If you didn’t change your Tiktok region before the ban, it’s best to wait things out

So, the Tiktok ban is made in effect an hour before midnight. I wrote a story about how we’re realizing the effect of this restriction on VTuber NewsDrop.

What I regrettably didn’t notice is that we can change regions in the account settings prior to the ban. That setting could have prevented us from being part of the affected accounts.

I tried other methods but I think Tiktok is compelled to stop everything for users in the US. Even if you get successful working around the geo-restrictions, there’s no way you’d be able to change your Tiktok region now. It’s best to wait things out until we’re able to get back to our casual brainrot habit again.

Cuenco’s Religious Instruction Bill and Barrio Maligaya of the 1960s

There are pieces of history which I am still not familiar with: Some of these include the legislation process of the Religious Instruction Bill (authored by Mariano Jesus Cuenco of Cebu) and Barrio Maligaya, both set in the 60s.

I was kind of familiar with Barrio Maligaya when I read a snippet of a story behind it during the pandemic. Seeing it adapted as a documentary film (for the second time – the first one was in the 80s) is beneficial for me to understand the first among the community development projects that my faith, the Iglesia ni Cristo, has established.

After “Ang Paglisan” (The Exodus) was screened just this afternoon, I was more interested in going to that specific place and see it for myself.

Back to the Religious Instruction Bill (which we will refer to as Cuenco Bill) – Having entered Catholic school to finish my elementary, I’ve seen what could be its effect to all public schools should it be passed. Even so, during my time in 3rd year high school, we had a subject about Religion whose instructor is a member of another Christian church.

That was the point “Ipakipaglaban ang Pananampalataya” it wants to share across its viewers after it was screened alongside the earlier film I mentioned.

As we are called by faith to rally for peace, this is a great time to look back at why my faith rallies on the streets as called. Here’s a summary of why we are rallying again, years after the last one held at Shaw Boulevard, Pasig in 2015.

My position on WordPress (and why this post is an airport)

Welcome to the airport, where we have departures upstairs and arrivals at the ground level. I had everyone called here (not really) so you won’t give any excuses that there’s no need to announce something (I just don’t want to hear it at the moment).

When I had talked about wanting to go to WordCamp Manila as media, I was both excited to attend a major WordPress event, and still leaning to keep supporting Matt Mullenweg’s vision of WordPress for the future.

I then continue to move along, but at the end of the day, we see how either everyone tells me that Matt is a Mad King or either Matt tells everyone that he’s enlightened.

The year 2024 is a revelation for me to keep a distance towards what I perceive as bad actors (my gut feel tells me so), and unfortunately after all that’s been said and done, WP Engine wins against Mullenweg, the latter was still seen making hissy fits, and the future of the WordPress ecosystem is becoming stubbornly questionable to me (what words should I describe the feelings I have?).

Don’t get me wrong, WP Engine is under the behest of an investment fund and does not contribute fairly to WordPress (drawing Mullenweg’s ire) is also a jerk. If only they did what they were supposed to do in the first place, we won’t have this kind of unwarranted, unwanted anxiety and vitriol.

I get the sentiments, but my opinion is that WP Engine should get rid of its “WP” part of their name, and Mullenweg should tone down on his control of WordPress as time passes. Automattic? WordPress Foundation? WordPress.org? WordPress.com? We all attribute it to the same guy, Mullenweg.

I want to move to Ghost, as soon as possible. I’m happy to use it despite the technical requirements in order to run it. Except that the webhost where this site is hosted has something in it that keeps me from fully going Ghost. I’m currently in touch with my good friend Pat on how to sort the dilemma so I can start migrating platforms (once again).

So yeah, the announcement: I’m going to move my website from WordPress.org to somewhere else. That somewhere else is currently a fork of WordPress, ClassicPress. It’s a bumpy start, the media picker doesn’t work well as we speak, but as long as this website’s out of the WordPress ecosystem, I think I should be fine. (I need to find an easier way to back up all my blog archives from as early as 2010 though.)

I’ve used WordPress after ditching Blogger (spammy) and Tumblr (they continuously fail to give me back my access after my phone got snatched), but just when I thought I’d be comfortable with the way things are going, no, I am not.

I’ll need more time, but I expect to at least migrate my personal stuff away from the WordPress ecosystem next year (and if you’re using WordPress, as long as you’re not using WP Engine, you probably should be fine either).

Is this the reason why you’re visiting LinkedIn everyday?

Queens. A Logic Game that’s on LinkedIn. I get notified to play this game every day to keep my streak. I gave up on playing one game, but I went ahead and got my first 7-day win streak after.

On this puzzle, a crown should be placed without overlaps. Per area, per row, per column. If this is the reason why you’re visiting LinkedIn every day, I will not judge you. More power to you. I hope you solve that puzzle faster, even.

Oversharing

iphone displaying social media application

If there’s one thing I learned from being online, it’s the fact that I have overshared my presence. In the past, I told people, “go share your content online, on multiple platforms!,” but nowadays I am but a shell of that.

I would now tell you to be wary of what you share, for several reasons:

  • You speak your thoughts in public, and all of a sudden there would be people who will stress you out, call you names, etc. Or you’re on the other side calling out the worst people for reasons you find right and/or justified. And then you end up hurting them, with others hurt along the process.
  • You share your important milestones such as your birthday, and a quick OSINT could reveal how old you are and when you were born. This can be used in social engineering if you’re not careful enough.
  • You share a lot on your Facebook/Twitter profile with the idea of being helpful or updating your friends on relevant matters. You end up turning your personal social media profile into you own kind of bookmarking service a la Pinterest or Reddit. There’s nothing wrong with that, however, do you really remember to look back into it from time to time? (I don’t, and Facebook has to remind me of the posts I shared from the past).
  • You’re a fellow tito/tita who shares every moment, to a point you’re sharing what happens with you every hour (to which I ask you to please pick the people you share your status updates with).

If you find yourself in these situations – and calling yourself “chronically online” – you must have been oversharing. I have been doing this, so I decided to take down the stuff which no longer makes me proud.

For example, I’ve done podcasts with several people, and the episodes I had with them end up being taken out of the public eye because they:

  • Are no longer my friends
  • Are now frowned upon because of their actions and I’d like to distance myself from them
  • Are the ones I tried to please but I have to let them go because I just don’t feel it
  • Something happened that needs no further elaboration

Same goes with my past blog posts which I have taken down either because I am embarrassed with what I written, or it’s no longer relevant to the me today.

If you happen to be in those four categories, and I am no longer communicating with you (or even speaking of kind regards), it’s best to just ignore each others’ presence. I will do my best not to to reopen wounds. Go and be happy.

I see no fear in starting from square one again, it’s something I am used to doing whenever I am no longer satisfied with what I do. That’s why I recycled a reserved Twitter account I own.

Even so, be unique still in what you share to the public, and enjoy what you do. Do not die in that rabbit hole a terribly sad and angry person. Take back your inner peace. Do not tolerate bad actors. Pick your battles. Remember what makes you happy in the first place. Remember what makes you feel alive.