One thing I considered writing about when I started this blog, was to try and and talk about the common dilemmas that Pinoys encounter when trying to get into shape. While purists are quick to say that it’s not about the equipment and all about the performance – I love my sports gadgets is all I have to say about that.

If you’ve tried to keep a regular running schedule going, the following assumptions probably fit your persona.

• You probably own an mp3 player.
• It’s probably an ipod.
• You’re tired of getting derailed from your workout because your ipod earphones keep falling out.

I’m not a hardcore runner, but the Sennheiser PMX 80 Sport II i got as a surprise from my fiance’ just yesterday was clearly made for them. Here’s my stab at coming up with a brief, non-technical review for these beauties.

As with the other items in Sennheiser’s headset and earphone profile, the Sennheiser PMX 80 Sport II packs a very clear and solid punch. You know how audiophiles usually size up their system by playing Clair Marlo’s Till they take my heart away? Well, I was doing the same with El de Barge’s Time Will Reveal just this afternoon and found out right after that I was too loud for my own good. I wasn’t even on full volume. For safety purposes though, just make sure you take advantage of this on a treadmill rather than on a busy street.

In comparison to my previous neckband earphones, the wires on the PMX 80′s won’t easily pop out of the headphone’s more precise grooves. I haven’t tested the headphones while running, but make no mistake about it, these headphones will not fall unless you yank them off.

This convenience however, is also its main disadvantage. Since the headphones were made specifically for runners or any other cardio activity, you’d be hard pressed to find a comfortable position wearing them while leaning on an airplane seat or lying down on your bed. Neckband earphones were built for that sole purpose alone.

If there’s one thing I learned whenever I buy my gadgets, it’s that you will always get more when you pay more. Sure you can save a huge deal when you buy anything from CD-R King, but the payoff doesn’t always apply to every gadget out there. And did I mention they’re sweat proof? If you’re a runner looking for a pair of $60 aural blinders, go ahead and get em’.

Technical specifications can be found The Sennheiser PMX 80 Sport II.

Pep.ph has become part of my daily must read as it was after all, pioneered by one of of the most respected writers in print — Ms. Joanne Maglipon (For those who don’t know, she was imprisoned during the Marcos era). Karen Pagsolingan, was also a colleague back when I was still on the business side of Summit. She was a former Associate Publisher of Yes! magazine.

Now why did I devote space to this topic? Because of my ire for Ms. Annabel Rama.

“Nako day di nagpoponta se Retsard sa Robinsons noh! Sa is im sya nagshoshow”

That phrase, in my opinion has to be one of the most degrading statements I have ever heard on local television.

I know it is wrong to judge a person based on a single statement alone, more so when that person is emotional, but what do you mean, “sa is im sha nagshohow“? I worked in the print industry for 4 years, in that span of time, I’ve learned that every piece of material you publish has to be sensitive to your core reader’s lifestyle. You never discriminate or put labels on people, because your readership is the main reason you’re still in the business in the first place. Pffft.

Frankly, I don’t care whether that “gun toting” incident did or didn’t happen. I’m just one of those people who think that there can be a peaceful resolution to whatever it is that is happening now.

“Sa is im sha nagshoshow”?

Ms. Annabel Rama, I am not surprised that you have all this trash being hurled at you. Using your statement above, I guess you can tell your son Richard Guiterrez to stop taking Cebu Pacific flights, or eat URC food, or consume URC beverages. The list goes on and on. I hope you can take the civil approach that Ms. Joanne Maglipon and co. are taking now in this thread here.

And oh, just in case you’re still wondering who’s behind Pep.ph, you should know that the site is a joint project between Summit Media and GMA7. Maybe you should file a restraining order on your son’s network too.

But for rumors of the site to halt operations permanently? If there is some truth to this particular news item, I’m sure it’s going to be a huge blow to not only the manpower they currently have, but more importantly and on a wider perspective, makes you ask if there’s currently a viable online content business that will survive these hard times in the Philippines.

Here’s a link to the article Inquirer gobbles its future.

As things are shaping up within the Prieto-Rufino media empire, not only would the dinosaur Inquirer save the money-losing Web operations, the Inquirer.net as a corporate entity would be collapsed and be folded into the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which, despite the similar names, has a different shareholding structure altogether.

If anything, I  think operating independently from the country’s most widely read newspaper was not a good decision. Why? Because the newspaper and website are catering to two entirely different markets. The print version caters to the ordinary Juan who rides the bus or MRT on his way to work. Inquirer.net on the other hand, is targeted towards people abroad (or people like me who don’t need to read about their daily news on paper).

It wouldn’t matter if both mediums contained the same content, don’t you think? What a price to pay for “creative space to innovate”.

If you’re one of the few who keep on returning to this blog for updates and can’t find any it’s because I’ve been trying to put together another blog for the past two months (to my friends who I’ve flaked on in the past few, now you know what I was doing). When I started Justanothergame, I had planned on making this an online resource for everything I learned in the print industry.

After having spent almost two years in the field of Internet marketing, I realized one thing — even if print and online are two entirely different worlds, there’s not much difference between the two. I guess you could say that little button on the right leading to my other blog will be an ongoing project to see if print and online can coexist. While I will still continue to blog on Justanothergame, this blog will focus more on my learnings as an Internet marketer.

I’m not good at online launches, but please pay a visit Printrospective. Here’s an open call for some link love!

When I arrived in the US last September, one of the first things I did was look for the Esquire 75th Anniversary issue. Being a fan of magazines, and having worked for a magazine publishing company, seeing a moving cover (holograms don’t count) is a big step for the industry, both local and foreign.

With that being said, the magazines they come up with here in the US are nothing short of amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I sincerely believe that the talent we have here is at par, or even better than those in most parts of the world. It’s just that the business model is different in the US.

Roles are more properly defined, and thus, more attention is given to the smallest of details. Just compare the staff box of a Pinoy magazine with a foreign one’s, and you’ll know what I mean.  Even the culture is different (but that’s an entirely different story).

If you’re like me who’s a certified media sponge, and would like to get magazines from the US, I suggest you visit the websites of the magazines themselves. This guy was able to get a full year’s subscription of Esquire at Esquire.com for only $20 — shipping included!

The point of this post? Emerald Headway isn’t your only choice when it comes to foreign subscriptions. Their website isn’t even working.

I know this is 2 months overdue, but I just had to say something about this magnificent cover. It seems that Rogue caused quite an outrage when they painted the Philippine flag on Joey Mead’s body.

My take on the cover — this particular cover was done tastefully in my opinion. And no, I don’t think the people behind Rogue had intentions of desecrating our Philippine flag.

Why so? Read the cover lines people.

• THE STATE OF THE NATION: The naked truth about who we are and where we’re going.
• ROGUE’S HONOR ROLL: Nine Portraits of Philippine Pride
• WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE?

Nowadays, people tend to think that stunts like this are only pulled off to get more media attention. Maybe so, but it takes more from a person to actually look past the cover and see what’s inside the magazine (or book). More than that, the people from Rogue got millions of pesos worth of media mileage from the ruckus they caused. That in itself (even if unintentional), is enough indication that the issue fulfilled its purpose. They reeled the media in. They reeled the horny guy reader in. What more can you ask for?

Don’t get me wrong though, I still would have picked up the magazine because of the ehem, cover lines.

Anyway, one thing I loved doing when I was still working in Summit was to comment on magazine covers. You’d be surprised at the number of tweaks/innovations/changes (or whatever you want to call them) magazines do in order to “stand out”.

So here goes. I’ll be following no specific formula. You’ll be seeing much more of posts like this in the future.

The reason why I took special attention to this cover is quite simple — the concept of the shoot itself.

Guy 1: Oh, let’s get Cameron to pose in a 2-piece bikini on top of some building in Los Angeles.

Guy 2: Er, why are we going to do that?

Guy 1: Because it’ll sell no matter what.

Guy 2: Rrrriiitteee.

The magazine has no cover lines, and yet, you know the magazine is enough to warrant a pick up. Though Cameron’s picture isn’t as engaging as let’s say, a shot with her looking straight into the lens, the pose exudes a “I’m hot and I know it. Now, down on your knees” type of sexiness. Her lines are all well accentuated against the backdrop of the city.

They still used sex as a draw-in, but execution was done in a very, very classy way.

What you will find are a few snapshots of the local magazine industry’s first ever foil enclosed magazine.

I know, it might not mean much (at least not yet), but if you have 100+ magazines on the newsstand just battling it out for shelf space and attention, you know that anything a magazine publisher can do to stand out, just has to be done.

Front of Foil Cover

The new FHM standard for Special Issues

With all this being said, you should take the time to pick up this packed 100 Sexiest Women in the World Issue. Like the brand guy of FHM said, if you have to pick up only one copy of FHM in a year, this issue would definitely be it.

It’s about these four fellas’ below. And oh, congratulations to the Boston Celtics. They really took the heart out of my Lakers. Though he’s not a vet, I really think they couldn’t have accomplished that serious beatdown if it weren’t for Rajon. Oh well, there’s always next year.

As with everything else, sex also sells magazines. One look at the newsstands and you’ll notice that nine times out of ten, any male or female lifestyle magazine out there will have a sex related feature as one of its main cover lines. Remember the first time you laid your eyes on that partially concealed Playboy magazine in some store at the Virra Mall of old? (I once caught my cousin buying one from that store. Hah!) Sadly, Playboy Philippines is slowly destroying every bit of nostalgia that came with opening an issue of the magazine.

Macho during my high school days meant being able to bring a copy of Playboy to school without being caught. Any warm blooded Pinoy who thought Baywatch Mondays with CJ wasn’t enough just had to see her without the orange suit. While running on the beach. Okay enough now.

And then came the Internet.

Type a few names (any name), and boom. Pardon the language, but guys no longer have to part with some bucks to get racy images to whack off to. That is the absolute (and unfortunate) truth.

In recent years, a lot of print properties are starting to make their presence felt online. Aside from the absence of printing costs, a lot avenues for creativity are also explored. According to a story on the future of the publishing industry in the September 2007 issue of The Economist:

“The business model for consumer magazines is under pressure from several directions at once, both online and off. Magazines have become more expensive to launch, and the cost of attracting and keeping new subscribers has risen”

Publishing jargon aside, this only means one thing to the Pinoy consumer — why spend for printed pictures when you get it for free on the Internet? The article then goes on –

“There are good reasons why magazine owners should not feel despondent, however. For readers, many of the pleasing characteristics of magazines—their portability and glossiness, for instance—cannot be matched online. And magazines are not losing younger readers in droves in the way that newspapers are. According to a study carried out last year by the digital arm of Ogilvy Group, a communications company, appetite for magazines is largely unchanged between older “baby boomers” and young “millennials”.”

If you are someone who buys magazines for the premise of “relieving” yourself, then the reasoning above will sound like crap. But hey, it’s your money. From a business standpoint (and if I were still a publisher), as long as you buy the magazine, I wouldn’t mind your reasons for buying it at all. Just remember that you are paying upwards of P120 to ogle around 1/10 of what the magazine contains. If you are someone who buys magazines for both the eye candy and the articles, the above reasoning will make so much sense.

Make no mistake about it, if you pit two magazines with comparable (not identical, as this is impossible) content against each other, with the first one having a male personality on the cover, and the other with the hottest chick of the moment, the latter will outsell the former, hands down. Straight men may always choose to buy the magazine with the hot female cover, but it doesn’t mean that it’s the only reason they bought it.

I myself spend a third of my day on the Internet. Yet, I still buy magazines. I just appreciate the effort that goes into every single page. Reading a magazine just beats scrolling through a pdf file any day. Also, can you imagine yourself bringing your laptop with you to the crapper? I didn’t think so.