no work on may 2

yes, yes, yes!!! may 2 is declared non-working holiday. another extra one day rest day for us again. since may 1 falls on sunday and in part of "holiday economics", pgma declares holidays on weekdays if official holidays fall on weekends. for this, pgma, declared monday [that's right, monday], may 2 a non-working holiday for all part of the nation.

now that makes me smile...

personality traits and emotional makeup

what makes you unique? when you were born, the planets were aligned in a specific position. understand your personality traits and emotional makeup. this site will make reports and forecasts reveal how this powerful alignment affects you.

for me, born under the zodiac sign of pisces, example of the reports and forecasts is here below.

romantic pisces, you are the twelfth and last sign of the zodiac. you are regarded as the sign of sensitivity and receptivity, and are a true chameleon by being mutable and infinitely complex. your keywords are communion and vision, and you have the capacity to go beyond this world to the one of dreams and the spirit.

your ruler neptune, the planet of confusion and chaos, gets people out of habits that imprison them so that they question themselves and can discover another path toward growth and spirituality. neptune is also the planet of imagination and illusion, and governs the dream world with all its many facets.

pisces is the third of the three water signs, which means that you are concerned with the realm of emotion and feeling. you deal with sensitivity, intuition, and deeper psychic aspects of life. you are able to conduct unconscious telepathic communication with others.

your sign rules the twelfth house of the chart, the sector associated with the unconscious, need for seclusion, and places of restriction. this house describes the wellspring of your being, including psychological problems that you repress. this house is very healing and can promote personal and spiritual growth, once you make the effort to go deeper and face your reality.

pisces is a mutable sign. you adapt to the exigencies of life and ingeniously melt into circumstances like a chameleon. in your interaction with others, you are personable and compassionate, and successfully connect on a deep emotional level.

your strengths, dear pisces, lie in your altruistic and empathetic nature, because you feel the urge to help people less fortunate than you. your sensitivity and intuition make you a true healer. your strong imagination and highly evolved creativity predispose you to artistic expression.

your main weaknesses are that you can be weak-willed, passive, and indecisive. many times, you prefer to escape reality and indulge in your dreamworld. chaos and confusion can be present in you, which may frustrate your circle of friends. at the same time, you can be oversensitive and fragile, feeling victimized by others.

voip draft rules unconsitutional - pldt

ntc's draft rules on the voice over internet protocol [voip] mey be "unconsitutional", according to the country's frontline in technology, pldt.

internet voice, also known as voice over internet protocol (voip), is a technology that allows us to make telephone calls using a broadband internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line. some services using voip may only allow you to call other people using the same service, but others may allow you to call anyone who has a telephone number - including local, long distance, mobile, and international numbers. also, while some services only work over your computer or a special voip phone, other services allow you to use a traditional phone through an adaptor.

it's inexpensive compared with the traditional fixed-line call or mobile to mobile calls. the technology is not new, voip started in 1995 in israel. but due to some petitions of pldt and globe to ntc to differ the offering of the voip, arguing that it is a new different technology.

ntc last month, issued a draft rules defining voip as a valued-added service (vas), which would effectively allow even entities without congressional franchises to offer the service. the classification has put local internet service providers and traditional telecommunications companies at loggerheads. [quoted from inq7.net]

for this, pldt sought action, citing some constitutional issues. section 11, article 12 of the constitution, which states: "no franchise, certificate, or any other form of authorization for the operation of a public utility shall be granted except to citizens of the philippines or to corporations or associations organized under the laws of the philippines at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens..."

why pldt has to blocked this voip? it's very simple, and they already acknowledge it last march 02, 2005 article in inq7.net, voip will be the biggest threat in their business this year. eventhough , they engage in some of their business under them, offering voip like the digital paradise which operates the netopia net cafe, it will not create much revenue for the fact that voip is inexpensive.

ntc scheduled a public hearing on voip draft rules in may 3, 2005. i hope their will be no questions now after this public hearing and let voip be offer to the public. after all, it's the public will benefit this technology.

tanay, rizal fire

we visited rem's friend, melay in tanay last saturday [april 23, 2005]. we agreed to drink some booze to celebrate their reunion. so at around 8:00pm we go to tanay's 7-eleven convenience store to buy booze and foods.

when we are already at the place, we notice some people running in the streets. a rice mill razed by fire. luckily, no was injured in the fire and no one is left homeless even their are only two firetrucks from tanay and baras extinguished the fire.

although the fire was extinguished in a short span of 30 minutes it causes great alarm that it may reach the neighborhood near the incident and worst it will raise a level that it's not easy to be extinguished anymore by only two firetrucks.

i hope we will be extra careful to avoid accidents like these, last week more than 500 families in binondo muslim area is left homeless when the area is razed by fire. fire actually cripples our economy down.

unlimited landline vs unlimited mobile calls

to intensify their campaign and to compete to sun's 24/7 unlimited service, globe through their subsidiary innove communications and pldt extend their land line unlimited calls.

if we can still remember, this promo started when sun's call and text unlimited started to take off last october. the 24/7 service of sun cellular formally started last year, november 01, 2004 but the trial of the unlimited service was launch month before november.

to compete, globe and pldt wanted to offer the same but on fixed-line type. a conflict emerged when paptelco [philippine association of private telephone companies] and pt&t compalined aabout the promo to ntc which the commission issued a cease and desist order. this makes pldt and globe [the two giants in mobile communications] through their respective subsidiaries filed a complain to ntc about sun's unlimited service, which they claimed engage in predatory pricing.

when the ntc, didn't acknowledge the complaint filed and letting sun to continue the service, they file again another complain, telling sun's service is way below the ntc mandated quality of service.

sun's position on the hand ask the ntc to change some of it's regulations by setting another quality of service for the unlimited calls.

for sure, ntc will not give favor to sun cellular on changing the quality of service. and that makes sun very serious in expanding their capacity in every site in the whole country, preferably in ncr.

while globe is focus on expanding coverage, sun on the hand is making both capacity and coverage expands.

in conclusion to, consumers of these three companies will be pretty much happy with this promo and service, with the pldt planning to make the telebabad promo permanent and launching it's second phase promo of smart's unlimited text and call.
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click here to read the news from inq7.net.

habemus papam

"we have a pope." pope benedict the sixteenth, cardinal joseph ratzinger from germany is our new pope [i'm speaking only to the catholics], the 265th pope. the first pope in the third millenium. ratzinger is actually a close confidant of the late pope john paul the second. he called himself as "simple and humble worker".

because of his closeness to the late pope, he was expected to maintain the conservativeness of the catholic church.

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click here to read the story from yahoo! news.
click here to view some photos of the new pope.

growing in a middle-class family

this short article written in a youngblood column of inquirer touched me. it was written by one freshman student of up-diliman jason dc. gavina, majoring in economics.

it touched me because, i was once saw myself in him, though i am not an only child [we are a brood of four, all boys]. what i see in him, is his desperate to pursue a dream, to continue to struggle and fight, to learn life what it should come to be.

he's right, being from a middle-class family will surely teach you what life is.

transport strike today

here they go again, to raise their concerns for a p3.00 increase in the minimum fare, another transport strike is set today almost in all major cities in the philippines. it's not bad to air sentiments to our governments, but they should also try to think that their move today irk all commuters. why? because why do it on monday, where in fact it's the busiest day of the week. why not do it in saturday or sunday perhaps where there are less people commutes. and worst they harrassed drivers who are not joining them.

if they have their motives in doing so, setting their strike this day, i think its organizers are not thinking enough.

telco price war not over yet

smart is back again with a new promo.
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click here to read the news from inq7.net.

bisaya issue

click the link to view bambit's uros-uros ang kasuko.

click the link to view mycube's suddenly alien.

click the link to view alan's put___ina mo, bisaya ka?.
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bisaya dyok (bungi ko dili):
pedro: (mahimot-anong gatan-aw sa bungi ni juan)
juan: (masuk-anong misukot kang pedro) bungi ko dili?
pedro: (na-uknol sa pangutana ug daling mitubag) bungi.
juan: (namula sa kasuko) hinawayon ka!

resulta nakulatahan si pedro

juan: (mipangutana pag-usab kang pedro) bungi ko dili?
pedro: (nga nakaka-on og tagam mitubag) dili.
juan: (namula sa kasuko) bakakon ka!

resulta nakulatahan pag-usab si pedro

juan: (mipangutana pag-usab kang pedro) bungi ko dili?
pedro: (nga nakaka-on og tagam mitubag) bungi dili.
juan: (namula sa kasuko) makalibog ka!

sa ikatulong higayon nakulatahan si pedro
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pasensya sa wa kasabot...

is smart really blocks calls from sun cellular?

i think smart communications is really pissed off with sun cellular's unlimited service that they block some calls to their network, and delay sms with almost up to 6 to 8 hours.

yes, it's a fact that sun cellular congests their network starting at 4pm. and that is also the reason why smart and globe didn't continue their promos on buffet pricing to avoid network congestion. since sun is an upstart telco, they are very aggressive in expanding their network capacity and coverage.

the tests between sun and smart are supervise by ntc, and they found out that maybe smart is really blocking calls from sun with only 13 calls out of total of 44 came through. worst even text message is delayed not just 1 hour, but 6 to 8 hours.

"congestion may either be due to several factors such as call blocking and restriction. however, it is not conclusive to state that the calls are actually being constricted. this requires that tests must also be conducted on the other end of the interconnection link," the ntc report said.

smart legal and carrier business group head rogelio quevedo said in an earlier statement that sun cellular was just using those allegations of call blocking as a "scapegoat,'' considering that sun cellular's call connection rate was way below the ntc-mandated 93 percent.
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click here to read news from inq7.net.

tom clancy turns 58 today

tom clancy, my favorite author [because of his jack ryan series books] is turning 58 today. his full name is thomas l. clancy, Jr. he was born on 12 april 1947. he majored in English at Baltimore's loyola college, and worked as an insurance broker in maryland.

in college he dreamed of writing a novel. in 1984 his dream came through and he got his first novel published, the hunt for red october. inspired about a story of soviet frigate's failed attempt to defect to sweden and a deep interest in naval history. consequently the hunt for red october became the first book with the main character jack ryan, former stockbroker and cia employee. ryan has until now appeared in ten books, with the latest titled teeth of the tiger. although he is not the main character, he is the father of the main character, jack ryan jr.

for a complete list of jack ryan novels [story list order]:

1. without remorse (1993)
   
2. patriot games (1987)
3. the red rabbit (2003)
4. the hunt for red october (1984)
5. the cardinal of the kremlin (1988)
6. clear and present danger (1989)
7. the sum of all fears (1991)
8. debt of honor (1994)
9. executive orders (1996)
10. rainbow six (1998)
    
11. the bear and the dragon (2000)
12. the teeth of the tiger (2003)

the twelve books is considered as jack ryan verse which three of the above list are not directly involve jack ryan. take note of the following year published, the above list is not in order when the books are published. they are in a storyline order.
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to read more on tom clancy's biography click here.

mobile phone sales up 24%

i heard this news last week, asia pacific mobile phones sales up by 24% in year 2004 with nokia leading the pack selling at 50.6 million units.

nokia increased it's total annual sale in the year 2004 by 28% and gaining a 30.8% market share. samsung grabbed the second spot, with sales volume up by 31% or 28.2 million units, a 17.1% market share. motorola came as third with sales of 18.6 million with 11.3% market share.

nokia last year also grabbed the top spot in sales of mobile phone units.

although some massive campaigns and availability in some countries, 3rd generation [3g] phones don't take up much sales.
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click here to read the news from yahoo! finance, singapore.

pope john paul 2nd will be burried today

click here to read the news from manila bulliten online.

nothing to do...

my boss [a consultant], send me an sms: "phillip, i'm not coming to office today, sick. inform the following [name withheld]." so i end up today nothing to do in the office which makes me think a line from a virgin mobile advertisement: "the devil makes work for the idle thumbs" something like that.

for eight hours straight, i read blog sites, commenting, and taking a piss every hour then... what a waste of time...

then, i bumbed a site: go-quiz.com, and try their stuffs and i got this in the warning label:

if you want to try, just fill up the text box below, of course you have to click the button, and you have your own warning label...

Username:

nah, just sharing you what i found... interesting site...

and smart also?

my entry last april 06, 2005 is about globe not extending their promo on buffet pricing of text and call service. and i think smart's 25/8 will not be extended also. but according to pldt's executives, they are likely to offer the p10 per-call land line promo as permanent.

my analysis, for them not to continue their unlimited promo because of the following reasons:

1. sun cellular's subscribers take up will not affect them because sun cellular is famous for another set of mobile phone or sim. and for the fact that globe executives said that the market is saturated because mobile market penetration is now at 42%.


2. it will affect their network, it might congest and result to low quality of service. the problems of network congestion and quality of service can be solve, but it takes enough financial investment, careful planning, and time for integrating the solution. they [globe and smart] are not yet ready to invest in maximizing their network capacity. they are focus on widening coverage, in fact smart covers 95% of the country and globe covers 90% and it will add a thousand cell sites these year.


3. lastly, offering buffet pricing on the two service might affect their profits next year. i'm sure they already forecasted their increase profits next year, which pldt forecasted last 2003 that their forecasted profits in 2004 is 22 to 25 billion pesos. but they account 28 billion pesos when they revealed it. i forgot the name of the article i read, but their analysis is, if smart will offer the same as sun cellular's 24/7, it will take a big chunk in their 2005 profits.

conclusion, they are only experimenting the unlimited service. financially it will ruin them down and it will affect their "quality" of service.

so that means sun cellular rules. kung smart ka, saan nga ba umiikot and globe? that makes us different sun subscribers.
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click here to read the news from inq7.net.

warm bodies: the kris aquino complex

actually, the title above is really a title of an e-book, a collection of different moods of short stories from a group of bloggers lead by a certain buddy.

i came to know this book when i visited yesterday [06april05] the blog site of sassy lawyer which i visited i think more than 10 times [not really sure].

the title of the entry, frankly speaking, fascinate me, so i read further down and end up downloading the pdf file. altough, i'm not yet finish reading it [i'm stuck in the middle part], the stuffs inside are great and worth reading for. and you can even relate your experience to some of the stories. one of my favorite is the 'kwentong pag-ibig' by coleen. it's kinda not a direct hit on the girl [lol].

truely, the book or the e-book is really a fruit of love.

congratulations buddy and the rest of the group. i wish you luck in your next volume? or next episode?
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click the picture above to download warm bodies: the kris aquino complex in pdf format.

globe bailing out from unlimited party

yep... it's true, globe telecoms, through its subsidiary touch mobile will not continue its unlimited call and text promo and they said that they are not intend to make the promo which end tomorrow to be permanent.

globe president said that the price war happening in the mobile industry which started by sun cellular is "unsustainable". he added that the promo is not intended to add more subscribers. so that means they are only experimenting the advantage and disadvantage of offering an unlimited call and text. now that it will end by april 7, they have decided that not to join the party anymore.

smart's 25/8 [unlimited call and text] will last until april 10, have no words yet wether to continue to join the unlimited party.

while globe is bailing out from the price war, they asked and urged ntc again, to apply its regulation consistently fair, saying that they are also warned by not selling more subscriptions than they could offer when they have congested their networks last 5 years ago.

globe's conclusion, the new paradigm of pricing created by sun cellular will degrade quality of service and results higher number of dropped calls, which for them is unsustainable if they [globe] will maintain a certain level of quality of service.

but for us that are sick of the p1.00 per message sent and p6.50 per minute call are quiet contented with the sun service for now.

but for sure sun cellular also works double time to increase cell sites and to solve the problem. let's just wait for time and give them room to solve the problem and expand.

let's hope and see...

jobs for south korea

south korea alloted 14,000 from the philippines out of 72,000 needed workers. the program is under the south korea's employment permit system (eps), which implements proper recruiting of foriegn workers who wish to work in korea. you can click the link above to view more details about the program.

as far as i know, this new allotment is for a second batch. the first batch are scheduled last year in august or september. and i was part of hundreds of thousands who wish to be part of the first batch.

according to poea, the 14,000 jobs are categorize into three: factory workers (10,000), construction workers (3,000) and agricultural workers (1,000) and stock breeding.

the selection of applicants under the new quota will be based on age, relevant work experience, education and training, and the poverty level of the applicant’s home province. those who qualify will be required to submit medical and psychological test results, copies of their passports or birth certificates, and nbi clearance.

and for those who want to be part of the list in this second batch must register online in the poea website, or you can click here to go directly to poea's online registration site.

those applicants in 2004 like me who did not qualify because poea set some priority on "voluntary leavers," those who left south korea voluntarily from september 2003 to february 2004 were automatically included in the list.

i was just amazed that my name is included in the list already, that's what i found out when i was start to register. i commended poea for this great effort they extend.

for those who already applied last year, 2004, you can edit, add, correct data in your online resume.

and lastly, beware of any private company or individual that recruit, register and train applicants. poea and south korea's ministry of labor does not authorize anyone to do such activities.
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click here to read the news from manila bulliten online.

pope john paul 2nd [1920-2005]

pope john paul 2nd, a man of integrity and prayer, died peacefully in vatican, rome at age 84. karol jozef wojtyla, born in wadowice, poland, on may 18, 1920, son of a retired army officer and a school teacher. he studied literature and philosophy and later was a playwright and poet.

he became pope in october 1978 after eighth rounds of balloting late in the afternoon of october 16, when the cardinals were unable to agree on a candidate after seven rounds of balloting.

the man who end the cold war, the man who bring down the soviet empire, time magazine's man of the year in 1994, a hero for the ages, one of history's great leaders, an advocate of peace and the most beloved man in history.

farewell pope john paul the 2nd, you will always be remembered.
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click here to view cnn's special feature on pope john paul the 2nd.

ms. lara croft is fhm's sexiest woman

yes guys... angelina jolie aka lara croft is fhm's sexiest woman in the world. it's all in the lips...

from associated press:
"angelina jolie embodies everything that our readers find incredibly sexy," editor in chief scott gramling said in a statement wednesday. "not only is she stunning, she is intelligent, outspoken and passionate in her beliefs and well-respected the world over for her tireless efforts on behalf of the world's refugee children."

more than 15 million votes were cast worldwide in the poll.

after Jolie, readers ranked, in order, jennifer garner, paris hilton, charlize theron, halle berry, alyssa milano, teri hatcher, pamela anderson, scarlett johansson and lindsay lohan.

other notables on the list include british actress keira knightley, russian tennis star maria sharapova and latin actress sofia vergara.

last year's winner, britney spears, didn't even make the list of 100.

yes guys..... sheeezzzzzzzz... very very hoooooooot!!!

for a complete list of fhm's 100 sexiest women click here.

ms. lara croft

april fools day

april fool's day is one of the most light hearted days of the year, yet it stems from a serious subject—the adoption of a new calendar.

a traditional new year's
ancient cultures, including those as varied as the romans and the hindus, celebrated new year's day on april 1. it closely follows the vernal equinox (march 20th or march 21st.) in medieval times, much of europe celebrated march 25, the feast of annunciation, as the beginning of the new year.

in 1582, pope gregory xiii ordered a new calendar (the gregorian calendar) to replace the old julian calendar. the new calendar called for new year's day to be celebrated jan. 1. many countries, however, resisted the change. in fact, some european countries held out for centuries (scotland until 1660; germany, denmark, and norway until 1700; and england until 1752).

many french refuse
in 1564 france adopted the reformed calendar and shifted new year's day to jan. 1. however, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate new year's day april 1.

other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false.

great britain accepts the calendar
in 1752, great britain finally changed over to the gregorian calendar, and april fool's day began to be celebrated in england and in the american colonies.

pranks and jokes are of course still popular on this day—not to mention the rest of the year.

happy april fools!!!