TRAFFIC!!!! -There's now an app for that!-

For most Filipinos, traffic is a way of life. The average Pinoy commute is about 15-20km (or about 10-15 miles) this easily translates to a 45 min commute by car (yes, 45 min) Now, radio traffic reports are pretty useless, telling you that's it's traffic when you're already STUCK IN TRAFFIC.

Wouldn't it be great if we had a system similar to the ones abroad that show the traffic status before we leave the house or office?  Well, the MMDA is slowly rolling out a very competent online traffic status system.

Still in public beta, it has saved me at least 8 hours a week by giving me information on whether to leave now, wait it out, or take an alternate route.

The system is pretty convenient... the traffic info for 9 of the major roads in Metro Manila are now online via:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

iOS app

Android app

The apps are very nice to have if you have mobile internet, the website gives further details on any accidents and road work being done, and the Twitter account provides alternate route suggestions.

Great work to the MMDA for this app!

Thank You! Salamat! Merci Beaucoup! Vielen Dank!

I was very happy when my blog reached it's first 1000 pageviews per month.

I was very happy when it reached it's first 1000 visitors per month.

I'm now happy again to see that number almost double in all aspects since last month! :)

To the 700 new visitors to my blog, and the 200 new regulars...

Salamat!

Thank you!

Merci beaucoup!

Vielen Dank!

बहुत धन्यवाद!

Stort Tack!

Hartelijk dank!

Site Of The Day: Down For Everyone Or Just Me?

Ever try to visit your favorite site and find that it's down?  Did the connection time out?  Is your Internet provider down?  Is your favorite website down?  Usually if you can visit Google, Microsoft, Apple or any big website, that means your internet connection is ok.

But the Internet is quite complex.  Just because other websites are up, doesn't mean all of them are.  Even more complicated, just because you can't view a website, that doesn't mean it's down.

Sometimes, under certain circumstances, a website that everyone else can view can be down with just you. Or vice versa.  A site that you can view, might be unavailable to others.  So, how can you tell?  Well, there's a simple website that you can visit to check it out.

DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com does just that (shortcut link is isup.me).  It checks the URL of the site you suspect is down, and tries to visit it and tells you if the site is really down or not.

*Now, if you can't connect to their site... well... I have no response to that... hahahahaha!

New home...

Decided to get a domain for my blog.  This link should still work and redirect to my new address at www.techgospelaccordingtojohn.com

Please update your links and bookmarks.

Existing feeds, tweets and email subscriptions should still work seamlessly and needs no further updating.

Let me know if any of you encounter any issues with any of the feeds...

*just a thank you*

When I first started this blog 6 months ago, I was happy to see that I was getting 10 return visitors (most likely my friends who just do courtesy clicks on my facebook links..you guys know who you are...hahaha! Thanks for the support!)

My personal blog, Cooking For Juan, which is where I blog about what I had for lunch, got an average of 50 return visitors a month... which led me to believe that blogging about how to clean your apartment, was more interesting that tech tips and trivia.

I wanted this blog to be more of an intro-to-technology, for those that may just be buying their first computer... or wondering what all the fuss is about having a "Smartphone".

But since I started writing my review about Android, and the X10 Mini Pro, I've been getting a lot of emailed inquiries (would be better though as comments on my blog though! hehehe) about the phone, and Android in general.

THANK YOU. To the 500 new readers, and 100 returning visitors! I hope to be able to keep you all interested in the months to come!

Please don't hesitate to write comments or suggestions on this site as well!

I'm looking forward to hearing from you all! Thanks again for visiting!!!!

*BTW, I posted a poll on the upper right corner of the blog, so you guys can let me know what you'd like to read more about in the future!*

Site of the day: How Stuff Works

Ever wonder:
How an engine works?
How to apply for a loan?
How to save for your retirement?
Or how the UN works?

One of my favorite sites to visit every now and then, How Stuff Works has articles on almost every field of interest. From automotive, to food, to people, to money, to science. Very informative, and very concise. Great source of useful, and trivial, information!