Some 2008 quick stats about my site:

• There was a total of 31,801 visits to bobreyes.com
• A total of 40,916 page visits landed on my site in 2008
• 26,170 visitors went to TurfSite Manila
• 67.26% of my visitors were Referred by Search Engines; 17.85% were Direct Traffic; and 14.81% came from Referring Websites
• Most people who visited my website uses Firefox on Microsoft Windows (48.81%), while 40.89% uses Internet Explorer on the same OS. 2.14% uses Mac OS & Safari
• The Top Keywords were: jun lozada, plaincart, msn groups closing, swing out sister, earth hour philippines, wordpress cart, typing speed test, hacking smartbro, smart money, & umobile.

Popularity: 3% [?]

It has been confirmed by TechCrunch.com yesterday that the MSN Groups service will cease to operate as part of Microsoft on 21 FEB 2009. Prior to this confirmation, various mailing lists and forums had been discussing the rumor that circulated about the closure of MSN Groups either by end of this year or early next year. A similar confirmation has been released by Charlotte Jones, Group Product Manager at Microsoft.

Apparently, the reason for the closure of MSN Groups is attributed to the launch of Microsoft Windows Live Groups in November 2008, and Microsoft do not want to have two “competing products” inside their fence.

The good news is that the operations of MSN Groups has been turned-over to Multiply.com, an emerging name in social networking, especially here in the Philippines (next to Friendster).

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Since being certified by Microsoft in 2002, there were a lot of opportunities and challenges that met with me. Today, I ask myself and those who holds at least an IT certification: what is the value of your certification today?

Please feel free to post your comments in this article. Let’s discuss.

Popularity: 11% [?]

This coming Tuesday, as my company celebrates its 10th year anniversary, I will be on leave to take a FREE Microsoft Certification exam: 71-654 TS: Windows Essential Business Server 2008, Configuring. The examination fee has been waived, since it is a “beta exam” and I had used a promotional code, saving me some US$80. If ever I passed the exam, it will be added to my Microsoft transcript.

Now, in preparation, I am reading a 72-page manuscript entitled “Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Release Candidate Reviewers Guide” over the weekend. Wish me luck.

Popularity: 19% [?]

In twelve hours’ time, there will be a confirmation whether Steve Jobs will be (or will not be) unveiling the 3G version of the Apple iPhone at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 2008). Rumors about the 3G iPhone had been circulating in the web since last week.

We, here at Manila, Philippines are still waiting on Globe Telecoms to announce when will be the 2G iPhone available to local consumers. Paging Apple: Can’t you do something like Microsoft always does? Synchronized launch of products worldwide?

Popularity: 21% [?]

Microsoft offered a whooping US$44.6B (as in billion) bid for Yahoo!

To quote: “We have great respect for Yahoo, and together, we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers, and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online-services market,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement.

More of this from here.

What happens if this pushes through? Microsoft + Yahoo! =MY && MY to compete with Google?

Popularity: 20% [?]