racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I’ll be out for most of this evening. (Am I not out busy almost every day this week?) Will be attending the much-awaited Bloggers’ meetup sponsored by Globe Innove. Globe is supposed to showcase its latest offering in mobile broadband connectivity, and we’re hoping for more than just a sneak peek (hint, hint!). It’s sort of a press junket, but for bloggers (a.k.a. non-traditional media people).

I’m lucky to be among the 12 “Apostles”–hopefully I will not be the Judas of this group!

On a related note, if your emails to me have been bouncing or not being responded to lately, it might be due to my racoma.net domain’s expiring. Boy, was I surprised when people told me my .net address was redirecting to a parking page.

My domain has been registered anew, but it seems we’re still waiting for nameserver propagation to complete. In the meantime, please send me emails to my jangelo (at) gmail (dot) com address.

Are you a Flickr addict? I just realized I was more than just the casual Flickr user when some of my blog photos disappeared. Apparently, free accounts have a display limit of the 200 most recent photos. And at the rate I was uploading, I had been far exceeding my limit for quite some time now–I have almost a thousand pics there (and I’m a lazy uploader). There’s nothing like errors and missing stuff to wake you up to the realities of life, and to remind you to read terms of services.

I’ve always wanted to upgrade to Flickr Pro, but one difficulty I had with upgrading (which is cheap at $25, btw) was that I didn’t have a PayPal account. You see, Flickr processes all payments–including credit card–via PayPal. Here’s another reason for the PayPal for the Philippines initiative.

Good thing a friend with PayPal access “gifted” me with a Pro account, on my request. Thanks much! (I won’t disclose your identity here yet–I’ll wait until I get your permission.)

Oh, okay, I’ll be paying up! But still thanks. I wouldn’t be able to pay for an upgrade otherwise.

What do you get with a Pro account?

You get a host of nifty new capabilities with a Pro account, such as unlimited bandwidth, ad-free interfaces (when you use Flickr and when other people view your photos), unlimited storage, and larger monthly upload limits. What I like best is the ability to create an unlimited number of sets. You get the best of both worlds–tagging and organization by sets!

So, show me the photos!

Here you are, folks. Of course, most of these are family photos (talk about stalker friendly, huh!). Here’s a random selection:

Better yet, let’s take a walk on the artistic side with some macros:

Enjoy!

Let’s put our laptop lid advertising (Sacha, Blogging Pro, bLaptops, the J Spot) concept to the test. I’ll be speaking at the 3rd Techfactors Regional Educators’ ICT Summit this Wednesday, August 30th at the University of the Philippines (my topic is The Learning Preferences of the New Generation). The audience will consist mainly of about 200 educators in the various ICT fields from Metro Manila schools.

Unlike Sacha, who’s selling space by the square inch (or quarter of an inch, even), I think I’ll go in larger chunks, considering the affair will not be as intimate as BarCamp, and I’ll be speaking at front, and not mingling with the crowd (well, mingling comes during the break times). So visibility from greater distances is important in this case.

Okay, I’m interested. How much will it cost?

Considering that my laptop has a relatively larger screen and lid real-estate than Sacha’s ultraportable, we can go in chunks of 4″ x 4″ or even 8″ x 4″. This is a 14-inch widescreen, and the actual area of the lid is about 13″ x 9″. That leaves enough space for six 4″ x 4″ images or three 8″ x 4″ stickers comfortably side by side on the lid with enough free space in between.

The prices:

* US$ 50 for a 4×4 image
* US$ 75 for an 8×4 image
* US$ 100 for an 8×8 image

Okay, we can go smaller, but you’ll have to email me so we can agree upon a price. And, this is first come (or first emailed?), first served. Hey, the 8×8 space is cheap (do the math). You can slash off 100% from the price of four 4x4s if you and three friends are interested in putting up 4×4 ads each.

The Elevator Pitch

This arrangement goes with the standard elevator pitch, meaning if someone asks about the ad, I’ll introduce the product/service/site to them in less than a minute (which is enough to capture the interest of people if done right). This means I cannot possibly pitch stuff that I’m not comfortable using myself, so I reserve the right to turn down unsuitable ads.

Materials, images, URLs, etc.

I’ll supply the materials and do the printing myself, unless you have some need to send me some specialized, embossed, gold-plated, diamond-encrusted logo of your company. Just send me a suitable image in print-size resolution, along with instructions to add a URL or some text, and let’s talk business.

Also, to give proof of your product’s exposure, I’ll email you back pictures from the event with your ads prominently placed on my laptop lid. Heck, I’ll even post them here on my blog.

Contact Me

Get in touch with me via the usual email address – jangelo at racoma dot net. You have until tomorrow evening (August 29th, +0800H GMT) to place your orders, as the event will start early on Wednesday.

I think our PayPal for the Philippines logo should have a spot.

I’m looking for people/entities trading Philippine-based MMORPG currencies (Ragnarok Online, etc.).

I’d be interested in talking business. Please get in touch with me either via email or SMS. My email address and mobile number are listed at the sidebar and on my about page.

I’ve been using this nifty feature for quite some time now, and I think people will be interested, especially those who want to save up on telephone costs. Do you know you can sign up for a US and/or UK-based number that will route calls to your computer thru VoIP?

It’s as simple as signing up for an account with FWD, downloading a SIP-enabled VoIP client, and signing up for a DID (direct international dialling) account with IPKall or CallUK.