The Construct

I have to admit that I started to become jaded in the concept of analyzing and studying the Pinoy blogosphere several months ago. I remember talking to Tiffy about it over cake. My take was pretty basic – that, as a collective voice, the voice of the blogosphere is the voice of the middle class. My main argument is that blogging is a middle class activity. Access to resources such as technology, time, and education is a luxury that only the middle class can afford.

I was close to trashing my plans on doing a thesis on Filipino political blogs but it seems that I have been reinvigorated by this sudden surge of opinionated expression that puts traditional media to shame. The issue is just so full of insight on politics and social media. The blogosphere has been set on fire because of the alleged brawl involving the DAR secretary’s son and bodyguards.

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I just came home from a really great morning out and this bit of news that’s spreading like wildfire across Plurkdom and the Pinoy blogosphere greeted me. Lanao mayor/DAR secretary’s son allegedly beats up golfer and son.

Politicians flexing their muscle and lording over isn’t exactly news. Our political system is grounded in such a horrible tradition. However, what I consider shocking in this is that the act cut through social classes where even the middle class can be victimized by such a blatant showcase of cavemen politics. Aren’t golf courses supposed to be bastions for the upper classes to share a civilized game for more-than-civilized men. We haven’t really gone anywhere ever since ever. Have we? Still the same barbaric power play. Same bigger stick philosophy.

Surely, this kind of news begs for a critical take. Checking related new items and other buzz reveals a contrasting take from the other side. One story has it that the young (14-year old) son is even implicated as the instigator of the brawl. However, I do feel that there’s no reason for Bambee de la Paz to fudge the facts.

Let the truth prevail and justice be served!

Check out more on this issue on Filipino Voices.

Oh, we’ve had quite a lot of news about how the US recession (if not depression) and the worldwide economic crunch will hit us all hard by next year. That makes many a Filipino wonder what kinds of preparations we need to stave off whatever effects that might have on us. As a society, we’re pretty resilient to these things. While Americans are doing murder-suicides over the loss of their homes, we can still afford to fill malls with people on weekends even if it’s just for window shopping or leeching free wi-fi. In the US, companies are declaring bankruptcy, laying off workers and shutting down operations. Now I wonder what this economic crunch has got in store for the Philippine job market especially for IT workers.

Many tech workers have elected to go freelance due to its perks. Flexible work hours, being your own boss, and higher rates. It’s pretty much like getting the net gains of going abroad while enjoying the comforts of home. Who can blame them for going freelance?

I’ve been doing some headhunting for a small start-up game development company recently and quite seriously, I am disturbed by how freelancing has affected the general mentality of people on tech-related work. In my opinion, the popularity of outsourcing and web working, has conditioned freelancers to always go for the big bucks. The thing is only a few of them have the right business sense to make their market attractive to everyone, especially local companies who need manpower.

Don’t get me wrong. Earning money is good and freelancing is one of the better ways to maximize your earning potential while getting to manage your own time. Heck, I have been doing online work for nearly two years now. However, what I don’t understand is the seeming arrogance and money-focus attitude it has instilled in most IT professionals.

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UPDATE: I am highly recommending that you ignore this post. I assure you, you’re better off working for some other organization. Good thing no one really took interest in this. Peace out, ya’ll!

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Hi guys!

It’s nearing the end of the year and it’s high time for some of you who might want to shift jobs/companies for next year. I’m currently helping out in recruiting for a start-up game development firm. Currently, the firm’s working on text-based MMORPGs and social networking websites. Here are their openings for full-time positions:

• 3 PHP programmers – PHP, MySQL, AJAX, HTML, CSS
• Flash programmer – ActionScript 2/3, Flash game development, Flash interaction with PHP/MySQL
• System administrator – server optimization, load balancing, Linux, Apache
• Graphic artists for concepts – figure drawing, raster and vector graphics,  Photoshop, Illustrator
• Graphic artists for Web – edgy but usable web design, splicing, Flash

Office is just in Quezon City and they offer very competitive rates. *wink wink*

For those interested, send your resumes/portfolios to jobs@nvinium.com.

I love using mind maps to organize information. Been using FreeMind for quite sometime now to help me throw in ideas for UIs and IAs that I typically work on. Really excellent for solo-flight brainstorming sessions.

Here’s a sample of a mind map for a online soccer game concept. Click on the image for the larger version (870KB download):