Efren Peñaflorida and URC rejoiced with Kariton Revolution kids as DTC opens Red-buil, the newest educational floor

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Efren Peñaflorida, the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year and Universal Robina Corporation (URC) opens the DTC’s newest educational floor, URC Learning Center at the Cavite City.

URC rejoiced with Kariton Revolution kids as in support of Dynamic Teen Company’s (DTC) mission to promote literacy and enrich potentials of future leaders, Universal Robina Corporation (URC) sponsored the construction of a learning center at the second floor of DTC’s Red-buil (red building).

Efren Peñaflorida

Peñaflorida started a "pushcart classroom" in the Philippines to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership. When he has received $100,000 as his prize as he was named 2009 CNN Hero of the Year, he continue his advocacy work and with his friends, they formed the Dynamic Teen Company with an aim of providing youth awareness projects, talent and self-development activities, and community services.

Founders of DTC, Peñaflorida and his classmates and friends find fulfillment as they slowly grow the number of youths being transformed through their programs. Transformed youth, who used to be street kids, drop-outs and out-of-school, even been drug users, petty thieves, scavengers, but youth are now DTC volunteers and have returned to mainstream education.

Universal Robina Corporation (URC) is one of the largest branded consumer food and beverage product companies in the Philippines and committed in making lives a truly helpful and fun experience.

The newly opened URC Learning Center has classrooms fully furnished with chairs, desks, whiteboards, and book shelves for incoming 9th and 10th graders. There is also an office where volunteer educators can prepare their lessons, as well as a laboratory for advance lessons in science.

Adding more fun and creativity to these new learning spaces are walls adorned with murals of the nine participating URC brands: Refresh, C2, and Payless Instant Mami; and Jack ‘n Jill Knots, Chiz Curls, Magic Flakes, Wafrets, Fun Fries and Roller Coaster.

DTC, an organization headed by pushcart educator and CNN Hero Efren Peñaflorida and his mentor Harnin Manalaysay, has managed several academic programs under their umbrella project, Kariton Revolution –a movement URC has been actively supporting since 2011. 

“It is an honor to work with Efren Peñaflorida and his team. We admire his passion to spark a positive change in the country. Granting free education to out-of-school youths is a truly admirable endeavor, one that we are quite proud to support,” said URC Executive Vice-President and Managing Director Nilo Mapa, Jr. 

The learning facilities in the newly built floor of the activity center are part of URC’s commitment to provide support to DTC and its undertakings. 

“We greatly appreciate URC’s support in our endeavors. The new classrooms they built for us will serve as venues for learning and knowledge,” shared Efren Peñaflorida when asked about URC as a partner.

As DTC's mission and vision in educating children, will strive harder to give the underprivileged youth in the Philippines to a better fighting chance at life, to become morally upright, productive and responsible individuals who embrace a spirit of volunteerism, 

DTC is to provide them guidance until they progress in their career and be productive contributors of society. 

Here are videos showing special presentation of Kariton Revolution kids during the event/opening of URC Learning Center.

The DTC building is located at 188 J. Miranda St., Caridad, Cavite City, Philippines.

Visit Efren Peñaflorida Twitter - @karitonkid and for more information, feel free to inquire at pushcartclasses@gmail.com. 

Smart now fires up LTE-Advanced, PH goes ‘5G’ !

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The Philippines goes ‘5G’ now as wireless services leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) fires up LTE-Advanced.

Two years after it pioneered the deployment of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G technology in the country, Smart announced that 5G wireless technology LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), is now running in the Philippines’ largest and strongest network.

Smart switched on LTE-A at the Smart Jump Center in Mandaluyong City recently, setting the next phase of mobile communication technology beyond 4G LTE standards. 

LTE-A, also referred to as ‘5G’ by reports on leading global mobile operators AT&T and T-Mobile, delivers data from between 100 megabits per second (mbps) to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), or ten times faster than 3G services and more than twice as fast as 4G services.

By firing up LTE-A technology on its network, Smart joins only a handful of carriers around the world with an LTE-A network, along with leading mobile operators in South Korea, United States, Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong.

Co-founder and Chief Wireless Advisor of Smart Orlando B. Vea (first from left) during the tests of 5G LTE-A in Smart last year, where speeds reaching 209.66 mbps were recorded.

Orlando B. Vea, founder and Chief Wireless Advisor of Smart, said “even as our 3G and 4G networks continue to be unrivaled, Smart becomes the first operator to leap into the future and put the Philippines at par with the world’s most advanced countries in terms of mobile communications technology.”

With LTE-A, a 10MB file takes less than a second to download, YouTube videos no longer have to buffer, and video calls are almost lag-free. But beyond speed, LTE-A’s main feature is also its capability to allocate more network resources to users when the need arises. 

Last year, Smart started testing LTE-A across the country delivering results of more than 100Mbps in Makati City, in Boracay, and in Davao City during the Kadayawan festival. 

The recent development is part of the company’s multi-pronged approach in addressing the various needs for internet and data services in the market.

“The PLDT Group’s strategy has always been to create solutions that address the varying needs of all segments of our customers, to bring fixed, wireless and mobile broadband services where they really matter. They may be delivered at different speeds and volumes, using a variety of technologies, and meant to respond to a wide range of needs of the market – but all of it is aimed at bringing the benefits of the internet to every Filipino,” explained Ramon Isberto, Public Affairs head for Smart and its parent company the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT).

This strategy meant deploying a combination of Fiber-to-the-Home, Next Generation Network, Time-Division Duplex LTE, Frequency-Division Duplex LTE and vDSL to bring internet to every Filipino home, and 3G, 4G, and 5G or LTE-A for mobile subscribers, according to Isberto.

“We are able to deliver all these high-bandwidth services and applications on the strength of our transmission backbone network, which is the most extensive and most resilient in the country. Aside from allowing us to commit to speed, our unmatched network resources give us the edge in terms of efficiency and reliability,” added Isberto.

Smart’s nationwide coverage is backed by PLDT’s fiber optic cable connection which has now reached nearly 90,000 kilometers, or more than four times than competition. To further strengthen this domestic fiber optic network (DFON), PLDT also set up third legs in its fiber loops in key areas nationwide, the latest of which is the Bohol DFON project that provided redundant links between the Visayas and Mindanao.

Me. I Am Mariah. World Tour Live in Manila on Oct. 28

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Mariah Carey is bringing her "Me. I Am Mariah. World Tour" to Manila on October 28 at the Mall Of Asia (MOA) Arena. The one and only pop diva Mariah will kick off her world tour in Asia that will include the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Japan.

Mariah is the best-selling female artist of all time with more than 200 million records sold worldwide to date and 18 Billboard No. 1 singles (17 self-penned) including Hero, Fantasy, Always Be My Baby, Honey, One Sweet Day, Without You, Touch My Body, We Belong Together, Don’t Forget About Us and the global smash hit Christmas single All I Want For Christmas Is You, more than any solo artist in history.

With her distinct five-octave vocal range, prolific songwriting and producing talent, Mariah has defined the modern pop performance. She has been recognized with five Grammy Awards, nine American Music Awards, Billboard’s Artist of the Decade Award, the World Music Award for World’s Best Selling Female Artiste of the Millennium and BMI’s Icon Award, to name a few.

In 2012, she joined the brand-new panel for American Idol’s Season 12 together with Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban. She released and topped the dance charts worldwide with her smash hit single Triumphant (Get’ Em). Mariah also filmed The Butler, a movie by Lee Daniels who had previously cast her in Precious, a role which won Mariah accolades for her dramatic performance.

Here are some videos of Mariah Carey famous hits.

This is the second time the singer will perform in the country, the first in 2003 for her Charmbracelet Tour.

Last May this year 2014, Mariah released her 14th album, Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse.

The Elusive Chanteuse which has received positive reviews from both the media and public. The album features the smash hits #Beautiful (featuring Miguel), You’re Mine (Eternal) and You Don’t Know What To Do.

Me. I Am Mariah. World Tour Live in Manila is brought to you by Wilbros Live.

Tickets will be on sale beginning Friday, Aug. 15, via smtickets.com or call 374-2222 or 470-2222.)

New additions to AMD FirePro™ professional graphics family at SIGGRAPH 2014

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Advance Micro Devices completes its next generation family of workstation graphics cards, delivering more memory, compute and graphics performance to help increase productivity in customer workflows.

Recently, AMD unveiled new additions to the next generation AMD FirePro™ professional graphics family at SIGGRAPH 2014.

These new addition to AMD’s line of GPUs are designed to provide exceptional application performance for the entry-level workstation user up to the ultra-power user, backed by larger memory configurations, top to bottom 4K display support, increased compute performance¹, application certifications and rock-solid drivers. 

AMD took command of professional graphics leadership earlier this year with the exciting introduction of its award winning AMD FirePro™ W9100 and AMD FirePro™ W8100 graphics. 

Now with the introduction of all new AMD FirePro™ professional graphics cards supported by AMD Graphics Core Next architecture – AMD FirePro™ W2100, AMD FirePro™ W4100, AMD FirePro™ W5100, and AMD FirePro™ W7100  – Computer Aided Design (CAD), video, animation, design and engineering professionals are empowered to work at exceptional levels of detail, speed, productivity, responsiveness and creativity.

“We’re excited to unveil the new generation of AMD FirePro professional graphics with improved features to enable more workstation graphics performance and productivity at every level,” said David Cummings, senior director and general manager, Professional Graphics at AMD. “This new generation of AMD FirePro graphics will help workstation manufacturers and channel providers to offer powerful, reliable solutions designed to improve application performance and increased productivity to help end users do more.”

The next generation AMD FirePro™ workstation graphics family brings at least 2x more memory1, multidisplay 4K leadership, high compute performance, next generation API support and PCIe® 3.0 support: 

• With 16GB GDDR5 memory and the ability to support up to six 4K displays², AMD FirePro™ W9100 professional graphics is AMD’s most advanced professional graphics solution available offering the ideal single-GPU solution for the next generation of ultrahigh-resolution visualization environments.

• AMD FirePro™ W8100 professional graphics feature 8GB of GDDR5 memory and packs up to 4.2 TFLOPS of compute power to accelerate projects beyond just graphics 

• An engineering and Media & Entertainment multimedia powerhouse, the 8GB AMD FirePro™ W7100 professional graphics is designed to boost performance and support for 4K content, including video playback, editing and transcoding

• With 4GB of GDDR5 memory and four display outputs on the AMD FirePro™ W5100 graphics, users can tackle complex models, assemblies, data sets and advanced visual effects with ease

• In a class of its own, AMD FirePro™ W4100 graphics, including four-display support, is the ideal choice for users who need a performance boost to address their evolving workflows 

• Next generation professional graphics start with AMD FirePro™ W2100 graphics, delivering optimized and certified professional application performance that consumer graphics lack

“With the introduction of next generation AMD FirePro™ workstation graphics cards, Dell can offer its design and engineering customers outstanding graphics and multi-monitor performance, beneficial graphics memory and outstanding features to help improve their workflows – whether they need an entry, mid-range or high-end graphics solution,” said Andy Rhodes, executive director, Dell Precision workstations. “AMD’s solid drivers and application certifications support Dell Precision Workstation customers with high performance, high quality workstations for their designs, models, animations and video productions.”

“Offering an expanded choice of AMD FirePro professional graphics cards will help our customers increase their productivity for a variety of mission critical projects including computer aided design and content creation,” said Jeff Wood, vice president, Worldwide Product Management, Commercial Solutions Business Unit, HP. “We can rely on AMD FirePro to enable our workstation customers to deliver successful projects knowing that they’re backed by the reliability and performance they demand.”

In support of the new AMD™ FirePro professional graphics, AMD will participate in the following activities at SIGGRAPH 2014 in the Vancouver Convention Centre: 

• AMD FirePro family of professional graphics will be displayed in the AMD booth (#1023) from August 12 to 14 
• Also in the AMD exhibit booth, Solid Angle,  a leading provider of rendering software for animation and visual effects, will offer a demonstration entitled “Exploring the Cutting Edge: An Arnold GPU Prototype”
• AMD’s graphics executive Richard Huddy will present “Mantle and the Next-Gen Renderers For AMD FirePro With Graphics Core Next” at the Exhibitor Tech Talks at SIGGRAPH 2014 on August 12 and 13 
• AMD will host “Monsters in the Orchestra: A Surround Computing VR Experience” in booth ET440 in the Emerging Technologies pavilion, Hall A from August 10 to 14

”Sapphire is  proud to be able to offer the complete range of new AMD professional graphics products featuring a host of new features enabling workstation users with increased creativity and productivity,” said Adrian Thompson, Corporate VP of Marketing for SAPPHIRE Technology, the Exclusive Global Distribution Partner for AMD FirePro graphics. “These new AMD FirePro professional graphics deliver workstation integrators and end users an exciting choice of performance levels for an extensive array of applications, all supported by certified drivers and powered by OpenCL™."

The AMD FirePro W9100 and W8100 graphics are already available for purchase from numerous workstation providers, and the AMD FirePro W2100, W4100 and W5100 graphics will be available In September from AMD global distribution partner SAPPHIRE Technology and major workstation providers. AMD FirePro W7100 graphics will be available in Q4 2014.

Supporting Resources

• Learn more about AMD FirePro™ Graphics product family

• Become a fan of AMD on Facebook

• Follow AMD professional graphics on Twitter - @AMDFirePro

About AMD 

AMD designs and integrates technology that powers millions of intelligent devices, including personal computers, tablets, game consoles and cloud servers that define the new era of surround computing. AMD solutions enable people everywhere to realize the full potential of their favorite devices and applications to push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information, visit www.amd.com.

Habitat for Humanity with Advocate Habitat Online Champions

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Habitat for Humanity aims to meet the shelter needs of communities affected by calamities such as super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). Working with partners, volunteeers, and disaster response program to provide emergency and shelter repair kits, basic amenities, such as electricity, and builds core houses for affected families in communities.

When the typhoon hit, help was needed immediately. Thousands of families were devastated and there was no time to waste.

With the urgency of the problem and the need to disseminate information fast, Habitat turned to social media for an answer. And during the height of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November, as timely and coordinated, Habitat for Humanity proved that there’s definitely more to social media than just posting selfies, and sharing throwbacks.

Habitat for Humanity / Habitat Online Champions

In a few days word about Habitat’s Yolanda response was all over social media; bloggers, celebrities, and other willing individuals readily stepped-up to help spread the word and rally for donations. With millions in donations coming in, Habitat quickly went to work distributing emergency Shelter Repair Kits across affected areas. In the weeks and months that followed, social media support continued.

Habitat Goes Social

Habitat Philippines CEO & Managing Director Charlie Ayco 

Habitat acknowledges the power of social media for social change. In its effort to maximize social media to help reach more people with its mission, Habitat is holding its first “Social Media Circle”, a gathering of bloggers and social media enthusiasts with a heart for social change; the event is also Habitat’s way of honoring its online supporters.

Habitat Philippines Communications Director Gina Virtusio.

Habitat hopes to inspire these people to continue supporting Habitat’s work in their own way and through their own network of influence.

Habitat Ambassador Kuya Tonipet Gaba  

With the undeniable power and vast reach of social media, Habitat is excited at the prospect of engaging more volunteers, donors, and advocates through this support group.

By signing Habitat’s Pledge of Commitment willing bloggers and guests were tagged “Habitat Online Champion” a title reserved for those who are up for the challenge and journey of using their influence and network to spread the word about Habitat, its programs, and advocacies.

“Habitat Online Champions" are advocate and respected bloggers, personalities and also members of online communities from various group who have been supporting and have been spreading the word about Habitat and its work.

Some Habitat Online Champions receiving Certificate of Appreciation from
Habitat CEO Charlie Ayco

I am grateful to be part of Habitat for Humanity Philippine's first Social Media Circle held at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Century Mall. And I am super blessed and honored to be one of the Habitat Online Champions given appreciation for continue supporting Habitat’s work.

Regular “Social Media Circle” gathering will be held to share news and updates with these Online Champions.

Habitat also offers other volunteering opportunities on their site at http://www.habitat.org.ph/

If you want to help the families affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), please visit http://habitat.org.ph/donate-now.