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

They say print media is dead. But I don’t think so.

No. Print media is not dead. Perhaps print media as a business is a declining trade. It’s a sunset industry. But print media as tangible objects … It’s something we keep alive.

Read here why I think print media is not dead.

McDonald’s PR agent got in touch with my a while back to ask if I can be an endorser for their delivery service. So they sent me a short quip to edit, asked for a photo, and there we have it.

The full text says:

J. Angelo Racoma, blogger and website developer

Angelo is a bonafide night owl who keeps the midnight oil burning. Once he sits in front of the computer, there is nothing that can disturb him anymore. For more than three years now, Angelo has made his presence felt and read in the local and international blogosphere. He serves as editor in chief at Splashpress Media, a new media company that runs blogs, social networks and consultancy services. He also runs his personal technology blog at http://racoma.com.ph, which is is among the most frequently visited blogs in the Philippines. To maintain his readership, he regularly updates his blog with the latest news and insights in the field of economics and technology.

For bloggers like Angelo who do not want any distractions, McDonald’s delivery service is perfect. “Whenever I feel hungry, I pick up the phone and dial the number from memory. Each time I call 8-MCDO, the guys out there already know what I want – usually a Quarter Pounder meal for me, and Chicken Nuggets meals for the wife and kids (during those times they’re still up) – and where to bring it,” he says.

Thanks to McDonald’s effective use of technology, customers and bloggers like Angelo can get their meals fast. With their up-to-date database, customers do not have to waste time explaining such things as directions and landmarks each time they place an order.

“McDonald’s has become part of my blogging routine. Through its delivery service, I have definitely become more efficient and productive.”

I had edited the header to say professional blogger and new media consultant, but I guess “blogger” and “website developer” have more mass appeal, perhaps.

The family has been trying to be more of health buffs lately (check out my health blog and science blog here), to the point that we purchased this cool Osterizer blender and we now blend fresh juices each mealtime instead of drinking soft drinks or artificial juices. Still, for those times that we simply don’t have enough time to cook meals, McDonald’s delivery it is.

I’ve come to realize that a lot of Filipinos have been fans of game shows (from the silly ones to the intellectually challenging ones) because of various reasons. These range from a desire to get rich quick, to the desire to escape from one’s problems (even momentarily), or even just to entertain oneself.

PCIJ has an in-depth analysis, mostly from the psychological aspect of the game show mentality.

Cash draws people, most of whom dream of getting as much of it as possible. But while cash prizes have always been a game-show staple, it used to be that contestants needed to have some modicum of skill, talent, or intelligence to have a shot at them. By contrast, the more popular game shows today ask only that contestants have a great desire to get their hands on lots of money — fast.

Networks claim they’re helping out people by not simply giving dole-outs but opportunities to have a better means of living.

Some observers say TV shows that are practically giving away huge amounts of money are actually exploiting the poor. This, they say, was most apparent in the “Wowowee” tragedy of 2006, where 71 people were trampled to death in a mad rush to get inside the Ultra stadium where the show was going to be held. Over 30,000 people had come — and camped out in front the stadium days before — hoping to win the P1-million cash prize and giveaways that included two houses and lots, 15 passenger jeepneys, two taxicabs with franchises, and 20 tricycles.

The fact that the program offered jeepneys, taxicabs, and tricycles among its prizes does show an effort to encourage enterprise among would-be contestants; its producers could also argue that all they were doing was giving people a leg up. Where they may have erred, however, is in failing to provide real criteria and means through which those who join and eventually win the prizes could feel that they truly deserve these.

Still, I think it’s the get-rich-quick mentality that prevails, and the producers exploit this. A lot of disadvantaged, uneducated people wishing to have a shot at these game shows look to these as means to escape poverty. As Ruffa Mae Quinto’s character said in one of her movies: habang may game show, may pag asa (while there are game shows, there is hope).

But as money mentors would say, if you have a low potential for money, or a poor financial blueprint, then whatever you gain from such activities are quickly lost. Have you heard of the Lottery winner who ended up poorer than he originally was only a year after winning his millions?

At any rate, of course there is entertainment value. And I’m particularly fond of those game shows that really challenge the mind, in terms of asking difficult questions, or requiring computation and risk-management.

But it’s still tantamount to gambling, if you rely too much on luck and circumstance, such as with lotteries and other such games of chance. It’s wise to take calculated risks. It’s foolish and sinful to gamble. There is a thin line easily crossed.

And to the millions out there who still languish in hunger and poverty, hoping for an easy way out—is there an easy way out at all?

[via the Daily PCIJ]

Here’s a compelling reason why celebrities—entertainers, politicians, and other well-known individuals—should start their own blogs.

About three years back, I was checking out the ‘Net for information on Marieton Pacheco. She was then an up-and-coming media personality, having covered the Malacañang (the Philippine equivalent of the White House) beat as a rookie TV reporter, then the Erap Estrada impeachment trial, and then moving on to host a youth-oriented morning show. What’s interesting is that instead of her studio profiles and company links appearing on the search engines, there was this one blog that was consistenty on top. And if I were Ms. Pacheco, I might not like the contents of the blog much.

While the author of the Elephant Still Missing blog has long stopped updating the site, his fictional encounters with Marieton Pacheco still tops Google search. Let me quote a few lines.

Marieton Pacheco and I are neighbours in Kamias, and I bump into her occasionally in the most public places. The most recent one was in the Kamias Lavandera Ko branch, the one beside the video rental place in the Korean building. I was lugging my laundry in a large black plastic bag that people normally use for bringing-out garbage. My laundry’s at least two weeks old, and must’ve been six kilos heavy, possibly eight, even. The bag was heavy and too big for me to look over. I couldn’t see Marieton so I bumped into her and her basket of undies.

The laundry attendants were giggling like catholic schoolgirls when I dropped my bag and helped Marieton pick up her undies from the floor. Apparently, she just walked in before I did, about to hand her basket of undies to one of the attendants, when I bumped into her from nowhere and spilled her undies on the floor by accident. All this I figured from the unwashed-look that her undies had. They were still rolled-around and curled-up along the sides, like she had just used them four hours ago, still looking like they did the last time she tossed them into the basket.

Is It For Real?

When I first read the article, I thought this was a real-world encounter. But then upon further reading (and judging from the nature of the site), I realized it was a literary site. In fact, it was part 2 of the author’s account, where he claimed to be Ms. Pacheco’s boyfriend, that made me start to look twice into the nature of the site.

Marieton Pacheco and I are on an air-conditioned bus to Novaliches, to meet her parents who financed her way through four years in MassComm. It is a sunny Saturday afternoon outside the window, the sort that invites bearded street preachers to bring the Word of the Lord into air-conditioned bus aisles. Our bus is parked near where People’s Park used to be. Marieton is holding my hand, and I hers. Her grip is firm, like a little girl holding her brother’s hand as they make their way inside a Star City funhouse. I’m contemplating about tickling the inside of her palm with my middle-finger when she asks me about my relationship with my father. “Are the two of you close?” she asks me. She waits for my answer with a pout.

Readers who are not as inquisitive, though, might not realize this.

Search Engine Benefits and Being Part of the Discussion

So why should celebrities blog? Simple. Search engine optimization. If I were a respectable young lady who is a media personality, I would certainly not want for-mature-audiences-only stories involving me to be topping search engine results (though I think the Marieton Pacheco stories are well-written and still in good taste, except probably if readers have very playful minds)—more especially so if these were true stories. If I were an incumbent politician looking into re-election, I wouldn’t want claims of my being corrupt being spread online and making it to the number one spots in the search engines.

Or worse, some individual with malicious intent could just set up a blog under another’s name (even signing up for an appropriate domain name) pretending to be that person, but writing material that’s potentially harmful.

The same goes for just about any person who wants to maintain his or her integrity online. While you cannot control what material about you gets published online, you can at least show the people who you really are and what you really think by writing your own blog. And if ever people publish stuff about you that you don’t like, you can always comment on their sites/blogs, and you can always publish your response on your own blog.

This is why big companies like Microsoft and IBM have let their employees blog. Blogs give a sense of honesty and transparency. Readers would rather read accounts and opinions from a real person rather than a press release, which while well thought-of, would not feel as honest.

So why should celebrities blog? To protect their identities online, that’s why.

Oh, and it can be quite fun, too.