So you're the boring guy

As I write this, news organizations all over the world are still scrambling to cover the sudden and shocking death of Michael Jackson, a "troubled genius" and "tortured icon", as CNN put it. Certainly, he was no boring guy as he was the master of the entertainment stage.

The person..... Read more »

Tags: Compuware Corp., Michael Jackson, EMC Corp., server software, entertainment

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Weirdest IT story I've written

In my almost a decade of covering the IT beat here in the Philippines, I've written different sorts of stories--some of them quite interesting (at least in my point of view), some were technical (although I also didn't really understand the IT concepts myself), and a few that we might..... Read more »

Tags: Philippines, Wi-Fi, HotSpot, Digital City, USB adapter

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Rays of hope from the polls

The local IT industry has been teeming with activities in the last few weeks, so much so that you'll wonder if there's really an economic crisis going on. Not even the sudden upsurge of reported H1N1 cases in the country has dampened the mood around town.

Last week, the semiconductor and..... Read more »

Tags: Philippines, H1N1 Flu, Election, Automation, optical media

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Microsoft local chief, top execs grab 'separation' package

When Rafael "Pepeng" Rollan, managing director of Microsoft Philippines, told the local IT press on May 17 that the company was offering a voluntary separation package (VSP) to its local employees as part of Microsoft's global job cuts, I didn't have the slightest idea that he, too, will quit his..... Read more »

Tags: Bangladesh, Myanmar, South Asia, Butt Wai Choon, sales

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Catching up with voyeurism and cybercrime

The over-the-top coverage by the mainstream media this week on the sex video scandal of a celebrity doctor here has been particularly amusing. Though I subscribe to the idea that it shouldn't have been accorded front-page treatment, I now think that it is perhaps a blessing in disguise that it..... Read more »

Tags: Cybercrime, legislator, U.S. Congress, mainstream media, Internet

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WiMax: Waiting to explode in Philippines?

Last weekend, I had the chance to take part in an offsite press event organized by Smart Communications, the topdog in the mobile telecom space here in the Philippines. I was surprised to hear that they, too, have plans to roll out WiMax, as its rival Globe Telecom had done..... Read more »

Tags: Globe Telecom Inc., Philippines, COO, mobile telecom, Affiliated Computer Services Inc.

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A MegaPacific mess in the making?

The way things are going at the pre-qualification bidding of IT suppliers for the 2010 elections, I now have this uneasy feeling that the country will again end up with another botched attempt at automating the polls and in its wake lays another MegaPacific mess.

Before going further, let me categorically..... Read more »

Tags: Agency, information technology, commission, industry, TV

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The curious case of Sun Microsystems Philippines

In more ways than one, Sun Microsystems Philippines (SunPhil) is an "anomaly" among the large IT companies in the country. Let me try to explain this in light of the recent acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle Corp.

Firstly, SunPhil was formed under a very different business model. Unlike..... Read more »

Tags: Philippines, Car, Oracle Corp., information technology, managing director

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Need for Filipino IT firms to go global

Unlike India which has launched quite a number of successful global IT firms, mostly in the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector, the Philippines seems to be content in merely hosting multinational companies in the country.

A cursory glance at the composition of the largest tech firms in the country would..... Read more »

Tags: Open Source, Philippines, storage, outsourcing, India

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Summertime in the age of Facebook

For Filipinos, the arrival of summer means going on a vacation, usually to the beach. As a kid, I always looked forward to the months of April and May, when we take a break from school and indulge in the biggest thrill of them all--playing nonstop.

When I entered college,..... Read more »

Tags: T3, digital camera, Internet, PC World, camera

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• The arrogance of Steve Jobs
• How India is doing IT
• Domain prices should go down, not up
• Caught in the act by tech
• No-holds barred on netbooks

2009

2008

2007

• Could this be the most critical budget for India?
• Shhh, but I ain't no Apple fanboy
• Outsourcing and value for money improvement--incompatible?
• So you're the boring guy
• Should India now look forward to unique ID cards?

Melvin G. Calimag

Melvin G. Calimag currently writes for the infotech section of a popular English broadsheet in the Philippines. Prior to this, Melvin served as an assistant editor at Metropolitan Computer Times (MCT), the first IT publication in the Philippines. He is currently the vice president for internals at the IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress), and also serves as a charter member with the Philippine Science Journalists Association.