly SMS dependent. On the one hand, we have seen numerous programs, services, applications that maximize the use of SMS. This is what Filipinos are used to and good at.

But on the other hand, because the Philippines has created so many ways of using SMS to serve our needs, I think the Philippines has also been very slow on making the transition to 3G. I think the large part of the prepaid market in the Philippines (around 85%) are still using phones that cannot do MMS/GPRS/e-mail.

I do believe that there are opportunities where 3G will be able to help farmers in the Philippines. But it will not, as yet, reach farmer-consumer level. I think it will happen first at the level where 3G will be a tool for NGOs or Government agencies in communicating the needs of the farmer.

Professor writes:
> (b) whether there are any opportunities for Philippine farmers to use m-commerce.

Definitely!

At its very essence, I think m-Commerce is there to speed up the transactions at all levels of the supply-chain. Thus, m-commerce would be able to help the farmer transact more quickly so as to shorten the turn around time for which his/her capital can be used to make profits.

One of the ideas that came up during my study was to establish m-commerce desks at various (physical) markets or ports. The idea is to create an additional conduit for traders to complete their transactions. I am considering turning this idea into a business model, something that I may pursue in the future.

Have you heard of b2bpricenow by Mr. Tedjie Herbosa. It garnered a World Bank award and grant circa 2003. The website allows markets to trade online. Furthermore, B2Bpricenow also added an SMS module where farmers could check for market prices in neighboring trading posts.

Recently, Globe Telecom came out with a weather service supposedly designed for farmers or fishermen. It allows farmers/fishermen to access 5-day weather forecasts. Honestly, I think the fishermen/farmers know better to just gaze at the sky or observe the insects, listen to the radio to be able to tell how the weather will be like in the coming days.

Moreover, there is also another service that gives market prices. This is likely to be more useful than the weather service. As for actual usage of these services, that is still something to be observed at the ground.

You'll find an article about these two services here: http://au.biz.yahoo.com/050623/17/50ob.html .

> I would like to quote you in my own next paper.

What paper would this be?

Feel free to send me more of your ideas or questions. I've found a couple of your writings too and will look through them.

Cheers!

Edwin

Blog ang Mundo

2005-07-17T21:39:00.000+08:00

I'm still amazed how my blogging has allowed me to interact with people around the world. My blogs have allowed me to communicate my ideas and have created an avenue for people to find me.

Just today, I received another e-mail from a Geneva-based professor working with an international organization. He sent me a few questions about m-commerce. He wanted to get my opinions for a paper he was writing.

In the past, I also got an offer to try out some mobile services. This was a direct result of my blog writing. Another time, I wrote about an imagined event: "Xtreme Blogging". A few days later, I was being asked for an appointment to talk about the event! Whoa, an idea that people just might entertain. Interesting...

I've also gotten a lot of help from people I refer to as "my online friends". I've had some real-life (tech) dilemmas and people have been kind enough to share their opinions. (See 2 laptops, 1 phoneline; File sharing puzzle)

Many times I've talked about a few of my ideas. And then I'd receive an e-mail or a comment relating my ideas to some real-life services or experiments or business propositions. Interesting. Interesting how this blog has opened my world.

I like being able to take snapshots of my thoughts, of my ideas, of my life and being able to read it in the future. I like being able to tell friends, "I agree with you! In fact I've written about that a few months ago!" I like the way my blog has allowed me to share my ideas and how it has opened doors for me.

It's nice discovering what blogging can do for me. I wonder what it's like for others. I pose this question to my readers:

How has blogging affected your life?
What has blogging done for you lately?

ka edong
blog ang mundo

OT: Para sa inyo at sa sinasakyan niyo

2005-07-13T13:23:00.000+08:00

O, para sa mga may sasakyan diyan. (Pwera tsinelas).

Edwin

~~~~~~~~~~

"24 by 24 by 24"

In celebration of its fourth year anniversary, Drive Online Inc.
(www.drive.com.ph), one of the country's leading Fleet Management Solutions providers, is giving away 24 memberships to 24 HEROES (24-Hour Emergency ROadsidE Service) within a 24-hour period.

24 HEROES, Drive Online Inc.'s flagship service, boasts one of the industry's biggest fleet of tow trucks and one of the widest geographical coverages. 24 HEROES is powered by Ibero Asistencia, the country's leader in roadside assistance. Ibero Asistencia is a subsidiary of Sistema Internacional de Asistencia Mapfre (SIAM), one of Europe's largest insurance and assistance conglomerates. The state of the art 24 HEROES call center in Makati City conforms to international call center standards and is managed and operated by Ibero Asistencia.

To join, simply email the following information to 24heroes@drive.com.ph :
1. Name:
2. Date of birth:
3. Company
4. Office phone number:
5. Email address:
6. Mobile phone number:
7. Mailing address
8. Vehicle year (e.g. 2001):
9. Make (e.g. Honda):
10. Model (e.g. Civic):
11. Plate number:
12. Color:
13. Tracking code: DOI - 2 (Note: leave this item as is)
14. Complete this sentence: My dream car is a ____________________.

The first 24 people to send the above information by 12 noon on July 14, 2005 win a one-year 24 HEROES membership worth P695. It's that simple!

Just make sure the vehicle you enter meets the following criteria:
· It is not used for public transport
· It is not for hire
· It is not used for motor sports and other contests
· It is not used for the transport of merchandise
· It is not more than 10 years old as of July 14, 2005
· It is in good running condition
· It is in the Philippines

Note: One person may send only one entry. Individuals who send more than one entry will be disqualified.

Feel free to forward this to your friends.

Good luck!

The Drive Online Team

m-Commerce: Break muna

2005-07-13T06:07:00.000+08:00

Whew! Sandali, napagod kasi ako dun sa bakbakan nung lunes eh.

To be continued ang m-Commerce series ko, pero to be announced nalang. 'K?

To all who are following the series, please be patient. Come back again for the rest of the series.

k! edong
da sleepy emkonomist

Read:
m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited (Part 1),
m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited again (Part 2),
Adbertisement Muna, G-Cash Revisited (Part 3)
Search Technobiography:
Smart Padala, Smart Money, G-Cash

Three pet mice!

2005-07-12T23:15:00.000+08:00

Three pet mice!
Three pet mice!
See how they scroll!
See how they scrawl!

We've got a couple of pet mice at home.

The first is a wireless optical RF mouse which is soooo small, it's shadow is smaller than a credit card. It comes with a receiver that plugs in to the USB port.

The second is an optical mouse that's blue and sleek and looks like an alien mouse from outerspace! I got that mouse as a gift from Ka Rey during the second anniv party of airfagev. Ka Rey said, "Para kay Kurdapia". Thanks, ka rey!

And, for the third mouse, I still don't have a photo of it. It's sneaking around the backroom pa. Once it gets caught in my mousepad (flypaper!), I'll post it's picture here. mwahahaha!

ka edong
mouse trainer

m-Commerce: Mano y Mano (Part 4)

2005-07-11T06:48:00.000+08:00

m-Commerce on Technobiography

Parts 1 to 3 of this series discussed the developments of Smart Money and G-Cash. Today, Part 4 of this m-Commerce series, we compare the two services based on various criteria.

In Part 5 of this m-Commerce series, I will discuss what m-Commerce can do for our economy. Is this just a hype? Is m-Commerce just a nice technology which is just for show? Just for the rich? Oh, you'll be surprised...

In the coming articles, I will discuss the issues and challenges of the m-Commerce service providers - G-Cash and Smart Money. What is keeping them from deploying m-Commerce on a scale larger than the present usage of half a million users. I will also discuss concrete examples of how I believe G-Cash and Smart Money can create a larger impact in the Philippine economy.

Today I write a point-by-point comparison of Cash vs. G-Cash vs. Smart Money. This comparison first came out as part of my m-Commerce study. The major updates of this latest comparison are the moves by Smart Money to improve the ease of use (discussed in Part 1).

Information in this comparison are based on:

* my personal use of these services
* print ads
* websites
* information obtained from customer service representatives via the respective hotlines
See notes and references below.

The Comparison Criteria

Cash vs. G-Cash vs. Smart Money
* Ease of Entry
* Telco subscriber base
* Current usage
* Liquidity
* Security

G-Cash vs. Smart Money
* Ease of Use
* Convert cash into mobile currency
* Convert mobile currency into cash
* Usage with Partner Merchants
* Person-to-Person transfer
* Transaction Costs
* Other Costs
* Expiration

Go ahead, read on and tell me what you think ... Let's fight! Ting ting!

Comparison Criteria	Cash	G-Cash	Smart Money
Telco subscriber base	*	* 12.5 million customers (December 2004) [Note 1]	* 19.2 million subscribers (December 2004) [Note 2
Usage	* The Filipino population	* 400,000 (as of July 2005) [Note 3]	* 100,000 (as of May 2005) [Note 4]
Liquidity	* 100% liquid - use it anywhere	* Low - need to go to Globe and other partner merchants to use it or convert it to cash (Cash-out) * Use it for person-to-person (P2P) transactions	* Moderate - use it at Megalink or ExpressNet ATMs * Use it at any Mastercard creditcard terminal * Use it for P2P transactions
Security	* As secure as your wallet	* Uses a mobile Personal Identification Number (m-PIN) in the message body of an SMS message. M-PIN is in clear view. * m-PIN needs to be erased from the cellphone to ensure that a lost/snatched cellphone does not bear m-PIN in the SMS message archive	* Uses a SIM Toolkit (STK) menu where the m-PIN is never in clear view * Uses encryption when sending transaction commands

Top

Comparison Criteria	G-Cash	Smart Money
Ease of Entry	* Easy - one time SMS registration * Limited cash-in merchants to get G-Cash * Account number is the same as phone number	* Still Difficult * Althought activation of Smart Money "virtual account" has been simplified (See Part 1). But the virtual account can conduct very limited transactions (e.ge receive only). * A subscriber still needs to apply for a Smart Money card to avail of the full Smart Money services such as encashment, Smart Money transfer etc. [Note 5] * Depending on where application was filed, the Smart Money card can be issued in 1 day to 2 weeks. * Smart Money account number (M-Comm number) is different from cellphone number
Ease of Use	* Easy - P2P transactions are very similar to share-a-load	* Moderate - requires activation of STK menu * Requires familiarity with the use of STK menu
Convert cash into mobile currency	* Also called "Cash-in" * Globe Telecom Business Centers * G-Cash partners merchants (LBC, Cebuana Lhuillier, 7-11 etc.) * See G-Cash partner merchants here	* Over the counter at Smart wireless centers * Over the counter at partner banks (BDO) and merchants (McDonalds, Tambunting, SeaOil etc.) * See Smart Money Merchants here * Also through mobile banking from own bank account to Smart Money (requires subscriber to have an enrolled mobile banking account)
Convert mobile currency into cash	* Also called "Cash-out" * Globe centers and other partners	* Via ATM withdrawal (MegaLink, ExpressNet banks) -- requires a Smart Money card * Smart wireless centers * Merchant partners (McDonald's, Tambunting, SeaOil etc.)
Usage with Partner Merchants	* National Bookstore, Mercury Drug, Burger King etc.	* Any merchant that accepts MasterCard * Partner merchants
Person-to-Person transfer	* Any Globe user in the country * Easy - send to the cellphone number which is also the G-Cash account number * If sending to a non-registered cellphone, the transfer requires an additional confirmation step to proceed with transaction	* Smart money users * Not all Smart subscribers * Sender needs to know the m-Comm number of the recepient
Transaction Costs	* P2P transfer - P1 per SMS sent * Cash-in at Globe - P10 or 1% of Cash-in amount * Use at partners - no charge except P1 for SMS G-Cash sending/confirmation * Cash-in/Cash-out at partner merchants - from 1% to 5% or more of Cash-in/Cash-out amount depending on merchant. * See partner rates here	* P2P transfer - P2.50 per SMS sent * Use at partners - none except P2.50 per SMS sent * Withdrawal at ATMs - P11 ; for Except Banco De Oro ATMs, no charge * See transaction fees here
Other costs	*	* Card personalization fee for issuance of Smart Money card * Annual fee for Smart Money card
Expiration	* None	* Smart Money account is suspended after a number of months, depending on the type of Smart Money account (e.g. individual subscriber account, Smart Money accounts for employee payroll disbursement etc.) (Discussed in Part 2 of this series)

Who was the knock-out winner? Who got pummeled? You be the judge.

As usual, I'd like to hear from my readers. Do you have any questions, violent reactions? Any doubts? Do you have comparison criteria you'd like to suggest?

Feel free to leave a comment or to send me an e-mail.

See you on Wednesday, July 13, Part 5 of this m-Commerce series. I will discuss what m-Commerce can do for our country and economy.

Ka Edong
da emkonomist

Read:
m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited (Part 1),
m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited again (Part 2),
Adbertisement Muna, G-Cash Revisited (Part 3)
Search Technobiography:
Smart Padala, Smart Money, G-Cash

Notes

1.) Clarissa S. Batino “Globe Telecom says price war unsustainable”, Published Apr. 05, 2005; available at Inq7.net Money; accessed on 11 April 2005
2.) Clarissa S. Batino “Globe Telecom says price war unsustainable”, Published Apr. 05, 2005; available at Inq7.net Money; accessed on 11 April 2005
3.) Ramon Isberto of Smart Communications at the Corporate Social Responsibility Expo, July 6, 2005
4.) Conversation with a Globe representative
5.) Rose Matiga, Smart Money customer service representative, telephone inquiry over Smart Money Hotline, 10 July 2005

Other References:

* Globe G-Cash website: www.myglobe.com.ph/gcash
* Smart Money website: smart.com.ph/SMART/Value+Added+Services/Smart+Money
* Globe and Smart presentations at the PICS e-Commerce Congress, November2004
* Smart Money Hotline (15177 on a Smart cellphone); Smart Hotline tel. 8881111
* Globe Hotline (tel. 730-1000 or 211 on a Globe Handyphone)

Google Earth to Edong... Earth to Edong...

2005-07-09T22:05:00.000+08:00

Awesome!
(Visit the new Technobiography)

Google Earth

I tried Google Maps. It was cool. But Google Earth is Awesome! Amazing! See for yourself...

Satellite photos have been on the web for so many years now. But what Google Earth did was give us an interface where we can so easily find places on earth and view satellite photos of them. What's cool too is how it zooms and zips from one place to another as if we're in a rocket ship that can go up so quickly to see the wide view and down so quickly to see more details of the landscape below.

Download Google Earth. It's around 11Mb, it's a program you'll need to install on your computer. Not for the weak processor-ed. It didn't work on old Kurdapia, my laptop. But it's working very well with Fiona, Maya's computer.

Take a look at some photos....

(Visit the new Technobiography)
Manila! The details aren't very clear. But the congestion is. Sayang, wala masyadong ma-zoom. Unlike the images in the U.S., ang lilinaw ng mga streets, buildings.

(Visit the new Technobiography)
Cuyo! This is where I spent a year as a volunteer teacher. At the lower left is Bisucay Island. Right is the main island of Cuyo. They've lengthened the pantalan, I see...

(Visit the new Technobiography)
And, last for tonight, Sydney! This is where my sister and her family are. I see the opera house and the bridge! Atchi, I'll visit you there someday. Someday soooooon!!!!

I'm still amazed at Google and what technology can do.
And even more amazed at how God's hand created such a wonderful world. Let's not ruin it.

ka edong
narito sa maliit kong mundo
namamangha sa kalawakan ng mundo
May Dios!

m-Commerce: G-Cash Revisited (Part 3)

2005-07-08T07:38:00.000+08:00

I've written a lot about G-Cash in the past. It started in October 2004 when G-Cash first came out. I tried using G-Cash in the malls and I talked about the difficulties I encountered. I also talked about what I thought were the areas of improvement for G-Cash.

One reason I studied G-Cash so closely was because I used it in my study of m-Commerce for Microfinance. And while I was busy completing my study, there were some developments with G-Cash that came out which I did not write about. This is the time to write about those developments.

In Part 3 of this m-Commerce series, we'll revist what G-Cash has been doing in the past months: (1) building its network of partner merchants and (2) bringing more new G-Cash users onboard. Let's also kilatis the growth of G-Cash further ...

Building a wider network of partner merchants

G-Cash usage: stories from field

I dropped by a Mercury Drug outlet in the middle of Makati one evening to show my Vietnamese classmate how G-Cash is used. While I was there, I asked the cashier how many G-Cash transactions they get. She said, they get around 2 G-Cash transactions per week. Hmmmm... that's not much (read: measley). And that's in the middle of urban Makati. What more in the rural areas?

Well, not much more. I hear from a friend that some G-Cash partners are thinking of suspending G-Cash Cash-in/Cash-out or other G-Cash transactions at their branches. There's just not enough transactions to warrant the maintenance of a G-Cash cellphone at their branches.

It's painless to find out what G-Cash has been up to in the past months. Just visit their G-Cash News page and you'll get a hang of their new partners and services.

You'll find new partners such as Gold's Gym, Cris Sport, Urban Spa etc.

What's interesting is that they have a few non-commercial partners. These include International organization UNICEF as well as Philippine NGOs Kythe Foundation and Children's Hour.

Some government agencies are also onboard. BIR payments can be made via G-Cash as well as Business renewal payments.

Ragnarok is there too. You can top-up on Ragnarok pre-paid credits using G-Cash. (I had a different concept before when I discussed how Ragnarok players could use G-Cash to trade gaming weapons/potions etc.)

G-Cash can also be used to buy Globe load. Whew! A bit late, but at least quite expected.

*shhhh....* Victoria Court is another G-Cash partner *whisper* ... But, who would like to pay Victoria Court via G-Cash when G-Cash tracks all transactions, huh? 'Di ba non-trackable cash ang karaniwang pambayad sa motel, right?

And yes, G-Cash for schools! I wonder which schools are actually using this now. Concept is, let parents pay school fees through G-Cash directly from the parent's phone to the school. I had discussed this before in an article about mobile services for OFWs.

There's a service that didn't catch my attention until today. I found out that you can actually include a message when you send G-Cash. This introduces a lot of possibilities which I will discuss next week in this m-Commerce series.

More G-Cash users

G-Cash has been creating new users through a high-touch marketing campaign of G-Cash stalls in SM Malls. At these stalls, there is a G-Cash representative who can explain things to anybody interested and guide people in registering G-Cash on their cellphone.

This could be a good step because subscribers need to hear explanations. G-Cash is not an easy technology to understand.

One time I spoke to a G-Cash representative in SM Beguio, she told me that she gets around 20-50 new G-Cash registrants per day. My perception is, this isn't contributing much to the number of users. Perhaps the bigger impact of these stalls is the visibility, rather than the number of added users to the network.

Growing, are we?

With the highly versatile payment system that G-Cash is, my question is: is G-Cash growing fast enough and as fast as it can?

I hear that there were around 100,000 G-Cash users as of May 2005. That's 100,000 G-Cash users within just 8 months. Not bad. But I think it could be better. What's the problem then?

I've identified two major barriers to the wide adoption of G-Cash.

First is the lack of m-commerce awareness of subscribers. In a survey I conducted in Laguna in connection with my study on m-Commerce for Microfinance, I found that very few people knew about G-Cash. Some even claim to have never heard about it before, this despite the big billboard at one of their town's major street intersections. m-Commerce just hasn't reached the awareness of most people.

Second is the lack of infrastructure. The main peice of infrastructure lacking is the places where anybody could exchange Cash for G-Cash (Cash-in) or the other way around (Cash-out). For example, if I went to, say...., a gig at Malate, I would be totally unsure of where I could Cash-in. In contrast, I would be very sure that I can get Globe load at a nearby corner store or ambulant vendor in Malate. In other words, there just isn't enough places where I could get or give G-Cash.

One of Globe's solutions to this infrastructure problem is what they call eNCash, a G-Cash ATM. You can "deposit" cash into the ATM and receive G-Cash on your cellphone (Cash-in). You can also "withdraw" G-Cash from your cellphone and receive cash from the ATM (Cash-out).

This is an expensive solution to the infrastructure problem. How much money and how long will it take to install a substantial number of these machines in key cities in the country? It will cost Globe some manufacturing expenses, real-estate expenses and maintenance expenses. Nonetheless, it is a good addition to the technologies that Globe can use to serve its clients. But it will not be the key solution to the lack of Cash-in/Cash-out points in the country.

Now what?

In part 4 of this m-Commerce series: Mano y Mano

Ah, that's the tricky part. There is lots to do. And the sooner we do it, the better. Thus lays the theme of my upcoming articles in this m-Commerce series.

The next articles will tackle how to deploy m-Commerce more effectively. Another topic I will discuss is what the impact of m-Commerce will have on the Philippine economy especially for the little businessmen/businesswomen (pc tayo dito *smile*) and for the ordinary Filipino.

ka edong
da emkonomist

Read: m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited (Part 1),
m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited again (Part 2),
Adbertisement Muna
Search Technobiography:
Smart Padala, Smart Money, G-Cash

Puzzle: 1 phoneline, 2 laptops

2005-07-06T18:27:00.000+08:00

Help with a puzzle, anyone?

I'm looking for a solution to the puzzle. I'm giving out a prize for the best solution. My criteria: Simple and Cheap.

Prize is: a 10-day unlimited access WorldPass card trial account. You can use WorldPass for Globe's WiFi hotspots, dial-up or broadband access. (See GlobeQuest)

Puzzle

Our Mandaluyong home has two laptops. Mine is Kurdapia, an old Toshiba Satellite with a PCMCIA WiFi card. Maya's is Fiona, a new Toshiba with built-in Celeron WiFi capabilities.

Puzzle is:

How can my wife and I have an Internet connection simultaneously on two laptops at home?

Our regular Internet connection is dial-up to PLDT Vibe via our PLDT landline.

Both Kurdapia and Fiona run WinXP, both have an ethernet LAN port and a telephone port and USB. Fiona has an IR port, Kurdapia doesn't.

Deadline: July 20.

What's your solution?

Ka Edong
MoBlogging in the MRT

Btw, PCMint has a new home = home of Kuya B's family

Search Technobiography for previous real-life puzzles

m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited again (Part 2)

2005-07-06T00:20:00.000+08:00

On my next m-Commerce article: G-Cash revisited
out on July 8, Friday

Last week, I organized an Online Web Seminar (Webinar) on m-Commerce for Microfinance with the assistance of Lakan Leadership Institute. We quickly came up with the m-Commerce Webinar in response to the sudden influx of visitors to Mobile Tulay, thanks to the Inq7.net article. We wanted visitors to access more information on m-Commerce for Microfinance and give Webinar participants an opportunity to ask questions about m-Commerce applications in the Philippines.

The Webinar went quite well. We had intelligent questions from our Webinar participants that lead to a good online discussion. We have more Webinars coming up in the next few weeks.

But prior to the Webinar, we had some preparations to do. Among them was the method for receiving registration fees. And what better way to receive registration fees than through m-Commerce services!

I had no problem receiving our Webinar registration fee through G-Cash. That was easy.

But via my Smart Money – ah, that was another story. Aside from giving participants two m-Commerce options for sending their registration fee, I was also especially interested in trying out Smart Money anew – what with the latest attempts at simplifying Smart Money registration which I discussed two weeks ago.

I had not used my Smart Money account for some time. I used it when I was still with FIT-ED. That time, I had a small remittance business with my friend in Malaysia.

Time to wake up my Smart Money account!

Using the STK (SIM Toolkit), I did a balance inquiry. I had to recall what my PIN was and I had to figure out if I used 4-digits, 6-digits or 8-digits. For all my many attempts, I got two responses via SMS: one was "invalid PIN", the second was "Unable to process transaction".

Well, let’s try calling the Smart Money hotline (15177 on a Smart cellphone) and see what the problem could be.

I spoke to a customer service representative named Tim. I asked her whether there was an "expiration" period where a period of inactivity with a Smart Money account will "suspend" a Smart Money account. She confirmed that there was such a built-in system procedure that renders a "dormant" Smart Money account suspended.

After some verification, she confirmed that my Smart Money account was suspended.

First concern: I requested for a re-activation of my Smart Money account.
Tim said I should check within 24-hours to see if the account has been re-activated. Almost one week after my conversation with Tim, my Smart Money account has not been re-activated.

Second concern: Out of curiosity (being my normal usyosero self), I asked Tim for information on how many months it takes before an inactive Smart Money account is suspended. She explained that it depends on the type of Smart Money account. For example, there are Smart Money accounts that are issued by companies for purposes of payroll disbursement. Mine, on the other hand, was an ordinary individual Smart Money account via Addict Mobile. At the end of it all, (by now, my friend) Tim explained that she cannot divulge the number of months before a dormant account is suspended.

I also inquired via e-mail about the number of dormant months before an account is suspended. I asked about whether dormant accounts with, say P10,000, are also suspended. And if so, where does this P10,000 go when the Smart Money account is suspended.

I still don’t have the answers. I hope to find out in the near future.

In the meantime, I will accept Webinar registration fees via G-Cash. And try once again to call the Smart Money hotline and make a second request for re-activation of my Smart Money account.

Wish me luck!

Ka edong
da em-konomist

Read: m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited (Part 1), Adbertisement Muna
Search Technobiography:
Smart Padala, Smart Money, G-Cash

Google Search TV!

2005-07-05T21:06:00.000+08:00

I read an article last week on Asian Wallstreet Journal about one of Google's latest exploits.

Google's goal is to search ALL information on the globe.

Early this year, Google began an experiment that cached (i.e. stored) TV shows. It also stored transcripts of the shows. These transcripts were searchable.

A search for "sanity", for example, would show results of TV shows where the word "sanity" was used. Video clips (or was it the entire TV show?) would be available with the search results.

It won't be easy for Google. TV networks cry FOUL! Naturally. TV networks will claim intellectual property rights, of course. The sole right to do replays and get revenues from old TV shows -- that's what it is.

That's in Google labs. Let's see what happens to Google vs TV networks.

To Google: if you have a Google experiment that will attempt to search information in my brain, I'm a willing subject! Let's see if there's anything inside ü .

~~~
Google search DVDs

My friend and his wife went to the DVD mecca in Quiapo. He was awestruck at the immense collection of DVDs. Titles included old classics, art films and even Mc Gyver and Starsky & Hutch episodes.

He described the 2-block area of DVD shops as "better than the internet!"

My friend wanted a particular season of West Wing. They went to each stall but couldn't find the elusive DVD set.

Then they reached Mila - the "Google" of this DVD mecca as my friend described. My friend specified the DVDs he wanted and then he waited. Mila took off around DVD mecca and crawled her database. A few minutes later, Mila came back with the catch in hand.

"O, suki na tayo, ha. Balik kayo dito, ha" Mila said in a sing-song voice as she put the DVDs in a plastic bag.

My friend said: "Pwedeng i-test?" Ooops! Wrong move...

"Hinanap ko na nga yan para sa inyo, eh! Wala, walang test test kapag DVD Set. Hwag nalang!" Mila exclaimed in exasperation, tossing back the DVDs to the pile of other DVDs.

Aba! May temper itong search engine na ito. But aside from that, my friend has a newfound DVD suki - Google Mila.

Ka Edong
Gugo ... ang ginamit kong shampoo ko nuon

Digiprint - 'Di na natuto

2005-07-05T06:40:00.000+08:00

Insanity na talaga ito. I've written about how useless LBC's Package Tracking was for me.

Now let me tell you about my experience with LBC's photo developing and delivery service: digiprint.com.ph .

The pitch

Upload your photos, share them online, order prints, have them delivered by LBC to any address in the Philippines. Another service allows you to drop off a roll of film at LBC and receive the prints via courier.

Neat? Not so.

Uploading

I tried uploading photos. But the Digiprint website required a plug-in that didn't work well with Firefox. So I tried Internet Explorer. Okay, *sigh* sige na nga, install plug-in.

After installing the plug-in, Digiprint began displaying the contents of MyPictures folder of my laptop, Kurdapia, within the IE browser. Ayos!

But (always but...), I couldn't upload my photos in one go. Argh! A message kept coming up saying something useless like: "Upload Failed. Error 1234."

I had to upload files in batches of 6-10 photos to avoid the error. Bummer.

Order

After uploading my photos a few files at a time (it took me a couple of days to complete my album), I started ordering prints. It didn't need that plug-in anymore so I reverted to my Firefox web browser.

I selected photos, chose the print size and print quality and the quantity of prints. I click the "recalculate" button and I get the total payable. Not bad.

Checkout

Time to pay. Options:

pay over-the-counter at an LBC stall
pay via PayPlus using a Bancnet or Megalink ATM
pay via G-Cash... I wish! Para tapos na! But LBC, a G-Cash partner merchant, doesn't offer this payment option. *sigh*

Well, let's try the PayPlus option. Let's! Here's the response:

error '80020009'
Exception occurred.
/ver2/cart.asp, line 380

Hergs. Siya siya, sige, magpapaka-martyr ako. I will pay over the counter at one of the LBC stalls. I'll click the button to get some kind of receipt or online request so that I can print out my bill which I will pay for over-the-counter at LBC. Sige daw....

error '80020009'
Exception occurred.
/ver2/cart.asp, line 380

Why? Tell me, Why am I not surprised? I tried it on both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Same result = Insanity!

Ilang araw kong sinubukan, ilang beses hinanapan ng paraan, ilang oras ang ginugol, ilang buhok sa ulo ang na-bunot at heto lang ... error '80020009'? Ano'ng gagawin ko diyan, kakainin?

Why? Tell me, hu-wa-yyyy do I go through these lengths? I think it's time to go back to Pavilion 7. Siyemes!

Read: "Nagpadala sa LBC, Na-Buang", Ofoto, My Fotos
Abangan bukas: m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited again (Part 2), sequel to ... uhmmm .... part 1, adbertisment
In da future: My adventures with Flickr, Picasa, Hello, Muvee etc.

ka edong
Mandaluyong boy married to Baliwag girl

My m-Commerce Study on Inq7.net

2005-07-04T12:10:00.000+08:00

AIM grad finds micro-financing future in mobile commerce
By Erwin Lemuel Oliva (June 26, 2005)
Excerpts from Inq7.net:

FROM a sophisticated and convenient communications device to a tool for broadcasting jokes and protest against government, the ubiquitous mobile phone is slowly turning into an electronic means to dispense cash, an e-wallet in short.

A Filipino graduate of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) business school recently found, however, not just one but 27 more ingenious applications for mobile commerce when he conducted a pilot study with a local non-government organization. Think micro-financing.

Currently as a development consultant on information and communications technology for AIM, 30-year old Edwin Soriano has drawn up several business models to ride on existing mobile commerce innovations like Globe Telecom’s G-cash and Smart Communications’s Smart Money.

For the pilot study he conducted with the non-government organization Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (Card-NGO), Soriano experimented with his business concepts using G-cash. Card-NGO is currently one of the biggest non-government organizations involved in micro-financing in the Philippines.

My m-Commerce Study was featured on Inq7.net. Thanks to Erwin Oliva for writing the story and Heinz Bulos for telling Erwin about the study.

You'll find copies of the story at the following links:
* AIM grad finds micro-financing future in mobile commerce (Available while Inq7.net keeps the online copy)
* Saved copy of article on Geocities.com
* PDF file for easy printing
* Screen shot - Nasa front page ako ;-)

Edwin
Technobiography

Edong SkypeWalker

2005-07-04T06:27:00.000+08:00

I’ve used Skype a couple of times, mostly to talk to my sister in Australia. It works very well for people communicating across borders and across seas.

My first real conversation over Skype happened at Seattle’s Best at Rockwell via their Airborne Access WiFi connection. It was perrrrfect! My sister and I talked for almost an hour without interruptions. It was like a regular mobile phone call. A little noise or lag here and there but it was mostly good. Not to mention the savings compared to a regular IDD call.

If we had made that conversation over IDD, it would have cost us ... 50mins x 40cents/min = US$20 or Php1,100! On the other hand, I spent only P100 (for 1 hour WiFi access) for our Skype telebabad. Ang laking tipid, ‘di ba?

Another time my sister and I spoke, I was at school. We have free WiFi access there, so it didn’t cost a thing. But this time, there were noticeable lags in our conversation. I realized that the lags were caused by the photos I was sending to my sister. Apparently, when Skype is sharing the Internet bandwidth of your computer with other processes (other downloads, uploads, updates), the voice quality of the Skype conversation is affected.

It’s as if my sister’s voice is sometimes being stretched. Sometimes, there are a few split seconds that I don’t hear her.

That conversation with my sister was funny because she kept on commenting about the background noise. She asked “are those plates and spoons and forks?”. Uh huh, she heard it right. She was hearing the high frequency noise in the background while I had to shout out my words because she sometimes couldn’t hear me. That must have been due to my headset. I purposely bought a small headset so that it wouldn’t be too bulky when I put it in Kurdapia’s bag.

The last time I used Skype was when I spoke to my crazy friend in Vietnam. We passed around my headset as other classmates and schoolmates dropped in to say hi via Skype.

I haven’t been using Skype lately. Buti nalang I’ve outgrown my Skype fascination and have stopped calling that British lady phonepal for making test calls (click picture on left).

I haven’t tried using Skype on ordinary dial-up. But I’m quite sure it won’t be as good as using it via a LAN.

I’ll end by sharing a photo from an online friend, Warren Mira. If in some cases tech gets in the way, Warren’s story is one instance where we can take a break and let tech do some magic.

Read: Telebabad - ang pagbabalik, Our Weekend eSkype
Search Technobiography: Skype

Edong SkypeWalker

Hotspot Hunting: Podium

2005-07-01T06:44:00.000+08:00

Last night, Maya and I were at Podium in Ortigas center. On my back was Fiona in her kunwari-hindi-laptop Samsonite backpack bag.

Maya asked me with a faint smile at the edge of her lips: "Meron kayang WiFi dito?"

I said knowingly: "I don't think so. Kung meron, eh 'di dapat may mga WiFi posters o stickers na nag-a-announce na hotspot ito."

Just then, we reached our dining place - a Filipino-Japanese resto at the 5th floor. There was a gentleman dining and he had his laptop on. He appeared to be web surfing.

Tonight's appetizer: Eat your words!

Before Maya could stop me, I blurted out audibly: "Naka-WiFi ka?"

The gentleman's eyes looked up, a boyish smile flashed and he replied, trembiling, as if I was a long lost friend: "Oo, full signal!"

Gentleman and I started to exchange notes, about how there's a hotspot too at SM Megamall yada yada yada...

He kept with his excited long-lost-friend tone. I maintained my faked-indifference as if the newly discovered hotspot didn't matter to me. In the meantime, Maya took the opportunity to download some updates.

We had dinner and didn't let Fiona get in the way. After dinner, we looked down from the 5th level to the lounge at the 2nd level. There was my newfound long-lost-WiFi-hunter-friend surfing away as a piano played a tune in the background.

Maya and I headed home. Another ~~make-over~~ hotspot-hunting mission accomplished.

Fade-in Mission Impossible theme: Charan charan charan charan chan-chan, Charan charan charan charan chan-chan ...

Read: Hotspot Hunting I, II, III
Search Technorati: Hotspot Hunting

Agent Edong
Moblogging on Brosia

OT: Ka Edong Explained

2005-06-29T06:46:00.000+08:00

When people read my nom de plume, many think I’m an NPA. One time, somebody asked me online, “Ka Edong, kumusta si Ka Roger?”. Another time, somebody said: “Kelan ka pa bumaba sa bundok?”

What’s the story behind “Ka Edong”?

It all started in ’93 when I was part of a ten-day immersion program of the UP Student Catholic Action (UPSCA) in Tiaong, Quezon. I lived there with a farmer, Ka Owell and his family.

I wanted to have a Filipino name. A name that fit well with the community. A name that was not western, a name that was less alienating to the community. Imagine, for example, coming in and saying my name was “Sir Edwin of Shire”.

So I chose a Filipinized version of my name. I chose to be called “Edong”.

“Ka” is a way of addressing people, like “Ginoo” or “Binibini” or “Gat” for Gat Andres Bonifacio.

“Ka” is short for “Kasama” or “Kaibigan”.

Thus, I am Ka Edong.
Ako ay inyong Kasamang Edong.
Ako ay inyong Kaibigang Edong.

More on “Ka Edong” and what that name means to me …. Some other time …Senti yun, eh.

Visit: Kubo ni Ka Edong (not updated since last year)
Google Search my tukayos: Ka Edong, Edong

Ka Edong
Each one of us is unique ... just like everybody else!

m-Commerce: Adbertisment Muna

2005-06-27T10:03:00.000+08:00

Are you here for Part II of my m-Commerce series?

I hope I don't disappoint you. I will be continuing this series on m-Commerce - "in due time" 'ika nga.

But in the meantime, I'd like to invite you to read two materials:

Thanks to: Erwin Oliva of Inq7.net for the article about my study on m-Commerce for Microfinance

There's more about m-Commerce where that came from. Expect to read a whole lot more about m-Commerce on Technobiography and Mobile Tulay.

Still to write:

G-Cash revisited
Mano y Mano: Cash vs. Smart Money vs. G-Cash
Smart-Cash, G-Money: Is m-Commerce Integration just a dream?
m-Commerce for Nation Building
and many more...

Mabu-hey!

ka edong
da emkonomist!

m-Commerce: Revisiting Smart Money (Part 1)

2005-06-24T05:43:00.000+08:00

Last week, in preparation for a forum where I was presenting, I wanted to update myself with Smart Money. I surfed their website, I Googlized Smart Money. But I didn't find anything new.

I guess my search was a few days advanced. Just four days after, Smart came out with print ads exclaiming

Smart Padala
Ang pang International, ngayon pang Domestic na rin!

Let's butingting this Smart Padala thing.

Here are some Smart Padala / Smart Money info taken from the print ad:

There's a sending and encashment fee of as low as 1%

Recepient needs to download a Smart Money Number. There are two procedures for downloading. The first procedure is for the Super SIM3 which uses the STK (SIM ToolKit). The second procedure is for Super SIM1 and Super SIM2 which has instructions that use SMS.

Some of the Smart Padala Centers kung saan puwede magpadala at mag-encash

McDonald's
SM
Tambunting pawnshop
7-11
VideoCity
SeaOil
Smart Wireless Centers
2Go (call and cash will be delivered to you: tel 8987845)

Sender of money goes to a Smart Padala Center, gives cash, recepient's Smart Money number, shows a valid ID. (In small letters: "As low as 1% sending fee")
Sender should see the confirmation message in the cellphone of the Smart Padala Center (referred to in this article as SPC).
Recepient of money will receive an SMS message that "cash" has been sent to his/her cellphone. (The ad reads: "Beneficiary receives cash")
Recepient goes to an SPC and encashes the Smart Money. (In small letters: "As low as 1% encashment fee")

My thoughts:

It's about time! I've been waiting for Smart to make a move since the onslaught of Globe's G-Cash in October 2004. It's a bit late, but it's not too late. It's still very early in the game. The response of Smart Money is good for m-Commerce development in the Philippines. It forces both Smart and Globe into a game of continuous improvement of m-Commerce services for the Filipinos.
Simplicity is the way. As I discussed in a previous article (article title), I explained that Smart Money was too complicated for the common subscriber. So complicated that I referred to all the (old) procedures a barrier to usage. Examining the print Ad, my initial reaction was: "Good, they're making things simpler". But (big BUT), I don't think it is simple enough to be followed by the common subscriber.
- First question: How will I know if I'm using a SIM1, SIM2 or SIM3?
- The ad's step 3 for Super SIM1&2 says: "I-activate ito sa inyong SMART celfone. Piliin ang SMART Money sa SMART menu." - Anlabo. Even I, an old Smart Money user, I don't understand and can't imagine what this procedure will be like.
- I am SURE that this procedure is in-complete. It is not a procedure that an ordinary subscriber will be able to follow easily.
- Maybe that's the reason there's additional fine print saying: "Para makapag-encash, pumunta sa SMART Wireless Center at magdala ng ID for initial registration."
Here's a concrete example of how not foolproof the Smart Money procedures are. I was in a meeting and my colleague tried out the STK procedure for Super SIM3. Two minutes later, he received a reply saying something like: Invalid transaction. Command aborted. (Let me complete the story by saying that my colleague was using a Pocket PC-phone. He was using an STK procedure and it did not work for him).
"As low as" 1% sending/encashment fee. I've heard this before. This is the same rate that Globe charges for G-Cash Cash-in and Cash-out. And seeing "As low as", I'd expect some SPC's to charge 2% to 5% or more for some of the Smart Padala transactions.
As I've said before, the m-commerce service providers should offer sending/encashment service for FREE! Okay, if that's too difficult, at least waive that sending fee, at least as a promo. The idea is that the m-commerce providers (Smart and Globe) should encourage people to infuse cash into the m-Commerce economy. The more Smart Money "cash" and G-Cash there is going around, the better for m-commerce economy and the better for the m-commerce service providers.
Of course offering this for free isn't easy. There are SPC's to pay. That's the challenge, to be able to create a financially viable business model that compensates the SPC's and yet gives incentives to the subscribers to use the m-Commerce services. It isn't easy but there is a way (Read Technobiography on Monday, June 27).
"As low as 1%" is too much. If you compare this to Western Union which charges around P50, 1% is too much. Example, if I send P5,000, I get charged P50 for sending (1% sending fee). Then the recepient of my money is charged another P50 (1% encashment fee). Even over the counter deposits in some commercial banks charge just P50-P100 flat rate. Thus, for an amount above P5,000, there are other cheaper options than paying the 1% charge of Smart Money (or G-Cash). Even more expensive when other SPC's charge more than 1%.
What's the real deal? I usually find out the real deal by walking up to a partner establishment. I would ask them whether they've had customers transacting Smart Padala, whether they found it easy, how many transactions in a day or week, amounts sent etc. I did this last year at McDonald's Boni-EDSA and the manager was frank enough to tell me that they hadn't transacted even one Smart Padala transaction.
I'll give it a few more days and then walk up to a Smart Padala Center to find out how things are going with Smart Padala Domestic. That would be the indicator if what I've been saying above is crap or on the dot.

I'll be writing more about Smart Money, Smart Padala and G-Cash in the coming days. I will share some thoughts on how m-Commerce deployment can be heightened. Many of these thoughts are based on experiences and insights gained through my thesis on m-Commerce for Microfinance.

My thought projects for myself and for my readers:

What will it take for m-Commerce to take off?
What can m-Commerce do for the Philippines?

Keep your thinking caps on. Do share your thoughts.

See you on Monday for more on m-Commerce in the Philippines!

Search Technobiography:
Smart Padala, Smart Money, G-Cash

m-Edong
(Manong Edong)

Techie Drayber: MangGyber

2005-06-23T17:15:00.000+08:00

May Jeepney driver na blogger! Oh yeah, it's true!

Nag-aabang ako ng jeep sa may Boni. Nang may dumaan na jeep, malakas ang sounds. Nung pumarada siya para magsakay, nakita ko yung splasher sa likod ng jeep. Nakasulat:

Blog ang Mundo!

Heto na Gnebra! ;-p

At may Jeepney driver na MangGyver! Check out mo ng husto ang kanyang soundz systemz:


CD Player sa Jeep ni MangGyber	Ingredients: Konting gupit, konting electrical tape, konting masking tape, maraming diskarte

Yup yup yup, that's a CD-ROM drive. Ginagamit niyang CD Player yung ...Asus 50x CD-ROM drive. Ayos ba? Aztig, 'di ba?

Make your own CD player

May naka-plug na earphone jack dun sa audio-out ng CD-ROM drive. Tapos naka-splice yung earphones papunta dun sa "on-board" radio. Tapos kumpleto ang speakers niya, mula woofer hanggang ... ano na nga ba'ng tawag dun sa maliit na speaker na matinis ang boses parang ibon? .... Ayun, tweeter!

Napaka-ganda ng soundz niya mula dun sa CD-ROM drive niya na pati ako ay napapa-kanta na rin sa tugtog niyang (pirated) CD ng Sting.

Aztig, 'di ba? Hyan ang Pinoy, ma-abilidad! Ginagamit ang teknolohiya para pagsilbihan ang mga tunay na mahalagang bagay. Mahalagang bagay tulad ng soundz. Sabi nga nung isang billboard: "No music, No life!"

MangGyber ka, Mamang drayber! Itaas mo!

Read: Techie Lola, Techie Grrrrl
Search Technobiography: other Techies (pwera Agbayani)
Abangan: Techie trike
Tomorrow and next monday: Smart Money Revisited

MangEdong

Mobile Tulay - Bridging the Gap

2005-06-21T18:04:00.000+08:00

I'm pleased to introduce my latest blog:
Mobile Tulay - Bridging the Gap at http://mobiletulay.blogspot.com

Mobile n: a hand-held mobile radiotelephone; also Mobile phone or cellphone

Tulay n: Filipino word for "Bridge"; A structure spanning and providing passage over a gap or barrier

Mobile Tulay n: Bridging the Digital Divide through mobile phone applications and services

Mobile Tulay is my research, academic and consultancy blog. I've uploaded my complete thesis, some writings and presentations covering Mobile Commerce for Microfinance.

I've mentioned this study on Technobiography in the past.

Mobile Tulay blog will have a less casual tone of writing compared to Technobiography. My more formal writings will come out in Mobile Tulay.

Mobile Tulay won't be updated as often as Technobiography. My thought projects, casual musings, stories will still stay in Technobiography.

I envision Mobile Tulay as a collaborative blog later on. I may open up Mobile Tulay to fellow-writers/bloggers who share a similar passion for mobile applications that truly serve people's needs.

Take a walk across the Mobile Tulay. Malay mo, you might like it, you might find something useful.

Read: Microfinance reflections

Mabuhay!

Edwin

MRT Musings - Scrap metal for sale...

2005-06-17T00:15:00.000+08:00

Nung lunes, sabi ko "Cellphone mo, MRT card na!" Hindi pa rin naman nagkakatutoo. Pero malapit na siguro. Paano kaya gagawin? Pero bago iyon, pwede bang mag-labas ng sama ng luob?

Lagi ko siyang nadadaan sa Boni MRT station, ilang daang beses na. Mainit ulo ko diyan, eh! Simula pa nung 2001 andiyan na siya, nagpapa-cute lang, pa-display display lang! Ano akala niya sa sarili niya, pogi? Aba gumagastos pa siya ng kuryente! May guwardiya sibil pa. At sa buong bu-hey ko, 'di ko pa siya nakikitang na-gamit ni kahit sinuman. Eh kung kiluhin ko nalang kaya?...


The most expensive sign board of the MRT! May guwardiya sibil pa!	This chunk of metal's purpose in life: to announce that it is 'out of service'

"This is where your taxes go!"

That's what it should read. Our taxes go to a scrap of metal announcing that the damn chunk of metal doesn't work!

In a rolling voice, I say " Heh - loooow! ~~Garci~~"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mabuti pa ang counterpart nitong ticket vending machine sa MRT-2 (along aurora boulevard) sa may Cubao Station. At least yun, gumagana at nagagamit. May silbi! 'Di tulad ng iba!


Drop some coins, press the button corresponding to your destination ....	And out comes your MRT card, mainit-init pa!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And here goes my fearless forecast of how we can start to use the cellphone to enter the MRT.

Remember this advertisement of Globe many years ago.

Go to a vending machine in SM,
Mag-text ka sa isang number,
sabihin mo kung ano'ng drink ang gusto mo,
tapos the vending machine will dispense the drink for you.

Ang saya di ba? c-lap ... c-la..p..p

Yun nga lang, wala na yung vending machine na iyon. Baka ni-langaw o na meniggococcemia na siya! (ang hirap ispelingin!)

Pero the same technology can be used in the ticket vending machines at the MRT stations.

When you're in front of an MRT ticket vending machine ...

Text (or call?) the vending machine number ...
indicate your destination ...
and out goes your ticket, mainit-init pa!
I-a-awas nalang sa cellphone load (or g-cash or smartmoney) mo ang equivalent value ng ticket mo.

Ano sa tingin niyo? No hi-tech new technologies. Just making use of existing (old) technologies and making them work for us.

Ayaw niyo maniwala? Magbasa ka: Warren Mira's SMS Enabled Vending Machine

Ano sa tingin niyo? Agree? Disagree? Wan-hap? Wan-port?

batedong
hindi maka-tingin....
Warning: I can read your mind

Bat Edong Begins ... Printing

2005-06-15T09:57:00.000+08:00

There'a a complete walkway now connecting the EDSA-MRT (MRT-Line3) and the AuroraBlvd-MRT (MRT-Line2). The missing link was a bridgeway from Farmer's connecting to Araneta Coliseum plus the newest mall in town, Gateway! Ganda ng Gateway Mall!

Here's what I wrote about Gateway and my alternative mode of transport when emergencies call...

First time kong maka-punta sa Gateway mall sa Cubao. Ang saya! Ganda! tapos may mini-rain forest kunwari sa gitna nung mall. Feeling ko tuloy nasa gubat ako.

And then I find my Batmobile in display! Shucks, now my disguise is blown!


BatEdong Begins Printing On an Epson Stylus PhotoR310	BatEdong strikes a pose for the fans ... not as hunky as when he's on screen fighting thugs

The batmobile was there as a promotion of Epson. They allowed people to take digital photos with the batmobile tapos i-pi-print yung photo using the Epson Stylus Photo R310 printer.

The Epson lady said it takes around 2 minutes to print the picture. It has six ink cartridges and each costs around P500. Expensive, isn't it? And the picture quality isn't so good. Hindi niya napantayan ang kodak photo quality. Mabuti pa yung Cannon Picture bridge tsaka yung Kodak Yellow Monster

Read: Ofoto, My Fotos

BatEdong (no relation to batjay)

Wiretapped, Webtrapped

2005-06-13T13:15:00.000+08:00

How can I not blog about this?

I saw the headlines on Inq7.net last saturday. There was a photo UP Students in front of their computers using their headphones. The caption said something like "UP Students spreading the wiretapped tapes through the Internet".

I can't help but observe how technology is once again playing a role in Philippine politics the fate of our contry. We all know how text messaging contributed to the fall of Erap.

Now we have wiretapped phone audio files flying around. Not to mention that e-mail sent by a Military man calling for changes within his organization. Whew! What are we in for, another circus?

Chin Wong says "why read the transcripts when you can listen to it." Well I tried it out. I downloaded an mp3 segment of the wiretapped recordings from PCIJ.

I used earphones to listen to it. It's dizzying! It sounds like the voices are walking around me, around my head! (Or is my schizophrenic self just manifesting itself? We don't think so.) And I don't have the patience to figure out what they're saying with their thick accents and all the noise.

So, if I were you, have a taste-test of those audio recordings but if you're really interested in finding the juicy stuff, just go to the text transcripts. It will save you time and your sanity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I read briefly an analyst's article saying People Power IV is unlikely to happen because of "People Power fatigue". I tend to agree. I'm tired of all this kalokohan in government. But I don't want to involve myself in it. I'm not ready to go to the streets.

I just want to do my thing, make an impact in this small world I revolve in where I have at least some control and some influence.

You're in my Technobiography world, by the way. Welcome!

Klawn Edong
in Edong's Circus

Visit:
Captain's Log - Online friend's blog where he shares the wiretapped audio recordings. Doing his own heroic acts to save the world ;-)
Manuel L. Quezon III's blow-by-blow account of what's happening to our country.
Anatomy of eavesdropping on mobile phone calls (Inq7.net)
NTC warns TV, radio vs airing alleged wiretapped talks

MRT Musings - “Cellphone mo, MRT card na!”

2005-06-13T08:36:00.000+08:00

I've been using the MRT since it opened in '99. Linalangaw pa siya nun dahil mahal pa ang bayad at di pa nadidiskobre ng karamihan ang kagandahan ng pag-sakay ng MRT.

This week, I share a few stories about the MRT. On Wed, June 15, You'll read about my alternative mode of transport when emergencies call. On Friday, June 17, I'll give you another Edong's Dream, a sequel to my first Edong's Dream written back in September 2004.

Well well well, what do we have here?

I noticed these silver devices attached to the MRT gates a few weeks ago.

To get into the MRT paid area, you will need to go through two obstacles.

First, you’ll need to play “Patintero” and “Sawsaw suka” and “Frisk me kunwari” with the security guards.

Second you need to get through the metal gates using a plastic magnetic card – the MRT card – that is inserted in the gate’s card slot.

But what if you don’t need that magnetic card?
What if your cellphone will be your ticket to go through the MRT gate?

This seems to be the idea behind the silver device attached to the MRT gates. The device has a data belt connecting it to the inside of the gate.


Prototype silver device connected to the MRT gate	It has a cellphone icon on it

The device has two pilot lamps, one red one green. It also has what appears to be a speaker – probably for a beeping sound. Or maybe a recorded message saying something like

“Guard! Hwag niyong papasukin ito! Snatcher ito ng cellphone!”

What’s interesting is the icon – a diagram of a hand holding a cellphone. This is the only clue that this device is meant for using the cellphone to get inside the MRT paid area.

So, what is it? How will it work? It couldn’t be like the “octopus” passes in HK where the ticket value is deducted magnetically without any contact.

Is it SMS-enabled? Is it bluetooth? Is it pasaload triggered? Will it work? I wonder …

I had a few ideas written a couple of months ago about using cellphones for entering the MRT (That article is the first of my Edong's Dreams). How similar or different will the actual MRT device be from the ideas I wrote in the past?

From the appearance of the device, it looks like a prototype. When will they use it for real? Will it work well? I wonder …

Ka Edong

Read: Edong's Dreams

Hotspot Hunting - Episode I (Baguio)

2005-06-10T02:10:00.000+08:00

Episode I (Baguio) is the last of a three part series on my WiFi Hotspot Hunting experiences. My series ends where I began hotspot hunting: In Baguio, my hometown. So, where to or where not to hunt for WiFi in Baguio? Read on...

There will be more hunting stories in the future. Thanks to those who followed this series. Next week's series: MRT Musings

Here I was taking Kurdapia to Baguio for the first time. I just purchased my MSI WiFi card just before going up to Baguio. I sooo excited to catch a WiFi hotspot in the cool afternoon mist of Baguio.

I did some Googling before starting my hunt. I gathered from some forum discussions that there were hotspots at ...SM Baguio, at PILTEL building along session road, at the Filling Station at John Hay. So, I went off to do some hotspot hunting.

My first try was SM Baguio. Got HUB – an internet shop – was said to have a free-access hotspot. But Kurdapia couldn’t find any hotspot there. I moved on to Figaro. I wasn’t in the mood for coffee so I just sat along the corridor overlooking Baguio’s downtown city proper. I did get a WiFi signal. I had a weak signal from where I was. My computer said that I was connected to the Hotspot. But I couldn't load any webpages. I had other things to do (errands – inutusan akong bumili ng bagoong) so I packed up and moved on.

In the evening, I asked my brother to join me in my hunting. He drove for me while I kept an eye at kurdapia’s WiFi signal indicator. We drove to John Hay and parked right in front of the Filling Station – a fastfood/café of sorts. I did get an internet connection there.

That was my first time. My first time to connect to a webpage via WiFi through Kurdapia. Yes, I was no longer a WiFi virgin. But the only webpage I could load was the Airborne Access log-in page. Herks. I didn't have any Airborne Access log-in, nor did I know where to get one. Besides, I wasn't willing to pay for WiFi access when I knew I could get access for free at school.

(Later in my lifetime, I gave in and tried out a paid airborne access card. Read about it in Episode II – Manila Malls).

Next, we went to PILTEL building near the top of Session road. I was guessing the hotspot was emanating from the Netopia internet shop in the same building. But, from the car parked along the street right in front of PILTEL: NADA – no WiFi hotspot from where I was. Binali-baliktad ko na ang laptop ang pag-park ng kotse, pati na rin ang pag-tingin ko sa laptop ko. But the fabled WiFi signal at the Piltel building was not to be found.

So, where did I get my Internet connection for that night? At home! Via dial-up! Shucks, so much for my first Hotspot Hunting escapade in Baguio!

Let’s try again in a few months, baka may bago sa Baguio.

Know of other WiFi hotspots in the Baguio? Share naman, tell us about them. Tapos subukan ko sa sunod na pag-punta ko sa Baguio.

Know of any hotspots in tourist destinations outside Manila? Share naman! Para hindi ma-disappoint ang kaibigan kong si Nocs pag nabasa niya itong article ko! ;-)

Ka edong the haunter

Read: Hotspot Hunting - Episode II (Manila Malls), Episode III (UP Diliman)

Next week's series: MRT Musings - Cellphones to get on the train? Pwede kaya? Paano kaya?

I played Gunbound in '93!

2005-06-09T10:06:00.000+08:00

Gunbound is this network game that the teens have been playing at the Internet shops. I have never played Gunbound since it came out last year. But I played it when I was in college back in '93!

When I observed Gunbound being played at a few Internet shops I've been to lately, I realized that Gunbound is a remake of a DOS game named Scorch! (thanks to bespren jor for helping me recall the name of the game).

Scorch was a DOS program (an exe file!) that we used to run using Windows 3.1. Scorch had tanks symbolized by a horizontal line and a diagonal line like

/_ or _\

Then players would have to gun down each other's tank. We had a variety of weapons to choose from, each with its unique explosive powers.

Players would take turns on the keyboard keying in selected weapon and the trajectory of the weapon.

What was fun was that the tanks would kantiyaw one another on screen with words like "Walang hiya ka!" or "You missed!" or "Patay kang bata ka!"

Naisip ko tuloy, "pinoy ba ang gumawa ng Scorch?" But bespren jorey told me last night that there was a text file which can be edited to change the words of kantiyaw.

Boy, we sure had afternoons of sheeeeeer fun playing Scorch.

Cheers to my Scorch-mates Karl, Jorey and ... ano na pangalan ng room mate niyo sa Molave ... yung taga-davao na may-ari ng computer na ginagamit natin nun na nasira na ang monitor at keyboard at di na niya magawa ang mga papers niya ng dahil sa Scorch?

Tommorow: Hotspot Hunting Episode I (Baguio)

ka edong
bulldozer

Hotspot Hunting Episode II (Manila Malls)

2005-06-07T20:28:00.000+08:00

Episode II (Manila Malls) is the second of a three part series on my WiFi Hotspot Hunting experiences. Episode III set in UP Diliman. The third will come out on June 10 about hunting in Baguio.

It hadn’t been easy finding a good WiFi Hotspot considering my needs requirements: it had to be free. Free - because that’s the kind of WiFi Hotspot I access in school at AIM.

About a month after buying a WiFi LAN card for Kurdapia, my laptop, it still kept me wondering whether I’d be able to sniff out a couple of hotspots around the malls in Metro Manila.

I tried WiFi access on Kurdapia at Robinson’s Galleria while dining with my wife at Thai Kitchen. Kurdapia was able to find an Airborne Access hotspot. But I needed a username and password. I didn’t have any.

In the Zone in Cyberzone

I was at Megamall Cyberzone last Monday morning. Indeed there is a WiFi hotspot there and it carries my favorite price tag: FREE! hehehe. I was able to check e-mails and update my blog.

The hotspot is labelled Philcom CyberZone. (There are other weaker hotspots in the area too like Philcom Megatrade, Airborne access, Linksys, Compex, Wireless etc. but the Philcom CyberZone is strongest and is free). It was rather fast.

When you connect at Cyberzone, have enough juice in your battery pack. Hassle to look for a socket.

Just as I was about to leave, there was a couple that took over the bench where I had established my position. They too had laptops with them. Ayos! ;-)

Another time, I was at Megamall at the Cyberzone. I was waiting for my wife at one of the cafés in the zone when I noticed the lady on the next table. She had her wireless internet connection up and was surfing the net! I asked the waitress what I needed to connect to the hotspot. She said “Sir wala naman ata. Basta nalang silang nag-bubukas ng computer at nag-su-surf.”

So I booted-up Kurdapia. I was soooo excited to access the internet from a café. But the bad news was – Kurdapia didn’t have enough power in her battery. Shucks. I ended up doing a shutdown, shut-up and settle for reading the magazines. Sayang. I haven’t gotten back to trying that hotspot in Cyberzone.

There was this huge billboard at Shangri-La Edsa mall that announced that the entire mall was a hotspot. I always imagined myself going to Shang from home and accessing their WiFi internet connection for free. That hasn’t happened and I think it will never happen. Unless airborne access gives me some free access.

Some WiFi links

I finally used a paid WiFi hotspot at Power Plant mall last April. My classmates and I went rock-climbing there. After climbing two walls, I had to take a recess from the walls for a Skype appointment I had with my sister in Australia. I purchased a drink at Seattle’s best, a P100 airborne access pre-paid card which gave me 1 hour of internet access and then I cozied up in soft sofa. We had a perfect voice call going with my sister using Skype and the Airborne Access WiFi wireless Internet connection.

Considering that my sister and I got to talk for almost an hour, sulit naman yung P100 na binayad ko. Of all my calls through skype, that call I made via Airborne Access from Seattle’s best in Power Plant was so far the clearest.

But then there was this hotspot hunting trip I did with my brother in Baguio. Do you know where to find WiFi hotspots in Baguio or where to not? Watch out for Hotspot Hunting Episode I (Baguio).

Know of other WiFi hotspots in the metro? Share naman, tell us about them. Especially if they’re free! Mwahahaha!

Read: Hotspot Hunting - Episode III (UP Diliman), Episode I (Baguio)

Ka edong the haunter
Guess where Maya and I are now! At cyberzone with Fiona and Kurdapia, surfing! One happy family, hahaha! ;-) Ma-upload na nga itong story na ito ... 7 Jun 2005

Puzzle: Sharing files online

2005-06-07T11:26:00.001+08:00

Hello readers, may I invite you to help me out with two file sharing puzzles:
First is sharing humongous files;
Second is tracking downloads

First: Share 10Mb, 20Mb video files

I have two video files from our AIM class and I need to share them to our classmates who are now back in their home countries around Asia. The files are large (10 Mb and 20Mb each) and couldn't be sent to most regular e-mail addresses.

I got a few tips from visitors to my article on Audio Blogs. I've tried ripway.com but there's a limit to file size. I've tried yousendit.com too, ~~but it has it's file size limits too~~ but my file couldn't get through. (The theoretical maximum size we could send via yousendit.com is 1Gb.) I tried my old trick of "uploading" the files on a Gmail account. Hirap. It didn't get through.

Can you recommend an online service that can accommodate my big needs?

Second: Share files, track downloads

Here's another thing I want to do (different from the previous puzzle). This time around, the files I want to share are small enough, around 600Kb. But what I want is to be able to track download information.

In other words, I want to know who are downloading the files. I'd like to have a way for people to (optionally) register their contact info before downloading the files.

Because registration is optional, at the very least I want to know how many times each file is downloaded. A bonus would be the geographic location or IP address of the persons downloading the file.

Is there an online service that can do this for me? One that is hassle-free. Any suggestions?

Read: Audio Blogs

TIA
Edong
TIA = Thanks in advance, not "Tita"

Txt Luvin U

2005-06-07T05:51:00.000+08:00

And then there's this true story about my friend who got dumped by his girlfriend because of texting ... well, partly because of texting. The other part was because he was an a**hole (his word, not mine).

This is a true story. The identities of the characters have been hidden to protect them from further embarassment.

Itago nalang natin siya sa pangalang Malutong. Malutong is a good old friend from high school. Malutong told me this story over a couple of brown bottles when we were both heart-broken a few years back.

Malutong had a girlfriend from college. Let's call her ... "Girlfriend" (creative, huh?). Malutong ang Girlfriend were college sweethearts. Theirs was a perfectly imperfect love bred under the acacia trees and cold halls of the campus corridors.

After college, Girlfriend went to the US for work. Malutong and Girlfriend continued to communicate through e-mail, Yahoo chat, chikka and (when their budgets allowed) SMS or overseas phone calls.

They had survived for a few months this way - a long-distance relationship. Of course they didn't get the kilig moments of physically being together.

That's where Malutong's textmate came in. Let's call her ... "Textmate" (I love it when I oooooze with creative juices!).

Malutong and Textmate started exchanging SMS messages. Soon thereafter, (I don't know how long) they started getting txt-intimate, sending sweet nothings and romantic messages -- the type with text "graphics". Yes, this was the era when a text teddy bear was still cute. The Text-relationship ensued.

Malutong knew that this text relationship with Textmate wasn't going to be anything like his real relationship with Girlfriend. But hey ... he got away with cheating in high school, lalo pa ngayon when the cat is away!

EB = Eat Bulaga

Then, one day Malutong and Textmate agreed to finally meet. An EyeBall (EB) to connect the face with the crummy messages.

Malutong was waiting at a restaurant - their rendezvous point. His palms were sweaty with anticipation. His heart was beating fast. Questions run through his mind ...

What does she look like?
Does she look like a text-teddy bear?
Will she like me?
Does my barong tagalog look bagay with my mojo sandals?
Will Girlfriend (who's in the US sweating it out to earn a living) ever find out?
What if Girlfriend calls while I'm in the middle of a kiss with Textmate?

And many other simalar life-changing questions relevant to the global economy.

And then Textmate came ...
And Malutong was awestruck!
Malutong couldn't believe his eyes!
Textmate took a seat across Malutong.
Malutong was speechless.
Then everything came crumbling down when Malutong realized:

He's been caught in a Text Entrapment!

Girlfriend was in the Philippines for a few weeks now.
And she has been texting Malutong in the guise of Textmate.

Yari ka, Malutong ka!

Epilogue

They had dinner, alright. It was civil. No jagged knives thrown, no plates broken, just hearts swollen and hearts broken.

Malutong had no excuse. He was wrong.

That was their first and last EB.

Was Girlfriend right? Was she wrong? Does it matter?

Edong Steele

Read: Gulan-TXT, Tech gets in the way

Hotspot Hunting - Episode III (UP Diliman)

2005-06-06T02:02:00.000+08:00

This is the first of a three part series on my WiFi Hotspot Hunting experiences. The second and third parts will come out on June 8 and 10.

After Hunting in Baguio for the first time (Episode I) and settling for a cozy hotspot in a metro manila mall (Episode II), here’s how my hotspot hunting in UP Diliman went one drizzly day ….

Discovering the bounty

Last month, I was at my brother’s apartment in Quezon City. I was about to line the wooden floor with some pages of a 10 month old m|ph magazine before stretching out a kutson. But, just when I was about to rip out some pages, an article jumped out at me. It was about wireless campuses. (The pages of m|ph were spared for that night. Apologies to Jim and the editors of m|ph ... but it's always good to reuse and recycle... ;-) )

Other WiFi-ed Campuses
Main reference: m|ph June 2004

Ateneo de Manila University
De La Salle University - Manila
Mapua Institute of Technology
The University of Asia and the Pacific
University of the Philippines - Diliman
Asian Institute of Management (added by Ka Edong; see story)

Ah! Perfect for my (then) new WiFi card on my laptop, Kurdapia! I was going to UP the very next day to do some wall climbing with my AIM classmates. But, that late April gimmick day wasn’t right for hotspot hunting.

Rain or Shine Hunting

It was only until yesterday that I was able to do some hotspot hunting in UP. I brought Kurdapia to UP Engineering building. Enrollment day pala. There were tables at the Eng’g lobby right in front of the library. I got a weak WiFi signal, it was labeled “DILNET”. I was connected but couldn’t load any webpages.

I tried to find a better signal by transferring to the Beta Epsilon tambayan just a few strides away. Negative – zero signal.

I’ll take my e-mailing somewhere else.

As I recall the article, it said that UP Diliman had free and open WiFi access in some key buildings within the campus. The article was written circa June 2004. I recall reading that there were WiFi hotspots in the Quezon Hall, in the Eng’g library and at the computer center.

So I tried my luck at Quezon Hall. It was a drizzly afternoon yesterday so I stayed in the car and drove by Quezon Hall behind the oblation. No signal.

My hotspot hunting came out with nothing. Ah … the joys of hotspot hunting, the thrill of almost getting your target but it gets away.

Mabuti pa yung second hotspot hunting escapade ko sa isang mall sa makati ….

… To be continued … Hotspot Hunting Episode II ….

Check back on Wednesday, June 8 for more hotspot hunting stories and maybe some tips for WiFi beginners.

Ka edong the haunter

p.s. Any UP Diliman WiFi users out there? Any tips on catching the WiFi signal in UP Diliman? Paging Clair Ching…

Where's m|ph tv?

2005-06-04T13:56:00.000+08:00

Uhmmmm.... where's m|ph tv?

I've been on ABC5 for the past hour (1pm-2pm). I've seen african love birds, kois, skin ointments and their countless testimonials, BoracayFunship advertisements, Lee and his wife talk about their wedding and their volkswagen...

But where are Adel and Jayvee? Where is m|ph tv?

Sabado ba ngayon? ... Sabado naman ...
Sayang, ngayon pa naman sana ang first time kong mapapanuod ang m|ph tv ....

ka edong

Meet Kurdapia, My Lap-pi top-p

2005-06-03T09:53:00.000+08:00

Let me introduce you to Kurdapia. Kurdapia (nickname “Kurdy”) is the not so new addition to my stable of gadgets. Not so new because I got her back in January 2005. Not so new because she’s been adopted second hand from a used-computer orphanage.

I got Kurdapia through a grant from the MNSoriano foundation. I used Kurdy extensively when I was doing my thesis at AIM. We didn’t have enough funds for a brand new laptop, so I got Kurdapia from a dealer of second hand computers – Tony Unarce at Main Ave., Cubao (tel. 4388622).

Kurdapia’s vital statistics and other features (as of 3 June 2005)

Toshiba Satellite
Intel Celeron
696 MHz
128Mb RAM
10Gb Hard Disk
CD-ROM
MSI Wireless LAN card
Running Windows XP
Office 2003
Internet Explorer and Firefox ver1.0.4
Windows Media Player ver 10
My current desktop image: St. John's Chapel, Melaka Malaysia
ActiveSync (for Kurdy to communicate with Brosia my SmartPhone)
Skype (for Edong to communicate with Cali, my pamangkin in Sydney)
Used in tandem with a 128Mb Astone flashdisk

I brought Kurdapia to Tony last week to have her repaired. Her casing developed a crack because of a faulty hinge. The hinge had been creeeeeaaaaaking painfully eversince I got Kurdapia. But I didn’t think it would result to the casing getting cracked.

Tony told me “lulutuin ‘yan”. And surprise surprise! Tony got the casing back together again.

Kurdapia has been my partner during my thesis. We spent many long nights at the library as I wracked my brains off solving my thesis puzzle. Kurdapia is a late-comer. At AIM, a laptop is considered a very important productivity tool. Personally, it allowed me more flexibility in working where I wanted to and when I wanted to. It allowed me to capture my thoughts in words before it evaporated into my sleep.

Sulit na sulit ang laptop when you’re in AIM. Especially if you have WiFi. I got my WiFi LAN card (huli nanaman) in March. Spiffy! Sarap mag-surf ng net, mag-download, mag-skype all around the place. But … that’s another story.

That’s my brief introduction of Kurdapia. You’ll hear more about Kurdapia in the future.

By the way, Kurdapia has a new sister ~~(or is it a brother or a boyfriend?)~~. Maya, the president of the MNSoriano Foundation, recently brought home a brand-new all-white Toshiba (see that little white kid peeping in the background in Kurdapia’s picture).

Edwin to Kurdapia, tapping her tired worn-out shoulders:

Tahan na, Kurdapia …. ~~Whitey~~ Fiona is not here to replace you… Friend, ‘yan. Friend …

Papa edong

Read: Brosia AlMighty
Search Technobiography: Kurdapia / Kurdy

Addict Mobile Mail

2005-06-02T14:30:00.000+08:00

Out of town? No Internet Cafe in sight? Don't fret! Activate your Mobile E-mail account in 1 easy step. Get your e-mail messages (even those with image attachments) on your mobile as text or MMS. Stay connected wherever u r (except for Mars). Text AM to 382.

Aba! Posting via MMS to blogger works! ...

I just took a chance and forwarded the above MMS message to my mobile blogging e-mail address. I wasn't expecting it to get through because it didn't work when I tried it three weeks ago.

This time the message got posted. But the attached MMS image was not included in the mobile post. I'm adding it manually now .... -->

Two things I learned from this experiment:

1.) MMS to mobile blogging on blogger works (for text only)
2.) My request to Smart to stop all broadcasts did not work

Will I use Addict Mobile Mail? Unlikely. I've got Brosia and Gmail on my phone.

Added June 6
Nyahahhaa! I ate my words! I just got an SMS. It turns out I DID use some sort of SMS-to-e-mail service of Smart. The message said:

From: 200
Due to inactivity for 28 days, your TextMail acct ********@my.smart.com.ph can no longer rcv email. You may set-up a new TextMail acct any time.

Right. But again, unlikely.

astronaut edong aldrin
Looking for me? Check out NASA ... nasa dorm lobby lang ako

LTO: no longer latoy-latoy

2005-05-31T12:13:00.000+08:00

I was at the LTO last week. I had to renew my license which has been 5-months expired.

LTO uses some electronic gadgets to aid in its license application processing.

The first gadget is a webcam. It’s not high-resolution at all. No need for high-res photos for a 1x1 picture printed on our license cards, ‘di ba?

What’s silly is this lady who operates the camera.... Over the loudspeakers, she would announce a name and call that person to her window. Then, over the blaring speakers, she would command “Atras! Tingin sa camera! Pirma!”

It’s embarrassing for some people, you know, especially the karaniwang tao. Malay ba nila that this round thing peeping out of the window is a camera. Suggestion to LTO: Why don't you post written signs beside each gadget saying

"Tingin sa camera ->" 
or 
"Pirma dito ->"

The second gadget is a signature capture ultramagneticpop device. It has a stylus and a white band where people are supposed to write their signature. Of course, you wouldn’t see your signature on the device. It’s like writing your signature using a pen without ink. (See www.geniusnet.com.tw for more details on this gadget).

Both inputs to the camera and the signature capture device come out in the new license, freshly printed and laminated with matching hologram-hologram pa sa likod. Nice and spiffy!

Before and After

All in all, I think LTO has improved a lot in processing licenses. I remember those times (the more I use that line, the more I feel I’m getting ooooold) when LTO would issue a temporary paper license and then stamp a notice saying something like: “valid for 60 days”. You’ll need to go back to LTO to claim the plastic card license. Gone are those days.

This time around, it took me around 3.5 hours (8am to 11:30am) to secure my license. There was a bonus, you know. I got to secure a license to drive two wheeled vehicles! I think it cost me an additional 30 mins or so to get that additional restriction code allowing me to drive a motorcycle. Other than that additional processing time, it was soooo easy to get that motorcycle license.

In fact, it was my first-time ever in my entire lifetime in this whole world that I ever drove a two-wheeled motorized vehicle … evah! It was my first time to drive a scooter and I managed to get a license to drive it! (Okay, okay, so the system wasn’t perfect enough to screen out crazies like me).

The license renewal was an almost worry free morning. Except for one thing ...

There was this security guard.
When I entered LTO and was at his “inspection” station, he asked me

“saan po sila, sir?”

I said

“renewal ng license”.

He:

“Meron na ho ba kayong requirements? Ang NBI clearance at police clearance?”

I said ... nothing. I said nothing as I contemplated what he just told me.

Last time I renewed my license, I could not recall any need to get a police clearance.

I was quiet, looking at the security guard, contemplating whether I should go home and retrieve my NBI clearance among my files.

Without much insistence from me, he relented to my silent stare:

“Sige sir, paki-tanong niyo nalang po sa luob ”

I went in and processed my license. Three and a half hours later, I asked the same guard:

“Saan kailangan ang NBI at Police clearance?”

A discussion ensued. I made it clear to him that HE told me that an NBI and police clearance were required. Of course, he denied it.

Imagine if other people believed him when he told them that they needed an NBI and police clearance. Haaaay .... Purnada ang isang buong araw ng maniniwala just because this one security guard gave wrong information.

Other than that, I’m happy with the improvement of LTO.

There still are fixers hawking whatever services, asking trivial questions hoping to get you into a conversation, trying to be useful. But even without them fixers, the process is smooth enough. Just requires a little patience.

And you’ll need some street smarts to ward away the “masasamang elemento” like that mis-informing security guard. Jerk!

Driver Edong

Jerk = change in acceleration with respect to time
(Did I remember Prof. Sy-Siong correctly?)

Bulaga!

2005-05-30T21:04:00.000+08:00

I’m here, I’m here! For those who have missed me, even just a little bit, I’m here.

In the first quarter of the year when I was extremely busy with academics and my thesis, I always found time to write an article or two each week.

Now that I am out of school (yes, I have joined the ranks of our country’s out of school youth), I haven’t written much. It’s ironic that the past two weeks I haven’t been able to blog.

I have so much to write about, so many ideas in my mind to turn into written words. My thumb hasn’t been fast enough to mobile blog my ideas. When will my blogging pace ever catch up with my thoughts?

Yet to blog:

Hotspot hunting
Edong Skype-walker
My LTO adventure
Norah Jones, Superstar
Pambansang technologies (TV, Radyo, Videoke, DVD)
Bat Edong goes to Gateway
Ka Edong explained
Ka Edong’s dreams concealed (or censored?)
I played Gunbound in 1993!

ka edong
naghahabol ....

Speaking G-Cash-ese

2005-05-19T23:56:00.000+08:00

We've got a G-Cash discussion going on Markku's blog. Here's what I posted just a while back:

I’m an outsider looking into G-Cash. So far, the business model I’ve seen Globe doing is that they’re earning through:

1.) SMS messages sent for G-Cash transactions
2.) service charges (which I believe is small compared to number 1 above).
3.) (theoretical) revenues from partner merchant fees (inserted on technobiography: fees charged by Globe *to* the partner merchant)

What I have not had the chance to observe is whether Globe is earning via fees (if any) Globe charges to partner merchants like National Bookstore or Burger King.

I think Globe is at the point where they’re still building up their merchant network; at the point where they still need to convince partner merchants to join the network.

My sense is that if and when Globe has established a good G-Cash network, other companies will start going to Globe and asking Globe: “You’re so galing, you have so many subscribers who can use G-Cash to pay my company. Can I join your merchant network?”

And _then_ Globe can go for revenues from partner merchant fees.

I was a Mercury Drug two weeks ago. I bought a pack of chocolates to demo G-Cash to my Vietnamese friend, Hien. And also to zero out some of my excess G-Cash. I asked the kahera whether they’ve been getting G-Cash transactions. The kahera (and bagger) estimate around 2 transactions per week (cough … measley! … cough cough).

ka edong

Join the ~~fun~~ discussion, comment here.

Oh, by the way ...

It is much easier to be critical than to be correct.
- Benjamin Disraeli, Speech at the House of Commons

Mabu-hey!

edong tasyo

Search Technobiography: G-Cash
Read: na-gets

Txt Exclusion

2005-05-19T09:22:00.000+08:00

I received two SpaSMS (unsolicited Spam SMS) this morning in a span of 20mins.

Fly to USA to watch d MTV Movie Awards LIVE this June! Get daily MTV calendar logos + juicy tidbits 2earn entries! P2.50/day. DTI#2175. Txt MTVCAL to 688 now!

Scores? Game scheds? fresh,same-day news in SMS? We know u want 'em all! So subscribe now! Text SLAM SMS ON to 38303. P2.50/txt

I'm usually tolerant of these and would just delete them immediately. But my patience is short this morning.

I immediately called Smart's customer service (*888 on Smart SIM cellphones) and spoke to a customer service representative named Molder.

I explained that I do not want to receive any of these SMS advertisements.

Molder said he will file a "Txt Broadcast Exclusion" request with (reader, pls join me in making the "quotations" hand sign with two fingers of both hands) the "technical group". He said I should expect the action accomplished in 24-hrs.

So I'm expecting that beginning 9am on May 20, I will never ever receive any "Text Broadcasts" on my Addict Mobile SIM.

Let's see if this (finger sign with me!) "Text Broadcast Exclusion" request really works.

Read: Telkulet

Ka Edong
maikli ang pasensya
LTO

Digitally Disconnected ... Not!

2005-05-17T15:22:00.000+08:00

I'm not as digitally disconnected as I wanted to be during this ten day sojourn "away from things."

Last night, after wandering the dark drizzly streets of Surigao City, I found myself cozied up in ... (why am I not surprised) ... an Internet café!

I was pleased with my choice of Internet café.

The place was quaint and homey, with dimmed lights and a red sofa at the corner. In the background, Bob Marley was blaring out "Buffalo Soldier". One gamer was seated on a big pillow playing GunBound on a computer atop a small wooden platform.

I was welcomed by a young couple around my age - the owners of the café. They spoke to me in their dialect. Though I didn't understand them, I replied: "Internet. May bakante pa?"

They made space for me. The male owner, Ernest (?), had to peel off his 5-yearold pamangkin from one computer. "Customer, 'day. Tagalog. Usap kamo!" he explained to the frowning little girl.

In the middle of "getting away", I find myself checking mail, checking for comments on my blog and (can't ... sssstop ... ssssself ...) replying!

The fact is, I was rarely unconnected during my trip. I had my mobile phone with me and had a cellphone signal more often than I wanted it.

Thus, I've been able to check my e-mail even while travelling amidst the rolling hills of Malaybalay. Not exactly a feat I'm proud of. If I had stopped myself from getting connected -- THAT would have been a feat for me.

Now I'm in a van criss-crossing the mountains to my next destination while mobile blogging.

So much for attempting to be digitally disconnected.

Read: MoBlogging on Blogger.com

Ka Edong online
Typed on Brosia
Sogod to Tacloban

MoBlogging Strikes Back

2005-05-17T14:35:00.000+08:00

It's back! Mobile Blogging on Blogger is working once again.

It had been erratic in the past. E-mailed articles got delayed by days and sometimes weren't posted at all.

But it's back and with enhancements. It allows users to post text or photos (am not sure about audio files) by sending an e-mail from their mobilephone to go@blogspot.com .

A *separate* blog will be created. Users will need to claim and register their blog if they want mobile posts to be posted in their existing blogger.com blog.

This works so far for US mobile phones. What works for me now is the old e-mail posting of blogger. (On your blogger.com blog account, go to Settings > Email).

But with this old e-mail posting, I don't know if posting images will work. Well, it's about time I try...

Read: Bogged Blog Bummer
Visit: On the Go with Blogger Mobile

Ka Edong
MoBlogging thru Brosia at 70kph
e-mailing via GPRS

Gmail puzzle: auto-reply

2005-05-12T21:31:00.000+08:00

Gmail doesn't have a vacation message function.
I'll be on-and-offline in the coming days so I wanted to give an auto-reply to people who send me e-mails.

So what I did is ...
1) used the forwarding function of Gmail
2) forward Gmail messages to my "myrealbox.com" account that has an auto-reply function.
3) the myrealbox.com account I used so happens to be my mobile e-mail box.

But that didn't work. First is because the auto-reply ends up in MY Gmail box and not in the e-mail sender's inbox.

Second is that I end up receiving my Gmail messages in my mobile phone (because my phone is configured to access my myrealbox.com account). I want to be on vacation but this setup inadvertently allows me to read my e-mails on the go. We don't like that .... :-( .

So, do any of my readers have any solutions for this Gmail puzzle?

How can Gmail users configure an auto-reply in our Gmail account?

Ka Edong
the subscriber that cannot be rich

typed on Brosia
at MTS

The Patient is Out

2005-05-12T14:19:00.000+08:00

I'll be away for a couple of days. Bakasyon muna, medyo masikip na sa Pavillion 7, eh.

Don't miss me too much! konti lang, pwede na!

patient edong
Pavillion 7
Mandaluyong

Read my favorites, drop a note...

Tech Gets in the Way

GULAN-TXT

My Blog in Her Pocket!

OT: Jun-jun the Parking Man

Edong's Dreams: Xtreme Blogging

Digital Greetings

Textiquette

Audio Blog - Greeting from Christmas Past 1980

Extra Challenge - ang Pambansang Field Trip

OT: I Got Gift Rapped!

Techie Lola

Mr. Suave's confused dad and the StarTrek phone

My Poetry and Kuya Germs

Yellow Monster - a photo printer story

Mao Tse Text

International Day for Texting

Texting 117

Pasa-pamasahe

Texting while driving

Light for All

Birth of Technobiography

"Nagpadala sa LBC, Na-Buang"

2005-05-10T09:32:00.000+08:00

Insanity: Doing the same thing and expecting different results.

I sent a package via LBC to my wife who was in Davao. I saw that LBC had a service for tracking packages via SMS. Masubukan nga.

I was expecting it to be like FedEx’s online web tracking. When I used FedEx’s online tracking of a package I sent to my sister in Australia, I “watched” the status of the package. I “watched” it as it went through Philippine customs, was in flight, was in Australian customs, and then for delivery and finally delivered! Ayos!

I was expecting something similar from LBC package tracking via SMS. It wasn’t anything close. Here are my SMS queries (P2.50 each) and the responses of LBC Track:

Query: LBC HELP (sent to 211; Tuesday, 12:25:58AM)

Welcome to LBC HELP! To track a package, type: LBCTRACK [tracking#] ex. LBCTRACK 12345678; To find a branch, type: LBCFIND [location] ex. LBCFIND Antipolo. Thank you for using LBC Help!

Query: LBCTRACK 400001302xx (sent to 211; Tuesday, 12:27:09AM)

400001302xx (05/02/2005) Package is for delivery. For assistance, call 854-4848. Thank you for using LBC Help!

Uhmmmm… right. Pero tell me something I don’t know yet….

The next day, I Queried: LBCTRACK 400001302xx (sent to 211; Wednesday, 2:47:21PM)

400001302xx (05/03/2005) Package is for delivery. For assistance, call 854-4848. Thank you for using LBC Help!

Para ka naming sirang plaka, paulit-ulit.

Maya-maya, isa pa, baka sakaling makita ko dito kung nakarating na yung package ng wife ko: LBCTRACK 400001302xx (sent to 211; Wednesday, 8:18:19PM)

400001302xx (05/03/2005) Package is for delivery. For assistance, call 854-4848. Thank you for using LBC Help!

Syemes! Textin ko nalang kaya wife ko.

I texted, and my wife told me she had received the package by Wednesday afternoon.

Last nalang, let’s see if the SMS tracker will say “package delivered at [time and date]”. Query: LBCTRACK 400001302xx (sent to 211; Thursday, 12:36:30PM)

This information is not available at the moment.

One side of me wanted to curse. But my schizophrenic other self started chanting: “positive energies … positive energies come to me …” kasabay ng aking kamay na kumakaway, kumukuha ng positive aura mula sa paligid papunta sa aking mukhang pumapangit dahil sa inis.

I therefore conclude, USELESS! LBC Tracking was useless for me and cost me P12.50. Mabuti pang nag-text nalang ako sa aking wifey. Naka-twelve sweet nothings pa sana ako.

There are gems of SMS services in the Philippines. But there’s a lot of crap too. It’s a matter of finding those gems and using them appropriately.

Patient Edong
Pavilion #7
Mandaluyong

Read: How's my Kariton? Call Hotline…
Visit: LBC

Hooked

2005-05-09T10:57:00.000+08:00

Hooked
I
Reflected
On this hook
In this bathroom
In this house
With MDM Friends
On our celebration outing

I reflected some more...
Edwin, Maya 1, Maya 2, Maya 345

Read: Ofoto, my Fotos
Visit: www.mirrorproject.com

- Edwin

Misc Missing

2005-05-05T14:30:00.000+08:00

There's a new Managemet course for people arranging pageants like Miss Universe, Miss Philippines, or Miss Dinalupihan and the like. The course is called Miss Management.

(Sina Tito, Vic at Joeeeey ...)

And then there's this true story about a friend who regularly gets Missed calls from her ... uhm ... Admirer.

When my friend asked the admirer why he keeps giving missed calls, admirer explained that...

A missed call means I miss you.
Ten missed calls means I miss you so much!

(... Barkada'y duuu-madameeee...)

Mush overload? Here's more, a text message that goes ...

I Miss you so! Konti nalang, I'll Misis you na!

Guess who's line that is ...

(Eeeeaaaat Bulaga!)

Miss-ter Edong
moblogging on Brosia
missing my homey

Kiss my Batt

2005-05-05T09:10:00.000+08:00

I recently got a new cellphone battery for Brosia, my SmartPhone. Whoa, ganito pala ang pakiramdam ng may magandang battery. Liberating. I’m no longer tormented by my unpredictable and unreliable old cellphone battery.

Nuon, I’d have to bring along my charger wherever I go. I miss some calls because of lowbatt. Miscommunication abounds when SMS messages aren’t delivered on time.

I also stopped mobile blogging because it eats up my battery. I stopped reading e-books on Brosia.

But now, with my new batt, I’ll be able to do all that and more!Yey!

Just in time for my cross-country surface travel from Davao to Manila…

Kelan kaya ako magkakaruon ng pocket PC?

kiss my batt,
ka edong

Tech Gets in the Way

2005-05-04T00:32:00.000+08:00

Sometimes we are unconscious that we let technology get in the way of our relationships with our friends and family.

It is common to see a group at a restaurant table and most of them are stooped down on their cellphones texting like it was a matter of life and death. Inadvertently, they fail to make the most of their limited time with the friends who are right beside them, in the skin.

Another manner that tech gets in the way is when people keep snapping photos or keep recording videos of an event. The view-finder or the lcd display gets in the way of *experiencing* the event instead of just *capturing* the event in digital bits and bytes.

Ibaba mo kaya muna yang camera and enjoy the scenery. What use is recording it when you can't remember how it *felt*?

Last of my examples is how technology sometimes makes us less diligent about investing time and effort to strengthen a relationship. Here's my story about tech getting in the way ...

Maya and I were having dinner at Yoshinoya at Megamall. Megamall has a newly constructed walkway outside the ground-level shops facing EDSA.

A familiar figure -- hairy and plump, with a signature stride espousing kewlness -- peeps through the glass panel separating the restaurant and the walkway. I recognize the creature immediately, flash a big smile and point both ~~dirty fingers~~ index fingers at him in recognition and salutation.

Its Emong, a good friend from UP Eng'g! (btw, I take full credit for giving him that palayaw).

I immediately walk towards Emong. But here was a piece of glass separating me from my friend.

Here was Emong looking like a blowfish inside a glass aquarium. I realized that I couldn't talk to him directly unless we started shouting through the slit of the glass door. Another way was for me to walk around to the mall entrance and come face-to-face with the other.

We instinctively take out our cellphones, prelude to a modern ritual of exchanging phone numbers between re-acquainted friends. I typed my number on my phone, showed the number to him and then he dialed my phone.

Man, good to hear your voice, Emong! Musta mga anak? Dalawa na nga ba? Uy, kumpleto na ang quota! Uyang and ... what's the name of your son? Si Cele, musta? Uy, nagka-kilala kami ni BatJay, a - si Jay David! Talaga, andito pala siya ngayon? yadda yadda yadda. (fade out)...

It was a fun conversation, made possible by our cellphones but separated by glass.

But how about a handshake? Wala...
Apir, pare! Disapir nalang...
How about a bearhug? Hug-in mo sarili mo...
Let me rub that belly for goodluck! 'Di pwede...
Do you still smell the same? Ewan...
Let me land some punches on those ~~man boobs~~ abs! Pano kaya?...

We could have done all of these "skin" stuff if we chose to walk a little to meet each other in the skin instead of just making a cellphone call.

So near yet so far. Tech got in the way.

I'll end with a quotation from my good friend Hien from Vietnam. This is what he said when I asked if he brought his camera to our little despedida lunch with friends.

We don't need a camera...
We take a picture with our eyes, our hearts and our minds. Then we'll remember...

Sniff sniff,

Jedi Edong aka "Ang Solo"
after Jedi graduation

Read: International Day for Texting, Textiquette

How's My Kariton? Call Hotline ...

2005-05-03T12:59:00.000+08:00

I swear it's true!

You know those wooden karitons pushed along the bumpy roads of the metro by people collecting scrap metal, paper or other recyclables?

I saw this sign on a kariton:

Hows my kareton? Txt 091x-1234567

Heto pa isa:

info@www.botedyaryo.com.com

Funny ng mga Pinoy, 'neh?

But I've observed something else in the metro in the past few weeks. Almost all taxis, jeeps and buses in Manila have this sign on their back-ends:

How's my driving? Call/Txt LTFRB Hotline 0921-4487777

The sign also includes the contact number of the vehicle operator.

This move is all nice (intentionally frail adjective). It gives LTFRB an instant feedback system to protect commuters from erring drivers of public utility vehicles. But is there concrete action resulting from this hotline? Or is it just another way to put some money in some "enterprising" employees?

Some thoughts:

I wonder what action LTFRB will do when they receive a report.
How many reports do they get? Can they process all of these towards concrete apprehensions/penalties to the erring driver/operator?
I recall reading about TXT-Usok - smoke-belching reporting via SMS. It required ~~three~~ five reports of the same vehicle before the gov't agency acted upon a smoke belcher. Even then, the smoke belcher had *three* chances to satisfactorily pass an emmissions test. So, all in all (i recall) the thousands of txt message reports resulted in only a handful of apprehensions. Is this the same fate of LTFRB's hotline? Let's see.
At least LTFRB's is cheaper at 1peso than Txt-Usok's 2 to 2.50 pesos.
Yun nga lang, reports to LTFRB's hotline will not be anonymous. The lack of anonimity could be good too because it makes people more responsible in reporting.
I wonder when we'll have a "How's my driving" sign above red license plates.

In sum, technology is just an enabler. If the people behind the technology are not intent on achieving a desired impact, walang silbi ang kahit anumang ka-high-tech-an ek ek.

I'd love to hear any news regarding LTFRB's hotline and their actions and *outcomes*. Do share if you have info or comments.

Mabu-hey!

ka edong
(Re-typed this article because the previously written one evaporated while submitting to Blogger.com)

Read: Your latest txtmate and phonepal: Government (a 1-yr-old list I compiled while I was at Digital Philippines), Edong's Dreams: Taxi Beacon, Bote! Dyaryo! SIM!
Visit: LTFRB, Txt Usok (gov.ph forum)

Livin La TechnoVida Loca

2005-04-28T10:48:00.000+08:00

Habla
Espanyol?
Que Horror?!
Si, Senyor!

Ang link nga diya, a bel ko sa aqueng stats. Mi anang Espanyol, ing-translate tana ang aqueng Technobiography. Tulad dya anang a bel nga blog:

Technobiography Espanyol

- Indio Edong

GULAN-TXT

2005-04-26T10:05:00.000+08:00

Ikaw ba'y lubos na nagulat o nagulantang sa natanggap mong text? Kung gayon, ikaw ay na-"GULAN-TXT!"

Heto ang halimbawa, tru tu layp istori ni Ka Edong ...

Naka-idlip na ako sa CRV ni RJ papuntang Subic para sa aming outing. Nasa NLEX na kami nang biglang nanginig ang cellphone sa aking bulsa. May mga hinihintay akong mga text kaya't kahit di pa lubos na gising, binunot ko ang cellphone.

Automatic ang aking mga daliri sa pag-bukas ng mga txt message. Two years of training 'yan, kala niyo ba?! Kahit naka-pikit, kahit nag-da-drayb, kahit natutulog, (pwera kung natutulog habang nag-da-drayb) kabisado ng daliri ko kung paano buksan ang txt message.

Kaya't heto, pagka-dilat ko ng mata ko, ito ang bumulaga sa akin:

"HRD DEATH F UR DAD. M FAM CON DOLES W UR FAM"

* insert ... GULAN-TXT MOMENT! ... *

Linsyak, huwat da huwat??!!

Sabay *kamot* ng namumula kong mata. Ano daw!?! Basa ulit ...

"HRD DEATH F UR DAD. M FAM CON DOLES W UR FAM"

Napa-isip ako:

Q: Sino naman itong mokong na nag-te-text ng condolences sa akin sa umagang kay ganda katulad nito?! (Sabay tingin ulit sa message para basahin kung saan galing)
A: Nanay ko

* insert .... Gulang-txt moment .... *

Basa ulit, pangatlong beses ... 'di malaman kung maiiyak, matatawa, maiinis, o ipag-sasabay sabay ang iyak-tawa-inis ....

Dial ako agad sa babaeng nag-aruga sa akin mula sa aking pagka-bata.

Anak: Ma! Ano ba naman itong tinext ninyo sa akin???!!! Mis-sent ang condolences text ninyo!
Mama: Ay, siren? (Ganun ba?)
Anak: Be very careful tuwing nag-se-send kayo ng condolences! Muntik na akong atakihin ng puso!
Mama: Ay, siren? In-send ko manaya'd sika? (Sa iyo ko pala na-send?) Sorry, anako ...
Anak: (Kunot pa rin ang nuo, pinapagalitan ang sariling nanay) Sa susunod, ma, ingatan niyo text ninyo. Mas-mabuti pa na tumawag kayo imbis na mag-text ng condolences ninyo ...
Mama: On, anako. Sorry la, sorry la ....
Anak: Ho siya .... (dumeretso konti ang kilay, medyo lumamig na ang ulo) .... nala 'yo may text ko, amay good news ko? (Nakuha niyo ba ang text ko, yung good news ko?)
Mama: On, anako. Nan-reply ak la (Nag-reply na ako).
Anak: (Nagtataka) Huh? Anggapoy nalak (Wala akong natanggap) ...

Elsewhere on planet earth, may lalaking nagdadalamhati sa pag-panaw ng kanyang Ama. Nang maka-tanggap siya ng text mula sa aking mother dear:

"HRD D GD NWS! CONGRTS!"

* insert .... GULAN-TXT MOMENT! ... *

- Ka ka .... Ka Edong

Read: Textiquette, Blag i-Spamd!
Abangan: Entrap-txt!

Technobiography

Technobiography has a new home!

Calliope! Clap clap clap!

Edong's Photos

Lipat Bahay

"See it, hear it, blog it"

G-Cash at SM: short of my (good) expectations

Passport service goes mobile

Bancnet to G-Cash

Blog =? Gold

Group blogging for beginners

PTB on Manila Bulletin

A G-Cash Machine

Text the MRT

Blogging Resolutions

My mobile email ad is not Gmail SPAM

G-Cash in SM Malls

Sky Internet VoIP - Super Over …

i.ph – outside looking in

i blog the i.ph

Credit Card to G-Cash

Anti-Blog Spamming

What's cooking at G-Cash?

Push G-Cash the AutoloadMax way …

TV on her Tummy

They just *had* to text me

Class Suspension? Check DepEd Text Service

Snapshooting 101

Happy Birthday!

Looking for PESO Teammates

Pyramid Scam, m-Commerce Style

m-Commerce Pyramid Scheme?

Maiden issue on Pinoy.Tech.Blog

Pinoy.Tech.Blog: We have lift-off!

The iBook has landed!

Photo bug

Singapore at 40

"Biyahe Tayo" Blog

I'm back, with more shorts!

shorts b4 i leave

SM at SM - Smart Money at SM Malls

m-Commerce: a Building Material (Part V)

The day I hit 40

Load load load your phone, load your phone ulit....

Load, load, load your phone, gently down the web....

Digital luggage - Evacuating a Burning PC

Philippine IT Statistics (early 2004)

Smart WiFi wondering

PC Praning - TypeRecorder spyware

Mababaw. Bow. (Friendster SPAMocide)

G-nius!

Texting while Fighting

3G, m-commerce and the farmer

Blog ang Mundo

OT: Para sa inyo at sa sinasakyan niyo

m-Commerce: Break muna

Three pet mice!

m-Commerce: Mano y Mano (Part 4)

Google Earth to Edong... Earth to Edong...

m-Commerce: G-Cash Revisited (Part 3)

Puzzle: 1 phoneline, 2 laptops

m-Commerce: Smart Money Revisited again (Part 2)

Google Search TV!

Digiprint - 'Di na natuto

My m-Commerce Study on Inq7.net

Edong SkypeWalker

Hotspot Hunting: Podium

OT: Ka Edong Explained

m-Commerce: Adbertisment Muna

m-Commerce: Revisiting Smart Money (Part 1)

Techie Drayber: MangGyber

Mobile Tulay - Bridging the Gap

MRT Musings - Scrap metal for sale...

Bat Edong Begins ... Printing

Wiretapped, Webtrapped

MRT Musings - “Cellphone mo, MRT card na!”

Hotspot Hunting - Episode I (Baguio)

I played Gunbound in '93!

Hotspot Hunting Episode II (Manila Malls)

Puzzle: Sharing files online

They just had to text me