Bravo Khan Academy!

I brought my daughter Kara last Tuesday to Loyola Student Center, a tutorial and review center along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City, to help her prepare for her quarterly exams in Geometry.  She said she was having difficulty and feared she would fail in the exams.  I forked out P800 for two hours of review which I fervently hope helped her only to find out three days later that I could have saved that P800.

Three days after, I saw the video that one of my friends in Facebook posted about Khan Academy.  He also wrote on his wall "Go back to school for free.  And you don't have to leave home."  It's home-based and best of all, it's free.  Fantastic!  I viewed the video and found out that Khan Academy, a non-profit educational organization created and sustained by Salman Khan, is one of the 5 winners of Google's Project 10 to the 100.  Google awarded the academy $2 million "to support the creation of more courses and to enable it to translate their core library into the world's most widely spoken languages."  Checking out its website, I was introduced to a free online collection of 2,000 videos on mathematics, science, history and economics.  Yes siree, Geometry is included.  If only I saw this website earlier, my daughter need not go to a review center for her Geometry exams.

How did Khan Academy come about?  It all started when Salman Khan, a Bangladeshi American, began tutoring his cousin in mathematics using Yahoo!'s Doodle notepad. He decided to distribute the tutorials on YouTube when more relatives and friends sought his help. The popularity of his tutorials and testimonials of appreciative students prompted him to quit his job in finance in 2009 and work for the Academy full time.  Sal Khan's long-term goals are to provide "tens of thousands of videos in many subjects" and to create the "the world's first free, world-class virtual school."

Bravo Salman Khan!  You are laudable for making the dream of a quality education within the reach of everyone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Academy
http://www.project10tothe100.com/index.html

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My Bucket List Part 2

Image via Wikipedia

As promised, here is my next 10 desires for my bucket list:  Please refer to an earlier post entitled My Bucket List.

11.  Build my dream house on a rolling terrain with my dream kitchen in it.  How would you like to cook up goodies with every gadget that you will be needing is within your reach?  Oh, that would be nirvana.
12.  Go on vacation riding my recreational vehicle with my husband, children with their respective families.
13.  Send at least 100 indigent students to college.  I believe that a good education is the best thing that a parent can give to his child.  Armed with a good education, a poor person has a fighting chance in uplifting his present predicament.
14.  Set up a real estate business which will take care of the retirement needs of my husband and I.
15.  Learn hydrophonics.  While in Malaysia, I saw premium vegetables like lettuce, asparagus, herbs grown in a small patch of a rocky and hilly land.  I cringed at the thought of barren tracts of land back home.
16.  Turn my Dad's agricultural lands into productive ventures.  These agricultural lands have been handed down to my Dad from his father and forebears and were the fruits of their hard work.  I would like to give tribute to them by making these lands productive and away from the long hand of the Department of Agrarian Reform.
17.  Have a farm with a mango orchard and fire trees lined up like sentinels at the entrance of the farm.  I dream of the day when my eyes will be able to feast on splashes of red and yellow.
18.  I would like that my husband and I be able to bequeath to each of our children a house and lot.
19.  Have a successful business/businesses with all my children helping out.   I would like them to work hard for what their parents had started and enjoy the fruits at the same time.
20.  Build a beach house.  It is so nice to hear the sound of the waves as they hit the sand and lull you to sleep.

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Kind Words

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"Kind words are like honey - sweet to the taste and good for your health." (Proverbs 16:24)

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." (Mother Teresa)

"Speak kind words and you will hear kind echoes." (Anonymous)

Those are just some of the quotes about Kind Words.  The importance of speaking kind words transcends time.  It was already recognized from the Bible days up to contemporary times.  We can not underestimate the power of a kind word.  It can bring back life to a dreary existence or put a smile on the lips of an overstressed corporate animal.  A kind word radiates positivism where there is negativism.  A lot of things can happen through the passage of time but the effects of a kind word cannot be underrated.

How much does it take to speak kind words?  The good news is it doesn't cost much nor does it entail a lot from us.  We can start by saying "Please" when requesting for a favor, "Thanks" when something favorable has been done to us.  When words are not sufficient, a smile can do wonders.  We cannot go wrong when we give back something good.  We receive a better one in return and the gesture goes a long, long way.

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My Bucket List

"A life list is a set of goals that you set for yourself covering all the different areas of your life. It's meant to ensure that you decide who you want to be, and what you want to do and have in life, and that you take the necessary action to accomplish these things." -- Marelisa Fabrega

A month ago, I read the posting of one of my Facebook friends asking us what our bucket list is.  Her posting is a reaction to the grief that she is feeling for not telling her cancer-stricken sister how much she loved her  when she visited her two months before the latter died.  This got me thinking.  Why not make a list?  Why create one in the first place?  Having one will make us maximize every moment of our existence.  It will remind us of what is/are important instead of wasting time in futile activities.

I am making my bucket list or life list not because I am dying or afflicted with a life-threatening disease but I just want to enumerate the things that I really want to do.   I would like to share how I did mine.

As much as possible, refrain from putting qualifiers to your to-dos like if you can afford it or you are healthy enough to do it.  What is important is you were able to name the things that mean much to you.  Once you have them, start planning and take the necessary steps to achieve your wish list.  My list could be similar from what you have in terms of number of things to be achieved or the nature of the list itself but it takes a unique form when it comes on how to attain it.  

For starters, these are the things that I would like to do.  The list is not yet final and I will add new dreams from time to time.  Here goes:

1. I would like to visit all the famed Philippine tourist spots.  I don't want to be a stranger in my own land.
2. Make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2012.
3. I want to tour Europe and have my fill of Italian and Spanish cuisines.
4. Ride the gondola at Venice.
5. I want to scale the Great Wall of China.
6. I want to ride a cruise ship.
7. I want to set up a profitable blog.
8. I want to have a restaurant serving timeless recipes.
9. Study voice lessons so I can reach all the high notes singing my favorite songs in a karaoke bar.  (I can dream, can't I?  Lol.)
10. Lose 50 pounds before 2016.

http://www.squidoo.com/100things#module84531591
http://celestinechua.com/blog/whats-on-your-bucket-list-101-things-to-do-before-you-die

The All-Powerful and Almighty Mobile Phone

After watching the video, this is the only thing I have to say:  one cannot afford to be complacent and rest on one’s laurels.   Advancements in information technology have been so rapid that one has to continuously evolve to stay on top.  Take the case of the mobile phone.  You paid a fortune for the latest model of a Nokia phone only to find out that its value will be half of the original price when you bought it six months ago.  It lost its luster with the arrival of newer and more improved models.

New technology has put quite a few gadgets obsolete.  Who can forget the Easy Call beepers, PDAs, analog mobile phones, Kodak instamatic cameras?  These were the essentials years back but today one will not be caught one with it.  Traditional media have not been spared from the advent of this new technology.  Newspapers are suffering declines in circulation while television and radio companies are losing ad revenues to non-traditional media.  Marketers and manufacturers are forced to go back to the drawing board to think of ways to catch the attention of the average consumer.  New technology saw the emergence of the prosumer, the empowered consumer.  The consumer now has a say to the products he wants to buy. It’s as if he has contributed something to the creation of a product by way of offering feedbacks and comments.

Did you know that mobile service will be the world’s primary connection tool to the internet in 2020? It is but logical that since the prosumer is King, marketers will tailor-fit their advertising initiatives to his needs.  The medium used by which to reach him should take into consideration his convenience.  What better way to reach him but through his mobile phone.  In the Philippines, owning a mobile phone is a must.  It has transcended social classes.  One doesn’t have to be in the ABC bracket to own one.  It has been noted that people would prioritize the buying of prepaid cards than food. 

The mobile phone is really convenient as it can be put in one’s pocket or bag.  One just has to take it out of the bag or pocket when he needs it. 

Though the Philippines can boast that 75% of its population has a mobile phone,  smartphone owners comprise only 26% of the total though it has doubled from its 2009 figure. Nowadays, going online  using the mobile phone could prove to be expensive.  In 2020, that may not be the scenario.  Telcos will be offering different services to the consumer to be able to give value for its money. Convergence will pull down costs and subsequently make internet connection by mobile phone affordable.

Old Friends

One of my closest friends from high school, Este, recently came home for her annual vacation. Her two- week vacation is spent visiting relatives, reuniting with friends and hieing off to any of the different beautiful spots in the country. This year she and her family went to Panglao, Bohol. Last year it was El Nido, Palawan.

On her first week here in Manila, she met with three of her former classmates, Tess, Nanette and yours truly. We treated her to a sumptuous lunch at Fely J's. Everybody was unanimous in ordering sinigang na bangus belly sa bayabas. It was a hit and I think I will never tire eating it even if I will have it everyday. For our coffee and dessert fix, we went to Cafe Breton. Since everybody likes mango, we ordered a mango crepe with chocolate syrup. It was a perfect match to our coffee. Our day didn't end there, though. Este invited us to where she and her family were staying while here in Manila. Before heading to Este's place, we had pictures taken of our little outing in Makati.

At Este's place, we talked of a lot of things like children, house chores, maids, cooking and menopause. That last word puts a bitter taste to the mouth. Lol. Oh by the way the red wine that Este served us was so good even if our pulutan was bibingka. Well who cares if the pulutan was not perfect for the very good red wine. We all had a good time just being together.

Why Mobile Marketing?

Image by premasagar via Flickr

When I first learned from my Digital Marketing Wiki Course that the mobile phone will play a very significant role in Digital Marketing, I found it hard to believe. I ask myself: How can a small gadget host a myriad of graphics, colors and content? Will it be effective?


When I registered in the Mobile Marketing Course, it was more of a compliance to the Digital Marketing Diploma Program. I was not excited to say the least. The succeeding courses are more cool and exciting.


On the first day of the course, the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) tasked to deliver the lecture, successfully justified the importance of Mobile Marketing. My perception on the effectiveness of mobile as a medium for marketing changed. One cannot underestimate the capability of mobile to reach a larger segment of society compared to other media. In the Philippines, there are 75 million mobile phone subscribers. This translates to 8 out of 10 people having a mobile phone. 75 million subscribers is nothing to sneeze at as it represents 82% of the Philippine population.


Mobile has the highest level of engagement and interaction and can deliver on its promise of one-on-one marketing. It has become the fastest way to communicate with anyone as people never seem to turn off their mobile devices unlike any other media. The device encourages the brand to interact with the consumer on an intimate basis. Because it is intimate, it has targeting capabilities. Messages can be sent in a relevant, tailored and timely manner. The consumer receives the right messages at the right time and the right place. This translates for mobile marketing to have high conversion rates.


Mobile marketing is measurable. It is easy to monitor the amount spent, the rate of conversion and how many participated in the campaign.


Aside from all of the reasons stated above on mobile as a very potent marketing medium, its use would be better appreciated and maximized if there is a corresponding investment on the part of handset manufacturers in data transmission speeds and for telcos in terms of bandwidth. The lack of which will compromise the future of mobile marketing.


What can mobile marketing do to a brand? For one, it can increase brand awareness of a product. SMS raffles, mCoupons, mSampling, downloads, info-on demand, mobile hotline can very well deliver more awareness for the brand. Because of the very nature of mobile marketing campaigns wherein a customer has to register vital information about himself, mobile marketing can generate profile opt-in database for the brand. This database can be mined extensively by the brand for future campaigns and strategies. The brand can also further interactivity with the customer by leading him to a website wherein he can read more information about the product. Loyalty programs can be created from the database on hand. These activities all point to increasing the company's revenues.


Though mobile marketing seems the way to go putting into consideration its wide reach and targeting capabilities, it can not be a stand alone campaign. It works best with traditional marketing media.