The first and biggest is COMMENTS! Registration is no longer required to post a comment on any post. Of course if you already have an account you can still login to ensure your comments are attributed to you, but those who don’t can now post a comment without any long term commitment. Also, on the right you can see some of the recent comments so you’ll always know what the active discussions are. This was the most requested thing we’ve heard from people since our last redesign and we’re excited to see where it leads.

The next change is also something that was heavily requested, and that is a change to the ADS on the sites. You’ll immediately notice fewer of them, but what might not be as obvious is those smaller square ones to the right are specific to this city only and are being sold for a flat rate for a period of time rather than a confusing CPM/traffic/network model. Depending on the city, these range from $7-$175 for a full week. If you purchase one, during that time your ad will be the only one in that spot and will show on every page. We set these up both to make it easier for smaller local businesses to get their ads on our site, and also to help us bring in ads that relate better to our local audiences. Also, keeping these sites online is expensive and every little bit helps.

There are a bunch of other things we changed but we’ll leave those to you to investigate and take advantage of. Hope you like it, and we look forward to seeing you in the comments!!

Love,
The folks at MBHQ

I was in grade school when she was president so I have to admit that I won’t remember anything much about her term except what everyone else has told me, and what I’ve read. There were people who didn’t quite agree with how she handled the affairs of the state. But I best remember her as the woman who had this quiet strength about her, a woman who had so much faith a woman who became a mother to the nation. For those of you who want to remember her, Pinoy Fear Factor has a blog post as a tribute to her: Corazon “Cory” Aquino’s life in photos.

Now that she has passed away due to colon cancer, I hope that she is already at peace with the God she believes in. And I also hope that whatever we learned from her will live in our hearts and be reflected in our actions as Filipinos who, as her husband said, are worth dying for.

Here’s a link to a video to explain the issue in less than five minutes.

Many books of most genres are greatly affected by this. And quoting my friend Alex who summed up it well,

Administrators should let this sink in – these books are making our students read again. Deprive them of that motivation and surely, we’ll find ourselves more illiterate as a society.

For the time being, we are making a lot of noise in twitter, using the #bookblockade hash tag, and spreading the word via other means. So far, there are already a couple of officials who heard our plea. But we still need more.

Please help spread the word.

For further reading please see: The Great Book Blockade of 2009: Timeline and Readings and We, the People: As Readers.

If Metblogs is a city, hub.metblogs is the playground. We kept hearing from people that one of their favorite parts of Metblogs was meeting and interacting with readers and writers from other parts of the world, as well as getting requests for more ways that readers could be involved besides just posting comments. We thought about this for a while and decided that with a network like this, a giant community area where folks from all over the world could hang out, post photos and videos, talk with each other, form groups, play games, send messages, and do about a million other things was probably a pretty fun idea. The Hub is that.

If you have any tech ideas or suggestions join this group and speak up. See you on hub.metblogs!

Get the scoop on:
Inquirer – MRT giving free rides on Independence Day

Inquirer – Ocean Park opens facility to overnight visitors

Designed as an ‘executive brief’, the Groovy Map N Guide has everything you need to get the most of a city in a short time. With clear maps and independent reviews, we’ll lead you to the best in the city. Guaranteed.

We list and locate places on the map in five categories: Groovy Dining, Groovy Bars & Pubs, Groovy Shopping, Groovy Culture, Groovy Clubbing. Leave the guidebook at home — and go out and enjoy a “city made simple”.

Chris Mitchell summarized in his Travelhappy blog: With a map, you don’t want a lot of information – you want the best information, efficiently organised to let you look at it and understand it rapidly – and that’s precisely what the Groovy Map does.

Mr. Celdran himself offers a quick review:

I assure you that it has NONE of the useless crap, advertising and flagrant product placements that the other city maps have. Filled to the brim with useful information about dining, sightseeing, gay and straight bar hopping, and shopping, the map gives you the insider’s view of what to expect as seen through the eyes of someone who you assume is as groovy as you might be. The choices are also rather progressive, the map features underground insider secrets like Fat Michaels, Filling Station, the Evangelista flea markets, and the fantastic Cubao X art scene among many others (like yours truly). Best of all, the map is printed on super thick lamination paper so that it wouldn’t rip or get soggy on the streets steamy ol’ Manila. Be sure to pick one up before you arrive in the city. Or if you are a resident Manileno, just buy a whole bunch to give to visiting friends who wish to independently explore Manila in a fast and funky way. No surprise, that the Groovy Guide was the 2006 Winner ‘Best Tourist/Free Map’ Award from the International Map Trade Association (IMTA) and a recipient of a 5 star rating from Amazon.com.

Groovy. Get one so you can get around.

Apple what?

Last Thursday in Prince of Jaipur at The Fort, Dell Philippines launched its award-winning XPS and Inspiron laptop computer systems for the consumer segment.

And what an arrival it was! In a dazzling display of colors and artistry – featuring a stunning glow-in-the-dark pantomime performance and an enthralling capoeira number – Dell offered possible in-store buyers a vibrant peek of the beauty and power of its Consumer Brands. “Experience Inspiration,” went the tagline.

For the first time in the Philippines, Dell will be making available through retail partners the award-winning XPS M1330 and the Inspiron 1420 laptops, as well as the Inspiron 530 and slim-build 530s desktops. These were on display during the launch, and then later raffled off to lucky guests, which of course did not include me.

In a statement, Dell Philippines Country Manager Barry Bunyi said: “This is an important initiative for Dell and a great way for us to connect with the Philippine customers we may not have reached in the past. We have had strong success in the corporate segment and the time is right for us to allow the general populace to experience what Dell has to offer.”

For more information, visit www.dell.com, or to communicate directly with Dell via a variety of online channels, go to www.dell.com/conversations. To get Dell news direct, visit www.dell.com/RSS.

Photos by Nykko Santos.