Textra Extra

Where Philippines is First and Last

2008-04-23T23:43:42+08:00

Where we are first:

And last:

Which are related. We're text crazy, so data makes up the bulk of mobile operators' revenue. And because we'd rather text, we call less, which makes us dead last in the MOU (minutes of use) per capita.

Source: Merrill Lynch's Global Wireless Matrix report, 2007

Globe In Flight

2008-04-14T17:59:15+08:00

This just in. Tomorrow, Globe will announce a new service that will allow its postpaid subscribers to roam while in flight!

Globe’s Airline Roaming is now available in Air France and Emirates' select flights. Globe postpaid subscribers can now use their voice and text services while on board a plane. The flight attendant will announce if the aircraft offers Airline Roaming. More airlines will be available soon! Continue to roam on Globe, provider of Worldwidest International Coverage.

Smart's countermove just converged: fight or flight!

iClone: iPhone for the Masses

2008-03-11T03:22:00+08:00

I just returned from Beijing, my third time there. But unlike previous trips--which were spent entirely in airports, meetings, working meals, transit, and sleep shorter than a power nap--this trip afforded me a day to spare. So my colleagues/friends spent one morning in the Forbidden City, before spending the afternoon being assaulted by the Forbidden Vendors hawking the Forbidden Products. Pirated everything--branded bags, clothes, cameras, gadget accessories and the subject of this post, the iClone.

Or iPhoney for the more condescending, pronounced derisively as, "Aaaay, phoney!"

My friend, Jim, a proud owner of half a dozen Macs, including the drool-inducing Mac Air, bought an iClone. He says he bought it as a toy, which I believe since, well, he already owns two legitimate iPhones, and is toying with the 3G model (yeah, he has access, even to Steve Jobs himself).

We saw several iClones; some were noticeably narrower; others had more keys/buttons. Jim bought the one that most closely resembled the real thing.

900 renminbi. Or about 120 US dollars.

So I took some shots of the iClone, shown below, and tinkered with it briefly.

Similar up front
Apple logo reversed!
Power button and volume controls up top
" No headphone jack
Similar slimness
No side buttons
Similar wallpaper, even the slide bar
Similar menu
Similar dial pad
Different SMS menu, which looks more like Symbian or Windows!
Not a multi-touch screen
No accelerometer

Short tale of the tape
iClone only looks like the iPhone. Functionally, it is not; it is just a regular multimedia phone, with Symbian-like usability.

iPhone outside, kinda Symbian inside.

No multi-touch functionality. No accelerometer. None of the iPhone's bells and whistles.

For iPhone bigots, it's "Inutile Inside".

iPhone for the masses
But for a little over $100, throngs can look like iPhone owners. The masses would be hard-pressed to find a touch-multimedia phone for less, let alone look like an iPhone.

Still, iClone won't fly for a great majority (I sense legions of iPhone snobs collectively sighing in relief), and here's why: the iClone, or the iPhone for that matter, is not the ideal device for heavy texters. iPhone took off in the US because first world markets are callers first, texters a distant second--diametrically opposite emerging markets, and its predominantly prepaid base. That said, I too will only get an iPhone as a second phone. I am a Mac user first, texter second, caller a distant third.

Thankfully, I have no iPhone envy. I have enough gadgets to fill any iPhone freak's mobile gadget appetite. But I will get one someday, well, because admittedly it is a great piece of art and engineering. But I'll wait till the price drops enough, or when the 3G version comes out.

Unless the Mac Air gets me first!

And since my blog is about the mobile industry, let me tell you now: Globe Telecom has decided NOT to distribute and/or subsidize iPhones. That's the word in the mobile circles, anyway. I suppose Apple's requirements were too prohibitive--ludicrous upfront investment, debilitating volume commitment, oppressive revenue share, or worse, all these. In other words, whatever Apple put on the table does not seem viable for mobile operators in low ARPU prepaid markets. Operators from larger markets, like India or China, may be able to afford it, as they may have enough high ARPU subscribers. That said, I don't expect Smart to do otherwise, but one can continue to hope. (I will ping my Smart contacts and see what their iPhone inclinations are, and maybe even fish for Apple's terms.)

Bottomline
Pinoys in the Philippines may have to live with cracked iPhones.

Maybe forever.

Shawn Shown

2008-03-10T02:55:03+08:00

Thanks to an off-topic post about Shawn Yao, traffic on my month-old blog about the mobile industry has surged.

On a different blog, I lamented the fact that while the February issue of Rogue Magazine has sold out, very few people have actually seen or read the issue--which is a shame because Rogue is more read-worthy than FHM, Maxim, or Uno magazine. In my book anyway, Rogue is better written, not to mention better laid out.

Fortunately, Rogue's Creative/Art Director, Miguel Mari, perhaps scouring the Net for Shawn-related buzz, read my comment and replied:

While verifying the identity of the respondent--that it was indeed Rogue's Art Director--is not straightforward (I would have to contact the blog owner or ask a friend of a friend of Miguel), this is just a blog; my blog, not NY Times, where facts must be validated.

So without further ado--and thanks to OCR (optical character recognition, which saved me the trouble of retyping the article) software ReadIris 11--I now repost the article that sold out Rogue Magazine's February 2008 issue.

On Your Knees

We open the Year of the Rat with an official coming-out party for Shawn Yao, who, for years, has merely flitted in and out of our awareness as a reluctant model, cult TV personality, and idealistic photographer. After her Rogue debut, as QUARK HENARES will attest, it may just be impossible to expunge her from your consciousness now.

Shawn Yao starts fights.
It was one of the first things she did this year, actually. At Cuisine, in the Fort. Someone grabbed her ass. And it wasn't a brush against the ass, mind you. It was a full on grab + squeeze. This I know because she demonstrated it using my own ass as we spoke. I tried to keep a straight face the whole time, I really did. So she turns around and the guy says, "So I grabbed your ass, so fucking what?" An acquaintance, with neither signal nor warning, then full-on pounces on the guy, clocking repeatedly. Shawn walks out on the pandemonium as someone screams after her, "Thank you! He did that to me too!"

Shawn Yao used to shoot children.
This was her first job: a photographer at a children's photo studio which will remain unnamed, because neither I nor she likes mentioning it. She started when she was in college. "I did that because--honestly, honestly, honestly--it was the only place that offered a part time job aside from Seattle's Best and Starbucks. I wanted to try to be a working student. I wanted to try to be more 'Western.' Thought it would be character building, and it really was." She had her dad cut her allowance, which he partially did, to half the original amount. "I've never been so rich in my entire life," she says with an ironic smile that also manages to display pride in her own resourcefulness. These days, Shawn runs her own photography studio, Triptych, along with two other partners. "We put up a studio of our own, so we force ourselves to get our asses to work. It's like a forced commitment," she explains. Before that, she was living a hand-to-mouth existence, only taking on jobs when she needed the money. "Late last year, we decided to just stand up, go and get it, and it was good-one step towards maturity and a sense of responsibility."

Shawn Yao doesn't care if you look like shit as long as it's the truth.
Shawn adopts the purist's philosophy of photography. She prefers reallocations, natural lighting, and no post· production manipulation whatsoever. "I'm a realist. I don't like altering pictures. You kind of just lose a huge essence. You see a billboard, and there're absolutely no lines in a smiling face. I want to preserve a memory or scene forever, and if you have a zit that day then malas ka na lang. My favorite subjects are real people and random inanimate objects." As opposed to product shots and modeling shoots? "Yeah, I do that too. Oh, fuck. I'm a sellout."

Shawn Yao is now a cosplayer fantasy girl.
Especially since she took on her role as "Fun Press" correspondent in the Animax program Mad Mad Fun, where she has garnered nearly as much attention as its main host. "Before that, I never talked on cam, ever," she shares even though she has played various filmic roles such as a kidnapped schoolgirl for a short film, a frustrated writer for a Sugarfree music video, and a haunted pet owner for The Spaceflower Show's "Salawikain" music video. "The experience was mortifying, but humiliating yourself gets easier every single time. I was so proud because, in one of our last shoots, two hours lang, tapos na kami." One of her most memorable experiences was discovering what cosplay was all about for a Gaming conference she covered. "It was the most amazing thing. They never broke character. If you made them laugh, they had to be like their characters. It's method acting at its best, man," These days, cosplayers ask for her autograph all the time. The picture of her in Kinbaku, a Japanese-style bondage characterized by intricately patterned binding, is Rogue's personal gift to them.

Shawn Yao is a guy.
"I really, really am," she says, trying her best to convince me as she espies her reflection in a glass window and primps. She doesn't need to.
"I'm terrified of commitment. I have a very short attention span. I wear white five out of seven days a week, and the other days I wear black ... because it's easy to match. I refuse to spend more than fifteen minutes deciding on an outfit. Such a waste of time."
"Oh. And I like checking out hot girls. I can't help it." Still not convinced.

Shawn Yao is eating her own foot.
"What was the photo shoot like?" I ask.
"It was-basta it was weird." "Wait. Let me download it."
As I open my laptop, Shawn gets a call from a guy named Alexis,
a film critic who sleeps watching blockbusters like Troy but watches Lav Diaz's l0-hour opuses repeatedly. This particular superhuman ability has allowed him to fly off to different parts of the world (albeit on commercial flights). He is apparently one of her biggest fans.
I open the e-mail and see the first picture; the one with a transparent skeleton over her half-naked body. My jaw drops, and I press my hand against my chest.
"One second, Alexis. I think Quark is having a heart attack."

Shawn Yao is the worst model ever.
At least she thinks she is. She professes, "I can't do a half-smile and a smile with no teeth." I ask her to try. She'd rather not, she says. "I especially hate it when they expect you to just do your thing. This Rogue shoot super-worked out for me because Juan [Caguic1a, the photographer] told me to do very specific things."

Of course, Juan Caguicla would do that. His reputation as an exacting craftsman is veritably fascist; his attention to certain nuances almost fetishistic.

But it worked. The images show Shawn at her most vulnerable and most powerful. Caguicla says it best: "I liked the fact that she was open enough to ideas that would otherwise fall on dead ears or elicit a slap in the face."

It had been in the works for some time now-Shawn and Juan had intermittently discussed the shoot for around a year. The two photographers eventually became close enough friends to brainstorm for real. "We were talking for hours about random stuff, and I decided to lie on my knee. Juan asked what the hell I was doing, and I said my back hurt-and to alleviate the pain-I like to lie on my knee. That started it all. We shot right after."

Shawn Yao takes pleasure in your pain.
"I like things that make me feel depressed because they somehow make me feel better about life," she shares, rather confusingly. Apparently, the more disturbing, depressing, and morbid things are-the happier she is. She talks about how much she loves Mark Romanek's video for Nine Inch Nails's "Closer," how she absolutely adores Johnny Cash, and how Fight Club left a lasting impression on her. During the interview, she clutches a copy of F. Sionil Jose's Dusk. "He's the only Filipino writer I follow. He captures the Filipino diaspora so well," she says. "Naks, diaspora," she chuckles derisively, with a-wait a minute-was that a half-smile with no teeth?

Shawn Yao is Shawn Yao.
And she is famous for being so. The name is one I always used
to hear for no apparent reason. She's not a model, she's not an actress, and, until recently, she wasn't even a demi-celebrity. People just like tossing her name around, and it always has to be the full name, like "Rico Blanco" or "Anne Curtis." It's almost like a badge of honor to know her or know ofher.
Google her and the first result that pops up is a website called Crush ng Bayan. It's as good a description of her as you'll find, actually. Graduates (and current students) of UA&P still mention her name in hushed tones-and fathers still clamor for her services to photograph their children even if she hasn't worked in the aforementioned children's portrait studio for nearly a year.

She excuses herself from the interview. It's her turn to sing New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle"-at the live-band karaoke joint we're in. Everyone stops whatever they're doing, transfixed by Shawn Yao. It seems like it's a performance that will leave her with a fresh batch of fans who will, soon enough, drop her name like a badge of honor.

Oh, yeah. You were only interested in the pictures. Typical. Here.

Celebrity Blogs: March 1-7

2008-03-09T02:57:07+08:00

Friday, 7 March 2008

Sharon Cuneta
Text SHARON to Smart 326 or Globe 2978, to subscribe to Sharon's text blog.

My girls are not allowd to have mga playstation at home. They aren't allowed to watch TV (kahit Disney ch. or playhouse disney) on schooldays. After school lang, Fri, Sat and early Sun. Si KC lumaki wala rin Playstation. Ayaw namin sobrang daming distractions sa kanila! Kaya we love being in Laguna. Walang malls na malapit. Nature ang pinag-aabalahan sila.

Wednesday, 5 March 2008

Ogie Diaz
Text OGIE to Smart 326 or Globe 2978, to subscribe to Ogie's text blog

Nalokah ako kay Tita Annabelle. Tinalakan ako sa phone kanina. Pinagmumura ako at sinabihan pa ng ‘hi--ot.’ hinahamon pa ako ng away. Ang sabi niya, ba't ko daw tinitira ang pamilya niya? Ano raw ang kasalanan nila sa akin. Kasi raw, ba't daw sinulat ko pa na ‘kabit’ ni Bong si Ruffa eh hindi naman niya pala napanood ang umagang kay ganda. Puro narinig lang ng mga friends niya. Ang hirap talaga pag nakikinig ka lang sa ibang tao at hindi ikaw mismo

Tuesday, 4 March 2008

John Lapus
Send SWEET to Smart 326, Globe 2978 or Sun 2929, to subscribe to John's text blog

Pumunta ako sa bahay ng socialite at fashionistang si Tessa Prieto Valdez. Morocan inspired ang bahay ng Celebrity Duet winer. Ang taray! Ininterview ko sya sa pagiging Ambasadress of baby skin. Wow!

Monday, 3 March 2008

Joyce Jimenez
For more of Joyce's text diary, text JOYCE to Smart 326.

Let me tell you something about my name, my real name is Joyce Herrin Reintegrado. My first name was either supposed to be Jennifer or Joy, if you notice all the names start with J, my dad believed that if your name starts with J, you’ll be lucky. My parents decided to scratch out Jennifer because it was too long, they liked Joy because of the song ‘Joy to the World’. They decided to name me Joyce so I wouldn’t be associated with the song too much. So, that’s the history behind my name.:) If you’re wondering where I got Jimenez, well the story is quite funny. My manager wanted a double J so my name would be catchy and my initials would be JJ. What she did was ask a phone book opened it up to J and there you have it, Joyce Jimenez.

Saturday, 1 March 2008

Kristine Hermosa
Send KRISTINE to Smart 326 or Sun 2929, to subscribe to Kristine's text blog, or text KRISTINEHERMOSA to Globe 2978.

Guys,eto na yung promise ko sa inyo na tips for a perfect dress on ur prom night. Classic n retro prom dresses ang pinakamaganda. Sana makahanap kayo na babagay sa inyo :) Second hand shop or vintage shop is more affordable. This is so because a second hand prom dresses would be always cheaper than going in for a brand new one, isn't it? Mas makakatipid pa kayo, diba? Try visiting as many vintage and second hand stores as possible. You should not end your search till such time you find the perfect prom dress and are more than satisfied with it.

What Filipinos Text

2008-03-01T11:22:30+08:00

I blogged about when we text and even what we download on Valentine's day. But surely, the world must wonder what SMS-crazy Filipinos text about. After all, we are still the world's text messaging capital.

Source: ICTYBTIHTKY

What does this say about us?

Celebrity Blogs: February 23-29

2008-03-01T02:09:19+08:00

Friday - 29 February 2008

Ruffa Gutierrez

Naloka ba kayo sa mga tsismis lately? Anong pinaka nakakuha ng attention mo? Naku ha, mga friends ko ang mga kontobersyal ngayon. Between Gretchen and Nadia, ayokong mamagitan, they’re both my friends kasi.

Send RUFFA to Smart 326 or Globe 2978 to subscribe to Ruffa's text blog.

Jericho Rosales

Anything that will make Heart happy, I will give it to her. I really love her and I will do anything for her. Hindi naman kami tatagal ng ganito kung hindi ko siya mahal, diba?

For Jericho's text blog, send ECHO to Smart 326.

Ara Mina

I'm looking forward in opening again a resto, pero pagaaralan ko muna. I had an experience na naman in handling a resto so it will be easier for me para pag aralang mabuti ang pagbubukas ulit. Wish me luck guys! Bye.

For Ara's text blog, send ARA to Smart 326, Globe 2978, or Sun 2929.

Thursday - 28 February 2008

Anne Curtis
Hey guys! Were you able to watch ASAP 2 weeks ago? Anne celebrated her 23rd birthday, nandon kami ni Loydie, may hawak ng banner while she was singing, hehe!

For Anne's text diary, subscribe by sending ANNECURTIS to Smart 326 or Globe 2978.

Tanya Garcia
Hello! Don’t worry guys kasi I will let you know kung kelan ipapalabas ang Utoy, nagsisimula na kami mag taping kaya asahan ninyo na konting panahon na lang ang hihintayin ninyong lahat. Sana suportahan nyo ang show namin ha?:)

To subscribe, send TANYA to Smart 326, or Globe 2978.

Patrick Garcia

Haaay good day sa iyo! Haaay! ano ba itong napasukan ko? Hindi na tumigil ang masamang press tungkol sa akin. Kung wala siguro ako e wala siguro silang ganito karaming publicity. Gusto ko pa lang magpasalamat kay Tita Swarding.

To subscribe to Patrick's text blog, send PATRICK to Smart 326, Globe 2978, or Sun 2929.

Diether Ocampo
Hello sweets!:) Until now, marami pa rin akong nare-receive na feedback about my acting in Lobo. Actually, I’m overwhelmed sa mga good praises na sinasabi ninyo. Thank you so much sweets!mwah:)
For more of Diether, send DIETHER to Smart 326, Globe 2978, or Sun 2929.

Wednesday - 27 February 2008

Sharon Cuneta
Frankie and Miel are naninibago to my being out of the house often nowadays. :-( Si KC lang nga naman ang lumaki na nakita akong todo working! The two little ones don't know na buhay ko for 30 years ang work sa labas lagi. Dun lang ako nahihirapan 'cause I miss them (my family) whenever I'm out! But I need to do this. For myself, for u! :-) It's gonna be a great movie. Am excited to finish it so you can watch na!

To subscribe to Sharon's text blog, send SHARON to Smart 326 or Globe 2978.

Ogie Diaz
Nku,alm mo ba nung Sat sa E-live.Dpt sna,lst guest c Gretchen Barretto.Nkaupo na c Gretch hbng pnn0n0od nya ang vtr.E nairta na c Gretch dhl puro Nadia ang lman ng vtr,kya ng wlkout ang lola nyo!Akla dw nya,mgpo-pr0mte lng cya ng cd,pro un ang lumbs.

Hurt c Gretch.Nabastos dw sya nung Sat.Ang taray!Only Gretchen tlga cn get away wd it!...Eto pala. official n final STATEMENT from NADIA MONTENEGRO.Feb 24,’08. ‘MARAMI NA PONG KWENTO ANG LUMABAS.MARAMI NA RING TAO ANG NASAKTAN…’

…’KUNG ANO MAN PO ANG MGA NASABI KO NUNG ARAW NA YUN,YUN PO ANG NAGING OPINYON KO DALA NG GALIT.KAYA SA MGA NASAKTAN,PASNSYA NA PO.MAINAM NA RIN SIGURONG MANAHIMIK PARA HNDI NA LUMAKI O LUMALA PA ANG MGA USAPIN.MARAMING SALAMAT’.-Nadia Montenegro
To subscribe to Ogie's juicy gossip bits, send OGIE to Smart 326 or Globve 2978.

Tuesday - 26 February 2008

Aubrey Miles
I have to accept the fact na kapag sexy actress ka madami ka talagang taga hanga na males lalo na kung nag-pose ka sa isang men’s magazine pero lahat yun parte ng pagiging artista kaya dapat kayanin lahat, positive or negative man ang feedback.
For Aubrey's text diary, send AUBREY to Smart 326, Globe 2978, or Sun 2929.

Chesca Garcia
I’ve been so busy these past months, after the holiday I’m back again in preparing the things that Doug and I need to accomplish for the wedding. The wedding date is set and it will be on October 9, our anniversary date.
Send CHESCA to Smart 326, Globe 2978, or Sun 2929, for Chesca's text blog subscription.

Lorna Tolentino
Present sa party ni Jinggoy si Gretchen and Tony Boy, kaya nagkaroon din ng chance na masagot na ni Gretchen ang lahat ng intriga sa kanila. Obviously, they are both happy in each other’s company, so lahat talaga eh tsismis lang.

To subscribe to Lorna's text blog, send LT to Smart 326 or Globe 2978.

Monday - 25 Febuary 2008

Jericho Rosales
In my album, there's Paglisan which was originally done by Color It Red, Sharon Cuneta's Pangarap na Bituin, Tito Mina's Ikaw Pa Rin, and Joshua Kadison's Beautiful In My Eyes. It’s really nice guys, so please do check it out. Thanks!:)
For more of Jericho, send ECHO to Smart 326.

Ogie Diaz
Tinanong ko si Tin kung ano na ang lagay nila ni Diet. Wala na daw, single sya, pero andun pa rin ang love. Ke Oyo, ayaw daw muna niyang magpaligaw. Ganun?
Send OGIE to Smart 326, or Globe 2978 for Ogie's juicy tsismis.

Sunday - 24 February 2008

Sharon Cuneta
About 80 percent (!!!) of my new movie-my first with Direk Chito Rono an my first in more than 4 yrs, entitled 'CAREGIVER,' is set in London (!!!).
Dapat punta pa kmi sa Prague ksi mas mura dun, dadayain dapat namin some scenes pero all of the 80 percent of our scenes are talagang set in London lang.

Now may problema pa pag nag-Prague kami, so outskirts of London n lang. Sayang din 'cause I wanted to see Prague talaga since I've never been there!

For a regular dose of Sharon, send SHARON to Smart 326 or Globe 2978.

Heart Evangelista
I’ve been doing my album for a couple of months na din and we are putting so many things in it to make it more beautiful. I also took voice lessons just for the album. So watch out for that guys ha?
Send HEART to Smart 326, to subscribe to Heart's text diary.

Saturday - 23 February 2008

Heart Evangelista
As of now I’m doing an Indie film. The film is entitled Tingala Sa Pugad and I’ve been shooting since January. I hope you can watch out for that and still support me pa din ha?
For more of Heart, send HEART to Smart 326.

Claudine Barretto
I’m happy dat with my latest soap,maka2pareho ko ulit si Diet.He is such a gentleman n so nice 2 work with.Ang tagal na nming magkakila2 n mgksma pa s industry kya sbrang tiwala na ko s knya.I hpe dat d viewers wud lyk us here in dis scary project.
For Claudine's text blog, send CLAUDINE to Smart 326 or Globe 2978.

Patrick Garcia
A lot of people who are sincerely concerned with the me have been texting and calling and I really appreciate the effort of everyone who didn't leave me at this point in time. I know that this is a very unpopular decision but I'll make this work.
Send PATRICK to Smart 326, Globe 2978, or Sun 2929.

Smart, Globe can’t retrieve Lozada, Gaite SMS for Senate

2008-02-28T01:12:28+08:00

That was Philippine Daily Inquirer's headliner today.

Smart Communications' response:
“We don’t store messages anymore,” said Ramon Isberto, Smart Communications spokesperson, as he explained that its network has been tweaked to only keep text messages of subscribers for one day if a subscriber is “offline” or not connected to the mobile network.
Globe's:
In a separate telephone interview, Jones Campos, spokesperson for Globe Telecom, also said that the mobile network provider is not storing text messages sent by subscribers.
Then some "expert" showboats.
A mobile network expert who declined to be named said that short messaging service (SMS), which is the service that allows millions of Filipino subscribers to send text messages using their mobile phone, is a “store and forwarding” facility.

Technically, text messages are stored, he said.
The last statement is misleading, which may prompt the Senate to demand something that may no longer exist, thereby causing further delays. Yes, SMS, like email, is a store-and-forward service, which is the layman's term for asynchronous communication. What the so called expert failed to qualify is that once a message is forwarded to the recipient's handset, that message is purged from the storage. Only the transaction details remain; when the message was sent, from whom to whom--but not the actual body of the message. This is generally true for intra-network messaging, between subscribers from the same network.

Inter-network messaging, on the other hand, is a different matter. Some mobile operators interconnect directly; others, go through a third party gateway, network aggregator or SMS hubs. If Gaite and Lozada are subscribers of different mobile operators, then there's a slim chance that the intermediating gateway/service provider may have a log of the inter-carrier messages. But given the large volume, and the time that has lapsed since the alleged message exchange, it is unlikely that the third party gateway archived messages that far back (over a month) into the past.

But even if the original incriminating message was still in Lozada's handset, it can still be argued that the message was fabricated. Phones are similar to computers; they have file systems, hence, folders--inbox, drafts, outbox, sent, et al. With a computer and cable or bluetooth connection, it is possible to put messages into those folders as if they were actual, real messages. In such a case, the Senate would need the transaction logs from the operators to corroborate the messages' authenticity; that the messages passed through the network, and not merely planted in the phone.

Celebrity Blogs: February 18-22

2008-02-24T13:09:23+08:00

Friday - 22 February 2008

Ogie Diaz
Nakakalokah ang magkaibigan Nadia at Gretchen. Nakakalungkot dahil nagsusumbatan na sila. Nagmeeting sina Gretch, Tanya Montenegro, Dodie Puno at Tonyboy Cojuangco. Wala sina Nadia at jowang si Boy Asistio. Bale si Tanya ang representative ni Nadia. Sana nga magkaayos na ang magkaibigang ito. Ikaw, me opinion ka ba dito?
To subscribe to Ogie's text blog, send OGIE to Smart 326 or Globe 2978.

Thursday - 21 February 2008

Francine Prieto
Hi again! Please don't forget to watch 'Kamandag' after Joaquin B. and 'ESP' after Coffee Prince mamayang gabi yan sa GMA 7. Thanks for the support!
To subscribe to Francine's text blog, send FRANCINE to Smart 326 or Globe 2978.

Ogie Diaz
Sey mo, kausap ko si Erap. Tuloy na raw ang movie nila ni AiAi under star cinema. Handa na rin daw sya sa kissing scene, kaya nagpapapayat sya ngayun.At alam mo ba,yung talent fee daw nya dito ay hindi nya kukunin. Sa halip, ido-donate daw nya ito sa bantay bata 163.
To subscribe to Ogie's text blog, send OGIE to Smart 326 or Globe 2978.

Wednesday - 20 Feburary 2008

Angelika Dela Cruz
Hi :) Im at my hunny's house in Baguio. Hindi pa daw ako magsisimulang magtaping this week kaya vacation muna kami :)
To subscribe to Angelika's mobile blog, send ANGELIKA to Smart 326 or Globe 2978.

Jericho Rosales
My new album is already out in the market! It's entitled JERICHO. I'm so happy! Ang galing ni Lord! The best! This is already my second album!
To subscribe to Jericho's text blog, send ECHO to Smart 326.

Tuesday - 19 February 2008

Kristine Hermosa
It's a date on February 27 ha? Ngayon pa lang sinasabihan ko na kayo, if ever may plans man kayo that day eh, isama ninyo na sa mga plano ninyo ang panonood ng My Big Love. Thank you so much guys! Mwah:)
To subscribe to Kristine's text blog, send KRISTINE to Smart 326, Sun 2929, or KRISTINEHERMOSA to Globe 2978.

Bea Alonzo
Hi! It's me again, guys! Don't forget to watch Maging Sino Ka Man later. Sobrang kaabang-abang na talagang mga eksena mamyang gabi. So don't miss it, okay? Thanks guys!:)
To subscribe to Bea's text blog, send BEA to Smart 326, Sun 2929, or BEAALONZO to Globe 2978.

John Lloyd Cruz
Huwag ninyo pong kakalimutang manood ng Maging Sino Ka Man later. Siguradong aabangan ninyo ang tonightâs episode, kaya donât fail to watch it ha? Keep your texts coming! Ingat po!:)
To subscribe to John Lloyd's text blog, send JOHNLLOYD to Smart 326 or Globe 2978.

Rogue Worrier

2008-02-20T00:48:19+08:00

Word has it that Filipino-Chinese tycoons Henry Sy and John Gokongwei, Jr. have demanded the pull-out of Rogue's February 2008 issue off the racks of their malls.

When I heard that, I immediately thought: Shawn Yao.

So I googled "Rogue Shawn Yao" and found a different speculation; that the Yao family, presumably to keep the issue from further embarrassing their family, bought every single copy of the issue.

Rogue Pinack Yao.

I don't think so. It would've been much easier for one wealthy Chinese to oblige another, than to sweep the malls.

For Rogue's sake, I hope the issue was, indeed, sold out. Good thing I am subscribed to Rogue (you should too), so I get my copy delivered to my house--before the moral cops keep it for themselves.

A sampling of what got them all worked up:

[Update: As a courtesy to Shawn, who emailed me and requested nicely, I have taken her photos down.]

Now I hear that Shawn has apologized to her family, and presumably to the Chinese community.

Too bad. She wasn't rogue enough, after all.

Rogue's Feb issue sold out. But so did she.

UPDATE:

I reposted the article that sold all February 2008 issue of Rogue magazine, here.