My week has been hell: three long stories to finish and the deadline was last week. I’m a rebel. But really, one can never be too busy for YouTube. Awesome ad.

In journalism, there is such a thing as “off the record.” I first heard it when I was interviewing a member of the President’s cabinet for a requirement in one of my journ classes. We were talking for about half and hour, when I asked him how it was working for the government. He took my recorder on the table, looked at it, and pressed the stop button, saying, “This is off the record,” and continued talking. I was a bit peeved at the fact he took my recorder without asking me, but was excited at the fact I was going to get some juicy government gossip. As my current editor once said, “off the record” means “for your information only.” It will only serve as a background to the whole issue and cannot be credited to whoever said it.

I have never encountered a subject (yet) who has requested to remain anonymous, probably because I’m in a business magazine and not a hard-hitting broadsheet. The only thing entrepreneurs want to keep secret is their capital, which I still ask (for reference), but don’t publish. But really, when you’re talking to the press, expect everything to get published, even what you’re wearing–it’s a great intro device, clothes.

Meanwhile, this is a perfect example of failure to protect your source’s identity. See, even the BCC makes mistakes. Anonymous fail!

Sorry, Abu Ibrahim.

JWT, the world’s best-known marketing communications brand, released its list of 100 Things to Watch in 2010. According to them, the following things, people, and trends will make a mark in the next twelve months as leaders in their respective fields. Sounds exciting.

I’m still a bit of a skeptic with entries like (Number 7) Bacon Everywhere: I don’t hate bacon. In fact, I love it to bits, and strips. But I cannot imagine what exactly “bacon everywhere” implies? Bacon t-shirts? Bacon day?; (Number 40) Harry Potter in Orlando: Again, this entry begs the question, “WTF?”; (Number 99) The Wonder Girls: If you were one of those people secretly clapping their hands twice whenever the chorus of Nobody played on the radio, this wouldn’t be a surprise. But if you weren’t, this would be an insult; and (Number 44) Ironic Sports: How can sports be ironic? Is it like Tiger Woods, a golf player and a playah? I’d say that’s ironic

1. 3D at Home
2. Airline Subscriptions
3. Alternative Measures of Prosperity
4. Alternative Metals in Jewelry
5. Asia’s Widening Income Gap
6. Augmented Reality
7. Bacon Everywhere
8. Bio-Based Airplane Fuel
9. Boeing 787 Dreamliner
10. Bogotá
11. Brighter Colors
12. Buycotting
13. Carey Mulligan
14. Coconut Water
15. Composting
16. Contemporary Indian Art
17. Cordless Power
18. Customized Pharmaceuticals
19. Deficit Neutral
20. Donald Glover
21. Dry Shampoo
22. East Africa Wired
23. Electric Car Networks
24. Electric Cars
25. Electronic Libraries
26. Ellen on Idol
27. Energy Dieting
28. Ethical Fashion
29. European Free Speech
30. Exotic Berry Flavors
31. Fermentation
32. Fernando Torres
33. Foursquare
34. Gambling in Singapore
35. Gaming Software
36. Green Retrofits
37. Greening the Palate
38. Hand-Me-Ups
39. Handwriting
40. Harry Potter in Orlando
41. Haute Fashion on eBay
42. Hybrid Boats
43. Impact of the U.K. General Election
44. Ironic Sports
45. Japan on the Sidelines
46. Japan’s First Lady
47. Jay Chou
48. Kindle Rivals
49. LED Bulbs
50. Li Ning
51. Lifestreaming
52. Lionel Messi
53. Little Boots
54. Local, Nonprofit Online Newspapers
55. Lost Series Finale
56. Luxury Goes East
57. Marina Silva
58. Mia Wasikowska
59. Michael Jackson Tribute Concert
60. Mobile Money
61. Mobile Ticketing
62. More Virtual Currencies
63. New Portrait of Hispanic America
64. “Nutrition-Washing”
65. Obesogens
66. Organic Fast Food
67. Pandemic Fatalism
68. Paying for Online Content
69. The Pirate Party
70. PlayStation 3 Motion Controller
71. Post-Lula Brazil
72. Pro Modding
73. Public Bicycles
74. Recycling Gray Water
75. Retail as Third Space
76. Return of the Water Fountain
77. Runaway Democracy
78. Silent Dance Parties
79. Ski Cross at Winter Olympics
80. Slow Beverages
81. Slow Communication
82. Spanish E-books
83. Spider-Man on Broadway
84. Spotify
85. Stephen Strasburg
86. Stevia
87. Tactile/Visual Design
88. Trip Bundling
89. TV for Tween Boys
90. TV/Web Integration
91. Urban Fruit Gleaning
92. U.S.-Cuba Ties
93. Video
94. Virtual House Calls
95. Volunteer Rewards
96. Water Footprint Tracking
97. The Waterless Washing Machine
98. The Wine-Tail
99. The Wonder Girls
100. Zach Galifianakis

According to The Guardian, 2009 was the year of Facebook. Time Magazine echoed this in their annual top ten of everything where they called Facebook “the site that ate everything.”

Personally, my vote goes to Twitter. It was from Twitter that Michael Jackson’s death rippled around the world, and let’s not forget the Iran elections, the woman they called Neda, and the tweets of protest, help, and indignation. It would suffice to say that 2009 was the year of social media–a term that barely existed a decade ago.

Still, I can understand why Farmville and Mafia Wars addicts genuflect in the presence of Facebook. Started by 25-year-old Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg, the social network started the year with 150 million members. By April, that number rose to 200 million, and by September it had amassed 300 million — an average growth rate this year of about 550,000 new members a day. Facebook’s current net worth has been estimated by analysts to be at $15 billion

There is little doubt that 2009 was the moment that the site truly exploded. In January, Zuckerberg announced the “milestone” of 150 million users worldwide. Less than a year later, the social network has more than doubled and now boasts that more than 350 million people log on each month.

Remember Friendster? They’re still doing fine at close to 110 million members worldwide. But early this month news circulated that the newly-lay-outed social networking site (it’s green now) is looking to be sold to an Asian company for more than $100 million.

As a side note, in late 2008, Facebook approached Twitter about a potential merger. Zuckerberg offered company stock worth about $500 million but Twitter turned down the offer. Still, if there’s something we’ve learned from the internet, it’s that things, no matter how big or great, don’t last.

However unassailable Facebook’s position may appear today, history suggests that even the largest websites can fall spectacularly from grace in just a few years. A decade ago AOL was one of the most powerful companies in the world, worth so much money that it was able to force a $162bn merger with media giant Time Warner – the biggest ever seen

I think it was Conan O’Brien who said that in the event Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube merge, a gigantic new social media tool would emerge. It would be called You TwitFace.

Happy new year everyone. Make new friends.

We all mourn his death and miss his music. I’ve been listening to Stranger in Moscow some five times every hour for the past two days. It’s such an underrated Michael Jackson song. The music video’s still excellent even with today’s standards. As I write this, You Rock My World is playing.

Compared to other countries, local reaction to MJ’s passing has been quite…subdued, which doesn’t necessarily mean we loved him less. We’re just less hysterical. There have been unconfirmed reports in the States and in Europe that some die-hard Michael Jackson fans have, indeed, died hard when they committed suicide over the news that the King  of Pop passed away, that their reason for living was now gone. Again, this is unconfirmed, but it’s all just depressing, disturbing, and hilarious at the same time. Other “reports” say that MJ faked his death to create a media frenzy for his comeback tour and to escape the pressures of stardom. He is now living with Elvis Presley in a remote location in Europe.  People, please get a life. Your own.

A relative of a friend who’s in the States said that while sitting in a bus on that faithful day, someone read the text message announcing MJ’s death out loud, prompting the bus driver to give his two cents’ worth on the alleged “child molester.” A heated argument ensued and a knife was brought out. They take their Michael Jackson very seriously. Here in the Philippines, I suspect the variety shows will be having a Michael Jackson Tribute this weekend. Good thing we have cable again.

I came across this question on Yahoo! Answers a few days ago. No lengthy introduction is necessary, just a side comment: There are a lot of stupid people in the world.  This one happens to be a Michael Jackson fan.

Click to enlarge.

The answers are something to note as well. They range from the serious

to the offensive,

to the introspective,

to the Darwinian,

to the eloquent,

and to the downright hilarious bordering on blasphemous.

I remember posting a question on Yahoo! Answers eons ago asking about where I could find a movie soundtrack. I got some pretty decent answers, but nothing as interesting as these.

UPDATE (07.04.09): When I took the screenshots, there were 54 minutes left for voting. I returned today to find that a consensus was finally agreed upon by a majority vote…of four. This isn’t a pro-life versus pro-choice issue. This is about whether Angela, the woman who posed the question,  is stupid or not. She is.

[SOURCE]

The world has lost Michael Jackson, and Twitter is, once again, the source from which people found out and gave their 140-character eulogies. If Twitter won’t be the cover of Time Magazine’s best of 2009 issue,  then Facebook will have to do.

Eight of the first ten Tweets on my Twitter feed were about Michael Jackson. One that was out of place came from Barack Obama and his Tweet on health care. Close enough. On the popular feeds on the right, nine out of the ten were also about Michael Jackson. Now what happened to Iran, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon?

Farewell Michael Jackson. There must be one amazing party wherever you’re at.

While Channel V and MTV air their Michael Jackson tributes, as CNN and FOX News show us the meaning of coverage overkill, and as people continue to blog about MJ and suddenly become fans on Facebook, convicted murderers, rapists, and drug dealers in a maximum security prison in Cebu just dance. It’s what he would’ve probably wanted.

CNN Report on Thriller-dancing inmates’ MJ Tribute

And from Texts From Last Night:

(406): Dude michael jackson died, guess he’s not ‘stayin aliveee‘ any longer.

(1-406): Uh dude that wasn’t a michael jackson song it was the BGs.

UPDATE (07.02.09): Found Michael Jackson’s official YouTube Channel here. It’s an excellent place to waste time online.

The house has been without cable for the past month. Mom has been planing to switch cable providers but is too busy to take care of it. Dad just wants to watch Federer and Nadal. Younger brother wants to watch basketball.  Youngest sister needs her Gossip Girl. And I need my current events and pop culture. Live streaming for the win.

In what has since become a perfect example of how citizen journalism trumps mainstream media, the political crisis  in Iran has been exploding with images, texts, and, of late, videos from people who just happened to be at the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time armed not with guns or placards, but with a camera or a mobile phone.

Censorship in the Islam nation has lead to the government cutting mobile telephone networks, blocking  popular Internet websites like  Facebook and YouTube, and even expelling foreign journalists or placing them under house arrest. With professional journalists  gone and people lamenting the utter lack of coverage of CNN, Fox News, and other news networks, the people on the scene have taken over.

Popular author Paulo Coelho  blogged about the video currently circulating around the internet of  a woman who was  shot, then dies on the same street where rallies are being held in protest of the results of the elections last June 12, saying:

“My best friend in Iran, a doctor who showed me its beautiful culture when I visited Teheran in 2000, who fought a war in the name of the Islamic Republic (against Iraq), who took care of wounded soldiers in the frontline, who always stood by real human values, is seen here trying to resuscitate Neda – hit in her heart.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjBKHkoDgCM&w=330&h=270&rel=0]

CNN Report on  Neda

He (Coelho) has since been exchanging e-mails with the doctor in the video trying to make sure Iran officials don’t hunt him and his family down.  He has left Iran and is now in London. Meanwhile, here’s the amateur video that made everyone stop, think, blog, and Twitter. There are two versions available online. This is the longer one, and just as graphic and chilling.

Iran Amateur Video: Neda

Accompanied by the description:

“Basij shots [sic] to death a young woman in Tehran’s Saturday June 20th protests At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim’s chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes. The protests were going on about 1 kilometers [sic] away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass [sic] used among them, towards Salehi St. The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know.”

One of the many arguments against citizen journalism is how to verify if the information published is indeed true. Professional journalists are bound by their responsibility to fact-check every piece of information, name, date, place, quote. Otherwise, anything published or aired, if proven to be inaccurate, will greatly affect the public’s sense of trust with the media. Ordinary citizens aren’t privy to such a responsibility. Therein lies the rub. But in tense situations like these, with no other choice but to let the witnesses become the reporters, is verification really important? Or do we need all the information we can get?

UPDATE (06.25.09): The videos were taken down yesterday from Vimeo for “violating the Upload Rules of Vimeo.com: Vimeo does not allow TV shows, movie trailers, or stuff you found on the web.” I argue fair use and insert a false allegation of censorship just to make it interesting. I’ve uploaded them again.

There are several things I loved and hated at the same time while I was in college. Aside from my daily three to four hours breaks, there’s my senior thesis. Others–correction–most utterly hated theirs. They abhor the whole experience with their whole being, curse it to the depths of the universe, and refuse to acknowledge that it ever happened and the people they worked with never existed.

I keep a bound copy of my thesis on my bedroom shelf. In the times I receive a hard assignment, I look up and remind myself how I wrote 100+ plus pages, got an A, and didn’t end-up killing myself or my partner. How could you not have feelings towards the title, PinoyNewsPortal.com: An Analysis of The Gatekeeping Phenomenon in Online Citizen Journalism Initiatives in Asia To Produce a Model for Future Implementation in the Philippines? I meant every word.

This thing called citizen journalism is so simple and easy that you may have already done it, or are currently doing it. It goes by many names: citizen media, we media, grassroots journalism, open-source journalism, hyperlocal journalism, participatory journalism, and many others. However, the basic idea for all is similar: that ordinary people with no professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology such as computers, camera phones, mobile phones, and digital recorders, and the reach of the internet to make media on their own or with others.

With the internet and emerging new technologies, mainstream media reporters are not the exclusive source of information anymore, but the citizens–ordinary people–who collectively know more: the office secretary in Makati  who went to the rally and took pictures, the student who blogs about his classmate with A(H1N1), the congressmen who updated their Facebook statuses in the middle of the House voting on Resolution 1109. And with the power of social networking and other web tools or applications, you’ve got a pretty strong base that’s easy to maintain, cheap, and far-reaching. People are starting to find their own voice, no matter how annoying (and sometimes stupid)  it may be, and, in some cases, authoritarian governments are scrambling to take control.

China just banned Twitter last month. They just couldn’t screen it like they usually do so they banned it altogether. If you’ve been watching CNN, Twitter has been playing an important role in the crisis currently broiling in Iran. Twitter isn’t popular in the Philippines, but Friendster ranks second in popularity to Katrina Halili and Hayden Kho. Don’t quote me on that.

Clay Shirky: How Twitter can make history

However, I don’t think it counts when all you Twitter is what you’re currently stuffing down your throat, wearing, watching, or listening to. That’s just mindless egotistical  crap.