Wow HeavyTraffic!!

A cheap way to forewarn your friends...

As of the end of 2004*, there were 1,500,000+ registered vehicles with the Land Transportation Office (LTO). That was 5 years ago! On any work day, it feels like a billion vehicles - making the major roads and highways look like one giant parking lot. Need I say what it looks like during rush-hours?

Source: Land Transportation Office (LTO); data summary provided by the Society for the Advancement of Technology Management in the Philippines (SATMP) under the Asian Regional Research Programme in Energy, Environment and Climate (ARRPEEC).

So, if a motorist can find a way, by any means possible, to avoid a clogged spot, it may mean an hour or two earlier to reach the office or to be comfortably inside one's home. Unfortunately, the country doesn't have the new stuff where satellites, cameras, and in-vehicle computers all conspire to warn motorists to take a detour - way ahead of time.

As is the case with motorists stuck in traffic, some use their mobile phones to call or to send a text message to forewarn the spouse (or the boss) of a late arrival time. While we're waiting for all these high-tech stuff to become available and affordable, wouldn't it be great if we can use a single text message (an AKA BLOG) sent from our mobile phones to forewarn others- friends and family members, who're just about to leave the office or the home?

Wouldn't it be great to see the same text message appear on your Facebook status section, the Facebook notification sections of friends, an incoming eMail message via Gmail or Yahoo, or a widget box on a shared website or social media group (Friendster, Multiply, Ning)? It's a low-tech, but effective solution to an everyday problem. It'll even be more beneficial if more people text-in traffic updates everytime they're on a specific roadway. And if we have more people doing an AKA WATCH of known and diligent "traffic-jam texters", the long queues from secondary and tertiary roadways going to a clogged area can be avoided as people will go to alternative routes.

Foutar Cakes & Pastries

From her home to ours!

Everyone knows that the tastiest food stuff are "home-made". Over time, more and more people get to sample delightful kitchen creations beyond the needs of the family - and that's where word-of-mouth referrals kick in. This is one case of a working Mom, Irma Salao-Riego, who has recently made available her yummy cakes & pastries for others to enjoy.

Working with a tight budget and understandbly cautious about preserving quality, the creations are, for the time being, made-to-order (2-day preorder period), and listed on her website. Great approach to augment household income without the heavy overhead cost of maintaining a physical storefront (space rental, staff salary, etc).

By avoiding the relatively more expensive advertising options (newspaper print ads, radio ads, television commercials), Foutar Cakes & Pastries will soon benefit from the viral or network benefits of having a website and by cross-posting info onto social media sites like Facebook and Multiply.

As an AKA user, Irma can now update her website via simple text message - which is a very affordable and convenient way of posting new creations or to announce sales promos in the near future. (WATCH alias: FOUTAR)