Category: Tech Talk

Miscellany of questions and information tidbits on day-to-day interaction with technology

Philippine ISPs emerge winners in gov’t ban on Internet adult content!

January 18, 2017 benign0 31 Comments

Certain adult sites are now supposedly banned in the Philippines — or, at least, users have noted that some of them are no longer accessible. BBC News reports… The Philippines government has not given any official explanation of why the sites have suddenly been blocked. However, the country’s National Telecommunications Commission confirmed to CNN that…

Culture, Lifestyle, Media, Tech Talk

‘Annoying’ opinions also deserve to be heard

November 18, 2016 benign0 7 Comments

“Social media has become so toxic these days” laments Inquirer columnist Ambeth Ocampo on his piece today. It seems to be true for a lot who are shocked by this new experience of winning and losing friendships online on the bases of political positions taken. Ocampo’s solution is to “take a break from social media”….

Media, Society, Tech Talk

The hypocrisy in the petition to shut down Mocha Uson’s Facebook page

October 24, 2016October 25, 2016 benign0 11 Comments

A petition to suspend the Facebook page of Mocha Uson, a Filipino celebrity blogger and staunch supporter of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, is making the rounds. The Suspend Mocha Uson Blog Facebook Page on Change.org has, as of this writing, attracted almost 26,000 signatories with the following write up set to be “delivered” to Facebook….

Media, Politics, Society, Tech Talk

Do “Gatekeepers” want Citizen Journalism Shot Down?

October 11, 2016October 11, 2016 ChinoF 8 Comments

An interesting read I recently got was Media and Culture: Global Homogeneity and Local Identity by Rachel E. Khan. It has a chapter called Citizen Journalism and the Fall of Mass Media Hegemony, and it talks of how the Internet and other mass communication means allowed people to create their own posts, announcements and punditry…

Tech Talk

MMDA and Waze Solving Traffic Together Soon?

September 20, 2016September 20, 2016 P. Farol 3 Comments

Given how regularly crazy traffic in Metro Manila is, I feel quite blessed to be able to do all of my work from home and only venture out on the road for meetings either in Makati or BGC. When I do drive to a meeting, I use Waze to get to wherever I am going in…

Development, Government, Tech Talk

Are comments sections becoming a thing of the past?

August 29, 2016 FallenAngel 7 Comments

Comments sections can be both a boon and a bane for online sites, whether they be news sites or blogs. In an ideal setting, the conversations and insights that can be derived from those who leave comments would be wholesome, respectful, decent, lucid, on-topic, and diverse. The ideal setting does not exist in today’s internet…

Media, Society, Tech Talk

Social media and the dismal state of Filipino activism and political commentary

August 10, 2016August 10, 2016 benign0 4 Comments

Sad to say, Philippine “activism” hasn’t progressed much over the last several decades. The “movements” may have moved from the streets onto social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, but the quality of the discourse has remained pathetically dismal. The venerable former blogger Dean Jorge Bocobo (DJB, a.k.a. @SagadaSun on Twitter), for example, has taken…

Culture, Development, Politics, Society, Tech Talk

How Keyboard Warriors Fail to bring Reform

July 29, 2016July 29, 2016 ChinoF 7 Comments

After the recent Orlando shooting, social media was ablaze with debates and reaction. Gun control, the sources of hatred that lead to people becoming shooters and more were issues. But for me, the most pressing issue was how people, especially “keyboard warriors,” reacted to others who disagreed with them on the topic. One time, I…

Tech Talk