Hostaged ship of 24 Pinoys being chased by EU naval forces

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is confident the European Union (EU)-led naval forces operating in the Indian Ocean would be able to intercept the merchant ship MV Renaur, with its 24 Filipino crewmen on board, before it reaches Somalia.

“The paramount concern of the Philippine government is the safety of the Filipino crew”, DFA spokesperson J. Eduardo Malaya said yesterday.

The 70,000-ton Greek-owned vessel was more than 550 nautical miles east of India when it was attacked on Saturday morning by Somali pirates.

The Panamanian-flagged ship, which came from Port Louis, Mauritius, was “en route to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when it was seized,” said reports reaching the DFA. The reports added, that it is currently "heading toward the Somali coast."

Source: Inquirer Portal

Hubert Webb, 5 others accused in Vizconde massacre case acquitted, set free

Hubert Webb and 5 others accused in the Vizconde massacre case were released from prison on Tuesday after the Supreme Court acquitted them.

Webb and his co-accused left the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) after the Supreme Court, before noon on Tuesday, announced its decision acquitting them of the murders of Estrellita Vizconde, and daughters Carmela and Jennifer in 1991.

NBP Director Ernesto Diokno signed the release papers after getting a copy of the order from the Supreme Court.

For a detailed report, click here.

World mapped thru Facebook

Imagine a map of your Facebook friends, and the friends of your friends, and so on. The result, tada, is what you see above. The lights which you see on a deep blue background signify friendships created around the world, and how these are distributed and connected, despite the presence of political borders.

It can be perceived that the right side of the US and most parts of Europe have the highest intensity of brightness. Meanwhile, China, central Africa and Russia, remain mostly dark due to low presence of Facebook in these countries.

The Facebook world map was created by an intern of the company named Paul Butler, who sampled data from the social network's 500 million user base.. He successfully visualized the relativity of one member's location to that of his/ her Facebook friends. 

Every line connects cities with pairs of friends. The brighter the line, the more friendships present between those cities.

Source: Visualizing Friendships by Paul Butler

PLDT unveils Filipino-made PLDT TelPad

The Philippine Long Distace Company (PLDT) proudly presented its newest, and the world’s first, Filipino-made, innovation which will alter the way we see and use our land line phones - the PLDT TelPad.

The PLDT TelPad, basically a landline phone, is mixed with a 7” touch screen tablet and contains features of myDSL and Android 2.2. This means you can not only call your friends to speak with them, but through the PLDT TelPad, you may now surf in the web, download applications from the Google Android store, upload pictures, and do a lot more!

“We are reshaping the future of the landline telephone and we are starting to bring it to the market now. We are proud that the PLDT TelPad was conceptualized and developed here in the Philippines, by Filipinos, using world‐class technology,” says Napoleon L. Nazareno, President and CEO of PLDT.

Photo Courtesy: Lost Tsinelas

Photo Courtesy: Lost Tsinelas

The PLDT TelPad consists the following specifications:

• 1GHz Cortex A8 processor
• Android 2.2
• 2GB internal capacity
• SD/USB slots
• HDMI
• 2MP front camera

You may be able to get one TelPad through any of the following plans:

Plan 1849 (1Mbps), Plan 2099 (1.5Mbps), Plan 3095 (2.5Mbps), Plan 4100 (3.5Mbps)

'If you already have an existing PLDT myDSL plan, you just have to add P500 on top of your monthly bill to get the PLDT TelPad for free.

For me, it's a brilliant idea 'cause you don't have to buy a laptop or computer for your home or go to the internet cafe to browse through the internet. It's one heck-of-a-package. Kudos PLDT!

Source: The Philippines and Beyond, Lost Tsinelas

Hurt

i was there, in front of you,

while you rendered it,

wasn't for me, but you kept that stare

felt like ice melting, even in the cold

my heart beat, unstoppably

was the first time we met

yet i felt that spark

we made a connection

but not for too long

we used to chat on facebook

say hi when we meet by accident

and there's still that look

that same look you made at first glance,

i set an expectation,

that maybe, just maybe,

you're hiding something,

which i should know

'til the magic faded,

or i'm not sure about it.

unpredictable, can't stop thinking,

is there such, or was there none?

no love at all,

when the music stopped.

still, the notes play in mind,

hoping,

longing,

hurt.

Band on Spotlight: The 49ers Band (Telephone Cover)

Came across this video of an Engineering band in the University of the Philippines - Diliman. The name is the 49ers Band. It's one of the tough competitors in JAMMEng'g 2010, a major event in the College of Engineering's week-long celebration of the Engineering Week.

Although the quality of the video isn't that appreciable and entertaining, the cover was really fresh and hot, so I decided to place this as Spotlight Philippines' featured band for the week.

Enjoy the rendition!