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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Weird signage along EDSA



This is one of the weirdest signs that I have seen here in the Philippines. As I was on my way to the office I saw this sign along Epifanio De los Santos Avenue (commonly known as EDSA),  In English it means "Do not cross. Somebody already died here". If the message is not clear enough, I don't what is.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

If there are gentlemen, are there any gentlewomen?

The title sounds weird right? While I was riding the Metro rail transit (MRT) with my pregnant wife, we opted to ride the first couch which is dedicated for the elderly, disabled and women. It felt weird for me since I was the only guy in the couch but I couldn’t subject my wife to the crowded couches. As we entered the train, there were no available seats. My wife was 7 months pregnant at that time and I expected that someone would give up their seat for her. I was surprised that no one bothered giving up their seat. They were like the men on the other couch that pretended to be asleep or pretended that they didn’t notice her.  When I am riding the MRT I always give up my seat to the women, the elderly or those travelling with their children. So I asked my wife if there is such a thing as a gentlewoman or to better put it, would another give up their seat for someone who needs the seat better? She said there is no such thing. I really couldn’t believe it. Maybe I was just because the people who were seated that time were simply not willing to give up their seat.

After that incident we did ride the MRT again twice and in both occasion, nobody gave up their seat. Could it be coincidence that the people we encountered were not willing to give up their seat or is this an acceptable social behavior? I guess I just have to see the next time we ride the MRT.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Trailer Official HD

High-grade rain gauge installed in Telecommunication cell sites

The Philippine Disaster Recovery foundation (PDRF) headed by PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan has agreed to install PAGASA’s high grade rain gauge inside the cell site of Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) to monitor the amount of rainfall ad give reliable and timely warning. This is also to give better preparation against the massive flooding like the one experience during Typhoon Ondoy.

Philippines would the first in Asia to install rain gauges in cell sites. This is possible since PAGASA is getting support from the private sector and the other two big telecommunication companies. On March 22, a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between PAGASA, Smart, Globe and Sun was signed to allow the co-location of rain gauges in the cell sites. The benefits of having the rain gauge installed inside the cell sites is continuous power source that it provides as well as real time data transfer to PAGASA using SMS (short message service).

The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has given a grant for the rain gauge. A rain gauge cost about Php500000. Chief of PAGASA’s Hydrometeorological Division, Dr. Susan Espinueva, said that about 15 to 20 rain gauge station would be installed within the year. The rain gauge would be strategically installed in areas were the expected volume of flood waters is high. A rain gauge has already been installed in Pasig-Marikina basin where massive flooding was experience last year when typhoon Ondoy struck the country. Last year, the amount of rainfall dumped by Ondoy in about six hours is equal to month’s worth of rainfall. These project is aim to be better prepare the country in case a storm of that magnitude happens to hit the Philippines again.

The Last Airbender Ultimate Trailer



This is one of the upcoming movies that I can't wait to watch. Check out the trailer!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Discovering Twitter

I am so outdated. Twitter has been on the internet for years and I haven't even bothered trying to learn about the features. I fell like everybody is using MP3 players while I am still stuck with a walkman. I always thought that it was not that useful but after reading a fews posts on different blogs, I decided to give it a try. They say that it could really bring traffic to a blog. Might as well try it. And if it doesn't work out there is always the delete widget option. While I was searching my blog using Google, I have discovered that a few of my post were retweeted. (is that even the right term?). So I asked myself why do people even bother?

So what is twitter? It is a social networking site like Facebook. It is similar to a shout out in Facebook. At first I found the site unattractive. Compare to Facebook where you could see face and other information of the person doing the shout out , Twitter is a lot more simple. Twitting is like sending a text messages to all those in your list.You could reach a lot more people faster if you have a lot friends linked to your account.

I haven't fully utilized their service and I am still experimenting with it. Right now I am using to promote my blog and attract traffic. I have just added a tweet this option in my blog. It is quite boring though if you do not have that much friend in twitter. Anyway let's see how it goes and i'll tell you the  result of my experiment.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

When is the right time to teach sex education in schools?

The Department of Health (DOH) specifically health secretary Esperanza Cabral has been criticized by the Catholic Church and concern parents for the proposal of teaching sex education to High school students. Protests are based on the belief that high school students are too young to learn about sex education. But when is the right time? Since technology has evolve drastically over the years and access to the internet has been a lot easier, a child could easily learn about sex through various website with the acquiring the proper information about the responsibilities and effects of an early pregnancy. But Internet is not the only one to blame. There are shows on TV or magazine of sexually nature widely available.

Soap operas in the local TV networks are not helping either. There are a lot of shows that is about teenagers getting married because of an unwanted pregnancy. Most of the time, the young couple is either both from a well-off family or at least one them is. They don’t really show the reality that not all families are well off. It seems in the end that they will live happily ever after. But that is not always the case. They really don’t show the harsh reality of an early pregnancy.

Personally I have mixed feelings with the new directive of DOH but I think it would be better that a child is inform properly on all aspect of sex rather than learning it from the internet, a TV show or a magazine. I think it is better students learn in school rather having students to discover it through other means. You may argue that it comes down to regulating the access of child to this type of materials but most parents are too busy to watch their kids 24/7. 

I understand that church has to object in teaching high school students sex education. It's like saying that it's okay to teach sex education at a young age if they don't protest. A church official said that a lot of teenagers are now having sexual intercourse at a young age. The number will rise if they don't voice out their opposition.

  But let's look at the other side of the coin. Most people who usually have more children  than they could afford for are those who didn't have the chance to study.  Population is growing at a rapid speed that there might come a time that food, water and shelter might not  enough for the whole population. There are no benefits if a place is overpopulated. It brings stress to the natural resources. Jobs opportunity is slimmer . Carbon emission is higher because the need for transportation is higher as well.

Population is a big issue and shouldn't be taken lightly. A bigger population would mean more mouths to feed. More jobs are needed. More housing is needed. More people need to travel and more jobs are needed. I know that using contraceptives is against church doctrines. Sex education is also seen as immoral by the church. The church prefers natural means of family planning. But most people are not aware of this method. They don't have the necessary information about family planning. I think it is better to start young. Of course it doesn't mean that schools would teach students on how to have sex but they should teach students the responsibility and effects in having intercourse. If the won't learn it from schools they would learn it somewhere else.


Call center agent thought dead

As I was browsing through the internet, I saw this article that caught my interest. I saw it Yahoo.com.ph but is an article originally from a local newspaper, Manila Bulletin, entitled "Wake turns to Homecoming".A body of a decomposing woman was claimed by Castro Family, resident of Angeles City, believing that it was the body of their 22 year old daughter, Karen. Karen a call center agent has gone missing for weeks. The mother, Editha Castro identified the cadaver based on the clothes she was wearing and arranged the wake. Mourning relatives and friends were then surprised when Karen walk into wake. She then confessed than she has been missing because she got married to her boyfriend.

The people in the wake must have thought that they were seeing a ghost. Her parents must have felt mixed emotions towards their daughter. They might have been glad that she was alive but mad because she ran away and got married. Her parents must have gone through hell thinking that they have lost their child. And what will happen to the body? So who's too blame? The daughter who eloped and cut her communications with her family for weeks or the authorities who lack the necessary skills and tools to identify the cadaver?

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Foreign nationals in the NCAA


One of the things that I have enjoyed during college was college basketball. My Alma Mater, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, is on one of the participating schools in the NCAA. While I was still studying in Letran, the school won two NCAA championship titles. I have always preferred watching college basketball since your school spirit is fired up when you’re watching a game. There is a sense of loyalty. You could really switch sides unless you switch schools. There is a sense of pride as well. You somehow feel prouder when coming out of a game when your school won.

When I was still in college, all the players were Filipino. Now the league is filled with foreign exchange student which in my opinion is quite unfair for schools that don’t have them. Filipino American players were okay. At least they are half Filipino. I think the opportunity for talented Filipino basketball players are getting slimmer. Since there are no regulations against having foreign nationals playing in the NCAA, what would stop a school from having a team with all players being foreigners?

It started in 2006 when San Beda acquired a six foot nine center, Sam Ekwe, to play for their team. Jose Rizal University and Emilio Aguinaldo College has enlisted foreigners in their bid to win a championship. Currently there are four foreign nationals playing in the league. San Beda still has American Sudan Daniel in their roster while Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals while have Lim Wei, a Malaysian Chinese Lim Wei and a veteran of the Penang Basketball Association In their lineup.

San Sebastian College, Mapua and Letran still has an all Filipino lineups but are considering the possibility of tapping foreign imports in the future. College of St. Benilde and University of Perpetual Help are against tapping foreign nationals in their team.

In my opinion, it is still better if the NCAA teams stick with an all-Filipino roster.  After the NCAA, they could not join the Philippine Basketball Association and could not be tap to play for the Philippines for international competitions. It deprives young Filipinos talents a chance to play in the NCAA. I hope Letran sticks with an all-Filipino roster. If San Sebastian won a championship without any foreign players, why can’t other school do it as well?

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Effects of Global warming

The biggest effect of Global warming is the increase in the planet’s temperature. The increase in temperature is linked to the climate change that the planet is currently experiencing. So what are the effects? Since the temperature is rising rapidly, the planet’s ice is melting is rapid speed. So why is it that important? The large mass of ice is responsible to deflecting the sun’s rays. The greenhouse gases are responsible for trapping the heat for the sun. But too much heat trapped in the planet is not good either. Another downside if the planet’s ice melts is the increase in the planet’s sea level. A large percentage of the world’s population resides in low lying areas. If sea level increases, millions of people would be relocated. When that happen a large number of people would have problem finding shelter, food to eat and clean water to drink.

Since the large mass of ice is melting, and the amount of the sun rays deflected is decreasing, the planet’s waters absorbs the heat. How bad could that be? Studies have shown that a storm’s intensity increases when it passes warm water. That is the case with Hurricane Katrina which hit the United States and destroyed properties and claimed the lives of a lot of people in New Orleans. 

Another effect of the warming body of water is the bleaching. A lot of animal species in the ocean and sea rely on coral reef for their source of food. Bleaching is destroying the Coral reefs leaving a lot of marine species vulnerable to extinction. Global warming does not only affect marine animals. Certain animal species rely on the temperature of their habitat to survive. Penguins and Polar Bears are among the animals that rely on cold climate to survive. Since the ice is melting, certain species travel far distance to find an suitable place to live and most of the animals do not survive traveling the long distance.

Another effect of Global warming is the decrease and increase of the amount of precipitation. Last year, the Philippines was hit by two powerful storms Peping and Ondoy. The amount of rainfall during typhoon Ondoy was a month’s worth of rain. The number of occurrence of floods and landslide while also increase. The other side of change of the amount of precipitation is drought. During the early months of the year, the country has experience the El Nino Phenomenon. Droughts has ravage crop and almost put the country at risk of a water crisis. The drought intensified when the summer season in Philippines started. The heat in Metro Manila has reached as high as 38 degrees Celsius this summer.

The Philippines is at high risk to effects of global warming. Even though there are no large masses of ice near the archipelago, parts of the country is still at risk of being submerged if the sea level increases. There are lots of densely populated areas in the Philippines which are located on low lying areas. The drought this year was particularly a big burden to the country. Crops were destroyed which caused the prices of basic needs to increase. The country almost faced a water crisis as efforts to find a solution to the declining water supply such as cloud seeding proved ineffective.

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The environment versus economy

In the 1980s, scientists have discovered that Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) has been responsible to the thinning of the ozone layer. The whole planet was united in decreasing the amount of CFC in the atmosphere in hopes to save the ozone layer. The planet found ways to substitute hairsprays and refrigerants by introducing products that doesn’t produce Chlorofluorocarbons. 

So you may ask how was it possible for countries in the planet to unite to solve the catastrophic effects of losing the ozone layer. It is quite simple. Countries could afford not using CFC and finding safer products substitute to products to produce CFC. So why can’t we do it know?

Countries specially developing ones are still dependent on coal mining to produce electricity. Non-polluting and renewable technologies such as wind, solar, geothermal are way too costly. Not all countries could afford to purchase this type of energy source. Some countries still have a lot of coal supply and use it as a primary source of electric power. Selling coal is profitable to some countries. Coal mines is one of the biggest causes of the increase of Greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are the cause of increasing temperature of the planet.

Before the May 2010 elections, the country had several outages due to the low supply of electric power. In Mindanao, the biggest source of electricity is hydro- electric plant. But since the drought was still plaguing the country then, government officials had to find a remedy to the power crisis. I know it easy to say that we should stop using coal mines right away since I am not in the position to make decisions. But it wouldn’t hurt if government would think about the alternative source of electricity.

So does it come down to which energy source is cheaper? Do we have to think about the economy before considering the effects of global warming? The Philippines have been struck by powerful storms last year and this year we face a drought like no other drought that we have encountered. The planet is in a really bad shape. We should move now while there is still a chance to reverse the effects of Global warming.

I know that it is hard to stop using coal mines right away but it would be better to start putting up non-polluting power source slowly. Putting up facilities for renewable energy one at a time seems like a reasonable course of action.

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Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Floyd Mayweather Jr. retires for the second time?

Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were supposed to be on the same ring last March 2010. But after months of negotiation, both camps failed to meet on the terms of the both. Instead Pacquiao fought Joshua Clottey last March while Mayweather fought Shane Mosley just a month ago.  Negotiations were back on the table right after and Pacquiao has agreed to the Blood testing demands of Mayweather. And then Mayweather wanted to a 50-50 split on the earnings of the match and then suddenly change his mind to a 60-40 split on his favor. Pacquaio’s camp has of course disagreed with the terms.

And then Mayweather has announced his second retirement. According to the undefeated former pound for pound, He wants to take a year off or a couple of years off from boxing. What?! Is this for real? A couple years off would mean that the 33 year old Mayweather would be returning to boxing at around 35 years old. By that time Pacquiao might have retired already since he keeps on insisting that the November 2010 would be his last. Is that what Mayweather wants? So he will let Pacquiao retire first before coming back? So does that mean that all the blood testing and the earning split are just loop hole so that he would not face Pacquiao on the ring? And then what happens if returns one or two years from now and Pacquiao decides to return as well? Would that mean that he would finally agree to fight him then?

It would be a wise move for Mayweather to retire now and keep his unblemished record. That is the only thing aside from his former pound for pound title that he is still holding on. It would be a shame if he fights Pacquiao on November and ends up losing. Of course I am not saying that there is a 100% certainty that Pacquiao would win but then again Mosley has proven that it is possible to knock Mayweather down. Mosley had the chance to win against Mayweather during the second round of their match.

So does Mayweather’s ridiculous demands and his sudden announcement of his retirement means that he is scared of Pacquiao? If he is not he would have jump on the opportunity to meet him on the ring. Now the real question is who will Pacquiao’s next opponent?

Monday, June 7, 2010

Movie review: Kick Ass

There are several reasons why people watch movies. There are movie adaptations based on a famous book, comics or a video game. There are movies your friends told you that are too good to miss out and there movies that seems so lame that you have just have to watch it. From the movie trailer and posters, kick ass seems lame but I was surprised that the movie isn’t that bad. When I saw the movie poster, it reminded me of a film starring Ben Stiller called Mystery Men.  Mystery Men is about a group of people who doesn’t have real superpowers but ends up saving the day anyway.

The story is about a Dave Lezewski, a high school student from New York who so into comic books wanted to become a superhero. He doesn’t have any real superpowers. He could not run faster than a normal teenager nor does he have any abilities that could real qualify him to be a superhero. All he has is eagerness to help others and a costume that he bought in the internet. 

His first attempt to save others did not go as smoothly as he expected. He was stabbed by two thugs who were trying to steal a car. After being stabbed, he wondered around the streets until he got hit by a car. He was badly injured and needed to be implanted with metals to replace all the broken bones. During the accident, his nerve ending got messed up leaving him with a high tolerance to pain. 

Before he was saved by the paramedics, he removed his costume leaving him naked on the streets. The students of his high school found out about the mysterious circumstances in which he was saved and a rumor started to spread that he was gay. This was totally not a bad news to Dave Lezewski because his long time crush, Katie Deauxma, asked him to be her gay best friend. He was reluctant at first but ended up agreeing to it since it is the only way to get close to her.

He didn’t quit after his first attempt, and got back to fighting crime as soon as he was well enough to fight crime again. He was able to save someone eventually and then he finally called himself kickass after someone who captured his heroics in video ask him who he was.  His exploits was captured in video and was posted in Youtube which made an overnight celebrity.
On one of his exploits, he met with two vigilantes who were dressed in superhero costumes that ended up saving him. One of the vigilantes is dressed up like batman and is named as Big daddy while the other one is dressed up like a school girl wearing a mask is named Hit girl. Hit girl’s real name is Mindy MacCready and Big daddy is her father.
According to the movie, Big daddy use to be a cop who was imprisoned because he went after the crime boss named Frank D’ Amico. While imprisoned, D’ Amico killed Mindy’s mom. After Big daddy got out of prison, he trained Mindy to become a lethal weapon. Big daddy played by none other than Nicolas Cage by the way. 

Since Big daddy and Hit girl has been disrupting the business of the Frank D’Amico (who taught kickass was responsible), D’ Amico decided to hunt down Kickass to make him pay. D’ Amico’s son gave his father an idea to capture Kickass. He then posted as a superhero called Red mist so that he could gain Kickass’ trust. He found out that Kickass was nothing but a harmless geek and found out that the real people behind the attacks were big daddy and Hit girl.
Red mist then found a way to capture Big daddy and Hit girl. But it didn’t go as he planned. After shooting Hit girl who fell from the window of a building, Big daddy was captured along with Kick ass. D’Amico plans to unmasked the two and execute them via the Internet. Hit Girl who was wearing a vest when she got shot, came to the rescue but was too late to save his father. She did made plans to storm D’amico’s residence. She finally took down the Frank D’Amico and left Red mist alive. 

From the looks of it, the movie is poised for a second installment. The movie is set to be released in 2012. The movie is based on a comics released by Marvel with same title. There are a lot of alterations from the original story. Frank D’Amico’s named is changed from John Genovese. In the movie, the character the Nicholas Cage played is named Damon MacCready. In the comics, his wife was not killed by the Genovese. He was an accountant who was bored with his life and took her daughter away from her mother to train her. He didn’t have any grudges with Genovese. He just thought that a hero needs a villain and Genovese is the biggest crime boss in New York. In the movie, Dave Lezewski confessed to Katie Deauxma that he was not gay and that he was kickass. She accepted it and became his girlfriend. In the comics, Katie has a boyfriend and after finding out that Dave was lying, he asked her boyfriend to beat up Dave. 

I found the movie funny at times and really went beyond my expectations. I didn’t expect it to be violent. Since it is a superhero movie, it was bound to have some fighting. But the way Hit girl killed D’Amico was way brutal for some viewers. There is one thing that I have noticed. Normally superheroes are reluctant to kill. But in the finally scene, Kick ass killed some of D’Amico’s thugs. He didn’t felt remorse since he was a goody goody. 

But as a whole it was not as bad as I have expected. I am curios though how the second movie would turn out.

Things to know about Phone Viruses

The technology has gone a long way. Before mobile phones were introduced, landline phone was the popular way to communicate. The first mobile phones introduced where analog phones. Analog phones were basically landlines that are mobile. Compared to mobile phones today, an analog phone does not have the capability to send Text messages. Now with the latest innovation, Phones are now capable of using operating system like computers have. The common operating system use by mobile phones is Symbian. 

Since mobile phones today could be use to access the internet, send MMS (multimedia messaging service) and transfer of files via Bluetooth, the risk of getting a phone virus has increased. Phone Viruses are the same as a computer virus. They are executable files (.exe) that infects your mobile phone and then copies itself to other mobile phones. So how are they transferred? Files sent by Bluetooth, files downloaded from the Internet or files copied to your phone from your PC are the common ways a virus is transferred. 

So what are the different types of Phone Viruses? Here are the most common ones

Cabir.A
This virus commonly infects Symbian Series 60 Phones. The most common way to get this virus is via files transferred using Bluetooth. This is one of the mildest phone viruses since it does not affect your Cellphone. This was first reported on June 2004

Skulls.A (Trojan type)
This phone virus is usually transferred for files downloaded from the internet. It infects various Symbian Phones and came out on November 2004. This is a nasty one since it disables all the phone functions except sending and receiving calls. It also changes the phone’s icons into skills and crossbones. 

Commwarrior.A
This phone virus would really cost you money since it sends out expensive MMS messages to everyone in your phonebook. This particular virus infects Symbian series 60 phones. You could get it from files sent via Bluetooth and MMS. It first came out on January 2005

Locknut.B
This is another nasty virus. This virus crashes your system ROM and disables all phone functions. This also inserts other malware into your phone. It infects Symbian Seies 60 phones. 

Fontal.A
Another phone virus that disables your phone is this virus. It locks up your phone in startup mode. It spreads via internet download and infects Symbian Series 60 phones. 

SymbOS/PornDial.A
This is another virus that causes an increase to your Postpaid Bill or your prepaid balance if you are using a prepaid account. It infects Symbian Series 60 phones as well. A phone could be infected if you open an Ipornplayer installation file. The effect is that it dials predefined Premium rate IDD numbers when left idle 

Hatihati.A
No phone with a system operating system is safe from this one. This spreads when you swap a memory card from one phone to another. This virus is also costly since it sends Text messages to predefined international numbers.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Phone Review: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

I have been a fond of using Sony Ericsson phones for quite some time. The great thing about this phone is that it has a lot of the features that I look for in a phone. The phone could be use as an MP3 player, Camera to take photos or shoot videos and the phone has the capability to connect to the web. Since I have been using a Sony Ericsson P1i phone, I have been used to a qwerty keypad. The Xperia also uses qwerty feature for text messaging. Although I am not sure if it would be easy to use the phone for text messaging while traveling.

The phone has a built in 8.1 megapixel camera that has a 16 times digital zoom, Auto focus, face recognition, image stabliser, Photo light, Picture blogging, video recording, Video light, Geo tagging and Smile Detection.

The phone supports MP3 and AAC formats which you could use as a ringtone or you listen to music with formats mentioned earlier. You could connect to Web using the phone with built in widget that allows you to easily access Youtube, Google search, Google Maps and web feeds. You could use you the phone in Wifi hotspots to the web as well.

A new feature that is offered by most of the new phones is GPS capabilities. This phone uses GPS powered location based services. You have to check with your local network provider for the availability of the service.

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