2012

Sayonara 2012

If you look that the Archives carefully, you'll notice that this is the very first post title that would probably make sense to you.  Yes, last year I decided I am ending my one-word post titles.  Twenty Twelve was a year of milestones.  It was a year of change but it was also a year of recollection, reconnection and re-evaluation. 

Juggle

Social Media Channels

As I was updating my revamped Yahoo! Profile.  It is also a long overdue post that I need just to let it out and well, to break off this ice.  I would completely understand if you don't understand anything with this post.  Thus, you've been warned.  These thoughts on social media, particularly on social networks are based on my own meandering experience.

Infancy

Remember the days of Myspace and Friendster?  They used to be fun.  Checking your Myspace or Friendster profile was fun.  It was not compulsory for you to check on those sites every minute.  There was no wall of your friend's activities back then, still it was fun.  There was such a thrill when a friend posted a testimonial - especially if they were just spontaneous about it.  Another thing I noticed is that people actually connected on those days despite the limitations given on those days.  That I believe is the infancy of social media.

12.2011

This year came by so fast that I could still remember the family activities of last year.  I had a toothache, took loads of pain meds and sleep throughout the new year's eve celebration.  When I woke up that morning all I could see was the photos of the delicious food mum made that night.  Not this year, I'm not!  So as we approach the final days of 2011, are you ready for some resolutions? Don't be fooled by people who say resolutions are of no use, these people make up excuses to not evaluate the year that just passed by. Resolutions are a form of evaluation. Try to stick to them, if you can't try again. I'm still summing up mine, I'll give you one though and then some of the highlights I have this month.

Goodbye 2011!  Hello 2012!

Social Media

My one resolution for the year 2012 would be a lesser engagement on social media specifically Twitter and Facebook. I think these platforms have been abused enough by users without us noticing it just because we can post whatever we want to. As I was reviewing my posts on Facebook via the new Facebook Timeline and my Twitter stream, I was quite horrified on how I share every aspect of my life to people I mostly don't know. Food, clothing and the like. Seriously? Do we really need to voice out we just got a haircut? If we translate these statuses into real life situations, it would be seriously annoying. So I'm getting off the social bandwagon and will try to post things that are necessary and essential.

Simplicity

It is quite ironic that we have all these powerful tools in our hands yet our problems are getting complicated the moment we try to advance. Looking back 15 years, life was simpler. Our family lived a simple life in the suburbs of Iligan City. I grew up in a typical Pinoy childhood. We played real games and have real friends and get punched real bad and laughed real hard. The virtual world back then was still in the realm of the impossibility though I already saw advancements during those days.

Lenny

As I am going through this post, I'm in my room connected to our private WIFI network and Lenny on my lap as I try to type away my thoughts. My sister is in the living room watching YouTube videos and my other sister is in the other living room watching TV and my brother is on his iPhone, checked in at KFC. You see, scenarios like this is commonplace nowadays. The sad reality of this complexity is we're more disconnected than playing Monopoly together for 4 hours.

"Life was much simpler when Apple and Blackberry were just fruits."

It was perfectly fine for us back then to be not to be up to date with all this tech. All I had before was a 486 machine with no hard disk! I use the now extinct micro floppy disc to boot up my system and enter notepad on MS-DOS. Yep, I'm very much of an MS-DOS kid. My computing days started with the very basic of windows. Sometimes I still prefer renaming, deleting, searching for files using MS-DOS than the Windows Explorer. I did not cheat on our typing subject, so my typing skill of 70-90 words per minute gives me the edge to type faster than clicking and analyzing. Then finally my 486 machine was replaced with an another 486 machine but this time it now runs Windows 3.1. The world back then was already at Windows 98 and I'm still stuck with Windows 3.1, still I did not complain. I play classic games like Prince of Persia, got to play with MS-DOS simple programs like choice and batch files. I get to set my PC back then to make me either to choose to proceed to Windows or stay on MS-DOS.

For years until high school that was the setup. Even when I get to experience the internet, it did not really matter because personal internet access before was a hassle and quite expensive compared today. It was much slower too. We were never really in sync with the latest trends and updates.

It is not that I am complaining, it's just a realization that what we look forward to when we were kids is now finally here, there is confusion. The tools that were supposed to make our lives simpler, easier and to help us with our daily task are becoming a hassle to maintain. Cellphones were simple back then. It was just plain SMS and voice calls. Now we have smartphones with different brands and models. These phones also depreciate very fast too. Once my iPhone 3Gs was dubbed as the fastest iPhone today in one of Singapore's highways, now with the coming of the iPhone 5 next month, I feel that I really need to catch up with the current model. Do you know how it's like to own an Apple product?

Tweaks

EXPRESSions on Air

I am desperate!  So I'm turning my  blog tweaking skills into cash!  You name the price!  Yep, seriously.  Seriously?  I just said seriously.  Piso!  Nah, c'mon man!  Seriously, a blog tweak for one peso?

I can't code a blog layout from the ground up but I could pick a layout for you and tweak it here and there.  You know those pesky lines of codes you dreadfully hate, I can manage.  Why?  Because I care!  I care about your Blogger blog looking ambushed by ads and buttons and links and banners and all that stuff that makes me and other readers want to leave your blog right away!

EXPRESSions on Air Sample Blog

You see I'm particular about a lot of things like:  typography, width, header, logo and the like.  I don't like pop-ups, screaming ads, deceiving ads and photos that are not aligned well in a post, like they were just plastered there for no reason whatsoever!

Since I have this handful of skill and I have these handful of items that I need want:  speakers, Crocs, G-shock and a printer I might as well convert this skill into hard, cold cash!  Hey, at least I'm being honest here.  For how much?  Well, I'll let you decided that.  In other words, whatever you can afford.  Let's talk!

Google+

I know I'm overdue for a blog post. I'm supposedly to wait for Google's revamp on Blogger but I'm quite excited over Google+ Project. It's nice to see what's in store for Facebook and Google and what would be the innovations would be produced through this. I know some of you have seen the videos but for those who haven't, here's a glimpse of Google+, Google's approach to social networking. What do you think of Google+?