Nicholson Baker digs Google, and remembers the B.G. era:

I remember the old days, the antegoogluvian era. It was O.K. — it wasn’t horrible by any means. There were cordless telephones, and people wore comfortable sweaters. There was AltaVista, and Ask Jeeves, and HotBot, and Excite, and Infoseek, and Northern Light — with its deep results and its elegant floating schooner logo — and if you wanted to drag through several oceans at once, there was MetaCrawler. But the haul was haphazard, and it came in slow. You chewed your peanut-butter cracker, waiting for the screen to fill.

Google arrived in 1998, sponged clean, impossibly fast. Google was like a sunlit white Formica countertop with a single vine-ripened tomato on it.

That passage is from a review of Ken Auletta’s new book Googled. Baker makes it sound like a pretty good book:

But what Auletta mainly does is talk shop with C.E.O.’s, and that is the great strength of the book. Auletta seems to have interviewed every media chief in North America, and most of them are unhappy, one way or another, with what Google has become.

Which makes me wonder why Auletta recently got stuck doing a panel … on comedy, as reported by the New York Times.

[Auletta] was joined on stage by Judd Apatow, Andy Borowitz and Sarah Silverman, all of whom are professionally funny. It was part of an annual conclave sponsored by The New Yorker, Condé Nast and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse.

Mr. Auletta, who looked somewhat buttoned-down in a dark sport coat and black loafers, wanted to know, for instance, “What impact does comedy have on social behavior?”

Mr. Apatow, in jeans and sneakers, was more interested in figuring out how his foul language was being rendered by a young woman who translated with signs for the deaf. He asked how the woman would render one particular vulgarity.

“She just points to me,” Mr. Borowitz said.

As things went downhill, Mr. Apatow wondered aloud: “What’s the point of this?”

Awkward!

The 23rd Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC) Star Awards for TV was held on Nov. 29, at the PAGCOR Grand Theater in Paranaque City. The Kapamilya Network once again bagged most of the awards given out including the most coveted (controversial) Best TV Station (which is actually given alternately to ABSCBN and GMA, wake up PMPC!).

Here is the list of winners:

Best Primetime TV Series

May Bukas Pa (ABS-CBN)

Best Drama Actor

Coco Martin (Tayong Dalawa, ABS-CBN)

Best Drama Actress

Gina Pareño (Tayong Dalawa, ABS-CBN)

Best Single Performance by an Actor

Joross Gamboa (Maalaala Mo Kaya: “Bisikleta” episode, ABS-CBN)

Best Single Performance by an Actress (or actresses)

Gretchen Barretto (Maalaala Mo Kaya: “Salamin” episode, ABS-CBN)
Sunshine Dizon (Obra Presents: Sunshine Dizon, “Butch” episode, GMA-7)

Best Children Show

Art Angel (GMA-7)

Best Children Show Host

Pia Arcangel, Tonipet Gaba, and Krystal Reyes (Art Angel, GMA-7)

Best Educational Program

Matanglawin (ABS-CBN)

Best Educational Program Host

Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. (Kap’s Amazing Stories, GMA-7)

Best Travel Show

Balik-Bayan (Q 11)

Best Travel Show Host

Drew Arellano (Balik-Bayan, Q 11)

Best Reality Program

Dare Duo (Q 11)

Best Reality Program Host

Paolo Bediones (Survivor Philippines, GMA-7)

Best Lifestyle Show

Events Incorporated (Q 11)

Best Lifestyle Show Host

Tim Yap and Sam Oh (Events Incorporated, Q 11)

Best Morning Show

Umagang Kay Ganda (ABS-CBN)

Best Morning Show Host[s]

Edu Manzano, Pinky Webb, Bernadette Sembrano, Rica Peralejo, Donita Rose, Kim Atienza, Alex Santos, Anthony Taberna, Winnie Cordero, and Ginger Conejero (Umagang Kay Ganda, ABS-CBN)

Best Public Affairs Program

Probe Profiles (ABS-CBN)

Best Public Affairs Program Host

Cheche Lazaro (Probe Profiles, ABS-CBN)

Best Magazine Show

Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (GMA-7)

Best Magazine Show Host

Jessica Soho (Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, GMA-7)

Best Public Service Program

Imbestigador (GMA-7)

Best Public Service Program Host [eto ang hall of famer]

Ben Tulfo (Bitag Live, UNTV 37)

Best News Program

TV Patrol World (ABS-CBN)

Best Male Newscaster

Julius Babao (TV Patrol World, ABS-CBN)

Best Female Newscaster

Karen Davila (TV Patrol World, ABS-CBN)

Best Youth-Oriented Program

Ka-Blog (GMA-7)

Best Talent Search Program

Talentadong Pinoy (TV 5) (na ginagaya ng GMA at ABS)

Best Talent Search Program Host

Ryan Agoncillo (Talentadong Pinoy, TV 5)

Best New Male TV Personality

Zaijian Jaranilla (May Bukas Pa, ABS-CBN)

Best New Female TV Personality

Maricar Reyes (Precious Hearts Romance Presents Presents: Bud Brothers, ABS-CBN) (and Hayden Kho)

Best Celebrity Talk Show

Sis (GMA-7)

Best Celebrity Talk Show Host

Janice de Belen (Spoon, Net 25) (YEHEY!!!)

Best Variety/Game Show

Wowowee (ABS-CBN)

Best Game Show Host

Richard Gomez (Family Feud, GMA-7)

Best Gag Show

Banana Split (ABS-CBN)
Bubble Gang (GMA-7)

Best Showbiz-Oriented Show

SNN: Showbiz News Ngayon (ABS-CBN)

Best Male Showbiz-Oriented Show Host

Boy Abunda (SNN: Showbiz News Ngayon, ABS-CBN)

Best Female Showbiz-Oriented Show Host

Toni Gonzaga (Entertainment Live, ABS-CBN)

Best Comedy Show

Ful Haus (GMA-7)

Best Comedy Actor

Pooh (Banana Split, ABS-CBN)

Best Comedy Actress

Rufa Mae Quinto (Bubble Gang, GMA-7)

Best Daytime Drama Series

Pieta (ABS-CBN)

Best Drama Mini-Series

Your Song Presents: My Only Hope (ABS-CBN)

Best Drama Anthology

Maalaala Mo Kaya (ABS-CBN)

Best Musical Variety Show

ASAP ‘08 (ABS-CBN)

Best Male TV Host

Luis Manzano (ASAP ‘08, ABS-CBN)

Best Female TV Host

Valerie Concepcion (Wowowee, ABS-CBN)

Face[s] of the Night:( they are not contented with star alone so dapat may face din!)

John Lloyd Cruz
Sunshine Dizon

Star[s] of the Night:

Anne Curtis
Piolo Pascual

A.G. & O.C. carrying on D.I.T.C. traditions on this one, Keep It Going produced by E Blaze is off of their new collaborative album Oasis in stores  now.

Keep It Going – A.G. & O.C.