iPhone Searches

According to data from the comScore Marketer service, 1.3 million people conducted 6.9 million searches for iPhone-related terms in April 2008.

The news release says that the search term iPhone generated nearly 1.5 million search. Wow! And that includes my own search for iPhone. I did ask my cousin Patrick Velez, before he visited Manila a couple of weeks ago, about an iPhone. Unfortunately, he had flown to Manila even before it was launched in the States. Now, I need to talk to Senco Link Technologies to get my iPhone.

There was really a lot of speculation and rumors about the entry of the new iPhone into the market, even before Apple CEO Steve Jobs before he spoke publicly about it.

Can you imagine if that 1.3 million translates into actual purchases? All these searches indicate intent to purchase and again demonstrate that Internet technology works.

Now 45

I attended a Asian Institute of Management conference this morning at the SMX, Mall of Asia. It was all about the country being competitive. Now, we are Number 45 in the Competitive Rankings.

Eill upload data and research findings soon.

Adobe Acrobat Innovates

Together with the Adobe team from Singapore, the EON agency launched the new Adobe Acrobat 9 software to the Philippine market. The media launch event was held at Makati Shangrila Hotel, in the heart of the Makati Central Business District,




Two experts from Adobe Acrobat Singapore easily explained and described the new advantages and benefits of Adobe Acrobat.





Our media guests listened eagerly at the innovations. Photo shows (from left to right) Yammie from Net 25, Edison Ong from Manila Bulletin, Christine Sendin from EON (who is attending her first media event) and a blogger from Good News Phils.


Lawrence Casiraya of Inquirer.net askes a question. Lawrence, probably, knows me well as he caught the episode of "Mel and Joey" last November 2007.


And that's me on the left hosting the program, after the product demonstration. Now, three lucky media guests get a chance to win a nice laptop bag. Marian, a young journalist from Manila Times, Kim Bernardo of NBN Channel and a blogger won.

But really, ultimately, all the users of Adobe Acrobat wins as they enjoy the innovative benefits of the latest version of Adobe Acrobat. It is more interactive, much easier to navigate and greater compatibility.

Black or white? Or grey?

Remember this scene from Mission Impossible? Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) repels from the ceiling. He is just a few inches from the floor. His mission - to hack into CIA computer. Photo from the movie.

Whichever side of the law, there are the tools or technology available for anyone around the globe to break into computer systems and websites. This is hacking, the unauthorized break-in into a communications network like the Internet.

Black and White Hats
In the early days of the Internet and Silicon Valley, hacking had an artistic characteristic. To qualify as a hack, the feat must be “imbued with innovation, style and technical virtuosity.”

There are two (sometimes three) types of hackers. The good guys are the white hats. They are ethically and legally opposed to the attack and abuse of computer systems. The early white hats came from the first hackers at MIT and the Homebrew Computer Club in Silicon Valley. They maintained the values and principles of openness and sharing, or more simply, a better world. A white hat is sometimes a bad guy turned good and nows works for IT companies or even government. He tests security measures, fixes security problems, and makes sure the bad guys can’t hack into these systems.

Then, there are black hats. They are driven by the challenge or curiosity (or the money) to shutdown down a website or even a government. A black hat maliciously exploits vulnerabilities to his advantage. Many black hats argue individual freedom over security, accessibility over privacy. Others simply just want to get their names in mass media or blogosphere. Or just want to have fun.

In early 80s, there were six teenage hackers in Milwaukee known as the “414s.” They sound like a new wave band. Remember, the B52s? They hacked into computer systems of laboratories, banks and even a cancer center in Canada and the United States. They quickly caught the attention of media. A 17-year-old Neal Patrick became the spokesman for the “414s” which led to a cover story in the September 1983 issue Newsweek entitled "Beware: Hackers at play." The young hackers were quoted as “just having fun.”

In-between black and white is a grey hat. He is also a skilled hacker who sometimes acts legally and illegally.

Sponsored Search

Soon

An Interview with Jeff Roberto

1. How does Friendster address issues like privacy? Or even cyber-related criminal activity?

Friendster continues to launch and support numerous features around privacy and safety and strives to be a secure place to connect with friends. Here’s an overview of our safety and privacy feature set:

Friendster registration is 16+

Friendster supports an extensive set of member account settings; members can decide who can see their profile and who can send them messages by each of the following:
My Friends, Friends of Friends, or Anyone

The above privacy settings can also be set by Region (Continent)

Friendster supports a degree network (first, second, third degree graph) that shows how you know people and how you’re connected on the network

Friendster does not collect physical addresses and does not disclose member e-mail addresses to other members

Friendster supports a “who’s viewed me” feature that displays other members who have viewed your profile (this is an optional setting)

All Friendster profiles contain a “report” link for easy flagging and notification of the Friendster Member Services team

Customer Service monitors the network for offensive material and responds promptly
to users who have reported other users’ offensive or inappropriate material/behavior


2. How do you see social networking sites changing the digital landscape in the next three years? Any forecasts or predictions?

If you look at the top 20 sites on the web today, you’ll notice that about 30-40% of them are social networking or social media sites, this wasn’t the case just 5 years ago. The social networking space is still evolving and we’ll continue to see growth here. Looking at the numbers, there are approximately 1.4 billion people online today globally, and about 194 million of them aged 16-64 manage a profile on a social network, that’s only 17% adoption! More than 800 million internet users have yet to adopt a social network, and the global internet population will continue to grow.

Rise of Social Networking Sites

When was the last time you viewed and updated your profile on Facebook, Friendster, LinkedIn, or MySpace?

Probably, a few minutes after you started working? Or before you finished your first cup of coffee for the day?

Yes, you are probably connected! — To your friends from high school and college. To your relatives and family inside and outside the Philippines. And even to total strangers with the same interests, beliefs, and lifestyles. Through social networking sites (SNS) this connection is made wider, easier, and faster. And best of all, these sites come with free space for photos, blogs, videos and music.

Remember classmates.com? Launched in 1995, this was one of the first social networking sites. This website (http://www.classmates.com) helped users locate and connect with classmates around the US.

Xanga, another popular SNS started in 1999. It begun as a site for sharing book and music reviews. Now, it has an estimated 40 million users called Xangans. I started my Xanga site in 2004 when I was still in Vietnam, blogging mostly about life and work in a foreign country. Xanga allowed me to connect to other Filipinos living outside the country.

According to Universal McCann’s Wave2 Global Research (March 2007), 194 million people around the globe manage a profile in a social networking site. There are hundreds of social networking sites that include Bebo, Facebook, Friendster, Hi5, LinkedIn, MySpace, Tagged, TakingITGlobal, etc.

Bebo? That simply means, “Blog early, blog often?”

Have you heard of sosyalan.com? This is Pinoy-centric networking site launched in June 2007. After its first six months, it recorded 50,000 users. “Now, it reaches 200,000 Filipinos worldwide,” according to Tom Pestano, its founder. He added that his site is focused on the 4Fs of social networking: flame, fun, friendship, family.

Filipinos lead in Friendster

Launched in 2003, Friendster is the most popular SNS among Filipinos! The site has 63 million registered users. According to internetworldstats.com, there are 12.2 million Filipinos on Friendster. Guess, that includes you? And I.

According to www.alexa.com, the top five Internet sites in the Philippines are Friendster, Yahoo, YouTube, Google and Multiply.

“If you look at the top 20 sites on the web today, you’ll notice that about 30 to 40 percent of them are social networking or social media sites, this wasn’t the case just 5 years ago, said Jeff Roberto, Friendster’s marketing director. “The social networking space is still evolving and we’ll continue to see growth here.”

This growth has led many social networking sites to cater to specific countries and cultures.

You can read this full article in the Manila Times (Tech Section)