Culture

Did You Know? is a great presentation that sums up the changes happening because of the internet, mobile phones and social media.

Manny Pacquiao chalked another historic victory today by beating Golden Boy Oscar dela Hoya. That news is old by now.

What's unique in our experience is the way we watched it. My wife Data could not wait for the local telecast, which was much-delayed and peppered with too many ads. So she found a webcast of the show, courtesy of UStream. (How was this possible? Some Pinoys who had HBO pay-per-view put a webcam in front of the TV -- we could hear their chatter as the game progressed.)

Starting today, I'll record here the instances where Filipinos are featured in works of fiction. I've been meaning to do this, but always got sidetracked.

I have this small theory that Filipinos are very slowly taking the limelight in international media. (The Chinese are very well-known the world over and so are Thais. Filipinos are now slowly getting in the radar.)

• Get instant and accurate micro-weather updates from volunteer reporters.
• Ditto with above, but focusing on disaster updates (Fire, quakes, accidents).
• Instant traffic reports via mobile or people who live with a great view of major streets.
• Send early warning and emergency alerts during disasters (done in California during the forest fires)

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There's a lot to rejoice about our latest YouTube Pinoy stars -- Charice Pempengco (a 15 year-old singer who got a standing ovation in Ellen Degeneres's show) and Arnel Pineda (the new lead singer of Journey). They follow the footsteps of Alyssa Alano, but have gone way beyond Alano's league.