The Babel Machine

khan-fusion and a cabbie tale

Read my Infotech online column and listen to what Manong Cabbie has to say. Plus a PR practitioner sows some Khan-fusion.

shoegazer from uk

Say hello to shoegazer, our Friday YOU Blog Addict.

hackers crack

If you play with fire, don’t cry when you get burned.

If you’re a hacker who defaces websites, breaks into networks, defrauds credit card companies, steals money from banks, or, heck, destroys the virtual economies of game worlds, then be prepared to face the consequences.

Sure, you might tell yourself it’s all just fun and games — until you get caught. And what are you going to say when that happens? “Sorry. I didn’t mean any harm. I was just trying to see if I could do it.”

Maybe you haven’t been paying attention because you’ve been too busy gloating about how good you are, and patting each other’s backs for your exploits. But here’s a news flash for you: The government is pissed, the companies you’ve been spitting on are pissed, and they know who you are.

And pretty soon, the public will also know who you are. Not just your codenames. Not just your nicks. But who you really are.

See, that’s the trouble with this country: People keep committing crimes because they think they can get away with it. And just as in real life, so too in cyberspace. Look what happened with the ILOVEYOU virus, which caused an estimated $7 billion of damage worldwide in just one year. Yet the author wasn’t punished, and in fact some people have even found it a source of pride that a Filipino created this infamous worm.

People haven’t gone to jail yet in the Philippines for cybercrimes — yet being the operative word.

Until then, some are reduced to flaming tech journalists like Erwin Oliva, who has been tireless in exposing the truth.

And some, when caught like a rat, try to clutch at straws and take others with them down their sinking ship.

Sorry. Game over.

gaming forum a success

Congratulations to CyberPress for holding a successful forum that drew more than 400 attendees. The forum also featured the soft launch of hackenslash, the new INQ7.net gaming site.

Now, if only some people from Hotel Intercon hadn’t forgotten that they’re in the service industry. If you don’t treat your clients right, then don’t be surprised if people stop patronizing your hotel.

Which makes me wonder: Have other people had bad experiences with Hotel Intercon when they held their events there?

hackenslash has arrived

If you haven’t checked it out yet, visit the new INQ7.net gaming site, hackenslash. Hackenslash will be launched at the CyberPress “Plug and Play” gaming forum tomorrow, Jan. 28, at the Hotel Intercontinental Grand Ballroom in Makati. The forum will be held from 1 to 5:30 p.m. Entrance is free.

I’ll be co-editing hackenslash as one of the Final Bosses, helping out the man who created hackenslash and made it all come true, Leo Magno. Let’s hear it for all the members of the hackenslash team, including our hardworking Grunts (reporters) Erwin Oliva and Alex Villafania; Minions (editorial assistants) Feliza Cana and Joreem Somodio; and Merchants (contributors) Jing Garcia, Carlos Arellano and Pedro Dimasaway.

welcome to jax place

Say hi to Jaq, our Tuesday YOU Blog Addict.

youngblood online

As we announced a couple of months ago, Youngblood Online is no longer part of YOU. All contributions should be submitted to youngblood@inquirer.com.ph.

The Youngblood essays that come out in the Philippine Daily Inquirer are now posted online at INQ7.net’s Editorial and Opinion section.

digital pinay public briefing

One of the good things that came out of the Digital Pinay 2005 public briefing last Friday afternoon was that I got to meet a few people I’d only previously met online through their blogs.

The members of the blogging community who attended the briefing were Clair Ching, Xenia Solano and Sean Uy. Ranulf Goss of Trend Micro was also there, but I’m not sure if he blogs though he has also been vocal in criticizing the now infamous application form of the contest.

Sacha Chua, who spearheaded this online protest, was of course not able to attend since she’s based in Japan, but she was definitely there in spirit.

Apart from me, the other members of the media who were there were our Infotech reporter Erwin Oliva and Relly Carpio of CEO Magazine.

You can read my story on the results of the public briefing here.

spoonfuls

Meet Janice Ian Reyes, our Friday YOU Blog Addict.

pcs speaks

The Philippine Computer Society has spoken.

Listen to what they had to say to INQ7.net in this Breaking News story.