(2nd Edition, February 1999)

by Rey Carolino

[This article was first published in the May/June, 1997 issue of the FILIPINO TODAY Newspaper. This second edition was written for publication in the February 1999 edition of the WIRED! Philippines]

In my previous column, I wrote about how you can get yourself on the Internet.  Hopefully, you have followed my suggestions and you are now on the Internet overwhelmed by all the things that you can do there. To help you get the most out of your Internet connection, here's my top ten list of some cool and nice things that a Filipino living abroad can do on the Internet:

1. Tour the Philippines in an hour

   The best description of the Internet that I have found is the one from Brendan Kehoe ( Zen and the Art of the Internet ). He writes:

   "You have at your fingertips the ability to talk in `real-time' with someone in Japan, send a 2,000-word short story to a group of people who will critique it for the sheer pleasure of doing so, see if a Macintosh sitting in a lab in Canada is turned on, and find out if someone happens to be sitting in front of their computer (logged on) in Australia, all inside of thirty minutes. No airline (or tardis, for that matter) could ever match that travel itinerary."

   Thirty minutes? Well, the above article was written in January 1992 before Netscape was born. At that time, web browsing was done using text-only browsers that don't load graphics or pictures. So they were fast- then. But now that people are flooding their homepages with heavy graphics that take forever to load, the World Wide Web is now known as the World Wide Wait. A 30-minute tour of the Philippines via the Net might not be possible now. Instead, budget for an hour and let's go to these places including the links that you will come across as you surf these pages:

   • President Joseph "Erap" Estrada's Home Page
     Visit this homepage and do something that, without the Internet, you will not be able to accomplish if you are just an average citizen--have your opinions and complaints heard by the President himself. Get to know the President and his Family. View his Photo Album. Read his speeches. Critique his policies. The homepage also provides links to various Government offices.
   • National Economic & Development Authority (NEDA)
     If you are planning to do business in the Philippines, this site provides good references to key economic indicators as maintained by the Philippines' highest social and economic development planning and policy coordinating body.
   • Tanikalang Ginto (Philippine Golden Links)
     A compilation of Filipino web sites that earned the Best of CyberPinoy Award from the one- man Tribong Pinoy organization of Kenneth (Ken) Yerro Ilio. Since 1995, Ken has been checking several Filipino homepages- sometimes as many as 50 sites a day if he surfs the net deep enough. He then gives out the award to the site that impresses him the most.
   • Philippine Webby Awards
     This site gives out the Webby Awards (just like the Oscars and the Famas) for the most popular Filipino-made web sites during the year.
   • RealPinoy.com
     1998 Pinoy Webby Award recipient for the Culture category. A one-stop surfing site for Filipinos on the Net.
   • PinoyMail
     If you want a free Filipino-sounding e-mail address similar to Hotmail, this is the place to go.
   • TatakPilipino.Com
     Looking for a Filipino store on the Net? Look no further.
   • Trabaho.Com
     Looking for a job in the Philippines or abroad? This site may be of help in your search.
   • Evoserve/WWW Directory with Search Access (EDSA)
     The first Filipino-oriented search engine (similar to Yahoo).
   • Yehey
     Another good Philippine-related search engine.
   • Philippine-contents of the Yahoo search engine.
   • Journeys to the Philippines
     Travel experience to the Philippines of a former Filipino citizen who now lives in California.
   • Adventure:Vacation in the Philippines
     Another travel experience as related by two Americans who came to visit the Philippines at the urging of their Filipina friend.

   If you are planning a visit to the Philippines and you need more information, check these sites:

   • Travel Information
   • Travel Information- Philippines

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