History

It started as a dream

My journey online started when I got my first ever PC way back in 2002. I never studied formal computer education; in fact, I hated computers during High School (we were still using wordstar then and lotus and the “autoexec-point-bat” thing). I remember that I use to make fun of my computer teacher because I was so bored with her class. I even read the entire “exodus” experience of Moses as a prayer just to kill time (It is a completely different story I tell you).

But when I got my first PC, I never slept at regular intervals for 6 months. I was practically figuring things out and learning the ins and outs of windows. After 6 months, I mastered Windows XP, the Internet, PC Games and Office XP. After that, I got bored in my free time so I taught myself of Adobe Photoshop. After three months, I was able to learn the software. While editing wallpapers, I soon realized that I could use it in my presentation in school. So I borrowed a scanner, scanned all of our photos and enhanced it with Photoshop.

When I was surfing the net, I got lost at the tripod ring. I noticed that most of websites in tripod were personal websites so I got the idea of posting our family pictures in the web, but I was not contented with the free tools it offered so I started teaching myself Microsoft frontpage. After seven months I was able to finish an entire website. But I did not published the site because It was too large to upload via frontpage FTP (I was still in dial up way back), so I saved my work for opportunities in the near future. I made a simple two-page teaser website, which I launched in angelfire. The website was that of our batch in the seminary (click here to view the website). From then on, I started to acquire new learnings from the web. The dream of learning new things out of resourcefulness was achieved. Below are screen caps of the very first test website that i made in 2003 but was never published. click for larger view

[View with PicLens]

 

The Friendster Blog

My personal blog was my online journal and was originally published on the Friendster Blog since 2005. From the original title of “Beneath the Tip of the Iceberg”, I changed it to “Light and Shades: Beneath the tip of the Iceberg”. But I felt it still needed some modification so I changed it to something dynamic. This time I appended “In The Greater Scheme of Things” to give it a sense of motion, as if it was a continuous journey. “Beneath the Tip of the Iceberg” became its sub heading. And because of constant evolution, I finally made up my mind of changing it to ON THE WINGS OF MY DREAM

I was a run of the mill blogger way back then, maybe because I always have this reluctance to share my life on the worldwide web. As a very private person, I am very conscious of the consequences it might bring to my private life and the prejudice of the readers, which may add to the injury. I did not intend to sensationalize every thing that has been happening on my life whether ordinary or extraordinary. I thought no one was reading my blog so I continued to scribble my way in the keyboard. I wrote some aspects of my life that have struck me the most during my day. Nevertheless, unknown to me, there were a few handful of my friends who read my blog, began complimenting me, and told me how they were able to relate with my experiences. I continued my blog as if no one was reading it until the compliments flooded my messages in friendster. Reading the messages of my friends about my recent blog somehow touched my “missionary side” and gave me the chance to shift my perspective concerning my private life. I realized that the mere fact that I was writing on a public domain, gives me no right to withhold my journal from the reading public.

I soon became conscious of the things I would write on my blog. I started to generalize and at the same time specify my style in order for others to relate. From then on, instead of surfing the net with meaningless goal, I soon embarked on a mission, an apostolate in order to help other people in understanding the meaning of being human, their everyday heroism and what they are going through in relation to my personal experiences and thoughts about the people around me. My blog became my channel in releasing my vented tensions of my desire to constantly communicate with other people. My readers grew in the small circle of my friendster’s list.

Getting Out Of The Shell

The realization to go out of my shell in friendster commenced because of a certain fortunate accident. I began looking for groups that are within my interest. I joined the group of former and present seminarians and bonded with them on the forum. I read so many questions about vocations so I tried to answer one of them without complicating things. I soon got many responses and follow-ups from that group until some of the members asked me to share my views and experiences inside the seminary. I became so at home with the group that I started establishing an “online rapport”, until I befriended Felmar, an SVD theologian, who happens to be a fellow blogger.

He soon invited me to view his website and blog. I was amazed how many people have read his blog despite the fact that it is based on matters of faith and vocation. I admired how he writes his blog with august simplicity, and that he has touched so many lives around the world just by typing his thoughts and experiences remotely from his computer. His work gave me an inspiration to get out of my own shell and somehow made me reflect on whether I am ready to blog not just for my friends and me but also to all the people in the world. My numerous hours in front of my computer was very self serving and I realized that like Felmar, I can do more of my time for the benefit of others.

On the Edge

In my days of thinking and decision-making, Kip, a fellow blogger from Singapore, sent me an encouraging message through one of my post in friendster blog. She is not a Filipino but somehow got the gist of what I have written there even if some of the words are in tagalog (my native tongue). Starla, a Fil-canadian, who also read my blog, gave a pleasant comment. Their encouragements made me decide that I need to get out of the friendster blog and reach a bigger number of readers. Therefore, I started creating a blog outside my home blog. My original intention was just to use it as a satellite blog for my posts in friendster because I do not want to leave that “hell hole”. Until another fortunate accident happened.

I searched google for a free blog site and found a number of hosts, which did not satisfy my whims. I was looking for a host that can be user friendly and at the same time offers modification of the design. Every time I sign up for an account, I always get disappointed because I have this idea of how my blog would turn out just like what I have in mind, but most of the blog hosts were limited, so I gave up and decided to just link my friendster blog to other existing blogs in the net. I came across with a community-based blog and found a site full of blogger.

A Friend From Afar

It is there that I found Jaypee Online. I was not really used in commenting on other’s blog because no one did reply on my own comments in the friendster blog. But it was an unguarded moment. I just typed in my thoughts. And after an hour or so, the author, Jaypee replied to my post. I studied his blog and found out that he was using wordpress so I tried to sign up for one. When I made my blog in wordpress, I finally found what I was looking for. But to my dismay, like the other free blog host, the design and theme modification was limited. I then sent an inquiry to Jaypee via his contact form and to my surprise; he once again sent his reply. He soon helped me in looking for a server that would host my very own blog. In my desperation, I found none. But Jaypee made all things possible. He gave me this link of free host and then the rest was history.

Jaypee was very instrumental in the creation of this blog. From the smallest details, he was with me in answering and troubleshooting all of the web issues. From html codes, javascript, plugins, css, php, to my hesitancy of going online, Jaypee was there to answer all of it. But the good thing about Jaypee was that he is not a spoon feeder. He doesn’t just give you the answer. He lets you learn your way in and way out of every situation and lets you do everything according to your desire. He gave me options and somehow his advices were more of a nudge, in order for me to think outside the box. If only I have no title for my blog, I will surely name it as “Jaypee’s Memorial Blog”, as if I was naming a high school after a local hero.

Thus in May 1, 2007, I re-launched my blog this time on the greater blogosphere to reach more souls and readers.

Finished Business

When I started my own blog on February of 2007, I have no domain name. I was forced to sign up in different free domain name programs just to cover my server’s domain name which sounded like a porn site. For five months I was being hosted by freehostia smoothly but on the fifth month glitches began to appear. During peak hours (western time zone), my blog cannot be accessed because of the heavy usage of internet in the US. This became a problem because only during that time (Evening in the Philippines) do I access my blog for updates. Another problem was the SQL limit of freehostia was too small. In layman’s term, the more I post entries, pages and comments in my blog, the more the limit shrunk. I was aware that the remaining limit on my SQL would only take a month and a half before it finally consumed and OTWOMD? would definitely stop existing. So I was planning to buy a webhosting service but some of them were too expensive for me to even try.

Until in my PBS yahoo group, someone told me that PagePH, a Philippine based internet company is sponsoring sites for free with no advertisment of whatsoever. So I applied for a sponsor site and my blog was approved. With that I purchased a domain name for my site, bluepanjeet.net. It was a dream come true having my own domain name on the web. Now that I have my own domain name, my solid, liquid and gas fans club (kip is the president) could easily remember the web address. The mission is just getting started and I think there’s no need to rush things over. Anyway, good intentions last for a lifetime.

Sponsored

OTWOMD as it is now known throughout the blogosphere has been sponsored by Page.PH for 1 year from July 2007 to December 2008. Though I was so grateful with the genorosity of Page PH yet I found so many problems that came with sponsorship. As my readers grew and as my traffic scaled into epic proportions, the limits set by Page.PH became so uncomfortable that whenever I needed to adjust my bandwidth or my disc space, I always had to contact them. The inconvenience that Page Ph rendered is somehow bearable compared to having no blog at all. So I patiently bore the inconveniences that it brought me and my readers, including the slow loading of page and frequent downtime that takes hours to end. Until one fateful day, I snapped. I can’t take it anymore. Enough is enough.

Happy Fault

I woke up one morning realized that I cannot anymore enter my own blog admin panel. No matter what browser I use, no matter what lap top I use, it was to no avail. I contacted page PH support to ask them for assistance (which as usual is so slow in response), and after three days of grumbling via email, they finally gave their attention, only to find out that they cannot do anything. I contacted Smart Bro and asked them to do a diagnostic check on my connection because of the same problem that I was facing, and smart bro confirmed that the problem was not on their part. For many months, I’ve been patiently taking everything into strides, but it seems that there is no more room for me in my sponsored server since they already kicked me out from my own site without even telling me the reason.

So then and there, I decided to invest. I bought a new hosting account and a new domain for a very affordable price. And like a thief of the night, I removed all my files from my old server using a VPN and transferred everything to my new server. The transition ran smooth, until there was only one problem: Page PH is holding back my domain name. So I immediately contacted them and asked them if they can release my domain name to my old server but they never answered (they habitually do that). So I decided to contact their main registrant where my account is registered (Page PH as I have discovered is only a retailer pfft No Wonder!). The Company in which Page PH bought a reseller account in California replied to my query and told me that they will remind Page PH about it. After just an hour, my old server released my domain name and I was digitally free. Until one day, while renovating OTWOMD, I had a Eureka Moment

Expansion

After that grueling transfer of OTWOMD to a new server, I had a vision. The vison to have more niche blogs to serve the interest of the Catholic Church and of my own. An interest that is not selfish but rather noble for the benefit of common good. And this is when I concocted the project called “Bluepanjeet Trilogy” which later became “Bluepanjeet Pentalogs”.

Bluepanjeet Pentalogs is an ambitious project whose purpose is to expand OTWOMD and divide all topics and features into 5 major blogs: Religious, Entertainment, Advocacy, Music and Photos under the management of Bluepprint, Bluepanjeet Blogs’s official web designer and content system manager. To date, OTWOMD | Bluepanjeet.Net and Bachelor Pod | Bluepanjeet.Com is now operational and online. Three more blogs are on the way to development in the near future.