Myblog..Resurected

Hi, it's been 7 months since I last posted. I'd been thinking if I would post or not but I have a lot of things in mind and stuff that happened. I'd been thinking of the pros and cons of blogging and giving too much information of one's self online. I also wonder if it's only me who's checking on this but then, who cares? It's about ideas and having something to remind you of events and important things.
So here it is again. I've discovered that myblog is still alive and about this flag counter feature. I'm really interested in that though I don't know if the number of visitors (or interested) would increase. Maybe yes it matters, maybe no. But at this point, I just decided.. I would blog again.
There are many things that happened and would happen. I'll try to share it but more on thoughts and positive things.
I'd been weighing in the past with the good and bad sides of blogging and I come up with the following:
• The not so good effects:
-Exposing too much of yourself/personal. This means you may be vulnerable or be easily traced over the Internet. You may also be subject to identity theft.
-Frequent voicing out may not be that advisable.
-Exposing grammar slips and other weaknesses.
• However, the good effects outnumbered the negative ones:
- Sharing good stories/thoughts uplifts. It's like telling that the world is not really that bad at all.
- Some ideas maybe used as reference for others. Like in my case, I'd be leaving for vacation and I'm searching online for things to consider and other people's blog helped.
- It's journal where you can document what's in your mind.
- A past time, like now that I'm no longer sleepy in the middle of the night.
- Would help me practice writing and would make me think.
I guess I would just be cautious and continue posting. Regardless if there are readers or none and if my grammatical errors would show, I'll update this as much as I could and give my thoughts.
Ciao for now..

Defying the Odds

What is your greatest fear? For me, it’s losing vision. Although we’re quite advanced now, it scares me to death thinking I would only see darkness all the time.

Most likely, blindness would limit what you can do and what you can achieve. You wouldn’t enjoy life that much. What would happen to you, your future?

Despite of that, there’s a long list of achievers who are visually impaired. To name a few there’s Stevie Wonder (Music), also deaf Helen Keller (Literature), Marla Runyan (Olympic Runner), Louis Braille (Educator/inventor), Thomas Pryor Gore (US Senator), Erik Weihenmayer (world class athlete) and Olegario "Ollie" Cantos, a blind Filipino who was the advisor to President Bush on disability issues from the Department of Justice.

Actually, all of our body parts are necessary as created by our master. For some reasons, there are born with physical challenges.

On January, Jessica Cox is in the country to inspire Filipinos to do more than what she has done. She also paid a courtesy call in Malacanang.

A Filipino-American, Cox was born without arms but can do anything. She become the first person to be certified to fly an airplane using feet, drives cars, plays piano, martial arts (black belter), had a degree in psychology from the University of Arizona and now a recognized motivational speaker. Jessica holds the distinction of being the first woman pilot in aviation history to fly with her feet.

How did she do that? She admits it was not easy, Jessica said she is guided by her favorite words of wisdom: “Never let fear get in the way of our opportunity.”

Also in the picture is the world famous Manny Pacquiao. We all know he started from humble beginnings and look where he is now. A billionaire and considered as the greatest Filipino athlete. He tried and won.

It is normal that there are times we have doubts in ourselves. If we could do certain things or if we could pass the test. All of us face challenges or problems some time. It depends on how we deal with it and respond to the situation. There’s a time we get afraid but for me, it’s advisable to move on and do something. It’s a cliché but praying and asking for discernment matters. Faith is an important ingredient to overcome things. Many have said to think out of the box, be open-minded and always stay positive. That would keep you going and continue the fight.

Reference: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/diaspora/diaspora/view/20090302-191847/Look-ma-no-hands

Pinoy Elections - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Election is a chance for a country to start again. It gives us hope for better governance and a better future. It signals change, beginnings and hopefully good days ahead.

Elections can make or break a nation. This campaign period, we can see how these candidates behave and how they market themselves.

The Bad and the Ugly
For some which has more than enough funds, they started campaigning early to get ahead. They have this excuse that they’re just introducing themselves, to be known or just leveling the playing field. This is despite the Comelec rule for campaign period which all must follow. Some even has a brilliant excuse that everyone’s doing it to justify their action. They could give a thousand reasons but the bottom line still is that they’re not following the rule. What a good trait for a leader. It’s just annoying seeing politicians faces everywhere (from TV to mineral water labels). Ain’t a good view and more seen as vandalism.

Part of the game is destroying the opponent. Expect these gentlemen (and women) to throw sweet nothings to each other.

Another thing that’s irritating is the surveys. I hope surveys would be banned for now as this also conditions the mind of the people (especially the ignorant).

Other issues that make us sick this campaign/election time are:
- Singing, dancing politicians (rapping included).
- Posters/trash all around.
- Cheating, vote buying.
- Political dynasty/Traditional politicians
- Traffic because of their convoy
- Killing in desperation.
- Candidates who do not attend forums.

I also can’t believe that someone, who’s already in the highest post in the land would run again in lower position disregarding delicadeza (sense of propriety). What was she thinking? Sneaky isn’t it? The used to president (Erap) would also run and all these are allowed by COMELEC. Sometimes, you just don’t understand Comelec (or the people behind it).

The Good
The good part of election is knowing that we have the power to achieve change. That on this day (May 11), all are equal in casting one vote.

I hope we would take time to watch and listen to forums to know their platforms and how they stand on certain issues. I hope we won’t get swayed by the surveys and by the celebrities endorsing them.

We should look at their track record and how they try to follow the (election) rules (moral included). How they would represent the Philippines, it’s people well.

It’s nice that there are still groups and volunteers who are not tired of doing their part for a clean election. There are volunteer supporters for the candidates they believe in and not just waiting for something in return.

It’s cool that there are candidates who chose not to throw dirt against their contender and just focus on their visions and abilities.

I hope we would be extra observant this election as this would be critical where we are going for the coming years.

This Pinoy Would Stop Malaria

I can’t wait to see tomorrow’s headline. That tomorrow is actually probably 5 years from now when Rhoel Dinglasan’s discovery - a new kind of malaria vaccine would be confirmed and would be used to fight the disease.

Malaria is the cause for the deaths of nearly a million children under age 5 each year — mostly in Africa — killing one child every 30 seconds. Half the world's population remains at risk — including travelers to affected countries.

Rhoel Dinglasan, an entomologist and biologist from John Hopkins University developed a transmission-blocking vaccine (TBV), it is aimed not at protecting individuals from the disease but at preventing mosquitoes that carry it from spreading it. He found an antigen, called AnAPN1, that causes humans to create antibodies that prevent transmission of malaria by mosquitoes. Get enough of these antibodies into mosquitoes, and you lock the disease up there and prevent it from infecting us. Sounds good, but how do you implement such a strategy? You can hardly vaccinate the mosquitoes themselves. Instead, you put the AnAPN1 into their food source: us. A mosquito that bites an inoculated person would pick up the antibodies and then be sidelined from the malaria-transmission game.

TBV would be given along with a traditional immunity-conferring vaccine (it would be given in a combination). The traditional vaccine that would make the TBV acceptable doesn't exist yet either, but progress is being made on that front. Right now, for example, PATH MVI is testing a vaccine called RTSS, which reduced risk of infection for one strain of the disease at least 50% in late-stage clinical trials for 16,000 infants in Africa — not perfect, but still useful in places where 25% of infant deaths are caused by malaria.

The vaccine so far works against the major types of malaria and all species of mosquitoes tested.

Not only would malaria eradication save millions of lives, it would also free up many countries from the crushing costs of dealing with the disease — costs that make economic growth impossible. The American economy, when it is not in recession, has typically grown about 3% per year since the 1970s. Countries with malaria, by contrast, lose 1.3% of that potential growth — nearly half — just to the consequences of the disease, according to a study by leading global economist Jeffrey Sachs. "It's like a huge tax on economic growth".

Hopefully, this malaria-control initiatives going on would succeed so we could finally say goodbye to this deadly disease. There’s no doubt that this Pinoy’s contribution would put this to an end.

Note: PATH MVI, PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative is a research funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Sources:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1954177,00.html http://globalnation.inquirer.net/ofwspotlight/ofwspotlight/view/20100119-248174/Filipino-discovers-new-vaccine-vs-malaria
http://www.malariavaccine.org/

Turn Off

We have a new rule at the office to turnoff the pc after using or if you knew that no one’s going to use it in the next few hours.

This commanded different reactions but I welcome the idea. Yes, it’s quite inconvenient to go extra early to prepare for our support tools but it’s a very small sacrifice for the environment which would eventually impact us. Unplugging devices is even much preferred.

This reminded me how filipinoes responded during “Earth Hour”. I am glad to share with pride that the Philippines is the top participant in the event even defeating Australia which propagated the event. More than 15 million Filipinos in 650 major towns and cities from distant islands participated. The Philippines alone saved 611 Megawatt-hours, "which is equivalent to shutting down a dozen coal-fired power plants for 60 minutes.

We may not be the top culprit with the cause of global warming but it is really good to know that we are cooperating to save this planet. We give our contribution because we are not only the stewards of nature but because it is us and our children’s children that would be affected by our actions.

*Earth Hour will continue to be an annual event held every last Saturday of March.

References:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20090330-197055/Philippines-tops-Earth-Hour-2009
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090330-196884/RP-shines-in-dim-Earth-Hour

Strut that stuff inmates

I can’t let it pass to give credit to the Cebu Inmates. I was thrilled to see them dance MJ’s “Nobody Cares About Us”.

We’ve seen them dance a number of times before but this is a whole new level. Really something big. The production, moves, cool This is it shirts.. galing!. It was no less than Michael Jackson’s choreographer (Travis Payne) who led this. In sync indeed. I wish Michael’ still alive, I would like to know his feedback. Surely, he would be happy to see this performance.

The number will be shown on CNN worldwide with Payne to be interviewed by Anderson Cooper. This would also end up as part of the DVD release of MJ’s swan song. No doubt this YouTube sensation really has gone international with 1.1 million views for “Thriller”.

I wonder what they are taking there but who ever started this idea, it was brilliant.

Travis shared that whenever Michael Jackson had time, he would access the Internet and watch the dances of the Cebu provincial inmates on YouTube.

He would literally run around the room smiling and giggling. It made him happy to watch the inmates dance to his music. Sony Entertainment undertook the project.

All this happened in two days (formation, dance, routines). Towards the end of Monday afternoon, the inmates gave an impromptu presentation of “Ben”. This came as a complete surprise to Travis and brought him to tears. He used his shirt to dry his face.

The dancing inmates were also featured in a published book “The Official Michael Jackson Opus”, a definitive photographic tribute to the King of Pop which was launched in Los Angeles, California recently.

As of this writing, their new video has 1,025,473 views.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKtdTJP_GUI&feature=player_embedded#

References:

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20070725-78735/%91Thriller%92_from_Cebu%3A_Pinoy_inmates_get_1.1M_YouTube_views

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20100126-249571/Inmates-star-in-Jacksons-Drill

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20100107-245985/Cebu-dancing-inmates-in-MJs-book

Snatched

This is not about the Brad Pitt movie but what I experienced one Saturday night (Jan.23, 2010). I really have another thing in my mind for my next blog but this incident happened. Pardon me for not following my theme this time.

Here I am, trying uplift the image if Pinoys and cite the traits we can proud of but unfortunately, reality bites. There really isn’t a perfect community. Of course, it’s not true that ours is a land of thieves but there really are people who would taint our image and doesn’t really value the consequences of their actions.

Let this be a lesson to all commuters. What pisses me of is that I’m already aware of this tactics but lose that idea in that moment. So in a bus when you’re about to exit, be mindful of the people around you specially when someone in front had second thought of not going out (of the bus), the moment that happens, someone’s hand is sneaking in your things.

Right after I landed out of the bus (landed talaga), in a matter of less than 1 minute, I realized people surrounded me. I frisked my pocket. Checked my wallet, ATM and I can’t locate my phone. That happened in a matter of seconds. They’re a pro. So swift that you wouldn’t notice or feel that evil deed. I hope they would not burn in hell because I know they’re doing this to a lot of people.

I even called the attention of the person beside me when I’m about to exit the bus (one of those who surrounded me). I told him I lost my phone and asked to give it back. He told me the man in red is the pickpocket and that I don’t have any proof of the accusation. Yeah, sure you’re part of the group. What a way to temporarily fill-in their tummies.

I immediately went to the Sun office and had my number blocked. Good thing I could still retain my number, bad that I lost my contacts, my songs (pc was reformatted twice) and some details.

I posted in Facebook/Friendster about the incident and if by chance someone contacts them with my name/no. not to easily believe. Somehow their detail (number) was also stolen.

I hope this would be controlled and these people would realize the real value of hardwork.

Again to everyone, Ingat. I hope the bill below would have a bigger impact

http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2007/1106_gordon1.asp
Press ReleaseNovember 6, 2007
SENATE APPROVED GORDON'S ANTI-CELLPHONE SNATCHING BILL