by magnolia_eic | Feb 14, 2011 | Tech Talk
Once upon a time, there was Valentines Day, a day filled with mushy letters and red hearts and flowers; then came computers, Facebook, Skype and Twitter. The “older” generation would often say that communicating thoughts and feelings aren’t given as much value as they did before, and one of their reasons is because almost everything nowadays are done automatically and with very little effort. Love letters have turned into emails or text messages, and valentine gifts have morphed into gadgets and gizmos. Yes, Valentine traditions have already been altered. But on the idea that communicating feelings are given much value, we, the techies, beg to differ. In fact, during these times, the emphasis on communication has grown even stronger.
Technology has made us capable of checking on our loved ones abroad, and even to kids who are just in school or at the mall. It has made us capable of communicating feelings that we find difficult to personally say.
Thanks to computers, smart phones and the internet, we are able to talk to our loved ones even if they are a thousand miles away from us. Take Skype for example, providing us with free video talking, what more could we ask for? Then we have the ever popular Facebook, I bet everyone who has used it would at one time or another say,”Hey, I found my highschool bestfriend again!” And for Valentines, what could be more romantic for a couple being separated by a vast ocean than an online date? As long as we stick to safety and proper use of technology, there is nothing daunting about it.
So we techies don’t really find technology a disruption of the genuine romantic atmosphere of Valentines Day. Let us keep in mind that technology is merely a tool to express ourselves. The romanticism and sincerity will always come from within the person and how he decides to express it. Although it still remains to be seen if technology can really replace real red roses and cheesy Valentine’s cards.
Happy Valentines Day everyone!
by magnolia_eic | Feb 6, 2011 | Tech Talk
Egyptian authorities have restored the country’s Internet connection after about 5 days of being shutdown starting January 28, 2011. Mobile phone service was also shutdown shortly after the Internet service providers pulled the plug.
Protests against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his government has been going on for several days and the disconnection was viewed as a way to disrupt communications among protest organizers. The protesters stood their ground, but thousands of Mubarak supporters clashed with them in Cairo. Hundreds of people have been killed in the violence while thousands more are injured.
Connectivity was restored on February 2 at 11:34AM local time in Egypt.
The Internet has now become a very powerful tool to communicate with a vast amount of people and has become the media of choice to instantly send and receive messages through various social networks like Twitter and Facebook. The ability of the Egyptian government to shut it down in a time of civil unrest is a wake up call to all democratic nations. The Internet should be protected as a media for freedom of expression, much like TV, radio and print media. Not to mention that for most of the foreigners caught between Egypt’s civil unrest, the internet and their mobile phones may be the only way they could communicate with their family back home.
Let us hope that the Philiippine government will not allow the Internet to be shutdown in our country, no matter how bad the situation may become. All freedom loving people should protect it.
by magnolia_eic | Dec 5, 2010 | Headlines, Tech Talk
After several months of Beta status, the PRC Passers (www.prcpassers.com) website developed by Auza.Net is now fully released. During the beta period, various bug fixes and improvements were done, including the ability to greet or congratulate a passer.
The site is unique among others doing listings of board exam passers because it has a customized search engine developed by Auza.Net which allows very quick searches of the names of the PRC board exam passers. The search results also allows the user to link to the actual official PRC website page where the passer’s name was listed.
Also, search engine optimization or SEO was done allowing the website to land in top 5 positions for search keywords such as ‘prc passers’ and ‘prc exam passers’ on Google. It is within top 10 for ‘prc board exam’, ‘prc board passers’ and ‘prc board exam passers’.
PRCPassers.com is a case study by Auza.Net for its SEO services. At the start, the website would only appear on page 5 or further in the search results due to other similar websites which have been in existence much earlier. By following recommended SEO practices and by generating relevant and useful content on the website, the Auza.Net SEO team managed to gain the top search positions in very relevant keywords.
Due to the top position in search results, website traffic to www.prcpassers.com has increased from less than 50 page views per day to more than 500 per day.
by magnolia_eic | Sep 19, 2010 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita, Tech Talk
Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto told attendees to the ICT Council Meeting that Bohol’s Information and Communications Technology or ICT industry will be the next major source of jobs for Boholanos. The meeting was held at the Governor’s mansion on September 17, 2010 and was attended by the representatives from PLDT and Globe Telecom, DepEd, BLCI, BWUI, BOHECO, DTI, Bankers Association, academe and the various ICT industry players.
Ms. Emmelou Versoza-Delfin from the Commision on Information and Communications Technology reported that the top 10 New Wave Cities or cities that are potential locations for call centers and other business process outsourcing does not include Bohol yet. In the scorecard maintained by the CICT, Bohol scored 100% on cost of operations, but has a very poor 46% on manpower criteria.
Surprisingly, Bohol scored on the high 70s for infrastructure and business activity and this was due to the presence of airport, seaports and the active business community represented by the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and the ICT Council.
In the past years, government officials were not optimistic about the ICT industry due to the perceived requirement of a fiber optic connection from Bohol to Cebu. However, the officers from PLDT and Globe Telecom explained that the method of data transport is irrelevant because the telco companies will deliver the specifications based on the service level agreement or SLA and capacity using whatever data transport technology is used.
The two telcos presented their current capabilities in Bohol. PLDT showed their multiple microwave links to Cebu and Dumaguete as well as their newly implemented ‘fiber in the loop’ interconnecting the various cell sites in Tagbilaran. Globe showed their newly commissioned submarine fiber optic connection to Talisay, Cebu and Maasin Leyte.
Gov. Chatto had a small group meeting with Ms. Delfin, DTI Regional Director Asteria Caberte, Provincial Director Maria Elena Arbon, Ms. Inday Dominise of BIPC, Bohol ICT Council President Ms. Leah T. Magno and Bohol ICT Vice-president Jerome Auza and planned to send a delegation from Bohol to various E-Services and BPO conventions. The governor expressed his excitement to see Bohol ICT industry grow just as the tourism industry has grown over the years.
On the other hand, plans to improve Bohol’s manpower pool by industry-academe linkage, improvement of curriculum and improvement of access to the Internet for public secondary schools is high on BICTC’s priorities for the next few years.
by magnolia_eic | Sep 5, 2010 | Tech Talk
Its called the Galaxy Tablet, and its making itself known to the market as the latest competitor to
Apple Inc.’s iPad technology. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Tablets represent a new
source of revenue for Samsung, which is making up for its lost ground in the intense and competitive world of smart-phone manufacturing.
Samsung is relying on its carrier partners to sell the Galaxy, which runs on Google Inc.’s
Android Software. The Tab is expected to have its US launch over the next few months, which means, the waiting is still quite long for locals here in the Philippines who wish to buy.
The Galaxy Tab is essentially a larger version of Samsung’s Galaxy S Smartphone. It customizes core applications such as email and contacts, offers Wi-Fi capabilities, and provides a hub for reading magazines, books or newspapers. It lacks a removable battery though, and requires a proprietary dock to connect to a PC.
While the iPad screen measures at 9.7 inches, the 7-inch screen of the Tab allows for a slimmer profile. Its advantage from the iPad? The Samsung Galaxy Tablet supports the latest version of Adobe Flash, something the iPad can’t do. It also features a camera on both sides of the device as well as a slot for expandable memory. Samsung plans to support the device with two major software updates a year.
With trending of technology going high speed towards integration and mobility, its not surprising that some staple gadgets are pretty much going endangered.
by magnolia_eic | Aug 28, 2010 | Tech Talk
The grim outcome of last week’s hostage drama was made worse with embarrassing execution of maneuvers by the SWAT team that seem to put a doubt on the quality of training the police recruits get. Because of the detailed and live coverage of the situation, the suspect probably had a very good source of information on the situation outside the bus because it had a TV set — while the police probably didn’t have a clue on what was going on inside.
The SWAT team approached the bus and the event was broadcast live by the various TV stations. The suspect only had to look at the TV set to know the positions of the assault teams. His brother joined in the drama and was arrested by the police. Because he resisted arrest, he got a fair amount of “rough handling”, again on live telecast much to the anger of the suspect and after this, the situation became out of control.
In future situations like this, should media exercise prudence and choose not to broadcast live events like the arrest and rough handling of the suspect’s brother? Should they not broadcast live the positions taken by the police and assault teams?
At the end of the day, the police would still be responsible for the outcome of crisis situations and perhaps on their end, they should have put control on how much the media and the suspect can see. Or at least display activity to divert the suspect and media from the real action that is about to happen.
Unfortunately for the PNP and the Philippines in general, videos and photos have already circulated around the Internet depicting the poor execution of tactics and the numerous bloopers by the SWAT teams. And even after the sad conclusion of the hostage drama, police officers were seen posing for souvenir photos, adding insult to the injury.
With today’s technology, photos and videos can easily be published online anonymously and can spread throughout the Internet in a matter of hours. Posing for souvenir photos of a crime scene should be an administrative offense for law enforcement personnel. Better yet, the authorities should update standard operating procedures and training that would suit the possible conditions and circumstances that could arise during these times, due to the rapid advent of technology and the rising participation of the people in government affairs.
