And this was not due to hundreds of thousands of people crying out loud about the “injustices” of this oligopoly in the country’s telecoms business, but was purely “accidental.”

Senator Enrile just uncovered this when he noticed that his prepaid mobile phone’s account load value mysteriously vanished, or diminished.

I have written some articles in the past about my (bad) experiences with these telecoms service providers. Which will probably remain a “rant” since our government turned a deaf ear to the cries of its people.

Now that election season is coming - some “politicos” will instantly become consumer advocates and will spend time delivering privilege speeches in the hollowed, err, hallowed hall of Congress. Perhaps its time for us to take advantage of this as well.

Now is probably the time that all complaints and pains consumers get from these service providers be heard. Now is the time that finally, someone in the government will take genuine action against these cheaters and bring justice to everyone.

Have you ever wondered how much it costs us for every SMS or text message we send?

We know that we are allowed to send up to a maximum of 160 characters for each text message. These 160 characters are actually equivalent to 140bytes of data. A kilobyte is equivalent t0 1,024 bytes, thus for every text message we send, we assume we are sending 0.1367Kilobyte of data, and we are charged somewhere from Php0.50 to Php1.00 per text message.

Let’s use the one peso charge per text message sent - common to prepaid users and to those low-monthly postpaid subscribers. That means we pay Php7.315 per kilobyte of data sent to the service providers.

On the other hand, these telecom companies charge Php0.15 for every kilobyte of usage if you browse the internet using your mobile phone. This means, if you browse this blog using your blackberry or internet-enabled phone, you will pay Php9.30 because the homepage is about 62 kilobytes of data to load.

So how much will you pay if you download “Careless Whisper” MP3 over the internet? Lets assume the full song is about 4MB - so that’s Php600,000.00 in your next month’s bill.

Now if you use the charge per kilobyte the telecom companies apply for sending text messages (Php7.315) - downloading and listening to George Michael’s song with a gyrating lady in the background will cost you a whooping Php29,260,000.00!!! Now that’s probably more than enough money to pay to go and see George Michael perform live with a dozen gyrating ladies all around you.

In contrast my DSL provider bills me Php999.00 a month for an unlimited usage. There is no restriction as to how big are the files I download over the internet. The technologies used here is no different than the technology used in sending and receiving SMS or browsing the web with mobile phones.

So what are we missing, dear Senators and Congressmen? Our country’s deregulated telecom industry actually prevented new players from coming in and give some pretty competition.

The industry is still controlled by these few service providers and unfortunately, they are holding the government by the neck - leaving us consumers hapless, helpless. Its the sad reality.

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Board exam results are one of the most effective ways to generate traffics to a blog or website, especially when you flavor it with some search engine optimization strategies (SEO). One of the top 3 most popular board exam results is the Nursing Licensure Examinations (NLE).

This one can bring thousands of hits. It can even easily bring down a site - especially when a site is hosted on shared servers. My first attempt proved to be succesful way back in June 2008 Nursing board exam results. My other site, Bloggista.org amassed some 50,000 pageviews the day the results were released, and reached to more than 100,000 pageviews in just 3 days. Not as good as what the others (who are SEO masters) get, but good enough for a newbie in SEO like me.

The succeeding Nursing Board exam results got my Bloggista.org site suspended by Bluehost - which irritated me since its the only website running on that hosting account. It sucks, and yes, Bluehost sucks, but what can I do? I’m on a cheap hosting account, and I cannot afford a dedicated server to host my site.

This is the reason why I did not post any board exam results here on Bloggista.com. These are SEO experiments and surely, should increase traffic just like the hits generated from posts like pinay sex videos and scandals - which I got just one and is still surprisingly generating consistent traffic to this blog. But I preferred not to optimize those stuffs like Haydeen Kho - Halili sex videos or that with Vicky Belo or Aling Dionesia? (Manny forgive them). I just don’t want to take advantage on these kind of “unfortunate” incidents.

Going back to the 2009 June NLE Board passers (take note of the terms used now), many Pinoy Bloggers have been outdoing each other at the SERP’s. Kind of a healthy competition. Unfortunately, because of my really busy schedule the past 2 months, I was unable to do some optimizations - but yes, I made a post about it on Bloggista.org.

If you search such keywords like june 2009 nle board results, june 2009 nursing board exam results, june 2009 nursing board passers - my Bloggista.org site is nowhere near the first 5 pages of Google. Of course because I haven’t done any effort to boost my rankings. But its great to see lots of my friends getting some really good search engine positions on these keywords.

To you guys, keept it up and enjoy the traffic dudes. You just have to fill my belly with some mugs of beer when we get to meet.

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Impart Solutions, Inc., the company behind the revolutionary LAMP Enterprise ERP business software, together with Computer World Philippines and Media G8way, the event organizer, will formally introduce LAMP Enterprise ERP in the Philippines (though it has been developed and implemented in several companies in the last 5 years).

Dubbed as “IT-enabling Philippine Businesses at a Time of Crisis: LAMP - the Light at the End of the Tunnel“, the event aims to gather business leaders in various industries of the country and present to them an efficient, feature-rich and complete Enterprise business solutions alternative to traditional ERP softwares (Oracle, SAP). LAMP Enterprise ERP can significantly cut the costs of implementing and maintaining a reliable ERP system of up to 60%.

LAMP Enterprise ERP is a complete suite of Financials, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Human Resources, Payroll, Services, Web Ordering and many other modules all for a low monthly subscription - even less than what you pay for a programmer’s monthly salary.

Clients don’t need to buy costly servers, or maintain a large group of IT personnel. There is no need to spend money on software licenses, and pay more on annual maintenance and software upgrades.

The applications are hosted securely in huge data centers in the U.S. with redundant servers in different locations ensuring reliable uptime and data security. Clients only need an internet connection and a browser to use it.

LAMP Enterprise ERP is suited for small to medium sized companies (SME’s) and even large corporations who need efficient yet affordable business solutions to integrate and consolidate data and information across the business. In today’s economy, it is vital that business leaders have access to data and information in order to survive the competitive and challenging times.

If you are interested, you can reserve your seat now for this once in a lifetime event. There will be Clients who will share their experiences of using LAMP Enterprise ERP and highlight the benefits they get. A product DEMO will also be presented, and to make the event enjoyable and memorable, foods and drinks will be served plus surprise prizes and raffle prizes will be given.

To top it all, those who registered and attended the event will get one (1) FREE LAMP Enterprise ERP subscription. So, if you are a business owner, or holds a key position in your company and want to explore ways on how you can save money yet able to use and implement a world-class business software for your processes, better head to the Registration page and reserve your seat today!

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Software as a Service

The model has been implemented for quite some time now, but its popularity was exponential lately when businesses started to look for better yet cheaper alternatives to traditional, often costly and hard to implement business softwares.

However, in my almost 3 years of actively advocating for SaaS and Open Source technologies, I found that many business owners are still not aware of this model.

Most companies don’t see the “hidden” costs associated with investing in traditional business softwares. Thus, in most cases, implementing and maintaining these softwares are always costly - especially when costs are extended over a period of 5 years.

Here are the top 10 reasons why businesses should seriously consider SaaS today:

1. SaaS software is on a subscription basis, usually monthly. There are no license investment requirements at the start, which may cost as much as 5000USD per user in traditional softwares. Expending the subscription fees monthly is easier to manage than requiring big amount of capital investment in acquiring a software.

2. There are no annual maintenance fees with SaaS while traditional softwares require up to 22% of the license cost per user every year for maintenance and support. And in most cases, all you get are news updates, patches list and announcements.

3. There are no costly server requirements with SaaS. The Applications are served by the SaaS provider “online” using the internet. The Servers are usually hosted in Data Centers, which can handle multiple users from different companies accessing the same single Database. A true SaaS software is multi-tenant, meaning shared by many companies. This allows SaaS providers to significantly “lower” the costs of “using” its Software by way of economies of scale.

4. There is very little, even no IT support personnel required with SaaS. One of the hidden costs in owning and maintaining traditional software is internal skilled personnel required to maintain servers, infrastructure and do support. Others opt to outsource this - but costs are prohibitive for many companies, especially the SME’s (small to medium enterprises). The SaaS model puts the burden with the SaaS provider to maintain the applications, database and servers in tip-top condition. Support is also available when required - either by phone, web or email. And all these are already included in the monthly subscription fees.

5. Regular backup and disaster recovery programs (DRP) are managed by the SaaS provider. Business continuity is part of the subscription fees. Redundant hardwares are provided, and data and transactions are backed up and replicated in multiple servers in real time. The necessary bandwidth are also provisioned. Investing on these infrastructures to perform such tasks would require a very large amount of money for many companies.

6. Implementing SaaS softwares are relatively easier and faster compared with traditional softwares which may take years to configure and implement. Some of the best features of SaaS softwares are easy and intuitive navigation, user friendly design, and workflow driven. LAMP Enterprise ERP, a full SaaS ERP software was developed with these features in mind.

7. SaaS Softwares, once implemented, require very minimal or even ZERO on-site support. Traditional softwares may require extended on-site support which are very costly. The mere application of program fixes/patches may require a skilled technical person. SaaS Softwares are shared by multiple users, thus, once an error is fixed in one client, it gets fixed for all.

8. SaaS softwares are more flexible and scalable, contrary to some opinions that they aren’t. The SaaS provider/developer owns the program source codes. Although SaaS softwares are designed with best practices and universal usability in mind, custom requirements which will benefit many users can be easily implemented.

9. SaaS upgrades and enhancement releases are included in the subscription fees. Traditional softwares normally require periodic upgrades for reasons like, the earlier application or database versions are no longer supported, or there is an upgrade in the core design, or several major module enhancements. These upgrades in many cases require re-implementation, often with disastrous consequences. In my experience, big traditional ERP softwares on the average require upgrade once every three years.

10. The monthly subscription fee for SaaS softwares is all-inclusive, meaning all available modules and modules which will be added in the future are already part of your subscription fees. Traditional softwares are normally licensed per module - and you need to pay a significant amount of money when you want to use some modules in the future. This is the reason why very few implementation sites of traditional softwares can be considered “completely integrated.”

Getting that Human Resource module or payroll, or CRM to complement with your existing financials, supply chain and operations installation may not be possible due to additional prohibitive cost requirements.

Another cost benefit of SaaS software is its use of Open Source technologies and platforms. A company doesn’t have to pay for extra database or operating system licenses if it chooses to adopt Open Source applications.

These are the potential benefits of adopting SaaS to power business processes. It is surprising to note though, notably in the Philippines where there are a lot of SME’s that only a very few business decision-makers, from business owners to top level managers (the CEO’s, CFO’s, VP’s) seemed to be aware of this revolution and evolution of business softwares.

Gone are the days where only the big and multinational companies can afford to implement and use a decent business software to integrate its multiple processes and functions. Now, with SaaS model, everyone, even the smaller guys, can afford to have one.

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First on the list is determination. You always see a smiling Manny Pacquiao when he goes up to the ring. Last Sunday’s fight with Hatton was no different - in fact, anyone could feel his calmness, his confidence and peaceful state of mind especially when he showed his trademark “Manny Grin” to millions of people who were watching the fight.

Well others might say Manny was seeing “Green Money” and lots of them as he walked towards the ring, so he couldn’t help but display lots of Manny Grin that day. Nevertheless, he showed so much determination the bout was like won already even before the first slug was thrown. And it was very infectious.

Second, respect. The Pacman is now probably the  undisputed Pound for Pound king (but don’t tell that to Floyd Mayweather, Jr.) after knocking down The Hitman Hatton not once, not twice but three times in barely 6 minutes of fight. But he still showed lots of respect to the sport, to his fans, and even to his opponents.

Have you seen how he was shoved away by that guy in blue shirt when he tried to check on Hatton after he sent him to the canvass with that powerful left hook? That’s how much he shows respect to other boxers. Pacquiao might not be as humble as before, but he is still respectful. So yeah, it’s possible that a person is not humble but respectful - it’s still a class act.

So if you’re one great blogger, its alright if you boast for it, I don’t mind, but keep it to yourself though and respect other bloggers (especially PGB’s and no marketing value bloggers, like me). Just by being good at it doesn’t give you the right to look down on other bloggers, ‘aight?

Third, and last for this article, betting. LOL! Yeah, I learned to bet when I started blogging about Pacquiao fights. And I always bet against him - and I always win many times over. Sounds absurd? How? Actually its really a stupid bet, but I got takers, hahaha.

It’s like this - during the Pacquiao-de la Hoya fight, I bet for de la Hoya, and of course you won’t see that much Filipino willing to bet money on someone other than the Pacman. But there was a catch - if de la Hoya gets knocked out in the first 8 rounds, I get a bonus, triple the bet! So I didn’t mind losing when Pacquiao won, but I went home smiling because I got the bonus.

Last weekend, I bet for Hatton, well nobody wants to bet for him in the office and among my friends, so I was all alone betting for him. And my friends did not bite the handicap, having learned a lesson from the de la Hoya fight. Not even on the 5th round, but they agreed and the bonus is on if Hatton gets knocked out in the first 3 rounds - five times the bet.

Well it pays to be determined, and respectful and risk taker. These are the things a newbie blogger would need in a crab-eats-blog-eats-blogger Philippine blogosphere.

Ohh, I love crabs especially when steamed. Not when they start thinking and start blogging.

Photo Credits: AP

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On May 2, 2009 (May 3 morning in Manila), the East meets West when Manny Pacquiao takes on Ricky Hatton for the junior welterweight championship belt in Las Vegas.

The 140-lb slugfest will definitely be an event that’s hard to miss. Several sites will be posting links to the Pacquiao-Hatton live fight via online streaming, and Bloggista.com will scour the net for “legal streaming links” and post these links on fight day here and in other Bloggista network of blogs and websites.

Networks like UStream and Justin.tv are normally the sources of these live streams - however in many instances, live streams are “killed” perhaps due to legal considerations.

Thus, it’s actually very hard to find these “free streaming links” especially for an event as big as the Pacquiao-Hatton fight.

Streaming quality is also an issue - thus, if you want to enjoy the Pacquiao vs Hatton fight live, better consider any of these options:

• Subscribe to HBO Pay-per-View
• If you’re in the Philippines, you may also want to check out myPLDT - they did an outstanding Live Streaming during the Pacquiao-dela Hoya fight for a few hundred pesos.
• Many Philippine cinemas will also show the Pacquiao-Hatton fight live on the big screen. For about 300-600 pesos, you get yourself a ticket and some snacks. If you haven’t tried watching a Pacquiao fight in cinemas, you should try it this time - its actually more fun to watch seeing and hearing other people cheer for Manny.

If you’re one of the unfortunate souls that’s probably working in your office while most of us are watching the fight live, be sure to bookmark this page and try your luck if we’re able to get links to the Pacquiao-Hatton fight live via online stream.

Updates:

You may bookmark this streaming link. More will be added later:

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So now you must be wondering why my last post was exactly a month ago! LOL! I should pay attention to my own tips from now on.

Luckily for me, this blog is still earning some pretty amount from adsense, even though the last update was March 29. Let me just say I took some pretty good time out enjoying the real world for several weeks - and simply forgot about blogging for a while.

Of course everything has a price - so, increase in earnings was very minimal on this blog, and traffic was not as good as a month ago (alexa went down from 120K to 170K). I can’t complain though. I simply had fun with my vacation - and so my online friends and readers (uhmm, I think I have a few of them - thanks to you folks!) will probably forgive me for that.

Everybody knows anyone can make money online with blogs - and the more dedicated you are the bigger is the opportunity to earn more. And it’s not just about regularly updating your blog. What’s more important is that each post you publish will draw interest and traffic from readers, and hits from search engines.

On the average, Bloggista.com gets 75 to 85 percent of its daily traffic from search engines, particularly Google and a few from Yahoo!  And many of the search terms are high value keywords - which may earn higher revenue per click when relevant adsense ads are displayed and clicked by the visitors.

So wondering why some Filipino bloggers earn a lot from adsense? Here are some of their secrets (that you probably know already - LOL):

1.       They write pillar articles. Pillar articles will definitely drive traffic to your blog. When you’re gifted with the talent of writing a long article that’s packed with researched and useful information - preferably with more than 700 words;  or an expert on a particular subject matter and can write an article that’s timeless, that readers can read over and over again, then these are your “flagship contents“, your pillar articles.

It’s a great way to drive traffic and increase the chance to earn more with the relevant adsense ads.

2.       They publish keyword rich posts. Short posts are always good - easy to read, don’t take much of your time especially when you’re blog hopping. Short posts can be stuffed with relevant keywords that will attract high-yielding adsense ads.

Remember my article on Top Paying Google AdSense Keywords? Just make sure these keywords are relevant to your blog topic, and not just simply putting these keywords just to attract high paying adsense ads. Google may not like it, and readers may feel misled you’ll lose their trust.

3.       They love current events. Many people surf the internet for current events. They love to check out who’s Susan Boyle, who are the American Idol finalists. If you love sports and can write about NBA Playoff games, or UEFA Champions League current standings, you’ll be able to get huge amount of traffic, and some decent earnings too.

And if you are well informed about latest showbiz and entertainment happenings - you’re on your way to blogging traffic and income stardom. Sports and Entertainment blogs are so popular one can drive tens of thousands of hits everyday.

4.       They love future events too. Wondering why many Pinoy bloggers write about Pacquiao fights? I too wrote a few posts about Pacquiao-Hatton fight results and predictions, even Pacquiao-Hatton Betting Odds. How about Pacquiao-Hatton free live streaming? Familiar blog post titles?

Many, especially the “purist” bloggers will frown upon seeing these topics, but for serious make money online bloggers, any popular future event is a great way to make money with adsense. When posting articles of a future event, think like a google search user.

If you want to know how many people think Hatton will win over Pacquiao, or want to know when is the American Idol finals, what search terms will you type in google search?

5.       They love social bookmarking sites. What’s the best way to get your site or topic indexed in major search engines like google and yahoo!? No, you don’t need to pay hundreds of dollars to an SEO expert, simply have your articles submitted to social bookmarking sites like Digg, Mixx, Stumbleupon, Reddit, Propeller, Del.icio.us, and ehem (plugging) Blogjoints.

Just be careful in submitting your own posts though, as many of these sites don’t like people who submit their own posts. So it’s better to socialize with others who are more than willing to submit your posts to these social bookmarking sites.

Social bookmarking sites are a great way to drive traffic to your site, but may not generate as much revenue. But since your articles can be indexed in search engines in just a few hours (even minutes), these can drive targeted traffic to your site - which is one of the best ways to generate adsense clicks.

So there you go - whew, what a lengthy post. There is actually a 6^th secret - “Take criticisms constructively, even if they intend to put you down.” If you are without balls and are afraid of getting mocked by others because you can’t write good English, you have no right to be in the blogosphere in the first place.

The blogosphere is a free world - and is not only for people who write English well. Funny thing is many of us Filipinos are so particular with English grammar they laugh and mock people who can’t write well. Oh, so mock me, its fun.

None Found

Only a few internet site or blog are saying Hatton will triumph over Pacquiao during their fight on May 2, 2009 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Even the simple poll ran on this blog a few months back shows Pacquiao will beat Hatton by a TKO.

As of this writing, the poll Pacquiao vs Hatton: Who Will Win? has the following initial results:

• Pacquiao by TKO (85.0%, 211 Votes)
• Hatton by TKO (10.0%, 24 Votes)
• Pacquiao by Decision (4.0%, 9 Votes)
• Hatton by Decision (2.0%, 4 Votes)
• Draw (0.0%, 0 Votes)

85%, or about 211 believe that Pacquiao will knock out Hatton, in contrast, only 10% believe Hatton will TKO the Pacman.

And only a small percentage predict that the Pacquiao vs Hatton fight will end on the judges’ score cards.

But still, these are predictions, and the final verdict will be known once the punches are thrown in the ring on May 2, 2009.

In the Philippines, the live telecast of the Pacquiao-Hatton fight will be shown in many cinemas across the country, with tickets at about Php550.00 (or about USD12.00), with free snacks.

On the other hand, bettors have favored Manny Pacquiao as well, with 2-1 betting odds over the slugger from Great Britain.

Initial betting in Las Vegas revealed that Pacquiao has 215 betting odds (you win US$1.00 for every US$2.15 you bet on Manny Pacquiao). Hatton has 185 betting odds (a US$1.00 bet wins US$1.85).

It’s minus 140 odds that the fight will go at least in the 10th round or later, and plus 120 odds that the fight will last until the 10th round or less.

While the Pacquiao camp is confident of a win, Ricky Hatton and trainor Floyd Mayweather, Sr. believe Manny will be knocked out on the 6th round.

Another exciting fight isn’t it? What do you think of these Pacquiao-Hatton predictions? Ohh, you can still participate in our poll below.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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For those who are looking for the September 2008 Bar Exam results - which many expected to be released end of March 2009, you can check out the list of passers of the 2008 Bar Exam on Bloggista.org

Bloggista.org has been converted into a full news and feature blog - which is by the way inviting freelancers, writers, journalism students and volunteers to contribute news (national, regional, community, school, etc.), feature stories, sports, technology and gadgets, entertainment and other topics of human interest.

There is no monetary compensation given yet, but some revenue-sharing arrangement can be discussed.

Goodluck to the “soon” new Philippine Lawyers. May you continue to commit yourselves toward upholding justice for the oppressed - not convenience for the rich.

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These two rivals, which can be compared to the rivalry of Yahoo! and Google are known big players in the business computing world, particularly in the server and operating system including storage business.

Both have relatively reliable server and operating software platforms - widely used by SAP and Oracle users worldwide. According to MSNBC news, Sun Microsystems holds about 10% of the world’s server market. IBM has 32% while HP has 30% server market share.

In contrast, IBM has been known for it’s “proprietary” products while Sun has been leaning towards open source market over the years. Sun released Open Solaris, the OS that powers it’s servers. It has also acquired mySQL, the open source database which powers most websites, including this blog.

Sun also has an open source office software system called “Open Office” which can be used as a Microsoft office alternative. It is free to download.

Some analysts were saying the move of Sun to go full open source could have did the company more harm than good. Conversion of free download softwares to paying customers were not good as expected.

This move of IBM may have something to do with its recent entry towards dominating the “cloud computing” market. Cloud computing refers to that capability for businesses to access business applications over the internet - eliminating the need to invest on local servers and storage systems.

Sun’s products can very well support a reliable data center operations, the key element for cloud computing operations.

With this, Sun’s stocks rose to as much as 80% while IBM’s declined to about 1% recently in the stock market.

If this pushes through, we just hope IBM will still support future mySQL development and still make it a free product.

What do you think?

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