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Showing posts from February, 2013

Globe Blames PLDT For North Luzon Outage

Globe Telecom blames its rival Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co, (PLDT) for the massive outage of telecom services in several parts of Northern Luzon. This is in contrast with the earlier report wherein PLDT blames Globe for the outage. [Read: PLDT claims Globe facilities causing interconnection problems ] Globe claims that the local interconnection with PLDT in Bulacan was monitored to be out-of-service as early as Monday (Feb 25) night. Then, on Tuesday noon (Feb 26), other North Luzon interconnections broke down affecting provinces of La Union, Baguio, Tarlac, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija. Globe also said that since Monday's outage, they have been communicating with PLDT to resolve the problem. But as of the morning of yesterday (Feb 27), the services have not yet been restored. Globe Telecom's Response to PLDT Here's the full copy of Globe's Press Release On February 25, 2013 at around 8:00PM, the local interconnection with PLDT in Bulacan was monitore

My EBay Philippines Account Was Hacked!

"We're writing to notify you that the password for your eBay account has been compromised. As a result, we have scrambled your password to prevent unauthorized activity." Shown above is the introduction of an email I received from Ebay Philippines (ebay.ph) the other day. And after a bit of research, I verified that this is a genuine email from Ebay. And not only that, it appears that I'm not the only one. Password Compromised? What it meant is that someone got to know my password. By having my username and password, the intruder can easily access my account and do such things as: - steal my personal information, including your address - steal my credit card or PayPal information - make transactions in my behalf (and from your money also) - compromise my other accounts if I use the same set of username and password How Much Damage? Ebay Philippines didn't elaborate what or how much information was stolen. They also didn't mentioned how

Complete List of Oscar 2013 Winners

Below is the list of the winners of the recently concluded 85th Academy Awards (Oscar 2013) Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz Best Animated Short Film: "Paper Man" Best Animated Feature Film: "Brave" Best in Cinematography: Claudio Miranda for "Life of Pi" Best in Visual Effects: "Life of Pi" Best in Costume Design: "Anna Karenina" Best in Makeup and Hairstyling: "Les Miserables" Best Live Action Short Film: "Curfew" Best Documentary Short Subject: "Innocente" Best Documentary Feature: "Searching for Sugar Man" Best Foreign Language Film: "Amour" Best in Sound Mixing: "Les Miserables" Best in Sound Editing: "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Skyfall" (A tie) Best Supporting Actress : Anne Hathaway Best Film Editing: Argo Best. Production Design: Lincoln Best Original Score: Life of Pi Best in Original Song: "Skyfa

February 22, 2013 Class Suspensions Due to Heavy Rains

Afternoon classes in selected cities in Metro Manila were suspended Friday morning due to heavy rains. Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Paranaque Mayor Florencio M. Bernabe, Jr.were early to announce the suspension. Later in the noon, Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista and Pasay Mayor Antonio Calixto issued separate class suspension announcements. Private colleges and universities also followed shortly and announced their class suspensions. Manila - all levels Paranaque City - all levels Quezon City - up to High School only Pasay City - Up to High School Heavy Rains The heavy rains in Luzon areas are brought about by the Northeast Monsoon (Amihan). At 11:00 AM PAG-ASA raised the flood warning alert to Yellow in the following areas: Metro Manila, CALABARZON and the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan and Zambales. Under the heavy rainfall warning system, a yellow rainfall advisory is raised when the expected rainfall amount is between 7.5 mm and 15 mm within one hour an

Investment Basics: The Investment Triangle

Last year, I attended a free stock investing seminar. This is part of the Philippine Stock Exchange's ( PSE ) campaign to promote stock investing in the country. One of the many things that I learned (and I think one of the best among them) is all about the basic rule of investment. It was illustrated in a diagram called the Investment Triangle . The triangle's three vertex (corners) are labeled with investment characteristics: Liquidity - the ease of converting your investment to cash Safety - low risk; or the chance of losing money/value is low Returns - the profit that results from the increase of value of the investment The Investment Triangle goes like this (see picture below). The opposite of vertex means the opposite of the characteristic. For example, the opposite of Safety is Risky. The investment triangle goes to show the following rules. 1. There's no such thing as a perfect investment. Investment is all about trade-offs of the three characte

Finding Nemo 2 is a Go. Toy Story 4 is a No?

The internet is abuzz today with news claiming  that Disney-Pixar has announced Toy Story 4 for  2015 release. Reports indicate that the news originate from Colombian sites. But Disney-Pixar was quick to deny making such an announcement. But they neither confirm nor deny any plan to make another sequel to the highly successful film franchise. But here's what's confirmed: Finding Nemo 2 due on 2016 . After years of rumors, an exclusive report from Dealine last February 12 confirms the project. [Read: Albert Brooks Hooks Deal To Reprise In ‘Finding Nemo 2′ ] About Toy Story Toy Story is a series of computer animated comedy film produced by Pixar and distributed by Walt Disney. It tells the story of a toys that secretly come to life when their owners are not around. The film become both a critical and financial success. Toy Story 1 released in 1995 raked $361 Million. Toy Story 2 released in 1999 earned even more with $485 Million. Then last 2010, Toy Story 3 smashed

Is February 25, 2013 A Holiday? Yes!

Is February 25, 2013 a Holiday? Answer: Yes. It was declared by Pres. Benigno Aquino III via Proclamation No. 459 in celebration of the 1986 EDSA Revolution. Is it a Non-working Holiday? Answer: No. Employees are required to work on that date. Does school have classes on that date? Answer: No. Schools will observe the celebration of the 1986 EDSA Revolution. Students are not required to go to school on that date. Is there an extra payment for employees who will report for work? Answer: No. This is a working holiday and there's no additional compensation to be given. It would be just like an ordinary working day. For the complete list of 2013 holidays, please check the link below: [ 2013 Philippine Holidays ]

Video: Russia Hit By Meteor

Meteors are commonly viewed as spectacular events in the evening sky. It has become part of human culture since man looked into heavens and appreciate its glory. But when meteors reached the surface of the earth, that changes things. And that's what happened in Russia, early Friday (February 15, 2013) morning. A debris of a passing asteroid entered earth atmosphere undetected by space agencies. It was big enough to reach the earth's surface landing in Russian Ural mountains. A huge explosion followed shattering building glasses and injuring more than 1000 people according to recent reports . Russian meteor captured by amateur video Amateur videos of the Russian "shooting star" are spreading in the internet. Here are some of them.

New Airphil Express and Tiger Airways Routes

Low-cost airlines Airphil Express and Tiger-SEAIR announces new service routes. These routes expand each airlines coverage in both domestic and international flights. Airphil Express Now Flies to Batanes and Sandakan Batanes, considered to be one of the remotest provinces in the Philippines, can now be accessed easier than ever. Before, SEAIR flies from Manila to Basco, the capital of Batanes group of islands. But recently, it wasn't anymore in the list of Manila routes available in their website.The sole airline that flies to Batanes is SkyJet. As of today, they are still serving the Manila - Basco route. But Skyjet won't be alone anymore, because just a few days ago, Airphil Express announces their Manila - Basco route starting May 2013. Another new route of Airphil Express is Zamboanga - Sandakan. Sandakan is the second largest city in Sabah, Malaysia. Because of its proximity to the the Philippines as well as the historical connection of Sabah to the Sulu Sultanate,

Lost Money in Unionbank Philippines Online Account?

Early this morning, my office mate approached me and asked the contact number of Unionbank. The reason is that he apparently lost some 75% of his money! That's troubling indeed. He found it out after he checked his balance using Unionbank's online facility. I referred him to the domestic toll free hotline of Unionbank Philppines. It can be seen at the back of the ATM card. Unionbank  Philippines Online Facility Hacked Unionbank Account? I also checked my account and to my surprise, it was also reduced by almost the same percentage. I was troubled and began to wonder if the company's network has been compromised. I tried to contact UnionBank hotline but the call was denied due to heavy traffic (as shown in my phone). Gladly though, after a minute or two, my office mate was able to contact them. Unionbank Online Facility Under Maintenance The online teller told us of the possible root-cause of the apparent loss of money. At that time, there's a system m

Mutual Funds Philippines - What is and How to apply?

What are mutual funds? Simply put it as a collection of money from different individuals and institutions managed by a group fund managers. They invest the money in stocks, bonds, fixed return securities and other investments. Some of the popular Mutual Fund companies in the Philippines are the following: - Philequity Management Inc - First Metro Asset Management Inc. - Philam Asset Management Inc - Sun Life Financials Philippines - A LFM (Affiliated with Ayala BPI) - ATR Kim Eng Asset Management The complete list as well as performances of mutual funds in the Philippines are shown at the official website of the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) . How much is the return? The quick answer depends on many factors. It is not fixed nor guaranteed. The following are some of the major factors affecting mutual fund performances. Type of Fund There are basically three types of mutual funds in the country: Stock Funds, Bond/Money Market Funds, and Balanced Funds

BPI Trade Launches New Trading Platform

After more than a month of beta test drive, BPI Trade , the online brokerage of BPI Securities now rolls out to all users the new trading platform. The new BPI Trade features a redesigned interface, improved research including technical and fundamental reports, charting capabilities (for technical analysts), ability to see who made bids in a particular stock, portfolio information including profit/loss summary and many more. BPI Trade new face [Read: BPI Trade Launches Beta Test For Upcoming Upgrade] At Par With Other Online Brokers With this new trading platform, BPI Trade is now at par with other online brokers. The features and capabilities of the new BPI Trade closely resembles that of the First Metro Sec. That is expected though since both are powered by Technistock platform. Stock Trading in the Philippines The Philippine Stock market is on the bull run since last year. PSE Composite Index (PSEi)  has breached several major levels in the past year. Last March

January 2013 Architect Board Exam Results Released

The Professional Regulation Commission releases the results of the January 2013 Architect Board Examination. 816 out of 1,557 passed the semi-annual licensure exam administered by the Board of Architecture in key cities in the country. Rhoupheline Aya Cadiz of the University of the Philippines- Diliman topped the passers with a score of 87.6%. She was closely followed by Florence Anne Reyes and Earlwin Jerome Tee of UP-Diliman and University of Sto. Thomas respectively with a score of 86.50%. The complete list of the top 10 architects can be viewed below. Top 10 Architects January 2013 board exam by The results were released 8 days after the exam was administered last January 25 - 27, 2013. The registration for Professional identification card (PRC ID) will begin tomorrow, February 7 and will be open until February 8 only. The requirements are as follows. Duly accomplished Oath of Professional (Panunumpa ng Propesyonal) form Current Community Tax Certificate (cedul

AirAsia Philippines Suspends Clark- Kota Kinabalu Route

Budget carrier AirAsia Philippines announces the suspension of their Clark to Kota Kinabalu route effective February 1, 2013. In their press release, the low-cost airline cited the the company's plan to realign its business and strengthen operations in core markets for 2013 as the reason for the take down. Clark - Kota Kinabalu is the latest route suspended by AirAsia. Last December 1, 2012, they stopped their Clark-Macau and Clark - Puerto Princesa routes. Affected passengers were offered three options: Flights will be moved to an earlier date to or from Kota Kinabalu/Clark without any additional charges (subject to flight availability) Offered credit shell for the value of purchase with 3 months validity Full refund Similarly, passengers who have connecting flights on AirAsia or AirAsia X will be offered any one of the following options: Flights will be moved to any other available flight to/from their original connecting destination Offered credit shell for the va