Everything for the Easter Egg Hunter! SM Supermalls Celebrates Easter with Carnival-themed Party

Tweet

Customers who will troop to any SM mall nationwide this coming Easter Sunday, March 31, will be treated to various fun activities for the whole family as SM Supermalls holds a grand celebration dubbed “Easter Carnival”. SM malls are especially decorated for sight-seeing and photo opportunities, with giant Easter installations available for the public to enjoy.

One of the highlights of the Easter Carnival includes “Circus Fun”, which features a circus show with magical acts and performances by clowns.

There will also be a grand parade of mascots and a costume contest where kids can play dress-up with their cutest, most colorful and wackiest Easter costumes to get a chance to win cool prizes.

Egg-hunting tradition will be held through “Eggstream Hunt” in select SM malls.

Another interesting event to watch out for is the “Easter Fair” where booths will be set up for fun activities and food that kids will enjoy, such as hotdogs, popcorn, ice cream, and many others. Activities include face painting, balloon twisting and egg painting.

For more information about SM Supermall Easter celebration schedule of activities, visit SM Supermalls facebook account at facebook.com/smsupermalls or www.smsupermalls.com , tweet via @smsupermalls, or call (02) 470-2222.

For the Graduates Reaping the Fruits of Hard Work : Philips tips its hat to the graduates

Tweet

Work hard and you will be able to reap the fruits of your labor in due time. Remember, there is no such thing as an easy way to success. Everything can be achieved through hard work and patience.

You can reap the fruit of all those pressures and celebrate the achievements of such hard work.

Especially, for the students,  graduation is the momentous event that marks both a bittersweet ending and a beautiful beginning. Everybody looks forward to the day they cross the finish line of a long, hard fought journey in education. It is a time to reflect and commend everything one has been through to get to that point.

For all the hard work and effort that the students of your family put in all these years, Philips offers these suggestions on how to reward them this graduation season:

For the little ones who are ready to be the big kids.

It’s always a beautiful sight to see your son, daughter, niece or nephew outgrow their baby steps and take a big kid’s step to their future. To make that moment even more special, why not reward the young ones with a big kid gadget? 

Philips GoGEAR SoundDOT

The Philips GoGEAR SoundDOT is ideal for introducing a whole new world of music to the kids. An mp3 player designed for convenience, it is equipped with LED and sound indicators for navigation. The player is a flash drive in itself that allows for easy file transfer without cables. It also includes a built-in clip for hands-free use, and will attract your kids’ curious eyes with its wide range of colors. Moreover, users can enjoy up to 6 hours of music playback.

For the fashion savvy graduate 

CitiScape Downtown 

CitiScape Shibuya 

CitiScape St. Germain 

For the fashion expert of the family feel, Philips offers its CitiScape Collection. Featuring unique fusions of fashionable design and high quality audio, CitiScape headphones come with 40mm drivers that deliver clear, natural and balanced sound all the time.

If the artsy graduate takes inspiration from the urban backdrop of New York City, Philips recommends the CitiScape Downtown. Meanwhile, the Philips CitiScape St. Germain is tailor-made for the romantic and chic daughter or niece. And for the anime-loving, J-Pop and J-Rock loyalists of the family, Philips offers the specially-designed CitiScape Shibuya.

For the budding adventurers waiting to see the world 

Philips Shoqbox

Whether your son or nephew is graduating from high school or college, their thirst for adventure and the outdoors is likely to be evident—especially during the summer right after graduation. Philips suggests a worthwhile companion for camping, hiking or casual beach trips with the Philips Shoqbox.

A small speaker packed with big sound, the Shoqbox is portable, splash-proof and drop-proof. It carries powerful twin speaker drivers that deliver big sound that doesn’t crack. Operating on Bluetooth technology, it allows users to stream music from any Bluetooth device. It is meant to withstand the roughness of the outdoors—a reliable travel buddy for budding adventurers.

For the sound aficionado about to bid school goodbye 

Fidelio L1 

Fidelio M1 

For the audiophile graduates who are very particular about sound, Philips has a ready suggestion: the high fidelity Philips Fidelio M1 and L1.

Powerful vented and pre-tilted neodymium drivers provide solid sound production for the L1, bringing a controlled bass and a transparent mid-range. Its semi-open back architecture also serves to provide more natural and uncolored sound that’s very close to the original source. Meanwhile, the M1, which is primarily intended for outdoor or on-the-go listening, provides comfort and an overall sophisticated flair in its design. Sound also resonates well from the M1 due to its acoustic seal that’s built into the internal chamber to preserve sound details.

For the laid back yet sophisticated homebody 

Philips SoundRing DS3880W

Almost every family has a resident homebody or all around laid back member that appreciates the art of staying home rather than a night out. That son or daughter poured in countless hours of studying and sleepless nights from the comfort of his or her bedroom without fail all these years. For your young homebody, Philips offers the Philips SoundRing DS3880W.

Within its bold, spherical design, the Philips SoundRing houses a technology that produces natural and immersive sound. It is also equipped with Apple's AirPlay, allowing users to wirelessly stream their iTunes collections straight to the SoundRing. Furthermore, users can also charge their Apple devices through the USB port located at the charging base.

On their Graduation Day, pay tribute to the family members whom you’ve seen grow to become marvelous and learned individuals over the years. As you do so, remember that seeing them walk on stage for that diploma is a triumph both on your part, as parents who have endured and sacrificed much for their education and for them who did just as much.

They too deserve to reap the fruits of their hard work.

Fun and Colorful Color Dash on May 11 @ The Fort BGC

Tweet

Color dash is the most colorful and a great fun 5k loop run on May 11, 2013 at Fort BGC!

Color dash support's Coca-Cola's Open Happiness "Sinong napasaya mo today?" #Napasayakotoday.

There will be dashing out colors of red (coke), green (sprite), orange (RTO), blue (sarsi), black (coke zero) on a silver/white shirt (coke light).

This supports the disaster program of Red Cross. Special thanks to Zoot, Otterbox, UA, The Old Spaghetti House.

Media partners are Multisports Magazine and Soul BGC. Our registration areas are at the Athlete's Foot (Two Parkade, High street); A Runner's Circle (Aloha Hotel, Roxas blvd); G Stop (Greenhills Shopping Center and ATC).

Register Now!

Whats in the kit?
1. Color Dash shirt
2. 10% off Otterbox
3. P100 GC The Old Spaghetti House
4. up to 40% off from Zoot
5. Free Shipping from www.buybranded.com.ph
6. Coca Cola Baller Bands
7. bib
8. map
9. Color Dash sticker
10. Exclusive ticket to the party
11. Raffle coupon (Awesome prizes awaits you!)

Online Registration from www.buybranded.com.ph

Enjoy raffle prizes and wait for the happy chopper that will dash out more color and prizes! 

Color dash is happening on May 11, 2013. 

Like FB page: Color Dash. Updates are also available here. Registration ongoing 

Jason Fernandez makes TV acting debut

Tweet

Former Rivermaya frontman Jason Fernandez makes TV acting debut.

In previous interviews, former Rivermaya frontman Jason Fernandez admitted being abandoned by his Cypriot father at a young age. In fact, after his stint in the band, he flew to Cyprus to meet his father.

This Holy Week, Jason was tapped by CBN Asia to be one of the lead stars of their Good Friday presentation – Tanikala presents Ama Namin, which also stars Mike Tan, Diva Montalba, and Tricia Amper. It will air this March 29, 5 p.m., on GMA 7.

Jason can very well relate to his role Arthur, an artist whose father had to leave him to work abroad when he was very young.

“The role is something very close to home,” adds Jason. “I hope people will be blessed, and inspired with this special Lenten Presentation.”

The episode talks about the lives of three friends whose lives were greatly affected by their respective relationships with their fathers.

Ama Namin is written by Icko Gonzales, Don Gonzales and Gin Sardea and is directed by Icko Gonzales, John Valdez-Tan, and Derrek Adapon.

Open Source Communities and Microsoft come together at the first ever Openness Night in the Philippines

Tweet

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. 

Microsoft Philippines, the local subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation, has been constantly bringing innovation and making its technology available to Filipino businesses and individuals since 1995. As a committed and trusted partner in nation-building, Microsoft Philippines has made it its mission to fuel growth and healthy communities, as well as transform locally-based businesses and empower them to compete in the global economy. 

Bringing Windows and Open Source developers together to give back to the community 

In line with its mission to improve the lives of consumers and businesses through innovative technology, Microsoft Philippines, in conjunction with the vibrant open source communities in the country, launched the Openness Night today. 

The first of its kind for Microsoft, Openness Night is a monthly meet up where the local open source communities will be coming together with one goal—giving back. It aims to facilitate discussion among developers about emerging technologies, especially in the context of open standards, open source and interoperability. 

The event will also be a forum to enable and foster the development of local projects on Microsoft plus open source technologies, allowing developers to contribute back to their communities, often for the first time. In addition to working on projects that the local communities come up with, Microsoft will be supporting these initiatives by bringing different projects to the region that the communities can contribute to. 

The commitment of the local developer organizations was palpable with more than 100 developers turning up for the event; including participants from the PHP User Group Philippines, Philippine Drupal User Group, Wikimedia Philippines, WordPress Philippines, Philippine Ruby User Group, Python Philippines, Windows Developers Group, AWARE IT and Phil IT. 

“Our long-standing collaboration with Microsoft will be further strengthened by the Openness Nights. It gives us an opportunity to come together, irrespective of our technology preferences, break down barriers and make IT accessible to all in the Philippines,” said Cherrie Ann Domingo of PHP User Group Philippines, Inc. 

The Openness Night was kicked off by Gianugo Rabellino, Senior Director of Open Source Communities at Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation focused on working at the intersection of open standards, open source and interoperability. A member of the Apache Software Foundation, Rabellino has been heavily involved in open source communities, software and business for nearly 20 years, and is deeply engaged in developing partnerships and collaborations that bridge open source and enterprise solutions. 

Openness Night. (L-R) Gianugo Rabellino, Senior Director of Open Source Communities at Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc., and Sangita Jayaraman, Director of Platform Strategy at Microsoft Asia Pacific.

“Technology today is increasingly complex and intertwined as we transform to a world of devices connected to online services,” Rabellino said. At Microsoft Open Technologies, we are fueled by the principle of open standards, open source and interoperability. We operate under the philosophy that Microsoft technologies can work in harmony and parallel with open source in a sustainable way to stretch the enormous capability of technology. This is most critical when responding to the important demands of people and businesses on the mega-trends of cloud and mobility.” 

Rabellino explained that Microsoft supports open source technologies on its cloud operating system and encouraged open source developers to continue to think of the Windows platforms as an easy way to launch open source applications. For example, Windows Azure provides broad support for open source technologies such as PHP, Python, Node.js, Java, etc. 

With Windows Azure Virtual Machines (VMs), customers can instantly run their existing applications and infrastructure, whether Windows or Linux, on the cloud without requiring any changes to the existing code. A recent development that Rabellino showcased was VM Depot, a catalog of open source images for Windows Azure where developers can build, deploy and share their virtual machines. Today, in just 3 months, VM Depot has more than 160 images contributed by the community at large and is the place to go to for cloud developers interested in sharing their open source technologies on Windows Azure. 

From a mobility perspective, how developers build apps is also very different today. Emerging technologies are making it easier for developers to build applications that work across a variety of cheap, powerful, devices and reach billions of people through the cloud. This opens up previously unimagined possibilities, but also new challenges. To make it easier for developers to build a single website targeting multiple devices, Microsoft is working with the industry on an open standard that will help web developers easily support a broad range of devices with different input capabilities, including keyboard, mouse, pen or touch. To that end, MS Open Technologies recently proposed a modification to the WebKit engine to support Pointer Events, an open standard effort currently being developed at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). 

During the Openness Nights, developers will have an opportunity to contribute to open source initiatives such as VM Depot and WebKit, in addition to other local projects. Openness ensures innovation and choice in the marketplace, delivers value in difficult economic times, and creates opportunities for startups and small and medium businesses. Based on the enthusiastic participation yesterday, the Openness Nights in Philippines is on its way to becoming a great forum for this spirit of openness. 

To learn more on Microsoft’s openness, visit www.microsoft.com/openness/.