MANILA, Philippines - Global Internet giant Google has launched its Google Map Maker application in the Philippines, which will provide a detailed map of the Philippines for locals, tourists and potential investors.With the launch, the Philippines will be the first Southeast Asian nation where the application is available. "The Philippines has a challenging topography featuring a diverse landscape and many remote, unexplored regions," Google said in a statement.Google Map Maker will let local users locate, draw, label and accurately render existing tourist destinations and create maps of uncharted areas, making these visible to tourists and investors for the first time on the Google Map Web site. The maps will include street names, house numbers, parks, forest areas and other geographical features."This capability provides new commercial opportunities for local residents and businesses based on information provided by local users," the company said. "Google Map Maker is all about leveraging the knowledge of local experts found in every neighborhood and in every town and city," it said. It added that since map data is collected from people who have first-hand knowledge of the area, the information becomes more meaningful and relevant to users.Palawan is a an example of a beautiful Philippine location with limited online visibility, out-of-date maps, and many uncharted areas. Google Map Maker is expected to have far-reaching implications on the country’s agricultural and environmental landscape as well. Detailed geographical information can be used to identify arable land, route irrigation, and in extreme cases, ensure accessibility to areas suffering from natural and man-made calamities.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2008 (Reuters) — Scientists using DNA testing have confirmed the second-known instance of "virgin birth" in a shark -- a female Atlantic blacktip shark named Tidbit that produced a baby without a male shark.
The shark came to the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach not long after being born in the wild and lived there for eight years with no males of the same species, said Beth Firchau, the aquarium's curator of fishes.
The 5-foot (1.5-meter) shark died after being removed from the tank for a veterinary examination, and a subsequent necropsy revealed that Tidbit was carrying a fully developed shark pup nearly ready to be born, Firchau said.
Demian Chapman, a shark scientist with the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University in New York state, performed DNA testing that showed the pup had no father. Virgin birth such as this is known as parthenogenesis.
A year ago, Chapman used genetic testing to confirm that a hammerhead shark at a zoo in Omaha gave birth to a pup in 2002, also after parthenogenesis.
"It tells us that the original case we documented last year was not some fluke of nature. This is something that might be more common than we think it is, and widespread among sharks," Chapman said in a telephone interview.
Parthenogenesis also has been documented in Komodo dragons, snakes, birds, fish and amphibians, Chapman said.
It occurs when a baby is conceived without male sperm fertilizing the female's eggs. In the type of parthenogenesis seen in sharks, the mother's chromosomes split during egg development.
How the sharks do it is unclear. Chapman said they may use a hormone to trigger eggs to develop in this manner in the absence of males. Or perhaps if eggs remain unfertilized with no males around, a certain fraction develop into embryos.
"It's a finding that kind of rewrites the textbooks a little," Chapman said. "It just goes to show how the ocean keeps its secrets very well. And the sharks in particular."
"Of course, sharks are being killed at such a rate that unless we do something to stop that, we're not even going to learn all their secrets before they're gone," Chapman added.
The findings appear in the Journal of Fish Biology.
source:By Will Dunham/ news daily
SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc.'s stock took a beating Monday after Microsoft Corp. withdrew its $47.5 billion takeover bid, but the punishment wasn't as severe as many analysts anticipated because investors suspect the rivals eventually will renew their mating dance.
Although Microsoft has publicly indicated it will focus on measures besides buying Yahoo in its bid to make its Internet division profitable, several analysts predicted the software maker will revive its bid in the summer or fall if Yahoo can't snap out of a two-year funk that exposed it to an unwanted takeover in the first place.
"Should the frustration of (Yahoo) shareholders come to a boil, we believe (Microsoft) could re-enter the picture, essentially playing the role of the white knight," analyst David Hilal of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. wrote in a Friday research note.
Read full story on this site...
source: gmanews.tv
PAUTAKAN!
PAGALINGAN!
PATATAGAN!
GMA is in search of contestants from 18 to 60 years old, physically fit and willing to become castaways and endure intense physical and mental challenges in an unfamiliar territory for 39 days.
If you think you got what it takes to be one of the 16 castaways for SURVIVOR PHILIPPINES, go to any of the nationwide auditions in key cities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
DAVAO = SM DAVAO = MAY 1 and 2
CEBU = SM CEBU = MAY 5 and 6
ILOILO = SM ILOILO = MAY 8 and 9
DAGUPAN = EMERALD STADIA = MAY 16
BAGUIO = SM BAGUIO = MAY 17 and 18
MANILA = SM NORTH EDSA = MAY 21 and 22
MANILA = SM MANILA = MAY 23
Be part of the biggest reality show worldwide! Be the Philippines’ first sole SURVIVOR!
Get the latest updates about Survivor Philippines at the SURVIVOR BLOG.
source: gmanews.tv
SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft Corp. has withdrawn its $42.3 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc., scrapping an attempt to snap up the tarnished Internet icon in hopes of toppling online search and advertising leader Google Inc. The decision to walk away from the deal came Saturday after last-ditch efforts to negotiate a mutually acceptable sale price proved unsuccessful.
Microsoft was willing to pay $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, up from the bid's current value of $29.40 per share, according to a letter from Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang. But Yahoo demanded at least $53 billion, or $37 per share, according to Ballmer.
That would have been nearly double Yahoo's stock price of $19.18 at the time Microsoft first made its bid a little over three months ago. "Clearly a deal is not to be," Ballmer wrote.
A spokeswoman for Sunnyvale-based Yahoo didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. The decision to walk away came as a surprise, given that many analysts believed Microsoft wanted to close the deal badly enough to either sweeten the offer or pursue a hostile takeover — a risky maneuver that would have required an attempt to replace the Yahoo board that spurned rejected the bid.
But Ballmer said he concluded that pursuing a so-called proxy battle was "not sensible." "Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo undesirable as an acquisition," Ballmer wrote to Yang.
But Yahoo hasn't necessarily faded from Microsoft's crosshairs.
The software maker conceivably could renew its bid later this year if Yahoo can't bounce back from more than two years of financial lethargy. Should Yahoo's turnaround efforts flop, many analysts believe the company's stock would sink into the mid-teens and open the door for another takeover offer that would be more difficult to rebuff.
For now, at least, Microsoft appears to believe it has enough internal weapons to chip away at Google's dominance of the booming Internet ad market. "We have a talented team in place and a compelling plan to grow our business through innovative new services and strategic transactions with other business partners, " Ballmer said.
"While Yahoo would have accelerated our strategy, I am confident that we can continue to move forward toward our goals."
source: AP/ gmanews.tv
Last saturday i watched Jessica Soho's " Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho" on GMA 7, one of her topics was about blogging. As we watch the said documentary program, she started to quote blogging saying the bad side and the good side. I thought it was really that bad as my family knows that i am also a blogger. She featured the fellows housewife doing blogging as her theraphy for her lost son. Then followed the aussie guy as we all know, doing an exposure using his blog. Remember him? What brings my attention was blogging is not only writting your ideas and recording your everyday chores, but its also writting an information publish in a whole world. So the danger is in the writter himself. As like me, im doing this just like a housewife who lost his son. Im making blog as my hobby same as i earned money from it. Like the girls featured in Jessica Soho's documentary program she also earned money from blogging. I started doing blogging when i watched it on Mel & Joey program, they featured blogs as a way of living. As a student i was interested to know how it was. So i try searching online how to make money from my machine. At first my family laughing at me as i enter my room the whole day and doing writting even copying from old magazine. My father even told me it was an old time foolish things coz no one will pay you money for not even knowing who you are, how old are you and what are you. Coz im not even a good writter, dunno if all my grammar is correct. But thanks for my non stop searching until i found it. Now my father smile at me everytime i return the mocked from him. But the good thing is i gave him his cigar allowance everytime i got paid. And he even proud of me, for as my age now i know how to earned money online. Now i do blogging not only for my fathers dogs and for my everyday activities but also for my everyday needs. Now all my classmates reads all my blogs and asked me how i did that. I always say that when you do something, do it whole heartedly and patiently. And thanks for GMA 7 Jessica Soho for featuring this carrer, Blogging....
I just came back from my week long vocation in Zambales my aunties hubby town.. A 250 km north of Luzon. Its verry fun having a long summer vocation on that place together with my dog Popoy, my american cocker spaniel dog .. We used to go to the beach which is only 5mins from my titas house, we start swimming as early as 7 in the morning till noon. As we ussually observed we were the only family using the private resort, a distant relative of my uncle who is now in Guam. His son, my cousin and my other cousins using the huge cottage as far as i know is free for us. The Ocean looks so calm and verry clear crystal water in dimmed morning until its shines by the sunlight in the afternoon. What brings my attentions is the little boy walks in the ocean waiting for his father to arrived came from fishing. Hes only 3 or 4 years old if im not mistaken. I asked him whom his waiting then he replied his waiting for his father. His little footprints embeded on the sands for he wore nothing aside from his short. I asked him if he have his breakfast then he said he never even have his dinner last night coz his father left them nothing only but water and coffee and no sugar. At his age hes already smart saying that when his father will arive he will fall in line in the school buying an NFA rice for this is the only rice they can buy. I tell my cousin about the rice issue, i thought this place is a rice fields in the north then why there is a falling in line of people here buying for a NFA rice? He simply said that rice here are already gone or sold out in buying station. And now they are the one suffer for that dillemma. The only one cheap here is a kilo of dilis. The father of that little boy got when they arrived. In a whole day and night of fishing the only fish they got is what we called tamban and dilis. And now they sell it for as low as fifty pesos a kilo, they got arround 20 kilos of that fish and thats is much for a day of fishing. The only problem is they are 7 fisherman in a boat or in a group. As long as they will sold out that bunch of fish they will devided the amount in 7. How this little boy will buy that NFA rice and a small piece of chicken or pork for their lunch or dinner? If his father will take out the sum of money for as less as two hundred pesos. Then i asked myself im still lucky coz i was here for vocation and nothing else to think but how to enjoy life of a small boy like me. Im also lucky for i never even skipped dinner or breakfast in my families table. Or am i lucky coz my father is not a fisherman nor a farmer? But the only thing i know is im lucky coz i have my father who is even seperated from my mom, still not forsaken me... And thats my father.. my only father...
NBI exasperated over delay of cybercrime bill, hits CICT
An IT officer of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has lambasted the continued delay in the passage of the country’s cybercrime law, pointing out in particular the failure of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to submit an industry-drafted amendment to strengthen a bill currently pending in Congress.
Sophos solution with face recognition technology to help combat hacking
Sophos, a UK-based computer anti-virus and security company, has unveiled its latest security solutions featuring face recognition applications to combat network intrusions and hacking.
IT groups step up campaign for bills on data privacy
Various associations from the local IT industry are accelerating their efforts to urge Congress to pass legislations on data privacy, a critical requirement that the US is imposing on outsourcing countries such as the Philippines.
IronPort Systems bolsters web reputation filters with Botsite Defense, URL Outbreak Detection
Latest important security enhancements use industry’s leading reputation data to improve capture rate of web-based malware.
Symantec report ranks Manila 6th highest bot-infected computers in Asia-Pac
The latest Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR Volume XIII) released by Symantec Corp. Wednesday reveals that Manila is the city in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region with 6th highest bot-infected computers.
PC maker Dell addresses RP consumer segment, rolls out new products thru retail partners
Dell Inc. has started its foray into giving consumers in the Philippines the best choices in personal computing.
source: mbonline.com
Proof that women can successfully wear many hats, Rebecca Ann K. Sy’s daily schedule is full with many activities and she’s good at all of them.
She’s a mother of two with a graduate degree in Education from a prestigious American university. Outside the home, she’s president of Ultrasonic Broadcasting Systems, Inc., which operates seven FM radio stations nationwide, as well as of Becca Music, Inc., an entertainment company that specializes in the production, development and management of musical albums and artists. She is also the publisher of Total Woman, a woman’s magazine on fitness and fashion and a financial agent of Sun Life Financial Phils. Read full story on this site..
source: Mila M. Lumactao/mbonline.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices surged to a record high Wednesday, spiking to near $115 a barrel, after a government report showed an unexpected crude supply drop. But prices turned lower an hour after the report's release.
U.S. light crude for May delivery a barrel fell 81 cents to $112.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as a record $114.95. Oil was trading down 24 cents at $113.55 just prior to the report's release. Read full story on this site..
by: By Kenneth Musante, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Oil climbs above $ 109/bbl on Iran, diesel supply concerns
SINGAPORE, April 8 (Reuters) — Oil rose above 9 on Tuesday, as Iran said it had started to set up advanced centrifuges at a uranium enrichment facility, and on fears over diesel supply disruptions following a European refinery fire.
New overseas investment guidelines up
The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) approved a new set of guidelines for its external fund management.
Money supply rise slows down to 6.6%
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said domestic liquidity or M3 expanded by 6.6 percent year-on-year as of February to P3 trillion, slower than the growth in January of 7.2 percent.
TIWI-MAKBAN REHAB WORKS
The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) has scheduled a second pre-bid conference on the Tiwi and Makiling-Banahaw geothermal plants sale on April 16 to resolve a major issue raised by investors on the required rehabilitation work for the assets.
Korea funds $ 2.2-M Dagupan seafoods plant
A $ 2.2-million seafood processing plant will be put up in Dagupan City to be financed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) and is expected to enhance export prospects of Pangasinan.
source: mboline.com
Kinumpirma ni Senador Francis Escudero na isa siya mga manunulat sa Playboy Magazine Philippine Edition, na puntirya ngayon ng batikos ng Catholic Bishops Conference o CBCP.
Ayon kay Senador Escudero na may artikulo siyang sinulat sa naturang magazine, subalit tumanggi naman itong sabihin kung ano ang nilalaman ng kanyang isinulat na artikulo.
Pabiro pang sinabi ng senador na wala naman siyang center fold picture sa naturang magazine at hindi naman aniya ito maaring ilathala sa Playboy magazine.
Idinagdag pa nito na hindi naman siya pinag hubad sa naturang magazine at sa halip pinagdidiinan nito na isang artikulo lamang ang kanyang isinulat sa Playboy Magazine Philippine Edition.
source: bomborayo.com
Mga ahensya ng gobierno, pinag-aagawan ang nakumpiskang bigas
CEBU CITY - Nag-aagawan ngayon ang Bureau of Customs (BOC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at National Food Authority (NFA) sa rehiyon 7 kaugnay sa pagkukustodiya sa daan-daang mga sako ng bigas na nakumpiska sa isinigawang raid ng NBI sa isang warehouse sa lungsod ng Mandaue, Cebu. read full articles on this site...
Pananalasa ng rice bugs, nais imbestigahan ng Senado..
Nais ngayon ng Senado imbestigahan na rin ang pananalasa ng rice black bug sa mga palayan na labis na rin nakaapekto sa ani ng palay sa bansa. Batay sa inihaing Senate resolution ni Senate President Manny Villar nais nitong imbestigahan at pag-aralan in aid of legislation ng Senate Commitee on Agriculture and Food ang pananalasa ng naturang peste sa mga palayan.
read full articles on this site..
source: bomboradyo.com
Affiliate marketing has become a very common way to make money online. Every day, a lot of people are using affiliate marketing to make some extra bucks from home and some of the lucky ones are even able to earn money to cover all their the monthly expenses.But before you jump on the affiliate marketing bandwagon, you are advised to spend some time to examine the pros and cons of affiliate marketing.
The Pros
The first advantage of affiliate marketing is that it doesn't cost much to get started. Anyone can start an affiliate marketing business. All that you need for setting up an affiliate marketing business are a computer, a high speed Internet access and few hundred dollars.
You don't have to worry about how to run and profit from affiliate marketing. Internet is a good tool to help you find all the affiliate training, tips and information you need to turn your affiliate marketing business into a success.
When you are running an affiliate marketing business, you are marketing other people products or services to make money online. You job is only to send targeted visitors to the company's e-commerce website that you are affiliated with. Whenever a visitor referred by you made a purchase, you'll earn an amount of affiliate commission.
And since you are marketing other people products on the net, there is no stock you need to keep and your merchant or affiliated company will handle all the customer support and product shipping works.
Many affiliate programs will provide a lot of free promotion tools and attractive banner ads and text links to their affiliates. If you join one of these programs, you can use the quality banner ads or text links to match your website content. These ads will make your site look good and possibly generate instant affiliate commission for you.
The Cons
No matter what is being discussed, if there is an advantage, there is always a drawback as well. In the case of affiliate marketing, there are several downsides you have to keep in mind.
You have to do some researches and investigations on the affiliated company or merchant to find out whether it is a reliable company before really joining it. There are unscrupulous and dishonest companies sometimes just close down their affiliate programs without giving prior notice to affiliates. They leave without paying commissions which is even worse.
Affiliate marketing isn't a get rich fast program. You have to take the time to optimize your website and squeeze page so that they will generate good click-through rate consistently. And you need to put hard effort on testing which online marketing techniques are working well with your affiliate programs.
In some niches, you need to build an email list before you can earn affiliate commission. The process of affiliate marketing is you promote your website to get targeted visitors, from your website, you'll encourage your targeted visitors to click on your affiliate ads and links to your merchants sites so that they will make a purchase. But if you are marketing affiliate products related to Internet marketing, home business or online business niches, the visitors you refer to your merchants sites will not make a purchase on their first visit. You must collect their email address to send follow-up email to them to encourage them buy your affiliate products.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing has pretty high profit potential. But, it is an online business that requires patient, hard work and the right knowledge to achieve success. You may be very interested to start earning money with affiliate marketing because of the advantages it offers but keep in mind that there are drawbacks and challenges you have to deal with.
With the right mindset, knowledge and marketing plan, you can make good profits online through promoting affiliate products or services.
source: money maker info
For Philippine banks
Reforms to the Philippine banking system undertaken since the Asian currency crisis have helped to improve the regulatory and supervisory system, but confidence would be further enhanced by greater transparency, formalization of procedures and institutionalization of reforms, Moody’s Investors Service said in its latest report.
BSP sets up intra-day liquidity facility
To help banks and non-banks maintain liquid positions, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has set up its own intra-day liquidity facility (ILF) to ensure inter-bank transactions through real-time settlement systems are running smoothly.
PSE, SGX infuse P200 M in PDEx
The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and its regional counterpart, Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX), have pumped-in close to P200-million fresh capital into the dwindling bottomline of Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corporation (PDEx).
P1.9-B coco fertilization program set
A three million metric ton (MT) mark in coconut production is targetted to be hit by the government in three years through a P1.89 billion salt fertilization found to be more cost-effective than chemical fertilization.
Metro Pacific Investments turns around with P195-M net profit
Metro Pacific Investments Corporation reported a turn-around in its operations last year with core net income reaching P194.9 million in 2007 compared with a core net loss of P25.4 million in the previous year.
source: mbonline.com
Derrick VanDyke from Affiliate Cash Secrets has published a new video yesterday that I think you may want to check out. The new video is an affiliate video showing you a 5-step system you can follow to start making money online. Here's are what exactly you will learn from the video:
1) Find Profitable Affiliate Products
2) Set Up a Squeeze Page
3) Load Your Autoresponder
4) Drive Targeted Traffic
5) Sell Back-End Products
The link to access this video is:http://affiliatecashsecrets.com/videos/quickandeasy
The video is only 23 minute long. But, it covers enough content and information that you can put into action to get started in affiliate marketing.
Since you don’t have any overhead, all the money you make is yours. If you just want some extra income to buy things you want or need that would put a strain on your budget, this is a good way to do it. You don’t have to start right out putting money into making money free online. You can even use this money as start up capital for another online business to make even more money. Whatever you want to do with it, you can.
The first thing you need to … read more
source by:dragon
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Crude oil closed a choppy session higher on Thursday. Light sweet crude for April delivery moved to $110.33, up 41 cents on the session. Oil touched a record $111.00 at around 10:50 a.m. ET before coming back lower.
Weakness in the U.S. dollar continued to push commodity prices higher. The greenback lost significant ground to other majors this morning, adding to its record lows versus the euro and hitting a 12-year low against the yen. Oil soared again on Wednesday as a weakness in the U.S. dollar out-weighed a rise in weekly inventories.
Crude closed at $109.92, up $1.17 on the session. Prices reached as high as $110.20 in the late afternoon, crossing $110 for the first time. Traders continued to consider the weekly inventory report from the Energy Information Administration from Wednesday that showed a much bigger than expected increase in crude oil inventories in the week ended March 7.
The report showed that crude oil inventories increased by 6.2 million barrels after showing an unexpected decrease in the previous week. The increase came in well above analyst estimates of an increase of about 1.6 million barrels. With the increase, crude oil inventories rose to 311.6 million barrels, although they remain in the middle of the average range for this time of year.
Stochastics and the RSI again showed over-bought levels for April oil, which has been trending sharply higher since Feb. 7. If prices turn lower, some support may be found at the 10-day moving average at $105.503. The $111 mark could mark psychological resistance for oil. Natural gas prices were higher following the weekly inventory report.
Prices moved at $10.24, up 22.9 cents on the day. The Department of Energy reported that stockpiles were down 86 billion cubic feet in the recent weekOn the economic front, data released by the Department of Commerce on Thursday revealed that retail sales unexpectedly fell in the month of February, with decreases in auto and gasoline sales contributing to the drop in overall sales. The report showed that retail sales fell 0.6 percent in February following a revised 0.4 percent increase in January.
The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected sales to increase by about 0.2 percent. Also Thursday morning, the Department of Labor released its report on initial jobless claims in the week ended March 8th, showing that jobless claims unexpectedly came in unchanged compared to a revised reading for the previous week.
The report showed that jobless claims came in at 353,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised figure of 353,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to edge up to 355,000 from the 351,000 originally reported for the previous week.
In other commodity news, gold touched the $1,000 an ounce mark for the first time in the most actively traded contract on Thursday in U.S. trading. April gold traded at $995.30, up $14.80 on the session. The precious metal first hit the key $1,000 mark at around 8:25 a.m. ET and later reached as high as $1,001.50.
© RTTNews.com
LOS ANGELES — Juan Manuel Marquez said on Monday that he is not putting to waste three months of training that amounted to 120 rounds of sparring this weekend against Manny Pacquiao.
"I know what happened in the first round of the first fight and I am going to be different this time because I will be more cautious," said Marquez during a press conference held at La Placita Olvera, an old section of the city where the first Mexican settlement was established in 1781, and a California State Historic Landmark as well.
Since it was an area where Mexican stalls and restaurants are located, Marquez enjoyed the homecourt edge as they jeered Pacquiao when he spoke on the dais and cheered Marquez when it was his time to speak. The reception was so hostile that even Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum was not spared by the diehard Marquez fans when he talked about how exciting the fight will be and why the Filipino will emerge triumphant at the Mandalay Bay.
Some fans even insinuated that Pacquiao take his seat as he tried his best to put together words in English during his short speech and not even one sentence that Pacquiao memorized in Spanish was not enough to please them.
So it was an all-Marquez show as expected and the 34-year-old native of Mexico City who will be making the second defense of the World Boxing Council (WBC) super-featherweight crown took the opportunity to pump up the crowd by engaging Pacquiao two times in a staredown that thrilled the boisterous crowd. Each time, Pacquiao was the first to take turn away although he later said it was all for show.
But Marquez believes getting the job done won’t be as easy as reciting the alphabet.
"To knock him out is going to be hard because he is very strong but if it goes the distance (of 12 rounds), I have the endurance to pull off a win," said Marquez through translator and adviser Jaime Quintana. "I am coming to fight and I am coming to box and this time it will be different and I want to do a smart fight. Manny Pacquiao knows just one thing and that’s just to fight and come after you and I am prepared for that."
Marquez kicked off his training for this second meeting on Dec. 15 while Pacquiao was caught in the rapture of the Yuletide season and the celebration of his 29th birthday on Dec. 19.
Still, Top Rank big boss Bob Arum said that the eight weeks Pacquiao worked under Freddie Roach will be the difference.
"He’s worked unbelievably hard and he’s in unbelievable shape and given those elements, this would be the best Manny Pacquiao on Saturday and I believe that the best Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter in the world. And nobody can beat the best fighter in the world," said Arum while waiting for the principals to arrive at the plaza.
"I think Marquez is a capable fighter, a good fighter who’ll give a good fight but there’ll be just one winner and that’s Manny Pacquiao. You’ll see a Manny Pacquiao on Saturday you’ve never seen before," added Arum, who already has a fight lined up for Pacquiao sometime in June at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas should he topple Marquez.
by: Nick Giongco
BATAAN, Philippines - President Gloria Arroyo said Wednesday that government has allocated P5 billion for conservation activities, including the P240 million for protected areas.
Mrs. Arroyo said the allocation is part of the P8-billion budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for 2008.
DENR’s 2008 budget would be used to beautify villages and cities, build more urban parks and recreation areas, purify water systems and clean up industrial sites.
These efforts highlight government's commitment to take care of the environment, adding that protection of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries is among top government priorities, the President said. Mrs. Arroyo said the P240 million will be spent for protected areas so that these could be developed into international sanctuaries for eco-tourism and scientific research.
The President has also set aside P5 million for the Pawikan (sea turtle) conservation Project in the village of Nagbalayong in Morong, Bataan. Through the Philippine Tourism Authority, the president ordered the release of additional funds for the setting up of shelters, lodging rooms for tourists and marine biologists and livelihood for project officers.
source:gmanews.com
Leading wireless carrier Smart Communications is aiming to improve its mobile services in the country with the rollout of the popular i-mode service in the country this month.
Smart, in a statement, said it will offer i-mode to local customers by March 15.
Smart and Japanese leading wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo has an existing mobile services agreement through their respective mother companies.
Smart said i-mode will be available initially to its Smart Gold subscribers.
Smart Gold subscribers will have access to i-mail, allowing them to send email via their handset for 1 peso per message under the i-mode service, the wireless carrier said.
i-mode is a very popular mobile email and Internet service first launched in Japan by mobile communications leader NTT DoCoMo in 1999.
According to Smart, the service is currently used by more than 47.8 million subscribers in Japan, and is also widely used to mobile subscribers in 15 other countries in Asia and Europe.
Smart also said it plans to make available more attractive and practical content and information to its i-mode user base in the Philippines.
"We understand and seek to cater to the rapidly evolving needs of today’s mobile phone owners. Smart provides not only cutting-edge connectivity to the biggest network in the country, it also offers access to world-class services, such as i-mode," Danilo J. Mojica, chief of Smart’s wireless consumer division, in a statement, said.
The i-mode rollout is also part of an agreement between NTT Group, the parent company of DoCoMo, and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the parent company of Smart.
In a statement earlier, NTT DoCoMo has disclosed that it has increased its stake in PLDT from 6.7 percent to 13.34 percent.
The Japanese firm last month said it acquired the additional 12.53 million shares, or an additional 6.64 percent stake in PLDT, for approximately 86.7 billion yen (US$ 760 million).
DoCoMo’s parent company, NTT Group, now has a total of 2.03 percent stake in the Philippine carrier’s outstanding common stock.
The increase in stake also enables DoCoMo to book the investment using the equity method and reclassify PLDT as an affiliate, DoCoMo, in the statement, said.
As part of the stake increase, DoCoMo said it expects to "strengthen" its business tie-up with Smart Communications.
by: Joel D. Pinaroc
Sun Cellular, with its better network and better value, is once again taking its value-for-money services to the next level with a prepaid product to surely beat all others – P10 Call and Text Combo.
Get excited with its great features that will, without a doubt, stretch your budget even further as this revolutionary service gives you 10 minutes of Sun-to-Sun calls, 40 Sun-to-Sun texts and 10 inter-network texts at an unbelievably low rate of only 10 pesos.
Pass around important messages or even text jokes or organize the next big get-together with your barkada or family knowing that there will still be enough text allotment to get you through the day. And with a 10-minute Sun-to-Sun call feature added to the offer – good for instances when a voice call is urgently needed -- Sun’s newest prepaid product is absolutely great value for just P10
Load up and enjoy the savings with Sun Cellular’s P10 Call and Text Combo now available at all Sun Shops and authorized retail outlets nationwide.
As part of its steadfast commitment to give the best and most affordable services to the public, Sun is set to spend another P11 billion in 2008 to add more cell sites and boost network coverage, allowing subscribers to continue enjoying calls and texts anytime, anywhere, 24/7.
88DB.com, a multimedia service portal and lifestyle network, takes the power of the worldwide web and hosts a revolutionary online battle of the bands to support the upcoming rockers and spot the next big name in music.
The 88DB First Online Battle of the Bands revolutionizes the way band competitions in the country are held. Amateur and upstart bands with no prior recording deal will go head to head via an online voting system at the 88DB.com website (www.88DB.com.ph.) Genuine music lovers and fans of good old rock n’ roll can check out each band’s ad profile and performance samples and vote by logging on to the site.
The contest is open to all amateur bands based in Metro Manila. Band members should be at least 16 years old to be able to qualify in the contest. To register, bands must create profiles with their complete and verified details, which include the band name, the members’ names and contact info and a short background of the band. They also need to upload at least three pictures of their members and two embedded videos of studio or gig performances from video streaming websites.
These online video productions will be hosted by 88DB.com.ph for the Internet voting. Fans and friends can register, log on, view the pod casts and enter their pick. The top 15 bands with the most number of votes by March 31, 2008 will move on to the finals and rough it out again with their scores back to zero.
This time, the emerging top three, who will be determined with the most votes by April 15, will get to perform live with hot newcomers Taken By Cars, hip hop and jazz it group Sinosikat and Philippine rock legend The Dawn on April 18, 2008 at Tiendesitas, Pasig City!
First placers will take home P10,000, second placers get P8,000 and third placers will receive P6,000! Registration starts on February 1, 2008 and ends March 14, 2008.
His cheekbones now more prominent and dressed in a fancy jacket moments after working out at the Wild Card on Tuesday afternoon, Pacquiao said that he can’t wait to get his hands on Juan Manuel Marquez on March 15.
"I have no fear," said Pacquiao, who goes after Marquez’s World Boxing Council (WBC) super-featherweight crown at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
"I am excited to finish the unfinished business," the 29-year-old Filipino hotshot said, referring to the score he is looking forward to settle with Marquez, the 34-year-old counter-puncher who battled him to a split draw in May 2004.
Pacquiao is so juiced up for the Marquez rematch that he made good on his promise to train at the Wild Card for eight solid weeks under Freddie Roach instead of just asking Roach to hop in a plane and meet up with him in the Philippines for training camp.
"I am trying hard to rekindle my thirst (for winning) just like I was starting my career," said Pacquiao, whose stock took a nosedive following unimpressive victories over Mexicans Jorge Solis and Marco Antonio Barrera in 2007.
In his almost-daily training at the gym — most especially during sparring days — Pacquiao would not wait for the buzzer to sound signaling the resumption of action as he would walk towards his sparmates’ corner so they could go at it again right away.
While most of his sparring partners are still being attended to by their cornermen during the rest period, Pacquiao would already position himself near the opposite corner just like what happened when he banged bodies with Juan Garcia of Arizona, said to be a clone of Marquez.
"Everything is good," Pacquiao said shortly before a gym barker requested that there be silence for one minute.
One could hear a pin drop at the gym and Pacquiao took the opportunity to say a little prayer in the far-end corner where Roach gives out instructions as everyone inside either stopped chatting or joined the fighter in contemplation.
Pacquiao’s training lasted two and a half hours with the only time he was not exerting effort was when he would go from one area to another and it came on the eve of an open workout scheduled Wednesday with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and representatives from various media outlets expected to gather there.
"This is the toughest training camp I’ve been," added Pacquiao before getting inside his Mercedes Benz 550SL which has a special spot in the parking area en route to his two-bedroom apartment at The Palazzo in La Brea, a mere 10-minute drive from the Wild Card.
NOTES: Freddie Roach left the gym while Manny Pacquiao was already doing his stretching as he had to go to Pasadena to train Bernard Hopkins…
Top fight scribe Steve Kim of mamboing.com, a regular at the Wild Card where he also works out, said he’s never seen Pacquiao so pumped up for a fight. "The last time I saw him this focused was during the first Barrera fight," said Kim…
Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz said the fighter will go to Las Vegas by land on Monday. "Manny’s always superstitious about a lot of things." Top Rank head Bob Arum has offered a private plane.
source: Nick Giongco
MANILA, Philippines - will formally claim some contested areas that it considers part of its exclusive economic zone before the May 2009 deadline set by the United Nations.
The National Security Council on Tuesday met to discuss the matter in a bid to define in detail the country’s jurisdiction and to enable it to use the resources found in the contested areas.
"We shall advance the rights and interests of our nation in harnessing these rich resources," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a speech Tuesday in Malacañang.
Former Justice secretary and Solicitor General Estelito P. Mendoza, a lawyer of ousted President Joseph E. Estrada, has agreed to help the administration back up the country’s territorial claim.
"We appreciate that former secretary of Justice Estelito Mendoza has lent his unrivaled expertise in this field to help strengthen the Philippine claim on this very valuable portion of our national patrimony," Mrs. Arroyo said.
Among the contested areas being claimed by the Philippines are the Kalayaan Islands Group (Spratlys), Sabah, the Benham Rise, and other Expanded Continental Shelf (ECS) areas.
The Kalayaan Islands are also being claimed by China, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. Meanwhile, Sabah is also being claimed by Malaysia.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS), every country is given 200 nautical miles that would make up its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Each country possesses sovereign rights over the resources under its EEZ.
The Philippines needs to enact the law to affirm its commitment to the UNCLOS, which it ratified in 1982.
The international treaty states that signatory countries should define their territorial sea and internal waters.
However, no such measure is included in the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council list of priority bills.
Earlier, Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap warned that the country’s claim to the ECS may be forfeited if Congress fails to craft a law that will legitimize and strengthen the country’s stake on the baselines before the May 2009 deadline.
He noted that the ECS areas are rich in fishery and mineral resources.
A. D. B. Romero, BusinessWorld
The peso exchange rate closed lower at P40.75 to the US dollar yesterday at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) from P40.455 last Friday. The weighted average rate depreciated to P40.662 from P40.457. Total volume amounted to $ 615.12 million.
SEOUL, South Korea - Asian markets tumbled Monday as investors reacted nervously to a steep decline on Wall Street Friday after disappointing economic and corporate news renewed worries the US economy was sliding into a recession.
Japan's benchmark index sank 4 percent, while Australia's market fell 3 percent and key indices in South Korea and Hong Kong were down nearly that much.
Investors in Asia dumped shares after a series of depressing economic and corporate reports Friday out of the United States, a vital export market for Asia, sent the Dow Jones industrial average falling 315.79, or 2.51 percent, to 12,266.39.
The bad news included poor quarterly results from American International Group Inc. and Dell Inc. and weaker-than-expected results on the Chicago purchasing managers index.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index lost 4.01 percent to 13,057.09 points by midday.
Japanese stocks were also pushed down by the dollar's slide against the yen, which erodes earnings at the nation's vital exporters. The dollar fell to 102.92 yen, its lowest point since Jan. 28, 2005. By late morning in Tokyo, the dollar bought 103.04 yen, down from 103.96 yen late Friday in New York.
Asian markets, which have fallen much of the year so far, had staged a modest recovery through the middle of last week, but pessimism returned Monday.
Hong Kong's blue chip Hang Seng index plunged more than 3 percent at the opening. By late morning, it was down 2.6 percent at 23,698.65.
In Seoul, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index was down 2.9 percent to 1,662.29 in late morning trading. And in Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 3.1 percent to 5,401.2. - AP
MANILA, Philippines- Philippine share prices fell sharply on Monday as players went on a buying spree inspired by concerns over the United States economy and the political uncertainty in the domestic front, analysts said.
The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped 50 points or 1.58 percent to 3,079.99 while the all-share index slipped 24.91 points or some 1.30 percent to 1,896.25.
Losers trounced gainer 67 to 29 while 42 stocks were flat. Volume traded reached 788.8 million valued at P2.59 billion.
Emmanuel Soller, EquitiWorld Securities stockbroker, said the Dow Jones' huge losses last Friday plus the political tension on demands by various sector for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign pulled down the market.
"The Dow Jones and Asian markets were down and also with out political situation, it will probably test the 2,950 level," he said.
Wall Street lost 315.79, or 2.51 percent over the weekend on renewed concerns over a weakening US economy.
Soller added that if for the rest of the week, no other major political development will take place the bourse will continue its consolidation with a downward bias.
Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. slid P100 or 3.45 percent to P2,800.Conglomerate Ayala Corp. declined P10 or 2.30 percent to P425.
Developer Ayala Land Inc. jumped P0.25 or 2.13 percent to P12.
Bank of the Philippine Islands, an Ayala Corp. unit, skidded P0.50 or 0.90 percent to P55.
Philex Mining Corp., the country's largest miner, rose P0.10 or 1.08 percent to P9.30.
source: Cheryl Arcibal,
GMANews.TV
