Arangkada for September 22, 2006

 

 

                ADLAW SA PANUDYA

 

Makabuylo na gyong imbestigasyon sa mga pasangil sa pangurakot batok sa napalagpot nga primero ministro sa Thailand nga si Thaksin Shinawatra.  Ang pakisusi ni Auditor General Jaruvan Maintaka mahimong mosangpot sa pagkasakmit sa nagbuntaog nga katigayonan ni Thaksin ug sa iyang pamilya.  Dungan sa iyang pangangkon sa pagpalambo sa ekonomiya sa Thailand, si Thaksin gipasanginlan sang nigamit sa iyang gahom pagpaburot sa mga patigayon sa iyang pamilya.

       Si Jaruvan, gitawag og "Iron Lady" tungod sa talagsaong kaisog, mao ray nakaako pag-imbestigar sa labing menos 14 ka kadudahang mga transaksiyon ni Thaksin.   Tungod sa kamaginukdanon ni Thaksin, si Jaruvan dugay ra untang nakulban sa kaldero.  Apan ang suporta nga iyang nadawat gikan sa hinigugmang hari sa Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, nga gikatahong nahasol na sab pag-ayo sa giingong pangurakot ni Thaksin, maoy nakapabilin niya sa katungdanan.  Laing 100 ka dagkong politiko ug mga negosyante, nga gipasanginlang mga kakonsabo ni Thaksin, apilon sab sa imbestigasyon.

-o0o-

       Ang mga pasangil batok ni Thaksin, bisan sa kaseryuso ug kamahinungdanon, wa matarung pagsusi tungod sa hingpit niyang pagkontrolar sa kagamhanan.   Ang iyang paghigpit sa media ug ang pagtudlo sa iyang mga batabata sa Election Commission maoy nakahatag niya og makabungog nga mayoriya sa niaging tulo na ka piniliay.   Karon natangtang na sa gahom, masusi na gyod ang tanan niyang tinagoan.

       Nga mao say mahitabo sa mga pasangil batok ni Pres. Arroyo ug sa iyang pamilya.   Wa kaugpo ang mga pasangil sa pagpangawat ug pagpanikas sa eleksiyon tungod sa makabungog niyang mayoriya sa Kongreso ug hingpit nga pagkontrolar sa Comelec.   Ang kontrobersiya sa charter change (cha-cha) maoy motion kon magawongan bang bag-ong mayoriya sa Korte Suprema nga iyang mga tinudlo.

-o0o-

       Apan di mahitabo nga katagoan ni Pres. Arroyo ang kamatuoran hangtod sa kahangturan.   Moabot gyong panahon nga kinahanglan niyang atubangon ug tubagon ang tanang mga pasangil nga iya rong gilikay-likayan.

       Kay gawas nga di siya mahimong magpabilin sa gahom hangtod sa hangtod, ang katawhang Pilipinhon di sab mahitabong molingiw na lang sab hangtod sa kataposan sa kalibotan sa ilang gimbuhaton pagpakisayod unsay nahitabo sa ilang katigayonan ug sa ilang balaanong katungod sa pagpili.

-o0o-

       Bisan sa kadako sa iyang gahom ug kalapad sa iyang katigayonan, way laing mahimo si Pres. Arroyo gawas sa pagpaabot unsay mag-una:   Ang iya bang pagkapukan sa gahom o ang pagtimbakuwas ba sa kinabag-an sa ligdong nga katawhan?

       Ug kon naglaom siyang duphan sa iyang gisipsipan pag-ayong Estados Unidos, maayo tingaling panaminan ang nahitabo ni Thaksin:   Samtang gisupak sa US ang kudeta ug ang martial law sa Thailand, igo lang niawhag nga ibalik ang kagamhanan ngadto sa mga sibilyan, wa na maghisgot nga ibalik ang ilang pinangga nga si Thaksin sa katungdanan.   [30]  leo_lastimosa@abs-cbn.com

Arangkada for September 21, 2006

 

       GILUBATLUBATAN

 

Dunay di makatug og tarung ning pagkalagpot ni Thaksin Shinawatra isip primero ministro sa Thailand human sa malinawong kudeta nga gilusad sa militar. Si Thaksin nakalingkawas sa lapad nga protesta tungod sa sibaw nga pasangil sa pangurakot batok niya ug sa iyang pamilya. Iyang nabaraw ang tanang pagsuway pagpalagpot niya sa gahom pinaagi sa bay balaoranan tungod sa hingpit niyang pagkontrolar sa nagkalainlaing mga institusyon sa Thailand, gawas nga way klarong lider nga makailis niya. Ang labing makapakugang mao nga nahitabo ang kudeta dihang nahilom nang mga protesta sa kadalanan.

Si Pres. Arroyo nakalingkawas sab sa lapad nga protesta batok niya. Gipasanginlan sab siya ug ang iyang pamilya sa grabeng pangurakot. Hingpit sang iyang pagkontrolar sa nagkalainlaing mga institusyon, gawas nga way klarong lider ang oposisyon nga makailis niya. Ang labing makapabugnaw sa simod sa Malakanyang mao nga nahilom nang mga protesta sa kadalanan. Sama gyod sa nahitabo sa Thailand sa wa pang kudeta.

-o0o-

Si Thaksin nga nangangkon og suporta sa kinabag-an sa mga Thai gipalayas gikan sa gahom nga way bisan usa sa iyang mga dumadapig nga nipakita og bisan gamay na lang lama sa kahinugon. Kay nawad-an na man sa iyang dagway, si Thaksin napugos pagkanselar sa iyang diskurso sa General Assembly sa United Nations sa New York. Gituohang adto siya motago uban sa iyang pamilya sa London.

Si Pres. Arroyo nga nangangkon og suporta sa kinabag-an sa mga Pilipinhon lingion pa kaha sa iyang mga dumadapig kon mao nay mapalayas sa gahom? Di ba kaha nga ang iyang mga hinanib nga kuwang na lang og dyutay nga motila sa iyang lapalapa maglumbaanay ra sab pagpanglayat ug paghapa-hapa atubangan sa mga lider nga makapuli niya sa gahom? Kon mahisama siyang Thaksin, asa man layas si Pres. Arroyo ug ang mga sakop sa iyang pamilya?

-o0o-

Ang nangu sa kudeta, Heneral Sondhi Boonyaratklin, nipasabot pila ka takna human niya ipaubos ang Thailand sa martial law nga kinahanglan silang molihok kay nabuak-buak nang mga Thai, nikuyanap nang pangurakot sa nagkalainlaing mga ahensiya sa kagamhanan ug inanay nang giguba ni Thaksin ang demokratikanhong mga institusyon sa nasud.

Makasalig si Pres. Arroyo nga si AFP Chief Hermogenes Espero di mahimong laing Sondhi. Apan pulihi ang dagway ni Sondhi ni bisan kinsang junior officer nga wa pa mawad-i sa iyang gugma sa nasud ug sa katawhan ug labing seguro samang mga pung ang iyang gamiton pagpatin-aw sa ilang pag-alsa batok sa presidente.

-o0o-

Samtang nagtungkawo pa sa gahom, si Thaksin nipasidaan nga magkaguliyang ang Thailand kon tangtangon siya sa katungdanan. Pagkabantay sa kudeta, ang mga Thai naglumba pagpaletrato tapad sa mga tangke ug rebeldeng mga sundawo.

Laing pahinumdom ngadtong Pres. Arroyo nga kaalaotan maoy sangkoan sa pagtuo sa iyang kaugalingong propaganda. [30] leo_lastimosa@abs-cbn.com

Arangkada for September 20, 2006

 

      KINSAY UTOK?

 

Karong nakonbikto na si SPO1 Marcial Ocampo, mahimo bang mopasabot ang kapolisan nganong hangtod karon wa pa mailhi ang utok sa pagpatay ni Elpidio "Jojo" dela Victoria? Ang kapaspas sa husay sa kaso, nga nahuman sud lang sa tunga sa tuig, nakapabantang lang sa kaluya ug kataphaw sa imbestigasyon pag-ila sa mastermind sa pagpatay ni dela Victoria. Nga gikahadlokang nahunong dihang gipasaka ang kaso sa korte ug nalinga nang mga Sugbuanon sa husay ug sa mas bag-o ug mas dagkong mga kontrobersiya.

Ang gikahadlokang pagpangiyugpos lang sa kapolisan pag-ila sa ubang nahilambigit sa bangis nga pagpatay ni dela Victoria nagmatuod nga dagko gyong isda ang utok sa krimen ug busa, mahimo ba, nga mopakpak ug matagbaw na lang ang katawhan nga tambasakan nga si Ocampo, bisan napamatud-ang way atraso ni pagdumot sa biktima, mao na lay ibala sa kanyon iyawat mahilom ang sibaw nga awhag sa hustisya?

-o0o-

Ang sunudsunod nga pagpamatay sa mga sakop sa media, nalambigit man sa ilang trabaho o wa, tipik lang sa mas dakong eskandalo: Ang wa mabadlong nga pagpamatay ug bangis nga pagpanamastamas di lang sa mga aktibista kon dili hasta na sa kasarangang mga molupyo. Busa ang pakigbisog batok sa pagpamatay sa mga komentarista ug mga peryodista angayng himuong kabahin sa mas dakong kawsa pagbaraw sa nisulbong nga kriminalidad sa kinatibuk-an sa katilingban.

Samtang way klarong ebidensiya nga maglambigit sa kadagkoan sa kagamhanan sa naghitak nga pagpamatay ug pagpanghasi, ang pamunoan gihapon ni Pres. Arroyo ang angayng tulisukon. Ang ilang kapakyas pagsulbad sa mga kaso ug pagsilot di lang sa mga mamumuno kon dili apil na sa mga utok sa krimen, gawas nga nakahudlat sa sistema sa hustisya mahimong makadasig pa sa ubang mga kriminal, apil nang kurakot nga mga politiko ug abusadong mga magpapatigayon, pagamit sab og puwersa paghipos sa ilang mga kaatbang—masakop man sila sa media, aktibista o utangan lang.

-o0o-

Ang mga pruyba sa kalambigitan sa labing dagkong opisyal sa kagamhanan sa laktod nga mga pagpamatay, samtang di kabarug sa hukmanan, makahasol kaayo nga di angayng palabyon lang kay posibleng gihimo silang mga irong buang nga gibuhian pagpasidaan sa mga kaatbang sa administrasyon:

• Si Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte nga gituohang maoy nagbuhi sa mga vigilantes sa habagatang Mindanao gisuod pag-ayo sa Malakanyang ug gihimo pang presidential adviser sa seguridad;
• Si Retired Army Major General Jovito Palparan nga gipasanginlang berdugo nga maoy niluba sa mga aktibista paspas kaayong gipatongan og mga bituon ug gitanyagang himuong luyuluyong National Security Adviser bisan sa wa pa moretiro sa serbisyo; ug
• Si Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena nga way pupanaganang nagsubli-subli nga mas ganahan siya sa mga vigilantes kay sa mga abogado inay pilpilon gihatagan hinuon og dakong katungdanan sa Asean Summit. [30] leo_lastimosa@abs-cbn.com

Arangkada for September 19, 2006

 

       LUOY UG GUTOM

 

Ang National Food Authority (NFA) way mga ebidensiya nga gihuptan pagmatuod sa gikatahong pagbaha sa smuggled rice dinhi sa Sugbo. Apan ang tigpamaba sa NFA nga si Ernesto Lariosa niangkon nga naghinobra ang suplay sa bugas humay nga nitidlom pag-ayo ang halin sa NFA nga ilang gipamaligya sa nagkalainlaing merkado aron unta pagtapak sa kakuwang sa suplay ug pagpugong sa patuyang nga pagsaka sa presyo sa commercial rice.

Matod ni Lariosa lisod ipatin-aw ang nag-awas-awas nga suplay sa bugas humay sa Sugbo kay wa man mosulbong ang produksiyon sa mga umahan sa Luzon ug Mindanao. Si Lariosa nipasabot sa DYAB Abante Bisaya nga usa sa posibleng katin-awan sa abundang suplay mao ang mga pasangil sa pagsiaw sa rice smuggling agi sa mga pantalan sa Sugbo sukad pa sa niaging tuig.

-o0o-

Ang mga magpapatigayon sa bugas maoy labing nahibawo sa kiat sa rice smugglers sa Sugbo. Pila ka semana sa di pa modunggo ang mga barko nga gikargahan sa pinayuhot nga bugas, duna nay mga ahente nga nanungko sa labing dagkong mga bodega ug tindahan pagtanyag sa labihan kabarato nilang imported nga bugas. Napugos sila pagdawat sa kahadlok nga langawon ang mas mahal nilang lokal nga bugas ug magpiyesta ang ilang mga kumpetinsiya kon mao ray makigkonsabo sa gamhanang pundok sa rice smugglers.

Tak-om ang ilang mga baba sa kahadlok nga maduhig sa kontrobersiya. Maong di mahitabong mokanta sila ngadto sa NFA ug bisan sa ilang kahugpongan, ang Grains Retailers Confederation (Grecon). Apan ang mga magpapatigayon mismo nabalaka nga kon di mabaraw ang smuggling, mahimo silang inutil pagpugong sa nag-ung-ong nga grabeng krisis sa bugas.

-o0o-

Tungod sa nagbaha nga smuggled rice, gibalibaran sa mga magpapatigayon sa Sugbo ang ilang mga suki sa Luzon ug Mindanao. Ug kay di man mahimo nga maghuwat ang ilang mga suki kanus-a mabasiyo ang mga bodega sa Sugbo, napugos sila pagtumod sa natanggong nilang sinakong bugas ngadto sa laing dapit ug sa pagpangita og bag-ong mga suki.

Ang smuggled rice sa Sugbo di molungtad hangtod sa hangtod. Kon di mokihol ang Bureau of Customs ug ubang ahensiya, maapsan sila sa pagpasaka sa presyo sa ubang kanasuran. Kon moabot nang adlawa, magkara-kara ang mga magpapatigayon pagpangita og bag-ong suppliers sa bugas kay nasimang na sa laing dapit ang naandan nilang mga tinubdan.

-o0o-

Arang-arang na lang ang mga magpapatigayon kay kon magkina-unsa duna pa may hiniposan nga makuot aron paglatas sa tinggutom. Ang mga mag-uuma nga maoy labing natangkugo sa rice smuggling kinahanglang manglayas gikan sa ilang umahan aron mabuhi.

Laing tigdawat sa santako mao ang mga konsumidor. Bisan sa abundang suplay, wa silang kapahimus sa baratong presyo sa bugas. Ug kon hingpit nang magusbat ang industriya sa bugas, silay malunosan sa gutom. [30] leo_lastimosa@abs-cbn.com

DYAB's Merkado Patrol headed by Maria Pino of the Cebu City United Vendors Association (CCUVA) 

DYAB's Theresians

 

DYAB Anchors Leo Lastimosa and Neda Avinante 

DYAB Anchors Leo Lastimosa and Star Cabrera-De Gracia 

Leo Lastimosa in Kumbira sa Kapamilya 

Leo Lastimosa with Market Patrollers 

Call DYAB Absolutely FREE

DYAB AM is the only radio station in the Philippines which you can call from anywhere in the world absolutely free.  Thanks to DB Edwards' VOIP technology through iNTouch, you can call us from 4 a.m. to 12 midnight (Philippine time), Mondays to Fridays.  All you need is a headset.

 

You can greet your Kapamilyas in Cebu and the Visayas and Mindanao over the AM radio station of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. in Cebu Philippines .  You can also use our Internet Phone to air public service announcements for your families and friends in the Philippines.

 

Or you can tell us situationers/updates/comments about major news events in your place of work or urgent concerns of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).  Let DYAB AM serve as your bridge to government agencies which can help you or your loved ones, like the Dept. of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the Office of the President, local government units (LGUs) and private employment and placement agencies.

 

Bawat Pinoy Kapamilya.

 

Tawag Na!

Call DYAB Absolutely Free

Thanks to DB Edwards' iNTouch VOIP technology, you can now call DYAB AM from wherever in the globe by simply clicking on Leo Lastimosa's picture. You can call during Arangkada's time slot, 6-10 a.m., RP Time.

Let Go

Youngblood : Busted

JA
Inquirer News Service

I WAS busted. It was the first time (and perhaps the last) I risked expressing my feelings, and I was sent painfully crashing back to reality by the experience. It is not that he didn't have a good reason not to return my feelings for him. I do understand his point: hearing someone say that she loves you, especially if she is someone you don't know at all, can definitely freak you out.

I don't want to call myself pathetic, but I managed to sustain my feelings for him for seven years, ever since the time I met him. We're not really strangers to each other. At least, we had seen each other and we knew each other's name. It just happened that I knew a great deal more about him than he did about me.

Friends say that I was hasty in saying what I felt for him was love. After all, it was his intelligence that first drew me to him. Secondly, he had the ambition--no, drive--to succeed. Of course, there was the small factor that he offered security. And all in all, he had practically everything I was looking for in a mate. So, in my friends' estimation, it wasn't love at all. I simply didn't give the politically correct answer.

They say that if someone asks you why you love a person, you're not supposed to mention his positive qualities--not his looks, his status, what he has to offer and, least of all, the capability of his mind for higher level thinking. You love him simply because you love him. You love him because it's him.

I don't know how to explain to them that when you love, you don't love the entirety of the person all at once. You start loving the things that made you like him in the first place--and they may be as petty and shallow as his face, his car or his mind. Then, you start building on that and you begin to love his other "attributes"--until you finally learn to love the "whole" of him. You can't love someone without starting from loving something little and, yes, petty about him.

To say "I love him simply because I love him; it's him" would be the final answer. But there are initial answers before you reach this point.

I started loving him because of his intelligence, because of his drive, because of the way he was able to reach for his dreams--and yes, I loved him because it's him.

But he couldn't return my love, because he didn't know me "that much." Oookay.

My well-meaning friends have advised me time and again to forget him. But perhaps it's true what they say about the wisest of men being the most foolish in love. He was more or less a part of me for seven long years and it's not easy to remove something from your system in the wink of an eye.

Now I tell myself that I'll never risk my heart like that again. I cannot stand a second heartbreak. Actually, making the first move and being honest like that wasn't even my kind of thing. I did it because I didn't want to wake up one day to realize I was dying without telling him about it. All right, so perhaps I should have thought about it a million times more, and probably pondered the best way and the perfect time to say it. Sometimes I ask myself how things would have turned out had I waited a little more and probably given him more time to know me, and possibly, like me.

Now, we've stopped being comfortable buddies. We used to e-mail each other and share stories. I know he's busy now, but I can't help but think that he's just using it as an excuse to cover up an awkward situation.

I don't regret anything. What would I get crying over spilled milk? That's how I try to view things now. As one friend said, at least I told him. The greatest regret comes when you are not able to tell him.

I didn't lose anything--well, probably a bit of my pride. But it's something I can get back. I'm the same old person, just a little wiser now from the experience.

I have already gotten over the fact that I was busted and rejected. I have yet to get over him. Like I said, he's "Mr. Ideal Guy." But most of the time, you don't get the ideal or the perfect, you go for the right thing or person.

I have yet to meet the man who could inspire and move me the way he moved and inspired me. Or perhaps, I just don't notice him because all my attentions are focused on someone else. This is what my friends have been telling me.

I'm not closing my heart to other possibilities. I'm just afraid that I wouldn't be fair to the next guy who comes along because he just might end up as "Mr. Second Best." It's a long, uphill climb to closure.

I have to be honest and say that yes, there is still some small seed of hope in my heart that eventually he will learn to love me. But I'm not going to waste the rest of my life banking on that. I know when to quit and give up.

It will come. It will come. Yes, I'm probably a sucker for pain and self-inflicted torture. I still enjoy the bittersweet feeling the whole experience of loving him gives me. Yes, it's love, despite what they say. If he would only give me a chance, I'd like to show him how much he means to me. But when the time comes that I need to let his memory go, I will find a way.

That's how life goes.

JA, 22, teaches in a state university.

Life After MTV

At home with Donita Rose

Jocelyn Valle
Inquirer News Service

(PINAY ex-veejay and actress Donita Rose's Modess commercials are currently airing in Thailand and China. She recently shot a new Dimetapp commercial here in Manila with her son JP. MTV also recently gave her a tribute and invited her to do special episodes of Pop Inc -- to be aired all over Asia. She started taping on Monday, Aug. 1. Inquirer Entertainment visited her in Singapore, where she is based.)

"OH, it's just breaded chicken, nothing special," says Donita Rose as she ushers us into the kitchen of the condo unit in Singapore that she shares with husband Eric Villarama and their firstborn.

Joshua Paul turned one last month.

"I just went for something simple," she explains, carefully setting a piece of the chicken on a bed of mashed potatoes. But the way Donita sets the table makes a simple meal like a fine-dining experience. She even dons a blue-and-beige apron with matching toque.

Donita, whose effervescent personality has made her one of MTV's best-known VJs and the cutest Time magazine cover girl ever, is also the perfect host.

"When I'm here, I'm not really working so I devote my time to my family," she shares. "I spend most of my time at home with JP. I start preparing at about 4 o'clock for dinner—you know, groceries. I can't stock up too much in the fridge. It's too small. I also fix the house."

The Philippines is Donita's career hub. She regularly flies in for acting and hosting gigs.

"The longest I've been away is three-and-a-half weeks. I want [my husband] to miss me more. Sometimes he says, 'Sweetheart, I miss your cooking.' I like hearing that, so I always do my best," she says.

"You want some music?" Eric chimes in from the study room where husband and wife have separate working spaces.

"I can cook anything," Donita declares. "I used to invite my friends like Ruffa (Gutierrez), Sharmaine (Arnaiz) and Alma (Concepcion) to my house in Manila. On my sixth month [of pregnancy] I stopped working. That's when I started experimenting in the kitchen.

"Lately, though, I've been cooking mainly South Beach stuff. I did South Beach diet for 10 straight days and after that cheat-cheat na ako. After I gave birth, I was almost 80 kg. Now, I'm like 58, 59 kg. My original weight was 54 kg."

The doting wife and mom loves to share stories about her family, too. She relates that JP likes to dance, and loves attention. He has her fingers, toes, ears, forehead, nose and lips, says Donita. "Everything else, like the hair, eyes, eyebrows and lean body type, he got from Eric."

Donita and Eric are committed Born-Again Christians. While they were still dating, they recounted, they put off kissing until they tied the knot on June 9, 2003 in California. Now they attend Bible study Wednesday evenings, and Tuesday is their date night.

Eric works full-time for Thumbs Up, a non-profit organization that helps the youth to discover themselves and reach for their goals. He is in the process of putting up his own graphics design company.

Donita is the spokesperson for Thumbs Up.

"I don't like clutter," she confesses as she gives a tour of the spotless condo unit. "Almost everything here is from Ikea. We're the second tenants here. We repainted the walls and changed the lighting."

Donita's favorite things in the house are her comforter, the couch and the beanbags where she and Eric station themselves when they play X-Box. "To illustrate how clean we are—before we go on the couch or play X Box or anything, we take a shower first. This is our sanctuary," she says.

"Clean" is the operative word when describing Villaramas' residence. Even in the storage room, things are neatly kept and labeled in boxes. True to her minimalist approach to style these days, Donita's wardrobe is a medium-sized closet with three partitions, which she even shares with Eric!

Her shoes—all sneakers—are in a low cabinet near the front door. All her pumps and flats are in her pad in Manila.

"I'm sick and tired of bringing my suitcase back and forth, so I just leave all my nice clothes [in Manila]," she says.

Now 30 but still youthful, the Fil-Am actress-host admits that she wants to be perceived as a little more serious these days, so she's trying to look a little more sophisticated. "When I look at my stuff before, I take a step back. When punk was the rage, I was punk from head to toe. Now, maybe the eyeliner and the belt na lang."

Shopping? She's no longer brand-conscious. "When I walk into Prada, I think of my child's college education. All the stuff that I acquired during my MTV days are still usable, so I don't feel like I need so much. I don't have a problem with carrying around a two-year-old Gucci bag."

She loves to shop in Hong Kong during the sale season. In the States, she checks out the shops at Melrose Place. "Not Rodeo Drive," she says, "though I did use to shop there."

Digital Files

Managing Your Info
By Alexander M. Osias
Newsbreak Contributing Writer


WHERE people once ranted about not being able to get a landline, even jeepney drivers today own at least one cell phone. Where people once carried bulky paper planners and organizers or hired secretaries, we now have handheld devices that can store telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, take pictures, record events on internal calendars, and keep track of lists of tasks to perform during the day. Where people once worried about how costly long-distance communication once was, now there are free online e-mail accounts, and Internet phones.

So why do we periodically find ourselves frustrated at being unable to find, access, or transfer our electronic information?

It's usually because our strategies for managing our electronic information are either haphazardly shaped by the latest technology fads or are non-existent. Assuming that you've decided "Today is the day I begin organizing my information," where do you start?

Core Strategy

Start by defining your most important goals, and shaping your initial information management strategies around them. In shaping your strategies, consider the following questions:

1. Where does my information come from, and in what form(s) do I get my information?

2. In what form(s) should I store this information?

3. When and how quickly do I plan to access this information in the future?

4. Find the latest, cost-effective, standards-based tool(s) to store and access this information.

5. Revise your strategy accordingly.

Example 1: A single, updated contact list

1. My information comes from a variety of places—cell phone numbers texted to me, business cards sent via SMS, printed business cards, numbers scribbled on napkins, e-mail addresses. In most cases, I record them on my cell phone somehow. In the case of e-mails, I tend to find the last e-mail sent by an individual and send a reply.

2. I quickly decide to store this information on my home computer for a variety of reasons: it's at home and can't be accidentally lost in a taxi, it's less exposed to the elements, and it has a larger capacity to store information than my cell phone.

3. However, I do want to be able to synchronize the information with my cell phone. I plan on being able to copy (rather than encode manually) the numbers and information on my cell phone.

4. I go out and review the various cell phones and find that a lot of them now synchronize or upload their information to PCs. Often software and a wireless or physical (cable) link are required. I also have an e-mail application that has a contact list as part of its features.

5. I decide that my strategy is to use my cell phone as my satellite contact list storage. If I'm out of the house, I'll store any contact information that I need on it. When I get back to the house, I synchronize the information with my PC's database. If I can't find a way to export that information to my e-mail application's contact list, then I'll copy them one by one. Not the best solution, but good enough for my goal.

Example 2: An easy, idiot-proof filing system for my home and office PC files

1. My information comes from e-mail attachments (work and home), from files burned to CD, from floppy disks, from USB drives, and sometimes from files that I've created for personal or business use.

2. I have too many files to store anywhere other than my PCs, although I do occasionally archive files and burn them to CD when I need to clear up space. They normally remain in the same file formats they came to me in.

3. I sometimes find I need to bring work home. I need to be able to carry files back and forth. I also need to be able to find any file I need, instead of checking a variety of places until I finally have to use a file search tool (which may not work). I need to quickly ascertain that a given file is or is not in my PC.

4. I check out the features of Windows XP for file storage and synchronization. I check out the latest USB drives and CD burning drives and software. I ask my office mates and friends how they shuttle work back and forth. I hear about something called "Google Desktop" and research it.

5. I decide to get a 256 MB USB drive. I also decide to adopt three main folders for my files: Personal, Professional, and Dump. "Personal" stores all-important personal files, "Professional" stores all important work-related files, and "Dump" contains all the funny e-mail attachments, pictures, and otherwise trivial files. If I need to quickly back-up my personal files, I just copy the Personal folder to a USB drive. If I quickly need to clear up drive space, I drag the contents of the Dump file into the Trash.

I also decide to create several sub-folders in my Professional folder with the following naming convention: - . This will also hopefully make it easier for me to find the right folder to copy into the USB drive whenever I need to.

Then I download "Google Desktop" for my office computer. It's a utility that apparently can perform full text searches on every single file in your computer.

Information Management Gear

Some information management devices could help you formulate your own strategies:

• Cell phones - currently available models tend to have crude to exceptional applications on them, such as to-do lists and event calendars. Others can even take photo stills, record audio fragments, and even take short videos.

• PDAs - I prefer PDAs separate from a cell phone for several reasons: being able to take notes while on the phone; more options for storage and file transfers; constantly improving information synchronization tools.

• USB drives - you can now store up to a gigabyte of information on these drives (if you can afford those models) and they're treated like another drive on your PC. Fortunately, they're just plug-and-play and are very portable.

• Laptops - for obvious portability and power.

Gloriagate Blogs

Posted by Alecks Pabico
PCIJ

LET a thousand (journalist) blogs bloom.

No doubt about it, the current political crisis rocking the Arroyo administration has made blogging, for all its unmediated, instantaneous and personal nature, an attractive reporting medium for Filipino journalists. Of course, the case for blogging journalists has already been made by the likes of Manuel L. Quezon III, Jove Francisco (By Jove!), Chin Wong ( Digital Life), Erwin Oliva (cyberbaguioboy), to name a few, even before we at the PCIJ started venturing into the blogosphere ourselves.

Recent welcome additions to the journalist blogging community are GMA Network's Howie Severino (Side Trip with Howie Severino), who has a blog on blogs today, and Philippine Daily Inquirer's editorialist John Nery (Newsstand). Much earlier, we also saw GMA reporters coming out with blogs of their own — Tina Panganiban-Perez ( crimson page) and Joseph Morong (Essays and Other Lullabies). The media network is said to be encouraging its reporters to go into blogging.

Another journalist has also been blogging anonymously since May at The Early Edition.

While the mainstream media based in Metro Manila seem slow in grasping the potential of blogging as an important addition to the journalistic toolkit, interesting developments have happened elsewhere. In Cebu, Sun.Star has spiced up its coverage of "Gloriagate" by launching the Citizen Watch: The Arroyo Presidency blog. There's also dyAB, the first radio station (as far as I know) that is complementing all its programs with blogs ( dyAB Abante Bisaya). 

Hello, Garci Ring Tone Download

Here are Mp3 and wav files of the Hello Garci ring tone:

Indymedia server:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (124.1 KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (72.1 KB)

Server Mirror 1:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)

Server Mirror 2:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)

Server Mirror 3:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)

To save, right-click on the file and click save as.

Many thanks to QC Indymedia and Yuga of PinoyBlog and Ploghost for hosting the files.

Links to the entire tape are at the PCIJ blog.

How do I put it in my phone?

1. Download your choice by clicking any or all of the files.

2. Transfer the downloaded file/s from the computer to your phone using either an infrared connection or a USB-to-phone cable.

3. For those whose phones have GPRS/WAP access, point your phone's browser to www.txtpower.org and download it directly to your phone.

4. Once transferred to your phone, the sound file may be used as ringtone for calls or text messages.

Other options

1. Ask for file-transfer from friends who may already have the ringtone. Both your phones should have either infrared or bluetooth connections.

2. Join any of the future anti-GMA rallies and look for the TXTPower banner. Next big date is June 24.

3. Watch out for the TXTPower "Hello Garci" Ringtone Download Team when they go around offices, stores and tiangges, communities and schools!

Download Garci Ring Tone From TxtPower

June 17, 2005
Here are Mp3 and wav files of the Hello Garci ring tone:

Server Mirror 1:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)

Server Mirror 2:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)

Server Mirror 3:
"Hello Garci" ringtone, MP3 format (360KB)
"Hello Garci" ringtone, WAV format (197KB)

To save, right-click on the file and click save as.

Many thanks to Yuga of PinoyBlog and Ploghost for hosting the files.

Links to the entire tape are at the PCIJ blog.

Musical Dolls

Actor Ewan McGregor and Zoe Hardman perform during a photocall for the musical Guys and Dolls, at the Piccadilly Theatre in London.

Pulso sa DYAB Abante Bisaya, Maayong Buntag, Kapamilya ug TV Patrol Central Visayas

Tagbaw ka ba sa pagpatuman sa gobyerno sa iyang sports programs?

Please text your answer to DYAB REACT (opinion) and send to 2366.