I stumbled upon a search engine of sorts today...Spock.com, it's cool, yet really freaky. As most search engines go, there wasn't much info about it.

"Spock is a search application for finding people you know." That's pretty much everything. So I gave it a spin. Typed in my name and it actually came up with results that other search engines don't know about.

For instance, it found my portfolio. Now that thing has been around for ages and is hosted on geocities. Whenever I type my name in Google only news stories and press releases show up. Here, I have my renegade articles, stuff that's been scraped by MFA sites and a lot more I would never find in other SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).

If you want to find out stuff about yourself, and maybe other people, this is the stalker tool for you.

I have SnagIt in my office laptop and I simply love it. It can capture anything on your screen from a small image to a scrolling webpage. The latest version is 8.2. It has a great interface, very Web 2.0.

Too cheap to buy it for myself though. So I surfed the net to find a free way to get it. Being the cheapo that I am, I tried to download a crack..and my computer almost got attacked by a mighty nasty virus. Serves me right. Good thing I have an antivirus software installed on my laptop when I bought it.

Anyway, my hour-long search did do me some good. I found a totally legal way to get it for free. Here's a tip courtesy of mydigitallife.com: go through the site. Instead of gunning after the latest version, settle for the 7.2.5 SnagIT (hey, you're the one who didn't want to shell out the money). You can get that here:

ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/SnagIt.exe

Next, fill up a simple form on the techsmith site:

http://www.techsmith.com/snagit/ukdn.asp

You don't even have to be a UK resident to avail of this freebie. A thank you message will pop up. Wait for the key in your email.

And presto! You've got your free copy of SnagIt.

Speaking of SaaS...

A local company called Morph, just developed on of those on-demand programs for help and training. Aptly called Morph helpME, it's written in Ruby on Rails and simplifies publishing and presentation of multi-media content.

It runs on Amazon Web Service (you all know how I love Amazon) so all of the information is directly stored and managed within the Amazon infrastructure of secure data centers.

So why the next level? One, it uses Wiki-style editing..meaning its easy even for the non-technophile. Two, it's perfect for open source communities and small-to-medium sized business. Well, it's really for anyone who wants to upload help manuals and training guides on the web and make it accessible to a group of people.

Check out http://www.morphexchange.com if you want to know more about it. It's free for now...to cynics like myself, nothing is really free. So what's the catch? They will offer a paid version in the future, but that one will be ad-free.

Cool. Might try it out when I have enough material to upload. I want to share some stuff with the SEO community in the near future.

After a really really long respite, I'm back. It was such a surpise to me to find out that it's been almost 2 years since I last updated this blog. I've been busy jumping from one job to another. In a span of two years, I've been a copywriter, a writer for marketing, an interactive marketing manager and finally, a search engine marketing manager. 

It's weird though. I knew more about blogging and the web back in 2005 than I do today..either my brain isn't working right or a person just learns more by doing.

So how has the Philippine technoscape changed in the last two years. By leaps and bounds. Gadget-wise:

• PS3 still rocks! And I still can't afford it. I believe it is now priced at 30K.
  
• Wii is out. Was a bit obsessed for a few months.
• Laptops are back in..they're getting smaller and faster.
  
• Desktops have evolved from single core to duo core..I think they're even coming out with a quad core...how many cores do you really need anyway?
• Cameras are also getting smaller
• iPods have gone nano...really tiny that is.
  
• Software as a Service is in. Is it better than buying licensed software? We'll see.
  

Here's the major good news that I'm so hyped about: PayPal is in the Philippines! I guess it didn't take thirty years as I first predicted. Just two long, agonizing years.

I am now a certified ebay.ph addict. When I left the Philippines a couple of years ago, ebay was not yet part of the Filipino youth's ever-evolving culture. Three years later, back in the sweltering heat of Manila, I discovered yet another gem..eBay.ph.
Like anything from the U.S. of A., Filipinos embraced the concept of online auctions faster than you can say the two syllables of the website name. eBay.ph offers 14 item categories which include: Antiques, Automotive, Books, Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, Coins, Collectibles, Electronics & Computers, Entertainment, Everything Else, Home & Garden, Jewellery & Watches, Sports , Stamps and Toys & Hobbies.

The downside

Like any online business, eBay.ph is not without its share of problems. First off, we do not have Pay Pal. So if you want to sell something you have to find a way around this. Most seller's go with bank deposits, while some ask for cellphone loads or ask buyers to use Western Union. I actually emailed Pay Pal to ask them why they don't offer their services in the Philippines.

This is their answer:

We sincerely appreciate your interest in becoming a PayPal member. Unfortunately, we are not yet providing services for the country or territories in question. Establishing our service in each new country or territory involves complex changes due to different regulations. We hope to be expanding our availability, however, due to the complexities of global expansion, we cannot give a timetable for this. We are working hard and look forward to expanding our services to additional countries in the future.

So stay tuned, in 30 years or so we can expect their arrival in our country!

Problem number two: scammers and joy bidders. Most of the sellers have disclaimers that hope to prevent people who have no intention of buying their items from bidding. Some even had the courtesy to post warnings in almost all categories about Nigerian buyers who bid outrageous amounts for items that they never buy.

Problem number three: Piracy. Finding a new channel for their goods, copyright infringement-experts have been using eBay to sell items such as DVDs and eBooks which are priced anywhere from P20 to P150...It's just a wild guess, but I don't think J.K. Rowling gets paid as much royalty as she would get from her books from "The Complete Harry Potter Collection, eBooks!" which sells for only P80. Plus, I don't think she would enjoy the fact that Harry Potter 6, which has not even had it worldwide debut, is now in eBay.

But all-in-all, the eBay experience is fun. Aside from getting items at rockbottom prices (i.e a brand new China-made cellphone for only P2,800), you can always have fun reading item descriptions (i.e. FOR AN AD SELLING REAL ESTATE: if you are interesting, please call *****)

In this war of the biggest gaming console makers, power in a compact package is the key to success.

Another great competitor in the world of compact digicams is Casio EXILIM Zoom EX-Z55 a 5.0 megapixel camera measuring 87-by-58-by-22.5 mm and weighing only 130g. It features an SMC Pentax 3x optical zoom lens with a focal length of 35-105mm. It has a 2.5 inch TFT color LCD monitor displaying 115K pixels (480 x 240).

The camera is powered by a proprietary lithium-ion battery which offers 400 shots in record mode and over 6 hours of continuous playback time. Built in flash memory is only 9.3MB, so purchase a memory card with this one.

It offers more preset scene modes than any other camera available in the market. The user-customizable Best Shot, business cards and documents, white board and coupling are among the 23 modes it offers.

Its priced at about P25,000 in the Philippines and anywhere between $270 to $350 in the U.S.

Technobytes Rating: 9.5/10 Produces great images, nice physique. Minor bug: LCD blacks out during image processing.

 Casio EXILIM Zoom EX-Z55

Every shutter bug’s dream come true. A tiny, professional-quality digital camera, Cyber-shot offers up to 5.1 megapixel image capture and 5 area multi-point auto focus with its Carl Zeiss® Vario-Tessar® lens with 3x optical zoom and 6x precision digital zoom. It includes a full-sized 2.5 inch transmissive/reflective hybrid LCD monitor, which utilizes Clear Photo technology for improved viewing in bright sunlight. It packs all this punch in a body measuring only 5/8 of an inch thick. It is currently tagged as “the world’s most compact zoom camera”. Weighing 115 g, its dimensions are 91.7-by-60-by-14.8 mm.

 

Of course, size does not compromise performance. It features Real Imaging Processor technology, a 14-Bit DXP A/D conversion processor and multi-pattern measuring for extraordinary responsiveness, meaning fast start-up time, fast shutter speed and accurate exposure for photos. The RIP Technology also improves battery stamina.

This camera offers scene selection mode which will match parameters to 10 different shooting conditions: twilight, twilight portrait, soft snap, landscape, beach, snow, fireworks, high speed shutter, candle and magnifying glass. The magnifying glass mode can display images at over 3 times the actual size.

It sells in the U.S. for about $500 and about P30,000 in the Philippines.

Technobytes Rating: 10/10. Period.

 

  Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T7

 

LG Philips recently announced that it signed a three-year deal to supply Hewlett-Packard with flat panel displays. The supply agreement, which will last until May 2008, is worth over $5 billion. According to company representatives, HP will be using the display panels in their notebook PC monitors and desktop LCD displays.

 

LG Philips is a joint venture of the Korea-baseed LG Electronics and the Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics. This deal is forecast to catapult the company to the top of the market.