The Four-eyed Journal » Daily Dose

Global Voices in Filipino Launches

jhay — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:38:09 +0000

A wonderful news came from one of Editors of Global Voices Online – it is the launch of the Global Voices in Filipino portal. That’s right! Global Voices is now available in the Filipino languages so that more Pinoys everywhere would have more access to the citizen-generated content from around the world. This is under the Global Voices Lingua site program wherein localized versions of Global Voices are made available to non-English speaking readers and netizens.

Stories and features from other non-English Global Voices portals would be translated into Filipino allowing more Pinoys to join in the global conversation. With this, I am pleased and honored to join the translation team to help in keeping the portal up and running.

For those who are interested to join the Lingua volunteer team for Global Voices in Filipino are invited to fill up the application form here.

Filipino readers are also invited to come and visit the portal as there are already tons of content readily available to read in our own language.

We are also inviting enthusiasts, fellow bloggers, netizens and readers to help in spreading word about Global Voices in Filipino.

As we say in Global Voices in Filipino, ‘nagsasalita ang mundo, nakikinig ka ba?‘ (The world is talking, are you listening?)

Watchword: Braggadocio

jhay — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:54:41 +0000

A break from a blogging hiatus and blogging about tech related topics, one word has caught my fancy while catching up on the latest local news which centers on two hot issues: the stand-off between China and the Philippines over the Scarborough shoal and the recent brawl between Raymart Santiago and mediaman Ramon Tulfo.

One word that connects the stories – braggadocio.

Merriam-Webster defines it as braggart, empty boasting, arrogant pretension or cockiness.

After the airport brawl between Raymart Santiago and Ramon Tulfo, you all know the story so I’ll skip those details, the other Tulfos: Erwin, Raffy and Ben in an episode of “T3 Kapatid Sagot Kita” on Monday night virtually vowed to exact revenge on Santiago for what happened to their elder brother. Which was no surprise at all knowing that the Tulfo brothers are known for, what else, being braggadocio.

It seems that PNoy is no different from the Tulfos in his handling of the Scarborough shoal stand-off between China.

Journalist and former Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Presidential Spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao explained how PNoy blew away the chance of peacefully resolving the Scarborough stand-off by sending the Philippine Navy’s flagship BRP Gregorio del Pilar to scare off unarmed Chinese fishing vessels in the Panatag shoal.

Tiglao points out that the move gave the Chinese the opportunity the moral high ground that it was the Philippines who sparked the now volatile situation in the West Philippine sea. It was PNoy who escalated the situation and with his officials from the Cabinet and the Armed Forces blabbering regularly how the United States would come to aid us in case of an outbreak of armed conflict is nothing else but, you guessed it: braggadocio.

With the Tulfos facing a possible sanction by the MTRCB over their tirades on TV and the United States having said no word that it will side with the Philippines on the Scarborough shoal stand-off, it was only our own Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin who interpreted it that way, we will soon see how long this braggadocio will last. More importantly, where it would lead us all.

Rediscover the fun of reading at the National Library!

jhay — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:48:53 +0000

When was the last time you enjoyed reading a book? Or the last time a line or chapter kept on playing on in your mind you even dreamed of it?

When was the last time you entered a room full of bookshelves brimming with books without price tags on each? Where you could grab one that you fancy and just spend the hours away in one corner with?

Kabataan Party-list, the only youth party-list, and Bloggers Kapihan invite you to feel the excitement of reading books in the library. On February 18, from 1 to 5pm, we invite you to join us at the National Library of the Philippines in Ermita, Manila. Come and learn how we can save our libraries and foster a culture of reading. Come and read a book to gain more knowledge. Please leave a comment, and we will add you to our guest list.
It’s more fun at the National Library!

Thoughts and suggestions for Globe Telecom

jhay — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:54:07 +0000

Satisfactory customer service. Working in the customer service industry for even less than a year is enough time to make you understand what customers of any business or service want: getting the most value for what you pay for, if not more.

So I’m taking this time to share some of my thoughts and suggestions to improve Globe Telecom’s services because I just received a text message saying that in the coming days, their Market Research folks will call me up to conduct a study or survey on how to do just that, improve their services.

I’ve been a customer of Globe Telecom for almost seven years now both as a land line, residential broadband, pre-paid and post-paid mobile user.

So I’ve seen how their services and customer support have changed over the years.

Some two years ago, their broadband service, well in our area, was terrible. I’ve had days of good connection and then weeks of either intermittent or absolutely no connection at all.

Failing to do follow up calls

Worse, their customer service was equally terrible. The thing that really pissed me off was they would always promise to call back to follow up or give an update on the status of their repair but THEY NEVER DID.

And I’m the person who would really give time to actually wait around for that call. So when it was my turn to do a follow up call, the representative that took my call always had an earful from me.

So that’s suggestion number one: Globe Telecom should actually do the things they promised their customers. Make a call when they said they would call back. Even if it’s just to say they need more time to work on my request. Leaving a customer in a limbo is a good way to get frustrated and dissatisfied customers.

Lack of consistency

Another complaint I have with Globe Telecom’s customer service is consistency, or their utter lack of it. On my first call they would tell one thing and swear by it but on the second call the next representative would tell a completely different thing. Making a customer look like a complete fool is another great way of getting dissatisfied customers.

Website in perpetual Beta

Next would be Globe Telecom’s website that seems to be in a perpetual beta stage. Don’t get me wrong, their website has improved a lot over the years, but still, a lot of the basic and essential information a customer needs are still missing or terribly hard to find. Like their ever-elusive Acceptable Use Policy. You’d see numerous links about it but clicking on it leads you to no where. This may be the day and age of dynamic websites but it refers to content, not the framework, features or design of the website.

Seemingly understaffed Business Centers

I now move on to their Business Centers where you get to talk with their representatives face to face. Most of the time, it’s a nightmare to visit because it’s full of other customers who usually wait for hours on end before they get serviced. Sure, Globe’s queue management system is something government offices should have, but that’s the only thing that differentiates the two!

They would have plenty of counters but actually only one or two would be manned. Worse, the representatives who man the counters move and do their work in a glacial pace. And it makes me suspect that they are doing a lot of non-work related stuff on their computer because they would spend a great deal of time on it in between serving customers. Another habit of theirs would be to take at least 10 to 15 minutes in between customers and they would just stand up and go somewhere else, talk to their fellow representatives completely oblivious to the mass of customers who have been waiting in queue for hours. And they were sitting on front of their counters for hours!

All these basically sums up everything I have to say about Globe’s customer services. I’m pretty sure you have plenty other things to share as well.

A meaningful Christmas to everyone!

jhay — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 05:22:39 +0000

It’s the time of year that we give and share to loved ones, family, friends and even a complete stranger.

For this year, I chose to share something you may find strange but something that will definitely give you a laugh. Achmed the Dead Terrorist singing a Christmas song. Enjoy!

From yours truly, greetings of a meaningful and not just merry Christmas!