The InkSquad -- what you think, we ink

I got hold of my InkSquad shirts, 2 shirts of the same design -- his and hers. So below is my ilabuyo! shirt by isip, with Mr. Moon behind.






I came across The InkSquad video by WYDMNL (Why You Do What You Do Manila), it's just inspiring to see how two people started the business for a cause which is to showcase Pinoy artistic talents, and how they do it with much passion. It's started by Trina Samaniego and Ramon Tayag. See video for the rest of the story.


WYD EP. 9 - THE INKSQUAD from WYD1 on Vimeo.

I've a few threadless shirts, and I thought why not support our own InkSquad. And, it just feels good to be in a shirt, which is created with much passion and attitude.

Minglr Beta -- Social Network Aggregator by Globe

Minglr.ph is a social network aggregator created by Globe Philippines. Minglr.ph was created when Globe Philippines found the importance of social media during the Ondoy calamity last year. Thus, it went on private beta in November, 2009, a month or so after the typhoon . By December, 2009, it went on public beta.

Minglr.ph's development team is headed by Joseph Ross Lee, former Philippine country manager of Friendster and is now portal management team lead at Globe. That's why Minglr.ph is probably the only social aggregator tool I came across with that includes Friendster, which I think is just right because Friendster social network has been a big thing in Philippines.

Aside from being able to add friendster, another special feature of Minglr.ph is that you can access it in 3 different ways -- via web, mobile web, and SMS / text. Though, the SMS part might still be under works because I cannot seem to make it work on my end.

Following is the inside, dashboard, of Minglr.ph accessed via web. You have all the social feeds in one page -- think hootsuite or infinite.ly.

Minglr.ph Dashboard via web

You can link your facebook, twitter, friendster, flickr accounts.

Following is Minglr.ph accessed from my mobile phone, Nokia E63. The green theme kind of reminds me of friendster.

Minglr.ph via Mobile Web

It's a pretty neat product created by Filipino developers and powered by Globe Philippines. But I just wonder why Globe (@talk2Globe) is not using their own product, Minglr.ph. If you look at their tweets, they're using hootsuite. Not eating their own dog food, aey?

Chikker -- Chikka's Twitter

Chikker.com is a product of Chikka. Thus the name Chikker, I guess.

In their About Us page, it is defined as:

"Chikker is an online and mobile text service wherein members can submit updates anytime and anywhere via mobile. Followers of the said member receives these updates anytime, anywhere!"   

To update Chikker via web, of course, you simply log in to your account, and update from there.
To update via SMS / text, you simply prefix your update message with 'Publish' then send it to 2354. (More at their FAQ)

Since I am new in Chikker, I have a hard time finding people to connect with. It will be easier if they have a feature where I can invite my friends from twitter or facebook, and other social sites. 

But it looks like Chikker has a different way of letting you find friends or invite friends to Chikker.

• You can invite your friends via text / SMS by texting 'Invite ' to 2354. (P1/text)
• You can also get a random list of Chikker members by sending 'List' to 2354.
• Or, you can randomly follow the members displayed on Chikker's homepage.

For more ways, check the most ever reliable source -- FAQ.

So now what? Well, if you have a group or an organization, you can all sign up to Chikker, and it's a good way of updating everybody with just sending one update. Or, use Chikker for another way of socializing -- web to SMS and vice versa.

Here is my Chikker profile, http://www.chikker.com/profile/view/OWRANGE. You can follow me, or not. =)

DiBimo -- yet another Philippine online store?

Dean Berris, the Chikka's former Consulting Systems Architect, tweeted about his new online service DiBimo. I got excited because I thought DiBimo is like an online store platform, like eBay or the Shopinas, where people can create an account and display their goods.But as I read more about it, it's not an online platform.

DiBimo is actually more of a mom-and-pop lemonade stand online since it's run by a husband-and-wife tandem. Or, it's more of an Amazon, than eBay. DiBimo will specialize on selling goods from Divisoria. Following are what you can expect from them, lifted from their blog:

"So how is it going to work? It's really simple. We're going to allow people to:

1. Look at what's interesting that we've found in Divisoria through the website, Facebook, Twitter, Multiply, Friendster, and the many other social media outlets we can manage.

2. Place orders through a simple form.

3. Pay for what they order plus shipping in advance.

4. We deliver the ordered goods."

For now, I cannot find extra special about this, since a lot of people are doing it. But we will see how DiBimo can change the local online shopping experience.

Social Network Movie -- Luis Buenaventura (Part 1)

While everybody is getting zombie chitchatting about their life and others lives on social sites; Luis Buenaventura has been busy building not only a social network site, but a factory to spin webs for his many social sites, which are to make the world a better place, or to simply satisfy his needs, or whims.

Behind those dark glasses are social sites hiding
(Image from guttervomit.org)

I read the whole of his blog, guttervomit.com, as part of my 'research' about him. And, I'm just simply amazed at the different social networking sites he's spitting left and right that I cannot help but post a blog about it. I can imagine that right at this moment, his mind, even asleep, is probably busy weaving ideas after ideas for his next web toy.

Following is a list of Luis Buenaventura's web products, which I harvested from his blog. So this might not be a complete compilation. These are just based on my interpretation, so do not take them all as facts. Let's just call this a fan's tribute.

Highfiber.org -- In 2001, before graduating from UP, Luis put up highfiber.org, which is a, lifted from their facebook page:

"... community website started by Luis Buenaventura as a way to learn web programming back in 2001. It became fairly popular amongst web-geeks, goth-chicks, attention-whores, and people looking for pr0n and wareZ for quite some time." 

So, as you see, Luis created highfiber.org to answer a need, which was to learn programming, which, of course, then created a web community and has help others too.

B&B Multimedia -- This is not a social site, but a company Luis Buenaventura created in 2005. He sold his iRiver H320 for Php10,000 to fund his B&B. Their team were mostly into setting up websites. But even being a newbie at that time, they were already able to bag big-named clients; just to name a few, they got Philippine Ad Congress, Ayala Land International, myHomeland, Red Ribbon, had a deal with a UK-based marketing firm, and others.And, to top it off, some of the websites they created were web award recipients.

So it looks like his iRiver was a lucky charm.

oKs.ph -- In between working for his B&B clients, Luis was still able to pull off his oKs.ph November, 2005. Probably to keep his self from getting bored creating stiff corporate websites where he could not implement his bleeding-edge technologies.

The oKs.ph was an experiment to test if Filipinos were ready for a user-generated web platform, which was quite popular at that time, ala Digg. Or, maybe it was also an experiment to create a Kevin Rose of the Philippines.

After oKs.ph, Luis created a mini-flood of Web 2.0 social collaborative sites. Year 2006 was probably the year that he moved from building boring corporate websites to social network sites. His frustration over Red Ribbon's disapproval of his drag-and-drop shopping cart feature had probably driven Luis to create his own web projects which he can shape according to his fancies and whims.

gibbity.com -- It was a people-powered game review site. Just 2 months after his oKs.ph, while people in this side of the world were enjoying the New Year celebration, Luis was hacking the night away for his next Web 2.0 collaborative site. He released it after 10 days to the public to get help in weeding out bugs. It then became the first Web 2.0 application developed in the Philippines, got featured in Lifehacker, and the rest is history.

filmcrowd.com -- As its name suggested, it's the equivalent of gibbity for film reviews. It was created the same year gibbity was created. But while gibbity was a New Year baby, filmcrowd was a Holy Week baby. (Lesson learned: And, you wonder why Luis has fame and fortune? It's simple -- skip holidays.)

Were these two review sites created as yet to satisfy another set of Luis' needs? Well, he seems to love games and movies based on his blogs. But he confessed in one of his blog posts that he got the idea of collaborative review sites from the CNET's Buzz Out Loud podcast where one of the hosts, Molly, mentioned:

"She said something to the effect of "the only honest review is the user review," which set off a light bulb in my head the instant I heard it."

That Molly's statement had not only set off a light bulb, but plenty of light bulbs in Luis' head that he was determined to be a social site breeder. From his post:

"Eventually, I hope to have a family of user-review sites that each focus on a different medium, ..."

(Lesson learned here is that it pays to listen to podcasts.) 

What's next?
(Luis Image from guttervomit.org)

Please watch out for the next part. Web geeks, web links, game reviews, movie reviews -- what were Luis next web toy / social site / whim?

Part 2 is now available here.

Ushahidi for Typhoon Megi / Juan -- report incidents via tweet or web

Tweet

Brian Tan Seng put up juan.crowdmap.com, Megi / Juan crowdmap via Ushahidi platform, to collect data from the people on the ground, and put them up on the web for easy monitoring and dissemination of typhoon Juan / Megi related incidents.

You, and anybody can easily participate by reporting incidents in your area by:

* Submitting a report via web -- http://juan.crowdmap.com/reports/submit/
* Tweeting your report -- simply add the hashtags #megi or #juan to your tweets


All reports will then all be collated and visualized at juan.crowdmap.com. 

Meg is the international typhoon name, while Juan is the Philippine name of the typhoon.

Jollibee Developing Mobile Website -- Leak?

I scrape this information from Yugatech's blog.

I think it's more of a promotional teaser than a leak. Though, I find the idea of ordering fastfood from your mobile phone not that exciting, but I'm still looking forward to as how it will fare once it will roll out to the public. It can be a barometer if the Philippine audience is ready to embrace this different form of mobile technology.

Following is the video of the supposedly leaked Jollibee mobile website:


Alpha Version - JollibeeDelivery mobile website. from manolo almagro on Vimeo.


If you look at the video, it's in Manolo Almagro's vimeo account. Manolo Almagro is a digital experience strategist, according to his Google profile. So he can be one of the people behind Jollibee's mobile delivery website.

oKs.ph -- a shot at creating a Philippine digg version

oKs.ph is a Philippine bookmarking site. It was created by Luis Buenaventura, a Filipino web entrepreneur, as an experiment to have a, as defined by him, "people-powered' site. Lifted from his post, this was how he defined oks.ph experiment:

What oKs is, in a nutshell, is an experiment.

Here’s my hypothesis: that the online Filipino audience hasn’t really matured enough to make use of collaborative Web 2.0-style websites. By that I mean, we haven’t yet figured out that sharing is the standard mode by which the internet really functions. Our perspective is still very much "how much can I take" or "what’s the smallest effort i can exert to get the maximum benefit over my peers"?

And I don’t mean "sharing" as in file-sharing, I mean "sharing" in the more general sense, i.e., informing each other and building things together. As an example, I happen to believe that if wikipedia was debuted exclusively in the Philippines, it would go to shit in a matter of days.

So oKs.ph is basically an experiment to prove me wrong.

Based on his blog post, it was launched on November 19, 2005, which at that time when bookmarking sites like digg, delicious, reddit, magnolia, and many others started and was like the next-big thing.

The oKs.ph is still up and alive right now. But not-so-fortunately, it looks like the experiment was not able to disprove Luis' hypothesis about the Filipino audience.

So aside from disproving Luis' hypothesis, what does oKs.ph tell about the Filipino market on the web? 

Istorya.net -- Newer Look. Can Be a Sign to a Booming Cebu Web Tech Scene?

Istorya.net, a Cebu - based (Philippines) social site, just rolled out their newer look yesterday, Oct. 17, 2010, which is aided by TechCellar Solutions. This is probably another move in making Istorya.net more than a forum, but also a web portal.

And, just like other any changes, it's greeted with a few whiners, which I would see it as a positive indication that it has a very strong impact on its community. It means people care -- they have emotional attachment to the site, and that's why they whine over any changes to their 'comfort zone' which is Istorya.net.

Looking at Istorya.net changes, am I right to say that it somehow reflects the relax life pace of Cebu, Philippines? They started 2002, they started the web portal look in 2008 (I'm not sure with this fact). So if you look at it, there's a 6-year gap of vamping up their look -- if you compare it to Silicon Valley-ish social sites, we can say it's slow. But I guess it is because Istorya.net team gives more focus on building the community, and scaling-up in the lower (infrastructure) level, than making their website eye-candy. 

This feels exciting. It can be a signal that the Cebu, Philippine web app / tech scene is starting to bloom. 

Piclyf.com Updates -- Ajax Loading & Posting via Email & more

There are always new updates, big or small, in piclyf. But there are these few new (old) updates that wow me.





Infinite Scrolling

Right now, you no longer need to click on a Previous or Next link / button just so you can browse pictures. In piclyf dashboard, pictures will automatically load once you reach the bottom of the page. Isn't it sweet.

See that loading icon below. Page loads dynamically once you reach the bottom of the page.

Posting Pictures via Email


I've been waiting for this feature. I am just so happy to have it now. I, most of the time, take pictures via my celphone. And, I'm used to just emailing pictures to post to my social sites. I'm too lazy to get the cable, and plug my mobile phone to the laptop to transfer images, or even bluetoothing them.

So being able to directly post to piclyf via email is such a big help to the lazy arse like me. As some mobile theory goes, "With mobility comes greater productivity."

Uploading Images via Twitter for iPhone


This actually came before posting via email feature. If you have an iPhone or iPod touch, you can use piclyf when you share images via Twitter for iPhone. You can find the steps here on how to set-up piclyf in your Twitter for iPhone application.

And, what's more? Native iPhone / iPod Touch piclyf application soon in your AppStore.

Piclyf Snap for iPhone






I think a few are lucky to get a testing 'unit' of it.

More Piclyf-ers

The best feature: It's amazing to see the growing number of members in piclyf. My dashboard is now so alive with pictures and images in all forms and sizes. I can hardly keep up with all of them.

It's exciting to see a Philippine based web and mobile application created by Filipino developers is getting popular from the local market.

Inifinite.ly Alpha -- a social media monitoring tool or website builder?

Excited to receive the invite to infinite.ly Alpha. Before websites / applications become popular and mainstream, they always go through the Alpha, pre-Alpha version. I guess it's owkei to say it's when they are at their ugly stage, it's before celebrities get into tons of physical enhancements, it's before they are flooded with blingbling. I love to see application in their alpha stage because really it is more exciting, it's when they are the roughest.

I'm quite awed at how powerful their Builder feature can be. It makes creating a web site / portal easy with inline editing and drag-and-drop capabilities. This will definitely come handy to those not-so-adept at tweaking html and css like me. There are few kinks  but still I feel this web application looks like more than Alpha.

Since not all can access the infinite.ly Alpha version yet, following are some screenshots of what you can expect from it.

Welcome

Right after creating an account, you will get the infinite.ly's welcome, where they will also provide you with a step-by-step process on how to set-up your infinite.ly account.

Dashboard

I could feel a Luis Buenaventura's signature look and feel in the dashboard. If you have used some applications created by SyndeoLabs, you can see that similarities in the look and feel. (Note: I don't infinite.ly this is from SyndeoLabs.)

Managing Keywords & Social Networks

Inside the application, there's a BUZZ tab. This is where you can add the social networks you want to monitor. For now, you can add and monitor Facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, Gowalla, Twitter, and Youtube. I believe there will be more coming, but I guess these 6 social sites are more than enough.

Then, you can add the keywords you want to monitor. For example, you are interested about people talking about Justin Bieber, Kpop, and Usher because you are selling posters, merchants, music of these artists. So you want to find the people talking about it who you can engage with, and share your items with them.

Analytics

You can check here your popularity. You can find here if the number of people tweeting about Justin Bieber increases or decreases. If you have launched a promo or twitter hashtag, you can monitor the progress or for lack of thereof. 

Publisher


This is where you can blast updates to all the networks attached to your infinite.ly account.

Builder

This is where you can design your infinite.ly's public web view / portal. When I got to this feature, I kind of double check if infinite.ly is just a social media monitoring tool or a website builder. You can actually build a pretty website from infinite.ly's builder feature. If you are technically challenged person like me, infinite.ly's Builder drag-and-drop and inline editing feature makes putting up your web portal easy. (I kinda notice Luis or his team is fond of drag-and-drop.)

So you can easily customize the look of your site without having to deal with html and css.

Public View 

I created a portal that displays people talking about Justin Bieber, Usher, and KPop in infinite.ly. So if I want to have a bird's eyeview of talks about these 3, I can simply take a quick a look at my infinite.ly.

See, you can easily find people to whom you can sell your Justin Bieber, Usher, KPop stuff, or simply someone you can talk with about your music idols.

Infinite.ly are co-founded by Luis Buenaventura, Hunter Nield, and Yoram Heller.You can check the rest of the team at team.infinite.ly -- Evan Sagge, Mae Paulino, Kindred Pasana, Neil Decapia, and Radamanthus Batnag.

Get an invite at infinite.ly, and check if it's a social monitoring tool, a website builder, or both? You can check here as to how I can personally use infinite.ly. Check here if you are interested.

CASHCASHPINOY.com -- another Groupon clone? Another way to get great discounts in Philippines.

It seems like the Groupon-like business is sprouting like mushrooms in the Philippines. CASHCASHPINOY.com was next to BUYanihan.com  to launch a Groupon-like online business. CASHCASHPINOY started offering deals a month after BUYanihan started.


It seems they do not only copy the idea behind Groupon but the look and feel, and even the contents have a striking similiarity. Just take a look at their FAQ pages, and the questions are all the same. Maybe Groupon is offering franchising, or some content management system/template which anybody who wish to do a business like theirs. 

The Groupon idea is that a special group discount will be given if you buy by groups. Following is the definition lifted from the Groupon's FAQ page, 

What is Groupon?

Each day, Groupon features an unbeatable deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in your city. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, we get discounts you won't find anywhere else. We call it "collective buying power!"

Thus, sites like CASHCASHPINOY facilitates the group buying; they are like the bridge between businesses and the buyers / consumers. They would contact establishments (or vice versa) to ask them to offer deals on the site, then individuals can just visit the site to take part of the deal if it interests them. 


But there is one interesting advantage in CASHCASHPINOY. Unlike BUYanihan, CASHCASHPINOY does not require a minimum number of purchasers for a deal to go on. 


From CASHCASHPINOY's FAQ page:

Q. Do you plan to propose deals which require a minimum number of purchasers to be effective?

Most of our deals don't require a minimum number of purchasers.

But sometimes, on exceptional offers, we'll propose deal requiring a minimum number of buyers to be active.

While BUYanihan's FAQ page stated that:

What happens if the Buyanihan deal doesn't reach its required minimum number of purchasers?

If not enough people sign up, then the deal is canceled, and you won't be charged. Better luck next time! So if you really want the Buyanihan, either beg or threaten your friends. 

Another difference between CASHCASHPINOY and BUYanihan is that CASHCASHPINOY offers new deal each day (though, I notice that there are no deals are made Friday to Sunday), while BUYanihan's deal is on a weekly basis.

The team or teams behind CASHCASHPINOY are quite a powerhouse -- ENJOY PHILIPPINES known for its privilege/discount cards, NETBOOSTER ASIA which is an online advertising and marketing agency, and MOONLINE which I think is the team of developers.

Android-Powered SmartPhone by a Philippine Company?

I believe it is no longer a news that Cherry Mobile will be releasing or probably has released today their Android-powered smartphone line. I heard about it some months ago from some ever ever ever reliable source, actually just from my imagination. Then, saw the following shout-out from Cherry Mobile's fan page which confirmed that they are indeed releasing an android unit:

Watch out for the 10-11-10 update. Posting this from my Cherry Mobile Android Smartphone

Nothing interesting in there except that it's from a Filipino mobile product maker company, Cherry Mobile. And, that a fruit-named company, Cherry which sounds closer to Apple, is producing an Android-powered mobile units -- odd combination.

Should we look forward to yet another android phone by Cherry Mobile? 

Some internet-usage stats showed that most people in the developing countries (Third World or whatever we call it), like Philippines, access the world wide web via their mobile phones. I guess for the reason that mobile internet may come more affordable as subscribers don't need to go through the hassle of applying for an internet line/data plan, and mobile phone units with basic internet-browsing capability can be very cheap at second-hand markets.

If Cherry Mobile can offer affordable units to the Philippine market, it can somehow give a better web-browsing experience for the Filipinos. I played a little with iOS, Symbians, RIMs, and Androids. And, for me, Android's mobile internet browser has the best quality -- depending on your OS version, you can even view flash from it.

Nexus' Web Browser

If people want to research via web, we can now do it cheaply via a Cherry Mobile Android phone. Imagine schools in the remote areas can now have a better access to the web via this Android phone.

Another interesting thing to look forward is the world of apps (mobile applications). It will be very interesting to see as to how the majority of the Filipinos will react to the different applications they can download from the android market. If you are into tech, downloading applications is not something new. But for the majority, apps is still not that known, I believe. The interesting thing about it is not really about downloading and using mobile application, but how the apps may spark some ideas in Filipino's mind. I'm hoping that it can make us move to the other side of the fence -- instead of just being the  end users/consumers, we will become more active in creating and be the producers.

Also, those Filipino mobile app developers who happen to have apps in the Android market, may now have a better support from the local market since more people may be able to own an Android phone. 

I think I'm already way out of the highway. Nevertheless, if Cherry Mobile can be a way to introduce the power of Android to the majority of the population, then I guess that's worth looking forward to.

BUYanihan.com Beta -- get a group discount even without a group

With BUYanihan.com, you no longer need to form a group just so you can get a group discount. BUYanihan.com will post a weekly deal from different enterprises and businesses with very big discounts, which people can sign up to. Note that there is a required minimum number of sign-ups for the discounted deal to push through.

Lifted from their site, BUYanihan means:

Where did you get the name "Buyanihan?"

Buyanihan comes from the Pilipino word Bayanihan – meaning collective power and spirit by a group of people to overcome a challenging task. Similarly, Buyanihan means collective group buying power and enjoying big savings and enjoying life!

They started last August 2, 2010, and it looks like they have been offering interesting deals.
1st week -- 50% discount off of Zoobic Zafari Day Tour
2nd week -- 65% off from Residence Inn Tagaytay
3rd week -- 44% discount at  Malacca Restaurant
4th week -- 50% off at Zoocobia Fun Zoo

1st 4 weeks deals

5th week -- 68% off on Drink All You Can at 360 Resto Bar A.venue
6th week -- 50% on Swedish Massage at Blue Water Day Spa
7th week -- 40% off at Jacob's Shawarma
8th week -- 40% off at Tater's

9th week -- 32% off at City Kart Racing Park

Looking at the number of sold BUYanihan coupons, their bestsellers were the Zoobic Safari Day Tour Adventure and Jacob's Shawarma, while the deal with the lowest coupon sold was City Kart Racing Park.

You can pay the coupons you buy online via credit card, debit card, GCash, PayEasy, and Paypal. They also accept Walk-in payments. Their payment system offers convenience to the buyers by offering different options.

If you are familiar with Groupon in US, this kind of concept is no longer new. But BUYanihan.com prided to be the first to offer this kind of getting a group discount here in Philippines. This will be a win-win situation for both the businesses and the consumers. Consumers can find an easier way of getting a discount, while businesses can use this to promote their products and services.

For now, BUYanihan.com deals are available in the NCR / Luzon areas. But they plan to be available in Cebu and Davao by 2nd quarter of 2011. Interesting. I would love to see how Cebu market will react to this kind of group discount concept.

It is interesting to know that BUYanihan.com is owned by a Malaysian firm Platform2u.com founded by Eddie Lee. Platform2u.com also has an existing group-buying operations in Malaysia, but had closed down its  operation in Singapore. Then, opened one here in the Philippines with an initial investment of P8M. Platform2u Philippines is handled by Easy Pha-Max Philippines. (Source: Business Mirror) When I googled Easy Pha-Max Philippines, it's the company behind Wheatgrass -- it's some kind of vitamins, food supplement.

SpellDialer.com -- call me at dial.owrange

I no longer need to give out my boring digits for you to call me via mobile phone. You can call me now by going to Spelldialer.com from your phone's mobile browser (any phone will do as long as it has mobile browsing feature). Of course, you need wifi/mobile internet for you to do that.

simply input dial.owrange on the Dial field 

click that green phone icon to proceed

Try it now, call me via Spelldialer.com using dial.owrange. Standard call rates will apply for the calls you made via Spelldialer.com.

Spelldialer is brought to you by Spelldial. You can check the Spelldial.com site to know more about this product. Also, to create your own 'vanity customized' contact number, simply create an account at their site.

You can also check the following Slideshare presentation for a backgrounder about Spelldial.

SpellDial: The future of dialing

View more presentations from Albert Padin.

Aloo.ph -- Breadcrumb to their New Version

Following is the only image Aloo.ph drop on their facebook page. No sign of the overall SPOT yet, only BREADCRUMBS for now.

I can't wait for the whole cake to be served. It must be really really something yummy that it take quite some time for the re-launch. =)