tech.exchange.ph

I attended the Microsoft Bloggers VIP Mix last January 28, 2010 for Tech Exchange and my lifestyle blog Animetric's World. It's my first Microsoft event ever so I didn't have the faintest notion of what I was in for.

Had the vast array of IT-related courses been available during my college years, I probably would have ended up working in the IT industry. I've always loved computers and I'm forever inclined to techie and geeky pursuits like html coding, tinkering with the OS of my son's Sony PSP, and playing video games till the wee hours. Yes, I'm a nerd. But since my series of choices didn't exactly lead me down that road, I'm just happy to be able to try out, write, and blog about a wide array of cool gadgets like the Sony VAIO series.

The primary issue I have with the DOH's latest statement was: 'So what are you gonna do about it'?

In PDI's report, the DOH mentions a bunch of reasons for the rise of HIV-AIDS in the country as described by Philippine National AIDS Council secretariat Ferchito Avelino, such as:

Many years ago when I was still contributing tech stories for a broadsheet my editor and I got into a heated discussion about Tablet Computers for a 'Top Trends' type article for the year ender issue. I saw them as clumsy, 100% hype and terribly expensive toys, while she wanted to plaster large pictures of fancy looking Tablets twisted this way and that, the better to make pretty looking copy with (and I came to understand that eventually when I had a taste of what was it like to be in her shoes somewhat).

At any rate, I stuck to my guns. I couldn't recommend people to buy something that I felt just wasn't ready.

That must have been 8 years ago. And now, we have this:

What is Smilds?

That was the question in my head on the way to the Smilds Connect event last January 19, 2010 held at the Hotel Intercontinental. I was one of the fifty bloggers invited and I had no idea what was in store for me.

The program started around 8pm. The Smilds management briefed us for the next couple of hours and as it turns out, Smilds is a complete online store solution for internet sellers.

To put it plainly, let's say you get the Smilds Lite Pack worth P25,000. You get the following:

When Google went ahead to promote Search, one of the ways they did it was to make 30 to 60 second videos. Here's my fave, featuring everyone's favorite Caped Crusader.

Rowena Wendy Lei is a mother, a writer, a gadget lover and teh ultimate blogger. Rowena is one of the most prolific writers I know and by golly, that's what she does and is amazing at it. Any publication with her as a writer is going to the top.

And so it gives me great pleasure to announce (rather belatedly, sorry), that Rowena has joined me at Tech Exchange. Obviously when I try to improve things around here, I don't mess around.

I'm super proud she agreed to work with me here, and this also marks as the best amongst a number of improvements on the site in general. Astute observers will notice it is not in 'Beta' anymore, and is in full swing. I've now segregated the Gadgets into Phones and Laptops. There are actually many other items like Cameras, mp3 players and LCD TVs, but until I populate these with more items I'll stick with Phones and Laptops for the moment. I'm even uploading some of the older gadget details I got from my earlier days as a tech writer, to help make TechExchange's gadget gallery a bigger, more useful database for users to reference and comment on.

Reading Google's latest post re China's recent hacking attempts at their network and others, it's hard not to notice a tinge of, well, anger. I mean, let's face it. You try to do your business honestly, abide by their rules, then they hack you? As the fellas in Sopranos would say, 'where's the respect?'

To recap for the benefit of those who haven't read it yet, Google is accusing, not just assuming, mind you, but flat out accusing China of hacking the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists based not only in China but in the U.S. and Europe as well.

The techniques used were "most likely phishing scams or malware", indicating the hackers did not directly access Gmail's servers but used the age - old technique of taking advantage of the user's lack of knowledge re securing data. While most of us manage to regularly avoid scams and viruses and therefore survive life on the 'net, a concentrated attack like what Google is referring to can certainly succeed even against the most security conscious amongst us.

I'm a working yet hands-on mom. I help out in the family business, write for several publications, and blog plus I tutor my kids and manage the household.

I've been test driving the BlackBerry Curve 8520 since last December 2009. My previous cellphones were all from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung so I really didn't quite know what to expect.