Politicalarena.com: Newest sociopolitical network for Filipinos

PoliticalArena.com

With the Philippine elections fast approaching, the campaigning done by various candidates have become so competitive and aggressive to the point of desperation. The ads look good and the propaganda look sophisticated. How do we separate the lies from the truth?

Good thing we have Politicalarena.com, a combination of social media network and political news site. All the candidates’ profiles are there, although they have not been updated lately. Some candidates, like NoyNoy Aquino who had submitted his COC for Presidency is still labeled as Undecided.

The forum also looks good and seems one of the active areas of the site, but I was refused entry. I do not why. All in all, it was not a satisfying experience for me.

A few minutes later, I tried again, and I was able to log in to the forum. I wasn’t happy reading the posts. Obviously, many of our voters still choose people based on their popularity. Some members tend to lament forever about the state of our political and social systems.

It is the usual disgustingly political stuff, and most of it is shallow, to my point of view. An example of this baseless and shallow behavior is this forum topic titled “Gs2 nyo ba ng baklang Vice President? Hmmm pede! pede!”

My reply to that essentially scolds the wannabe bigots who lambast Mar Roxas’ reputation.

I also made a comment at the Issues section where I found a JC de los Reyes the most vocal among the candidates. He seems intelligent and well-informed, and has a bit of idealism in him. But I really don’t know the guy so I can’t say how trustworthy he is in keeping promises and being strong-willed enough to do what is right and just.

I do hope they post the platforms of each candidate. The least these people can do is follow through with their promises.

Just because I view the local political scene as hopeless and the general voting public as hopelessly misguided does not mean that you should not visit the site now. As a Filipino of legal voting age, it is your responsibility to educate yourself about the issues surrounding the candidates.

More Information On PoliticalArena.com:

PoliticalArena.com operates under the network of 88DB.com, the Philippines’ first rich media service portal. It aims to enrich voter education and it has a political forum that serves as a virtual arena for discussions on political issues. Registration is free for everyone.

Best keywords to bring the right customers to your website

To make sure a website is viewed by customers who are very interested in your product or service, it is important that you learn exactly how those clients are searching for them online. It is not enough to assume that the words and phrases used within the company are the same ones used by the general public, particularly your clients.

Within a company, certain industry-specific expressions are often used that it became natural for the workforce to assume those words are also used in common language. It may also happen that a word or phrase that normally has one meaning has a subtle subtext or not-so-subtle different meaning associated with a particular industry.

These differences in meaning can cause problems if the company has done its online marketing cmapaign without taking these factors into account.

A way to make sure that you do not fall into this trap is to hire SEO specialists either from a company or freelancers. They will take care of the essentials of your online campaign.

A list of potential keywords and phrases that are most likely to be used by potential customers will be drawn up. This list is usually made based on facts, such as the search data on certain keywords per month.

By the end of the keyword research and selection process, the list will have been filtered based on the most number of searches and the least number of competing pages for each keyword.

It is critical that the keyword research is done accurately. If the optimization begins with the wrong choice of words or phrases, then there is the likelihood the campaign will fail. It is not practical to spend too much time and effort on keywords that will not drive high traffic to your site.

Live Blogging at the Food Blogger’s Event at SM City Iloilo Foodcourt

Here we are live at SM City Iloilo Foodcourt participating in the first Food Bloggers’ Event. The program began with some words from Sir Stephen, the Vice President for SM Foodcourt, who came all the way from Manila despite the typhoon.

Sir Stephen, VP for Marketing of SM Foodcourt

I am glad that my fellow bloggers came armed with their cameras. The photos of the dishes prepared specially for us are very important. Three of the bloggers, including me, brought our laptops or netbooks for live blogging.

The signal for the WiFi Signal is low, but we don’t have much choice. I think it’s because we are located at the lower ground floor where the walls and other structures interfered with the signal.

The food was brought in by the different servers from the SM City Iloilo Foodcourt tenants at about 12:30 pm. The dishes were still wrapped with plastic. Those with cameras immediately took the time to take photos of the food even when they have not unwrapped them yet.

After  a few minutes of taking photos, the rest of the bloggers were invited to start tasting the food. And, boy! Was the food deleeeshus! The dishes were specially prepared for the event and their presentation was as scrumptious as they taste.

Here are some photos taken by Ronald Medina, one of the invited bloggers, at the event:

Fried Kangkong

The Fried Kangkong is one of my favorite discoveries at the Food Bloggers’ Event at SM City Iloilo. I was very intrigued by its appearance and the simplicity of the presentation. Yet, the taste is delicious and a bit sweet. Each leaf was dipped in a batter made of flour and eggs, and then deep fried to achieve that crispiness. I think it’s a healthy snack for everyone.

Mixed Maki Platter from Yukashii Japanese Cart at SM City Iloilo Foodcourt

Admittedly, I am a loyal customer of the Yukashii cart at SM City Iloilo Foodcourt. I always buy a mixed maki platter from them. For only 100 pesos you can enjoy a dozen delicious maki variations. Needless to say, I am a lover of Japanese food.

Takuyaki Platter from SM City Iloilo Foodcourt

Just like with Yukashii’s maki, I am also a fan of Takuyaki. I like Oriential dishes. I also liked the Octupus-made balls before at SM City, but they closed shop. Ilonggos are not known for being adventurous eaters. They are a bit boring and conventional in their tastes.

The New SM City Iloilo Foodcourt

I remember there was an Oriental and Asian fusion resto that opened a stall at SM City Iloilo Foodcourt before, but it also closed shop because not many people were ordering from them. The name was RASA SAYA, which also has a branch at the food stalls located between Mary Mart and the cafe bar that was known as American Legacy. Their branch at Mary Mart also did not have that many customers.

I gues Ilonggos do not like the taste of Malaysian, Thai, and Indonesian food. Only a few of us adventurous souls have dared to savor their dishes.

Photos courtesy of Mr. Ronald Medina of Visita Iglesia.

My Vote for the 2009 Bloggers’ Choice Award (National)

My Vote for the 2009 Bloggers’ Choice Award (National)

I vote for ExploreIloilo.com
Bloggers’ Choice Award
2009 Philippine Blog Awards

Be Selective With Your Free Blogging Tools

Many free blogging tools exist online, but loading them all up on your blog isn’t necessarily a good thing. While a visitor counter, a flashy background, an exciting new font, or a cluster of quirky animated GIFs may be alluring to add to your blog, this sort of plan can backfire on you if you are not careful. The key to getting the most from free blog tools is by being selective.

Find out about all free blogging tools so you can make an informed decision about what to add to your blog. However, keep in mind that just because it’s free doesn’t mean that you need it. Practice restraint and only select the options that you believe will truly be useful to you and your visitors.

If you can find out how many visitors are reading your blog by checking your traffic statistics, a visitor counter is likely to add unnecessary clutter to your page. If your blog is text-based, a flashy background can be more of a distraction than a benefit. Be practical about the kind of blog accessories will help you improve your site. Take into account that even a blog tool that doesn’t cost you any cash may not be an asset in the long run.

Find out how to choose the best free blogging site. Well, choosing a free blogging site can feel overwhelming at first because there are so many options. There are several large free blog-hosting sites that dominate the blogosphere, but there are also smaller sites. Whether you decide to join an established site like Blogger or Wordpress, or whether you opt to sign on with a relatively new venture, will depend on what your priorities are.

Dependability is perhaps the top reason to pick a large and well-known free blogging site. Choose an established web host to host your blog so you can feel secure that your blog will not crash frequently and will not disappear in the middle of the night. A company that has been around for a while is likely to have the resources to take care that its clients aren’t unpleasantly surprised by any technical glitches.

However, lots of bloggers decide that this isn’t enough of a selling point. The bloggers who choose to go with smaller, newer blog hosting sites do so for a variety of reasons, but maybe the number one benefit is a fairly abstract one. Bloggers tend to relish the fact that the Internet is a place where the underdog has a strong chance of success, and by choosing to have a small company as a blog host, a blogger is casting his or her vote for David against Goliath.