The Four-eyed Journal » Blogging

Belated happy 20th birthday to the Internet

jhay — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 10:15:35 +0000

What better way to return to blogging than to give my birthday greetings to the Internet which had just turned 20 last August 6 according to Sir Tim Berners-Lee because on the same date in 1991, the very first web page was born.

It’s amazing to look back on how much the Internet has changed the world, especially mine. If I recall it right, the very first time I encountered the Internet was when a friend of mine told me that I could look for pictures of Ferrari F1 cars using Google. It was after my introduction to the sport back in 1999. It was the British GrandPrix where F1 champion Michael Schumacher had that infamous crash resulting in a broken leg that forced him to sit out most of the season’s remainder. Since then, I had become an F1 enthusiast and a fan of the Ferrari F1 team.

After abusing Google for pictures of Ferrari cars, my next obsession was fanfiction stories based on the Gundam Wing series. It was around during that time that the anime was shown on GMA 7. Every day, I rushed home from school just to catch an episode.

Come 2002, in my last months of high school, my buddies succeeded in recruiting me to join Friendster, which was king of social networking sites back then, at least in the Philippines, and started to regularly haunt Internet shops to roam the world wide web.

Shortly, I stumbled upon HTML, free web hosts and Blogger.com. Two years later, I started The Four-eyed Journal, on a subdomain of a website intended for the fledgling advocacy group Lasallian Students for Justice and Peace in DLSU-D using WordPress.

Then I got on board Gmail via an invite from my college mentor, soon after I was blessed with a free .com.ph domain that has been the home of this blog since 2002.

Along the way, I received many checks and PayPal payments from Google, Text Link Ads, Chitika, LinkWorth and PayPerPost. The foreign exchange rates back then allowed me to stay in college and get my own laptop PC. The more fun part of it was the chance to meet a lot of cool folks, fellow bloggers and advocates locally and from around the globe.

It has been an incredible journey so far and I can’t imagine life without the Internet. We may be still stuck with pen and phone pals but I’ve had no regrets so far. Cheers to another 20 years and more of the Internet!

Image by Will Clayton

Finding the right mobile blogging setup

jhay — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 01:57:30 +0000

Mobility is the name of the game. A game I have yet to master as evidenced by the sudden drop of updates on this blog. My new job has been taking a lot of my time and efforts that I now only spend an average of 5 to 6 hours of each day being online. Blog hopping, consuming RSS feeds and online research has really taken a back seat and with it, my blogging.

In order to cope up, I’ve been trying to perfect or at least create a working mobile blogging setup using my LG Optimus One phone. Already it is loaded with the standard apps for mobile bloggers running on Android:
WordPress, Google Reader, Springpad, Twitter and Google Docs.

One of the home panels dedicated to mobile blogging

I have also been a regular subscriber of Globe’s Powersurf promo so that I can still get online on the road or where there is no free Wi-Fi available.

Being on the constant search for a free Wi-Fi hotspot, I’ve come to know where in SM Bacoor and SM Dasmarinas are the spots where their free Wi-Fi signal are the strongest.

So while there’s still time, I take out my Optimus One and fire up Google Reader to get as much new content from the blogs that I regularly follow. The juicy topics I quickly save and share via del.icio.us or Twitter then the my thoughts on the subject are quickly jotted down using Springpad.

I then work on these drafts when I get home and that’s how I manage to put out a new post every once in a while. It’s taking quite a while to get used to reading content on small screen as compared to using a notebook PC.

It does have its own advantages though as most websites are displayed without the ad banners that when overdone really makes me want to hit the close button.

What I get is the content in its raw and pure form. Distraction-free reading is very effective in a mobile setting. Now I fully understand why the Safari browser has a similar feature.

Going back, I use the WordPress Android app to quickly moderate comments and save draft posts which saves a lot of time. All I have to do when I get home is to focus on putting the finishing touches to the draft and then finally publishing them.

The ultimate test of how effective this mobile blogging setup is to look at the output which is number and quality of the blog posts I am able to publish here. Looking back on the past posts, it’s obvious that there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

Once I do get the hang of this setup, I’m confident that I’d able to regularly post on this blog again. Plus the change of environment and being regularly on the road does help in getting the creative juices and blogging mojo flowing.

This setup is far from perfect, as there are problems, though small ones, that I still need to address. But that’s for another post, for another time. Do you also blog on the go? What’s your mobile blogging setup?

Blogging goals for 2011

jhay — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 08:31:36 +0000

For this year, I have set the following goals in relation to my blogging activities:

Consistently post new content at least 5x a week
Return this blog’s subscriber base to 100 by the end of Q1 2011
Organize a blog contest-giveaway event
Develop a healthy and productive relationship with more bloggers

These four goals would be the four pillars of my blogging plan this 2011. In the next couple of weeks, I’d be cooking up strategies on how to achieve these goals or make progress towards it.

Since it is a year-long plan, every quarter I’d take a look back and assess my progress. Then adjust the strategies and maybe a few details of the plan depending on the results of the evaluation.

It would be a fun and exciting 2011. I hope you my dear readers and visitors would stick around for the ride.

Lastly, I’d like to extend to all of you my warm greetings and wishes for a prosperous new year!

Image by WorldIslandInfo.com

To have an abortion or not? Couple asks on the Internet - Married couple solicits takes an online poll to help them decide

jhay — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 06:44:50 +0000

What's your vote?

Abortion? Or continuing with the pregnancy? The question that haunts every couple nowadays especially when a pregnancy is unplanned, worse unwanted.

This is the same question that has given birth, no pun intended, to Birth or Not¹ – a website by Pete and Alisha Arnold, a married couple expecting a baby, but they are unsure whether they want to have the child or not.

Some background info

The Arnolds are both 30 years of age, been married for 10 years and are working in the IT industry.

They have had two planned pregnancies before but both ended in miscarriages; the first one in January, 2010 at 16 weeks and the second in April, 2010 at 5 weeks.

BirthOrNot.com was started in September and has been a journal of their pregnancy with health updates on the fetus and the mother being regularly posted.

However, the website has one crucial purpose: the conduct a poll on the internet on whether to continue on with their pregnancy or terminate it by having an abortion.

Voting will end on December 7, 2010, two days before December 9, ’10 which is the last day then can legally avail of an abortion.

Why put it through an online poll?

The couple has pledged that the result of the online voting will be considered in making up their minds. They explained the use of an online poll:

Voting is such an integral part of the American identity. We vote on everything. We vote on things ranging from the best singer on American Idol to who the next leader of the free world will be. Wouldn’t it be nice to voice your opinion and have it actually make a difference in the real world? Why not vote on whether to continue or abort an actual pregnancy? Your vote can help a real couple to make a decision on this issue.

In terms of reality-based talent shows or contests, you can never get more real then this. Of course the couple has received tons of negative feedback, including attempts at taking over the website or taking it down completely.

As of this writing, 44, 013 votes have been cast. 81.03% or 35, 662 votes are in favor of continuing with the pregnancy while 18.97% or 8, 357 votes are in favor of aborting the couple’s baby.

And what is my vote?

I am in favor of continuing the pregnancy. Not necessarily against abortion per se. Looking at the Arnolds’ history of two failed pregnancies, it can be so easy to give up now with the third. The pain of losing an unborn child is one of the most difficult tragedies a couple could face.

However, the fetus is developing quite well, and at 17 weeks, it has surpassed the 1st pregnancy. So the little one is putting up a good fight. Hope springs eternal as they saying goes. And that is what the child is. Hope for the couple.

What will you vote be?

Three weeks to go before voting closes. If you want to make your voice heard, the couple are listening. If these had happened in the Philippines, all hell would’ve broken loose already with the Catholic Church leading the march. Which got me into thinking, the Arnolds are not the only ones who are facing the same difficult question. Lucky for them, they are able to discuss it with the whole world via the Internet.

Footnotes:

www.birthornot.com