8/4/2019 20111003 Blogging Makes or Breaks You

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eus Ex: Human Revo-

lution is the third in-

stallment from the se-

ries and serves as the

prequel for the award

 winning Deus Ex from

the year 2000. The series itself has

been made famous by the tremen-

dous amount of game-changing

choices, both moral and practical.

With it coming out from the dust,

 will it still deliver the old fun and ex-

citement from a decade ago? Or will

it just be bogged down by the gamesof today?

Deus Ex’s story is set in the near 

future where human disabilities are

made irrelevant by the infusion of 

mechanical augments. Players play 

as Adam Jensen, an ex-cop turned

security chief tasked to guard one

of the top human augmentation

corporations in the world. The in-

troduction opens with a tour around

the corporation’s laboratory, with

its scientists excited about a break-

through research that is about to

be unveiled. But the excitement is

then replaced by horror as the lab is

xVia, Inc., a leader in

transaction process-

ing technology for 

emerging payments

and financial ser-

  vices, has announced

the opening of a new facility in the

Philippines.

The office, located in Bonifacio

Global City, is equipped with state

of the art technology and facilities

for TxVia's Contact Center, Back 

Office and Information Technology 

operations.

lectronics and appli-

ances waste a lot of 

energy when they’replugged in but not

being used. There’s

even a term for all that

  waste—”vampire power.” A home

entertainment center in standby 

mode, for example, can draw as

much electricity as a refrigerator.

 A range of new devices offer to

help you manage this problem. The

latest is ThinkEco’s Modlet, a giz-

mo little bigger than a “wall wart”-

style plug that packs enough brains

to continuously monitor the energy 

usage of any device plugged into it.

ThinkEco claims the Modlet can re-

duce a household’s overall energy 

consumption by 6 to 10 percent.

  Via an interface on a desktop

computer or mobile device, a home-owner can shut off Modlet-connect-

ed devices and set on-off schedules

for them. The devices are controlled

  wirelessly through a short-range

  wireless standard called ZigBee

that’s designed for home automa-

tion.

  A Modlet communicates with

a user’s computer wirelessly,

through a USB dongle, doesn’t re-

quire a smart meter, and can oper-

ate independently of a computer. It

  will arrive in big-box stores and a

major online retailer sometime in

October.

Technews EVERY MONDAY • October 3 , 2011 D3

ubby and I just had anawesome steak dinner 

at a five-star hotel this

  week. The dinner for 

two would have cost us

a minimum of US$100

if we had taken our dinner in anoth-

er time, when buying through the

internet wasn't yet at its prime.

Instead, we paid only $40 for 

our Prince Albert Rotisserie meal

complete with the exemplary ser-

 vice of a captain waiter and a piano

romantically playing in the back-

ground. Hubby previously paid for 

our meal with a single click on his

laptop through Deal Grocer, one of 

the leading group buying sites in the

Philippines.

The phenomenon of online groupbuying - where merchants slash the

prices of their products or services

in exchange for a guaranteed mini-

mum number of buyers - is certainly 

something no one would have imag-

ined happening five or ten years ago

(although a check with Wikipedia

shows its origins as early as 2000).

It is actually just part of the bigger 

picture with the countless number 

of people also selling on Multiply,

Sulit, eBay and other sites.

This doesn't include the fact that

having a Facebook or Twitter page

is almost de rigueur for any brand,

big or small, these days. All these

 just boost our perception that there

is no better time to go into the online

business than NOW.

Perhaps, am one of a few who are

still harboring ideas of launching

H

Business lessons

Annalyn S. Jusay

their online biz (my seven year-oldblog notwithstanding). However, be-

ing an observer, I can suggest a few 

things for those who want to take a

shot at being netrepreneurs:

Branding is key. By this, we mean

having an online business name that

is as attractive as much as it is easy 

to remember. Your logo itself must

easily catch the eye and consider 

the minutest details like the font

and color combination used.

If your branding is upscale, be

sure to associate yourself with an

upscale group buying site when it's

time to do a promotion.

 Your message is the medium. If 

 you are going to have your own busi-

ness domain name, make sure it is

easy to remember as well. A websiteis just not there for display, make

sure you reply to comments and

track your stats.

Installing a plugin like Google

 Analytics will help you keep tabs on

 your visitors, your most-read pages

and what they are searching on

 your site. Make sure your site is us-

er-friendly and a Buy Now button is

accessible and placed prominently,

otherwise it's useless.

Build your list. In this age of so-

cial media, there's no harm in hav-

ing the most number of friends on

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (to

name just a few!)

Treat mobile phone numbers

and email addresses like gold and

if you have a budget, an email/au-

toresponder service like Aweber is

handy.

Blogging makes or breaks you Glenn Richmond Ong

Blogging has gained so much

popularity in the recent years, be-

cause of the opportunities it can

give to authors and online writers.

However, a blogger should realize

that it is not just about the writing,

the attending of events, and the

earning of money. Blogging can

make or break you.

  Admittedly, one of the best

things of being a blogger and at-

tending media events is meeting

new people and gaining new ex-

periences. It is when you can get

out of your personal shell and tell your life story to people in a set-

ting that is outside the realm of 

the Internet. Sometimes it’s fun,

but at times, it can be very shady.

I have heard and learned of 

both positive and negative stories

from several trusted bloggers

and public relation officers whom

I have met personally. Let’s start

 with the positive ones.

While blogging may not be a

professional job one intends it to

be, writing well-thought, helpful

articles and making your name

known online can get you a real

corporate job sooner or later. I

have heard of some people who

have landed a job, because of how 

they deal with people in live events

and how they present themselves

appropriately through their writ-

ing.

Meanwhile, some bloggers

choose to not go into corporate

  work and remain as freelance

  writers. However, because of 

their work’s quality and brilliant

pitches to companies interested

in digital campaigns, they eventu-ally made a name for themselves

and in fact were able to build their 

own companies to specialize on

such services.

Moving to the more controver-

sial part, these are the “malprac-

tices” bloggers usually do that re-

ally breaks them.

There are a number of blog-

gers who show inappropriate be-

haviors in and out of events. A few 

I can name are the following: (1)

coming to the event very late, al-

most end of the program; (2) get-

ting lootbags and freebies then

leave pronto; (3) sending repre-

sentatives without prior permis-

sion; (4) simply copying and past-

ing the whole press release on

their blogs; or worse, (5) stealing

products from the event.

These kinds of bloggers even-

tually lose credibility and trust

from fellow bloggers and PR

agencies. What’s left for them,

then? – a bad name and reputa-

tion not just for themselves, but

also for the rest of the bloggers.

This is exactly why some tra-ditional media men do not respect

bloggers in general. It is because

of these select “bloggers” who

show disrespect to themselves

and the people around them.

 Are we just going to wait until

the blogosphere totally loses the

trust of people? If you’re a blog-

ger, examine and assess yourself.

Is your blogging making you or 

breaking you?

Got anything to add? Email

glenn@glennong.com or tweet @

GlennOng

E

Its functionality and price—$45

for a Modlet, or $50 for a Modlet and

USB connector—make the Modleta hybrid between full-on home auto-

mation and a simple timer switch.

Simpler devices already on the

market, such as Belkin’s Conserve,

consist of power strips and indi-

  vidual plugs that can be switched

off manually (or put on a timer) in

order to stop devices from drawing

power when they don’t need it.

General Electric is rolling out

a more sophisticated energy-man-

agement system, in which a device

called the Nucleus acts as the hub

of a home’s energy-management

features. The Nucleus is a three- by 

four-inch computer that plugs into

any wall outlet. It can connect wire-

lessly with a home’s smart meter (if 

it has one), and with compatible ap-pliances, providing a user 

  with the same informa-

tion that utility companies

receive.

  As with the Modlet,

Nucleas information is

available on a desktop

computer or a mobile de-

 vice, and via the Web. But

unlike the Modlet, it can

also tap into the existing

energy management ca-

pabilities of “smart” appli-

ances, such as dishwash-

ers, dryers, and other 

ZigBee-equipped large appliances.

GE’s technology is still in tri-

als with consumers in a handfulof states, where it’s being offered

by utilities as part of “demand

response” programs. These pro-

grams allow the utility to selectively 

reduce the power consumption of 

customers’ devices when the grid is

under an especially heavy load.

While the target markets of GE

and ThinkEco have considerable

overlap, for now ThinkEco is taking

a more consumer-first approach.

However, its biggest impact could

be in the office, says ThinkEco co-

founder Mei Shibata.

“In the office, it’s nobody’s job

to [think about energy use]—it’s

not my job to turn off my lamp even

though I should,” says Shibata.

(NYT)

Couple of new devices keep

power-gobbling gadgets in check

T“Recognizing the competency of 

the Philippine workforce, and based

on our overwhelmingly positive ex-

perience over the previous year 

since TxVia began operations in the

Philippines, we've decided to signifi-

cantly expand our operations,” said

Matthew Nyren, Senior Vice Presi-

dent of Managed Services.

TxVia commenced operations in

the Philippines on October 2010, ini-

tially providing Customer Service,

Risk Management and IT Helpdesk 

services. With the launch of the new 

facility those services are being ex-

panded to include Software Devel-

opment, Quality Assurance testing

and a variety of other disciplines.

TxVia Philippines is now locat-

ed in its airy, spacious loft at 26/F

Piccadilly Star Building, Bonifacio

Global City. It is currently seeking

resumes from qualified applicants

  with Software Development, Soft-

  ware Testing, Financial Services

and Contact Center experience. For 

more information, contact them at

phjobs@txvia.com.

TxVia Philippines expands services,moves into high-tech BGC ofces

Ddestroyed by terrorists. The assault

left Adam in near death with most

of his body torn and crushed. Bent

on uncovering the secrets behind

the attack, the corporation revives

  Adam with most of his body parts

replaced by mechanical prosthetics,

making him a super soldier.

The game lets players experi-

ence the unique Deus Ex journey 

by blending together RPG and FPS

shooter elements. The game is

mostly played in a first-person per-

spective and changes only to a thirdperson view when climbing ladders

and taking cover. Inventories, quest

logs, and other RPG elements are

also taken into account in game. Be-

cause it’s Deus Ex, freedom is given

to the player on how he wishes to ac-

complish the mission, as the game

itself says, “The obvious may not

be the best option”. Missions take

course in different places such as

Detroit, Singapore, and Shanghai.

The RPG element of Deus Ex

comes from the game’s intensive

quest and leveling system. (Jose

Gamaliel Felongco)

Human Revolution