The Struggling Blogger

Why do we choose the lesser evil?

noreply@blogger.com (Roy) — Wed, 08 May 2013 04:23:00 +0000

Choose the lesser evil... this is a cliché that we hear all too often, especially during election.

But why do we need to choose the lesser evil? Is evil really the only choice we have?

It is really sad that almost everybody believed that to be a fact – that the better option really is to choose the lesser evil.

It is an accepted fact, unfortunately, that politics is dirty. Although some would correct that statement saying, “Politics is not dirty, politicians are,” which does not really make it any better.

It is often said that even if an honest man gets elected, even if he has no personal agenda (if such exists), oftentimes he has to follow the system. Or, to make it more politically correct, the system will eat him. If not, he might not get anything done because he won’t get any support from those who are already “into the system,” or worse, he might just quit if he can’t stand how filthy it can get inside.

If he indeed gets into the system, and experiences its “benefits,” he might enjoy it and appreciates the “advantages” that go along with it.

That would leave us to where we were before, a situation where our only choice is the lesser evil. Choosing those who are “at least” doing something.

Do we still have hope? Are we supposed to be contented with “piece-meal” public service? Is the lesser evil really the best we can get?

We all want a change for the better.

Maybe it’s time to change our way of thinking and start looking out for the non-evil, and if indeed we find one, let’s pray that he would stand his ground and not join the system. This, however, will only happen if we continue supporting him after the election – even if we do not get any direct benefit from it.

It’s a long shot, but maybe there’s still a chance. Maybe we can still hope. It won’t happen overnight. It may not happen this election, maybe not next year, or even in the next election.

Little by little... inch by inch... if we keep on improving our choices, if we keep on demanding for the better option, and imparting this to the next generation, maybe it might happen. No matter how far in the future it might be... it can happen.

Because choosing the lesser, or even the least, among the evils before us, is just not the right way to make a choice.

iBlog9 - The Philippine Blogging Summit year 9

noreply@blogger.com (Roy) — Mon, 06 May 2013 05:04:00 +0000

It’s iBlog season once again, now on its ninth year, iBlog9 is scheduled on May 31 and June 1, 2013 (Friday and Saturday) at the Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law, UP Diliman Quezon City.

Registration for the said event is now open. Just proceed to the iBlog9 event post to register. Yes, the annual blogging summit is still FREE!

I started attending the yearly blogging event in iBlog5 (2009) and has been attending it ever since. I’m looking forward to attend again this year and see old blogging buddies, as well as meet new friends.

The schedule of program for the first day of iBlog9 is:

Day 1 AGENDA (May 31)

9:00 to 9:20 Flag ceremony, prayer, participant intro (limited)

9:20 – 9:40 Understanding the Blogger Psyche - Jonel Uy

9:50 to 10:10 Blogging as an effective Content Marketing Tool for Businesses - Ben Francia

10:20 to 10:35 break

10:35 – 10:55 Empowerment in Digital Marketing - Grace Bondad Nicolas

11:05 – 11:25 Working with brands either for your business or advocacy, and even both - Jeoffrey Solas

11:35 to 11:55 Sponsor Talk: Sun iMessenger: blog marketing case study - Louie Oviedo, President & CEO of Greetings Unlimited Inc.

12:05 to 1:05 Lunch break

1:05 – 1:25 How to Get the Influencers Write About Your Startup - Jonha Revesencio

1:35 – 1:55 Bloggers and political organizations – the road to 2016 - Mark Pere Madrona

2:05 – 2:25 Fighting corruption online and offline - Angel Bombarda

2:35 to 2:55 Income & Opportunities through Blogging - Khoa Bui

3:05 to 3:20 BREAK

3:20 to 3:40 Bloggers as Digital Influencers - Janette Toral

4:00 sponsor raffle, shirts raffle, and group photo

The second day topics are:
DAY 2 AGENDA (June 1)

9:00 to 9:20 Flag ceremony, prayer, participant intro (limited)

9:20 to 9:40 Blogging and Social Thought Leadership - Jason Cruz

9:50 to 10:10 Why do we blog? - Wendell Glenn Cagape

10:20 to 10:35 break

10:35 to 10:55 The Art of Interviewing & Quoting - Arvin Ello

11:05 to 11:25 Blogging and Social Media Goodness - Carlo Angelo Gonzales

11:35 to 11:55 Sponsor Talk

12:05 to 1:05 Lunch

1:05 to 1:25 Building your Identity as a Video Blogger - Randolph Novino

1:35 to 1:55 The Rise of the Mommy bloggers in the Philippines - Rhodora Espiritu-Valdez

2:05 to 2:25 Avoiding Information Redundancy - Jay Agonoy

2:35 to 2:55 Working as a homebased blogger - Christian Melanie Lee

3:05 to 3:20 Break

3:20 to 3:40 Q &A Legal Issues in Blogging - Atty. JJ Disini

4:00 to 4:20 The Future of Blogging: Greater or Less Influence? - Manuel L. Quezon III

4:30 sponsor raffle, shirts raffle, and group photo

The 2-day event will be hosted by Flow Galindez.

REGISTER NOW and see you all at the iBlog9.

Do politicians know intellectual property right?

noreply@blogger.com (Roy) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 11:30:00 +0000

Do politicians know intellectual property rights?

Maybe they do. I mean, they should, right? How can they serve and protect the people with whom they make their promise to if they do not know the law and understand the rights of the people.

Maybe they really don’t know, or choose not to understand... maybe they just don’t care.

Every election period, we are bombarded by their campaign jingles left and right. For insurance, for immediate recall, familiarity and popularity’s sake, these campaign jingles are bastardized versions of today’s popular songs.

From local to foreign songs, nothing is spared. As long as it’s a hit, especially if it went viral, it will surely be used by them during campaign period.

That is why we are now hearing distorted lyrics of familiar songs like Pusong Bato, Sirena and other popular songs today. Of course, Gangnam Style and Call Me Maybe were not spared. And since campaign period is still far from over, I won’t be surprised if somebody catches up with Gwiyomi.

But... did they ask permission? Were royalties paid in using the songs as campaign jingles?

If the answer is yes, well and good. I wish that is really the case and is being done in our country today.

If not, which is most probably the case, I can think of three possible reasons why.

First, they don’t know. They are not aware, because it was their people, the “supporters we can’t control” who took care of the preparation of the jingles and they have an understanding that everything has been taken care of... including rights and royalties. They just have no time for those details.

Second, it has been going on since time immemorial. Politicians were using popular songs as campaign jingles and nobody was saying it was wrong. Sure, just because no foul was called doesn’t mean there was no harm done. And just because its tradition doesn’t mean it’s right. Try delicadeza.

And third, they don’t know. They don’t know they should ask permission. They don’t know they should respect intellectual property rights. Worse, they don’t know intellectual property rights.

An intellectual property right, as it appears to be, is not a big thing here in our country. That is why anybody can just use anybody’s idea or creation, even claim it as their own, and get away with it.

Campaign jingles are no exceptions. Oftentimes, they are even applauded for being so smart to fit witty lyrics, quotations, slogans and the candidate’s name in the ready-made measured melody.

I know it won’t really solve our country’s problems, but as an aspiring songwriter who occasionally uploads original compositions in my YouTube channel, I can’t help but think about it every time I hear those campaign jingles.

Maybe it’s just me... maybe intellectual property right isn’t really such a big deal in our country.

Evolution of Music

noreply@blogger.com (Roy) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 08:12:00 +0000

I saw a neat video of a group called Pentatonix, the video is called Evolution of Music where they sang a medley of songs from 11th Century, 1600's to 2010's and they performed they songs a capella.

Being a lover of music, I know I just have to share the video on my blog, so here it is.

Just in case you're wondering what were some of the songs you don't recognize, here's a list of the songs as posted on their YouTube link:

11th century-
Salve Regina

1600s-
Canon in D - Pachelbel

1800s-
Symphony No. 5 - Beethoven

1910s-
Danny Boy - Frederic Weatherly

1920s-
Old Man River - Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II

1930s-
Minnie The Moocher - Cab Calloway

1940s-
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - The Andrew Sisters

1950s-
I Walk The Line - Johnny Cash
La Bamba - Ritchie Valens

1960s-
Stand By Me - Ben E King
Barbara Ann - Beach Boys
I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
Respect - Aretha Franklin

1970s-
ABC - Jackson 5
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

1980s-
Celebration - Kool & The Gang
Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
Thriller - Michael Jackson

1990s-
Can't Touch This - MC Hammer
...Baby One More Time - Britney Spears
Say My Name - Destiny's Child
I Want It That Way - The Backstreet Boys

2000s
Hey Ya! - Outkast
Drop it Like Its Hot - Snoop Dogg
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Hips Don't Lie - Shakira
Single Ladies - Beyoncé
I Kissed A Girl - Katy Perry
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
I Gotta Feelin - Black Eyed Peas

2010s-
Baby - Justin Bieber
We Found Love - Rihanna
Some Nights - Fun.
Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye
Gangnam Style - Psy
Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen

I won't deny I recognized Barbara Ann in the 1960's portion. I was surprised though that La Bamba was in the 1950's.

Anyway, music from whatever year is always great for me.

Although I wish there'll be more sensible songs written these days.

Yes, I hashtag on Facebook. So sue me!

noreply@blogger.com (Roy) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:23:00 +0000

I don’t know why it bothers you. You are not the marshal here on Facebook, are you?

Yes, I know. Hashtags only work in Twitter and it doesn’t have any function in these talking walls.

But, I hashtag on Facebook. So, sue me!

Why do I really put hashtags here? Then again, is it really your business?

Social media is like real world – you deal and meet a lot of people, only it’s virtual. But just like walking on a crowded street, you may not always like everything that you see. You may not favor the actions of some people.

Do you have to react every time?

If it does not really cause harm to others, especially to you, why should you bother? Haven’t you heard of live and let live?

We roll at different beats. What may be cool to me may not be cool to you, and vice versa. But I am not mingling in your business, am I?

Is everything making sense now?

Tell me, do my hashtags bother you? Do they cause you unspeakable harm? Do they give you endless anxieties and sleepless nights?

Then maybe, I ought to be sued.

But if not, leave them hashtags alone.

This is a public wall... this is social media.

Live and let live.

iBlo9 - The 9th Philippine Blogging Summit

noreply@blogger.com (Roy) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:01:00 +0000

One of my favorite events for bloggers is just around the corner – the iBlog9: The 9th Philippine Blogging Summit is scheduled on May 31 and June 1, 2013 at the Malcolm Theater, College of Law, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City.

Janette Toral is now calling for speakers for iBlog9. Interested bloggers who wants to share their knowledge may check the iBlog9 post for more details. The deadline for submission of topic is on April 15, 2013.

Usual topics on the first day of the blogging summit are about blogging for businesses and advocacies, while second day topics are focused on general blogging subjects like Blogging 101, SEO, social media, earning online and more.

All bloggers are welcome... yay! They are ENCOURAGED to share their experiences during the event. So please submit your topic for proposal on or before April 15, 2013.

Likewise, iBlog9 is also calling for sponsors for the event.

This event is free for all bloggers who wants to attend, thanks to all the sponsors who generously supported this annual gathering of bloggers and would-be bloggers from all over the country.

Companies and individuals who want to support iBlog9 may go to this link for the details of the sponsorship package.

Meanwhile, early in the year, my children were already asking about the schedule of iBlog9 because they have been attending this event since 2011. I guess this year won’t be any different for us.

So here’s looking forward to the 2013 blogging summit – the iBlog9.

See you all there!

Almost wanting to give up... again

noreply@blogger.com (Roy) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 12:43:00 +0000

It is very frustrating and honestly, it’s making me want to give up... again. I am referring to this new struggling blogger blog.

I was very happy and excited that I was able to revive The Struggling Blogger and have it hosted in Blogger for free. Unfortunately, taking a free ride surely has its consequences.

If you are reading this now, then that’s good! I am lucky this time. This site loaded well now. But most the time, the site would not load and instead, this message shows up...

The same is true with my other domains that I tried to transfer to Blogger – Travel To Angeles City, Womenagerie, and Roysville.

I was sure I followed the instructions given by Blogger which is I think the site was loading fine at the start... until it started showing the message. It’s very frustrating.

I tried contacting Name.com where I was buying my domains. They were quick to respond, I appreciate that. They said there were conflicts with DNS and Google’s configuration with blogs and talk about things I do not really understand, being a non-techie. But they added that they made some tweaking, doing some changes in my account and said everything will be okay soon.

Unfortunately, it’s not. It’s an on-and-off thing. The sites would load fine one time and then the error message would show again after a few minutes. What’s making it more frustrating is that it happens after I tweeted and shared on Facebook my new post because I thought the problem was already fixed.

Really, very frustrating! It’s making me want to give up!

Just when I knew I have a lot to say... I have a lot to write, this has to happen!

Maybe I really need to give up! Give up my domains, I mean. I will just rely and be satisfied with strugglingblogger.blogspot.com instead. It will even save me from paying the annual domain renewal fee.

So much for branding. So much for identity.

I just had to vent out.

Subscribe to me, maybe?

noreply@blogger.com (Roy) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 03:23:00 +0000

In this post, I will make a pitch. I will make an appeal. I will ask you... I’m sorry, I mean I am requesting that you subscribe to my blog.

Really, it will mean a lot for this once-again-newbie blogger.

For you convenience, here is the subscription form:

Or, you may also subscribe through your reader, if you prefer that way.

Thank you very much. You’re very kind.

“What’s in it for me?!”

I know. I’m expecting that. I know I really cannot pull a fast one. That is really a valid question and needs to be answered.

Why should you subscribe?

Aside from lifting the ego of this struggling blogger, you will be updated on my latest posts and take a peek on what’s happening on my side of the globe, or at least what I choose to share.

But who cares what I have to say?

You do... or at least, the curious side in you. We all have that. You wouldn’t want to miss a chance to feed that curious side, right?

I mean, don’t you want to know why I believe that while you claim to hate bullying, in whatever form, you may have actually supported one or have been a part of it, without you realizing it? Whether you admit it or not.

Or, don’t you want to hear (or read) my take on the difference between a fact and an opinion? Which is of course based on my own opinion, supported by some facts... or not.

And you wouldn’t want to miss a chance to see me make a fool of myself by speaking my mind out, right? With few (okay, more than few) grammar blunders here and there.

Used to be that whenever a blogger wants to increase the number of his subscribers, he would hold a contest where one of the conditions in joining was subscription via email. Then, you’ll see the number of subscribers dramatically declining after the contest.

We are way passed that!

But if you subscribe now and I hold a contest in the future, which I might, you will be the first one to know. It’s not a requirement, but it’s an advantage.

By the way, if you were subscribed to the old struggling blogger blog, I’m sorry but that no longer works. You need to subscribe to the new struggling blogger again.

After stating my case, I do hope I was able to convince you. So let me try to pull this cliché for my ending...

Hey! This is a new blog, and this is crazy. But here’s my link, so subscribe to me, maybe?

A blogging newbie once again...

noreply@blogger.com (Roy) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:07:00 +0000

Second post and I still cannot tell heads from tails. As you can see, aside from the header of this blog, I haven’t changed anything yet. It looks like it may take a while. Honestly, I feel like a blogging newbie once again.

Do I intend to make one post a day now? Because I just uploaded my first post yesterday and here I am writing another one. Can I do it?

No. I can’t do that and I really have no intention of having a one-post-a-day blog. It would be nice if I can pull that, though. But I did mention to make good use of the time until my domain expires, right?

If you were thinking (granted that you have been to my old blog before) about what happened to my previous blog posts, I managed to save them. I tried uploading them here but it was taking forever. That was then I decided that I should just start this one on a clean slate... a new struggle.

I may upload some old posts every now and then, granted that they are relevant and are not really time-sensitive. They could make for good blog fillers.

Basically, I am just ranting here, trying to get my blogging groove back. There are a lot to write about. A lot things happening all over, all the same time.

But would I get back to the old “bandwagon blogger?” Writing about something because everybody is talking about it? It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just that I may not always have sensible things to say about the subject at hand.

Writing about something just for the sake of writing about something is bad. Two-cent’s worth is cliché.

Now, I am getting myself into trouble. Really, I should shut up!

And I will... for now.

Why I (almost) wanted to give up blogging

noreply@blogger.com (Roy) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 14:09:00 +0000

Blogging has been my life. It has been my way of expression... my outlet. It has kept me company since I was left on my own. I love blogging, to say the least. Friends who really knew me know what blogging means to me.

But I wanted to stop. Not just rest, but stop totally... and permanently.

Somehow, I lost my blogging zest. I am even having a hard just starting this post.

When I started blogging back in 2008, it was like I finally found what I wanted to do in my life... and that is to write. Finally I was doing something that I was really enjoying.

Lately, however, it’s not fun anymore. It was frustrating, really.

First, I lost my free-hosting. Fine, you cannot have your free ride forever, but the feeling of being dropped off abruptly, without any warning and even without any explanation why, makes me feel that I do not deserve to be respected enough to be given courtesy.

Then, one by one, I am losing my domains because I cannot renew them anymore. I do not have enough resources to keep them. In fact, I am already contemplating in giving up The Struggling Blogger too.

I’m done! It’s all over!

I’ve had my share of the blogging limelight. I guess that was enough for me. It was good while it lasted.

Am I really ready to give up blogging? I thought I was. I do not have resources to pay for hosting, and I learned that taking a piggy-back ride for a blog host is not really safe. Nor can I maintain my domains too.

Yup! Saying sayonara to blogging is really an option.

I learned however that The Struggling Blogger will expire on December. No problem, I can just wait for that and let it remain idle.

However, I do not know why, but I found myself tweaking on my Blogger profile learning how I can host my domain there.

To cut the story short, I am here trying to keep my head afloat on the blogging tide.

It’s like starting all over again... this being the first post of The Struggling Blogger on Blogger.com

Whether or not this will go on beyond December, I cannot say at this point. I am not sure if I can pay for the renewal of my domain by that time. One thing I can say right now is that I will make good use of the time between now and the domain’s expiration useful – to revive the old, vintage, I-care-not-what-others-will-say style of writing... until I decide to stop again.

For now, The Struggling Blogger is back.

Note: If you think that I haven’t written every reason why I wanted to give up blogging... you are right.