on blogging.

Each year, I write myself out of MY BLOG.  Blogging for me started out as an outlet and now it’s about everything and nothing in particular – all at once.

I am not my job.  (If you notice, I don’t write much about my livelihood.)  I am not my reviews.  I am not about the events I get to go to, the interesting people that I meet, or the things that I eventually end up doing.

I am how I act like at my job.  I am how I feel about reviews.  I am how I approach events, the first impression I leave on people (for worse or for absolute better, there’s only one me) and how I do the things I end up doing.

That realization makes me think — am I a character I write about, or am I the digitized memories of the person writing this?  (at.this.exact.moment?)

Sometimes, I even wonder — do I write for you, or do I write for me?

Friendster: Connecting Smiles!

This Friday, Friendster will be launching it’s revamp — and the new direction they’ll be taking, in order to strengthen the brand.

See?!  It comes in green!  Lovely! With the new look, comes new, better features — which have all been developed to meet the wants/needs of their target market: the youth!

It’s now easier to upload/organize photos — and from what I hear, high-res photo uploads will also be supported.  Customization of profiles is also still there, in case you don’t like the new green look.  (And why would you not?)  Ben Dunn, (VP Philippines & Global Head of Brand Experience) even jokes about people mistaking Friendster’s new direction to be … green. 

More entertainment options!  “A brand is a product that has great personality,” as Ben Dunn relates, and what they want to happen is when you mention “fun” or “entertainment,” you think of Friendster. There will be wrapped digital gifts and music and that definitely moves things forward, in terms of being a social network.  These are what people are into, and that’s exactly what Friendster will be providing.

Here’s Cheftonio’s video from the talk the other night:

“A brand is, what a brand does,” as Ben says, and getting to see that the people working on the Friendster are young, happy, cool, spirited and positive — we can only see how that shows in the revamp.

Eliciting and displaying the same values as their target market, they aim to capture the passion — when you see that new white-over-green Friendster logo, they expect you to smile — as their new tagline is “Connecting smiles.”

So log-on this Friday to see the new Friendster!  Add me up! 

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A special thanks to the Friendster team and Ben Dunn for the official photos, the video and the talk.

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I still owe Friendster for helping me locate my crush from elementary school.  :p

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Here are some pictures from the presentation:

Dare to be Fit ‘n Right

Say “Fit ‘n Right” and immediately you picture the sweet Del Monte drink running down your throat, making you feel healthy.  Del Monte and SM Taste Asia presented a unique health/wellness/lifestyle blogging event called Dare to be Fit ‘n Right last Friday.

Fitness isn’t all about being thin enough to fit in a pair of x-sized jeans, nor is it about being buff, as master Coach Jim Saret relates — it’s about being healthy, losing x-number-of-pounds or developing biceps is just a bi-product.  It’s about being well-rounded.

He’s done talks for offices, corporations — trains atheletes/champions, even, but give him bloggers — the diverse diversity of mostly-on-their-chairs/in-front-of-computers/junkfood-munching/perpetually-caffeine-hooked (mostly)/probably-too-busy-with-other-things-to-workout types — well, he’s got just the thing for that.

The human body (and how it works) is a science, and he’s a sports scientist.

The group get a full-on scientific explanation (basically) on why we’re … unhealthy.  Sedentary lifestyles coupled with unhealthy nutrition equates to most of us.  The inactive body, may, on its own, burn off 1800 calories a day by being inactive, but couple that with that giant burger, soda and other various junk?  That equates to more calories than the inactive body can burn out in a day.

I’ll try and encapsulate the futile efforts for being unhealthy, based on Coach Jim Saret’s presentation:

If you’re not getting any results, then you must have a lot of reasons.

That’s why he developed the FIT method.

The FIT method is a workout strategy designed to burn off as much as 400 calories by doing just 2/4-minute exercises.  Which is perfect for people-on-the-go, really.  It takes advantage of his extensive knowledge of how the body works, the science and backed by the testing he’s done via-athlete/champion-training.  It’s worked for champions — why shouldn’t it work for you?

But that’s just part of the equation.  Health also means a balanced nutrition.

Del Monte’s Fit ‘n Right has L-Carnitine, a naturally-occuring substance in the human body that, on living cells, helps transport the fatty acids into the mitochondria during the breakdown of the fats and helps generate metabolic energy.  (Essentially, a way for weight loss is speeding up metabolism.)

It also contains B and C vitamins which do all sorts of great things like speed up metabolism, maintain healthy skin tone and promote cell growth and division.

It also really helps that Fit ‘n Right comes in delicious flavors — of which, apple and watermelon are my favorites.  They also announced (and my mum likes this bit) that Fit ‘n Right now comes in liter bottles!  (A cousin points out that this is being advertised, but I haven’t seen television in quite a while to verify.)

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Also, Del Monte, in partnership with SM has organized the Dare to be Fit ‘n Right Fun Run 2009 — a running event on November 22 at the SM Mall of Asia.  Runners may register and choose the race they want to participate in: 3K, 5K or 10K, and is open to both men and women.

It’s also worth noting that there will be big prizes and it is for the benefit of typhoon victims through SM Foundation. 

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It was a pretty fun and educational event.  A big plus was getting to see some of my blogger friends to try out the FIT method — active participation after the discussion!  Also, Coach mistook my flab for a 6-pack, so that’s something.  (I held my breath that time. )

A very big special THANKS to Del Monte Fit ‘n Right and SM Taste Asia for this great opportunity for a healthy change. 

Thanks to Azrael for the heads up and blogger friends for the awesome time. 

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Also, line for the night: “nasa labas, nagpapa-picture.”  Blast.  :p

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[Image above from Azrael's album. ]

The Samsung Corby Puts The “You” In “Youth”

October 17, 2009 — Samsung brought in a little more color to  SM North as it launched its newest mobile baby: The Samsung Corby.  (model:  S3650)

This mobile baby, to be precise, is a new full-touch handset that is designed for the socially-connected lifestyles of the youth.  (rather than trying to fashion a business phone that can ALSO do that)

With built-in support for the BIG big boys of social networks, (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, flickr, etc) this might be the phone that makes you ditch that big bulky (or mebbe sleek and sexy?) computer of yours at home.

“We see strong growth opportunities in this sector and will continue to pioneer new markets with innovative technology. The Corby is consistent with Samsung’s legacy of developing new products and technologies designed for specific audiences and bringing new devices quickly to market,” explained Charlse Choi – VP Hand Held phones, SEPCO

Having the youth in mind, (and realizing their desire to be different) the Corby shall be known for its sleek body design and bold colors.  Having interchangeable slip-on battery covers (called “Fashion Jackets”) in different colors + designs (Jamaican Yellow!  Cupid Pink!  Minimal White!  Festival Orange!  They deserve exclamation points!) makes the phone stand up and shout, “No!  I will not be just another phone that everyone else has!”

The phone’s UI also has what they dub the “Pop-up SNS” notification, to inform you of any new updates and live feeds from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.  It also incorporates device features into these social networks, meaning a video of your dog going bonkers over its own tail can be posted directly to YouTube, or that secret stalker picture you took from the Corby of your crush can be uploaded directly to flickr, Picasa or Photobucket.

“Globally, we are number one for full-screen touch phones and recognize the importance of social networks in the modern mobile industry. Samsung’s target audiences are at the heart of its business strategy and the design and functionality of Samsung Corby meets the needs of a highly digitally connected and style conscious youth audience – as does the affordable price point,” continued Choi.

The full-touch design makes it easier for Corby owners to manipulate on-screen widgets (of which, it was mentioned, are customizable!), or utilize “one finger zoom,” which allows users to zoom in or out USING ONLY ONE FINGER.  There’s also the “smart unlock” feature, which unlocks the phone when the user draws a specific letter, or symbol.

Aside from the colorful phones, there were games, performances that involved orange/pink/yellow-colored girls on stage and a raffle for not one, but two Samsung Corby phones (whose winners are both not me :p ).

For the more technical-detail-looking-reader, here’s the tech specs for the Corby:

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A very special thanks to Samsung and Kat (who invited me to the event, of whom FOR SURE grew like 2-3 inches since the last time I saw her?)

flippish launch party.

Imagine hulking out right.this.second. — you feel a supernatural energy running down your biceps, to your forearms, to your hands — you wonder what’s the nearest thing you could unleash this awesome force unto — then you see the television...

That’s the sort of statement that Flippish was making during their launch party, which was held at Fiama last night.  (The night that television died!  Or when the tv’s death clock got a-ticking.)

Not that you’d reach for the family tv while your nanay is watching her soaps — so you could chuck the tv out the window —- thing is, (as mentioned in their radio guestings) tv ain’t dead yet, but it’s running on life support, and primetime isn’t primetime anymore, at least not in the sense where the nightly shows would be done with by 9, and the news would be over just before 11 in the evening, — AND — most especially when you’re competing with new media — where ANY time is primetime.

Chris Tan of Flippish makes an interesting point about the television’s death rattle — more and more people are tuning in to the internet machine upon reaching home, instead of the tube — and in one of those “if-you-build-it-they-will-come” sort-of-affairs, — he, along with the Video Producers (ViPs!) and the rest of Flippish have pioneered a network of original, top-notch, and exclusive content for the internet-machine junkies.  These aren’t your camera phone videos — the content (shows!) on Flippish are done up like the shows you’d be seeing on tv — treated with first-rate writing/directing/editing and high-tech equipment.

The program, hosted by Roxy Barcelo (Xandy!) started off with the introduction of Flippish, and a peek of what’s in store.  There was also the introduction of the ViPs — FunnySexy/Kring, Chrina, Roman, Dos and Jay — and aren’t they the luckiest people, really — getting to do what they love, and getting paid for it?  Entertainment was provided by a band featured on the Flippish show LSS: Indios, and Biboy Garcia of Queso asking us to say “OH!” when he says “Flippish!”  (Correct me on this one.)

If Flippish has been entertaining the rest of us for the past couple of months, there they go announcing a slew of new shows (Weekend Warriors, Brain Freeze, etc) to keep the net connection streaming (and the viewers hooked) — at.any.time.you(we).like.

Had a blast hanging out with blogger friends — (some of whom I just met there!) with The Bar providing the intoxication.

So, what’re you waiting for?  Go, shoo!  Check out Flippish! Tell your friends!

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A special thanks to (belated-happy-birthday-girl) Kring for the invite, and the rest of the Flippish team for making it happen.  Congratulations, kids!

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[07/05/2009 UPDATE! ]

In a way that better serves Flippish — the Flippish Launch MEGAPOST on VideoCHOPS!  Includes some EXCLUSIVE video features about the video site, o yeh!

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[Pictures from Azrael]

VideoCHOPS!

Coy from CokskiBlue unleashed a sexy beast of a project yesterday: VideoCHOPS!

In essence, it’s sort of a repository of vlogs/clips from your favorite (or soon-to-be) favorite vloggers, a hub for events coverage, opinions/techniques/reviews and a place for aspiring make-it-big-and-spread-like-a-viral pinoy viral vids.  (I’ll let the site itself explain the CHOPS part :p )

Why is this such a good idea?  Because there’s Pinoy vlog talent lurking ‘round the web, and maybe most of us haven’t discovered some of them yet.  — And — and, and, and this being a brainchild collab (correct me if I’m wrong on this one, as usual) of vloggers themselves — you know that there’s already a plan, a passion for making this so.  It wasn’t here the day before, they open it up for consumption, THEY (the other THEY, the THEY I wasn’t referring to on the first part of that lovely sentence fragment) will come.  Discovery through others, beybeh.

Give VideoCHOPS a visit!

P.S. Also, ‘CHOPS’ makes me think of porkchops, which is always always always right.  Like the site.

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