SM MANILA: IT'S NOT SAFE TO SHOP HERE!!

I got robbed inside SM Manila just now! 
The security said the incident is one of the new modus operandi inside malls! Yeah, let's not blame it on the security kasi you can't screen nga naman all the mall-goers and weed out the criminals and thieves! I cannot blame the management even, for not putting up CCTV's inside malls except the entrance/exits and where ATM's are, or, can I? But, yeah, Seriously?! I really DID NOT KNOW that they don't have cameras inside! Now, for a moment there, I am kind of furious about that. I was thinking that, maybe, just maybe, we could have checked and could have, could have possibly nab them douche and asssholes. But, sure thing, I am most furious about me, having allowed it to happen. My fault for being the always vulnerable. Not that I have permitted it, but I kinda have lowered my guard because I was somehow inside the malls, and yeah, bubbles burst, so there. So, here's the story, may you learn from it and raise your awareness and alertness of such dangers lurking, uhm, just about everywhere. So, I went there today to meet my father's friend, hand him some package meant for my family in the province. I met him near Bibingkinitan which is near food court and supermarket. I handed him the bag and exchange our g'byes. Vulnerable and easy target is me,my sling bag, take-out pizza on one hand and Qyce, gorgeous 3years old boy on the other. Qyce run to the Disney magazines and story books at Booksale. I kept up and told him to stay close and that we're going home na. then a 25-30 y.o.female, was suddenly there first making faces then sticking her tongue out at Qyce. So, she got my attention there. And she started annoying Qyce saying superman is a girl, pointing at things, saying some wrong facts and lies, So, I was like "Miss!" in a kind of warning tone. and hold Qyce so we can move away,(this was about the time when two or more persons, one beside me, one or two at my back (I actually felt this, that people are kind of bumping and making siksik but my focus were more on Qyce and the girl, then she started making faces at Qyce again and saying things i can't hear na,ang nasabi ko was "Huwag mo siyang ganyanin" and we moved away, seconds lang yun when i realize my bag's half open, no phone, no cash". Nabawasan din bigla iyong tao n the area. Ait girl witnessing it was kind enough na pahiramin ako ng phone, nagring pa, then kinacanel na ung next calls, so, it must be those pack. I searched around agad, but they're gone, zilch, nada. and so I went to the security office, PO3 was very kind naman to accomodate my complaints, and iyon nga I was told na there is no cctv and even if there is it would take hours and hours to review. And I ws accompanied by his agent, and we checked a bit the area bka they're still there. Of course to no avail. So, I'll go back there tom nalang daw to check dun sa list of profiles of photos nila ng mga thieves and robbers. Iyong ibang modus daw, are at gunpoint pa, dinadala sa parking or outside. Usually they pick targets from entrance and follow them around, especially if you dropped by ATMs. Oh well. Them crooks can take all the money and phones they want from me, but no, not when I am with Qyce. It's more fun in the Philippines, right? More fun in Manila even. yeah, tell me about it.

THE PLAYOFFS

Last sunday (Philippine Time), we witnessed the start of the much awaited NBA PLAYOFFS. The 1st game of the series has been played, some with ease and the other was hard fought games. 1st, we'll stop over to the East to see what's going on in there. The game between the No.1 seed Bulls and the No.8 seed Pacers were played at the Bulls home court. In this series, the Bulls has the Home court advantage for being the no.1 team in the East. The game was one-side. The Pacers did a tremendous job in clogging the shaded lane but they couldn't stop the raging Bulls offense on the last minute. D.Rose bring his A game on game one and the bulls won 104-99. Next stop, Boston vs New York. It was a hard fought game, boston trailed the Knicks almost the entire game but thanks to the team effort by the Celts, they regain the lead late on the 4th Quarter by a tremendous shooting from Ray Allen. The Knicks has a good overall game but Carmelo doesn't have his shooting touch with him in that game that's why the Celtics win the game 87-85. The Magic host Atlanta in their game 1, but ATL frustrated Dwight Howard and his 46 points. The Atlanta won the game behind Joe Johnson's 25 points. The result was 103-93 infavor of the Hawks. In Miami, the Heat cruises past the Sixers by 8 points behind their Big 3, james, wade and bosh. The Heat won 97-89. In game 2 the Heat also won the game in a lopsided fashion 93-74. The Heat leads the series 2-0. In the West, the Hornets defeated the Lakers 109-100 behind the solid leadership of Chris Paul. The Hornets shocked the Home crowd. The Memphis also disappointed the home crowd of San Antonio 101-98 behind  the crucial 3 pointer by Shane Battier. In Dallas, the mavs won their 1st game vs the blazers 89-81. In Oklahoma, the Thunder's came to the game as the Heavy favorite vs the Nuggets. The Thunder won the game behind Durant and Westbrook duo with 107-103. So, that's the result of the 1st games. Let's look forward to the next game.

YURI GAGARIN

April 12 was already a huge day in space history twenty years before the launch of the first shuttle mission. On that day in 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (left, on the way to the launch pad) became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft. Newspapers like The Huntsville Times (right) trumpeted Gagarin's accomplishment.

Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space less than a month later.

Scientific cooperation with the Soviet Union dates back to the very beginnings of space flight. The first cooperative human space flight project between the United States and the Soviet Union took place in 1975. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was designed to test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems for American and Soviet spacecraft and to open the way for future joint manned flights.

Since 1993, the U.S. and Russia have worked together on a number of other space flight projects. The Space Shuttle began visiting the Russian Mir space station in 1994, and in 1995 Norm Thagard became the first U.S. astronaut to take up residency on Mir. Seven U.S. astronauts served with their Russian counterparts aboard the orbiting Mir laboratory from 1995 to 1998. The experience gained from the Mir cooperative effort, as well as lessons learned, paved the way for the International Space Station.

In-orbit construction on the Station began in November 1998, and it has been staffed non-stop with international crews since November 2000. The first Station crew, made up of U.S. commander Bill Shepherd and cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, was launched on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The crew returned to Earth on the Space Shuttle Discovery in March 2001. 

Russia releases Gagarin's secret last words

MOSCOW (AFP) – One of the last things Yuri Gagarin did before making his pioneering voyage into space 50 years ago was make sure he had enough sausage to last him on the trip back home to Moscow.

This tidbit was among more than 700 pages of once-secret material linked to the life and times of the world's first spaceman that were released by Russia ahead of the April 12 anniversary.

The historic space shot turned Gagarin into an instant celebrity whose boyish charms became a powerful propaganda weapon for the Soviet Union as it scrambled to win its ideological battle against the United States during the Cold War.

His boy-next-door grin and outsized helmet became a staple of Soviet stamps while his heroism turned into a subject of elementary school literature that became comparable to the teachings of Lenin.

Russian authorities -- with their own space programme in trouble -- have grabbed on to that glory by making the Gagarin celebrations into a national event stretching from the halls of the Kremlin to the International Space Station.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is planning a visit to the mission control centre outside Moscow while his mentor and predecessor Vladimir Putin will hold his own meeting with Russian and Ukrainian cosmonauts in Ukraine.


But making the biggest news among Russians this weekend were files revealing the conversation Gagarin had while strapped into his capsule with chief rocket designer Sergei Korolyov, a man who became a legend in his own right. 

Gagarin is best remembered by a generation of Russian for pronouncing "Poyekhali!" as his Vostok spacecraft lifted off the ground.

The phrase can be translated as either "Let's Go!" or "We're Off!" and is now a regular part of the Russian lexicon.

But the Russian Internet was abuzz with what Gagarin said moments before his famous catchphrase.

One of Korolyov's biggest worries appeared to be that the would-be hero had enough to eat once he touched down on Earth.

"There in the flap you have dinner, supper and breakfast," the father of the Soviet rocket programme told Gagarin by radio as the clock ticked down.

"Got it," Gagarin replied in comments originally posted on the lifenews.ru website.

"You've got sausage, candy and jam to go with the tea," Korolyov went on. "Sixty-three pieces -- you'll get fat! When you get back today, eat everything right away."

Gagarin joked back: "The main thing is that there is sausage -- to go with the moonshine."

Korolyov appeared to take the joke in stride.

"Damn. This thing is recording everything, the bastard," the scientist said in reference to the relay recorders.

The website also published a photograph of the original faded sheet on which the conversation is transcribed.

Lifenews.ru added that Gagarin appeared to be singing and whistling to himself while mission control continued conducting various last-minute checks.

Not all of them went smoothly.

Gagarin at one point is told to rip off some adhesive tape and adjust a piece of equipment because "we forgot to tape that thing".

He is later told that access hatch would have to be readjusted because "one of the contacts failed to light up" on the mission control panel.

Gagarin appeared to take everything in stride and began happily reporting all he saw once his spacecraft was finally aloft.

Various historians noted that one of the Soviet officials' biggest fears was that their cosmonaut would lose consciousness once he became weightless.

"The sensation of weightlessness feels nice," Gagarin reported to ground control at one point. "Everything is swimming."

-from www.yahoo.com and www.nasa.gov-

MVP Race, Who's your Bet?

Who's going to be the no.1 team on the playoffs? who's going to be in the playoffs? That's the most talked about issue going around the NBA this week. But after all the 82 games they have played, we asked them, who makes the playoff stint possible? Who carried the team to the playoffs? That's a define question we all should be asking right now. Is it Derrick Rose of the Bulls? Dwayne Wade and Lebron James of the Heat? Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers? Paul Pierce of the Celtics? Or is it Kevin Durant of the Thunders? All of these guys are playing tremendous basketball for their team. All their sacrifices and hardwork since the start of the off-season are now paying off. Their team are in the playoffs and it's just right to give these guys credit for all their hardwork. So, if we choose who would the MVP be? Well i have a crazy prediction. That award should go to D. Rose! Do you agree with me? I don't know. But the Bulls management did a good job for overhauling this team. Hiring a defensive coach from the Celts, forming a back-up for D.Rose? all that work is now bearing  sweet fruit for them. And D. Rose is responding on that build-up pretty well but balancing their offense, distributing the ball well and scoring as well. Whether you agree with me or not, that's my bet. So, if you guys have something to tell me, just don't hesitate to respond to my blog. Thank you!

GOOGLE ANDROID LOCKDOWN

When it first hit the marketplace, Google Android had a lot to offer smartphone manufacturers looking for an operating system capable of tackling Apple’s iPhone: it was open- source, license-free, and amenable to being “skinned,” or modified to suit the needs of a particular carrier or company.

But Google itself, concerned about platform fragmentation and competing against Apple’s tightly integrated software-hardware stack, is reportedly interested in bringing a little more law and order to Android’s Wild West: according to Bloomberg Businessweek, the search engine giant’s Android group is now demanding approval for anything companies do with the platform’s code.

That article quoted Nokia CEO Stephen Elop as saying: “The premise of a true open software platform may be where Android started, but it’s not where Android is going.” Nokia recently chose Windows Phone 7 as the software for its smartphones, which will allow the Finnish manufacturer to save on research and development costs.

Google offered no comment when asked by eWEEK about its Android control plans. If verified, however, Google’s decision could have wide-ranging effects on its competitors.

“In the short term, [Google’s decision] re-enforces the notion that there are some quality issues for the Android app portfolio,” Al Hilwa, an analyst with IDC, wrote in an April 1 e-mail to eWEEK. “These are the result of lightweight automated procedures around app approval and we have seen the negative effect in terms of usability, privacy and security.”

Nor have relatively loose standards helped Android’s fragmentation issues, Hilwa added, which in turn harm “the perception of quality and value which ultimately determines the profitability of the devices and success of apps for developers.” Manufacturing partners may balk at tighter Google control, “but in the long term it is in their interest.”

A stronger Android Marketplace could give the app platform more parity with Apple’s App Store and help blunt any competitive momentum for similar online storefronts from Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Research In Motion.

There’s also the view that Google’s decision will depth-charge their whole model.

“Google’s value proposition was that they would be vastly easier to deal with than Microsoft and let the vendors better differentiate,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst of the Enderle Group, wrote in an April 1 e-mail to eWEEK. “They found that this led to a lot of crap being released on the market and they sucked at vendor collaboration. They are now rethinking that approach by being even more controlling.”

However, he believes Google’s attempts will ultimately backfire. “In effect Google, after failing at being different from Microsoft, is going to try and beat Microsoft at Microsoft’s own game. That virtually never works, which will likely force them to get closer and closer to Apple’s model.”

The end result, he added, is a failure in the making: “Rather than figuring out how to make their idea work they are killing it by being too unwilling to form more cooperative relationships with their OEM partners.”

Walking the middle ground is Constellation Research analyst R “Ray” Wang, who wrote in an April 1 email: “There will be many models. Google’s going after open. Apple is closed but ubiquitous. It all puts pressure on Microsoft to define what the middle ground is.”

Before news of Google’s (possible) decision hit the Web, one analyst issued a report suggesting that Windows Phone 7, thanks to that alliance with Nokia, will surpass both Research In Motion’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iOS to become the second-ranked smartphone operating system in the world by 2015, lagging behind only Google Android.

“Up until the launch of Windows Phone 7 last year, Microsoft has steadily lost market share while other operating systems have brought forth new and appealing experiences,” Ramon Llamas, an analyst with IDC, wrote in a March 29 report. “The new alliance brings together Nokia’s hardware capabilities and 

Windows Phone’s differentiated platform.”

Will the Nokia alliance, combined with Google’s more stringent rules, affect other manufacturers’ decisions about embracing Windows Phone 7 as a platform of their phones? Time will tell. The only certain thing at this point is that, after several quarters of embracing Android as a rights-free, endlessly customizable platform, the party seems to be over for many of those manufacturers—and both Apple and Microsoft will likely feel themselves affected by the ripples.

By: Nicholas Kolakowski
2011-04-03

"BROKEN Lyrics" By: Seether Feat. Amy Lee

Broken
Seether Featuring Amy Lee

[Seether]
(Verse 1)
I wanted you to know
That I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain …away
I keep your photograph
And I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

[Seether & Amy Lee]
(Chorus 1)
cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

[Seether]
(Bridge)
You've gone away
You don't feel me here....anymore

[Amy Lee]
(Verse 2)
The worst is over now
And we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There's so much left to learn
And no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

[Seether & Amy Lee]
(Chorus 2)
cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

[Instruments]

[Seether & Amy Lee]
(Chorus 2)
cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

[Seether & Amy Lee]
(Chorus 1)
cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone [Seether]...away

[Seether and Amy Lee]
(Bridge)You're gone away
You don't feel me here....anymore

PLAYOFFS FEVER

Hey NBA fans! The playoff is in the air. We can now feel that every game is crucial for all the teams that's fighting for a spot in the playoffs. In the western conference the Houston Rockets are 3 games behind the no.8 seed Memphis. The Lakers (53-20) are fighting it out with the Dallas Mavericks (53-21) for the no.2 spot. While on the East, the Heat (52-23) is at the 3rd spot behind Boston's (51-22). But the heat has 7 games to go and all of  the Heat fans out there will be excited to watch those 7 intense games before the playoffs start. But anyway, as i have mentioned on my last blog, "the chicago bulls is the hottest team right now" and I am sure we all agree to that. They are the NO.1 Team in the East right now! I congratulate the Bulls management for the GREAT JOB in bringing back the glory day's to Chicago. Of course we all know why the BULLS are the hottest team on that era. It's because of Michael Jordan and his crew! Anyway, just an update on MARCH 31 game. The Dallas has defeated the Lakers 106-100 and Oklahoma City beat Phoenix 116-98. So, let's enjoy the the next two weeks before the Playoff start!  for more info just log-in to www.nba.com.