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Ericsson Money Now Available in the Philippines

Jaypee Habaradas — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:21:03 +0000

Got an email earlier this week from Ericsson Money, announcing the extension of their service to the Philippines. With Ericsson Money, mobile phone users in the Philippines will be able to instantly and safely send and receive money to and from family members or friends in Europe.

Ericsson Money is a member of the Ericsson Group the same company that makes the Sony Ericsson handsets and mobile devices. They have partnered with local telcom operators Globe Telecom (Globe GCash) and SMART Communication Inc (Smart Money) for the service in the Philippines. Users in the Philippines will receive the money via Globe GCash or Smart Money.

Ericsson Money Video

Here are some of the ways people can use Ericsson Money:

Families: parents can send money to children away at university, on holiday or on a gap year.
Social sharers: you can conveniently share the cost of a meal, settle small debts and transfer money between friends and family.
Cash-only: if you’re used to transacting only with cash you can take a first step into mobile money through your mobile handset.
Non-domestic workers: Overseas workers can send money home to their families without having to use postal or personal cash transfers, which are often time-intensive. The text-like convenience of the service means easy access and availability for the person receiving money as well as the person transferring it.

This is definitely good news for all OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) and Filipinos who have family, loved ones and friends in Europe. By using Ericsson Money, users won’t have to fill up paperwork and wait for the processing time that are involved in traditional postal or international money transfers like Western Union. The service is available 24/7 so with Ericsson Money, users will have a faster and more convenient way to share money with family and friends.

The only drawback, is that you can only open a Ericsson Money account if you’re from one of these countries – UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and Sweden. Although they do mention that they’ll be adding more countries soon. I hope they also open/extend their service here in the US or Canada as there are a lot of Filipinos working here.

Anyone tried Ericsson Money? What form of service do you currently use to send/receive money overseas?

The Benefits of Competition vis-a-vis Market Share in the Philippines [Infographic]

Jaypee Habaradas — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:04:17 +0000

Even though I’m not based in the Philippines, I do my best to keep up-to-date with the latest news and trends in my home country especially with things concerning technology. One of the talked about topics in recent months is the planned merger or share-swap agreement between telcoms PLDT and Digitel.

Many people are aware about the planned merger but because of the complexity of the issues, most people don’t know exactly what are the things involved or what the implications would be if such a merger would push through. Today, I’ll be sharing with you an infographic provided by TXTm8, a consumer advocacy group spearheaded by students of the University of the Philippines.

This infographic aims to inform the public (people who will be seriously affected by this merger) – a short history of the telecommunications industry in the Philippines and the benefits of competition, including TXTm8′s proposed win-win solution to this issue – to make the NTC (National Telecommunications Commission) implement its 2007 Competition Policy Document which shows us how countries like Singapore, Canada, U.S.A., Thailand, Malaysia and the European Union deal with telecom operators who have control of the market.

[click here to view a larger version of the image]

Aside from the infographic, TXTm8 has also provided a 4-page primer or FAQ that can answer your questions regarding this issue. As an additional resource, you can check out this post regarding Regulating Inter-Connection.

Even though I love the game Monopoly, as a consumer I always prefer to have competition over monopoly. Based on what has happened in the past and personal experience, competition allows consumers to get more and better products/services at an affordable price.

What are your thoughts on the proposed PLDT-Digital merger or share-swap agreement? Do you agree with this merger/share-swap agreement or not? What do you think of TXTm8′s proposed solution? Please share your thoughts.

Master Of The Web – IE9 Web Game (Win $100 A Week)

Jaypee Habaradas — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:47:40 +0000

To promote and help boost the popularity of their latest web browser Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft created an online game called Master of the Web. As a bonus, Microsoft is giving away cash prizes – $100 to the weekly top scorer for the next 12 weeks and a grand prize of $3,000 to the overall top scorer at the end of 12 weeks.

Master of the Web is made up of three lessons (levels) and three different games.

Lesson 1: Speedy Scrambling Hands Style
Objective: Catch as many eggs as you can within 1 minutes.

You need to click on the egg once it is thrown at you and then click on the bowl to drop it.
Each successfully deposited egg gives you 10 points.
If you miss a egg and it hits you, you will be unable to catch any eggs for 3 seconds.

Lesson 2: Beginner’s Muck
Objective: Clean six paintings within two minutes.

Click and drag over the paintings to clean them.
As you are doing so, the sponge will dirtier – until it can no longer be used.
Click on the sponge icon to get a new one and continue cleaning.
Points will be allocated according to how fast you clean all paintings, or how much of them you clean.

Lesson 3: Trust or Bust!
Objective: Fend off your attackers.

Click on the enemies to repel them.
For every attacker you hit, you’ll score 10 points.
If they manage to hit you, you’ll lose 5 points.
Grab the IE9 icon for an immunity power-up. This means points will no longer be deducted when you get hit!

NOTE: This game is only available to a select number of countries namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and New Zealand. If you’re not from any of the countries listed, you can still play and enjoy the game but you won’t be eligible to enter the contest.

If you’re into these type of games and have time to spare, why don’t you give it a shot? Aside from enjoying and having fun, you also get a shot at winning the $100 weekly prize and the $3,000 grand prize. Btw, if you want to play this game make sure to use Internet Explorer 9 to get the best gaming experience. Master of the Web was designed/optimized to work with IE9.

Who else tried the Master of the Web Internet Explorer 9 game? Do you like the game? What’s your best score?

Weekend Roundup #102

Jaypee Habaradas — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 17:39:34 +0000

Hi everyone! How are you all doing? To make up for last week’s late Weekend Roundup, I made sure that I would be able to publish this week’s edition on time. This weekend wasn’t as busy as last week so I was able to work on this and finish it. Hope you enjoy this edition of the Weekend Roundup and hope you all have a good week ahead.

Blogging

WordPress

SEO

Technology

Gadgets

Pinoy Blogs

JaypeeOnline Weekly Recap

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or want your article or find an interesting story that you want to be featured in the next Weekend Roundup, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message via the contact page.

WordCamp Philippines 2010 Breakaway Talks

Jaypee Habaradas — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:46:28 +0000

WordCamp Philippines 2010 which is scheduled on October 2nd at the College of Saint Benilde, Manila, Philippines re-opened its registration yesterday, August 16th. If you’re a WordPress user, developer, fan, advocate based in the Philippines or someone who would like to know more about WordPress then this is THE EVENT that you wouldn’t want to miss.

With that said, the organizers of WordCamp Philippines 2010 also recently released the list of speakers and topics for the Breakaway Talks which will be divided into three tracks: Basic, Advanced and Developer. Below is the complete list of speakers and topics for each track:

Basic Track

WordPress Setup and Maintenance by Winston Almendras
930AM-1025AM
Thinking of starting your first WordPress blog? Bring your laptop and we’ll make sure you have a blog up and running before lunch time.

Anatomy of a WordPress Blog by Micaela Rodriguez
1030AM-1125AM
Posts vs Pages, Categories vs Tags. Can’t tell the difference? This talk is for you and as a bonus, we’ll teach you how to upload a plugin.

WordPress in the Wild by Jonel Uy
1130AM-1225PM
The Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, The PlayStation Blog, Best Buy, Mashable.. What do all these heavyweight sites have in common? They’re all powered by WordPress. See real world examples of WordPress sites and how easy it is to set one up.

Advanced Track

Integrating Social Media by Misty Belardo
930AM-1025AM
A talk on blogging and how you can integrate social media into the mix. Includes strategies on how to get people to leave comments and interact on your blog.

Plugin Must-Haves by Hans Koch
930AM-1025AM
Find out the most essential plugins your blog will ever need to succeed.

Corporate Blogging with WordPress by Regnard Raquedan
930AM-1025AM
Learn the importance of blogging in the corporate culture and how it can help your business.

SEO, Optimizing Ads, and Blog Flipping by Rocky Tayaban
930AM-1025AM
Essential SEO strategies that matter with discussions on SEO techniques that don’t work. Plus ads optimization and blog flipping.

The Internet is not just for Porn (Videos can be wholesome, too!) by Kring Elenzano
1030AM-1125AM
A step-by-step tutorial on how to do a simple video blog but make it kick-ass at the same time.

WordPress as CMS by Kevin Codamon
1030AM-1125AM
A case study on how Level Up!, the country’s first and biggest online games publisher, started using WordPress as a content management system (CMS) during a time when local companies still relied on proprietary software.

Stats, Hits, Likes: Semantics and Sentiment in WordPress by Marck Ronald Rimorin
1030AM-1125AM
Leverage your blog’s traffic with social media, hits and statistics analysis.

Add Muscle to your WordPress Site by Gail Villanueva
1130AM-1225PM
Take your WordPress site to the next level by adding options to post templates. Learn techniques on utilizing WordPress as a powerful CMS for jobsites, e-commerce sites or portfolio blogs.

Photoblogging with WordPress by Juned Sonido
1130AM-1225PM
Includes the who, what, where, when and why of photoblogging via WordPress. Technical and fun at the same time.

Blogging with Passion by Jayvee Fernandez
1130AM-1225PM
Learn how Jayvee Fernandez evolved and turned blogging into a medium for things he is passionate about.

Developer Track

WordPress Theming and CSS Techniques by Elaine Poh
930AM-1025AM
A talk on theme design. See real examples and learn how to achieve the same effect with CSS techniques and plugins.

Customizing a WordPress Blog with Themes and Plugins by Jonas Roque
1030AM-1125AM
Case study of Facebuko.com. Learn from Jonas on how to transform a default WordPress installation into a niche site.

Optimizing WordPress Webserver Performance by Eric Malloy
1130AM-1225PM
Optimizing WordPress webserver performance with PHP-fpm nginx and memcached with discussions on common security exploits and how to protect against them.

If you’re planning to attend or have already registered for this year’s WordCamp Philippines, the sign-ups for these scheduled breakaway talks will open really soon so watch out for it. Please take note that once you’ve signed up and finalized, you won’t be able to change schedules. Talks have limited slots so make sure to book your preferred topics/talks ASAP.

Aside from these breakaway talks, there will also be a few talks scheduled for the Plenary Session. Last but not least, WordCamp Philippines 2010 attendees will also get to hear Mr WordPress himself – Matt Mullenweg.

The organizers have prepared a very interesting and exciting lineup of speakers and topics for WordCamp Philippines 2010. I really wish I could attend, but I guess I’ll have to wait again til next year.

Anyone here planning to attend, have already registered or who’s speaking at WordCamp Philippines 2010? Which topic or topics would you want to listen to if you had the chance to attend the event?