on blogosphere

here are some of the interesting points raised by the article in businessweek regarding blogs:

1. so if a company can track millions of blogs simultaneously, it gets a heat map of what a growing part of the world is thinking about, minute by minute.
2. they create a global conversation.
3. picture the blog world as the biggest coffeehouse on earth.
4. many of them [bloggers] transform the network itself, making it more muscular- and disruptive.
5. mainstream media companies will master blogs as an advertising tool and take over vast commercial stretches of blogosphere.
6. if the blogs eventually swallow up ad revenue, what's going to happen to us?
7. we have to master the world of blogs, too.
8. they [bloggers] are potential competitors- or editorial resources.

for quite some time, i took blogs merely as a means for emotional relief or sheer story-telling. it is quite interesting, then, for these people to view the use of blogs in a more extended way. to say that it can be used to get access to what other people are thinking is like getting a more detailed market research for free! as they open each and every person's blogs, reading about what they are looking for, they're not simply getting a yes-or-no answer to their questions. more information that could be of relevance to them could be gathered. it could be a plus if they find a demanding person's blog. they would just know how something so simple, i.e, their raw idea, could be turned into a more developed and useful, even lucrative, thing. being only several clicks away, these companies are on their way to improvement. moreover, besides the possible wish list of the bloggers online, they could possibly and highly likely to come across complaints of unsatisfied customers. through the blogs, they would just know what else has to be done to their sucky, i mean lacking, products/services.

however, i honestly dont know how companies needing data/research could sneak into these blogs and get what they desire. but anyway, it's not my problem to work out on at the moment. but certainly it would be interesting to find out.

with regard to points 2, 3 and 4, i think they're better discussed simultaneously. considering the number people getting connected everyday, along with the continuous proliferation of blogs and the growing popularity, the creation of a global coffeehouse is just inevitable. with most of the blogs being open to public, and each person's ability to comment on what one says allows for the creation of a global conversation. who cares who posts on one's blog. whether violent or suggestive or creative or simply an expression of one's admiration, each word could simply trigger a conversation that could either be long-lasting or good enough for some small talk.

letting one's imagination run, the metaphor for the blogging world as a global coffeehouse truly isn't far from real. unlike emailing where each message is regarded a private matter and only open to a limited number of people, blogs do all0w for public reading just like eavesdropping in a coffee house. everyone could just get involved. like one might just say "sorry, but i overheard your conversation and i think...." see? this is pretty interesting. however of course, the blogger still has the liberty to limit the readers of his blog to just his friends or even himself. this way, he's shutting the door to the strangers, getting rid of the possibilities for a long and what could be a controversial, self-fulfilling, and spiritual talk.

the traditional way of promoting stuff has been through print media or radio promotions. that might just soon be over. say hello to blog advertising. as points 5 and 6, it seems like we're up for a new ad ride. wouldnt it be interesting to not see ads in magazines or paper anymore? erm, i dont think so. just think how those would be like without ads. it would be so boring to read. so i suppose i was wrong when i said that traditional advertising might end soon. i dont think it ever will. perhaps, there would just be less of it in print and radio. but it can never be extinct for a couple of reasons. 1. that not all people have access to the net or do blogging. and 2. there are still some people who in the end would still prefer reading things in magazines than over the net. looking at the declining print ads then, it could also mean less revenues from both the ad agencies as well as the one taking the ads. blog advertising is just much easier and can be viewed by more people considering its universal reach. so promotions might just be easier. moreover, one doesn't only get to post images to promote. he can also insert videos and sounds soon (or can he, already?) and i think thats interesting.

if blogs provide market research to people for free, with the data gathered geared towards the improvement of certain existing things, perhaps it should also be mentioned how this can give way to new ideas for budding entrepreneurs. reading on what people want could expose interested people towards what could possibly work out there in the market. with all the financial matters settled plus a concrete plan, blog has just made millionaires out of some readers. if not to business, on the other hand, people writing about what they read in the paper whether it be on politics, the continuous existence of terrorism, and some other matters, could just give way for these issues and topics to be scrutinized even more by the public. [as well as these blogs being scrutinized by fellow blogs.]

yes. we have to master the blogosphere. we have to know what everybody else has in mind. we have to know what else is being planned; what else is happening out there in that crazy world. we have to see who else is being killed; we have to see who else is being glorified. we have know how other people live; we have to know what else is killing people. we have to know what else is being developed; and how the nascent technology is developing. we have to know who is against who; we have to know who is being lauded by who. in the end, it will just boil down to the task of reading blogs to know who our the world is.

the unbearable heat in this being....

aaah... the heat is just so intense that i feel like taking a shower thrice a day wont suffice. if im not mistaken, this is one of the hottest ive experienced ever. and guess what? it's gonna be even hotter next month! wow, im certainly looking forward to that! i wonder how i can keep myself clean, away from the dirt and all the stickiness ive been experiencing lately. scrubbing the dirt off seems like such an immense task already that even after 10 minutes of rough scrubbing, every single dirt just standing by seems to be slowly inching their way up again, ready to attack. this is one of the few times that i complained about this situation. while everybody else has been doing so already for the past N years of their existence.

the only solution i can think of to be out of this terrible, terrible unimaginable (and in my case unprecedented) heat is to be airconditioned the whole time. new born babies in rich families are lucky for this. that they dont really have to go through this. (or will they go through worse when they get old? because of how the world will be ten year from now with all the greenhouse effect and worsening condition of the ozone layer and all that science stuff...) well, you know, we're living at the present times. so yeah, the future doesnt matter yet for me. i would just have to worry about that when it comes face to face with me. anyways, so i think thats one thing i like about nights. the nights allow me to face all that simple joys brought by an airconditioned room. but that happiness only stretches from the time i hit they hay to the moment i wake up. im still dreaming of that extension from the time i wake up to the time i hit the hay... so yeah, basically, i want to be air conditioned all the time... ah... had some thought. maybe thats one of the reasons why i sorta like being in the office. it's less hot there (not colder). this is the more justified way of describing it. coz it seems like the atmosphere there is cooperating with the world outside. didn't know the world excluding humans also have their way of torturing the living people. so now its reciprocating. but i dont think thats just what we need right now. there's one big "NO THANKS!!!" hollering right at ya world! and thats not the type of torture that we need at the moment. not to work with the heat given off by the mr.sun. (that didn't sound fun. could anyone give me a better name for him please?)

see? even when im already in an airconditioned room at this very moment complaining about the heat, i can still feel it burning down my spine. so, i guess its time now to call for that much-needed help! anyone?!?!?! save me from this state!

sentimiento de asukal

im sort of back to the habit of reading other people's blogs (not reallt those of people i dont know) after grabbing a copy of businessweek this afternoon. their main feature was blogs and how it can help corporations. i havent read that part yet. im still at the news section part. some ive read were pretty interesting such as:

1. sanyo's new ceo being a former journalist and unexperienced when it comes to corporate matters.
2. the possible eruption of an anti-government demonstration, a shift from anti-japan to that as what happened in 1919 (if im not mistaken) and that in tiananmen square.
3. the competition between airbus and boeing with regard to getting india's favor to acquire planes from them.
4. and some others...

while i was on my way here to lucena, being inside the l300 van of my uncle, once again, i gave my future some thought. while my plan for senior year seems to have been settled, where i will be after it still eludes me. all that i have in mind is work HERE and get an MBA subsequently. but what about opening myself up to other options, which might even be better? work abroad and get mba there? is it even a good idea? although ateneo's one of the leading universities in the philippines, i dont know how much recognition it will get abroad, i.e., how far it can get me. it's a pleasure and indeed a great pleasure to be spending my 4 years of college education in the ateneo. for now, perhaps the only certainty i have in my hand, is that i wont be landing on a sucky job or if things get all too mad and fate uncooperative, no job at all. but what the hell, i have faith in myself and in the name of my school. isnt that just the primary reason why i enrolled here? all in the name of future, all in the name of money.

i decided to write on this now after reading blogs of two people who are abroad now. they seem to be leading such wonderful, independent lives. perhaps it's all in my desire to live a life different from how it has always been. constant reliance on my parents financially isn't teaching me to be financially responsible. (but it's allowing me to live quite an extravagant life, though not to the full extent.) just when it's the most important thing to be responsble in. i suppose it is in the assurance that even when i get stuck penniless, i can always run to them for help. knowing that they have never been close-fisted (except for the times when i was after some unnecessary spending). anyways, perhaps it's in the joy of narrating a story of being a complete stranger in another country, of living a life full of adventures- those times when you're on your own, not knowing how to get to work, which transport means to take, of being alone, of being far from everyone, of meeting new people, making friends and being friends with them, of finding a set of friends, with whom time can be spent to divert the attention from constant loneliness due to homesickness to the feeling of being at home- this time with a new batch of friends, while you attempt to build a deeper bond with them, of being exposed to a totally new and different culture.

to be exposed to such might at first be shocking, fearing. but perhaps there is joy underneath the challenge to overcome such surprise and fear. it's the adventure, it's the new life, it's simply everything ive said above. everything just swiveling around each other because all these, no matter how different, just form one sort of experience- that of being away from real home.

PS im looking forward to this one.

Who were you in a past life? by Kat007
Name:
Birthdate:
Favorite Color:
Country:
You were most probably:	Abraham Lincoln
If not then you were:	Jan Vermeer
Quiz created with MemeGen!

and the basis for saying that i 'was probably' abraham lincoln was?

the magic of mini-mini-miney-moe-ing!

now im doing this just for the sake of killing time and also wasting it. haha. kididng aside, just for fun.

but wait, i believe i wasnt abraham lincoln. so lets see who jan vermeer is.
let's blog him up. and the results said....

Dutch painter. He specialized in domestic interiors, portraits and city views. His entire life was spent in Delft, where, it has been suggested, he may have been trained by Leonaert Bramer or Carel Fabritius. His work does indeed show an affinity with that of Fabritius, but their relationship remains uncertain. Vermeer was a Master in the Delft painters' guild from 1653, was elected Dean (hoofdman) in 1662-3 and 1670-71, and was highly regarded in his lifetime, although he seems to have never been particularly wealthy, leaving his wife and 11 children in debt at his death. His name and reputation were almost forgotten until 1866 when the art critic Thoré Burger published an essay attributing 66 pictures to him (only 34 paintings are firmly attributed to him today). The few contemporary references to his paintings all relate to surviving works, so it is unlikely that there were ever many more - he may have been a slow worker and probably (like many Dutch painters of this period) had another source of income - a trip to The Hague in 1672 to authenticate some paintings suggests that he may have been a picture dealer.

can i be abraham instead? painting? i cant imagine myself painting! i feel like i was utterly deprived of some juice of creativity. that no matter how hard i squeeze for it, nothing would come out so, ha, no thanks. better be lincoln.

3... 2... 1... speak!

i just feel like writing but im clueless as to what im gonna write about. a while ago, i thought of telenovelas but i think that all i can say about is either bad or cliche. not really the perfect way to spend time.

the latest just came in: i wanna go out and have fun. friends, friends, where art thou?

and 3... 2... 1...

my second week at bmw just ended. im still trying to get to know each of the bosses there. perhaps a step towards the realization of my plan, that is to expand my social network. if i pull this off, this would be a very good start indeed. three weeks, which is the time left i have with them, should be enough for me to get this task done. so yeah, work hard self. work hard. oh by the way, dont think i can meet ALA (yes! the Muslim God. ha!). i dont think i go as fast as that. the subordinates will do. okay, dont think that all this is part of one huge evil plan. definitely not. im just seizing the chance while i can. besides that, i think this is pretty interesting... giving this some thought, being in bmw cant get any better, car companies-wise. maybe except work for bmw phils. (note: im only [did i have to put this?] working for autohaus, one of its four branches. i mean, benz sounds nice. [actually yeah, this could be the next best thing.] it all ends with the two. others such as jaguar... damn, make this the third option. next to the next best thing. haha. honda, toyota, mitsubishi, et al. are fine. yeah. just fine for me. i was lucky then, to have gotten this job, though for free.

at least after a couple of days working, i didn't get stuck with what i thought was the most clerical set of tasks waiting to be done. at least i had to do some marketing. sort of. but by next week, after the track day this saturday, im not sure if there's still some more work to be done. april's over. hence the end of the busy month. i dont know what event's in store. and with karlo gone, hmmm, it'd be a bit sadder. haha, calling on mr karlo mortel. you're wanted at autohaus bmw. beep beep. oh, there's still the CP_ but after that then what? hell. i still got three more weeks with them. so it seems like i entered and will be exiting the picture at the wrong time. karlo's was the best. so he got to do quite a lot of substantial stuff. great.

i wonder what happened to the girl who we all thought would be part of autohaus bmw family!!! though in all honesty, when i thought that she was gonna get accepted, a part of me protested. bravado aside, if she were to work with us, considering her qualifications, it'd be unfair. i dont wanna go through every detail with regard to her qualifications. i dont wanna sound like such a proud and cocky person. though my words might have just put me on that state. oh well.

while i was in front of the computer this morning, doing something, [maybe i was just surfing the net using the company's pc] i came to this realization that if i dont find myself in a bank, i wouldnt mind working for a beverage company. i thought that it'd be cool. it wouldnt require me to know each and every chemical found in the beverage, unlike if i were in a car company. hell it would take me forever to familiarize myself with every single section and bits and pieces of that. i wouldnt mind working for coke or pepsi. hehe.

i dont know where else id want to work. and maybe even under what field. i still dont feel competent enough to be there. so i dont know whats gonna happen. or maybe it's just my imagination, that it doesnt seem to be capable of forming this image of me as someone handling a position in a certain company, leading people, and making decisions. the issue here perhaps really isn't my competence. instead, it could be my readiness to handle such tasks. i might be speeding up a bit here. haha. feeling ko talaga.

plans

the past few days ive been thinking about what i shall do in my final year in college. yes, senior year is next and yes, hell, im getting old. (im celebrating my ____ birthday in less than 2 months' time) anyway, believe me, so far, what i have in mind's not fun. or i just think it isn't because the idea of work, work, work subdues the idea of fun, fun, fun. here's what i have in mind:

1. minor in IT. finally, my dad got me to agree to minor in IT. i think it wouldnt be that bad at all. maybe except that ill be guilty of academic suicide bec plan 1 also comes with plan 2, which is...
2. overload and take maybe a couple of finance subjects, one per sem. investment banking or the like. yes, though it is summer, the nerd in me is so much alive and kicking. heck. it's such a sad world. isnt it? that's basically it for the academics. moving on...
   
3. i still have celadon but won't be active anymore. maybe assist in some projects if i can.
4. by now, kathrese should have contacted me already regarding AJMA project head. but she still hasnt. that somehow leaves me the idea that i didnt get the job. so fine. let's cross that out of the list. one less work for me. which is both good and bad. at least senior year wont be as heavy. yet there's one less thing to be part of my resume.
5. ASES... hmm... i think i should go for it. i mean, when i was being interview for the summit, i sort of lied about my willingness to work even i get rejected. well you know, was just hoping that would bring me an inch closer to the event. sadly though, i didnt make it. so fine. let go of that... already did. hehe. at least that could mean creating or expanding my oh so almost inexisting network. hey, this is my last chance. (go get yo ass up!)
6. AMA. i already missed the plansem and today's LTS just because i had to be here in the province. thats what i hate about summer. (disclaimer: i dont hate the activities. honestly. just sharing what i think about it.) people plan and conduct all the seminars over that long break. lucky for those who live in manila, which are the majority. but for people like me, who 1. dont have summer and 2. live outside of manila, er, i dont think it's practical to attend these seminars. i honestly don't quite believe in LTS. activities all have the same purpose and speakers say the same ol darn thing. you know, if one's really up to the work he's given, then expect him to work. a little push will do but that's right before he does the task. hayayay, these people who undergo these seminars would just forget 'how it's like to be a leader' after 2 months. or i could be wrong. maybe just my defense mechanism for not having attended the 2 events. or no. thats really my 2 cents. anyway, moving on to the real thing. being the avp would surely entail a lot of work. anyone wish me luck, please?
7. inspired by my great friend Karlo, i, thinking of joining the hsbc thingie too. maybe it's after finding out what compensation he's getting for winning it. oh well. who wouldnt want 150,000, a trip to HK and seattle?! hell, thats just overwhelming. such grandiose. i mean, certainly, im not sure if ill win. lemme just parrot what they said: this is just for fun. if i win, great. if i dont, then so what. i gotta really work this out.
   
8. and the big question that just lurks around: where will i be after grad? will i get a decent job? decent defined by comfortable working atmosphere, interesting and fun people, a great boss, and most especially, high pay! and of course, no need to mention, the name. it's all in the name, o yes baby.

i honestly dont have like a long term plan up until now. thats next to my reflection topics. before classes start, i should already have my plans laid out, which shall be good for the next 10-15 years. i still don't know where my life's headed. i seem to be locked up into the present. with my life, no direction visible. or maybe it's just vague. being an atenean would never leave my life direction-less. im sure id always be headed somewhere. not down there in the dumpster. i guess thats a certainty.

PS no serious issue that requires deep thinking. so i guess this will do for now.

Ph.D (dont ask why)

i was expecting that getting a summer job would be a breeze. submission of resumes plus a couple of interviews would do it. the former was without a doubt easy. but the latter? heck, i thought it was going to be thaaaat fast. and look at where i am now. an official bum! yey! not only was i rejected by two banks, ibank, which by the way received my first and only i-hate-you-for-rejecting-me award and hsbc (nah, i cant hate it. it's too good a bank to be hated. maybe i can have my chance next year... hell yeah, good luck to self.) at least citibank didn't reject me if that's any consolation. i was just late, which was both stupid yet safe and right. i wouldnt have wanted to give them a bad record by screwing up my interview. i think im still not ready for interviews. i know, it's sad. but at least i still have a year to prepare for it (yuck, people dont prepare for it for a year). it only scares me how employment would come next year. so i guess id just have to make it to latin honors list by graduation for that easier access to the working world. i actually still have options and time if i really want to work. but then just a while ago, i decided that im not gonna work the sake of working. i would want to enjoy wherever im working. although sans said that its only a matter of perspective, i still believe that i cant just get a job wherever it's available (and willing to hire me). it has to match, of course, my field of, ehem, expertise. so, look, i can still work at companies like abs-cbn. (disclaimer: i dont have anything against the mgmt people who will be working there.) but given that im a management student heavily interested in finance and the like, i think id be best located in a bank. so let's see, if next year the interviewee asks me:

interviewee: so why didn't you work last summer?
me: because i didn't think that the options i had were fit for my major/field of expertise.
I: why not?
me: because i didn't want to work just in some place for the sake of working. i thought it'd be a complete waste of my time. i'd rather be in a place where i know i can use what i learned and that whatever i will be learning will benefit me in the future.
I: great. blah blah blah blah blah.........
me: blah blah blah blah blah...
I: good. okay, you're hired.
me: thank you.

right. i wish things would go as easy as that. anyway, yeah, that's how i view things now. it doesnt matter that i dont have a job right now. at least im enjoying my summer a lot. i thought being a bum entails only complete boredom. i thought wrong. with pirated dvds of the movies missed and those which are still about to be shown, plus vcds of a hit comedy show, summer could be so much fun.

and so ive been having the semi-friends marathon for the past one week. enjoying it certainly. perhaps now i can call myself a certified friends addict. after only a week, ive finished 2 seasons already and will be starting on the 9th tonight. if i could only spend my days watching nothing but that , i would certainly do so. apparently i cant. anyway... i wonder why not that many people are as addicted to it as tin or myself. yes, i think tin's the only one i know who's addicted to it, except of course my cousins from whom i got the vcds. (and i will be borrowing next seasons 1-3.) summer ultimate goal: watch friends. seasons 1-9. cool. so far i love phoebe's character. and joey's. if only they existed in real life. hmmm....maybe when i go to the states in 2 years' time, maybe i can build my own central perk. doesnt that sound cool? and make it look excatly like the one in the show. hey, that's cool... going back, i thought it was purely fun. but one part made me sad. although i dont think i shouldve been.-- that part when joey was having problems on how he's gonna tell rachel what he feels about her. heck, that was really... awww-ing.

anyway, im off now to watch friends. again. *wink*