Here in the Philippines, Big Bird was the first logo that appeared.

And just an hour ago, Cookie Monster.

My fearless forecast is this will be going on for 5 more days, with Elmo, Bert and Ernie, Grover and Oscar the Grouch receiving their own doodles.

If you ask me, the Cookie Monster logo is pretty cute. It’s the one to beat.

UPDATE (11/6) Bert and Ernie:

(11/7) Oscar the Grouch:

• Design and website structure creation
• Maximum of 5 static HTML pages
• Hosted on Blogger.com

Pages include the following

• Home
• Product/Service Gallery
• Business Location Page with Map
• Profile/About Us Page
• Contact Us Page with Form

Training

• Complementary two hours self-maintenance training will be provided.

Here’s a video of Google’s Southeast Asia Marketing Head, Dereck Callow, explaining the stimulus package during their official launch earlier today.

If you have a business that is just starting out or have friends who wish to have an online presence for their businesses, feel free to tell them about this offer, or simply send them to this page to sign up immediately.

Congrats to the organizers of the 3rd Mindanao Bloggers Summit (MBS3) for a job well done! The MBS3 was held this time in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental. Previous editions were done in Davao City and General Santos City. I wasn’t able to make it because I’m still recovering from injuries I sustained in an accident in Singapore. I hope to be around for MBS4 here in Davao.

MBS3 received raves from bloggers such as Migs Hipolito, Jim Hao, Lyle Santos and Brendel Balaga. I honestly was quite concerned about how it would go. But these concerns were quickly put to rest once several attendees began plurking. Notable speakers were Adel Tamano, Aileen Apolo, Lyle Santos and Avel Manansala.

The biggest surprise came when people began texting me congratulatory messages. Apparently I’m one of 10 recipients of the Digital Tribe of Mindanao award from Globe Telecom. I’m not exactly sure what the award means, but hey, I’ll take awards any day!

Again, congratulations to the MBS team in CDO, led by Chiq Montes. Good job guys!

The organizers of Wordcamp NYC 2009 were able to clinch Baruch College as its new venue sponsor. That means more participants, more tracks, more talks, more cool stuff! Baruch College also happens to be a staunch supporter of Wordpress, using Wordpress MU as the de facto publishing platform of its blogging community. Tickets will be sold by next week according to the official blog. Be on the lookout for that if you’re keen on attending this surefire awesome event!

Special Awards

Best Blog Design – The Site Guy
Best Filipino Blog Abroad – The Warped Zone
Best Foreign Blog – My Sari Sari Store
Blogger’s Choice – Micamyx
Best Filipiniana Blog – Pilipino Komiks

Ten Best Posts of the Year

Karnabal by Tuyong Tinta ng Bolpen
Finding Your Soul Mate: A Statistical Analysis by Guttervomit
Lost Gems Of Philippine History: The 1896 Board Meeting by It’s true! It’s true!
The Diving Boys of Quezon Bridge by Dennis Villegas
Twenty Pesos by Lostphotograph
The way of the leaf by SMOKE
Portrait of a dramatic highlight in Nick Joaquin&’s A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino by Gibbs Cadiz
Kaya Dumarami ang Bading Kasi… by Manila Gay Guy
The Parable of the Furry White Rabbit by Good Times Manila
The Amazing Bulul: A Story of Epiphany by The Cat Whisperer

Best Blogs by Category

Best Technology Blog – Jaypee Online
Best Travel Blog – Langyaw – Sojourns and Off-the-Beaten Path Travels
Best Entertainment Blog – Lessons From the School of Inattention
Best Personal Blog – Writing on Air
Best Food & Beverage Blog – Table for Three, Please
Best Family & Living Blog – Make or Break
Best News & Media Blog – Virtual Journals
Best Business Blog – Negosyo Ideas
Best Sports Blog – Fire Quinito
Best Hobby & Recreation Blog – Bearbrick Love
Best Fashion Blog – Who is Elyoo?
Best Photoblog – I Am a Documentary Photographer
Best Culture and Arts Blog – magnetic-rose.net: Japanese Pop Culture for Filipino Fans
Best Commentary Blog – The Marocharim Experiment
Best Videocast Blog – Entrepbuff.com
Best Podcast Blog – Brink Notes Entertainment Daily
Best Humor Blog – The Professional Heckler
Best Gaming Blog – Blog Mike Got Game!
Best Advocacy Blog – Autism Society of the Philippines
Best Beauty Blog – The Doctor Is vaIN

But it doesn’t stop there! Two more editions will take place in Visayas (Cebu) and Mindanao (Cagayan de Oro City). See you there!

A lot have been campaigning their blogs to win this prestigious award. I’m refraining from voting for anyone this time, because I made two promises to two people that I would vote for them, blindly thinking that it was possible. But after reading the fine print, I learned I was wrong. So to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings, I hereby declare that my vote goes to myself. There is no rule against voting for myself. I know I won’t win but at least I chose something close to my heart. And that is why I feel like I’ve won already.

xoxo

1. The Mindanao Bloggers Summit 3 in Cagayan de Oro City is a go on October 24, 2009. There is a minimum fee of P500 which covers expenses throughout the sessions including food and a city tour, and there is an option to go white water rafting for P1,000. Sounds like fun! Kudos to the organizing team led by Chiq Montes.

2. The Philippine Blog Awards is going to Mindanao! Yes, the PBA will be held in tandem with MBS3! Special awards to be given out are Mindanao Advocacy Blog, Mindanao Photoblog, Uniquely Mindanao Blog and Mindanao Destination Blog.

3. Nokia OVI spokesperson Jayvee Fernandez blogged about a contest where you upload a pic of your workstation and get a chance to win P2,000 in gift certificates and a Nokia phone. I submitted mine, but I doubt that I’ll win But mine doesn’t look so bad, right? More details here.

4. I just got back from a trip to 3 countries – Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. I had a blast, except for injuries I sustained while doing a Superman stunt on a walk-on conveyor. Read about it in my personal blog.

5. I recently launched a blog with my friend Aileen that’s dedicated to our favorite beverage — TEA! There are only two entries so far, but there’s more to come, I promise! Once Aileen gets her Internet back, she’ll start posting too. Head over to Tea, Completely.

6. I *really* hope I can revive this blog of mine. I wonder why people still keep visiting but I’ll try the best I can to keep it that way. I tend to over-analyze when writing an article for Alleba Blog and that burdens me a lot. My real style of writing could be seen on my personal blog, which is more relaxed and free-flowing. I’ll employ that tone here from now on. Should be great. Might I mention that I made some real cool purchases in Singapore which I look forward to sharing with you guys.

7. I wasn’t at Wordcamp Philippines 2009 for several reasons. Most of them I could not mention here. But let me say this. Leadership doesn’t mean sitting around, acting like a diva and think you can treat people like slaves. Wordcamp 2008 was a success because the team worked as equals. That’s not to say Wordcamp 2009 wasn’t a success, but I’d go as far as saying that Chattee, Lyle, Brendel and Jim did a splendid job in turning things around and making the event an enjoyable one.

8. Wordcamp NYC is now using a logo that I made for their event. I didn’t expect to win. Actually, four of us won! LOL.

That’s all for now. More updates coming soon!

Word is that Yahoo! Philippines will announce Monday that they had hired Jack Madrid as its new Country Manager.

According to his Linkedin Profile, Jack’s had two decades worth of experience in BPO, media, banking and venture capital. A graduate of Wharton, he specializes in call center management, strategic planning, media & marketing and commercial banking. Prior to his new gig, Jack was senior executive for Dell International Services, a contact center in the Mall of Asia. His impressive work portfolio also includes MTV, Ayala Corporation and Citibank.

Yahoo! Philippines has taken great strides in boosting its brand awareness locally, most recently through the Yahoo! Purple Hunt, which took participants all Metro Manila to find “clues” to win prizes. I surmise that Mr. Madrid’s hiring is in lieu of something bigger. What it might be, I have no clue. Yahoo! does have a General Manager for the Philippines, in the person of Jojo Anonuevo. I wonder how their roles would play out (or clash) once Jack steps in. Something’s brewing, that’s for sure.

To those attending the Google-Globe Developer Workshop tomorrow (June 20, 2009), the event will be held at one of the conference rooms found at the West wing of the Tech Portal building of the UP-Ayala Technohub. The Tech Portal building is the horseshoe-shaped building where the shops and cafes are located.

Here’s a map:

For more about the event, click here.

Again, see you there!

Thanks to Bong for the original image of the map.

Imagine a phone that does the job of recharging itself. The geniuses at Finnish company Nokia in Cambridge, UK invented a new charging system that harnesses the infinite amount of radio waves that surrounds us, and converts the electromagnetic radiation into electricity to power a cellular phone battery. These radio waves can come simply from your own television set, wifi transmitters, radios, or any device with antennae. Still in the experimental stages, Nokia foresees this technology to go mainstream in 3-5 years. For now, they are working on getting the charger to generate 20 milliwatts, enough for a phone to run on stanby mode forever. About double that, we can do voice calls for whatever lengths we desire, load permitting.

Would you buy this cellphone?