Friday, September 4, 2009

When Facebook turns fatal

On March 2, 26-year-old Hayley Jones changed her Facebook status from "married" to "single." Ten days later, the mother of four and longtime girlfriend of 31-year-old Brian Lewis, was dead.

Murdered in her UK home and found by her children, aged 3 to 10, Jones had been spending more time online as her relationship of 13 years unraveled.

"Hayley started to expand her social life and was spending a lot of time on internet sites, in particular Facebook," prosecutor Mark Evans told the court, according to the BBC.

Jones and her boyfriend referred to themselves as married, but the prosecutor argued that she had made it clear to the boyfriend that their relationship was over. Although she reportedly kept her Facebook activity private, Lewis told friends that he would not lose her to another man.

Court reports offer differing arguments about why the couple's relationship was ending. One rationale is that Lewis lost his job, placing financial strain on the family. The other is that Jones was spending too much time online.

"Lewis told police the only tension between him and Hayley was the use of the home computer," the prosecutor told the court.

Lewis allegedly stabbed Jones with a kitchen knife while she was sleeping. Lewis reportedly called police but fled before they arrived at the scene. In the interim, Lewis and Jones' children discovered their mother's body. Jones' was fatally wounded through three layers of clothing and two bags that covered her.

Lewis later turned himself into authorities but now denies that he killed his girlfriend.

While the trial continues and the life of a young mother is mourned, it is worth noting how violence within relationships seeps into all aspects of daily living. While abuse between partners often only occurs behind closed doors, it is common for work, friendships, family, church, and other parts of a victim's life to be brought in to play to attempt to justify the violence. In a 2.0 world, it was sadly only a matter of time before social network sites and status updates would be pulled in to rationalize horrific acts such as this one.

I wonder if and how we can protect people who are at risk for abuse -- or even murder -- by their partners while they are online. Although virtual friendships and support networks can greatly impact our health and well-being, I wonder if it is even possible to prevent abusers from infiltrating sites that make us feel like we are surrounded by friends.

This isn't the first time a Facebook status update has spurred a murder.
And as much as I hate to say it, I can't imagine it will be the last.

What do you think we can do to protect ourselves and our own social network tribe from being the victim of a crime like this?

Have you ever felt unsafe about publishing your relationship status online?

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Where Germs Hang Out

Who knew there was a "Hygiene Council", comprised of global experts in the field of public health and infectious disease? These folks actually conduct an Annual International Home Hygiene Study. Keep in mind that one of the corporate sponsors of the council is Lysol, but, who cares as long as they tell us where germs hang out. Well, here is what the 2009 survey of bacteria and viruses found out about where the germs linger:TV remote . This is no surprise to me, considering how the men in my home hold and protect the remote like it is precious gold.
Tub and shower. I would think the germs would be washed away with the soap, but apparently they linger. (Lysol anyone?)
Pet food dishes. My cat demands a fresh, clean dish with each meal so no problem here.
Kitchen sponges. (Came in at number 1) Put them in the dishwasher on the hot cycle.
Microwave touch screen. Think about the microwave at work. The medical term is "Ewwww!"
Light Switches. (Lysol anyone?)
Baby changing table. Isn't this one just common sense?
Kitchen faucets. (looks like another call for Lysol)
I appreciate these Hygiene folks, measuring the bacteria counts so we can all feel safer. Compared to Health Care Reform, this subject is just warm and fuzzy.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Trouble Sleeping? Just Breathe

If your mind is racing and you are having difficulty falling asleep, a few minutes of simple but effective breathing exercises can help calm your nervous system on a chemical level and lead to greater success in hitting the sack. The awareness and control of breath has been a central component of yoga, martial arts and Taoism for thousands of years. There are dozens of different methods and exercises you can explore through a good teacher or book. The practice of breath control in yoga is called pranayama. I'll detail a simple pranayama exercise here that is particularly effective for falling asleep called alternate nostril breathing (that's "nadi shodana" for the Sanskrit posse out there).
Alternate nostril breathing is a great way to clear obstructed nostrils, balance the yin and yang energy of the body and focusing the busy mind on the present for a deliberate and calming exercise. When our nostrils are unobstructed, we involuntarily alternate breathing through one or the other about every two hours. Breathing through your right nostril stimulates the left side of the brain (intellectual, analytical, rational thought) and prepares the body for physical action (yang energy). Breathing through your left nostril stimulates the right side of the brain (creative, emotional thought) and prepares the body for passive mental activity (yin energy). If both nostrils are not clear, breathing will become imbalanced and so will the energy in your body.

When you are feeling restless at bedtime, head outside (weather permitting obviously, but even in wintertime, you can certainly spend a couple minutes on a balcony or porch in brisk air), sit in a comfortable chair and begin the exercise. You will likely have a really hard time focusing your mind on only the breathing exercise. Establish a rule that whenever your mind wanders away from the breathing exercise to other random thoughts, you have to start over. With practice, you'll develop the esteemed ability to relax and center -- not just to calm the mind for bed but any time the stresses of life are closing in.�

Alternate nostril breathing is performed as follows: Take one hand up to your face for blocking nostrils. For example, your right thumb will close off your right nostril while your right index or middle finger will close off your left nostril. Block off the right nostril and inhale fully (notice how your inhale and exhale will be slower since you are only using one nostril). Pause at the completion of your inhale and switch nostrils by using your finger to block the left nostril and releasing your thumb from the right nostril. Exhale through the right nostril, inhale through the right nostril, then pause and switch to exhale through the left nostril. Thus, you switch nostrils in the middle of the breath cycle. To complete a cycle of 10 breaths, count each inhale/exhale as one. After your complete your breathing session, you can return to bed with a calm brain and hopefully induce a good night's sleep.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

12 outdated tech terms

If you're old enough to understand the reference in this headline -- George Carlin, anyone? -- then you're old enough to need a refresher course when it comes to talking about technology.


We've put together a list of outdated tech terms, phrases that you shouldn't be using at work anymore because they will make you seem old. This is especially true if you're looking for a new job. For example, on an interview, you should be talking about "cloud computing," not "ASPs" even though they are basically the same thing.

This list is useful for 20-somethings, too. Now when the senior person in the office uses one of these terms, you'll know what he's talking about.

1. Intranet

Popular in the mid-90s, the term "intranet" referred to a private network running the Internet Protocol and other Internet standards such as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It was also used to describe an internal Web site that was hosted behind a firewall and was accessible only to employees. Today, every private network runs IP. So you can just use the term virtual private network or VPN to describe a private IP-based network.

2. Extranet

An "extranet" referred to private network connections based on Internet standards such as IP and HTTP that extended outside an organization, such as between business partners. Extranets often replaced point-to-point electronic data interchange (EDI) connections that used standards such as X12. Today, companies provide suppliers, resellers and other members of their supply chain with access to their VPNs.

3. Web Surfing

When is the last time you heard someone talk about surfing the Web? You know the term is out of date when your kids don't know what it means. To teens and tweens, the Internet and the World Wide Web are one and the same thing. So it's better to use the term "browsing" the Web if you want to be understood.

4. Push Technology

The debate over the merits of "push" versus "pull" technology came to a head in 1996 with the release of the PointCast Network, a Web service that sent a steady stream of news to subscribers. However, PointCast and other push technology services required too much network bandwidth. Eventually, push technology evolved into RSS feeds, which remain the preferred method for publishing information to subscribers of the Internet. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

5. Application Service Provider (ASP)

During this decade, the term "Application Service Provider" evolved into "Software-as-a-Service." Both terms refer to a vendor hosting a software application and providing access to it over the Web. Customers buy the software on a subscription basis, rather than having to own and operate it themselves. ASP was a hot term prior to the dot-com bust. Then it was replaced by "SaaS." Now it's cool to talk about "cloud computing."

6. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

Coined by former Apple CEO John Sculley back in 1992 when he unveiled the Apple Newton, the term "personal digital assistant" referred to a handheld computer. PDA was still in use in 1996, when the Palm Pilot was the hottest handheld in corporate America. Today, the preferred generic term for a handheld like a Blackberry or an iPhone is a "smartphone".

7. Internet Telephony

You need to purge the term "Internet telephony" from your vocabulary and switch to VoIP, for Voice over IP. Even the term VoIP is getting old-fashioned because pretty soon all telephone calls will be routed over the Internet rather than the Public Switched Telephone Network. It's probably time to stop referring to the PSTN, too, because it is headed for the history books as all voice, data and video traffic is carried on the Internet.

8. Weblog

A blog is a shortened version of "Weblog," a term that emerged in the late 1990s to describe commentary that an individual publishes online. It spawned many words still in use such as "blogger" and "blogosphere." Nowadays, few people have time to blog so they are "microblogging," which is another word that's heading out the door as people turn Twitter into a generic term for blasting out 140-character observations or opinions.

9. Thin Client

You have to give Larry Ellison credit for seeing many of the flaws in the client/server computing architecture and for popularizing the term "thin client" to refer to Oracle's alternative terminal-like approach. In 1993, Ellison was touting thin clients as a way for large organizations to improve network security and manageability. Although thin clients never replaced PCs, the concept is similar to "virtual desktops" that are gaining popularity today as a way of supporting mobile workers.

10. Rboc

In 1984, the U.S. government forced AT&T to split up into seven Regional Bell Operating Companies [RBOCs] also known as Baby Bells. Customers bought local service from RBOCs and long-distance service from carriers such as AT&T. Telecom industry mergers over the last 15 years have formed integrated local- and long-distance carriers such as AT&T, Verizon and Qwest. This makes not only the term RBOC obsolete, but also the terms ILEC for Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier [i.e., GTE] and CLEC for Competitive Local Exchange Carrier [i.e., MFS].

11. Long-Distance Call

Thanks to flat-rate calling plans available from carriers for at least five years, nobody needs to distinguish between local and long-distance calls anymore. Similarly, you don't need to distinguish between terrestrial and wireless calls because so many people use only wireless services. Like pay phones, long-distance calls -- and their premium prices -- are relics of a past without national and unlimited calling plans.

12. World Wide Web

Nobody talks about the "World Wide Web" anymore, or the "Information Superhighway," for that matter. It's just the Internet. It's a distinction that Steve Czaban, the popular Fox Sports Radio talk show host, likes to mock when he refers to the "Worldwide Interweb." Nothing dates you more than pulling out one of those old-fashioned ways of referring to the Internet such as "infobahn" or "electronic highway."

Monday, August 24, 2009

Official: Coroner says Jackson died from lethal dose of propofol

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Pop star Michael Jackson died from a lethal dose of the powerfulanesthetic propofol given in a cocktail of drugs, leading authorities to suspect his doctor of manslaughter, court documents showed on Monday.

The "Thriller" singer suffered cardiac arrest and died on June 25 at age 50. Since then, an investigation by state and federal agencies have focused on Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal doctor who was at his bedside the day he died.

The findings, contained in a warrant to search Murray's home and offices, paint a picture of an insomniac pop star who could not sleep without heavy medication. Jackson sought out propofol -- routinely used to sedate patients and anesthetize them before surgeries such as a colonoscopy -- and called it his "milk."

"The Los Angeles Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner, Dr. (Lakshmanan) Sathyavagiswaran, indicated that he had reviewed the preliminary toxicology results and his preliminary assessment of Jackson's cause of death was due to lethal levels of propofol (diprivan)," according to a warrant to search Murray's offices issued by California.

The document was unsealed and released by the Harris County District Clerk in Houston, where Murray has an office. U.S. agents raided the office on July 22.

In an affidavit seeking the warrant, Houston police officer E.G. Chance said U.S. agents had gathered "items constituting evidence of the offense of manslaughter that tend to show that Dr. Conrad Murray committed the said criminal offense."

Murray's attorney, Ed Chernoff, was not available to comment.

In a statement, a representative said Jackson's family has "full confidence in the legal process, and commends the ongoing efforts of the L.A. County Coroner, the L.A. District Attorney and the L.A. Police Department."

Murray, who was with Jackson on June 25 administering drugs to ease the pop star to sleep, gave him a range of medication including a 25-milligram dose of propofol via an intravenous drip at 10:40 a.m. PDT, the state search warrant said.

Jackson was "very familiar" with propofol and referred to it as his "milk" because of its milky appearance, the warrant said. Murray, who had been treating Jackson for about six weeks leading up to his death, was worried that Jackson was addicted to propofol. Murray was trying to wean him off the drug by giving him smaller doses, it said.

Jason Hymes, an assistant clinical professor at the University of Southern California who is not associated with the case, said the drug was a true anesthetic. "You administer it to somebody and then operate on them ... This concept of giving somebody a general anesthetic for sleep disturbance strikes me as just bizarre and astoundingly inappropriate."

In the early hours of June 25, Murray also gave Jackson doses of anti-anxiety medications Valium and Ativan and sedative Versed, the filing said.

Jackson went to sleep after Murray gave him the propofol, and Murray stayed by his side for about 10 minutes, then left "to go to the restroom and relieve himself," the search warrant said.

Murray was out of Jackson's room for about 2 minutes and when he returned, Jackson was no longer breathing, the warrant said.

Boy or Girl? 38 Fun Ways to Guess Your Baby's Sex

What could be more fun than trying to guess the sex of your baby-to-be? Everyone wants to get in the game. Don't be surprised if someone you've never met stops you at the grocery store, offering a prediction of your baby's gender. For hundreds of years, expecting moms have relied on time-tested methods of guessing their baby's sex. Even though these old wives' tales are far from foolproof, they are certainly more fun than their more reliable successors, amniocentesis and ultrasound. Enjoy guessing your baby's sex!


It's a boy if:

You didn't experience morning sickness in early pregnancy
Your baby's heart rate is less than 140 beats per minute
You are carrying the extra weight out front
Your belly looks like a basketball
Your areolas have darkened considerably
You are carrying low
You are craving salty or sour foods
You are craving protein -- meats and cheese
Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy
The hair on your legs has grown faster during pregnancy
Your hands are very dry
Your pillow faces north when you sleep
Dad-to-be is gaining weight, right along with you
Pregnancy has you looking better than ever
Your urine is bright yellow in color
Your nose is spreading
You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves in circles
You are having headaches
You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an even number

It's a girl if:
You had morning sickness early in pregnancy
Your baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute
You are carrying the weight in your hips and rear
Your left breast is larger than your right breast
Your hair develops red highlights
You are carrying high
Your belly looks like a watermelon
You are craving sweets
You are craving fruit
You crave orange juice
You don't look quite as good as normal during pregnancy
You are moodier than usual during pregnancy
Your face breaks out more than usual
You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread
Your breasts have really blossomed!
Your pillow faces south when you sleep
Your urine is a dull yellow color
You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves from side to side
You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an odd number.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

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you should try this... FUN is the word!

create your own image--tattoodle it!

visit http://www.tattoodle.com/

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Corazon "Cory" Aquino Funeral Draws Tens Of Thousands

MANILA, Philippines - Huge crowds reminiscent of the 1986 "people power" demonstration took to Manila's streets Monday to honor the passing of former President Corazon Aquino, who captured the hearts of Filipinos by ousting a brutal dictator and keeping democracy alive in the Philippines.

The flag-draped coffin of Aquino, who died Saturday after a yearlong battle with colon cancer, was paraded atop a flatbed truck along the streets where the hundreds of thousands of protesters she inspired had faced down army tanks 23 years ago and toppled Ferdinand Marcos.

Tens of thousands of mourners left their offices, schools and homes and converged on streets and overpasses, clutching yellow balloons, waving yellow ribbons and showering yellow confetti from high-rises on to Aquino's casket. Yellow was her signature color and the symbol of the nonviolent mass movement that ushered in an era of democracy after 20 years of authoritarian rule.Manila's notorious traffic came to a standstill as the cortege inched on its five-hour procession through the city, including Ayala Avenue, where Aquino led many pro-democracy marches. Motorists rolled down windows and put out their hands to flash Aquino's trademark "L" sign for "laban," or "fight" in Filipino, the key slogan of the anti-Marcos campaign.

"I really just appreciate the love," said daughter Kris Aquino of Monday's gathering. "Everybody's saying thank you to us for sharing my mom."

At a time when some fear for the future of Philippine democracy, or at least are skeptical about the intentions of its politicians, Monday's gathering transcended class and wealth, underscoring the groundswell of public feeling that propelled the "people power" uprising of 1986.

Nuns, priests, students, wealthy residents and their uniformed maids all jostled for space on the crowded sidewalks and people repeatedly chanted her name. Company employees watched from the windows of towering office blocks. Women, some dressed in black, wept. A man on a bicycle released four doves.

"Thank You Corazon Aquino" and "You're Not Alone" -- another Aquino slogan -- was emblazoned from huge banners. Even the Philippine Stock Exchange's streetside neon screen eschewed the usual ticker of stock prices and flashed Aquino's portrait and a message: "Goodbye Cory."

The funeral convoy briefly stopped at a monument to Aquino's husband, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. -- whose 1983 assassination upon his return from U.S. exile to challenge Marcos would propel Corazon Aquino to the forefront of the anti-Marcos opposition movement.

The dictator, a stalwart U.S. ally, finally fell after claiming victory over Aquino in a 1986 election widely seen as fraudulent. A group of military officers rebelled against him, triggering the three days of protests by hundreds of thousands that finally toppled Marcos.

Ever since, political mass movements in the Philippines are invariably likened or compared to that watershed in the history of the former American colony.

Businesswoman Bing Cuchatin, who wore a yellow blouse and hair ribbon, said the memory of Aquino will continue to be a potent weapon against any threats to democracy.

"There is only one Cory and she's really a big, big loss," Cuchatin said. "But there are so many now who stand for her ideals."

However, after she took office in 1986 following Marcos' ouster, Aquino struggled to meet high public expectations. Her land redistribution program fell short of ending economic domination by the landed elite. Her leadership, especially in social and economic reform, was often indecisive, leaving many of her closest allies disillusioned by the end of her term.

Still, the bespectacled, smiling woman remained beloved in the Philippines, where she was affectionately referred to as "Tita (Auntie) Cory."

She stepped down in 1992 after serving for six years.

Since her death on Saturday, the casket had been open for public viewing at a school stadium. It was finally driven Monday to Manila Cathedral, where her children, former Cabinet members and fellow pro-democracy activists gathered for a Mass.

Her body will lie in state for public viewing until Wednesday's private funeral. She will be buried beside her husband.

In a rare conciliatory gesture, Aquino's youngest daughter Kris said her mother had forgiven all her political enemies, including Marcos.

Nevertheless, Kris Aquino said her family refused current President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's offer of a state funeral because the government had attempted to recall two soldiers assigned to guard her mother when she was still alive. Former Philippine presidents traditionally have the right to retain at least two guards.

Aquino's only son, Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, said the family would not be too enthusiastic to see Arroyo at the funeral but she could pay her respects.

Months before she was diagnosed with cancer, Aquino joined street protests organized amid opposition fears that Arroyo could amend the country's 1987 constitution to lift term limits or impose martial law to stay in power when her term ends next year. Arroyo has said she has no desire to extend her term.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Gloria’s 9th: Boastful, apologetic – or both

Today President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will deliver her valedictory State of the Nation Address (SONA). The act is the highest level of public accountability for the president that is mandated in the Philippine Constitution – for the country’s chief executive to report to Congress, the bureaucracy, and the Filipino people on the state of the nation.
The question is which Arroyo will show up to deliver the SONA: A boastful, triumphant Arroyo, who will take credit for the Philippine economy’s uninterrupted expansion during her watch or an apologetic Arroyo, who has caused so much pain and misery for a lot of Filipinos and has managed to damage, in varying degrees, existing democratic institutions?

Surely, she will try to take full credit for the performance of the economy during her decade-long reign. That strategy is both risky and inappropriate. Risky, since the economy after growing at its peak in 2007 is now heading south – 3.8 percent GDP growth in 2008, and is projected to slow to zero growth in 2009 and to 2.0 percent in 2010.

The economy therefore grew at an average of 4.09 percent during the 10-year period. That, however, is much less than Estrada’s performance of 4.7 percent (3.4 percent GDP growth in 1999 and 6.0 percent in 2000), and slightly better than Ramos’s average of 3.6 percent from 2003 to 2008 or Aquino’s average of 3.34 percent from 1986 to 1992.

But a comparison of economic performance on the basis of GDP numbers as the only criterion is inappropriate for a number of reasons. First, the terms of office of post-Marcos presidents are uneven. Arroyo would end up serving for 9.5 years or almost a decade, followed by Aquino (seven years), Ramos (six years), and Estrada (2.5 years). Second, the national income accounts system was revised twice during Arroyo’s watch, which means the GDP numbers in recent years may not be comparable with those in earlier years. Third, Professor Felipe Medalla of the U.P. School of Economics has raised several methodological and measurement questions on recent GDP numbers. To date, his questions have yet to be answered by government statisticians.

More importantly, though, the government cannot claim full credit for the country’s economic performance because there are factors that affect economic growth that are beyond its control. The government doesn’t control the weather, which affects agriculture immensely in monsoon Asia. A devastating El Nino or a La Nina could spell a big difference on whether agriculture output would be robust or weak.

The more open the economy, the more it is subject to the vicissitudes of the outside world.
While the rest of the world was on a rapid, sustained growth, the Philippine economy benefited through galloping overseas remittances, stronger exports, and higher foreign direct investments. This happened during Arroyo’s watch and she’s been trying to claim credit for it.
But she has nothing to do with the sustained global expansion. And with the sudden reversal of fortune, when the financial bubbles burst, and with the world economy now in a full-blown economic crisis, the Philippine economy has significantly slowed. Unfortunately for Arroyo, this also happened during her watch.
Source: Government sources; author’s own projections for 2009 and 2010

The world economic crisis exposed the long-term reforms that any Philippine president should have addressed seriously and which Arroyo failed to do: the diversification of Philippine exports, the overdependence on overseas migrant workers, the rapid population growth rate, agricultural modernization, and fiscal sustainability.

At the very least, a meaningful way of evaluating economic performance is whether a particular administration has met its own targets. The assumption is that at the time the targets were set, government authorities have enough information to know the available resources, technology, and government capability to meet the targets.

Using this performance criterion, the economy grew much less than planned levels, except for 2004 and 2007, both election years. But the ongoing economic crisis, the gap between the planned level and projected level will be much more serious during Arroyo’s final years: 2008, 2009, and 2010.
An even more important way of evaluating economic performance is whether the people’s well-being has improved. For the common man, the impact of the economy on employment, poverty alleviation, and hunger mitigation is more important than the GDP number.

Better or worse?

An appropriate question is: are Filipinos better off now than when Arroyo took power in 2001? Do they have decent, stable jobs or are they either unemployed or underemployed? Are they poorer or richer? Do they eat regularly or do they go hungry occasionally?

In her first SONA, Arroyo spoke about her “vision of winning the war against poverty within the decade." But after almost nine years, she is fast losing that war. Poverty worsened from 2003 to 2006 using official government statistics. And with high inflation and food prices in 2008 and rising joblessness, it is reasonable to expect poverty to worsen in 2009. At current expectations of slow recovery, it is highly unlikely that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving poverty by 2015 will be met, even as neighboring countries (Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia) succeed in rapidly reducing poverty.
Arroyo promised to create 10 million jobs or about 1.5 million jobs annually from 2004 to 2010. She’s way short of her target. Worse, the decent jobs in manufacturing continued to disappear while more part-time, less secure jobs were created.
On her first SONA she promised food on every table, but that also did not happen. Instead, the Philippines became the world’s number one importer of rice. And almost nine years after that first SONA, hunger incidence has reached its peak at 23.7 percent, according to a recent Social Weather Stations survey.

Unemployment, poverty, and hunger are interrelated. Survey results show that unemployment and hunger go together. This reveals the weakness of the Philippine social-protection program, which provides very little protection for those who are needy, including those who lose their jobs. The incidence of hunger is a problem that has been exacerbated by the ongoing economic crisis, and it has progressively worsened under the Arroyo administration.
Budget mismanagement

But should all these surprise us? Despite the large increases in the national budgets during the last nine years, education, health, and public infrastructure did not get the priority they deserved. From 2000 to 2009, funding for public infrastructure has been modest at less than 1.5 percent of GDP.
President Arroyo undermined existing budget institutions. The budget process should be transparent and predictable. Yet Arroyo revealed her disrespect for the constitutional process by habitually operating on reenacted budget. None of her nine regular budgets were approved on time; usually, there is a full quarter delay. In three of her nine years, she ran the government for the full year without an approved budget. She has pushed executive action to its limits by exercising the power of the purse under the shroud of secrecy.

Grading Gloria

In her earlier SONA, Arroyo tried to sum up her vision of governance using a catchy phrase, Beat the Odds (B for balanced budget; E for education for all; A for automated elections; T for transport and digital infrastructure; T for terminating NPA/MILF hostilities; H for healing the wounds of EDSA 1,2 and 3; E for electricity and water for all; O for opportunity to create 10 million jobs; D for decongest Metro Manila; and DS for develop Subic-Clark hub).

Let’s rate President Arroyo on whether she has met or likely to meet her Beat the Odds goals and objectives using the U.P. grading system: 1(Excellent), 1.25, 1.5(Very Good), 1.75, 2.0(Good), 2.25, 2.5(Satisfactory), 2.75, 3.0(Pass), 4.0(Conditional Failure), and 5.0(Fail).
Balanced budget: Arroyo incurred large national government deficits during her early years: P211 billion in 2002, P200 billion in 2003, and P147 billion in 2004. And after cutting the budget deficit to P12 billion in 2007 (aided by severe spending compression and hefty one-time privatization proceeds of P91 billion), she is expected to exit with a large deficit of P250 billion this year and another P200 plus billion deficit next year. As a result, national government public debt would more than double: from P2.2 trillion as of end 2000, it will balloon to a new high of P4.5 trillion to P4.75 trillion by end June 2010. Preliminary final grade: 5.0

Education for all: Arroyo neglected basic elementary and secondary education during her first six years. As a result, despite her catch-up plan, progress in education has been slow and uneven. Key MDG targets will surely be missed. Net enrollment ratio has worsened – from 96.8 percent in 2000 to 83.3 percent in 2006. Translation: 17 out of 100 children of school age are out school. What would these children do in the future? The Arroyo administration is in denial and confuses inputs (school buildings, textbooks, etc.) with outputs and outcomes (better test scores, higher literacy). Grade: 4.0

Automated elections: The Commission on Elections failed to do it in 2004 and 2007. There is a fair chance that the 2010 national and local elections will be automated. But the poll automation is the responsibility of a separate, independent constitutional commission. Still, it could be Arroyo’s positive contribution to the democratic process if the 2010 elections, against all odds based on her past electoral behavior, turn out to be honest, orderly, and peaceful. Grade: Incomplete. (This is work in progress.)

Transport and digital infrastructure: The government has underinvested in public infrastructure. The promised additional light rail transit systems in Metro Manila have yet to be started. The existing three systems are not even linked, though work has been started. The digital infrastructure is happening through private telecommunication firms, which suggests that there was really no need for the corruption-laden NBN-ZTE project. Grade: 3.0

Terminating NPA/MILF hostilities: Both NPA and MILF remain capable of harassing government troops. Mindanao remains to be a battleground for Muslim rebels and government armed forces, and there appears to be no end to the conflict. The probability of having peace in Mindanao is much lower now than when Arroyo assumed office in 2001. Grade: 5.0

Healing the wounds of EDSA 1, 2 and 3 forces: But the country is more divided now than in 2001. There is even a serious rift within EDSA 2 forces. Grade: 5.0

Electricity and water for all: No additional power capacity was built during Arroyo’s term. Intermittent power failures are already being experienced in parts of the Visayas and Mindanao. And a return of the power crisis is likely in 2011. It could be sooner where it not for the severe economic slowdown, which muted demand for power. Water supply in Metro Manila has improved, but that was the outcome of decisions made during the term of Ramos (no credit for Arroyo). The appointment of a politician as head of the Local Water Utilities Administration is a negative. Grade: 3.0

Opportunity to create 10 million jobs: The government’s goal is to create 1.5 million new jobs every year. But from 2005 to date, only about 600,000 jobs were created yearly, and only 430,000 jobs if unpaid family workers were excluded. Decent jobs, mostly in manufacturing, were lost. These jobs were replaced by part-time, less paying jobs in agriculture and the informal service sectors. The rising number of overseas workers is proof that all’s not well in the domestic economy, and that the government has failed to provide enough jobs for Filipinos at home. And by being the top importer of rice, we’re giving up jobs at home and creating jobs for Vietnamese and Thais. Grade: 4.0

Decongest Metro Manila: The idea is not well thought out in the light of the ongoing world economic crisis. The trend for the future is to have denser cities, where people live where they work. The growing urban centers, however, have to be connected to the lagging rural areas. Yet since the idea to relocate the Department of Agrarian Reform to Iloilo, the Department of Tourism to Cebu, and the Department of Agriculture to Davao, is senseless, the failure to implement it may not be bad after all.Grade: 3.0

Develop Subic-Clark hub: The hub was thought out by Ramos, funded under Estrada (through the Obuchi Plan), and implemented by Arroyo. It is a worthwhile project. But project implementation was delayed and financed at large cost overrun, a characteristic of many GMA projects. Grade: 2.75

Preliminary Final Grade: 3.86 or 4.0 (Conditional Failure). Arroyo’s dismal performance supports the view that the EDSA 2 political adventure was a monumental mistake. It has set back the country’s democratic process and poverty reduction programs by almost a decade. As a society and a people, we’re worse off now than when Arroyo took power in 2001 – while our Asian neighbors continue to march forward, despite the world economic crisis.

Governance scorecard

Arroyo’s failure to move the economy and the government forward on a lot of government’s goals and objective may be attributed to various aspects of governance. What was the Philippine governance rating before Arroyo took power and what is it now?
On voice and accountability, in 2000, the Philippines’ rating was 54.3-percentile rank (that is, the Philippines was better than 54.3 percent of all countries in the study). By 2008, the rating had regressed to 41.3 percent. Political assassinations, incidents of summary killings, unfavorable reports on human rights violation by UN agencies, and many attempts to muzzle the press have not helped the Arroyo administration.
On political stability, there was a sharp drop in rating: from 26.0 percentile rank in 2000 to 10.5 in 2008. The Philippines is better than only one out of 10 countries among the 212 countries and territories surveyed.

On government effectiveness, there has been an improvement from 49.3 percentile rank in 2000 to 55.0 in 2008.

On regulatory quality, there has been a regression from 56.6 percentile rank in 2000 to 51.7 in 2008.

On the rule of law, there has been a slight improvement: from a 36.7 percentile rank in 2000 to 39.7 in 2008. But, the Philippines hit rough patches during the early years of the Arroyo administration. The rule of law dipped to 36.2 percentile rank in 2002, 33.3 in 2003, and 33.8 in 2004, a reminder of the extra-constitutional way by which Arroyo was installed to power.

On control of corruption, the deterioration was quite severe: from 36.4 percentile rank in 2000 to 26.1 in 2008. The 2008 ranking was a slight improvement compared to the 22.2 ranking in 2007, when congressional investigations of high profile allegations of corruption such as the NBN-ZTE and fertilizer scams were at their peak.

During Arroyo’s watch, there has been a serious deterioration in four of six aspects of governance. The governance ratings are not just numbers, unfortunately. Better governance, according to the World Bank study, strengthens development, and not the other way around.
Poor governance has an impact on how poorly the Philippines fared in its fight against poverty and its desire to improve the living standards of Filipinos.

Lost decade

The state of economic affairs is one where people’s welfare has been set back for about a decade. More people and families are poorer now than when Arroyo assumed power in 2001. More workers are jobless and underemployed now than before. And more people are likely to go hungry now than a decade ago.


As a result, people are dissatisfied with Arroyo as shown by her negative net satisfaction rating during the second half of her decade-long term. She has the worst net satisfaction rating among all post-Marcos presidents.

Ten years after, government finances are on shakier ground. Taxes-to-GDP ratio is much lower, going back to levels seen in the Marcos years, and national public debt would have more than doubled. In 2000, every Filipino had a debt burden of P25,991. By July 1, 2010, the amount is expected to double to P50,492. Under an unchanged condition, with the huge chunk of the national budget going to debt service, Arroyo’s successor can do very little to improve the people’s welfare.

As President Arroyo exits Malacanang, she will transmit to her successor a nation that is on the brink of financial collapse, hardly able to fund any program that would feed, educate, and take care of the health needs of its people.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

What is Dementia? What Causes Dementia? Symptoms of Dementia


The word dementia comes from the Latin de meaning "apart" and mens from the genitive mentis meaning "mind". Dementia is the progressive deterioration in cognitive function - the ability to process thought (intelligence). Progressive means the symptoms will gradually get worse. The deterioration is more than might be expected from normal aging and is due to damage or disease. Damage could be due to a stroke, while an example of a disease might be Alzheimer's.
Dementia is a set of signs and symptoms
Dementia is a non-specific syndrome in which affected areas of brain function may be affected, such as memory, language, problem solving and attention. Dementia, unlike Alzheimer's, is not a disease in itself. When dementia appears the higher mental functions of the patient are involved initially. Eventually, in the later stages, the person may not know what day of the week, month or year it is, he may not know where he is, and might not be able to identify the people around him.

Dementia is significantly more common among elderly people. However, it can affect adults of any age.
What are the symptoms of dementia?

* Memory loss - the patient may forget his way back home from the shops. He may forget names and places. He may find it hard to remember what happened earlier on during the day.

* Moodiness - the patient may become more and more moody as parts of the brain that control emotion become damaged. Moods may also be affected by fear and anxiety - the patient is frightened about what is happening to him.

* Communicative difficulties - the affected person finds it harder to talk read and/or write.

As the dementia progresses, the patient's ability to carry out everyday tasks diminishes and he may not be able to look after himself.
Diseases that cause dementia

brain neurones
* Alzheimer's disease - This is by far the most common cause of dementia. The chemistry and structure of the brain of a person with Alzheimer's disease changes and his brain cells die prematurely.

* Stroke (Vascular problems) - this means problems with blood vessels (veins and arteries). Our brain needs a good supply of oxygen-rich blood. If this supply is undermined in any way our brain cells could die - causing symptoms of vascular dementia. Symptoms may appear suddenly, or gradually. A major stroke will cause symptoms to appear suddenly while a series of mini strokes will not.

* Dementia with Lewy bodies - spherical structures develop inside nerve cells. Brain cells are nerve cells; they form part of our nervous system. These spherical structures in the brain damage brain tissue. The patient's memory, concentration and ability to speak are affected. Dementia with Lewy bodies is sometimes mistaken for Parkinson's disease because the symptoms are fairly similar.

* Fronto-temporal dementia - this includes Pick's disease. The front part of the brain is damaged. The patient's behavior and personality are affected first, later his memory changes.

* Other diseases - progressive supranuclear palsy, Korsakoff's syndrome, Binswanger's disease, HIV and AIDS, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Dementia is also more common among patients who suffer from Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Motor Neurone disease and Multiple Sclerosis. People who suffer from AIDS sometimes go on to develop cognitive impairment.

There are two main categories of dementia
According to most experts, there are two main categories of dementia - cortical and subcortical dementias.

* Cortical Dementia - The cerebral cortex is affected. This is the outer layer of the brain. The cerebral cortex is vital for cognitive processes, such as language and memory. Alzheimer's disease is a form of cortical dementia, as is CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).

* Subcortical Dementia - A part of the brain beneath the cortex (deeper inside) becomes affected or damaged. Language and memory are not usually affected. A patient with subcortical dementia will usually experience changes in his personality, his thinking may slow down, and his attention span may be shortened. Dementias which sometimes result from Parkinson's disease are subcortical dementias, as are those caused by AIDS and Huntington's disease.

A patient with multi-infarct dementia will have both the cortical and subcortical parts of the brain affected or damaged.
Diagnosis of dementia
Although there are some brief tests, a more reliable diagnosis needs to be carried out by a specialist, such as a geriatric internist, geriatric psychiatrist, neurologist, neuropsychologist or geropsychologist.

The following tests are commonly used:

* AMTS (Abbreviated Mental Test Score) A score lower than six out of ten suggests a need for further evaluation.
* MMSE (Mini Mental State Examination) A score lower than twenty-four out of thirty suggests a need for further evaluation)
* 3MS (Modified Mini-Mental State Examination)
* CASI (Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument)

It is important that the patient's score is interpreted in context with his socio-economic, educational and cultural background. The tester must also factor in the patient's present physical and mental state - does the patient suffer from depression, is he in great pain?

What is the treatment for dementia?
In the majority of cases dementia is incurable. Researchers are making inroads into treatments that may slow down dementia's progress. Cholinestaerase inhibitors are frequently administered during the early stages. Cognitive and behavioral therapies may also be useful. Several studies have found that music therapy helps patients with dementia. It is important to remember that the patient's caregiver also needs training and emotional support.

In the USA, Tacrine (Cognex), donepezil (Aricept), galantamine (Razadyne), and rivastigmine (Exelon) have been approved for the treatment of dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease - some physicians prescribe these drugs for vascular dementia as well. Selegiline, which is used for treating Parkinson's disease, has been found to slow down the progress of dementia.

In Canada, a country where two languages are spoken, English and French, researchers found that bilingual people who develop dementia do so four years later than monolingual people who develop dementia. The four year difference prevails even after factoring for such variables as cultural differences, education, employment, gender and immigration.
How common is dementia?

* United Kingdom - According to a report by the Alzheimer's Society (UK), approximately 700,000 people in the United Kingdom have dementia, out of a total population of about 61 million. Your chances of having dementia are 1 in 100 during your late 60s, this rises to 6 in 100 in your late 70s, and 20 in 100 in your late 80s. As people live longer experts predict dementia will rise significantly. According to predictions, there will be 940,000 people with dementia in the United Kingdom by 2021.

* Worldwide - According to a study published in The Lancet, approximately 24.3 million people had dementia worldwide in 2005, with 4.6 new cases every year. The number of people with dementia will double every two decades and reach 81.1 million by 2040. The rate of increase is expected to be faster in developing countries which have rapidly-growing life expectancies. (Lancet. 2005 Dec 17;366(9503):2112-7)

Sources - The Alzheimer's Society (UK), NIH, Wikipedia, The Lancet

UK Conductor And HIs Wife End Their Own Lives At Swiss Assisted Suicide Clinic

A well known UK orchestra conductor Sir Edward Thomas Downes, CBE, and his wife Lady Joan Downes have died after choosing to end their lives together at the Swiss assisted suicide clinic Dignitas.

Sir Edward who was 85 and suffering from a terminal illness, and his wife Joan who was 74 "died peacefully, and under circumstances of their own choosing" according to a statement issued by their family and reported by the BBC earlier today.

Their family said that the couple decided to end their lives together as they did not wish to struggle with health problems.

According to a statement issued by their son and daughter, Caractacus and Boudicca, who announced the death of their parents with "great sadness", the couple died on Friday 10 July, reported the Daily Telegraph.

Lady Joan was thought to have been suffering with cancer and Sir Edward was nearly blind and had lost much of his hearing.

The statement from the family said that the couple had been together for "54 happy years".

Sir Edward had led a vigorous, long and distinguished career as a conductor, including a 40-year association with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; and before becoming her husband's personal assistant, Lady Joan had been a ballet dancer, a choreographer and a TV producer.

"They both lived life to the full and considered themselves to be extremely lucky to have lived such rewarding lives, both professionally and personally," said the statement.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said their deaths were being investigated but there were no further details at this stage.

Sir Edward was born in Birmingham in 1924 and started playing the violin when he was 5 years old. Later on he won a scholarship to Aberdeen and then studied with the eminent German conductor Hermann Scherchen.

In the decades that followed he became Associate Music Director of the Royal Opera, and conducted over 50 seasons at Covent Garden.

He was Chief Guest Conductor at the BBC Philharmonic, and served as Principal Conductor from 1980 to 1991 and later became Conductor Emeritus.

Sir Edward, who became CBE in 1986 and was knighted in 1991, also held other positions with world famous orchestras in Australia and The Netherlands, and was showered with honours from several music colleges, universities, and other organizations, and won many awards, including the Laurence Olivier award.

The Swiss right-to-die organisation Dignitas that helped Sir Edward and Lady Joan end their lives has been in the news in the UK quite a lot recently.

More than 100 people from the UK have chosen to end their lives there, most of them because they were terminally ill.

In an interview on BBC Radio 4 in January this year, the founder and current leader of the clinic, lawyer-trained Ludwig Minelli defended helping Britons, including some psychiatric patients, to kill themselves.

He said that failed attempts to commit suicide were a huge cost for the NHS.

"I have a totally different attitude to suicide. I say suicide is a marvellous marvellous possibility given to a human being," said Minelli, who has since complained that many people took his phrase " I say suicide is a marvellous marvellous possibility" out of context.

On the Dignitas website is a defence of this statement that points out Minelli meant in the context of what he said next in the interview:

"Suicide is a very good possibility to escape a situation which you can't alter."

Another reason Dignitas has been in the news is because a former worker has been talking to the media about why she left the organisation and why she is campaigning to have it shut down.

In an interview with the Daily Mail in January, 51-year old nurse Soraya Wernli, who worked at Dignitas for two and a half years, accused the organisation of being more concerned with making money than about ethical euthanasia.

Wernli has issued lawsuits against Minelli, and for the last 8 months of her employ she worked as an undercover informant for the police, who according to the news report are also concerned about Minelli.

Wernli is writing a book titled The Business With The Deadly Cocktails where she promises to give details of how Dignitas was a "principled and necessary organisation gone bad", she told the Daily Mail.

She said one of the things that worried her was the speed with which people arrived, were quickly seen by Minelli, and then helped to die.

"People land at the airport, are ferried to his office, have their requisite half-an-hour with a doctor, get the barbiturates they need and are then sent off to die," she told the paper.

"This is the biggest step anyone will ever take. They should at least be allowed to stay overnight, to think about what they are doing," said Wernli.

There has also been criticism of the way that Dignitas helped a British 23-year old rugby player, Daniel James, to commit suicide last year after he was paralysed while playing rugby.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of mental health charity SANE told the BBC that Minelli was offering:

"A seductive but dangerous solution to the feelings of anguish and hopelessness experienced by some people with mental illness."

Instead of a "one-way ticket to despair and unnecessary death", people should have more options, such as greater access to effective treatment, she added.

H1N1 Pandemic Flu Virus More Virulent Than Previously Thought

Researchers from the US and Japan studying the new H1N1 pandemic flu virus suggest that it is more virulent than previously thought. They found the virus seizes hold in cells deep inside the lungs, leading to pneumonia and in more severe cases, death, whereas seasonal flu viruses only infect cells in the upper respiratory tract.

University of Wisconsin-Madison virologist and leading authority on influenza, Dr Yoshihiro Kawaoka led the international team of researchers in a detailed investigation of the pandemic H1N1 virus and its pathogenic properties and wrote about their findings in a fast-track report published online on 13 July in the journal Nature.

The researchers wrote that the spread of the new strain of influenza A virus that the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on 11 June is probably due to the fact there are many humans with little or no pre-existing immunity.

Kawaoka, a professor of pathobiological sciences at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and a professor at the University of Tokyo, said this virus was misunderstood in that many people were under the impression it was like seasonal influenza, but this study shows that is not the case:

"There is clear evidence the virus is different than seasonal influenza," said Kawaoka.

The ability to infect deep inside the lungs is similar to that of other pandemic viruses, including the 1918 strain that killed tens of millions of people around the world, said the researchers.

It also bears other similarities to the 1918 strain in that people born before 1918 have antibodies that protect against today's pandemic strain.

Kawaoka said it is also possible that the virus could evolve new properties.

For the study, the researchers infected mice, ferrets and non-human primates with pandemic H1N1 and seasonal flu from samples obtained from human patients in California, Wisconsin, the Netherlands and Japan.

They found that the pandemic flu strain replicated much more efficiently in the respiratory system than the seasonal flu. It also caused severe lesions in the lungs, closely resembling the damage caused by other pandemic strains.

Kawaoke said:

"The H1N1 virus replicates significantly better in the lungs."

Also, using specific-pathogen-free miniature pigs, the researchers found that the virus spread in pigs without showing any clinical symptoms.

The team were also able to assess the immune response of different people to the new virus. They found that those who had been exposed to the 1918 strain (all now in advanced old age) had antibodies that neutralized the novel pandemic H1N1 virus.

"The people who have high antibody titers are the people born before 1918," said Kawaoke.

But, although the discovery that the new H1N1 strain is potentially more dangerous than previously reported is a matter for concern, Kawaoke said the good thing was that it does respond to existing and experimental antivirals and these provide a potentially effective first line of defence against the virus.

From a public health point of view, a first line of defence is important because it slows down the spread of a virus for a few months while a vaccine is being mass produced.

There are three approved antivirals on the market and the team tested two of them and also two experimental ones that are not yet approved. They tested the drugs on mice and found that:

"The existing and experimental drugs work well in animal models, suggesting they will work in humans," said Kawaoka.

The research was sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

swimming galore











house swimming w the kids..
for bonding purposes..

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

megalaboy:)










been to mega for two consecutive days for no reason at all,haha.. nah! we bought some stuff like cp,clothes and toys....

ate at mcdo,jollibee and bought krispy kreme for pasalubong.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

a day w my angels...







we used to visit the mall thrice or even more than that whenever we feel like going--- GO is the word.never been a browned off for us...LOL!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

How will the April Fools' computer worm affect you?--Conficker.c virus

(CNN) -- Remember the dire predictions surrounding the "millennium bug?" The doom-and-gloom scenarios bandied about by security analysts on how computers could act when their clocks turned to January 1, 2000?

Well, researchers are hoping that a potential April Fools' time bomb -- the Conficker.c that is supposed to hit computers on April 1 -- turns out to be equally unfounded.

But realizing that hope alone is not a prudent option, here is a primer on the worm so you can adequately prepare yourself -- and your computer.

What is Conficker.c and what do analysts fear it may do?

Conficker.c is a worm, a malicious program thought to have already infected between 5 million and 10 million computers.

Those infections haven't spawned many symptoms, but on April 1 a master computer is scheduled to gain control of these zombie machines, said Don DeBolt, director of threat research for CA, a New York-based IT and software company.

What happens on April Fools' Day is anyone's guess.

The program could delete all of the files on a person's computer, use zombie PCs -- those controlled by a master -- to overwhelm and shut down Web sites or monitor a person's keyboard strokes to collect private information like passwords or bank account information, experts said.

Experts said computer hackers largely have moved away from showboating and causing random trouble. They now usually try to make money off their viral programs.

How does the Conficker.c work?

The program's code is also written to evolve over time and its author appears to be making updates to thwart attempts to neuter the worm.

Who wrote the program?

It's unclear who wrote the program, but anti-work researchers -- a group calling itself the Conficker Cabal -- are looking for clues.

First, they know that some recent programs have come from Eastern European countries outside the jurisdiction of the European Union, said Patrick Morganelli, senior vice president of technology for Enigma Software.

Worm program authors often hide in those countries to stay out of sight from law enforcement, he said.

In a way, the Conficker Cabal is also looking for the program author's fingerprints. DeBolt said security researchers are looking through old programs to see if their programming styles are similar to that of Conficker C.

The prospects for catching the program's author are not good, Morganelli said. "Unless they open their mouth, they'll never be found," he said.

So, the most effective counter-assault simply may be damage control.

How can I tell if my computer's infected?

One quick way to see if your computer has been infected is to see if you have gotten automatic updates from Windows in March. If so, your computer likely is fine, DeBolt said.

Microsoft released a statement saying the company "is actively working with the industry to mitigate the spread of the worm."

Users who haven't gotten the latest Windows updates should go to http://safety.live.com if they fear they're infected, the company's statement says.

People who use other antivirus software should check to make sure they've received the latest updates, which also could have been disabled by Conficker.c.

How did the worm evolve?

The first version of Conficker -- strain A -- was released in late 2008. That version used 250 Web addresses -- generated daily by the system -- as the means of communication between the master computer and its zombies.

The end goal of the first line was to sell computer users fake antivirus software, said Morganelli.

Computer security experts largely patched that problem by working with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to disable or buy the problematic URLs, he said.

A second variant, Conficker.b, was released in January and infected millions more machines.

The Conficker, strain C, will generate 50,000 URLs per day instead of just 250 when it becomes active, DeBolt said.

Members are searching for the malicious software program's author and for ways to do damage control if he or she can't be stopped.

They're motivated in part by a $250,000 bounty from Microsoft.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

PUPCET EXAM RESULT


PUPCET 2009 Results

Use the form below to query the names of the applicants who passed the exam on the recently held PUP College Entrance Test (PUPCET).
Please provide the needed information (First and Last name is required)
First Name:
darrell bruce lance
Middle Name:

Last Name:
credo
1 record/s found
CREDO, DARRELL BRUCE LANCE DEL PUERTO (Permit # 0015900)
Confirmation Date: April 05, 2009


YAY! now darrell can sleep well,haha. he's been so worried for the past few weeks and i told him " don't you worry your name will be included"...he woke up so early today opened the pc and here it is---- he passed the exam!
i will cook his fave food--pasta later this afternoon.

CONGRATS SON! YOU'RE GREAT!

THANK YOU LORD for everything!

Philippines: A Nation Of Servants


Posted by e-souled under ABS_CBN, Chip Tsao, F. Sionil Jose, Filipino, hong kong, news, OFW, Philippine Government, Philippines
The Chinese journalist, Chip Tsao, is coming under sharp criticism from Filipinos in the blogosphere and from two female lawmakers and a labor policy center have joined calls in demanding a public apology over a recent article“The War At Home” that made a racial slur against Filipinos in relation to the dispute over the Spratly islands.

Here’s the article:

“The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen on board. We can live with that—Lenin and Stalin were once the ideological mentors of all Chinese people. The Japanese planted a flag on Diàoyú Island. That’s no big problem—we Hong Kong Chinese love Japanese cartoons, Hello Kitty, and shopping in Shinjuku, let alone our round-the-clock obsession with karaoke.

But hold on—even the Filipinos? Manila has just claimed sovereignty over the scattered rocks in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, complete with a blatant threat from its congress to send gunboats to the South China Sea to defend the islands from China if necessary. This is beyond reproach. The reason: there are more than 130,000 Filipina maids working as $3,580-a-month cheap labor in Hong Kong. As a nation of servants, you don’t flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter.

As a patriotic Chinese man, the news has made my blood boil. I summoned Louisa, my domestic assistant who holds a degree in international politics from the University of Manila, hung a map on the wall, and gave her a harsh lecture. I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell every one of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China.
Grimly, I told her that if war breaks out between the Philippines and China, I would have to end her employment and send her straight home, because I would not risk the crime of treason for sponsoring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows 16 hours a day. With that money, she would pay taxes to her government, and they would fund a navy to invade our motherland and deeply hurt my feelings.

Oh yes. The government of the Philippines would certainly be wrong if they think we Chinese are prepared to swallow their insult and sit back and lose a Falkland Islands War in the Far East. They may have Barack Obama and the hawkish American military behind them, but we have a hostage in each of our homes in the Mid-Levels or higher. Some of my friends told me they have already declared a state of emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout “China, Madam/Sir” loudly whenever they hear the word “Spratly.” They say the indoctrination is working as wonderfully as when we used to shout, “Long live Chairman Mao!” at the sight of a portrait of our Great Leader during the Cultural Revolution. I’m not sure if that’s going a bit too far, at least for the time being.”

Sen. Pia Cayetano said Filipinos "deserve no less than a formal public apology"
“HK Magazine and Tsao must apologize for insulting Filipinos, and they should pledge not to commit this mistake again," she said. "Our being a poor nation does not diminish the validity of our historical and legal claim to the Spratlys. In the proper forum, this dispute will eventually be threshed out and resolved. Ignorance, hatred and racial bias are the last things we need in approaching this long-standing controversy," she added.

Cayetano also said that the Philippine claim to the Spratlys "is as valid as the other claims being pushed by other nations. It does not mean that we're disregarding the claims of others. We respect their claim inasmuch as they should acknowledge ours." She was quoted as saying. "We should be proud that millions of OFWs are able to serve the world, whether as managers, laborers, caregivers or medical professionals. There's nothing to be ashamed of as long as we're earning an honest living without having to step on the dignity of others," she added.

Former labor undersecretary Susan Ople meanwhile also denounced Tsao, “His published declaration that he gave her Filipino maid a harsh lecture and warned her to tell every one of her compatriots that Spartly Islands belong to China or she'd lose her wages, is already a sign of an unstable, irresponsible and racist employer who resorts to verbal abuse even for perceived bilateral and historic infractions." said Ople.

Disgusting, derogatory, vile

Akbayan Rep. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros-Baraquel also protested over Tsao's article, saying the magazine should apologize immediately.
"This disgusting, derogatory, and vile remark can only come from dim-witted and mediocre writing. The magazine should apologize straightaway. The article reflects the kind of attitude that promotes abuses against Filipina workers," Hontiveros said.

She said Tsao's story should not have been published, owing to its defamatory nature characterized by racial discrimination against Filipinos in general, and domestic helpers in particular.

A world without a Filipino

"Filipina domestic workers should hold a one-day strike to tell the likes of Chip Tsao who's the real master of the HK economy. If all Filipino workers in HK would strike, the HK economy would grind to a halt without us having to invade the territory," she said.

I am reminded of an article“Imagine A World Without A Filipino” by Abdullah Al-Maghlooth (www.arabnews.com)

“So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.

The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.

We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.
We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.”

Nation of servants

Sad but true, the perception of a Filipino today is a striking contrast during the time of Rizal when Filipinos in Europe were referred to as “the glory of the universities”.

F.Sionil Jose’s article“Why We Are Poor” looks back in the 50s and 60s when the Philippines was still the most envied country in Southeast Asia. Today, we are just simply a nation of servants.

The only way to answer people, who insist that we are a nation of servants is not by shooting off our mouths. The only answer is to BEAT THEM by studying and working TEN TIMES HARDER than the rest—to beat them not just once or twice, but to do so consistently for the next 20,30, 40, 50 years.

Remember Condoleezza Rice, the first black woman to become the United States Secretary of State. She was born in Alabama and suffered discrimination on account of her color. But she was taught from a young age by her father, that she had to be “twice as good”and prove that she was deserving of advancement. Condoleezza Rice explains, “I was going to be SO WELL PREPARED, and I was going to do all of these things that were revered in white society SO WELL, that I would be armored somehow from racism. I would be able to confront white society ON ITS OWN TERMS.”


Unless we Filipinos are prepared to love our country, and sacrifice ourselves by doing the extra-mile, we really deserve to be called “A nation of servants”

Source:
www.washingtonpost.com
www.hk-magazine.com
www.arabnews.com
Brown Raise
ABS-CBN News

Saturday, March 28, 2009

5 Warmer Weather Workout Tips

Spring is just beginning and it's a great time to get out of the house and back in shape. Exercise will not only help you kick off the winter blues and blahs, it will also get you on the right track to lose weight and improve your health—right in time for warmer weather. Take these 5 post-winter workout tips.

1. Cardio Burns Calories
The number one cause of weight gain is inactivity. Evolution shaped our metabolic functions for a life on the move, but today we live more sedentary lives. Consider that our ancestors were hunter gatherers who spent most of their natural lives walking long distances to gather food, chase prey, and sometimes be chased. Nowadays, we're eating more and moving less. When you take in too much energy in the form of food, but don't burn it up in the form of exercise, your body stores the energy, or calories, for a rainy day—bad news for your waistline and long-term health.

Speed up your metabolism and burn excess calories with cardiovascular activities like walking, biking, aerobics, lap swimming, tai chi, and yoga stimulate the metabolism. Anything that gets your heart pumping will burn calories. If the conventional gym membership doesn't appeal to you, what about dancing, rollerblading, jumping on a trampoline, golfing, or gardening?

Whatever you choose for physical activity, you should be practicing it in your optimum zone. A healthy range of heart rate during exercise for the average person is between 90 and 120 beats per minute. A sports medicine specialist or trainer can help you find your individual ideal range of heart rate.

If weight loss is your goal, try taking B-Slim, a nutrient-rich dietary supplement designed to be part of a sensible overall weight management program.

2. Work Up to Your Workout
From my research and clinical experience, I believe that it is best to exercise 4 times or more per week, for 30 minutes. If you are just completely out of shape for whatever reason, start your exercise program gently and gradually. You may want to exercise only five minutes a day to start with, but the key to results is to do it every day. Incrementally increase the time you exercise by adding five additional minutes each week. By the end of the sixth week, you'll be up to 30 minutes-and feeling incredibly good!

3. Weight-bearing exercise
As you are working out your heart and burning calories, don't neglect your bones and muscles. Moderate load-bearing exercises are essential for bone density and muscle strength, which becomes especially important as we age. Add to your exercise routine: 20 minutes of weight-bearing exercise, 3 or 4 times a week. As with muscles and muscle tone, you have to use it or lose it. Work your bones and they'll stay strong. Weight-bearing exercises include walking, working out on elliptical machines, aerobics, and resistance training with light weights to develop bone mass density.

Consider supplementing your bone building with Dura-Bone, which contains bone and tendon-strengthening Chinese herbs.

4. All-in-one exercises
Take up tai chi for one-stop-shopping: cardio benefits, improved balance, bone building, and stress management. An ancient choreographed meditative exercise that is increasingly popular outside of China, tai chi is a gentle low-impact activity that yields all the major benefits of exercise without putting strain on your body. Do it 30 minutes a day, three times a week, and you will have balance physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Water workouts are another way to get all the benefits of exercise with one activity. Not only is swimming a great form of cardiovascular exercise, it also can help fight osteoporosis. For people that find themselves disabled by worn knees and hips, water acts as the perfect cushion for joints. Check out your local health club for water exercise classes.

5. When exercise is too much of a good thing
Some exercise aficionados go from spinning exercise to power yoga to running on treadmill machines, with barely a break in between. There is a point at which more exercise will exhaust and damage your cells and system instead of energizing and repairing them. The name of the game is to only exercise to the point that it makes you feel good. If you feel tired and achy instead of energized 15 minutes after your exercise session, you are going beyond the limit of what is healthy for you.

Another unhealthy exercising pattern is the "weekend warrior"—people who don't exercise much during the week but go to the extreme on weekends, engaging in vigorous physical activities like mountain biking or high-impact aerobics. There is nothing wrong with these intense activities, but when they are done infrequently, they often lead to injuries. Many studies show that regular, moderate exercise does more for your health and waistline than periodic intense workouts.

I hope this article helps you finds you on the road to fitness!

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

Fish may be brain food for teenage boys

Teenage boys who regularly eat fish may be doing their brains some good, a new study suggests.Swedish researchers found that among nearly 5,000 15-year-old boys they surveyed, those who ate fish more than once per week tended to score higher on intelligence tests three years later.

The findings, published in the journal Acta Pediatrica, add to evidence that fish may indeed be brain food.

Researchers believe that the omega-3 fats found in fish -- particularly oily fish like salmon, mackerel and, to a lesser extent, albacore tuna -- are important to early brain development and to maintaining healthy brain function throughout life.

Past studies have found, for instance, that children whose mothers who ate fish regularly during pregnancy tend to have higher intelligence scores than their peers, and older fish-eaters have been shown to have a lower risk of cognitive impairment.

The new study appears to be the first large-scale one to look at the effects of fish on teenagers' intelligence, lead researcher Dr. Maria Aberg, of Goteborg University, told Reuters Health.

This is important, she explained, because the late-teens are a critical period for the brain "plasticity" that underlies intelligence and emotional and social behavior. Plasticity refers to the brain's ability to reorganize the connections among cells in response to normal experience, like learning a new skill, or to injury.

The findings are based on data from 4,792 male adolescents who completed detailed questionnaires on diet and lifestyle when they were 15 years old, then underwent standard intelligence tests when they were 18.

On average, Aberg's team found, those who ate fish more than once per week scored higher than those who ate fish less than weekly. This remained true when the researchers accounted for several other factors that influence both children's diets and their intelligence scores -- like parents' education levels and the family's socioeconomic status.

"These findings are significant," Aberg said, "because the study was carried out between the ages of 15 and 18, when educational achievements can help to shape the rest of a young man's life."

It's too soon to make specific diet recommendations for teenagers, according to the researcher. "But for the time being," she said, "it appears that including fish in a diet can make a valuable contribution to cognitive performance in male teenagers."

SOURCE: Acta Pediatrica, March 2009.

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