Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Western Digital Enhances Its Datacenter Portfolio with WD Gold Hard Drives

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Western Digital Corporation , a world leader in storage solutions, today announced the expansion of its award-winning color portfolio with a new line; WD Gold datacenter hard drives. WD Gold datacenter hard drives are designed for a broad range of applications – including small- to medium-scale enterprise servers and storage, and rack-mount datacenter servers and storage enclosures.

With purpose-driven designs for the datacenter, WD Gold datacenter hard drives are launching with a new, high-capacity configuration of up to 8TB that offers HelioSeal helium-technology for performance, ideal capacity per square foot, power efficiency and low power consumption for datacenter environments. WD Gold datacenter hard drives feature an optimized design with an 8TB option that helps reduce the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of servers and storage systems, benefiting IT administrators challenged with growing storage capacity needs on limited budgets. WD Gold hard drives will also include a premium dedicated support line for customers worldwide.

“Western Digital has a proven history of providing award-winning purpose-driven products for unique requirements of each application environment, like WD Red, WD Purple and WD Blue drives,” said Brendan Collins vice president of product marketing, Western Digital Corporation. “WD Gold is a pinnacle part of the color portfolio strategy and another step in creating optimized drives for the markets we serve. Our continued goal is to deliver the most competitive and reliable solutions on the market.”

WD Gold datacenter hard drives include:

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REGISTRATION IS NOW OFFICIALLY OPEN

Registration Fee: p150/Person, regardless of how many dogs you'll be bringing.
Pay at the day of event itself upon entry.
► Click here to register so you do not have to encode your details anymore during the event:
http://doggiefunfair.com/register/
*Walk-ins or registration on the day itself will also be available.
► RSVP - Get notified by Facebook when the event is near,
Click Join: https://www.facebook.com/events/179138899134758

YOU ASKED FOR IT, WE HEARD YA! DOGGIE FUN FAIR IS BACK FOR YEAR 3!
Everyone is Invited! Join the BIGGEST SUMMER PAWrty in the Metro!

WHAT DOGGIE FUN FAIR: MANILA'S BIGGEST DOG FESTIVAL YEAR 3
WHEN MAY 15, 2016, Sunday
TIME 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
WHERE Greenfield Central Park, Mandaluyong
BENEFICIARY CARA Welfare Philippines

EVENT ADVOCACIES:
1. Responsible Pet Ownership
2. To Raise Awareness Against Animal Abuse & Neglect
3. To Give Recognition for the Working Dogs of the Philippines

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Globe Telecom is currently expanding its network coverage and capacity in Cebu province across all technologies, including 3G & LTE, as part of its commitment to continue building on its network infrastructure for a wider reach and faster internet experience of Filipinos nationwide.

The company’s capacity enhancement initiative involves deployment of the dual-beam antenna solutions, ideal in densely populated areas such as Cebu, to deliver enhanced capacity and coverage, significantly improving user experience. The solution, which will increase existing capacity by as much as 70%, will be deployed in a significant number of sites within the province, said Manny Estrada, Globe Senior Vice President for Network Technologies Strategy.

According to Estrada, Globe plans to enhance customer experience in the province by expanding its 3G and LTE coverage and capacity. In addition to these upgrades, Globe also intends to build new sites within the province as part of its continuing coverage and capacity expansion.

However, the realization of the company’s plan to build more cell sites depends heavily on the permitting environment in each local government unit concerned, he emphasized. He noted that similar to other areas in the country, the permitting environment is the biggest detriment preventing telecommunication operators like Globe in improving cell site density, a necessary prerequisite in improving data connectivity of its customers in terms of speed and access.

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Kamuning Bakery, owned by PhilStar columnist Wilson Lee Flores, is up again with their clever antics as they release a Presidential Pandesal Survey. Call it a mock voting for our presidential candidates as they present different pandesal sandwiches cleverly concocted with different fillings to represent the five personalities running for the highest position in the land.

How does the Presidential Pandesal Survey work? Well, customers can order for the pandesal they like based on their preference on who to actually vote on May 9 Election time. Every order is tabulated to correspond to the number of votes each candidate will get.

As of the photo ops on April 5, the one leading the survey was Rodrigo Duterte but I'm not sure who is ahead as of today. But I am making a big guess that it ma still be the Mayor from Davao as he remains very popular even in social media and other surveys as well. Even with the fact about that crude jod regarding a rape victim, Duterte remains a formidable opponent to beat.

How are the pandesal sandwiches created? They have Pan de Duterte with a burger beef patty filling, Pan de Poe has a corned beef filling, Pan de Miriam has a tuna filling, Pan De Binay has a longanisa filling, Pan de Roxas with a chicken fillet filling, and for those who wish to abstain or not vote for any of the 5 presidential candidates, they also have a Pan de Nada with a ham and egg filling.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

After the highly celebrated win of Pia Wurtzbach (@missuniverse) at the last Miss Universe pageant, all eyes are on the Filipina candidates of #BbPilipinas2016 who are vying to follow the footsteps of the reigning Miss Universe. Filipinos were so excited about the event, which saw 25-year-old Maria Mika Maxine Medina as the new Binibining Pilipinas Universe, that they sent more than 340,000 Tweets about the #BbPilipinas2016 pageant. The Twitter conversation peaked at 2,500 Tweets per min at1:26am, April 18th to celebrate her win.

The event also marked Pia Wurtzbach’s final walk on the stage as the crown holder of Binibining Pilipinas. Her emotional farewell speech likewise generated much interest and conversations on the social media platform. Even celebrity doctor Mikhail “Doctor Mike” Vashavski (@RealDoctorMike), whom Pia is dating, posted a sweet message for the incumbent Miss Universe which was the most shared Tweet of the night with over 9,000 ReTweets.

But more than anything, it was the night of Maria Mika Maxine Medina who was ultimately crowned as this year’s Binibining Pilipinas Universe. Unlike her predecessor, it was her first time to join the pageant, but she is about to face the challenge of the big shoes (or stilettos!) that Pia has set for her.

Aside from Medina, other crowned beauties include Kylie Verzosa (Binibining Pilipinas International 2016), Jennifer Hammond (Miss Intercontinental 2016), Joanna Deapera (Binibining Pilipinas Supranational 2016), Nicole Cordoves (Binibining Pilipinas Grand International 2016), and Nichole Marie Manalo (Binibining Pilipinas Globe 2016). Meanwhile, Angelica Alita and Jehza Huelar bagged the first runner up and second runner up awards, respectively.

DOTC, ULC Break Ground for MRT-7, Bulacan-QC Railway to be Operational by April 2020

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Residents from Quezon City, Caloocan City, Bulacan, and neighboring areas in the north can look forward to a faster and more convenient commute to the center of the metropolis, as the construction of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) will be kicked off with a groundbreaking ceremony today, April 20, 2016, at the Quezon Memorial Circle.

“The long-awaited MRT-7 will serve commuters who ply the heavily congested Commonwealth Avenue area for work and school on a daily basis. The new railway system will not only significantly lessen travel time along this corridor, but also help decongest traffic in Caloocan and NLEX,” said DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya.

The P69.30-billion project includes the development of a 23-km railway system with 14 stations from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. Once completed and operational by April 2020, the MRT-7 is expected to initially accommodate 350,000 daily passengers and shorten travel time from the current 3.5 hours on the road to one (1) hour. Once further upgrades are made, ultimately 800,000 passengers per day will benefit from the project.

His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III will attend the groundbreaking ceremony, together with DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya and Ramon Ang, president of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), the parent company of contractor Universal LRT Corporation (ULC).

The project covers the development of an integrated transportation system, which includes the said railway system, a 22-km highway from the NLEX Bocaue interchange, and an intermodal transport terminal (ITT) adjacent to the San Jose del Monte Station. Commuters can take public utility vehicles (PUVs) or private cars and use the new highway from NLEX, alight at the ITT, and board the MRT-7 going to North Avenue, Quezon City.

Photo credits to Bayang Matuwid

Lubao International Balloon Festival 2016: Interview with Mayor Mylyn Pineda Cayabyab

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We had a short interview with Lubao, Pampanga Mayor Mylyn Pineda Cayabyab during the first day of the Lubao International Balloon Festival. We intentionally made it short as we can see how the mayor was extremely busy personally seeing to it that everything goes well for the 3rd run of the hot air balloon festival.

We even mistook her as one of the security heads as she was wearing a blue outfit while giving instructions to people. Unlike the others wearing a brown version of the outfit, she was more hands-on and totally immersed on the responsibilities. We don't usually see that kind of commitment with other government officials of her same level of office.

Maybe because the event is practically theirs to begin with as the venue itself is owned by their family. Pradera Verde, where the wakepark, villas and a golf course, plus an upcoming waterpark, is owned by their family.

However, we have to commend the Pineda clan for putting Lubao, Pampanga in the map for holding one of the much awaited event every April. There may be another hot air balloon event being held at Clark but they boast of being the biggest hot air balloon festival in Southeast Asia.

Pradera Verde located at Prado Siongco here in Lubao Pampanga is a 350 hectare property and currently only 34 hectares are in use. This means more developments are possible with the property. This makes me wonder what other attractions will soon rise from the place. Could this area be the next Disneyland of the Philippines? Why not?

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The hot air balloon night glow is a traditional activity done at every end of the day during the hot air balloon events showing how beautiful the hot air balloons are even during night time.It is often held as a climax to a hot air balloon festival. Usually it is done before the night concert but for this year at the 2016 Lubao International Balloon Festival, the organizers decided to have the night glow after the concert.

Actually, there would have never been a night glow due to the fact that the wind was blowing at dangerous levels - dangerous for the balloons to be side by side to each other as they would result to disaster - so they opted to have just one hot air balloon lit just to please the crowd that night.

The night glow activity thus presented just one hot air balloon, the SM from both Philippines and Belgium by Jonas Van Doorsselaere. However, there were other balloonists who just lit their "flames" to come out with a very interesting routine. I don't really know how to explain it, but you can see from the video below what I mean.

The wacky thing is that even before the concert was even finish, the hot air balloon was already being playful as if trying to be in sync with the music of True Faith, the local band performing that night. The band was even telling the crowd that the hot air balloon night glow would not start unless they give out a loud cheer.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Hot air balloons from all over the world gathered together again for the third time at the Pradera Verde property located at Barangay Prado Siongco of Lubao, Pampanga to participate in the Lubao International Balloon Festival.

We ad the opportunity to interview a few hot air balloon pilots or ballonists before and after the actual balloon flights during the first day of the event on April 14, 2016. The #LubaoIBF2016 is a four day event happening from April 14 until April 17, 2016.

As expected, thousands of people from all over the country, and even from some parts of the world, could be seen admiring the colorful view of 40 hot air balloons all seen together as they are inflated and one by one flew up into the Pampanga sky.

I am one of the fortunate ones to get a chance to fly high up into the clouds aboard a hot air balloon thanks to the Ultra Magic hot air balloon from Spain flown by Jordi Diaz. It was my first time to ride a hot air balloon so that's another item checked off my bucket list. But I would tell the story of my hot air balloon ride on a separate article soon.

For now, I would want to share the different interviews we made during the first day of the event. We flew on a hot air balloon on the second day and spent the first day ogling on the various hot air balloons and messing around with the pilots while they take their breaks at the VIP area. Lol!

Below are a few of the interviews we made so enjoy:

My Consciousness, My Reality by Neville Hodgkinson on May 3

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“Scientists have demonstrated that both the brain and the body change constantly, according to how we use them. They tell us, for instance, that when we fall in love or become parents, massive brain reorganization takes place. Millions of old neural networks fall away, as millions of new ones form.”

Thus, British journalist and author Neville Hodgkinson writes in the introduction to his latest book, “I Know How To Live, I Know How To Die.” The book discusses on many levels how quality of life is determined by the way the mind is nurtured.

Hodgkinson, former correspondent for several national newspapers in the United Kingdom—among them The Sunday Times, Sunday Express, and Daily Mail—will speak on the subject in a free public program entitled “My Consciousness, My Reality” on Tuesday, May 3, 2016 at 7-9 p.m. at OnStage theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City.

“As a newspaper reporter,” he narrates in the book, “I specialized in writing about science and medicine partly because of my own appreciation for the scientific method and distaste for religious fanaticism and dogma.”

However, in the 1980s, he had “a visionary experience” that led him to what he describes as “an ascetic path whose central thrust is to quieten ‘noise’ from mental conditioning and the senses, in order to foster the experience of love and wisdom from a realm of awareness that lies beyond the brain.”

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Globe Telecom held its Annual Stockholders Meeting, on April 13, 2016, at the Fairmont Hotel in Makati. Globe Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (second from right) reported during the event that the company in 2015 surpassed its performance in the previous year, posting new highs in service revenues, EBITDA and net profit.

The company’s remarkable performance was driven by broad-based data-driven growth across its key services, helped in part, by the consolidation of Bayan in the second half of last year, he said.

Photo above also shows (from left) Globe Director Fernando Zobel de Ayala; Globe Corporate Secretary Solomon Hermosura; and Globe President & CEO Ernest Cu.

Following its impressive performance last year, the Globe board of directors approved early this year the declaration of a first quarter cash dividend of P22 per share for holders of its common shares.

UP Tomo-Kai Proudly Presents Indayog: An AcousTKafe

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Stressed out? Hibiscus in Hanakotoba means "gentle." And gentleness is something you definitely need right now!

Relax, unwind, and listen to the beat of Japanese and Filipino music at UP Tomo-Kai's Indayog: An AcousTKafe at Palma Hall Room 400 from 2:30-5:30 pm.

No money? No problem! Enjoy free snacks and unlimited coffee and tea! We'll be waiting for you!

Indayog: An AcousTKafe is brought to you by UP Tomo-Kai.

Co-presented by Zalora Philippines

In cooperation with the UP Diliman-Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (UP Diliman OICA).

Partner Organizations: HallyUP, UP Deutscher Verein, UP KAISA (K1), UP Arirang and University of the Philippines Anime Manga Enthusiasts

Media Partners: arkadymac.com, magnetic-rose.net,DZUP, Wazzup Pilipinas, Post Your Event,AKTIVshow and 1 Digimedia Audiovisuals Inc.

Thrill-Seekers Would Be Pushed to the Limits With AXN's Ultimate Thrill 2016 in Boracay

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Summer is ultimately more exciting with sand and sea and action-packed activities with this year's AXN Ultimate Thrill in Boracay.

A destination for adventure seekers and beach bummers alike, this event will include challenging obstacles on land, air, and water for the teams. Participants would have to navigate their way from station 1 to 3 as they hope to finish the race ahead of all the others. Exciting challenges like water toss, giantjenga, robotic writer, and paddle bike are just some of the games that they would have to win during the first to third leg of the race. It gets more intense for the main finals as they would have to brave a wild ride on G-Max and glide through a zipline, but with an unexpected twist! Meanwhile, beachfront activities like body jam and hiit classes will surely entertain other beachgoers while the race is going on.

AXN Ultimate Thrill 2016 will be held at Summer Place in Boracay on April 23, starting at 6AM. 200 qualified teams of 2 members, 18 years old and up, will have to register onsite. This onsite registration will be open at Summer Place a week prior to event day.

AXN Ultimate Thrill 2016 is co-presented by Smart and sponsored by C2 Cool & Clean, Fisherman’s Friend, and Smirnoff Mule.

Yamaha Announces New Cards, New Partnership and Official Racing Teams

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Yamaha Motor Philippines recently unveiled their new Privilege and Big Bike cards along with their partnership with Motoworld on April 11 at the Y-Zone located at Greenfield District in Mandaluyong. Yamaha Club Card holders discounts are extended to all Motoworld stores in the country.

The Big Bike card is exclusive to those who are owners of motorcycles in the prestigious lineup. Riders who own an MT-09, Super Tenere, TMAX, BOLT, and YZF-R1 are entitled to several perks like

10% discount to all Yamaha products
Exclusive touring rides and activities
Priority lane in Y-Zone and Type S Yamaha Shops
Preventive maintenance reminder
LTO Renewal assistance
Assistance for motorcycle insurance renewal

They also introduced their racing teams and satellite riders that will carry their flag of excellence around the country and beyond. Yamaha makes it a point to dominate on official racing tracks by recognizing its racing teams and satellite riders. Following a long dominating heritage in the worldwide racing arena, the Philippine setting is no stranger to talented racers.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We recently attended an exclusive film screening that shows the Silverstone journey of Nissan's GT Academy 2015 Top 6 on April 11, 2016 at Bonifacio High St. Cinema 1, 3/f Bonifacio High St. Square 5th Ave. corner 30th. It was a lengthy screening produced by broadcast partner ABS-CBN as every episode from start to finish was shown. The popcorn and water we were feasting were already done yet the shows were still halfway over.

However, the show was sort of engaging as we were all eager to find out who among the Top 6 would eventually win. As they are eliminated every episode, we got an idea who to finally root for depending on their attitude and performance in every episode.

Later at the panel interview with the top 5 namely Terence Lallave, Daryl Brady, Joward Policarpio (the winner), Rafael Miru Lesaguis and Joel Agojo) - Luis Cachero was missing because he went back to his home country, we were given the opportunity to learn more about them. Aside from taking a video of the entire panel interview, I also had the opportunity to interview Joward Policarpio so watch out for the videos soon at our YouTube channel.