Monday, December 22, 2008

Retreat

1. Morning Praise
Retreat of IV-Love Batch 09' in Baguio 

















3. Group picture outside the Retreat House. (Brr)

2. Candid Shot with Father Manny

  4. Formal Shot with Father Manny










Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Brad Was Hands On at Angelina's Delivery


Update: Brad Was Hands On at Angelina's Delivery


ET confirms that Angelina Jolie has given birth to a baby girl and boy in Nice, France. Dr. Michel Sussmann, the obstetrician who delivered the twins, said Angelina delivered a boy named Knox Leon and a girl named Vivienne Marcheline by Caesarian section Saturday night.
"Everything is going well," Sussman said, with Angelina expected to stay in the hospital for a few more days. "The mother, the babies, the father are doing marvelously well," said Sussman, who added that Knox weighed 5.02 pounds, while Vivienne weighed 5 pounds.
The Caesarean procedure was moved up from its original date "for medical reasons" so the babies could be born "in the best conditions."
Angelina's partner Brad Pitt was present for the procedure, which took place at the seaside Lenval hospital in southern France. Sussman said Pitt was pleased to be present for the birth and described the actor's demeanor as "perfectly calm" and "very emotional." According to
People.com, Brad even cut the babies' umbilical cords. "He was my assistant," the doctor tells People.
The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, congratulated Brad and Angelina and said he was honored that "the most famous couple of the world" had chosen his city as the place to have their twins. Estrosi proudly held up a copy of the birth certificates for the press on the steps of the hospital.
The twins join Brad and Angelina's established brood of Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; Zahara, 3, and Shiloh, 2.


Movie Review: Election




Movie Review:

Election (1999)
by: Lisa Schwarzbaum


The bulldozer ambition of infernally perky Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon), an oooh-oooh-I-know-the-answer overachiever running unchallenged for student-council president, unleashes the wounded resentments of high school teacher and student-council adviser Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) in this inspired satire. ''Mr. M.'' realizes he has had enough teenage go-getterness to last a lifetime and gets busy doing what he can to thwart Tracy's bright-eyed rise. Alexander Payne's scathing, subtle, and complexly funny tragicomedy builds a perfect, off-kilter universe — it's a first cousin to Rushmore. And like Payne's 1996 gem Citizen Ruth, Election is a sophisticated morality tale. The production benefits terrifically from Witherspoon's great, steely performance, which inspires Broderick's striking, career-deepening turn as a sneaky adult. The supporting characters are vital and vivid: Tracy's tightly plotted game plan is jostled by 11th-hour competition from a sweet football player (newcomer Chris Klein) and his far more complicated lesbian sister (another newcomer, Jessica Campbell), who is, truly, way too cool for school.


source:http://www.ew.com/


Celtics' surge II isn't a sequel - yet.


Celtics' surge II isn't a sequel - yet.

by: Roy S. Johnson/ Yahoo! Sports BlogsAdd Video



It wasn't supposed to be this easy. At least, not as easy as it looks. Most of the buzz this season has been about the Los Angeles Lakers, seemingly near-consensus favorites to win the 2009 NBA title. Early season trades brought attention to the Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons. And prognosticators everywhere are boiling tea leaves trying to figure out where LeBron James will be playing after next season.
In the meantime, the
Boston Celtics have quietly become the best team in the game. Again. They're Globetrotters; just about everyone else is the Washington Generals. They're 20-2 and have won 12 straight.
The Celtics are acting like defending their title will be easy.
The team's Big Three - Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen - are having Breakthrough Year II. Rajon Rondo is playing like a confident floor leader rather than a skittish kid. And Doc Rivers is collecting enough Coach of the Month plaques to open a trophy store.

The Next Season isn't supposed to be this easy. It's supposed to be one long hangover as a team struggles to recapture the unique dynamic - the convergence of talent, sacrifice and good fortune - that allowed it to win.
One former coach once told me why it's so hard to win back-to-back titles. In any sport. "Because every guy on the team either wants more money, playing time or more shots," he said, "because of course they were the reason why you won."
That the Celtics have thus far been largely able to avoid the disease of me is a testament to a continuation of the commitment of sacrifice that Garnett, Pierce and Allen - all singular stars - pledge to uphold when KG and Allen joined the team last season.They are continuing to play the kind of your-turn game that allows each player to have his moments during a game without any one of them typically dominating an entire night.
They're also continuing to thrive under the African philosophy Rivers introduced to the team last season and reinforced on the first day of training camp this year. It's called Ubuntu, and it espouses the simple belief that we exist as a collective, not individually. “We’re all tied to each other," he's said often. "If one guy’s successful, the next guy’s successful and it spreads.”
Of course, 20-2 isn't as easy as it looks, and the Celtics have shown tendencies that let you know that even a place in the NBA Finals isn't certain. On both Friday at home against the
Portland Trail Blazers and Sunday on the road against the Indiana Pacers, Boston blew leads - largely because of the inconsistency of its bench.
No wonder. Last season,the Celtics reserves were anchored by veteran James Posey, now gone to New Orleans via free agency. Been-there-done-that leadership was also provided by forward P.J. Brown, who has since retired, and guard Sam Cassell, who has yet to appear in a game this season.
Aside from Cassell, Rivers' two most experienced reserves are enigmatic guard Eddie House and happy-to-be-here forward Brian Scalabrine, neither of which engenders any fear in the opposition when they enter a game. Otherwise, the bench is peppered with players so young - Leon Powe, Patrick O'Bryant, Glen (Big Baby) Davis, Gabe Pruitt and rookie Bill Walker - they can still remember their college fight song.
If the Celtics are going to reach the Finals again, let alone repeat, this group will have to grow like weeds in the spring. Or Danny Ainge will have to work more of his mid-year magic for reinforcements.
Against the Blazers, the subs squandered a 25-point lead and were forced to endure a very stern talking to by Garnett. Big Baby didn't like what he was hearing and walked away from KG while the captain was chewing out the group. Garnett grabbed him by the elbow and gave him an individual dose that caused BBD to, well, live up (or down) to his nickname. He retreated to the end of the bench and unleashed a tearful towel-throwing tantrum.
Garnett expressed support and sympathy for the second-year forward, and on Sunday Davis grabbed two rebounds in 12 minutes in Boston's 122-117 OT win. But it was another game in which the starters, who had built an 11-point lead, had to rescue the bench.
Easy? Not so far this season. No matter how it looks.

De la Hoya called Paxquiao 'the best fighter in the world'


De la Hoya called Paxquiao 'the best fighter in the world'



MANILA, Philippines - There was no question about who Oscar de la Hoya thought deserved to take his throne as boxing's best.It was the same guy who virtually sent him to retirement.Manny Pacquiao revealed to Filipino sportswriters on Monday (Sunday, US time) in Las Vegas a compliment de la Hoya made that sent Pacquiao goose bumps."Well, he told me I was the best fighter in the whole world."Right after de la Hoya surrendered and the two fighters were still on top of the ring, Pacquiao and de la Hoya actually exchanged compliments.Pacquiao told a battered de la Hoya, "You're still my idol." De la Hoya deferred, pointing back to his conqueror, "No, you're my idol."That was one of a dozen props - whether coming from boxing journalists, celebrities, trainers or former world champions - Pacquiao has been receiving after his masterful eight-round stoppage of The Golden Boy.Mike Tyson, the former undisputed world heavyweight champion, was awed by Pacquiao's win."Nobody thought he was going to win but he was the guy with the speed and the power and Oscar wasn't able to do anything about it," Tyson, who even visited Pacquiao on his final day of training, said."No matter what Oscar did, Pacquiao just had all the answers."Another boxing legend, Thomas Hearns, said he was surprised with the result."I thought it was a very interesting fight, but I feel the fight was a little different from what I expected to be," Hearns, the Hall of Fame boxer who became the first four-division world champion, said."(Pacquiao) just did what was needed to win the fight."Pacquiao also revealed to sports scribes that he got a call from David Diaz, the man Pacquiao dethroned as the world lightweight champion last June."I think David liked what just happened. He was asking me, 'Who are you? You're too fast. You're unbelievable. Are you human?'" Pacquiao narrated.Meanwhile, Pacquiao admitted that he didn't expect de la Hoya to throw in the towel.Just before the ninth round started, he already saw de la Hoya walk across from his corner toward him. Taking it as a "let's get it on" gesture, Pacquiao got up on his feet and was ready to begin the next round."Oscar was already standing up so I stood up and I thought the fight was on. But I was surprised Oscar's corner was already making a signal. They were throwing in the towel," Pacquiao said.Pacquiao dealt de la Hoya his most savage beating and by making him surrender, his most embarrassing loss in an otherwise stellar career."Oscar was just wilting at the end of the eighth round. So Freddie (Roach) just told me to finish him off. If Oscar hadn't surrendered, I would've stopped Oscar in the ninth anyway," Pacquiao recalled.Pacquiao pounded de la Hoya with head shots that caused de la Hoya's face to swell. De la Hoya wasn't the only won who was left a mark by the jabs, though. The frequency of Pacquiao's connections also caused his right hand to swell.A day after his victory, Pacquiao continued to be upbeat, narrating to people whom he came across the experience of fighting de la Hoya."What we did inside the ring, that's exactly what we've been practicing," Pacquiao said. "Body, then head movement. Keep the head active so you take away his jab." – GMANews.TV



source: http://pacquiaovsdelahoyaupdates.blogspot.com/

2008 Will Be Just a Second Longer



2008 Will Be Just a Second Longer



On Dec. 31 this year, your day will be just a second longer.
Like the more well-known time adjustment, the leap year, a "leap second" is tacked on to clocks every so often to keep them correct.
Earth's trip around the sun - our year with all its seasons - is about 365.2422 days long, which we round to 365 to keep things simpler. But every four years, we add 0.2422 x 4 days (that's about one day) at the end of the month of February (extending it from 28 to 29 days) to fix the calendar.
Likewise, a "leap second" is added on to our clocks every so often to keep them in synch with the somewhat unpredictable nature of our planet's rotation, the roughly 24-hour whirl that brings the sun into the sky each morning.
Historically, time was based on the mean rotation of the Earth relative to celestial bodies and the second was defined from this frame of reference. But the invention of atomic clocks brought about a definition of a second that is independent of the Earth's rotation and based on a regular signal emitted by electrons changing energy state within an atom.
In 1970, an international agreement established two timescales: one based on the rotation of the Earth and one based on atomic time.
The problem is that the Earth is very gradually slowing down, continually throwing the two timescales out of synch, so every so often, a "leap second" has to be tacked on to the atomic clock.
The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service is the organization that monitors the difference in the two timescales and calls for leap seconds to be inserted or removed when necessary. Since 1972, leap seconds have been added at intervals varying from six months to seven years - the most recent was inserted on Dec. 31, 2005.
In the United States, the U.S. Naval Observatory and the National Institute of Standards and Technology keep time for the country. The Naval Observatory keeps the Department of Defense's Master Clock, an atomic clock located in Washington, D.C.
The new extra second will be added on the last day of this year at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time - 6:59:59 pm Eastern Standard Time.
Mechanisms such as the Internet-based Network Time Protocol and the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) depend on the accurate time kept by atomic clocks.


Sunday, November 23, 2008

Latest Technological Updates











Technology Continuing to Evolve



Cars

2009 Audi A8 SummaryThe 2009 A8 is a 4-door, up to 5-passenger luxury sedan, available in 3 trims, ranging from the Sedan to the L W12. Upon introduction, the Sedan is equipped with a standard 4.2-liter, V8, 350-horsepower engine that achieves 16-mpg in the city and 23-mpg on the highway. The L W12 is equipped with a standard 6.0-liter, W12, 450-horsepower engine that achieves 15-mpg in the city and 21-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard on both trims. The 2009 A8 is a carryover from 2008.









Laptops



According to HP, the TouchSmart tx2 is the world’s first convertible laptop with multi-touch-sensitive interface and was designed to support customers’ needs such as easy picture management, music controls and video features access.HP used the capacitive multi-touch technology that recognizes multiple fingers gestures including pinch, rotate, arc, flick, press and drag, and single and double tap. The user can use fingers or the included rechargeable digital ink pen for handwriting, sketches, drawings and simple text notes, while the laptop can then translate all these into standard digital text.More than that, it comes with the MediaSmart TV module that gives you access to 10 television channels and online brands enabled by MTV Networks.

HP TouchSmart tx2 convertible laptop weighs only 4.5 pounds and sports a 12.1-inch BrightView LED display. You can recognize it from the HP Imprint “Reaction” design.It is available in the United States at HP’s store at a price of $1,149 and is configured with an AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor of up to 2.4GHz operating speeds, pre-installed Windows Vista operating system, webcam, microphone, up to 8GB DRR2 memory, ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics with 64MB memory, wireless N module, theft protection, and built-in Altec Lansing stereo speakers.“Breezing through websites and enjoying photos or video at the tap, whisk or flick of a finger is an entirely new way to enjoy digital content on a notebook PC,” said Ted Clark, senior vice president and general manager, Notebook Global Business Unit, Personal Systems Group, HP. “With the introduction of the TouchSmart tx2, HP is providing users an easier, more natural way to interact with their PCs, and furthering touch innovation.”












Cellphones




OverviewThe thin, stylish BlackBerry® Pearl(TM) 8110 with GPS will get you where you need to be. It includes auto push email, messaging and multimedia options. Type effortlessly and send messages with the SureType(TM) QWERTY keyboard. View photos and email attachments on the large brightly lit color screen. The Pearl has a 2 MP camera with video recording, media player, web browser, and Bluetooth® v2.0 with stereo support. This smart stylish Blackberry smartphone has everything you need whatever your quest.





Sunday, November 16, 2008

This is me

Name: Ana Rosalia Tiongco

Yr. & Section: IV-Love

Favorite Book/s: The Bible

Favotite Movie/s: Passion of Christ

Favorite Subject: Computer


Hobbies: Reading

Goal/s: become a decallionaire