Friendster 2011

Simple interface. Bookmark your favorite game and it goes at the top.
Shoutouts and friends' status are way below the fold.
So yeah, it's a games world.

Every now and then, I get restless with my favorite social networking sites and want to try something new.

Last weekend, I nearly gave my son a heart attack when I blurted out, "I want a Friendster account!"

"Whutt???" He gasped, as though I said something really scandalous/ immoral. I suppose for an 11 yr old, having anything to do with a social suicide site IS scandalous and immoral.

For the life of of me, I didn't know why I suddenly wanted one, only that I'm bored and heard that the new version is out.

Even if Google+ came out, I wasn't too hot about it since it's on limited invitation basis only. I remember being burned with Google Wave, etc. Desperate to get first dibs then for what? A bulky, slow-loading interface, etc.

Anyhoo, so I signed up for Friendster the other day, and what I found was: It's early Facebook! (Well the early version 3 or 4, I think.) Version 2 of fb was amusing with the pokes and sending gifts and drinks. Version 3 grabbed people with the cute games like Pet Society, Mafia Wars' etc. Because of users' daily pre-occupation with games, eventually fb was able to grab Friendster's throne (here in the PH at least, Myspace elsewhere) of listing friends, from right under Friendster's sorry ass.

So Friendster is now a games site, where you 1). Play games, 2) Make friends with people you play with and 3) invite all your real-time friends and collect your newly harvested gaming friends. This is exactly how I did my early Facebook v3. And by the time fb was established as a real friends' site, I've stayed away. Sorry, was bored. To backtrack even earlier than that, that is exactly how I did with my Friendster v1. By the time everyone was in Friendster, I was playing games and poking in FB.

BUT! I noticed Friendster's flash games load much quicker than fb's flash games. The reason why I stopped doing fb's games were the horribly impossible loading times of pet society, chocolatier, etc etc. The Friendster games also have a chat window. It's suitable for those who want to make new friends. I don't know about the coins to keep playing the games though. You can buy pre-paid cards in 7-11 etc plus there's (groan) Paypal, so I hope I don't lose sight of my sense and splurge on online sudoku. Booo.

Back to my pondering on FB vis-a-vis Friendster: Everything's just a VICIOUS VICIOUS cycle eh, and whoever gets the social networking throne, we the users are ALWAYS in the line of fire. You think?

They can all grab each other's thrones, back and forth. I don't care. I just want my cute games. And yes, I always go home to Plurk after I tire of all the drama and switching sides.


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MMDA Traffic Navigator

I am so excited with this website, the MMDA Traffic Navigator (tears of joy forming). I have always wanted to write about MMDA and commend their pro-active use of the internet, just haven't gotten around to it yet.  The different online avenues they use are always so helpful and easily accessible.

And now, this. The Traffic Navigator shocked and awed me. Happies!!! :-D
I have not fully used it, but so far, I have found that the usability of the site is excellent.

• Areas are easy to find
• Color coding of degree of traffic is simple so it will be quick to see at a glance.  This is especially handy when people tend to check their mobile phones for traffic.
• The 2 items in the Navigation is a top need (south/ north bound and areas)
• No. of minutes ago updated is shown
• Plus a map of the area is provided and easily seen

Still in beta, so works only in the mornings, for now. But two thumbs up!

Monitors 6 areas:
- EDSA
- Quezon Avenue
- Espana
- C5
- Roxas Blvd.
- SLEX

Just click then it will show more specific areas, and whether traffic is light, moderate, heavy.

See http://mmdatraffic.interaksyon.com/system-view.php

This is the type of work I expect from the government and all its agencies.
Kudos also to ABC-5 for this joint project.  

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