Yes, my Blog-O-Rama column in Manila Bulletin Technews continues to be alive – born in 2004 and still kickin’ in 2011! 😀 Through all these years, I’ve seen the landscape evolve drastically and most us have learned to take it with a bit of fear and then meek acceptance. Change is inevitable, and there’s no way this world is going back to the world of the dinosaurs. My New Year resolutions are still evolving and being more “techie” in terms of understanding and adapting to technology is out there on the list. Here are my suggestions for 10 techie things to do in 2011. This first appeared here and here.
1. Explore a new gadget. The bad thing with gadgets is that they
easily get outdated, the good thing is that we’re assured of better
versions each time.One thing for sure, 2011 is going to be another
revolutionary time for the industry. I am still getting comfortable
with my 2010 Christmas gift, the Apple iPad 64gb, and I hear already
that there’s a new IPad coming up. Oh well….
2. Donate your techno garbage. If you’re blessed with high-tech
thingamajigs, why not give some of it back to the less fortunate,
unless what you really want to do is build a museum. There’s always
some remote classroom or poor teenage kid who’d want to get their
hands on the old Pentium lappy or Nokia 3210 of yore. Another option
is to join the recycling program of major malls like Ayala and SM.
3. Learn a geeky skill. Something I’ve put on my list of resolutions
this year is to figure out WordPress coding by reading how-to’s in
codex. org. It must have been the offshoot of hearing all those
experts utter geekspeak in WordCamp.Start small by mastering the
buttons in your digicam or tinkering with the numerous apps in your
smartphone. You’re on your way to geekery in no time.
4. Launch a blog. Even though it’s already 2011, it’s not too late to
start. You can still make money if you specialize in uncommon niches
like real estate, DIY, computer tablets, android phones etc. And the
good thing with being a blogger these days is that you get invited to
events, review products and score freebies.
5. Be a Facebook, Twitter or Youtube superstar. Supposing you didn’t
make it big in blogging, there’s still plenty of room for domination
via the social media. And the good thing with sites like Youtube, you
can be an overnight sensation. Just don’t do something notorious like
falling off the train tracks or romping around in your birthday
clothes in Boracay.
6. Read up as much on tech-related things. Websites like Engadget, Gizmodo and ReadWriteWeb should be up there on your feed reader. Or better yet, make sure you buy a copy of MB Technews every Monday and Wednesday (ahem!) for the latest gadgets to rock the Philippines!
7. Attend IT/tech events. These days, there are lots of ’em happening around town: not just the usual consumer electronics shows but also blog parties, digital marketing seminars, and toycons. Make sure to be updated on the events happening in the big venues like Word Trade Center and SMX Convention Center. Lest we forget, a true techie grills the salesman on functions and specifications of a device, even if it’s just a good, ol’ appliance fair in Glorietta.
8. Meet or adopt a guru. So yes, maybe most of us can’t meet Steve Jobs in our lifetime. But it’s not yet too late to follow and look up to somebody for inspiration on leading a techie life.Thank God, most of today’s biggies have their own websites (even Bill Gates) and we can easily be updated on them by subscribing through email. The people we look up to are just a Twitter or Facebook “add friend” away!
9. Bone up on new words. Corollary to learning a new skill or reading tech bibles, learning the new words of the decade are a must. Be warned, most of them are updated as the months go by. As such, last year’s Froyo might already be obsolete by next quarter. At the risk of being called a jejemon, make friends with words like apps, retweet, OEM and even 802.11g
10. Get away from technology, even for just a bit. Yes, I am contradicting myself here. But our life is so tech-dependent that it would be good to get away from tweets and Facebook notifications, even for just 24 hours. Technology can be so overwhelming that planning a perfect escape is so tempting: just chilling out on a remote beach with no cell signal, looking at the moon and sipping ice-cold margarita. So sue me!:)
although i’m astronomically far from being tech-savvy myself, i enjoyed reading this post, ms. Aj.
i give my nod to your statement, “Even though it’s already 2011, it’s not too late to
start.” tech-geeky or not, learning should always be a continuous process.
i’ll be immersing myself into a new skill to acquire soon.
natawa ako sa #5. can’t imagine myself in the position! haha…
hey Doc, thanks. New Year’s resolution ko rin to learn more techno-related skills….good luck to us 😀
I really want to learn photography, using the DSLR we bought. My husband is into it. I hope I can really put in more time to that.