When the songbird sings

“Beyond contact centers, the Philippines is also making waves in IT, particularly software development. In recent years, the tech sector has embraced a more robust IT consulting, which includes implementation, deployment, and administration of IT systems.

“Analysts project that the total size of the Philippines’ ICT sector will increase from US$1.2 billion in 2005 to US$2.3 billion by the end of the decade. The Philippine government recently unveiled a five-year program, which it hopes to generate up to US$12.8 billion, from the combined contact center and IT services sectors. Out of the projected worth, it is not known how much software development will contribute. But with satellite development centers for leading technology firms opening on these shores, it is safe to say that the application development outsourcing industry is on a growth path.” More at Ideyatech.

Circle search by Shahram Sharif

“The sensation that defines the search is the sweet, painful feeling that you get when you can’t think of a word that feels as if it’s right on the tip of your tongue. For most people, the relief they experience upon finding it is almost physical. They sink back in their chairs and try not to stumble upon any more difficult words. The person who makes his living searching for the new new thing is not like most people, however. He does not seriously want to sink back into any chair. He needs to keep on groping. He chooses to live perpetually with that sweet tingling discomfort of not quite knowing what it is he wants to say.”

–Michael Lewis, “The New New Thing”

…at least for the time being. With the way things turned out in the previous tourneys this year, it’s better to set expectations at a more realistic level. However, today’s match still blew Fed fans away with awesome display of athleticism and genius, enough to make us hope that the old Roger is back. And we want him back.

“Roger won his 30th consecutive US Open match today, defeating Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the year’s last Grand Slam event.

“To win his first Grand Slam of the season, Roger is aiming for his fifth straight title at Flushing Meadows. He has not lost a set in three matches, and raised his right fist after zinging a final, winning forehand down the line. “I guess it’s just nice to play well. Pretty simple,” our champ said. “No complaints.”

More at RF.com. Screw CBS (via Balls) for depriving us of the third set and saving just the last few seconds leading to matchpoint for delayed telecast. With the American network giving its airtime to the Muller-Almagro match (qualifier Muller won 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-7, 5-7), it was a double-bummer when live scores on the official site went on a fritz. Couldn’t handle traffic, perhaps? That surely looked like a scaling issue.

I don’t know if he reads or listens to what his fans say about his outfit, but he didn’t wear the “UPS uniform” anymore after his 1st round match.

Tennis, with all its drama, is great company when you’re pulling in an all-nighter, no matter how ulcer-inducing it gets sometimes.

From Executive Brief:

“…thousands of white-collar jobs are being shipped to developing economies as companies search for ways to lower operating costs. These white-collar jobs include customer service, R&D, documentation, and not to be missed, software development. Various emerging markets have since been competing against each other in the race to sell (the capabilities of) their armies of engineers, scientists, and accountants–to name a few–to companies based in the North America, Western Europe, and developed Asian economies.

“Because of the increasing number of jobs being off-shored, even those who first supported off-shoring wavered in their conviction about the advantages of shipping back-office operations abroad. Furthermore, there is much talk about workers’ rights, economic damage, and low-quality of work because of outsourcing. “

Is outsourcing purely evil? Is India the only available outsourcing destination? Is China the only other outsourcing destination? Continue reading here.

Image from inju.

The environment took center stage in last year’s Blog Action Day. This year, bloggers are invited to write, podcast, or vlog about poverty.

Original:

Unoriginal:

Note to whoever made the my|Phone ads: Please don’t insult our intelligence by passing your ads off as originals, assuming that consumers will not know the similarity to Mac ads anyway. I haven’t switched to Mac and I think that Globe’s iPhone 3G deal is insanely overpriced, but I don’t see myself getting a my|phone anytime soon especially because of this dumb attempt at advertising. *coughplagiarismcough*

• How to Reward and Retain Top Performers

“If a business is to maintain an edge over its competitors and establish a good relationship with clients, it must rely the participation of its best people. How it does so is not only reflected in compensation appraisals, but more importantly, in rewards that suggest their value to the company.”

• Green Project Management

“Because green project management is still in its infancy, it offers many opportunities for companies to explore the possibilities of aligning methodologies with the need to take care of the environment. What is important at this point is to promote the idea that project delivery can be done in ways that have minimum impact on the environment.”

• Information Process Maturity Level: The Basics

“In a nutshell, the IPMM exists to gauge the competency of information development teams (or companies) in matching the maturity models that engineering or software development outfits follow. Ultimately, by achieving or going through any of IPMM’s five levels, the goal is to increase productivity, reduce cost, and develop quality information. ”

Troll with bra by abbyladybug

I’m still digesting this feature on New York Times magazine, a fine piece of journalism that sheds light on one of the Web’s oft-hated subcultures: the trolls. Writer Mattathias Schwartz profiled trolls, provided examples of trolling/cyberbullying victims who paid the ultimate price, and attempted to explain why trolling happens in the first place. There are many reasons, according to Schwartz and his interviewees, and the most frequently cited is for the “lulz” or the corruption of LOL; in other words, just for the kicks or because they can. Any self-respecting Internet denizen would be quick to judge trolls as psychopaths, but the trolls themselves also put blame on the recipients of bullying: they are drama queens, they had it coming, they take themselves too seriously, etc. While the trolls’ rationale is debatable, it is also true that there are people–a lot of them–who put themselves up for it with photos posted on social networks, daily dramas shared in minutest details on blogs, rigid principles that upon closer look expose the authors to further ridicule. Yet in spite of all the drama and narcissistic tendencies happening on the web, trolling is essentially cruel and does real damage to many, especially those who did not invite it in the first place. And technology, which allows for anonymous trolling, does not help recipients either.

“Why inflict anguish on a helpless stranger? It’s tempting to blame technology, which increases the range of our communications while dehumanizing the recipients. Cases like An Hero and Megan Meier presumably wouldn’t happen if the perpetrators had to deliver their messages in person. But while technology reduces the social barriers that keep us from bedeviling strangers, it does not explain the initial trolling impulse. This seems to spring from something ugly — a destructive human urge that many feel but few act upon, the ambient misanthropy that’s a frequent ingredient of art, politics and, most of all, jokes. There’s a lot of hate out there, and a lot to hate as well.”

In a response to the article, one of the profiled trolls provided a couple of tips on how to protect oneself from trolling:

All that having been said, there are only two ways to deal with a troll:

1. Don’t reply. Don’t privately address him. Don’t acknowledge his comments. Don’t even make a passing reference in another blog post. Just pretend the troll doesn’t exist. This gets rid of 90% of the trolls out there instantly. Then, if you’re smart, shut up and quit blogging for a few days and logically re-evaluate the post that set the troll off. Chances are, there is a glaring flaw in your post that makes you look like an idiot or a nutjob, and that’s why you got trolled. Don’t post again until you’re ready to amend it or defend it with better logic.

2. With the other 10% of trolls, you have to play the game. For every insult you receive from a troll, play along and join in the joke. If someone tells you’re fat (because you probably are), don’t get offended and rant. Just reply with a photo of a whale and say, “You mad skippy I’m fat! I would say this photo is me, but that wouldn’t be fair. The whale isn’t that big.” If you can successfully take yourself and the insults less seriously, you will win the good graces of the troll and he’ll either go away, or he’ll chill out, knock off the insults, and you’ll have made a new online friend. And trust me, it’s good to have a troll for a friend.

Of course, now that I’ve revealed this, no troll is going to let up because you’ve all been warned and can no longer claim ignorance as an excuse. So, your only recourse is to just not be stupid and/or batnuts crazy on the Internets. If you can do that, everything will be just fine.

Related:

Craigslist (from Wired’s Threat Level blog)
Trolling for Ethics (a blog about Schartz’s story, with lively readers’ comments)

Del.icio.us finally switched to delicious.com, due mainly to confusions with the old URL, according to the site’s blog. The bookmarking site also updated its interface, navigation, and search. You can search your own bookmarks, your network’s, or everyone else’s. This reminds of Flickr photo search, where you can search in your own album or everyone’s uploads, as well as limit the search to those registered with Creative Commons. They belong to the same mother ship anyway.

I still have to wait and see if the blog posting works with this upgrade. I like the fact that I can save public bookmarks on my delicious page and see them posted here the next day.

UPDATE:

Nopes, automatic blog posting doesn’t work with the upgrade. This means I have to tweak my settings again.