Having worked in the industry myself, I know for a fact that stories are sometimes “planted” to lobby for something, influence public opinion or favor a high-spending advertiser.

And now it seems Facebook has been caught with its pants down when it was identified as the one “feeding” anti-Google stories to the media. Worse, Facebook has admitted to the deed, citing Google’s infringement of Facebook data and privacy concerns in the social networking tool called Social Circle which Google is implementing. Observers have since then said that FB’s fears are largely “unfounded.”

The whole brouhaha came about when blogger Christopher Soghoian exposed a series of emails sent to him by Facebook’s blue chip PR Burson-Marsteller (through John Mercurio) on an op-ed opportunity entitled ” Google Quietly Launches Sweeping Violation of User Privacy.” Get an idea of their email exchange in this screenshot.

Note that Burson-Marsteller didn’t identify its client but a little sleuthing and it was soon found out that BM was working in behalf of Facebook.

Read more about this whole story in The Daily Beast

If I were Mark Zuckerberg, I’d sooner replace Burson-Marsteller for being careless and leaving digital footprints like that!

Even in the Philippines, it’s kinda appalling how big, supposedly techie, multinational companies rely on (mostly) traditional PR agencies with little digital know-how. Check them out ….

1. Do they still print out their press kit photos in 6 x 4 matte finish?

2. Do the pictures they enclose in flash drives a high-res 10MB or a web-friendly 600KB?

3. How’s their media/blogger list … is it composed of biggies or mostly underlings & unknowns?

4. Does your PR know basic digital terms like SEO, WP plugins and landing page?

5. How’s their website? Are people enthusiastic enough to like and comment on their company Facebook page?

Just saying!

Unveiled today: the must-have Nokia C3 phone for the social networking junkie, at a very affordable price of P7,295. It’s the cheapest Nokia QWERTY phone to date and comes in metallic colors like slate gray and white. Being a female, however, I choose hot pink!

If you’re hopelessly hooked to Twitter and Facebook, you’d love the fact that the Nokia C3 gives you one-click connection. You’d be able to easily view live feeds from your friends, update your status and even make comments. The only thing you can’t do in this baby is Facebook chat but instant messaging services through Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and Ovi chat are available.

The Nokia C3 phone likewise gives easy access to email clients like Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail. And to top all that, there’s wi-fi connectivity. To make things easy, Nokia has teamed up with Smart to offer subscribers unlimited chat, email, Facebook and Twitter for only P20 a day.   There is even a free 7-day trial via http://www.nokia.com.ph/7daytrial.

The 2 megapixel camera of the C3 is quite paltry but this should be a good introductory phone for those planning the big switch to more complicated smartphones. It should be all that matters since it offers two important things in my book: wifi and easy connection to the social networks. At this drop-dead price, it can’t be beat

My own arguments against riding public transport are these – if you’re riding a taxi: you never know the driver’s temperament or if their meters are reliable. Some smell of LPG gas (because, well, they’re using it) and it’s really crazy hailing taxis during rush hours, the holiday season and when it rains.

As for FXs buses and jeepneys, I get claustrophobic and paranoid about holdup incidents. The only thing I favor are the LRT and MRT trains to easily get to Point Z from Point A, but the lines at the terminals can get really long too, and occasionally there are mechanical troubles which can stall your trip for hours.

I’ve had my commuter days and have my own horror stories to tell about riding public transport. One time, the taxi driver was really acting weird and appeared to be high on drugs. I leapt out of the taxi at the next stop light, but not without him shouting invectives at me. God knows where he could have led me then.

As a result, I’ve formulated some rules in riding a taxi in Manila:

1. Ride only on taxis ran by reputable companies. Never mind if you have to shell out extra pesos for it.

2. Practice precautionary measures like keeping the doors locked, carrying a self-defense spray and sitting at the back, instead of beside the driver.

3. Text the taxi’s plate number to a family member or friend as soon as you ride the car

4. Riding a taxi at 6 a.m. is safer than riding a taxi at 3 or 4 a.m. In the same way that riding a taxi in groups is safer than going it alone, at that hour!

On Facebook tonight, the horrific story of this young woman who was mugged by a taxi driver caught my attention:

Apparently, her friends want to spread the word on the horrific incident that happened to her. Here’s her tale: (pardon the length)

“After four months of not going to a club (LITERALLY), I finally did to show some support for one of my best friends, Mel and to see friends who I haven’t seen for the longest longest longest time. It was the first time I’ve ever set foot in Encore (to think I used to go to Embassy every week). It felt surreal to be out and without my boyfriend, LJ, who couldn’t come due to an early class the following day.

I only had 4 drinks: 3 Amaretto Sours and a Mai Tai. It felt good seeing a lot of my friends. We took so many pictures that my fully charged camera went low bat. Anyway, Mel and I decided to leave Encore by 2:30 A.M. Our friends stayed behind since the club closes at 3 A.M. Mel and I were taking separate cabs since she goes home to Mandaluyong and I to Makati. I WAS COMPLETELY SOBER. Not even a bit tipsy.

I remember telling her as we were leaving the club “It’s my first time going home in a cab alone from this club.” Mel was a bit concerned, even offering me to stay over her place for the night.. I told her not to worry, I ALWAYS get home safely.

So we went to get our cabs and I made sure Mel got into her cab first. Then I was looking for a cab who wouldn’t fix the price (you know how it is at The Fort) and there was one who volunteered that he’d use the meter. So I took his offer. I distinctly remember most of the waiting cabs were DAVIS cabs. Mine was not. And I was so damn stupid not to get his taxi’s name and plate number.

In the middle of the ride, I started changing into regular shorts and top. The driver wasn’t looking though but suddenly his hand reached for behind and I was surprised. He was saying, “MAY NAHULOG. Wallet mo ata.” I found a 50 peso bill on the floor. Then he said, “Ang dami mo sigurong pera. Mayaman ka noh?” I didn’t answer. I started getting nervous. I started looking for the cab’s number (which is usually written on the side of the doors). There were faint markings but it couldn’t be understood. The driver noticed my agitation and said, “Anong hinahanap mo? Plate number? Bigay ko sayo.” I was like, “Never mind.” I did NOT want him to know I was getting nervous already. Plus we were so near my house. I thought, what could go wrong?

But something did. Three streets away from my house, the cab driver “hit” a pothole or hump or whatever. He pulled over to the side and said, “Tangina, pano na yan? Na-lock yung steering wheel. Hindi ko maikot.” I was just looking at him, confused. I have no knowledge of cars so I do not know if he was bluffing or not. The meter was 75. I gave him a hundred. He had no change daw so I was like, “Fine, whatever. There’s nothing I can do about it.” I stepped out of the cab, in the middle of Bautista Street, a long street but near my house. It was almost 3 A.M. When I looked back, the cab was gone.

HOW IN THE WORLD WAS HE ABLE TO DRIVE AWAY IF HIS STEERING WHEEL WAS “LOCKED”?

I called my boyfriend up AND THANK GOD HE ANSWERED HIS PHONE. He was sleeping already, good thing the call woke him up. I was trying to remain calm. I told him my dilemma. Suddenly an empty cab drove by. A DIFFERENT ONE. I hailed it. I had probably less than half a kilometer to my house which was three streets away. The cab took me in and I ended the call.

Two more lefts, it was my house already. It was Camalig Street, then Bigasan Street. Suddenly the driver went left, the street just right before my house, Camalig. I said very politely, “Kuya, MALI. Atras ka, atras ka. Sa kabilang street pa. One more left.” The driver just kept driving like he didn’t hear. I said it again. Then he stopped and looked at me. Then he said, “Bayaran mo na.” I was weirded out. I was like, “Why? This is not even my house. It’s on the next street.” Besides, we haven’t traveled far. The meter was still at 30 pesos.

SUDDENLY, without warning, the driver grabbed my neck and jumped to the back. My first thought was, “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?”. But his grip was getting tighter and tighter. I literally couldn’t breathe and felt my consciousness slipping. As we were struggling, I kept scratching at his eyes and reaching for the lock of the left door. He was on top of me hitting my head repeatedly while his other hand around my neck. I was choking and choking when I realized the left side HAD NO FUCKING LOCK, which means I couldn’t get out. Which means I had to try my luck on the right side. Imagine my struggle to get to the other side as a full grown, heavyset man kept bashing my head, scratching my face, pulling my hair and hitting me. I kept scratching his eyes. It was all I could do. When his grip loosened a bit, I managed to open the right door with so much effort. Unfortunately he pulled me back with my hair. Imagine MY TERROR as the door closed again!!!!! I couldn’t scream anymore. Besides, who would hear me I was inside a fucking car. My neck was so sore and I was close to fainting. I kept scratching his eyes and reaching for the door until by some miracle, I opened it fully and screamed with what was remaining of my voice.

The driver said something like, “Tangina, it’s not worth it.” And literally kicked me out of the car. I rolled out onto the street with my shoulder bag which was slung around me the whole time with its remaining contents. The driver suddenly sped away. Till now, I don’t know his motive, whether it be rape or hold up. Or both. Or murder.

So there I was in the middle of the street, barefoot. Then I realized why the hell am I so wet?! I realized I was sitting in a pool of my own blood. There was so much blood dripping from the right side of my head, it was like a half-closed faucet if you get what I mean. I started screaming for help.

This time the apartment I was right in front of lights’ went on. Imagine the horror on these people’s faces as I literally crawled towards them bloodied and barefoot. When I reached out to them for help, I saw my arm. It was covered in blood. And I could feel that I was losing so much more. I asked for a cellphone. I still had the consciousness to call my boyfriend. The people who took me in were nice enough to let me call. They talked to LJ and informed him of what happened. They even cleaned me up. Suddenly there was the barangay people and witnesses. That’s when everything became hazy. The barangay people said that they had to take me to the hospital because I was losing so much blood.

I was taken to Makati Medical Center ER. I still remember as I was being loaded onto the wheelchair the horrified looks of the people outside the hospital. I even had a high school batchmate who was assigned as my nurse, Erika Bautista (THANK YOU SO MUCH). In her own words she said that when I came in I looked like I was already in critical condition. I am not exaggerating when I say this: I WAS LITERALLY COVERED IN BLOOD. Head to foot.”

The suspected culprit? A white taxi with plate number PXG 725 or PSG 725

Spread the word and stay safe people!

But unlike the 1991 Philippine earthquake where places like Baguio remained cut off from the rest of the world for several days, what happened in Haiti was immediately broadcast, tweeted and blogged to the rest of the world in a matter of minutes. Thanks to today’s technology, the world was made aware of the extent of the disaster. We expect the spirit of charity and volunteerism as well to rise as Help Haiti efforts have been made possible via Twitter, Facebook and the press of a cellphone button.

How to help Haiti? Here are high-tech ways to donate now:

If you’re residing in the United States, text “HAITI” to “90999″ and a donation of $10 will automatically be given to the Red Cross

Also at the forefront is Yele Haiti, an organization started by New York-based Haiti singer and native Wyclef Jean. Just text YELE to 501501 and a donation of $5 will be charged to the mobile phone user’s account. According to Wyclef’s popular Twitter acount (1.3 million followers), $400,000 was raised on the first day alone.

Donate now buttons are also available in the official websites of non-profit organizations such as the Red Cross, UNICEF, World Vision, Save the Children, CARE, among others.

Hollywood’s most generous showbiz couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have so far donated $1 million to Haiti through Doctors Without Borders (via usmagazine.com)

That’s right. One of my 2010 New Year’s resolutions is to buy a new mobile phone, after having decided that the last Christmas season was a bad time to buy one (prices were high and thefts were on the rise). Unknown to friends, am only using a basic phone and have two other high-tech phones just hidden in the drawer, tee hee. The plan is to give the basic phone to my son (it’s time he has one since he’s on the verge of high school) while am gonna trade in the two others for a single phone with good video capability. Any suggestions out there?

Anyway, mobile phone fanatics are all agog about the just-launched Google Nexus One smartphone. I mean, whatta way to greet the beginning of 2010. The only caveat is that it’s not available in the Philippines. But nothing’s preventing our newspaper, the Manila Bulletin Technews lab from reviewing it. Watch out for the review soon!

In the meantime, here’s everything you need to know about the Google smartphone, in case you insist on buying it from abroad:

Processor: Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz
(versus only 600 Mhz on the iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid and Palm Pre)

Google GPS and wi-fi positioning

Bluetooth, wi-fi and HSDPA at 7.2Mbps

Voice-enabled keyboard so that you can just dictate your text message or Facebook update instead of typing it

5 megapixel camera, and video recording at 720 X 480 pixels, with instant uploading to YouTube

Easy synching between your business and social contacts, even from sites like Facebook

Internal memory at 512 MB RAM, and expandable memory up to 32 GB

Talk time: 10 to 7 hours on 2G/3G respectively

Internet time: 5 hours on 3G and 6.5 hours on Wi-Fi

Weight:130 grams with battery

Major drawback: no multi-touch capability, because multi-touch is patented with Apple. However, expect Android hackers to solve the problem soon.

Wellllllll, I definitely want the Nexus One! Too bad, I live in the ‘Third World’ Presently, the smartphone ships to the US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore only, with the unlocked version selling at $529.

2. Facebook is blocked in your office so you bring your own laptop with your own broadband connection.

3. You use Facebook Mobile. You surf Facebook even on your phone and when you feel the urge to, which is OFTEN.

4. You derive immense pleasure in showing off your old photos to everyone on your friends’ list, even if your ancestors will rise from the grave it takes 12 hours for you to scan them.

5. You think about your farm or your restaurant even when you’re at work or in a business meeting. You’re more worried that your plants will wilt and your food will be spoiled.

6. Even your friends are amazed at your level of prowess in Facebook games. You’re the Poker King, master farmer in Farmtown and gourmet queen in Restaurant City.

7. Google and Twitter come second in your life. FB has reached a point where it’s more important than work (ouch!)

8. You’re Miss Facebook Congeniality. You don’t really know too well half of your friends in your network.

9. You go out of your way to add friends.

10. You attend a party and your standard line is: “add me in Facebook plz!”

11. You attend a party and your standard line no. 2 is: “say cheese! This photo is for Facebook!”

12. You update your Facebook status five times a day.

13. You spend 20 minutes thinking of a witty status update.

14. You’re excited about your coming trip to the Bahamas (or insert name of place here). But you’re more excited at the prospect of showing it all off on FB.

15. You love FB so much, you’ve even grown to love those Facebook ads.

16. You met your boyfriend on Facebook.

17. Facebook chat has replaced Yahoo Messenger and Googletalk in your list.

18. You’ve deleted your Friendster account.

This post first appeared in the Philippines’ fastest-rising, high-traffic blog Barrio Siete

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By TwitterButtons.com

The design, done by San Francisco-based Studio O+A, is cool, hip, and reminds almost everyone of the equally freewheeling atmosphere at Google. The walls have in fact been laid bare so the 700 or so employees housed in the building can freely post artworks and even write graffiti on them.

Gourmet meals, snacks and drinks are provided to staff at all hours. From this vantage point, the building looks like a warehouse because it used to be a laboratory facility for a manufacturer.

Facebook got a lot of inputs from their employees on how they wanted their workplaces to look like. Hence, the abundance of comfy lounges, micro-kitchens, energy-efficient lighting and other “green” elements. Open spaces mean even top executives aren’t separated from everyone by dividers. And yes, you can navigate around in your skateboards. More pictures here and the official Studio O+A website.

Who wouldn’t want to work here? Maybe if we had five million friends EACH, Facebook will take notice

Cafe World, my new favorite Facebook game, is actually the first Facebook game I played. Sure I got friend requests for Restaurant City and Farm Town before, but never really got around to it. I never thought these FB games can be so addicting!

Now my life is not the same again because I always have to think of the cooking in my cafe when I wake up and before I sleep at night There is risk of food spoilage, you know. And the competitive spirit in me will always want to go to the next level. Which is bad since I can’t play the game for the most part when am in the office.

Cafe World basically empowers you to run your own cafe or restaurant. You can customize the design, hire employees, even have a say in the staff uniforms. You earn points with every dish you cook and every neighbor you visit. You have to think of a strategy because some dishes cook longer than others, like the homestyle pot roast which takes all of two days!

I’ll try to ask some of my high-pointer friends for some of their Cafe World tips and tricks. One tip I can share is to keep on cooking! Try to figure out dish intervals, so that when one food runs out, you’ll be ready to replace it with a new one. With limited counters, it’s impossible to serve all dishes at the same time.

Another tip is to add and visit as many neighbors as you can. Anyway, see you in Cafe World. Happy playing!