Tuesday, December 18, 2007

How to Play Warbook in Facebook

I've joined Facebook for awhile but never took it seriously until last week. It was impressive to see how that simple social networking site has evolved into a democratic application portal that in the end has given a lot of choice for its community members.

One of the application that I got to try is Warbook. I am not a gaming fanatic of sort but this one really got me hooked. As the game becomes more popular, new players may have a tough time scaling up. So here's a simple guide that I give to fellow new players:

Choose your hero and strengthen it
  1. You need to decide whether you'll be a visionary (ultimate defense), general (balance defense/offense), warmonger (ultimate offense), mogul (trader), magician (prefers magic over brute force), slayer (assasins), necromancer (can use the dead), or automator (low elite upkeep).
  2. You can also invite 20 friends in your Facebook account everyday and earn 25,000 gold for each of them. If one eventually joins, through your invitation, you'll get 150,000 gold too.
  3. As you level up, either through attacking or be attacked, you can decide to use the experience points to increase powers in attack, defense, spells, and mana. You can do this in Your Hero's page.
Expand your kingdom
  1. Create Mines to increase your income. (priority)
    Note that your kingdom earns on an hourly basis that you can use to expand it further and build infrastructure. Make sure that your kingdom generates more income than its hourly upkeep or cost.
  2. Build Forts (priority) and Training Grounds equally to protect your kingdom and strengthen your attack.
  3. Build Barracks to reduce your army recruitment and upgrade cost.
  4. Build Amplifiers and Barriers (priority) to strengthen and protect yourself from magical attacks.
  5. Use your Mana to cast spells such as alchemy (create gold) and boundary shift (enlarge your kingdom). This gets partially replenished every hour so make sure to use it whenever possible.
  6. Update (10/17/2007): I had to admit that as you level higher, improving your kingdom takes a setback as it can be frustrating whenever you get attacked after major work in this area. I ended up focusing more on my army build-up. However, due to an increase earthquake and fireball attacks, I now focus as well on increasing my barriers.
Build your army
  • It is best to protect your kingdom by having at least 2 to 12 personnel per acre of land you have. (Thanks Toby for additional tip there!) Whether you are attacking or the one on the defensive, it is best to convert your soldiers to their strongest form as possible such as knights (offense), pikemen (defense), elites (strong on both offense and defense). Depending on your hero type, the elites are also referred to as defender (2 attack and 8 defense score), elite (5 attack and 5 defense score), berserker (8 attack and 2 defense score), legionnaire (3 attack and 5 defense score), wizard (5 attack and 3 defense score), assasins (6 attack and 2 defense score), zombies (3 attack and 3 defense score), machina (5 attack and 5 defense score).
    • Update (10/17/2007): As I leveled higher, I stopped upgrading my soldiers to elite. When computing amount paid to get an elite, it appears to be more cheaper and practical to invest instead on knights and pikemen.
  • Whether you win or lose during attacks, spend your gold immediately to replenish your army. When your attackers can't extract any gold from you, it deters their motivation to attack.
Attack / conquer enemy lands or repel attackers
Upon sign-up in Warbook, you go through a 2-hour period of protection. Make sure to use this time to set-up your infrastructure and army utilizing your hourly kingdom's income.

You can level up by either attacking (offense) or be able to repel attacks (defense). Winning or losing can be influenced by:
  1. The number of forts, training ground, amplifiers, barriers.
  2. The strength of your army (number of personnel, attack or defense score per personnel, hero's attack or defense rating, % of training ground or defense ports)
When attacking or counter-attacking, note that:
  • You can size up your enemy or target by casting a spell using your mana in their hero's page. This can be used to anonymously spy (show hero's gold and army resources) and/or survey (shows infrastructure of the kingdom) them.
  • You can attack or counter-attack a hero as much as you can (and vice-versa). However, Warbook does not let a hero to be brought completely down and bar further attacks once it reaches the limit a hero's kingdom can take.
    • Update (10/17/2007): Attacking a hero more than 2x may be considered a multi-attack, especially if they are part of an alliance.
    • Update (10/17/2007): On the other hand, if you are being multi-attack, you can consider joining an alliance. If you have lots of friends in Warbook, forming an alliance can be a good option too.
    • Update (10/17/2007): To survive and grow in Warbook, hit the smallest kingdom that you are allowed to attack but the strongest hero to increase chances of success and get high exp to level up.
      • As of December 18, I now focus on attacking heroes with the same land size as I am but lower levels. I think it is useless to be a high rank hero if your land is small.
      • As of January 2008, I now attack heroes of levels higher than mine but smaller in land size.
    • Update: (11/8/2007): Warbook just added the Super Search feature and this is now what I use to find heroes that can be attacked. Although I only focus on those whose level is higher than mine. The good thing about it is that leveling up became faster and chances of chain attack gets minimized. Although I had to admit that the game is beginning to be less exciting since I start using it. (As of December 18, this is no longer the case for this feature, I stopped using it).
  • Another option in attacking is by casting spells such as magic vortex (drain half of opponent's mana), fireball (destroys opponent's army), and earthquake (destroys opponent's infrastructure). This is dependent on how much spell power and mana you have and which you can increase as you level-up in the hero's page. This is an option if you find that an opponent's barrier is not that strong during your survey.
    • Note that magicians with higher rank can also land grab (get opponent's land and convert to own) using their mana.
    • Note that warmonger and slayer can use their bloodlust mana to increase their attack score for a period of time.
    • The necromancer can use its raise dead mana to resurrect its dead army members to zombie.
Trade agreement, aid package, and alliances (subject to Warbook tax as applicable)
  • Note that you can enter into a trade agreement with other heros. This is where you can trade gold in exchange for soldiers or vice versa. As a newbie, I find that sending a trade agreement proposal while being attacked is also like a white flag being waived.
  • You can also send an aid package to another hero such as soldiers or gold that they can use to rebuild their kingdom.
  • You can also join alliances to help out or be helped by fellow heroes. When you have enough gold, you can also start your own alliance.
  • I'm still figuring out how Factions work.
I'm still a newbie in Warbook and hope to update this guide as I learn the game more. For now, my goal is to reach Level 50 in Warbook which is considered the maximum level that you can attain in the game. Don't forget to monitor and join the discussion to get a feel of the community too. Additional tips are more than welcome. Thanks!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Entries Masterlist: The Filipina Writing Project

Here's the master list of entries for the Filipina Writing Project. I encourage you all to link to the entries listed here to help them attain search engine visibility for the keyword Filipina. Many thanks to everyone who supported this writing project!

This writing project will not be possible without the support of sponsors such as Barangay.ph, Kababayan.ph, MyUSMailbox.com, RegaloService.com, Acclaim Butterflies, and Chikka.com.
  1. Filipina: Isa ring Ina
  2. Filipina Writing Contest and My Favorite Filipina Blogger
  3. Filipina is a Filipino Woman
  4. Filipina Pride
  5. Ang mga Filipina ng Buhay Ko
  6. The Filipina in the Eyes of the World
  7. 3 Things You Possibly Do Not Know about the Filipina
  8. A Topless Filipina in Europe
  9. What is a Filipina?
  10. Ako si Pina.. At ito ang aking kuwento...
  11. Filipina - Boholana, Part 1
  12. Dalawang Anyo ng Pinay
  13. Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion Filipina
  14. Nang Itaas Niya Ang Kanyang Kamay
  15. Hindi lang Filipina Dating, Dating Filipina, Wow Filipina talaga!
  16. A Different Filipina
  17. Filipina: prostitution and exploitation
  18. Ang Pinay sa Buhay ni Pinoy Ambisyoso
  19. They are Filipinas Too
  20. Filipina 2007
  21. The Portrait of a Japayuki as a Filipina
  22. Filipino DH (Die Hard Filipina)
  23. Maria “Ria” A. Jose is a Filipina
  24. The Ideal Filipina In The Heart And Mind of A Filipina (Not A Mere Dating Or Sex Object)
  25. Filipina
  26. Different Faces of a Filipina
  27. Are you just a Filipina?
  28. Ako po si Elay, Nagbibigay Pugay
  29. Filipina Since Birth
  30. Filipinas are Natural Entrepreneurs
  31. Spotlight: Filipina Bloggers
  32. Looking Beyond the Heart of a Filipina
  33. My Filipina Thoughts
  34. The Filipina Campaign
  35. Pinay Na, Nars Pa!
  36. Biking Moves These Filipinas
  37. Filipinas: Tres Marias
  38. Long live Bb Filipinas
  39. Google Suggested Pinay Scandal
  40. Quest for Search Engine Visibility for the keyword “Filipina”
  41. Filipina
  42. The Different PERSONAS of a Filipina
  43. A Prayer for a Filipina
  44. A Filipina in Society
  45. Si Aling Epang
  46. Yan ang Filipina
  47. Filipina Nurse
  48. Traits of a Filipina
  49. Mukha ng Dalagang Filipina
  50. Macho I Love Yous
  51. Portrait of the Strong Filipina
  52. Filipina in Perspective
  53. Model Filipinas, modern Gabrielas: Liza Maza and Luz Ilagan
  54. Hot Filipina
  55. Filipina Ako. I am a Filipina
  56. Uber-Proud, Tanned Filipina
  57. Sarado na ang mga Karinderyang Filipina ang Putahe
  58. Sing-Kwenta
  59. Babae sa Pag-unlad at Pagbabago
  60. Ang Nanay ko
  61. Babae
  62. Adobong Pinay
  63. Ina Ko ay Isang Magiting na Filipina
  64. Filipina Entrepreneur
  65. Proudly Pinay: The Filipina Who Strut on Her Heels
  66. A Filipina Women is...
  67. Story of a Young Filipina Woman - The Fighter in Me
  68. Filipina works! Abroad
  69. The Filipina Superwoman
  70. Two Popular and Unique Individuals, Both Filipina
  71. Filipina as Other
  72. Superiority of Women in the Philippine Society
  73. The Funniest Filipina Vloggers
  74. Filipina Power
All participants are reminded as well not to forget to confirm attendance for the November 28, Filipina Writing Project Winners Announcement and Eyeball.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Filipino version of text in Twitter

With so many versions of Twitter clients coming out in the market, I think it will be a great idea if it can have a Filipino version of it too. However, I'm tinkering on what would be the appropriate Filipino word for some of it. Your suggestion for the right Filipino word shall be greatly appreciated. (I know that some of them are funny!)
  1. What are you doing? - Ano ang ginagawa mo?
  2. Loading... - Inilalagay
  3. Licence: GNU GPL v2 - Lisensiya: GNU GPL v2
  4. Enter your message here.. - Ilagay ang iyong gustong sabihin dito...
  5. Enter your direct message here... - Ilagay ang iyong personal na sasabihin dito
  6. Parameters - ??
  7. Location - Lugar
  8. Web site - ??
  9. Show friends - Ipakita ang listahan ng kaibigan
  10. Hide friends - Itago ang listahan ng kaibigan
  11. Switch Timeline - ??
  12. Refresh - ??
  13. Current Time Unknown - Kasalukuyang Oras Hindi Alam
  14. Timeline - Pangyayari
  15. Cancel - Huwag ituloy
  16. Update now - Ilagay ang pinakabago
  17. A new Twitter release is available. You should upgrade now! - Pinakabagong labas ng Twitter ay narito na. Kunin ito ngayon!
  18. Click here to create a free Twitter account - ??
  19. User - ??
  20. Password - ??
  21. Lines - Linya
  22. Apply - Gamitin
  23. Theme - Tema
  24. Language - Wika
  25. Direct message - Personal na mensahe
  26. Send - Ipadala
  27. Following - Sinusubaybayan
  28. Followers - Sumusubaybay
  29. character(s) left - titik na natitira
  30. about a second ago - isang segundo ang lumipas
  31. about x seconds ago - mga x segundo ang lumipas
  32. about a minute ago - isang minuto ang lumipas
  33. about x minutes ago - mga x minuto ang lumipas
  34. about an hour ago - isang oras ang lumipas
  35. about x hours ago - mga x oras ang lumipas
  36. about a day ago - kahapon
  37. about x days ago - mga x araw ang lumipas

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Tracking Entries in Paradise Philippines SEO Competition

I just realized yesterday that the contest links for BayanihanSEO competition is now available and can be posted by entries in their blog. One of the things I noticed in the ItuloyAngSulong contest the last time was some fellow entries don't put up the contest sponsor links right from the start. As I'm coming in as a sponsor this time, what I'd like to do in this blog post is update this regularly as I see more entries. Note that the site listed here is based on those appearing in Technorati search results for my sites. Hopefully, it can also give some link love to participants.

Software Process Improvement
E-Commerce
Write at home
Advertising Income
E-Commerce Community
Filipina
I also hope that the participants can take advantage of other contests that can also generate link love to their site and possibly win too such as the Filipina Writing Project and You Got Blogged.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Goal - to reach Level 50 in Warbook

I just reached a Level 13 status in Warbook and quite comfortable in taking the initiative to attack and not bothered receiving it as well.

The upgrade that happened in the game lately is the Level 50 limit. One of the reasons behind it is to make the playing field as reasonably competitive as possible. What I like about this move is that the ending is clear. For players like me, it is like a finish line that can be targeted upon although the path is unpredictable, which makes it exciting.

Being able to level up from level 11 last week to level 13 was due to:
  • Attacking kingdoms that are no more than three (3) times smaller. To do that, assuming you'll attack the smallest, check your kingdom size and divide that by 3. Example: If your kingdom size is 3000, you divide that by 3 and you'll get 1000. Search for kingdoms that are 1001 to 1010 in size and pick one that you can attack from there. I now prioritize attacking those with the highest level in the result and not affiliated to any alliance.

    If you are lucky, you'll find them neglecting their hero already with lots of gold in it. Also, the higher the level of the hero you are attacking, the higher the experience points.

  • Focus on strengthening my knights and pikemen. I use my hourly gold income to get knights prior to attack and use gold gathered during attacks or mana to replenish the pikemen.
Lastly, don't get discouraged by attacks as this forms part of your army per acre ratio finetuning. Just target to reach Level 50 fair and square - no shortcut or cheats or scripts.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Creating a Warbook Alliance and manage Kingdom growth

Over the weekend, my hero reached a Level 11 status in Warbook. There are the things I'm doing now in the game to sustain kingdom growth slowly. This includes:
  • Have a ratio of at least 10 army personnel per acre. At least 50% of them be made to pikemen, 10% elites, 30% knights, and 10% soldiers.
  • Carry out attacks whenever alchemy casting is due. As the gold given is based on your kingdom's hourly revenue, successful attacks prior to casting can temporarily increase your land and reduce army size. Make sure that your army ratio is more than 10 per acre before carrying out an attack.
  • Note that as your hero's level increases, the number of exp points needed to level up gets higher. If your goal is to go up once a week, then carrying out 5-10 attacks per day may be necessary.
Usually after overnight, heroes find themselves having more than 1 million gold and may be tempted to create a Warbook alliance. Think if you really need to create or join an existing one. The advantage in being part of a Warbook alliance includes:
  • Being able to ask for help from fellow alliance members whenever you get more than 2 attacks in a day and unable to fight back due to size disadvantage.
  • Be less susceptible to attacks as heroes with alliance affiliation are less attacked for free of being mobbed.
The challenge in creating and maintaining a Warbook alliance includes:
  • You must have friends of various hero levels eager to join you before creating an alliance. The last thing that you want is to be alone in it. I've seen several players who created an alliance and later on requesting it to be deleted - as they are unable to join bigger groups when they need help and have not much members in it.
  • You are responsible for your members. Make sure they follow alliance rules, such as attacking another hero up to 2x only, to avoid getting you all into trouble. This is the reason also why I've made my alliance a close group with five members at the moment for easy management. Although each one is able to recommend future members and be responsible for them.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

How to Survive in Warbook

This is a follow-up to how to play Warbook in Facebook guide that I posted last week. I just reached Level 10 in the game and learned a lot of lessons to survive in the game. Here are some of them:
  1. Focus on building your army
    Whenever you gain gold through conquest, alchemy, or hourly income, spend that in building your army. Although the elites are the best, they can be fairly expensive. So it is best to spread your investment to knights and pikemen instead as they are cheaper and practical too.

  2. Be cautious when making counter-attack
    Just because you were able to repel an attack, it doesn't mean you will win when you hit them back. Make sure that your attack score is the same or higher than your defense score before making a counter-attack. You can also use your mana to spy on them to check how big their army is and compare with yours.

  3. Hit the smallest to increase chances of success
    You can only attack kingdoms that are no more than three (3) times smaller or bigger than you. To do that, assuming you'll attack the smallest, check your kingdom size and divide that by 3. Example: If your kingdom size is 3000, you divide that by 3 and you'll get 1000. Search for kingdoms that are 1001 to 1010 in size and pick the strongest hero that you can attack from there for high exp (to level up faster). Make sure to read if they still have resources or not so you won't waste your army.

  4. Make one or two attacks an hour
    Don't go into an attacking spree to boost your gold and kingdom. The more you attack, you also lose men in your army. As a result, your defense will be weaken and all the land you gain can just be gone in a snap. Also, when you over-attack a hero that belongs to an alliance, you might get subjected to multi-attacks. If you are being over-attacked like more than three times in a day or almost daily, you can join an alliance and ask for help or post a shout-out in the forums.

  5. Attack a kingdom once except.....
    By default, it is practical to attack a kingdom only once - whether you succeed or get repelled. An exemption is when you get more than 10,000 gold in the first attack that gives a hint that the said kingdom is already neglected.
I'm still learning the game, but aiming for Level 50 in Warbook, and will post more survival tips as I experience them.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Review Filipina entries in StumbleUpon

I began posting Filipina Writing Project entries in StumbleUpon. I encourage you to check it out and review them. Helping spread the word will be key to its propagation.

I also sent a request asking for Filipino as a language option. Once that is done, will be able to add Filipino-written entries too.

Thank you again for supporting the Filipina Writing Project.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Congratulations to Wika2007!

I'd like to express my congratulations to the moderators of Pinoy Blogosphere for the very successful Wika2007 writing project. Efforts like this indeed challenges Filipino bloggers to come up with high quality content.

With nearly 60 entries in just a span of two weeks, this competition has a lot of potential in the years to come.
  1. Huwag mo nang itanong by Michael P. De Guzman
  2. For the LOVE of Wisdom by Bam
  3. Tuliro by Lizbeth Buenaflor
  4. AOL Wika 2007 Entry : “Maraming Wika, Matatag na Bansa” by Lionheart
  5. Lahi by Hazel Sheryll Reambillo
  6. Ang Wikang Tagalog Bow by Geri Barcelona
  7. Alay sa Buwan ng Wika by Eljon Salenga
  8. Katimauan para king sariling Amanu! by Jason Paul Laxamana
  9. United We Stand, Divided We Fall by Mary Roselyn L. Reyes
  10. Linggo ng Wika Special: “Aral ng Kasaysayan” by Don
  11. Bayang minumulto… by McRey
  12. Naykupu! by Ynon
  13. Language and the Heaven-sent story by Timlight
  14. Isang Click para sa Halo Halo Espesyal Pilipino by Hatchzel
  15. Tungo sa pagbabanyuhay by Ding Fuellos
  16. WIKANG FILIPINO, DAPAT PAGYAMANIN by Alice Fajardo
  17. Maraming Wika, Matatag na Bansa by Paul Vincent
  18. Maraming Wika, Matatag na Bansa by Hussein Catanyag
  19. Ang paradigm shift at ang mga erehe ng KWF by Willy Prilles, Jr.
  20. Ukinenam: an expression only by Rens Sese
  21. PAGKAKAISA SA KABILA NG PAGKAKAIBA by Mary Grace Reglos
  22. Ang Pagladlad ng Kapa by Empress Maruja
  23. A Language We All Need to Learn by Ayel
  24. Maraming Wika, Matatag na Bansa by Conrad Miguel E. Gozalo
  25. Ang ‘Tag-ray’ at ang Wikang Pinoy! by Fjordan G. Allego
  26. Taste the Philippines by Mark Aethen G. Agana
  27. Maraming Wika, mas marami ang mabahong isda! by Irvin P. Sto. Tomas
  28. Imperyalistang Maynila: A Wika 2007 Entry by Ariel James A. Matela
  29. Alitaptap by Denib Josette M. Suguitan
  30. Ang Ikalawang Tore ni Babel by Juan Karlo Licudine
  31. Hoy! Mas marami nga kaming wika, matatag naman kami!!! by Jan Marvi F. Atienza
  32. Wika at Musika by Garry Victor Urbi
  33. YAPAK NI RIZAL by Kc Victoria
  34. Si Bisoy, sa hamon ng maraming Wika by Richard V. Diongson
  35. Liham pasasalamat kay PILIPINO by Mark Monta
  36. Pitong Libong Pulo: Binigkis ng Iisang Wika by Micaela Fransesca Rodriguez
  37. Silip sa WIka by Raymund Salumbides
  38. Tulay by Hedrick Jan Cabrera
  39. Hindi Ito Entry Sa Wika 2007 Blog Writing Contest by Mamang Sorbetero
  40. Pudra by Edward Purnell
  41. Bakit ba Hindi Ako nag-Filipino Major? by Tyrene Delgado
  42. Wikang Filipino… Naaan ka na? by Richard Coronacion
  43. Filipino: Bonding a Nation and Its People by AnitoKid
  44. May Himig ang Abakada by Aaron James R. San Pedro
  45. AKALA MO LANG WALA PERO MERON MERON MERON! WAPAK! by Chibi
  46. Ang Obra by Feddie Marc S. Perez
  47. ‘THE’ Filipino Language: WHAT THE HECK DOES THIS MEAN??? by Frances Paola G. Doplon
  48. Pista ng Wikang Filipino/The Spectacle of the Filipino Language by Marocharim
  49. Nosebleed by Tricia Ferrer
  50. MINDANAO KINI (this is Mindanao) by Hector Minoza
  51. Speak the ‘Wika’ Go Global! by Lord Art Florenz M. Lomarda
  52. Anthem of Nations by Catherine Pascual
  53. Ang Mother Tounge at Lingua Franca by Lester G. Cavestany
  54. Paglipas by Philip Marco C. Caballes
  55. Posible Kaya? by Donald Bercasio
  56. Inglish ispiking? by Karla Chan
  57. Maraming Wika, Matatag Na Bansa by JP Tolledo
If you have an entry preference, you can start voting them now.

I also encourage all participants to also join You Got Blogged (review a blog contest) and the Filipina Writing Project.

Friday, August 03, 2007

Sponsoring and Monitoring You Got Blogged!


For the past two weeks, Blogie and I have been negotiating on how to best support the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit. As I won't make it in Davao during that time, being a sponsor in the conference proper will not be practical.

Then came You Got Blogged! A Review-a-Blog Competition. The intent of this project is to focus the spotlight on Mindanao made blogs. I encourage you to sponsor as there are prizes at stake too.

Through this project, I hope this will support the efforts of our club members based in Davao, Cagaya de Oro (Stephanie Caragos), and other parts of Mindanao. Cheers!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Sponsoring the Wika 2007 Blog Writing Contest

Earlier this week, I've made the decision to sign up as a sponsor for the Wika 2007 Blog Writing Contest. The idea was brought to my attention by the moderators of the Pinoy Blogosphere.

The aim of this competition is to promote and strengthen our language. The submission of entries will be from August 6 to 18.

The winner shall be announced on August 29. This contest is open to all Filipino bloggers here and abroad.

Prizes ranged from P1000 to P5000 in cash. It also includes domain name and web hosting.

I'll measure the effectiveness of this sponsorship by the number of persons signing up as a member in the DigitalFilipino.com Club.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Sponsoring and Monitoring the Paradise Philippines SEO Competition

Last week, I disseminated information about the Paradise Philippines - P600,000 Bayanihan SEO contest where DigitalFilipino is one of the sponsors. From hereon, I will be monitoring developments in the competition.

My motivation in sponsoring the contest and how I'll measure its effectiveness includes:
  • increase in search engine ranking of the sites I'm promoting through the competition.
  • increase membership in my two communities.
  • attract bloggers and content writers to join my ad revenue and content writing programs.
  • get my personal site associated with the Filipina keyword.
  • sustaining my primary website's campaign as an e-commerce resource.
Whether I will succeed in doing the above remains to be seen in the months to come. Once the contest code generator is up and entries began posting the code in their site, I shall be monitoring its effectiveness and write about my observations.

Those who will blog about the things I post here and provide interesting insights, can expect link love as well. This applies to old and new posts.

Have fun to all Paradise Philippines - P600,000 Bayanihan SEO contest competition participants!

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Ocean's 13: missing the surprise element


Being able to watch and be thrilled by Ocean's 11 and Ocean's 12, expectations on how Ocean's 13 will awe moviegoers like me can be very high, especially with Al Pacino joining the movie.

I enjoyed the movie, no doubt. Some thoughts:
  • At least Matt Damon's role, Linus Caldwell, is far better than the first two. He has gain more skills and at comfort with what he does.
  • Danny Ocean is somehow losing the fire for this kind of work. Not as suave as before.
  • Willy Bank's participation could have been further extended like how he handled the backlash of the earthquake. They could have shown some background stories or images while they describe how Willy Bank outsmarted his past partners.
  • Francois Toulour, given the skills he possess and shown in Ocean's 12, could have done more stunts and crazy act to get the jewels.
The film kinda gave the feeling that it was rushed. I just can't help but missed the surprise element that awed me on Ocean's 11 and 12.

It wasn't clear on how much money they made because of the action. Although it is amusing how they Terry Benedict became a great charity giver at the end of the film.

I miss the women. It would be great if Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta Jones were still in the movie and provide additional twist in the film.

Perhaps not giving the audience what it would expect is a suprise by itself. However, the Ocean's movie series with its powerhouse cast should always outperform itself on all aspects.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Let's vote on Monday and reverse low turn-out trend

I encourage all readers of this blog to vote this coming Monday and encourage your friends, family, peers, and the people you meet to exercise their right and privilege to choose the future leaders of this country. Let us all participate in the electoral process and reverse the low turn-out trend!

Please feel free to disseminate these voter education videos by Senator MAR Roxas.

Long version



Short version


Sunday, May 06, 2007

Monitoring site performance with Performancing Metrics

I'm happy to see that Performancing Metrics is up and running again. I now use this to monitor the statistics performance of my website. I had a pause when it shut down its previous version of the service.

Having a metrics service in installed in your site will surely help in boosting your website performance. I also admit that it would not have been possible for me to escalate the growth of my site and win the Yahoo category of the Ituloy AngSulong competition if not for the use of Performancing Metrics.

Features I found to be most interesting so far are:
  • See number and actual actions taken by each visitor to your blog/website.
  • Shows location of your last 50 visitors in a global map.
  • Top entrance and exit pages.
  • Spy feature that shows activity of live visitors in your site/blog.
  • Integrates with FeedBurner.

With all these great features, all I can say is welcome back Performancing Metrics!

Owning a Cebu-made Alegre guitar


Yesterday, I got the chance to visit the Alegre Guitar Shop at Abuno, Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City. I found out from the travel tour guide that Abuno is famous for guitar making and the skill has been passed on from one generation to the next. Even the famous guitar makers in the country gets the best guitar craftsmen from Abuno.


Prices of the guitar from vary from one thousand seven hundred pesos (P1,700) to twenty-eight thousand pesos (P28,000). (Photos taken using the Palm Treo 680)

I got a folk guitar, made of narra, that cost five thousand five hundred pesos (P5,500) for my Rockista kid and she loved it.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Has your ISP recovered from the Taiwan earthquake? (or MyDestiny Sucks???)

I had the opportunity to catch up via email with a long-time friend. In the process of our update, the question "how is your Internet access?" came out.

As I shared before, I was hardly affected by the Taiwan earthquake and even playing games comfortably right now. However, there are still some ISPs, like mydestiny, whose Internet service seems not to have recovered to date. Its bandwidth dilemma continues.

On a positive note, it is interesting to see how this company continues to thrive despite competition from traditional carriers. I noticed also that very rare would you find ISPs providing a public forum for users to post their concerns. Most would like to keep this type of complaints hidden from the public eye.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Make a difference in the coming Philippine elections by joining VforCE

VforCE, or 1 Million Volunteers for Clean Elections, is a nationwide movement of volunteer individuals and organizations, committed to providing voter education and volunteer training to protect the integrity of the elections, to fighting fraud and violence, and to working for long-term political and social reform.



My daughter and I are asked to help out in the data encoding during elections. We will be attending the briefing this Saturday at St. Peter Church - Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City and will post more developments on that soon.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Disposing of Zip and Jaz drive gadgets

When the zip drive became popular in 2002, I am one of those who availed of such technology and use it for backing up my files. Today, we have usb stick drives up to 2GB in size with the price almost less than half of the traditional zip drive before.

How did you manage to get rid of your zip drives? I feel guilty just letting it get stucked in a plastic.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Nissan Vanette 1995 model for sale


I always liked this vehicle as it rhymed with my name. Very comfortable too.

Nissan Vanette 1995 model for sale
  • mint green, anzhal paint

  • 2 captain seats

  • gasoline engine

  • Kenwood 4-channel car stereo

  • power window and door lock

  • air-conditioned

  • modified not to over-heat

  • Selling price - P150,000

Direct buyers only. Contact yours truly at 0917-4574151 for meeting set-up if interested.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Hospital horror stories

This is not new, I've seen a few bloggers who shared their personal experience in this area. However, what prompted me to blog this was after watching a story in the tv program "Imbestigador" - sharing a story about a patient potentially neglected by the hospital staff(s) that resulted to death.

Four years ago, I brought my son to the emergency room of the Philippine Children's Medical Center wanting to be sure that he doesn't have dengue. While waiting to be called, a child was brought to the hospital, who seem to live in the slums and claimed that a snake has bitten her.

A few minutes later, the child had an attack of sorts that prompted the staff(s) to give her a CPR. While doing it, another staff, who appears like a senior one in position, approached them and said something. They started laughing and had a quick hearty exchange of words.

Very shortly, the child died, and they began comforting the relative beside them then.

It was shocking. My son, confused, could only ask me, "bakit ganun sila?"

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Level 35 in Granado Espada


Here's an update on our Granado Espada closed beta gaming experience. I should have posted this much earlier but so much stuff got in the way.
  • We joined the Ninja Monkey faction. Our family reputation is currently at 192. We need around 200 to be able to build your own faction.
  • If the enemy's name is written in white color, you get no EXP. If red, 40% of the original EXP. It is higher for orange, around 60% or 80% of the original EXP. Yellow is the best as you'll get all the EXP.
  • After the tainted quest, talk to Claude who will give you a challenge to defeat him. Unfortunately, at first, we had a hard time beating him as his one attack can hit you all three. If you are level 21, it will cause you 483 damage. His special skill or stance damages around 960 in one direction. Of course, we conquered him in the end.
  • We got into a lot of quest. Make sure that your squad is big when you enter the Tetra Ruins as the spawn rate is high.
  • We got into 29 duels and won 16 of them.
The closed beta will be done soon and our account will be wiped out. It is one unforgettable experience and hope to join more closed beta opportunities like this soon. I hope to meet some Granado Espada closed beta testers at iBlog3: the 3rd Philippine Blogging Summit.

Also, are you a DreamVille member? If yes, add me!
(P.S. Referring to the photo included here, our family is the one carrying that huge sword!!!)

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Up and running again with Granado Espada


Our Granado Espada playing adventure was paused since Sunday night as I tried securing the computer where it was loaded. Well its the kids' computers and didn't care much about then. Without agreeing to any re-formating, the machine is now fixed, with 700+ RAM and running so cool.

At Level 19, we were able to do the following:
  • Make a mission or quest to get a reward that you could use to avail of upgrades.
  • You can get soldier cards, NPC cards, that you can use during fight quest.
  • We were able to buy ourselves the round-top hats. Not so cute for the elementalist but the guys really look handsome with them. Those nice costumes are pretty darn expensive.
  • Harder to level up once you reach level 15.
  • Ramiro almost kicked our ass after we said that the photo of a lady musketeer he showed is pretty. It was unbelievable and ridiculuous actually. He was able to summon flame ground and deluge of an elementalist, among other powers. Two of us got killed in that brief encounter. Fortunately, upon revival, we were able to beat him and he already pledged his loyalty to us. To utilize Ramiro, we need to have an extra space in our barracks (we already have 4) which we don't have now. We're still figuring this out.
  • In the old armour quest part 1, we were able to find the item behind a stone. The price is an EXP card with 1000 points.
  • We experimented with the new poses we bought. (as a Mom, now that's pathetic but the kids were having so much fun with it)

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Joining GSIRT Philippines


The idea of organizing government security incident response team has always been an advocacy by friends in the law enforcement and IT security field. I've always been supportive but at times doubt the direction of such body will take.

Last February 21, I found myself in the meeting discussing possible activities of those who joined the Microsoft's Government Security Program. PNP CIDG's Colonel Gilbert Sosa took the lead in pushing for the creation of a GSIRT team that is currently a unit under group. We elected several persons at that time who can function as the interim team. I became part of that group and here's the officers' list:

President – Col. Gilbert Sosa

Vice-President – P/Sr Antonio Delgado

Secretary – Ms. Ollie Hulguin

Treasurer – Mr. Richard Paul Quinlog

Auditor – Janette Toral

Last Thursday, our group met again and decided on activities and services that GSIRT can offer from reactive, proactive, to other services within the government. There's also a need to be part of international group to formalize GSIRT's recognition internationally.

To raise the resources, we agreed to hold a Security Incident Response conference whose income will be utilized to faciliate the fees for international membership and buy resources needed to support GSIRT operations.

My spirit is high with this advocacy as its contribution possibility to the community has a lot of potential.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Toral Family enters Granado Espada


Finally, I got the chance to pick up the CD yesterday and join the close beta of Granado Espada. There's at least five of us in the family who agreed playing alternately with the intent of fully exploiting the game.

When preparing for this game, one of the concerns that we had is our Internet connection. Good thing I'm testing Globe 3G at this time using the Huawei E220 USB modem. So far, we've been playing well using this as our primary Internet connection.

As far as Granado Espada is concern, day 1, we've learned the following:
  • It is a challenge to play with it due to numerous controls.

  • As we're just starting, it will take some time to master what each character is capable of. So far we're playing elementalist, wizard, and fighter.

  • The fun thing about it is that it is easy to move or level up.

  • There are also items that can be found to heal yourself while playing.

  • On some dungeons, it is best to partner with other players as the opponents are very strong.

More updates on this one next time. The kids are playing! We're now level 15!

Monday, February 26, 2007

Yahoo's New Ranking Model have Inital Positive Impact on Sponsored Search Click-Through Rates

comScore Networks released the results of a study analyzing the changes in Yahoo!’s click-through rates for sponsored search ads since the official U.S. launch of its new ranking model on February 5, 2007. The introduction of the ranking model is the second phase in the rollout of Yahoo!’s new search advertising system, known as Project Panama. The study is based on the online behavior of comScore’s U.S. sample of 1 million Internet users.

Using the week ending February 4, 2007 as a baseline for sponsored search click-through rates (i.e. total clicks on sponsored search ads divided by total searches) before the ranking model launched, comScore studied the two subsequent weeks of click-through data to evaluate the impact of the new ranking model. comScore’s data indicate that for each of the two weeks subsequent to the launch (ending February 11, 2007 and February 18, 2007), Yahoo! Sites experienced a noticeable lift in its sponsored search click-through rate. The week ending February 11 saw a 5-percent increase, while the week ending February 18 showed a 9-percent jump.

Yahoo! Sponsored Click Composition Increasing

Another anticipated result of Yahoo!’s new ranking model is a shift in composition of total click volume from algorithmic to sponsored. The “sponsored click composition” metric (i.e. sponsored clicks as a percentage of total clicks) is critical in understanding Yahoo!’s success in improving both monetization and user experience. qSearch data show positive gains in this area, with sponsored clicks representing 10.6 percent and 11.1 percent of total click volume in the weeks ending February 11 and February 18, respectively. These data represent increases of 0.5 and 1.0 points in the weeks following the new ranking model launch.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Congratulations to all the winners of Ituloy AngSulong

Congratulations to SEO Philippines and Marc Macalua for the very successful Ituloy AngSulong SEO competition.

Being able to win a prize was very satisfying and well worth the effort of the past 4 months. Of course, what I was able to build and achieve during the contest duration for myself is way beyond the value of the contest prize.

I was able to meet Rhiza Sanchez and Guada “Ada” Lajara who won in the Google and MSN category. After the event, Gwen, Abby, and I catched up at Iceberg to relieve ourselves of the hot weather. Marc announced that they will take a break from organizing an SEO contest to give way for the formal organization of SEO Philippines. We discussed that such break may be a good time to get more women into SEO - by organizing a small contest version for women. That way, by the time the next SEO Philippines contest comes, there'll be more women joining. What do you think? (it is only an idea at this time)

Here are some of the blog coverage we spotted as well: (will regularly update this)

Ituloy AngSulong!

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

6 reasons why I want to attend the Ituloy AngSulong party

The Ituloy AngSulong party shall finally happen this Friday. I already signed up and hope to get my ticket soon. These are the things I plan to do during that party.
  1. Meet as many of the Ituloy AngSulong participants and exchange business cards.
  2. Some Ituloy AngSulong participants have inquired in the past about club membership and hope to be able to give more info while there.
  3. Meet the female Ituloy AngSulong participants, take pictures, and post it in W3O.
  4. Talk to interested Ituloy AngSulong participants who have PR6 and up websites to have their website homepage be shown in the cover of my upcoming book in exchange for a one-year link showing book cover image (for front cover) or text link (for back cover). They should agree to be featured as one of the examples in the book as well.
  5. See if any Ituloy AngSulong participants will be interested to be a speaker or sponsor for iBlog3.
  6. Campaign for entries and sponsors in the DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards and Philippine Schools Cyberfair.

Many thanks to everyone who supported our Ituloy AngSulong entry!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Will you give Francis Kiko Pangilinan another chance as a Senator?


Senator Francis Kiko Pangilinan (blog) is no stranger to information technology. I recalled during my early days as an Infotech moderator in The E-Mail Company, he already maintained a legal forum there and where we post concerns on the impending phone metering scheme then.

Later on, he is also known for maintaining a Friendster account and actively surfs the Internet.

Earlier today, Senator Pangilinan is one of the resource persons for the YCIT event with more than 1500 students participating from colleges all over Luzon. He talked about the fast developments in information technology, Star Wars, texting, family, and values of the youth today. As he entered into the subject of politics, he reminded the youth that the solution to our problems, such as poverty, comes from each one of us. He cited youth groups, such as GenRev, among others, who have taken action by coming up with programs such as food feeding and job employment campaigns.

In the end, the Senator's speech anchors on calling on the youth to take action and be responsible in shaping the future of our country by joining organizations whose aim is to create change for the better in the community.
One Grade 4 student in the audience asked what is his strategy in helping the country:
  • He believes that everyone should be doing everyone's share and it brings pressure to people like him to deliver. His office undertaken several projects and supports organizations, using its resources that do community projects that intend to help and solve specific problems. He referred to groups like Gawad Kalinga as one of the projects they actively supported and help produced around 1000 homes in 40 municipalities throughout the country. Leaders must be able to inspire the community to help in addressing the problems in the country.
  • Say no to corruption. Not steal in the government.
  • Remain honest.

  • No to traditional politics. Not grow up as politician focusing on personal selfish interest.
  • His actions made him felt that he deserves and has right to ask others to do their share too.
It is not really a campaign speech of sorts as he did not asked the people to vote for him although his last slide made that call.


Ituloy AngSulong Francis Kiko Pangilinan!

Friday, February 16, 2007

MAR Roxas receives E-Champion Award



I was at the E-Services Philippines event yesterday when Senator MAR Roxas delivered a keynote speech. Afterwards, he was given the E-Services Philippines E-Champion Award recognizing his pioneering efforts and leadership in making the Philippines a popular outsourcing destination of choice.


Ituloy AngSulong MAR Roxas!

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Plugs and Help-a-Friend in Ituloy AngSulong

This is the fourth part of our sharing highlighting events that happened since I joined this Ituloy AngSulong competition.

If you've been a regular reader of this blog, I hope you can share some information about you here in Ituloy AngSulong.

Plugs and Help-a-Friend in Ituloy AngSulong

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Personal Developments in Ituloy AngSulong

This is the third part of our sharing highlighting events that happened since I joined this Ituloy AngSulong competition.

If you've been a regular reader of this blog, I hope you can share some information about you here in Ituloy AngSulong.

Personal Developments in Ituloy AngSulong