Online farmers on the loose

Subtitle: Top 10 Facebook Games

After MySpace tumbles to number 2 in the US, Facebook had another victim of its domination. It has now outrun Friendster as the most visited social networking site here in the Philippines, that’s according to Alexa.com. Friendster used to rule that category I think for 5 or 6 consecutive years, I’m not quite sure of the period but really Friendster is like a necessity for the Filipinos before. It’s more like a census to us. Sadly, the pioneer of social networking online in the world has lost its grip in its largest market. (Facebook has yet to conquer China from Qzone.)

But why is Facebook a success? Well for me, aside from its chat capability and Twitter-like microblogging service, it is probably because of the applications, particularly the games, that made online social networking a fun. Not only do we get to communicate and share music and videos online, but we, Facebook users, also get the chance to play with our friends without leaving the site or downloading any software. Connectivity was further enhanced by Facebook through these applications. Annoying at times because of the nonsense and spam-like news feed in our home pages, these applications gave more fun and color to networking.

And with its 300 million users and still counting, more than half of them play the games application, either with friends topping each others’ scores or alone trying to kill boredom. A proof to this fact is the monthly stats of the Top Facebook Applications. Of all the categories of FB applications, games lead the numbers. Below is the list of those games which are very popular right now rank chronologically based on monthly activity (I’m betting here that you play at least of the games mentioned below):

Top 10 Facebook Games

(As of November 6, 2009)

Rank 10

10. MidJolt Games. I am not sure if I am part of the 14,836,619 monthly active users of this application but I guess they don’t need me to make it into the list. I have no idea what MindJolt is but according to its description in its Facebook page, the application has 500 games on its sleeves ranging from arcade, puzzle, strategy and sports games that you can play alone or with some friends. Kinda familiar to me ‘coz I do sometimes play some strategy games in FB. Maybe I’ll check later if I have allowed the application before to access my account.

Rank 9

9. Restaurant City. They say that the only business undertaking that is least likely to fail is the food business. I believe so. Why? Filipinos love to eat. A manifestation of this fact is the existence of restaurants, food chains, carinderias, turo-turo and Jolly Jeeps (as we call it here in Makati) everywhere. And the love to eat and the proprietary desire to run a business are even translated to the online world. RC, acronym for Restaurant City, is one of the two games in the list that dealt with food service business. Between the two, this game created by Playfish is the version that lives up strictly to the policy of “customer satisfaction” and precise cooking. The moment you fail to deliver, your customer dies. Dedication and more time are needed as a longer period of playing is required to level up. The game has about 18,049,949 monthly active users.

Rank 8

8. Farm Town. The pioneer game that started online farming is in rank 8 with 18,387,753 monthly active users. Its popularity can be attributed probably to everyone’s idea of living in countryside away from the fast-paced life of the metro. Though it has lesser players compared to its rival, the game can really boast off its interactive platform. It has its own chatbox, separate from FB, where gamers playing at the same can talk to each other even if they are not yet connected as “friends”. It has also a virtual market where gamers get to trade their farm products and even offer services to help other farmers in sowing or reaping their products. This I think is Farm Town’s competitive advantage. Its only downfall, which is very vital in online gaming, is the graphics.

Rank 7

7. Texas Hold’Em Poker. The name of the game has been mentioned in Lady Gaga’s hit song “Poker Face” and at first I thought that it is where it derived its name from. I’m wrong. Lady Gaga has nothing to do with its popularity. The game is really just the online version of an existing poker game. Most likely the contributing factor for having 18,775,796 monthly active users is having this poker game contest in TV, even attracting celebrities to play. There’s also a World Championship going on that really spreads the word and interest to it. Well, the best thing about this online poker game is that you get to play and gamble without the fear of losing huge amount of money, (but also the nil possibility of winning a fortune). Just so you know, I don’t gamble nor bet in the lottery and I don’t know how to play any card games except for those silly child card games like “1-2-3 pass”.

Rank 6

6. YoVille. The advent of “The Sims” in the PC world probably gave the idea of making a Facebook application too. With 19, 754,481 monthly active users, YoVille found its place in sixth rank of the list. This is FarmVille’s sister game that offers a more chic and modern way of living. Why is it a hit? Like “The Sims”, the charisma of the game came from people’s aspiration of creating the world as it pleases them. Utopia seems to be very still alive in everyone’s consciousness.

Away from them all

Not that I’m obliged to explain to anyone my whereabouts during my absence but I feel like sharing my experience “away from them all”. I really needed that time off since I’ve been terribly becoming so stubborn about my work, getting pissed off too with some friends’ indecisiveness and from the dilemma about career options I’m struggling with.

So I took a leave from office last Friday despite the nearing deadlines for some clients. Apologies to all people whom I cause trouble but I just can’t attend to them at the moment. To those doubting the timing of my leave, the vacation leave credits were filed and approved beforehand. Anyway, the main reason for the vacation was really due to the 9th death anniversary (October 30) of my grandmother father-side. It is an important date for the family since according to beliefs, it is on the ninth year that the dead’s soul leave Earth to go to heaven. So my dad, my mom and my youngest sister flew to Leyte to commemorate the anniversary.

This will be the first time I’ll be visiting our place in the province since 2004, I guess, and I’m so excited. Though the province of Leyte is considerably a rural area still, malls, restaurants and food chains have been built there and with that I know I can survive a week stay there. Moreover, the “ancestral” home of my grandfather has been renovated, making it less creepy and way modern than most houses in the neighborhood. Take a peek.

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A house with 5 rooms, 2 toilet and bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms, 3 TV sets, 1 LCD TV (two of which have cable connections), 1 PC, 1 laptop and a car, who wouldn’t want to stay in a place like that. Much better than our home in Cavite (it’s not even 100% completed). Driveways there are full of trees, traffic is only cause by people crossing and the people, though I hardly understand them, are friendly and hospitable (very Filipino like). The food were good too- the dried fish, local dishes (except for goat’s meat) and the delicacies (e.g. muron). I could almost live in there for good.

Yeah… almost. There’s no internet! The PC and laptop there at home are useless! (I have to use the exclamation mark to emphasize my belief that without internet, a computer is close to futility.) The technology is available but there’s no modem (it got broken) to run even a dial-up internet connection.  Bringing my laptop felt useless. I thought I would get sick after a day of being offline. But I did and it went on for four days. I was able to make myself online again on Tuesday when I visited the Town Hall where some of my relatives work. My delight came not from meeting my relatives, but because of the sign that says the building is a Wi-Fi hotspot area. And there it was, for like an hour, despite the sluggish connection, I was able to send email to my officemate, check out my blog, update my Twitter account (ultimately my FB account too) and view my inboxes for my 3 email accounts, showing at least 200 messages. Yup, just view the inbox and never got to read it because of the slow connection. It was an achievement for me not to be active online. Though I’m barely surviving the lack of internet for four days, I think I can manage inactivity for awhile. But I missed some peeps online and those Filipino bloggers I recently knew. Will catch up soon!

My stay there was short enough to gain new friends as I waste my time catching up with TV. It’s like I finished seeing at least 5 documentaries (from NatGeo, Discovery and History Channel), “Bones” series and 2 movies in HBO and Star Movies. Besides, people there seem to be busy while some people of my age are kinda indifferent. But it’s okay. I’m really not in the mood to go out since it’s hot and very humid outside.

While I’m in Leyte, I had a chance to meet Douglas Macarthur and some heroes during the World War II.

Yep, that’s me soaking my feet in the stagnant water. Kinda eww. Mind you, I’m in my rubber shoes that day so I have to bare my feet first out of my socks then dry it after the photo op. I have to do it ‘coz it may take me a long while to go back there or they may put a fence around the monument in the future. It was a good souvenir despite the slight itchiness the water brought to my right foot.

Overall, the trip to Leyte gave me the rest I needed (though I did some work there). It was really a break away from them all- the stress, the negativity, the pressure and the pollution. Our trip even contributed something to the economy. It did not solve, however, the dilemma about my career options but my stay there reminded me to take things one day at a time; that the dilemma is not yet 100% existing, that I should focus on what I have right now and do well; that I should cross the bridge when I get there, not when I caught a glimpse of it (will be blogging about this very soon).

Hopefully I’ll be traveling to Palawan or Bohol in Summer 2010 or even outside the country- like Hong Kong or Singapore. For now, I have to save money for those planned vacations.

My own set of randomness tonight

• It’s past 9:00pm here in Leyte. It’s a very rainy evening here. Thunderstorms are roaring loudly every after lightning flashes. Wind is blowing hard too. We have not seen the news tonight but I think a typhoon is somewhere near.

• You read it right. I’m still here in Leyte. My family and I were supposed to arrive in Manila this late afternoon. But there was a weather disturbance in Tacloban and planes cannot land here. Consequently, all flights have to be cancelled and were rescheduled tomorrow morning.

• Early today, while we were shopping for some “pasalubong” (souvenir) in downtown Tacloban, someone from Petron called me up. After five days of not hearing from them, I thought my hopes are already gone since I told them I won’t be available until early next year. But today, they offered a new position, Internal Audit (I was first offered the position of a credit analyst, then a receivable accountant).

• Now, I’m contemplating of giving my boss my “RL” (resignation letter) as my “pasalubong”.

• Still raining hard and thunder roaring here. It feels like any moment from now electricity will be cut and so is my dial-up internet connection.

• I’m having hard time breathing. I just had a heavy dinner. A lot of people are offering you food while you’re in a province/rural place. I just can’t refuse them. They really put an effort to prepare the dinner and it would hurt their feelings if I won’t eat them.

• Noise of the rain falling in the roof has pacified… Oh, it’s raining hard again. I wish that the clouds will squeeze out all the rain they are holding up tonight so that the weather will be better tomorrow.

• The special flight scheduled by Cebu Pacific tomorrow will be at 7:45am and will be arriving at NAIA T3 an hour after. I won’t have enough time to go to office at morning. I’ll just try my best to be there after lunch.

• Aside from missing the Internet, I missed going to movies. I wanted to see “Astroboy”, “This is it” and “500 days of Summer” this week. Calling all my peeps!

• Excited for Friday’s announcement of promotion and salary increases. But I’m more enthusiastic about the latter since “my promotion” is unlikely to happen.

• By the way, this is my first post for November 2009, my 206th all in all. I’m hoping to reach 500 posts next year and 5,000 Filipinos landing on my blog (and read here too).

• About this blog, it’s currently on rank number 23 on Top Personal Blogs of topblogs.com.ph for Nov.4, 2009. This is the highest position it ever got so far. Cheers!

• What’s pushing my blog on top of the list? It is all because of my article about Marge Simpson posing for Playboy magazine for its November 2009 issue. It was posted last October 22, 2009 and it was visited by 2,355 this week. I never had a traffic for a post before.

• Three Spongebob posts are on the list of most visited pages of my blog this month, rank 2, 3 and 5. On fourth place is the G.I. Joe movie review back in August this year.

• Based on my web tracker (see the flag widget on my sidebar), more people from US has landed on my blog- 32.8% of my total viewership. Filipino visits make up only 27.5%.

• Hopefully, I’ll earn more Filipino blogger friends and meet some of them soon. (Now I have to do some blog hopping on my WPP peeps.)

• By the way, four new countries were added on my list this week- Luxembourg (Europe), Palestinian Territory (Middle East), Guadeloupe (Caribbean) and Uruguay (South America). I wonder what did they saw here…

• Blog about my Leyte trip and the dilemma I’m facing regarding my career options will be posted soon. I’ll be sending my long overdue questions to Father Felmar this week too. (I’ll be talking about marriage and the pressure it’s giving me here, hopefully next week.)

• Enough of this randomness! Pinoy Big Brother will be playing soon. Pray for a good weather tomorrow for our safe trip back to Manila… Thank you!

• Time check => 9:40pm.

WT: Spooky Spongebob Movies

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Happy Halloween! Trick or Treat?

Let’s do this again…

Let’s do this again. I want you to look at the picture below for two minutes, after which, read the succeeding paragraph.

Are you hypnotized yet? No? Look at the picture again above for 5 minutes this time. Dizzy? You should.

Are you feeling it now? Yes? Please raise your right hand and say “I am under John’s control.”

As you all know, today is  the 6th Blog Swap Day for 20sb community. And since you are under my control, I want you to visit Kristen’s blog and read the blog post entitled “John’s Creative Juices of a Proposal” . That is what I wrote for Kristen.

By the way, her contribution here in my blog is posted below. You can just scroll below and read what she has to share.

What now? Come on! What the hell are you waiting for? Click here to see what I have there. Read!!! Don’t forget to leave some comments there too.

Kristen’s Story (Blog Swap)

Good morning everyone. Today, October 26, 2009 is the 6th Blog Swap Day for the 20-something bloggers community. As the term says, there will be some swapping of blog post among members. In that case, I’ll be out for today to work on someone else’s blog. In charge for today here is Kristen Gallo from Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, United States. She’s my blog swap buddy, a girl buddy twice in a row. I hope you’ll enjoy what she has to share here. Don’t forget to show her some love by commenting below. Thank you and enjoy reading!

Hey everyone! I’m Kristen of The Kristen Chronicles, and I’m John’s blog swap buddy for the 6th annual 20sb Blog Swap. I was really excited to sign up for this, and when I got an email with my blog swap buddy I immediately clicked on the link to check out John’s blog.

And wow, we are very different.

I’m a few years older than John, we’re from different countries, and we’re at different phases of our lives. What would we write about that would fit on both blogs? The answer: marriage.

Relationships, dating, marriage. They’re all universal. Everyone’s had their heart broken, fallen in love, or made plans for the future with someone. Whether or not it worked out is a different story. For me, it did. I’m planning my wedding, which will happen next month to my wonderful fiancé Dane. I feel like I had a long road to get to this point, and I want to share our story with you all.

Kristen and Dane

Our story is a little complicated, at least it was in the beginning. About two weeks before we met, I ended a 5 year relationship with my high school sweetheart. We started dating my senior year in high school, stayed together as we left for college, eventually both moved back home and transferred schools, moved to Boston together when I started graduate school and he started his first job out of college. We fizzled. Something changed, though I’m still not sure what it was. We had been together so long that it was hard to live life any other way but with each other. This was a huge adjustment for me. I was heart broken.

The worst part of this was, since I was in graduate school and we were living together, this meant I had to save up some money to find another place to live. He had paid our rent because he had a full time job. So when I met Dane, I was still living with my ex-boyfriend. Complicated, right?

Dane asked me on a date. I went with him. It was perfect. He was sweet and cute and everything I needed. He was mellow and patient, a sharp contrast from my anxious and impatient personality. After that first date we were inseparable. I moved into my own place and we took a trip to meet his family about two months after we started dating. This is when it happened.

I dropped the L-word. By accident! That’s right. I said it. Those three little words. I love you. And you know what? He said it back. Crazy right?

Now I’ll spare you the details, but we’ve been happily together since that first date. We moved into our first apartment together this past April and have been planning our wedding. Our relationship has had it’s ups and downs, and it certainly isn’t perfect, but the best part about it is that we work through everything together. I don’t want to see anyone else go through what I did, so here are my words of advice. Take them or leave them

1. Don’t pressure yourself to find someone. It always happens when you least expect it.
2. If everyone around you is trying to tell you something about the person you are dating, try to listen with an open mind. I spent 5 years with someone and was told over and over by family and friends who love me that something seemed off. When everyone around you sees something, stop to take a look.
3. Don’t settle for anything less than you want and deserve. I cannot even compare these two relationships. Dane has shown me what love and respect truly are.
4. Figure yourself out first. The worst part of my breakup was feeling like I didn’t have my own identity. I was nothing without being part of that relationship. My healing happened when I found someone who let me be myself and loved me for what I am, flaws and all.
5. Be patient. Relationships are hard. There’s no way around it. Learn to pick your battles and make compromise. Don’t rush things.
6. Do things in your own time frame. Don’t let anyone tell you how fast or slow you need to take things. When it’s right, you’ll know.
7. Have people you can talk to. Whether it’s family or friends, sometimes you just need to vent to someone other than your significant other.

Thanks for letting me share our story here with all of you! And of course, thanks to my blog swap buddy John for having me!

Kristen

P.S. If you want the proposal story, check it out here!

75% Filipino

It’s official.

I am finally a registered voter of the Philippines.  Five years after I was given the opportunity to vote, it was only this month I found the time to go to COMELEC to register for the upcoming 2010 National Election. There are still some 6 million Filipinos not yet filing their registration but I think I understand why. Long lines, unsystematic process, hot-headed people, indolent COMELEC employees- they are only few of the reasons why many are discourage to register. But my passion to finally be a Filipino voter outweighs those discouragement. Besides, it’s my fault to only register now with only one week before the deadline.

And so yesterday, after three days of going to the municipal office and spending a combined 12 hours of waiting, I finally finished the registration. I am a voter now. I am a 75% true Filipino.

DSWD hoarding up relief goods?

This is the third time I am going to break my rule of not blogging bad things about the Philippines including our corrupt government. Yes, I’ve abstained from doing it as much as possible. But in times of crisis where many people are still in the abyss of the situation as a result of a natural disaster, government failures and people’s fault too , I cannot help not to vent and get angry to know that there are people in the government that are benefiting from the tragic event. (I wonder how they can sleep at night that tight. Do they still have souls?)

The Devil in Marge Simpson

Marge Simpson’s debut in the adult magazine, Playboy, as the cover girl for their November 2009 issue is really causing a stir. The iconic beehive-shape hair parent of Bart, Lisa and Maggie will grace the magazine as part of the publicity stunt for the 20th anniversary of the cartoon series, The Simpsons. I’m not quite sure if this is the first time a cartoon character will appear on the magazine but this is definitely a collectors item in the making. It’s not every month you’ll see a famous cartoon character posing seductively for adult magazines. I wonder if Maxim USA will do the same…

Anyway, according to Al Jean, executive producer of the cartoon series, Marge told him that the pictures are Photoshopped.  It is really the body of Wilma Flintstone that we are seeing. Moreover, reports are saying that her husband, Homer, has no objection for this and that Homer himself is taking the picture during the photo shoot. Well, I don’t know how these people communicates with them but it’s really fun to read reports like this in various entertainment sites and blogs.

Included inside the magazine is Marge’s model data sheet (see below for the pic). Some interesting notes in there includes a photo of her with hair down, her vital statistics, her 6′6″ height (including her beehive hair), her ambition and her witty response to her turn-ons and turn-offs.

While waiting for the release of the magazine, I am giving everyone a peek to some of the pictures that will appear on her three-page spread and a centerfold pullout in Playboy. Click the link below for more pics. (For kids below 13, parental guidance is advice.)

Four

Exactly four years ago, a girl back in college broke my heart. Well, not really but she did eventually. I continued liking (or loving?) her ‘til I am almost begging for her attention. It was painfully addicting to fall in love with someone who doesn’t feel the same way. But aside from life’s lessons I learned because of that experience, there is another one thing I am always thankful for. My desperation introduced me to making journals online. Because of her, I started blogging.

Now, exactly for years after, the feeling is obviously gone but the habit is still there and has even taken a new height. My blogs have transferred from one host to another but they continued to account some of the best and worst memories I have. From Geocities to Friendster blogs to Multiply and finally to WordPress, my blog continues to represent my alter-ego. So as it is, Happy 4th Blogoversary, not exactly to this blog but to the lifestyle I called blogging.

I don’t have any cake for the occasion but I did bought a shirt last week that will represent the occasion.

“Cogito, ergo blogire” or "I think therefore I blog". (Note: Blog has no exact Latin translation yet. But there were some proposal for the use of “blogire” as an equivalent word.)

Just so you know, this is the first time I am celebrating this day. And though I’m at work today, I consider this day as a holiday (I asked my staff to finish the job all by himself today while I’m busy checking my blog and reading my previous posts). For me and for my blog, cheers for more years of blogging and nonsense writing. Let’s grow up together!

By the way, I bought the shirt in SM department store and it costs only P299, US$6.5 using the P46:$1 exchange rate.

P.S. The girl behind me peeking is my sister.