Marcelle posted an insightful essay on his LJ. You can read it here And Sacha Chua has also updated her blog. Please drop by and check out her thoughts as well.
Article referred to below is this. ---------------------- My thoughts: I know that I have ranted enough about the Digital Pinay thing but I just find the idea absurd.
The title: Digital Pinay My question: How do you define a digital Pinay? Who will give the best definition of a digital Pinay? The current press release by the Philippine Computer Society said that this is supposed to be a nationwide search for the top female ICT professionals and graduating students. And yet this is what they added in their press release:
"We are looking for the future female CXOs -- the CEOs, CIOs [chief information officers] and CFOs [chief financial officers]." - Leo Querubin
It seems to me that they are looking for managers, call center agents and team leaders who do more interaction with people, not necessarily techie people. They are also looking for students who have are graduating from management courses but have ICT-related extra-curricular activities and ICT-related subjects. Hence, the title Digital Pinay is a misnomer. Don't you think? Digital is usually associated with techies and geeks - what people perceive as hard core techies and geeks. Then again maybe they came up with worse titles like "Digital Diva" (but Iya Yotoko of Digital Tour has already claimed that one) or "ICT Ambassadress" (which is so boring), or "Exemplary Female Information Professional." In any case, it was horrible that they came up with that title. I remember in my LIS courses, librarians and CIOs have been lumped under the category information professionals but not necessarily ICT professionals. I understood from my courses that this is mainly because we deal with the information and not the technology itself, unless you went beyond that, as in some cases. (I am getting groggy, I hope I am making sense. [Time check: 2:30am of 21 January 2005])
Femininity and the ICT industry To quote Leo Querubin: "What we really wanted to stress is that you do not have to lose your femininity in order for you to succeed in the corporate world. There is nothing wrong with having beauty and brains." Geekettes don't lose their femininity because they are good at making code. And it's not that geekettes don't dress up. But for practicality's sake, they don't wear obviously feminine clothing all the time but they wear clothes wherein they could move, do their work. There are also the types that wear dresses and skirts because they are comfortable. Sacha Chua (http://sacha.free.net.ph) is an example of a feminine geekette. And there's also Sinta (http://www.lockload.com) who is quite striking. In real life, I have met very feminine engineers and professors in the UP College of Engineering. So what's your problem, Mr. Querubin? And, may I add, that the female species can express their femininity in various ways? Haven't men noticed that since time immemorial?
"He added that each criterion represents part of the total package that a successful female CEO should have." (from the article on breaking news) The term for this shouldn't really be Digital Pinay... He just emphasized that it shouldn't be called as such. CEOs are more of managers. But who are the ones who do the implementations? Who? Tell me! Tell me! Managers are supposed to have a certain degree of technical know how. But not as digital as digital can be. (Although there are managers who are like that.) Managers are important but my point is that their logic seems to be faulty at this point that they are justifying the criteria for judging who is the Digital Pinay.
Attitude "You might think you're God's gift to programmers, but if you have a rotten attitude I won't hire you," Querubin said. Fair enough. Everybody knows that, I think. At least I have friends who have expressed this thought to me time and again. There is an attitude factor. But this is, for me, a mere justification of the 60% criteria on the combination of poise, text votes, presentability. Heck, how do they define presentability? A person does not have to be utterly pretty to be presentable. And another thing: If you don't generate enough text votes, does that imply that you have an attitude problem? That people don't like you much? What if you know a lot of people but they don't have much means to support you through text votes? Or if the supporters of another candidate would have more money to vote through SMS... I remember watching an episode of Star in a Million several months ago and it was the wildcard round. The one that got in was a pretty looking girl who did not sing so well at that time. And there was Sandy David, who sang her heart out, was praised by the judges, had a powerful voice and stage presence. She was beaten through - guess! - text votes. *sigh* That is just sooo sad. Maybe people thought she wasn't pretty enough. Or maybe the people who wanted her to win weren't able to text because they didn't have prepaid credits or their post paid lines were cut. You never know... But for me, text votes are a dubious way to judge a person in competitions.
Bad preparation "Querubin, however, admitted that the judges had not seen the application form when they accepted the invitation, though he said that the organizers have assured them that Digital Pinay 2005 is not a beauty contest." Good grief! What in the world? They should have seen the first set of forms by now. I have. How could they have not seen the forms? Did PCS leave out the forms on purpose? Or were they too busy to see the details on the forms? Anyhow, they should have seen the forms first. After all, judging an event is a big thing because you are the one who has a final say on things. *sigh* And PCS should have taken responsibility to make sure that the judges know what they are getting into.
My take on this: PCS is justifying their actions. They did not even include the rules, the cash prizes, the details of the coronation night in the new forms that they sent to Sacha. See? If it isn't really a beauty pageant, why do they call it coronation night? And these are the last words of Mr. Querubin in the article, "We are not saying that it is not a beauty contest because we think there is something bad about beauty contests. We are saying it's not a beauty contest because it's not." Hahahaha. So it's not a beauty contest but it has a coronation night? Tell that to my big toe!
Hmmm... Maybe Mr. Querubin is biased towards the corporate setting wherein marketing counts - a lot. Where image has a big booming voice. (Check out advertisements, press releases, et cetera.) But the ICT industry has technical aspects which you cannot deny. So where is it in their criteria for judging? Oh yeah, the 40% intelligence part. It's a big world out there. And people come up with various solutions here and there. That intelligence is very much needed for the innovations that would make a company more competitive. Innovations set trends. Innovations create impact. And there are brains behind such things. I hope that people won't forget that. There are people with passion who may not be potential CEOs but programmers who would innovate, game developers who would change the gaming scene, ICT professors who conduct extensive researches, et cetera. I think that we should give credit to them and let them share their passion to others. These days I find it hard to come across people with passion for their field, not just the money that they get. I would like to see someone who would promote ICT, notbecause of the salary and the perks, but because it is a world to be explored and expanded.
My questions are: How do you see ICT? What is a Digital Pinay? How would you like to envision ICT? Do you have a vision for ICT in the Philippines?
I hope that because of this event, we will re-think our opinions with regards to the answers to these questions. It is never too late to examine ourselves and our society.
The title: Digital Pinay My question: How do you define a digital Pinay? Who will give the best definition of a digital Pinay? The current press release by the Philippine Computer Society said that this is supposed to be a nationwide search for the top female ICT professionals and graduating students. And yet this is what they added in their press release:
"We are looking for the future female CXOs -- the CEOs, CIOs [chief information officers] and CFOs [chief financial officers]." - Leo Querubin
It seems to me that they are looking for managers, call center agents and team leaders who do more interaction with people, not necessarily techie people. They are also looking for students who have are graduating from management courses but have ICT-related extra-curricular activities and ICT-related subjects. Hence, the title Digital Pinay is a misnomer. Don't you think? Digital is usually associated with techies and geeks - what people perceive as hard core techies and geeks. Then again maybe they came up with worse titles like "Digital Diva" (but Iya Yotoko of Digital Tour has already claimed that one) or "ICT Ambassadress" (which is so boring), or "Exemplary Female Information Professional." In any case, it was horrible that they came up with that title. I remember in my LIS courses, librarians and CIOs have been lumped under the category information professionals but not necessarily ICT professionals. I understood from my courses that this is mainly because we deal with the information and not the technology itself, unless you went beyond that, as in some cases. (I am getting groggy, I hope I am making sense. [Time check: 2:30am of 21 January 2005])
Femininity and the ICT industry To quote Leo Querubin: "What we really wanted to stress is that you do not have to lose your femininity in order for you to succeed in the corporate world. There is nothing wrong with having beauty and brains."
Geekettes don't lose their femininity because they are good at making code. And it's not that geekettes don't dress up. But for practicality's sake, they don't wear obviously feminine clothing all the time but they wear clothes wherein they could move, do their work. There are also the types that wear dresses and skirts because they are comfortable. Sacha Chua (http://sacha.free.net.ph) is an example of a feminine geekette. And there's also Sinta (http://www.lockload.com) who is quite striking. In real life, I have met very feminine engineers and professors in the UP College of Engineering. So what's your problem, Mr. Querubin? And, may I add, that the female species can express their femininity in various ways? Haven't men noticed that since time immemorial?
"He added that each criterion represents part of the total package that a successful female CEO should have." (from the article on breaking news) The term for this shouldn't really be Digital Pinay... He just emphasized that it shouldn't be called as such. CEOs are more of managers. But who are the ones who do the implementations? Who? Tell me! Tell me! Managers are supposed to have a certain degree of technical know how. But not as digital as digital can be. (Although there are managers who are like that.) Managers are important but my point is that their logic seems to be faulty at this point that they are justifying the criteria for judging who is the Digital Pinay.
Attitude "You might think you're God's gift to programmers, but if you have a rotten attitude I won't hire you," Querubin said.
Fair enough. Everybody knows that, I think. At least I have friends who have expressed this thought to me time and again. There is an attitude factor. But this is, for me, a mere justification of the 60% criteria on the combination of poise, text votes, presentability. Heck, how do they define presentability? A person does not have to be utterly pretty to be presentable. And another thing: If you don't generate enough text votes, does that imply that you have an attitude problem? That people don't like you much? What if you know a lot of people but they don't have much means to support you through text votes? Or if the supporters of another candidate would have more money to vote through SMS... I remember watching an episode of Star in a Million several months ago and it was the wildcard round. The one that got in was a pretty looking girl who did not sing so well at that time. And there was Sandy David, who sang her heart out, was praised by the judges, had a powerful voice and stage presence. She was beaten through - guess! - text votes. *sigh* That is just sooo sad. Maybe people thought she wasn't pretty enough. Or maybe the people who wanted her to win weren't able to text because they didn't have prepaid credits or their post paid lines were cut. You never know... But for me, text votes are a dubious way to judge a person in competitions.
Bad preparation "Querubin, however, admitted that the judges had not seen the application form when they accepted the invitation, though he said that the organizers have assured them that Digital Pinay 2005 is not a beauty contest."
Good grief! What in the world? They should have seen the first set of forms by now. I have. How could they have not seen the forms? Did PCS leave out the forms on purpose? Or were they too busy to see the details on the forms? Anyhow, they should have seen the forms first. After all, judging an event is a big thing because you are the one who has a final say on things. *sigh* And PCS should have taken responsibility to make sure that the judges know what they are getting into.
My take on this: PCS is justifying their actions. They did not even include the rules, the cash prizes, the details of the coronation night in the new forms that they sent to Sacha. See? If it isn't really a beauty pageant, why do they call it coronation night? And these are the last words of Mr. Querubin in the article, "We are not saying that it is not a beauty contest because we think there is something bad about beauty contests. We are saying it's not a beauty contest because it's not." Hahahaha. So it's not a beauty contest but it has a coronation night? Tell that to my big toe!
Hmmm... Maybe Mr. Querubin is biased towards the corporate setting wherein marketing counts - a lot. Where image has a big booming voice. (Check out advertisements, press releases, et cetera.) But the ICT industry has technical aspects which you cannot deny. So where is it in their criteria for judging? Oh yeah, the 40% intelligence part. It's a big world out there. And people come up with various solutions here and there. That intelligence is very much needed for the innovations that would make a company more competitive. Innovations set trends. Innovations create impact. And there are brains behind such things. I hope that people won't forget that. There are people with passion who may not be potential CEOs but programmers who would innovate, game developers who would change the gaming scene, ICT professors who conduct extensive researches, et cetera. I think that we should give credit to them and let them share their passion to others. These days I find it hard to come across people with passion for their field, not just the money that they get. I would like to see someone who would promote ICT, notbecause of the salary and the perks, but because it is a world to be explored and expanded.
My questions are: How do you see ICT? What is a Digital Pinay? How would you like to envision ICT? Do you have a vision for ICT in the Philippines?
I hope that because of this event, we will re-think our opinions with regards to the answers to these questions. It is never too late to examine ourselves and our society.
Article referred to below is this: http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=7&story_id=24903 ---------------------- My thoughts: I know that I have ranted enough about the Digital Pinay thing but I just find the idea absurd.
The title: Digital Pinay My question: How do you define a digital Pinay? Who will give the best definition of a digital Pinay? The current press release by the Philippine Computer Society said that this is supposed to be a nationwide search for the top female ICT professionals and graduating students. And yet this is what they added in their press release:
"We are looking for the future female CXOs -- the CEOs, CIOs [chief information officers] and CFOs [chief financial officers]." - Leo Querubin
It seems to me that they are looking for managers, call center agents and team leaders who do more interaction with people, not necessarily techie people. They are also looking for students who have are graduating from management courses but have ICT-related extra-curricular activities and ICT-related subjects. Hence, the title Digital Pinay is a misnomer. Don't you think? Digital is usually associated with techies and geeks - what people perceive as hard core techies and geeks. Then again maybe they came up with worse titles like "Digital Diva" (but Iya Yotoko of Digital Tour has already claimed that one) or "ICT Ambassadress" (which is so boring), or "Exemplary Female Information Professional." In any case, it was horrible that they came up with that title. I remember in my LIS courses, librarians and CIOs have been lumped under the category information professionals but not necessarily ICT professionals. I understood from my courses that this is mainly because we deal with the information and not the technology itself, unless you went beyond that, as in some cases. (I am getting groggy, I hope I am making sense. [Time check: 2:30am of 21 January 2005])
Femininity and the ICT industry To quote Leo Querubin: "What we really wanted to stress is that you do not have to lose your femininity in order for you to succeed in the corporate world. There is nothing wrong with having beauty and brains." Geekettes don't lose their femininity because they are good at making code. And it's not that geekettes don't dress up. But for practicality's sake, they don't wear obviously feminine clothing all the time but they wear clothes wherein they could move, do their work. There are also the types that wear dresses and skirts because they are comfortable. Sacha Chua (http://sacha.free.net.ph) is an example of a feminine geekette. And there's also Sinta (http://www.lockload.com) who is quite striking. In real life, I have met very feminine engineers and professors in the UP College of Engineering. So what's your problem, Mr. Querubin? And, may I add, that the female species can express their femininity in various ways? Haven't men noticed that since time immemorial?
"He added that each criterion represents part of the total package that a successful female CEO should have." (from the article on breaking news) The term for this shouldn't really be Digital Pinay... He just emphasized that it shouldn't be called as such. CEOs are more of managers. But who are the ones who do the implementations? Who? Tell me! Tell me! Managers are supposed to have a certain degree of technical know how. But not as digital as digital can be. (Although there are managers who are like that.) Managers are important but my point is that their logic seems to be faulty at this point that they are justifying the criteria for judging who is the Digital Pinay.
Attitude "You might think you're God's gift to programmers, but if you have a rotten attitude I won't hire you," Querubin said. Fair enough. Everybody knows that, I think. At least I have friends who have expressed this thought to me time and again. There is an attitude factor. But this is, for me, a mere justification of the 60% criteria on the combination of poise, text votes, presentability. Heck, how do they define presentability? A person does not have to be utterly pretty to be presentable. And another thing: If you don't generate enough text votes, does that imply that you have an attitude problem? That people don't like you much? What if you know a lot of people but they don't have much means to support you through text votes? Or if the supporters of another candidate would have more money to vote through SMS... I remember watching an episode of Star in a Million several months ago and it was the wildcard round. The one that got in was a pretty looking girl who did not sing so well at that time. And there was Sandy David, who sang her heart out, was praised by the judges, had a powerful voice and stage presence. She was beaten through - guess! - text votes. *sigh* That is just sooo sad. Maybe people thought she wasn't pretty enough. Or maybe the people who wanted her to win weren't able to text because they didn't have prepaid credits or their post paid lines were cut. You never know... But for me, text votes are a dubious way to judge a person in competitions.
Bad preparation "Querubin, however, admitted that the judges had not seen the application form when they accepted the invitation, though he said that the organizers have assured them that Digital Pinay 2005 is not a beauty contest." Good grief! What in the world? They should have seen the first set of forms by now. I have. How could they have not seen the forms? Did PCS leave out the forms on purpose? Or were they too busy to see the details on the forms? Anyhow, they should have seen the forms first. After all, judging an event is a big thing because you are the one who has a final say on things. *sigh* And PCS should have taken responsibility to make sure that the judges know what they are getting into.
My take on this: PCS is justifying their actions. They did not even include the rules, the cash prizes, the details of the coronation night in the new forms that they sent to Sacha. See? If it isn't really a beauty pageant, why do they call it coronation night? And these are the last words of Mr. Querubin in the article, "We are not saying that it is not a beauty contest because we think there is something bad about beauty contests. We are saying it's not a beauty contest because it's not." Hahahaha. So it's not a beauty contest but it has a coronation night? Tell that to my big toe!
Hmmm... Maybe Mr. Querubin is biased towards the corporate setting wherein marketing counts - a lot. Where image has a big booming voice. (Check out advertisements, press releases, et cetera.) But the ICT industry has technical aspects which you cannot deny. So where is it in their criteria for judging? Oh yeah, the 40% intelligence part. It's a big world out there. And people come up with various solutions here and there. That intelligence is very much needed for the innovations that would make a company more competitive. Innovations set trends. Innovations create impact. And there are brains behind such things. I hope that people won't forget that. There are people with passion who may not be potential CEOs but programmers who would innovate, game developers who would change the gaming scene, ICT professors who conduct extensive researches, et cetera. I think that we should give credit to them and let them share their passion to others. These days I find it hard to come across people with passion for their field, not just the money that they get. I would like to see someone who would promote ICT, notbecause of the salary and the perks, but because it is a world to be explored and expanded.
My questions are: How do you see ICT? What is a Digital Pinay? How would you like to envision ICT? Do you have a vision for ICT in the Philippines?
I hope that because of this event, we will re-think our opinions with regards to the answers to these questions. It is never too late to examine ourselves and our society.
So that is their end of the line. They are not looking for the techies. They are looking for MIS people. CEO types.
*sigh*
But how they did the press release was oh so wrong, I tell you. Oh so wrong! Why didn't they clarify their first press release? Why didn't they give a more detailed set of qualifications, et cetera? How could they release the forms which had the vital statistics fill-up part?
"I screwed up. I take full responsibility for what happened because I assumed that the application forms were the original ones we sent. But we’ve already admitted that we made a mistake and it’s time to move on," Querubin, who is the general manager of software firm CrimsonLogic Philippines Inc., told INQ7.net
Big mistake for someone like him, a manager who is supposed to check for quality control. I took up a management class in college and it was one of the things we had to tackle. And where I work, the bosses are very particular about our correspondences, press releases, etc. Shouldn't he have made sure that their communications department sent out the proper forms?
And here's another quotable: "We are looking for the future female CXOs -- the CEOs, CIOs [chief information officers] and CFOs [chief financial officers]," Querubin said.
"What we really wanted to stress is that you do not have to lose your femininity in order for you to succeed in the corporate world. There is nothing wrong with having beauty and brains," he added.
True. You don't have to lose your femininity. But it's bad to have to be chosen more because of your personality and image. Is image really everything? I think that techies have good personalties. Or maybe some are too pure for the corporate setting?
There is something wrong here. I hope that we will not keep quiet. Maybe the PCS people have the upper hand right now... But maybe not for long.
To Joey Alarilla: Thanks for letting us be heard through that article you wrote. At least they heard us, alright.
PCS is holding a presscon on Digital Pinay tomorrow, Jan 21, starting at 3:30 pm, at AIM's ACCEED Center. You and others interested are invited to join. Just email (or text) me the names of the people attending so PCS can prepare the necessary press kits. Again, thanks for your concern. - Bombing
Contact person: IBARRA "Bombing" C. GUTIERREZ Editor-in-Chief & Publisher Media G8way Corporation 3rd Floor, Eurovilla II Building 118 V. A. Rufino St. (formerly Herrera St.), Legaspi Village, Makati City, Philippines Tel. (632) 840-4227; Fax (632)894-2487 Mobile +639178955739 E-mail: [email protected]
just a guess: beauty pageants offend ugly women, or those half into it. examples of the latter are homely computer scientists sniffing at 'Miss IT' pageants. the above guess is as much of an insult as it is fact. as a way to soften it, i'm of the opinion that all sane women are beautiful and desirable but never mind me.
well then, i'll throw a different question at you. supposing this IT pageant was meant to benefit indigent but talented students who wish to major in IT, will you still complain at the way society commoditizes beauty, particularly in women?
It's not abgout being ugly. It's about how people think of each other. Are we to value each other based on looks? Good grief! That shouldn't be the case. And isn't it an insult to smart and sane professionals and promising ICT students to be paraded around like that? And just be given small prizes for their being the 'embodiment of a digital pinay'?
If it was meant to benefit indigent but talented IT students, how come the only prize for the Co-ed division is a mere Php10,000? And what else? For what?
This seems to be one idea brought on by lack of imagination to promote women in ICT.
My sister wrote this for me last night after talking about the farce called the search for the Digital Pinay.
------------------------------------------------
title: Digital-Pinay: In for a penny, in for a pound. mood: O_o;
Warnings for strange humor ahead: What Digital Pinay is according to me Warning no 2: Bill Gates bashing ahead. My sister is such a Linux fangirl. ^^; Disclaimer: the coffee did it! I swear, I'm innocent! And it sounded so much better while we were talking about it. ^^; Neechan was getting really incensed over the whole Digital Pinay controversy, and I needed to lighten her up.
1. The Digital Pinay pageant is an avenue for people to find out who comes up with these horrible ideas for promoting the ITC industry and get rid of them as quickly as possible.
*** Cue in sportswear music: Announcer: And now we have contestant #6 dressed to kill a la Lara Croft. Contestant #6 poses, smiles, and waves to the host. Contestant #6: May I make a short speech? *coughs* I am really dressed to kill right now; TO KILL THOSE WHO CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA! *draws guns and shoots organizers* I thank you. *waves and exits* ***
Of course, the nice thing about such a contest is you came up with brilliantly mad innovative ways on how a beauty pageant for the ICT industry must and should be conducted.
*** Announcer: And our parade of contestants, who are all arrayed in their best. Contestant #1 is dressed as a CRT monitor! Contestant #1: Good evening, I am Barbie Monita, 26 years old, and I believe that without the monitor, you can't see what you are doing, I thank you. Contestant #2: Mabuhey! Ako si Mayumi Mandirigma, at ako ay bilang isang joystick! Uupakan ko kayo sa ngalan ng !
Several other clothing ideas: a tribute to caffeine (with the Java logo on the side of the coffeecup), a mouse, a tower CPU, a hub, oh, and yes, I nearly forgot - a mainframe. O_o;
***
And let us not forget, the wonderful evening gown competition.
*** Announcer: Beauty, grace, and smarts, the true amalgation of an ICT professional. All the contestants are wearing gowns of their own inspiration made by several third-rate designers who were willing to use their insane ideas. Contestant #1 is wearing a gown that glitters like its gold: it is made up of several dozen misburned CD-Rs from CD-R King (6 pesos each) with designs created using several colors of markers. Her earrings are created from flashdrives and the concept is : with data, there is nothing.
Several other clothing ideas: emoticons, html (css in the straps and relative positioning div layer gloves!), a tribute to photoshop (with the different tools as adornment and accessories), and a tribute to Tux the Linux mascot. ***
And then there's always the question:
***
Host: Contestant #1, what do you think will be the single greatest thing to happen to the ICT community? Contestant #1: I think it will be the day when hackers and multinational corporations can walk hand in hand and enjoy world peace. I thank you.
Host: Contestant #4, what thing concerning the ICT industry would you want to happen? Contestant #4: One day Bill Gates will have a big presscon, and say, 'I'm sorry, Microsoft was just a big scam to make me the richest man in the world, but really, I am an OpenSource user! Go OpenSource roxxors!'
Host: Contestant #6, if you can ask Bill Gates just one question, what will it be? Contestant #6: Are you Big Brother?
Host: How has this contest changed your life? Contestant #9: I realized that female ITC professionals don't need no frigging beauty pageant to tell them their true worth.
***
Other ideas for the coronation night: - A special parade of the contestants dressed up as important people in the development of ICT (variation 1. people who helped developed computers and programming language - Babbage! random Chinese guy who made the abacus!) - A skit of the different OSs talking - A skit where Tux Skywalker defeats Darth Gater while Princess Mac OS looks pretty in her jaguar-print bikini.
***
Categories to add for other prizes: - Teh Haxxors L33t - L33t roxxors photoshop manip (get a picture of Bill Gates and manip it for thirty minutes) - Teh mad coding skillz (fastest in programming/html)
*** But really, aren't there more fun and (slightly) viable ideas on how to promote the female ICT professional?
- What about a fastest in the quickdraw? Something about designing a site in an hour or something? Bring your own coded Javascript, use any (licensed) application. - Best in a hacking simulation : to prove that girls can be good at it too! - the ICT jeopardy : with categories like 'Linux distros' and 'name the virus attack', 'name that cause of the Blue Screen of Doom'
I was supposed to write about something but this caught my eye as I was going to through my feeds this morning. There is an IT Beauty Pageant! I thought to myself, "What is going on?" because it seems too contrived.
I got the links from http://sacha.free.net.ph. Sacha posted links there. And I read through the application form for it. I couldn't help but feel awful. It looked like a silly prank to me.
This is what I got from Migs Paraz's blog post: The Search for DIGITAL PINAY 2005 is on! Organized by the Philippine Computer Society (PCS) and Media G8way Corp. (MGC), DIGITAL PINAY is a nationwide search – in both the Professional and Co-Ed Categories – for the woman who best exemplifies the qualities expected of future women leaders of the Philippine information and communications technology (ICT) industry.
The competition is divided into four (4) phases and will culminate in a Coronation Night that will be held on 04 June 2005, Saturday, at the Carlos P. Romulo Theatre, RCBC Plaza, City of Makati.
The winner in the Professional Category shall serve as PCS Ambassadress of Goodwill and will be the role model for all ICT professionals in the country.
The deadline for submitting application forms is 31 January 2005.
The following pages contain the application form as well as other essential information about the search. Should you have other queries, please feel free to contact:
Philippine Computer Society (PCS) Unit 263 Cityland Dela Rosa Condominium Dela Rosa Street, City Makati Tel. No: (++63-2) 840-0986 Tel/Fax: (++632) 894-4325 or 840-0985 Contact Person: Ms. Janet R. Lizaso E-mail: [email protected]
Media G8way Corporation 3rd Floor, Eurovilla II Building 118 V. A. Rufino Street (formerly Herrera St.) Legaspi Village, City of Makati Tel. No (++63-2) 812-8401 to 03 Fax No (++63-2) 894-2487 Contact Person: Mr. Michael C. Blancas E-mail [email protected]
--------------------
After reading the complete document here, I was still in shock that they are holding such an event. And LJ user cmarguel also posted some screenshots of the document along with his comments.
It would have been great to give awards to women who make great advances in the field. It is wonderful to recognize these people. But such contest? I think it's wrong because the image that would be projected. The CV's and transcripts of the contestants are required, yes, but there is also a part wherein the document says that there will also be consideration for text votes. Text votes?! Good grief! A lot of people don't know much about IT in the country and what do you do? Make popularity a criteria? I think that _that_ is crazy. I don't know why Filipinos seem to have a fascination for text voting.
Criteria for judging: Text Votes 20% *Popularity of the candidate through the number of text votes she receives. *Shows also the kind of personal network the candidate has built. *People’s choice.
Intelligence 40% *Rated by a panel of judges, based on one-on-one interviews, on the candidate’s grasp of industry issues as well as her technical knowledge. *Takes into account the candidate’s academic performance and technical proficiency based on her 201/academic records.
Beauty / Presentability 20% *Rated by a panel of judges – during the finals night – based on the physical appearance or attributes of a candidate. *Emphasizes the candidate’s personal appeal and pleasantness.
Poise / Personality 20% *Rated by a panel of judges – during the finals night – based on how a candidate carries herself and answers questions under pressure. *Also considers the candidate’s unique personality and how well she conveys it.
Seems to me that 60% of the criteria is more on the appeal of the person rather than the skill, intelligence, wisdom and contribution of the person to the field. So how "digital" is that?
I am in my ranting mode. This is not always the case with me. But I would just like to make it clear that my point of view is that if we really want IT to be promoted in this country we have to make other ways. Not like this. It's bad enough that there is a prevalent macho-man mentality in a lot of Filipino men and to do this to women is awful. And what if some women do try out for this? What would they get? Php 25,000? Heck, that is not even at par with their salaries, I suppose.
Beyond the material prizes is the prestige of winning in this industry competition and the myriad opportunities that await the candidates. Joining and winning in the Search for Digital Pinay translates to high visibility in the job market. As it is backed by the prestigious Philippine Computer Society, the competition has the imprimatur of the ICT industry. It is virtually an endorsement for the winners that they indeed are the future female ICT leaders to watch out for.
I hope that people would indeed see them as leaders. Sometimes, winners of such contests get stucked in a box that they winners of a pageant, etc. You want role models? You can be one without having to have such poise and beauty. And it is good to have poise and beauty but don't give too much emphasis on it. It is bad enough that people think that IT people are geeks with nothing else but it is worse to make women in the IT field as objects to look at, as trophies. *shudders* And there is also an age requirement. Gosh! Are we to look at only the young women in the IT industry as the possible role models? Hahahaha. No way. There were probably some women visionaries in the 80's and 90's that are more than 35 years old by this time. Aren't they role models too? Maybe some of them didn't get much credit for what they have done.
Recognize people who deserve recognition. Search for them, nominate them, reward them. But, please, don't make this about their beauty, grace and poise. We have too many beauty pageants as it is. Let's see these women in the IT industry as leaders, as visionaries, as role models, without having the sash. Let us help build a society that will look at women with respect and dignity and high regard for their contribution to their field. I guess it is time to really evaluate how we define who a "Digital Pinay" is.
On this page of the Nokia website, you could find which of the models are suited for your lifestyle. Let me see what would happen if I have these combinations:
My profession: company employed My communication needs: socializing My fashion style: sport casual My leisure time: mobile entertainment My mobility: commuter travel My spending preference: low range
The top 3 matches are:
Nokia 5140 - This is one sporty phone. It has a Fitness Coach and an integrated digital compass. It also has a design that makes sure that it is splash resistant and is supposed to be durable, in case of accidental bumps. It has a camera, too, so that is good for taking snapshots of places you go to and you feel like sending them to your friends and family at that specific time. It has infrared but no Bluetooth.
Nokia 3330 - This one includes a 64Mb memory card so you could take your music with you (AAC and MP3). It also has an FM radio tuner and a recording feature. It has no infrared nor Bluetooth=(
Nokia 3360 - This one has video capture and streaming. It has both infrared and Bluetooth. However it has no radio. It has Symbian for its OS.
With these 3 matches that I got, I might go for the first one in case there is one available and if it really is not so expensive. Even though it has no Bluetooth, at least it has infrared. One important thing I like about is its design. I bump into walls and posts, because I am quite a klutz sometimes, so that is really one big factor.
But to tell the truth, one of the big factors why I would still get a Nokia phone instead of a Sony Ericsson one is the radio. I haven't seen a phone of theirs with an integrated FM radio tuner. For a commuter like me, I would like to have that feature especially when riding in the FX for more than an hour. And they are relatively cheap, at least the models that are available in the market. The ones I would considering buying, that is. Currently, I am eyeing the Nokia 3200, the Nokia 6610i and the Nokia 2600. I am hoping that towards the end of the year the prices would get lower. I like the features of these phones and maybe by then I can afford to buy a new phone. I hope. There are other manufacturers, true, but I need my radio to keep me company. And it has to be sturdy too. The 3200 has a flashlight - hehehe. That would help me during blackouts.
But the tags were rendered as part of the message. At least it worked. Now I know it does^_^ This is good when I can't go online for a long time. Sometimes Blogger takes a while to load. Then again the email took a while before it got posted. But I am glad it works. I hope that Blogger improves on this. There are many people who use Blogger and would benefit from that service. Good thing NBAAddict pointed out this feature! I will test it again another time and hopefully it would post faster than the previous attempt.
I have noticed that href="http://www.blogger.com">Blogger provides its users a way to blog without going to the Blogger Dashboard and it's through email. I have noticed that option way back, when I was tweaking some settings of my blog but I never really used it before. This is actually a test post. I hope it shows up fast. I think that href="http://nbaaddict.blogspot.com">NBAAddict's post was a bit late the time that he tried to post via email. Hmmmm. I wonder what the experiment will result in. A late post? I hope not.
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I read about someone who used his Pocket PC to hook up to the library's fee Wi-Fi network and checked out the library's catalog. That is waaaaay cool! I wish we could have the same technology here in the Philippines. I wish. Frank McPherson was writing about it here. And I knew about it because of The Shifted Librarian blog. There are so many things going on in libraries in other parts of the world and it makes things easier for both the users and the librarians.
Reference work is not easy in a library with many users. People ask all sorts of questions like, "Where is ?" or "What references could I use to write ?" , et cetera. Sometimes library users are simply dumbfounded with the many choices available or sometimes, they don't really know how to maximize the materials in a library. Sad but true. One-man librarians are the ones who really face the greatest challenge because of the need to stay in one place because library users also need to bring home some books and so they have to stay on the desk and at the same time there are clueless users who really need a lot of help finding their way around the library. With the above-mentioned technology, there is a probability that users would be encouraged to find the materials that they need in the library because they don't have to be in the public terminal browsing the catalog and they don't have to ask the librarian too many questions. Some library users are terrified of that.
Anyhow, I am just glad that at some part of the world, a nice technological advance is going on right now, ensuring that the information gets to the person who needs it.
I had a dual boot Windows 2000 Pro and Ubuntu Linux on my ThinkPad R30 early this week. It was fine except for the fact that I needed some KDE apps but I don't have the access to them so I decided to switch back to Mandrake. I wanted to try installing Mandrake 10.1 Official Edition again and check the Xorg.0.log file when I try to boot up again. The thing was that I accidentally wiped out the Windows partition that Carl set up for me. Uh-oh! I have no idea how in the world to fix this mess except to SMS him about it. I am currently saving how-to's and stuff like that.
Maybe I should stick with a purely Linux laptop? And how do I try to make extra partitions for other distros I might like to try out in the future? Mhac mentioned to me yesterday that 5GB of space is enough for another distro. Must look for information on this. I am really interested in finding my "baby distro" ^_^ So far, Mandrake 10 looks wonderful with all the packages included in the 4 CDs. I don't have to download other stuff right away. And that is good because I don't have internet access at home. Ubuntu loaded up really fast on the laptop though. If only Mandrake 10 would be like that... It would be perfect! I also checked out SLAX last night and it is also nice. But I would rather have Open Office than the KDE Office Suite. Oh well.
Physics in the City: details of program of activities
The organizers of the Physics in the City on Jan. 15 at Eastwood City have lined up a very interesting list of activities (appended). The talks and demos would be very interesting to your elementary or high school kids. Take time out to bring them there - you may have a scientist in your home just waiting to be discovered.
* Open forum on the environment and astronomy, Central Plaza, 6-7pm * Fireworks, Grand Staircase 7-7:30pm * Demos, presentations, exhibits, magic tricks, coffee table talks, Central Plaza, Cybermall, Citywalk 2, 7:30-10pm
Start the new year by making site changes and updates. As you can see, I have changed my layout and there are a bunch of dead links to my old posts. Previously, I have mentioned the tragedy of having lost my files when the server of my webhost went down=(
Anyhow, change can be viewed as good=) It could be seen as starting from a clean slate. I have posted some screenshots of Emacs Planner on my site and I hope that you would take the time to check them out. I love using Planner and I guess that by putting up screenshots it would make things intelligible to my friends who don't know what I am talking about and I hope that they would check it out too. Planner is really interesting and I hope to put some more links that are related to Planner sometime soon. It is just the first of a series of screenshots.
I have yet to upload some files that is why you culd see some sub-topics that should exist. Please bear with the site revamp.
Have a happy new year everyone!
PS: I have taken the time to make screenshots because I was annyed at what I was doing. I couldn't seem t get much work done because transcription was difficult and time online is scarce.
I don't know what exactly is going on but I am having trouble with the webhost of my blog right now. Anybody who can suggest a free webhost without forced ads? I would really appreciate it!
I don't know what exactly is going on but I am having trouble with the webhost of my blog right now. Anybody who can suggest a free webhost without forced ads? I would really appreciate it!
