20111003 blogging makes or breaks you
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8/4/2019 20111003 Blogging Makes or Breaks You
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eus Ex: Human Revo-
lution is the third in-
stallment from the se-
ries and serves as the
prequel for the award
winning Deus Ex from
the year 2000. The series itself has
been made famous by the tremen-
dous amount of game-changing
choices, both moral and practical.
With it coming out from the dust,
will it still deliver the old fun and ex-
citement from a decade ago? Or will
it just be bogged down by the gamesof today?
Deus Ex’s story is set in the near
future where human disabilities are
made irrelevant by the infusion of
mechanical augments. Players play
as Adam Jensen, an ex-cop turned
security chief tasked to guard one
of the top human augmentation
corporations in the world. The in-
troduction opens with a tour around
the corporation’s laboratory, with
its scientists excited about a break-
through research that is about to
be unveiled. But the excitement is
then replaced by horror as the lab is
xVia, Inc., a leader in
transaction process-
ing technology for
emerging payments
and financial ser-
vices, has announced
the opening of a new facility in the
Philippines.
The office, located in Bonifacio
Global City, is equipped with state
of the art technology and facilities
for TxVia's Contact Center, Back
Office and Information Technology
operations.
lectronics and appli-
ances waste a lot of
energy when they’replugged in but not
being used. There’s
even a term for all that
waste—”vampire power.” A home
entertainment center in standby
mode, for example, can draw as
much electricity as a refrigerator.
A range of new devices offer to
help you manage this problem. The
latest is ThinkEco’s Modlet, a giz-
mo little bigger than a “wall wart”-
style plug that packs enough brains
to continuously monitor the energy
usage of any device plugged into it.
ThinkEco claims the Modlet can re-
duce a household’s overall energy
consumption by 6 to 10 percent.
Via an interface on a desktop
computer or mobile device, a home-owner can shut off Modlet-connect-
ed devices and set on-off schedules
for them. The devices are controlled
wirelessly through a short-range
wireless standard called ZigBee
that’s designed for home automa-
tion.
A Modlet communicates with
a user’s computer wirelessly,
through a USB dongle, doesn’t re-
quire a smart meter, and can oper-
ate independently of a computer. It
will arrive in big-box stores and a
major online retailer sometime in
October.
Technews EVERY MONDAY • October 3 , 2011 D3
ubby and I just had anawesome steak dinner
at a five-star hotel this
week. The dinner for
two would have cost us
a minimum of US$100
if we had taken our dinner in anoth-
er time, when buying through the
internet wasn't yet at its prime.
Instead, we paid only $40 for
our Prince Albert Rotisserie meal
complete with the exemplary ser-
vice of a captain waiter and a piano
romantically playing in the back-
ground. Hubby previously paid for
our meal with a single click on his
laptop through Deal Grocer, one of
the leading group buying sites in the
Philippines.
The phenomenon of online groupbuying - where merchants slash the
prices of their products or services
in exchange for a guaranteed mini-
mum number of buyers - is certainly
something no one would have imag-
ined happening five or ten years ago
(although a check with Wikipedia
shows its origins as early as 2000).
It is actually just part of the bigger
picture with the countless number
of people also selling on Multiply,
Sulit, eBay and other sites.
This doesn't include the fact that
having a Facebook or Twitter page
is almost de rigueur for any brand,
big or small, these days. All these
just boost our perception that there
is no better time to go into the online
business than NOW.
Perhaps, am one of a few who are
still harboring ideas of launching
H
Business lessons
Annalyn S. Jusay
their online biz (my seven year-oldblog notwithstanding). However, be-
ing an observer, I can suggest a few
things for those who want to take a
shot at being netrepreneurs:
Branding is key. By this, we mean
having an online business name that
is as attractive as much as it is easy
to remember. Your logo itself must
easily catch the eye and consider
the minutest details like the font
and color combination used.
If your branding is upscale, be
sure to associate yourself with an
upscale group buying site when it's
time to do a promotion.
Your message is the medium. If
you are going to have your own busi-
ness domain name, make sure it is
easy to remember as well. A websiteis just not there for display, make
sure you reply to comments and
track your stats.
Installing a plugin like Google
Analytics will help you keep tabs on
your visitors, your most-read pages
and what they are searching on
your site. Make sure your site is us-
er-friendly and a Buy Now button is
accessible and placed prominently,
otherwise it's useless.
Build your list. In this age of so-
cial media, there's no harm in hav-
ing the most number of friends on
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (to
name just a few!)
Treat mobile phone numbers
and email addresses like gold and
if you have a budget, an email/au-
toresponder service like Aweber is
handy.
Blogging makes or breaks you Glenn Richmond Ong
Blogging has gained so much
popularity in the recent years, be-
cause of the opportunities it can
give to authors and online writers.
However, a blogger should realize
that it is not just about the writing,
the attending of events, and the
earning of money. Blogging can
make or break you.
Admittedly, one of the best
things of being a blogger and at-
tending media events is meeting
new people and gaining new ex-
periences. It is when you can get
out of your personal shell and tell your life story to people in a set-
ting that is outside the realm of
the Internet. Sometimes it’s fun,
but at times, it can be very shady.
I have heard and learned of
both positive and negative stories
from several trusted bloggers
and public relation officers whom
I have met personally. Let’s start
with the positive ones.
While blogging may not be a
professional job one intends it to
be, writing well-thought, helpful
articles and making your name
known online can get you a real
corporate job sooner or later. I
have heard of some people who
have landed a job, because of how
they deal with people in live events
and how they present themselves
appropriately through their writ-
ing.
Meanwhile, some bloggers
choose to not go into corporate
work and remain as freelance
writers. However, because of
their work’s quality and brilliant
pitches to companies interested
in digital campaigns, they eventu-ally made a name for themselves
and in fact were able to build their
own companies to specialize on
such services.
Moving to the more controver-
sial part, these are the “malprac-
tices” bloggers usually do that re-
ally breaks them.
There are a number of blog-
gers who show inappropriate be-
haviors in and out of events. A few
I can name are the following: (1)
coming to the event very late, al-
most end of the program; (2) get-
ting lootbags and freebies then
leave pronto; (3) sending repre-
sentatives without prior permis-
sion; (4) simply copying and past-
ing the whole press release on
their blogs; or worse, (5) stealing
products from the event.
These kinds of bloggers even-
tually lose credibility and trust
from fellow bloggers and PR
agencies. What’s left for them,
then? – a bad name and reputa-
tion not just for themselves, but
also for the rest of the bloggers.
This is exactly why some tra-ditional media men do not respect
bloggers in general. It is because
of these select “bloggers” who
show disrespect to themselves
and the people around them.
Are we just going to wait until
the blogosphere totally loses the
trust of people? If you’re a blog-
ger, examine and assess yourself.
Is your blogging making you or
breaking you?
Got anything to add? Email
[email protected] or tweet @
GlennOng
E
Its functionality and price—$45
for a Modlet, or $50 for a Modlet and
USB connector—make the Modleta hybrid between full-on home auto-
mation and a simple timer switch.
Simpler devices already on the
market, such as Belkin’s Conserve,
consist of power strips and indi-
vidual plugs that can be switched
off manually (or put on a timer) in
order to stop devices from drawing
power when they don’t need it.
General Electric is rolling out
a more sophisticated energy-man-
agement system, in which a device
called the Nucleus acts as the hub
of a home’s energy-management
features. The Nucleus is a three- by
four-inch computer that plugs into
any wall outlet. It can connect wire-
lessly with a home’s smart meter (if
it has one), and with compatible ap-pliances, providing a user
with the same informa-
tion that utility companies
receive.
As with the Modlet,
Nucleas information is
available on a desktop
computer or a mobile de-
vice, and via the Web. But
unlike the Modlet, it can
also tap into the existing
energy management ca-
pabilities of “smart” appli-
ances, such as dishwash-
ers, dryers, and other
ZigBee-equipped large appliances.
GE’s technology is still in tri-
als with consumers in a handfulof states, where it’s being offered
by utilities as part of “demand
response” programs. These pro-
grams allow the utility to selectively
reduce the power consumption of
customers’ devices when the grid is
under an especially heavy load.
While the target markets of GE
and ThinkEco have considerable
overlap, for now ThinkEco is taking
a more consumer-first approach.
However, its biggest impact could
be in the office, says ThinkEco co-
founder Mei Shibata.
“In the office, it’s nobody’s job
to [think about energy use]—it’s
not my job to turn off my lamp even
though I should,” says Shibata.
(NYT)
Couple of new devices keep
power-gobbling gadgets in check
T“Recognizing the competency of
the Philippine workforce, and based
on our overwhelmingly positive ex-
perience over the previous year
since TxVia began operations in the
Philippines, we've decided to signifi-
cantly expand our operations,” said
Matthew Nyren, Senior Vice Presi-
dent of Managed Services.
TxVia commenced operations in
the Philippines on October 2010, ini-
tially providing Customer Service,
Risk Management and IT Helpdesk
services. With the launch of the new
facility those services are being ex-
panded to include Software Devel-
opment, Quality Assurance testing
and a variety of other disciplines.
TxVia Philippines is now locat-
ed in its airy, spacious loft at 26/F
Piccadilly Star Building, Bonifacio
Global City. It is currently seeking
resumes from qualified applicants
with Software Development, Soft-
ware Testing, Financial Services
and Contact Center experience. For
more information, contact them at
TxVia Philippines expands services,moves into high-tech BGC ofces
Ddestroyed by terrorists. The assault
left Adam in near death with most
of his body torn and crushed. Bent
on uncovering the secrets behind
the attack, the corporation revives
Adam with most of his body parts
replaced by mechanical prosthetics,
making him a super soldier.
The game lets players experi-
ence the unique Deus Ex journey
by blending together RPG and FPS
shooter elements. The game is
mostly played in a first-person per-
spective and changes only to a thirdperson view when climbing ladders
and taking cover. Inventories, quest
logs, and other RPG elements are
also taken into account in game. Be-
cause it’s Deus Ex, freedom is given
to the player on how he wishes to ac-
complish the mission, as the game
itself says, “The obvious may not
be the best option”. Missions take
course in different places such as
Detroit, Singapore, and Shanghai.
The RPG element of Deus Ex
comes from the game’s intensive
quest and leveling system. (Jose
Gamaliel Felongco)
Human Revolution