Nick's Award of Excellence for Web Design
I didn't care for awards before but I felt really good when a few of my visitors
here liked my site and voluntarily gave me their recognition. It's
Nick's Excellence Award which made me appreciate this thing.
I know that a lot of awards abound in the internet and some surfers even made a hobby out of collecting them. I have only limited internet access time, however, so this prevents me from aspiring for more awards. :)
You will see that I have only few awards/recognition below but these are treasured for they, except for the Yahoo! listing, were given to me without my having solicited them. It makes these recognition even more valuable. My sincere thanks to these award-giving netizens who strive in their own way to uplift the quality standards of the World Wide Web.
Nick's Award of Excellence for Web Design
This is the award which I liked so much I was prompted
to put up this separate 'Awards Page'. Thanks Nick.
Campo ng Apo Award of Excellence
Just to avoid misconception, 'APO' here doesn't refer in any way
to the late Pres. Ferdinand Marcos as I first thought myself. :))
I was honored to receive the following mail on January 07, 2001 from Ken Ilio, the webmaster of the first Philippine Web Directory "Tanikalang Ginto":
"Hi Ferdie, I was searching for something else (Vigan) but found your page again ... I love the improvement, the personal writing (especially your tribute to your mother) and the photographs in the travel pages ... your site is the best for the day for Jan 7, 2001 at Tanikalang Ginto."
True enough, this site was Golden Link of the day for a few days starting January 7, and was also listed under "University of the Philippines" and "Personal Travel". I have read about Ken Ilio's contribution to the development of Internet in the Philippines so I consider this an honor that's equivalent to several awards. (To read the caption of the link, please click on the above image).
Pinoywebsites.com Featured Site
A year before Ken Ilio's email, I received a similar mail from Franco Santos, the webmaster of pinoywebsites.com saying that he stumbled upon and liked my site. I visited this new Pinoy web directory and was pleasantly surprised to find that the site I made for Ernie (please see "Best Friend") was featured in its front page. It remained there for about 3 to 4 weeks. (Please click on the above image to read the caption of the link.) His letter says:
"In the process of searching the web for Filipino sites for inclusion in Pinoywebsites.Com's database I came across your tribute to your friend. With all the talks about globalization and techonological advancements, it is not surprising that people become blind to the fact that behind each site is a person or persons, with tears and pain, with hopes and dreams. You brought reality back to cyber. I have nothing but praise for you, for your loyalty, and tears and pain for your friend and his wife, for the sacrifices she made for him -- for love. As powerful as words can be, there are times when words are not sufficient to express how we truly feel. And yet, we try. While the wound that Ernie's loss has caused all of you will never completely heal, I can only hope that my letter reaches all of you less saddened."
First Masbateņo Site Listed in Yahoo!
I don't recall anymore when I received the notice from Yahoo! saying that they have included my site in their index. It must have been in late 1999. To every site owner, this is a major accomplishment. But what's more satisfying is that my site became the first Masbateņo site (as distinguished from web pages) listed in this number 1 internet search facility, and has remained the only site under "Masbate" for more than a year now. I feel that in my own small way, I am providing a portal of sort to Masbateņos who have internet access, despite the province's not having internet services yet.
I know that a lot of visitors searching for information about Masbate will be disappointed by the rarely updated contents here, but I hope that my links to the Masbate sites could somehow help them. This is a personal site and I have very limited time to update these pages constantly. My apologies.
This one, I don't exactly consider a recognition. It's just a tickle to my amateurish skill at photography when ABS-CBN site used the photograph I took of Masbate pier for their Masbate page (no they didn't ask my permission, but it's no big deal). In return, they linked and used my site as reference.
