This is my very first attempt in Video Blogging.  As part of Cebu Bloggers Society Inc.’s election coverage, I conducted a few interviews a while ago, asking feedback from voters about Election 2010.  This is the first video that I uploaded because the guy I interviewed has detailed answers.  I inserted a transcript in this video because there’s a feedback that the audio quality is not that good and also, the language is in Cebuano.

Aside from this video, you can still catch up the latest 2010 Election news by visiting our cebu bloggers homepage.  CBS members are also simulcasting from different social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, and Yahoo to bring you the latest Election 2010 updates.  You can also follow me in Twitter to get the latest Election happenings from my point of view.

By the way, here’s the detailed transcript of the video above.

>>What can you say about Election 2010?
It’s not organized and it’s very crowded.
The past elections were more okay since you only have to go inside your precinct’s room and vote.
Now, you have to line up and get a priority number and wait.
>>Any feedback about the PCOS machine?
It’s okay.  Actually, this election is nice if each precinct has its own PCOS machine. 1 PCOS machine serves 5 precincts, the main reason of the delay in voting.
>>What is your overall rating for Election 2010?
Well, it’s okay but I cannot tell if all can cast their vote.  There are some people who plan not to vote anymore because of the slow process.
>>Can you now conclude that the election is cheat-free because it’s automated?
I think it’s difficult for someone to cheat because the ballots are inside the machine.
>>Okay.  Thanks.

At first glance, the thought of initiating a worldwide event is like a vagary.  People are raising their eyebrows, some are pessimistic, and some don’t even give a deal.  The main point here is that, we successfully initiated something which would result to a global impact later on.  We don’t need to expect a lot because this is the first, and though we have some failures, we surely can learn from it.

I wanted to congratulate Cebu Bloggers Society Inc. for successfully launching the very first World Bloggers’ Day event at Parkmall Cebu just a while ago.  It’s actually the very first time that all blogging communities around the Philippines made representations for each group.

The event started with an Invocation led by Willand Cuna (CBS member), followed by a welcome address by Miss Ma. Carla Estella, PR Officer of Parkmall, Cebu.  This was followed by the presentation of the blogging communities from around the Phillippines by Mark Monta, founder of Cebu Bloggers Society Inc..  Three blogging communities sent in their presentations: Manila Bloggers’ Network (headed by Azrael Coladilla), SOCKSARGEN Bloggers (headed by Avel Mananzala), and Davao Bloggers (headed by Ria Jose).  And, of course, Cebu Bloggers Society Inc. had also presented a short AVP about their organization.

After the blogging community presentations, Mark Monta presented the newly elected CBSI officers to the public.  The following are Cebu Bloggers Society Inc.’s newly elected officers.

President - Vernon Joseph Go
VP for Content Management - Michelle Louise Maglasang
VP for Corporate Affairs - Agnes E. Jimenez
VP for Education - Jerry Gervacio
VP for Marketing - Michael Sinjin Pineda
VP Membership - Clarence Andrew Mongado
VP for Ways and Means - Mark Monta
Treasurer - Bryan Karl Yuson
Secretary - Wilhelmina Sarawi
Auditor - Jorich Ponio
BOTs for Special Projects
- Gerrymie Tampus
- Guada Conception Esmena
- Mark Alessandrew Abitona
- Prince Ryan Gilig
- Ruben Licera Jr.
Ombudsman/Legal Counsel - Atty. Ethelbert Ouano

The presentation of officers was then followed by the unveiling of Parkmall’s monthly blogging contest.  Agnes Jimenez, the Events Coordinator, presented the contest’s guideline and mechanics.  This blogging competition is open to all Cebu-based bloggers.

The bloggers then enjoyed a sumptuous dinner prepared by Parkmall’s best food tenants.  The event ended with the awarding of the blogger of the day, the one with the best cast-away outfit, and a closing remark by CBSI’s new president, Mr. Vernon Joseph Go.

A lot of raffle prizes were also given during the event.  By the way, Ricky dela Cruz of Rabsing.com, won the best cast-away outfit contest.  Atty. Ethelbert Ouano and Doyzkie Buenaviajie were the men of the event (emcees).  Thanks a lot to Parkmall’s Marketing Team, headed by Madam Judith Letty Sellner for the major support and sponsorship.

N.B.: Before ending this post, I would also want to give special thanks to the special team behind World Bloggers’ Day’s online launching.

Graphics and Design - Jim Villaflores
Press Release - Bert Padilla
Post & RSVP - Michelle Louise Maglasang
Article - Milafel Hope Dacanay
Wikipedia Release - Jerry Gervacio (to be published later)
Others - Mark Monta, Agnes Jimenez

Photos will follow later.

March 23, 2010 - Thakral Group announced its plan to expand their presence here in Cebu in the press conference held a while ago at Coral Room, Waterfront Hotel, Lahug, Cebu City.  This Singapore-based multinational company intends to focus on the Southern market for its four IT subsidiaries, namely - Thakral Infotech, Technopaq, OrionElec and Raffles Solutions and Services.

During the press briefing,  Teddy Sumulong, Thakral’s General Manager, talks about the company’s high enthusiasm of the booming Cebu IT market.  He shares his vision and go-to-market strategy with the local IT media and industry bloggers.  He believes that the Philippine market, in general, have matured to a level of sophistication and understanding wherein the value and importance of information technology is no longer deemed as a peripheral but a critical component in order to operate and remain competitive.  Cebu and the other business districts within the region have similar level of maturity and goals to succeed within their respective markets.  Sumulong says the Thakral Group recognizes the tremendous opportunities of Cebu and its nearby cities can offer.

For a start, the Thakral Group will be hiring around 5 to 6 people as the pioneering staff in their distributing branch in the city.  They will also find strategic partner-resellers to distribute products from IT giants like EMC, IBM, Lenovo, and a lot more.

In Philippines alone, Thakral Group has already have 500 resellers.  The company has a 12-year experience as authorized distributor of IBM, Red Hat Linux, Oracle and Acer.

Corporate Profile

Founded in 1905, Thakral Group is one of Singapore’s largest homegrown conglomerates with operations spanning 35 countries and employing in excess of 10, 000 people worldwide.  While Thakral’s roots were in trading and textiles, the group has since forayed into electronics distribution, real estate, hotel establishments, manufacturing, IT and value-added consulting services.

Vice Mayor Rama assisting the handing ceremony

Globe WiMAX brought good news to 6 Cebu City Elementary Schools yesterday, during the handing ceremony held in Zapatera Elementary School.  Along with Vice Mayor Rama, Globe handed a year contract of free Wi-fi connection to Banilad Elementary School, Bario Luz Elementary School, Kamputhaw Elementary School, Lahug Elementary School and Zapatera Elementary School.

This event is carried out thru Globe’s ISP (Internet in Schools Program), which is a part of their vision to become a leader in ICT for education.  This program is the major education initiatives of Globe utilizing Globe Broadband to provide free internet for one year to applicable public schools all over the country.

Public schools which have wireless internet connection through WiMAX will have easy access to a wide range of information useful in enhancing the learning process.  However, Vice Mayor Rama warned that the students’ access must be limited to educational websites only.   Browsing adult and illegal websites are prohibited.

About WiMAX

WiMAX is the newest and cutting-edge wireless broadband technology offering by Globe.  WiMAX has improved reach versus other wireless technologies as WiMAX covers greater distances and is 33% faster and 25% more affordable than other broadband providers.

This coming May 2010, every Filipino will have their taste of the first ever automated election here in the Philippines.  This is a very significant milestone in our country’s history given those long years of tedious manual election process that not only gives burden to our teachers and volunteers, but has also left doubtful and questionable election results.

Through the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan System) machine, an automatic counting of votes will take place.  This won’t only make the task of our teachers lighter, but would also lessen massive cheating during election.  But, before anything else, we must know first how reliable this automated system is.  Below are important facts and details about Smartmatic’s PCOS machine.

Basic Functions

• Takes a digital copy of the ballot and record it
• Counts the number of votes automatically

Note: The number of voters per precinct is already known by the machine. (There are only 7 precincts (data) per machine.)

Advantages

• Speeds up election process
• Lessens the doubt of the authenticity of the election results

Photo by Michael Sinjin Pineda

Reliability

A lot of pessimists are raising their eyebrows and are asking questions on how reliable this automated system is.  Let’s check the following facts.

• PCOS machine and ballots are precinct specific - For security purposes the machine unit won’t read ballots that are not listed for that specific precinct.

• Ballots are equipped with security features - All ballots have unique bar codes and have ultraviolet ink (an invisible one) which will confirm its authenticity.

• The Data inside the machine is secured - A PCOS is a stand-alone machine.  This means that it is not connected to a network.  A network connection only occurs for 5 minutes every time an important update is being sent to the main server.

• 128 Bit Data Encryption - A 128 bit encryption means that there are 2 (raised to the power 128) - or 3.4 with 38 zeros after it - possible combinations that could access the data inside the machine.  In layman’s term, it will be almost to impossible for a hacker to penetrate the system since that number of combinations can’t be processed within 5 minutes (the length of time the machine is allowed to connect to a network).  This kind of data encryption is actually used by banks to maintain a 24/7 security to their automated teller machines.

Now that we already know how this automated system works, let’s proceed to the basic dos and don’ts in voting.

Rules in Voting

• Do not overvote - The machine won’t count your votes if you select candidates greater than the expected number (i.e overvoting for President)
• Undervoting is okay
• Fully shade each oval - In shading the oval for the candidate of your choice, you must fill it at least 50% so that the system would recognize it.  If it’s less than 50%, then the machine will not recognize it and will consider the selection as nothing.
• Don’t put unnecessary markings on the ballot

More

• Precinct result is automatically transmitted to the Comelec website - This means that every time an update of votes will take place, the data will be automatically displayed to a web page that can be easily accessed by the public.  This way, everyone can tally votes simultaneously.
• Initialization reports of votes are printed using a thermal paper - A thermal paper can last up to five years
• The overall election process will only take place within 11 hours
• PCOS Machine’s back-up battery will last from 14 to 16  hours -  This is an emergency procedure if in case a black out will occur.

After reading the above facts and guidelines, all we need to do now is to be more vigilant and let’s make sure that what the Comelec told us will come into realization.  Anyways, if you wanted to know more about the candidates who are running for the office this 2010 election, you might try to visit Political Arena.  Hope you learned something from this post.  Cheers!

He has better skin complexion, and has this wholesome aura in person. (I think he has a facial routine in Belo.  Hahahahaha!)  I had the opportunity of meeting him along with my fellow blogging cyborgs when Kevin, CBS spokesperson, organized a one-hour interview that was held in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, IT Park about a month ago.

Honestly, I’m not campaigning for him, nor do I have any plans of giving my precious vote  to him on the upcoming 2010 presidential election.  It just happened that Kevin is his die-hard supporter here in Cebu.  The blogging cyborgs got no other choice, but to interview him. LOL!

Anyways, after listening to his very nice platform and observing how he carried himself during the course of the interview, I think that he’s not bad at all.  I don’t want to be so bias.  Let’s give our beloved senator a chance to prove his capability.  I mean let’s give all those people who are vying for the presidential seat a chance to prove themselves.  Just think of it.  What will happen if no one is interested to become a president?

N.B.: Senator Mar Roxas was 30 minutes late.  Hahahaha!

Photo Credits: Doyzkie

The Katrina Halili and Hayden Kho Video Scandal

First, I wanted to give a big LOL to GABRIELA for supporting Miss Katrina Halili.  But, before anything else, I just wanted to express that I really got nothing against these celebrities.  It’s their actions, not their individuality that I will be criticizing.    It just happened that they are caught up in a sex scandal that spreads like wildfire.  And for a Catholic country to have something as big as this, the righteous moralists are way too restless.

As a woman, I personally detest Dr. Hayden Kho’s fetish.  I mean voyeurism is something creepy.  And doing it to someone you have an intimate relationship with is creepier.  Since it’s very obvious that in those two videos, Katrina and Maricar were absolutely unaware that their sexual encounters with him were being taped. Dr. Kho is definitely a voyeur.  And I may say, a pervert of his own kind.  It was reported that he has 40 sex videos all in all with different women.

A voyeur is someone who seeks sexual gratification through watching naked people and sexual acts.  In this case, Dr. Kho is somewhat a special voyeur because he loves seeing himself screwing someone in videos.  The worst thing is, those videos were being publicized using the latest technology, wherein copying files can be done in seconds.  And thus, the Hayden Kho sex videos epidemic began.  The perverts are celebrating, while the moralists are fuming with disgust and fury.

Let’s start with the main root of the problem, that is, who spread those videos?  It was already reported that a friend of Hayden uploaded those(a certain Eric Chua), and tried to sell it to DVD distributors.  But the public are doubting.  Some are rooting for the “revenge theory”.  There’s a possibility that Hayden’s ex-girlfriend, Dr. Vicky Belo, is behind this incident.  For those who don’t know, those sex videos is one of the main reason of their break up.  Dr. Belo discovered Hayden’s infidelity during their three-year relationship when she uncovered those videos.  It would be a bitter-sweet revenge to expose your ex’s unfaithfulness along with his mistresses.

But, one is always innocent until proven guilty.  The revenge theory will remain a theory until further investigation will be done.  After all, with all these brouhaha, it’s Dr. Vicky Belo who is playing the protagonist role.  She has the moralists’ empathy, and in all angle, she’s also the lowly victim of her ex’s dirty doings.  The righteous public will pity her and will carelessly despise the women involved in those sex videos.

And these women are no other than famous star Katrina Halili and 2nd runner up Bb. Pilipinas Maricar Reyes.  These two are both victims, the only difference is that the former is in double jeopardy.  Miss Halili is definitely a victim of Kho’s sexual perversion, but her being a victim is overshadowned by the ruthless fact that she’s his former mistress, a disloyal friend to Vicky Belo, and a big liar.

Those adjectives are like icepicks being stabbed again and again to Miss Halili’s degraded reputation.  And I know that this is somewhat harsh, but facts are facts, and there’s no denying to it.  The people will discard her case of being the victim, and they will only focus on her being the mistress, the other party, the traitor comrade of Dr. Vicky Belo.  People will despise her and will only see her mistakes.  This is the biggest prize of her a year of “just having fun” with Dr. Kho.  She will suffer the humiliation and shame, and it’s not even sure if the court can give her justice.

On the other hand, Miss Maricar Reyes deserves all the pity in the world.  She was Hayden’s girlfriend for one year when they were still in med school.  This sex scandal definitely shocked her and worst, the reactions of her family.  Her upcoming soap opera in ABS CBN was cancelled due to the scandal.  I guess she has all the rights in the world to jail Hayden and all those people who spread the video.  Despite this, some people may still carelessly label her as one of Hayden’s women.  Not most people love to research.  Hasty judgments are always the common scenario.

But, what irritated me the most, is Hayden’s somewhat calm and unaffected reaction.  He was even smiling while the press were asking him about the possibility of his medical license to be removed.  I don’t know what’s going in his mind.  One thing is for sure.  This Dr. Hayden Kho has a serious personality disorder.  I wish him to rot in jail along with her small phallus!

Lastly, a big LOL to GABRIELA because when I heard their name, I was reminded of that Nicole(that girl who claimed that she was raped by an American soldier), but at the end, retreated from the case and flew outside the country after receiving a sum of money.  What I wanted to mean here, is that, the group should do an intensive research well before defending someone from that or this, so that, at the end,  they won’t come out like fools and idiots.

Photo Credit: KapamilyaPhotos.Blogspot.Com