After the Google Toolbar PageRank kerfuffle last week in which a lot of high-profile sites and blogs got demoted a rank or two, it seems everything is back to normal and the ranks are back to what is mostly expected by people. The mass-demotion last week was the talk of the international blogosphere and whether the temporary drop was just an update glitch or a slap on the wrist by Google to the sites that game the PageRank system (PR) is still a question to be answered since Google is keeping mum. A lot of theories are being thrown around and the mainstream conclusion is that the visible PageRank value (i.e., the Toolbar PageRank number) should not used as a sole criterion for a website’s worth. This whole brouhaha is quite a big thing since there is quite a big Internet sub-economy built around the concept of PR (with sites like Text Link Ads and Pay Per Post).

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Continuing my Groovee Playlist™ series (see the last installment), I’ve got a whole bunch of songs that you will definitely like provided that we have the same taste in music. Hehehe. As before, I’ll link to the Wikipedia article about the song (if it exists) as “[W]”, and to the YouTube search for the song as “[U]” so that you can sample the song and see if you like it as well.

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I really don’t watch local TV much anymore so I didn’t know that my blog entry on Erap the other day was mentioned in some news show last night. I had to learn about it from my officemate who, due to her surprise at hearing my name on TV (she was actually just listening, not watching), couldn’t remember what show or what channel it was. Hehehe.

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Huwhat? Erap is asking President Arroyo for a pardon? Why would Erap, who has never acknowledged Arroyo as a legitimate president, now ask Arroyo for a pardon, which only a legitimate president can give? This is a conspiracy! Arroyo and her cohorts have bribed Erap and appealed to his nature by dangling the ailing condition of his beloved mother in his face! They did this to take the heat away from the ZTE National Broadband Network controversy and the recent cash-handout scandal!

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A very, very big shout-out to Ma’am Sol Roque for going out of her way to make sure I got the wallet I carelessly left at a fast-food restaurant this morning. She said she looked for my address in the wallet and tried going to my house, but since she couldn’t find it, she searched again my wallet for my cellphone number and texted me her home address so that I can go and claim it.

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…to offer sympathy, prayers, and support to the victims of the recent explosion at Glorietta 2. But first:

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I want to share that among the most peaceful experiences I’ve had is staying high up in a skyscraper at night—usually at the roof deck or at the balcony of a condominium unit—and just stare out for quite sometime at the city spread out before me. I greatly enjoy these moments. Just looking out at the bright city lights far below. Or observing the cars come and go. Or hearing the muted sounds of the city winding down to sleep. The normal chaos associated with the urban jungle is dimmed and toned down from way up high and that makes such moments something I cherish.

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I’ve taken some liking to Sitti’s bossa nova music. So I was rightly intrigued when I spotted Sitti in the Mix: The Dense Modesto Remixes at Music One in Glorietta a couple of months ago. This is a compilation of electronic remixes of Sitti’s songs, most of which are themselves bossa nova covers of nice songs. This makes this album an original twice removed. Hehehe. I’m a bit partial to electronic and dance music (EDM) and Club MYX DJ Dense Modesto’s remix work got me quite curious.

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Nope, iSketch is not some Apple software or electronic device, but rather an addictive web-based multi-player Pictionary type of game (or Win, Lose or Draw, if you’re more familiar with that game show) that I’ve wasted several hours on last weekend.

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In the latest controversy spreading across the global Filipino community, much (and maybe too much) has been said about the Desperate Housewives fictional character Susan Mayer’s neurotic comment about the state of medical education in the Philippines. And yes, I’m adding to the cacophony by blogging about the issue but my opinion is that while the controversial line is quite disparaging to the thousands of doctors, nurses, and med tech representatives that have graduated from reputable schools and provide more than competent health service to Americans (even at the cost of dwindling service to the Philippines), I’m not offended enough that I feel the need to support the call for a boycott or sign a online petition.

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After a couple of measly updates to the satellite imagery in Google Earth for the Philippines last June and July that only saw Puerto Princesa City and the western shores of Laguna de Bay updated, we now have a lot of new high-resolution satellite pictures all over the Philippines, and around the world, in fact. See Google’s announcement.

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