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

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.

Judging from the ton of comments on my post about the ZTE Broadband Deal I can say that students around the Philippines are not really into political and social issues. Why? Well, their schools ask them to make all sorts of projects, writeups and research papers on the topics that they’re probably sick of it.

And my post wasn’t even about the “ZTE Broadband deal” issue itself! Take a look and you’ll know what I mean.

Sure, I know a few things about the inner dealings of government. Romulo Neri had been my boss for a couple of years, after all, albeit not directly. And the department of NEDA I worked for before was tasked with reviewing projects and facilitating financing from foreign governments, China included. I can say the accusations of alleged corrupt practices are probable.

But that is not to say I know anything about the “ZTE Broadband deal” myself outside of what I hear or read from the news).

If you are interested in learning more about the “ZTE Broadband deal” as it is publicized in the media coverages of the ongoing Philippine Senate inquiry, you can refer to this post about the NBN ZTE Project on Yugatech.

To put it shortly, the project was for a concessional loan by the Chinese government for the procurement and setup of a broadband network by the Philippine government. And as Chinese loans usually go, one condition is that the Chinese government choose the supplier (which is counter to the Government Procurement Reform Act, which says such should be bid out by the Philippine government, but is legal under the ODA Law, as amended).

Now the issue here is not the legality of the method of procurement. As is usual with government procurement, the main issue is the accusations of the padding of the project cost to accommodate commissions and kickbacks, and the supposed involvement of people who are in power who have allegedly used their influence to benefit from the project.

There is a difference between what is moral and what is legal.

Now when they say “Moderate their greed,” It usually means “reduce the project cost to more rational or reasonable levels.” But then in Philippine governance, it may usually mean something else. And this very phrase has helped spark controversy the more.

Happy researching!

Nokia has recalled BL-5C batteries made by Matsushita due to risk of overheating or even explosion (which is not really unique to Nokia batteries, but is a risk when using Lithium Ion batteries). I immediately checked my phone’s battery when I read the Nokia press release. It’s a BL-5CA. Close enough, I thought, so I decided to check the serial number against the Nokia database.

Thankfully, this is the message I got:

Your battery is not among those manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006 and your battery will not be replaced.

Downside: I don’t get a new battery.

Upside: I can be confident I won’t burn my hands, ears or some other part of my body when using the phone.

I almost avoided the call yesterday, as I’d been avoiding calls from people not on my phone’s contact list lately (I think readers took my Stalk Me! feature on ForeverGeek much too seriously; and I think I might still owe some people money ). Fortunately for me–and my caller, perhaps–I texted to say I was busy and could only receive SMS. My correspondent texted back, and she turned out to be Ms. Monique Lachica, news desk editor for one of the country’s largest networks, ABS-CBN. They were looking for someone to interview for a fathers’ day special, and stumbled upon my blog. They thought I would be the ideal one, due to my, umm, alternative lifestyle/set-up.

The Work-At-Home Dad

No, I’m not gay, you blockhead! I’m a dad and I work from home. Now that’s not very common for guys, especially men my age. While everyone else is climbing up corporate ladders with some multinational company or bank, I chose to, well, build my own ladders. While many of my classmates are finishing their postgraduate studies here or abroad, I’ve put a hold on my own (much like Sergey Brinn and Larry Page?). Why? I chose to pursue a career and a business that would allow me to be closer to my family.

So I left the full-time corporate grind many moons back, and I now work from anywhere I can connect to the ‘net. It’s a remote-working / telecommuting arrangement of sorts, which also gives me room to be more creative (for me it’s difficult to create when in a very very stressful and pressured environment). Then, of course there are the great projects (Go-Ogle, Isulong SEOPH and other great stuff I’m doing with great people)–some of which I earn from, others I do for fun or because of passion!

Plus, I earn a heck of a lot more.

I remember my own dad tried a similar set-up when I was a bit younger, but things did not turn out to be as good as what I’m experiencing now. Things were different back then–businesses and enterprises were not as connected as they are today, so management and coordination were more difficult. And I deal with knowledge and content, and not bulky, concrete stuff that was fashionable back then, which can be very, very expensive and very, very risky. Anyway, I credit it to a bit of luck that I’m doing what I’m doing now (and of course, mostly to effort on my part and that of my colleagues, correspondents, and partners).

The Interview

So back to the interview, the good fellows over at ABS-CBN thought of interviewing a dad who stayed at home to take care of the kids while also making a living at the same time. You see, staying at home to attend to domestic matters is a very difficult and daunting task–ask any housewife homemaker about that and I doubt they’ll give a different answer. I’m not too good at it at times, actually, and that’s where shared responsibility comes in handy. Add to that the need to work and earn, and you’ve got yourself an interesting situation, which I get to pull off well, nonetheless.

When? Where?

I’ve still to meet with my interviewer, Mr. Willard Cheng, who works the field for ABS-CBN’s various news programmes. We’re set to talk this evening at one of my safehouses in Quezon City (he’ll be blindfolded and led to walk in circles before reaching me–just a standard measure I ask my visitors to undergo, to guard against stalkers. Really.).

So I hope you catch the programme later tonight. If you’re in the Philippines, the interview will be aired on Insider, which usually comes out about 10:30 to 11:00 p.m. on Channel 2. If you’re abroad, it would likely be telecast also on TFC (likely a delayed telecast).

As for me, I’m pretty nervous!

Update: Insider is set to air about 11:30 p.m. tonight. There’s a trend for news programmes being pushed later into the evening because of the evening telenovelas (and these days there’s no definite schedule for shows)! Talk about prime time.

Update: An online copy of the video may be viewed here.

“Macgyver” over at ForeverGeek ponders on the true nature of DIGG.com, the social bookmarking-cum-tech news site that had gained massive popularity among the geek crowd (and even non-geeks/techies) as it was touted as the Slashdot of Web 2.0–meaning it’s a news site where the content creation/submission and editorial control is decentralized. Essentially, it’s the readers and users who are supposed to say what comes up the front page (they “DIGG” articles), or what’s not newsworthy (either not “DUGG” or simply “buried” with negative votes).

Digg as an idea is fantastic. As a system of disseminating news without having to wait for editors it is amazing. But it seems to be suffering from a power complex. The two articles we originally mentioned were obviously promoted to the front page in an artificial manager.. Our website getting banned was obviously in retaliation to our story. Their entire philosophy now feels shallow and false – the editors decidedly put those two articles to the front page, just like they decidedly removed us from their system. Users may have originally driven the website, but it looks like that ideal is nothing more than a nice idea in the past.

So, ForeverGeek (a site which I also write for) has been banned from DIGG for allegedly being abusive. I’m all for getting “DIGG” into the dictionary as a verb, and having it as word of the year for 2006. But with concerns such as Macgyver’s, one might have doubts as to the sincerity of the creators’ efforts. I mean, I’m an avid fan of Kevin Rose and the rest of the DIGG creators/crew. But incidents like these (the FG banning) just show that even good things can be corrupted. And DIGG runs the risk of becoming just another centralized/editorialized news site. Whether or not the creators are involved, this would affect them in a negative light.

At any rate, I tend to think that a whole army of DIGG fans would, of course, be in defense of DIGG. But this should serve as an eye-opener: is Web 2.0 really what it’s set out to be? Or are we just eventually evolving into yet another Web 1.0 model?