Silicon Gulf

I finished off the 2007 mostly away from home this time. It was difficult not being on the Internet for a while, since I could not recall any day of the past year when I wasn’t. This separation anxiety made me reflect a bit about how much I have accomplished and if I’m ready to take on the challenge of doing more in 2008.

I think the major obstacle that I face which I also faced last year was my lack of focus. I tried too hard in everything. Blogging, programming, graphic design, community management, SEO, even baking. You name it, I’ve done it all. Ok, maybe except e-commerce, which I’m taking up very soon. But the thing is with me is I’m always up for learning new things at the expense of not concentrating on the stuff that I’m good at. So, I’m making 2008 the year where I’m putting all my chops into one or two projects, and build on those. I have a few small “partnership” sites in development that I’m equally excited about as well.
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Karlo Licudine is one of the most talented bloggers and illustrators that I know. While chatting over IM we were thinking of a “project” in which we can collaborate. Naturally, Karlo pitched the idea of creating a site that will showcase his comic strips, which the Filipino blogosphere has grown to love. And so, a few months later and a dozen visits to the Internet Cafe (for Karlo at least), BlogComics.net is born! Karlo is the main talent here, while I serve as technical backup.

Kudos to Karlo! I hope you guys will visit BlogComics.net often, you won’t regret it! ;p

My site, DotA Strategy, hit the 100,000-member mark this afternoon. Too bad I wasn’t able to catch who the 100,000th member was.

Another round of PR updates took place at Ratified.org.

From my last post, there were 58 blogs that lost PR and 14 blogs were gainers.

Today’s quite a far cry: 149 blogs have lost PR and 130 blogs were gainers. Interesting to see all those zeroes turn into actual numbers! Eleven blogs broke out today, a sign that there was significant movement in the rankings. Jayvee’s Cellphone9.com came out of nowhere to rank #13 and Karlo’s Pinoy Blogero is now at #51. Congrats to all the other rank winners!

Are you a developer based in Manila? Well, here’s your chance to pick the minds of Google engineers! Limited slots available. This is organized by country consultant Aileen Apolo, who announced it here.

What: TechTalk with Google Engineers (from Mountain View, California)

Topics: Google Gadgets, Google Open Social & other developer products

When: November 19, 2007, Monday, 7:00 p.m.

Where: ACCEED Conference Center (beside AIM, in front of Greenbelt)

How to join: Sign-up your name and your programming language by leaving a comment below. You can check if you’ve been registered by checking out the guest list.

UPDATE: Registration closed.

Today marks a first as The Usual Suspects host the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit in Davao City. The purpose of the Summit is to encourage bloggers to wield their technological tool called “blogging” for the betterment of Mindanao’s global image. The theme “Spotlight Mindanao: Blogging for Culture, Identity & Understanding” sums it all up.

The Summit’s generous sponsors:

• Councilor Peter T. Laviña
• Join the DigitalFilipino.com Club!
• Dimsum Diner
• Swiss Deli
• Globe Broadband
• ACT for Peace Programme
• NoKiAHOST.COM P5/day webhosting
• Bitstop Networks
• Paradise Philippines
• BisayaBloggers.com
• Davao’s Food Huntress
• Web Design Philippines
• Orange County Real Estate
• Web Developer Philippines
• Fwendz Diner
• Motorcycle Davao
• Artcom Printing Services
• Cubepixels Design Studio
• Eric Clark Su
• Lane Systems
• Casa Leticia - a boutique business hotel
• Mam Bebs Bakeshop
• Snap Graphic & Sign
• Ecotrans Car Rentals

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I’m proudly one of The Usual Suspects who are organizing Mindanao’s first Blog Summit! The Summit will be held on October 27, 2007 at the NCCC Mall in Davao City. I’m very, very excited to meet the 80+ bloggers from around Mindanao who have registered. If you’re a blogger who happens to be in the area, it’s not too late to register! You don’t have to be from Mindanao to participate, just as long as you have a blog.

The tentative Program of MBS1 is as follows:

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