Wacom Kids and Animals Photo Contest

Wacom Asia has another photo contest - The Wacom Kids and Animals Photo Contest! It does'nt matter if you're a pro or beginner... this contest is worth a try!

All you have to do is submit a photo of either kids, animals or both!

Winning entry for the previously concluded Wacom Smiles Photo Contest

Contest Period: 16th Apr - 31st May, 2010 (ends 11:59 pm, Tokyo time)


The contest has two categories, namely:

a) digital photo competition
Simply take a photo or either children, animals, or both, then submit it to our contest. Some post-production such as lighting adjustment is allowed, but please try to maintain the original photograph as much as possible.

b) photo Collage Competition
Make a photo collage featuring children, animals, or both in a scrapbook style. For this category, please feel free to include text or handwritten messages as well as other scrapbook elements.

Both categories need to have a reduced resolution of 72 dpi before submitting the entries.

The prize is a Wacom tablet for each category.


To know more about the contest, you may visit the Wacom-Asia contest page.

Click here to read more...

Vocaloid Live Concert - Animation to Life!

I once saw this video game in the PSP called Vocaloids where an anime-looking figure sings and dances while you have to correctly time the buttons you have push. Kinda like the popular Dance-Dance revolution and Bust-A-Groove games in the Playstation.

But what really amazes me is that our current technology can produce a life-like concert of that character...her name? Hatsune Miku...cute :) See the video and be amazed. I hope Sega releases an official version of this concert clip to promote Vocaloids and the the hologram technology that made all this possible.

Click here if video does not work properly...hopefully Sega and Youtube won't remove this video due to copyright issues...

Kinda reminds of an old 90's anime OVA called Macross plus where the antagonist of the story is a "singing virtual idol" - a computer that generates synthetic voice with a female hologram. Hope one day we don't end up like the hypnotized citizens in the show :)

Still, I also hope one day this kind of 3d technology will be available here (asa-ness)...

Guess we have to stick to our anime shows and video games for the meantime...

Click here to read more...

Election Scenes in Makati Photo Contest

If you happen to live nearby or in Makati City, you might want to try joining Election Scenes in Makati Photo Contest!



All you have to do is take a photo in Makati City (Metro Manila, Philippines) showing the current election fever.

The following mechanics are as follows:

1.E-mail your photo to janettetoral (at) hotmail (dot) com with the following info:
- your name
- your address
- your contact number
- your age (you must be at least a Filipino, 18 years old and above to join)
- photo story (up to 200 words only)

2.Each participant can submit 1 photo per contest period.

3.The photo shall have the I Love Makati watermark (the logo above) at the lower right portion of the submitted photo.

4.The photo should be submitted in jpeg format. (other formats will be disqualified)

Click here for complete contest mechanics.
There are 6 contest periods in all...

1.February 9 - 28, 2010. Winner to be announced on March 3, 2010.
2.March 1 - 15, 2010. Winner to be announced on March 18, 2010.
3.March 16 - 31, 2010. Winner to be announced on April 3, 2010.
4.April 1 - 15, 2010. Winner to be announced on on April 18, 2010.
5.April 16 to 30, 2010. Winner to be announced on May 3, 2010.
6.May 1 to 15, 2010. Winner to be announced on May 18, 2010.

* Only few periods remaining, join now!

The criteria for judging:

•Clear relationship between the photo and the theme (election scenes).
•Composition, clarity, and focus.
•Quality of the photo story.

The winner for each period will receive 3,000 pesos cash.

For complete details on this contest, you may visit the I Love Makati Web page.

Click here to read more...

The LG Cookie: Cooking up the The New Batch

LG is cooking up a fresh new batch of Cookie phones for us tech-hungry Cookie Monsters! Because of the success of the KP500 the previous year, newer and more advanced versions will be coming out to the market pretty soon.

What sets the LG Cookie apart from the competition is that this touch screen phone is jam-packed with many advanced features at very reasonable prices.

Last year, I won a KP500 Cookie Phone, the first Cookie phone, through an online contest. I took my time experimenting with the phone's features like the touch screen and camera features. Overall, I liked the responsive touch screen the LG Cookie has to offer. The 3 megapixel camera under good lighting conditions can produce pretty good quality images.

The Cookie phone has a 'drawing' application where you could use the phone's stylus and doodle your way to pass the time. My sister borrowed my phone once and made some sketches. The Cookie touch screen really has very good pressure sensitivity.



The KP500 Cookie phone has a 3 megapixel camera that can record still images and video. A shutter button found at the side of my KP500 makes it handy for snap-shooting.

Here are some of my photos...



Aside from the regular phone features (calling and texting), other features include bluetooth connectivity, applications for games, music, watching video, and some web browsing applications. My KP500 also includes an FM radio in case you don't have music tracks stored in your phone's memory.

Volume control buttons on the side plus earphones make the Cookie an elegant music player.

Unfortunately, the KP500 does not have wi-fi features (for free internet connectivity). But, with the upcoming Cookie model "Cookie Wi-Fi", that feature will already be included.

Watch out for these new Cookie models fresh from LG! - the Cookie Pop, The Cookie Ultima and the Cookie Wi-Fi! Prices range between 8,990 to 10,990 PHP.


To sum up this article, my final word is... Uhm Yum! Yum! COOKIE!!!!

P.S. To know more about the new LG Cookie series, you may visit the LG Facebook fan page (myLifesGoodPH) or The LG Philippines website (www.lg.com/ph).

LG - Life is Good!

Click here to read more...

FDCP Historical Scriptwriting Contest

Calling all Filipino scriptwriters! The Film Development Council of The Philippines (FDCP) is currently holding a scriptwriting contest dubbed as the FDCP Historical Scriptwriting Contest.
The theme of this contest is historical non-fiction.


Prizes are as follows:
1st prize - P350,000.00
2nd prize- P250,000.00
3rd prize - P150,000.00

Contest requirements: (from the official FDCP contest page)

1. This contest is open to all budding and established Filipino and of-Filipino descent writers, historians, film enthusiasts, overseas Filipino workers, expats. Contestants can be based in the Philippines or abroad. Regular employees and/or members of the FDCP and the Cinema Evaluation Board are not allowed to join the contest.

2. The entry must be written from a historical, non-fiction point of view. The story should be unique, not common, not popularly known. The entry’s subject can delve on the unsung heroes of the Philippines or about little known events that took place in the history of the country.

3. If the participant chooses to depict the lives of known heroes like Rizal and Bonifacio, he or she must present something new about those heroes that have not yet been discussed in the textbook.

4. The applicant must submit, together with his or her entry, a one-page bio data with place of birth, civil status, names of parents, educational attainment, current community tax certification number, tax identification number and two (2) passport size colored photos.

5. The applicant’s entry should not have won in any scriptwriting or literary competition here or abroad. The entry must not yet have been produced by any movie company.

6. The applicant should submit only one (1) entry accompanied by a synopsis. The screenplay must be written in Filipino, English or in any local Filipino dialect. Script written in a local dialect should have a Tagalog or English translation. Also, if the script is written in Filipino or English but carries in part dialogs in a local dialect, the vernacular should also have a translation.

7. The entry must be submitted in seven (7) copies. The original and duplicate should be very clear and readable. Typewritten on regular bond paper (8.5x11) in standard format. No pen names or marks leading to the identity of the author should appear on the entry.

8. An affidavit attesting to the originality of the work shall accompany the entry. In case the screenplay is an adaptation of another literary work, the applicant must first secure the permission of the original author or submit a certification to prove that such original work has become part of the public domain.

The only downside of this contest is that you have to submit your work through mail or hand delivered only.

Entries must be addressed to:

FILM DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL OF THE PHILS
20TH FLOOR, THE CENTERPOINT BUILDING, JULIA VARGAS AVE., COR GARNET RD. PASIG CITY

The winning scripts become the property of FDCP in perpetuity.

If you want to enter this contest, then join this soon! Deadline for submission of entries is on May 20, 2010.


For more info about this contest, you may visit the Philippine Embassy website or at www.filmdevcouncilph.org

You may also contact Ms Cely Tomas (+632 634-6984) or Ms Abi Portillo (+632 638-2739) for inquiries.

Click here to read more...

Samsung Netbook Clique Savvy Poll Raffle Promo

Want to win a new Samsung Netbook? Get lucky with Samsung Netbook Clique Savvy Poll Raffle Promo. There are two ways to win! You may either join the online voting or submit/upload a photo or video entry via Youtube link. If you submitted an entry that gets the highest number of votes, you also get to win the prize!


To join...

1. Register to join the Samsung Netbook Clique Savvy Poll Raffle Promo and get a chance to win a Samsung Netbook.

2.Select a category which you wish to upload Hot and Cool (photo or video via youtubelink) entries for:
a. Fashion
b. Sports
c. Music
d. People
e. Places

3. Fill in the Hot and Cool text fields to tell us why you think the photos/videos are Hot and Cool.

4. Submit entry and wait for confirmation via email. Confirmed entries will be posted within a 24 hour period.

5. Submission of entries is from April 20 to June 20, 2010.

To know more about this promo from Samsung, you may click here to view the full mechanics.

Click here to read more...

The Corel Asia-Pacific Digital Art Competition 2010

Get Creative in the Corel Asia-Pacific Digital Art Competition 2010!

Win Big Prizes. From now until August 31, 2010, strut your creative stuff with Corel software in one of Asia’s richest digital art competitions. Submit video, graphics and more to WIN. Grand Prize worth US$10,000. Lucky Draw prizes for voting and sharing the news. Find out at www.corel.com/apac-contest


The theme for this contest is: "Freedom to create your way"

To join you must be a resident of the following countries: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.


There are 2 categories: open and student

Student category - entrant must be currently enrolled in an accredited academic institution. He/she also has the option to join open category provided he/she does not submit an entry in the student category.

Open category - open to all non-students

The prizes at stake:
1st place: a package that costs around $10,000

• Cash: US$ 5,000
• HP TouchSmart Laptop
• Canon HF S20 HD camcorder
• Wacom® Intuos®4 large or wireless tablet
• Reallusion® iClone®3 Pro
• Trend Micro™ Internet Security
• Corel Software package
• Winner's Certificate

39 winners for open Category
39 winners for student category

Click here for the complete list of prizes at stake...


Entry Format: Entries must be made using the following Corel software for production: CorelDRAW® , Painter™ , Painter™ Essentials , PhotoImpact® , Paint Shop Pro® and VideoStudio®

You will need to submit the following files...

-For all entries, a 220(w) x 170(h) JPG Thumbnail image
-For all entries, the Corel software project file for your entry (.vsp, .cdr, .ufo, .pspimage, .rif, .riff, etc.) Max. 6MB file size
-For graphics, a 1024X768, 96 dpi, JPG Gallery image
-For videos, the YouTube or Vimeo embed code


Criteria for judging
80% - from the judges votes
20% - online voting

Important dates:
Submission Period is from April 22 to August 31, 2010.
Closing of public voting is on September 5, 2010.

Click here for the complete set of rules and guidelines.

Based on what I have seen from the current entries,it is an advanced level digital art competition. In my opinion, you must have some mastery over Corel tools to win...

If you do not have Corel applications/software and are still interested in joining this contest, you may want to download the free trial of Corel tools found here...

To know more about the contest, you may visit the Corel Competition website...

Click here to read more...

The Best Gift for the Best Mom in the Whole World - Powerbooks Promo

Mother's day is fast approaching (2nd Sunday of May / 9th) ! Instead of buying a gift for your mom, why not win it instead. Powebooks is holding a voting contest entitled "The Best Gift for the Best Mom in the Whole World".

To join, you must be a fan of Powerbooks on Facebook. Then submit a photo of you and your mom with your favorite bedtime story book.

Then write a short description in 100 words or less:

• Why did you enjoy reading/listening to this book as a child?

• Why is Powerbooks your favorite place to buy books?

Submit your photo, along with your answers to marketing@powerbooks.com.ph

Hurry! If you want to join this contest, the deadline for submission of your photo is from April 20 up to April 24, 2010 only.

The top 2 entries gathering highest votes or "likes" will win this contest.
Voting Period for Fans: April 27 to May 3, 2010

The Winners will be announced on May 5, 2010 in the Powerbooks Facebook Fan Page wall.

For more info about the contest, click here or visit the Powerbooks Facebook fan page...

Hope you have enough friends to win this one!

:)

Click here to read more...

Dare 2 Be Fit Challenge: Lose Weight and Gain Big!

Ministop and Del Monte Fit n Right is currently holding a contest entitled Dare 2 Be Fit Challenge. Big prizes are at stake.


Contest registration will be held from April 19 to 23, 2010, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at any of the 160 Ministop branches in GMA (Metro Manila only.). This is open to men and women 18 to 50 years old.


To join: simply present single or accumulated receipts of five Del Monte Fit ‘n’ Right beverages (any variant) and a valid ID at any participating Ministop store.

To win: the person who loses the most weight at the end of the competition wins.
The prize: PHP 100,000 tax free (that's a lot of money!)

A final weigh-in on May 29 will held to determine the winner. This will be organized exclusively at the “Dare 2 B Fit Challenge” booths located at the following official malls:

— Robinsons Place Manila, Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Otis, Forum Robinsons (Pioneer), Robinsons Metro East, and Robinsons Novaliches

The weigh-in will be held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

One male and one female winner who loses the highest percentage of weight loss from April 19 to May 29 will be declared winners.

If a tie occurs on the final weigh-in, the contestants will be have to make a 300-word essay with the theme: “How Ministop and Fit ‘n’ Right Helped Me Become Fit.”

The essays will be judged by Ministop and Del Monte based on the following: content, substance, originality, creativity, and persuasion, writing style/structure/composition, and language.

For more information about the contest, you may visit the Ministop website, or contact 642-8765 for inquiries.

Good luck and healthy living to those who want to join!

:-)

Click here to read more...

Introducing: Rendezvous

Can't find something new to replace your all-too-familiar song list? Then have no fear, Rendezvous is here!

Rendezvous is an electronica / jazz band that is starting to make waves in the mainstream music scene. 5 Years ago, the band members Hagai Izenberg and Itai Simon, were only able to come up with only three tracks for public listening. However, these three tracks became very popular when they uploaded them on the internet. As of today, they were already able to acquire 600,000 hits on Youtube, and the number still rising!

Hagai Izenberg on piano

Itai Simon on guitar

Their music genre can be classified as both electronica and jazz. When one talks about "jazz", what first comes into mind is that of piano music, "the blues" and classy saxophone music, while "electronica", we instantly think of lively synthetic sound effects, electronic keyboards, (probably new wave?), etc. If music were food, maybe we could compare it like say... blending peanut butter on pizza?

Still, Rendezvous is able to combine two totally different genres and blend them together seamlessly, which will definitely appeal to today's generation. I took the liberty of listening to their tracks, and overall, I was impressed. Making two genres meet and make them blend isn't an easy feat. Their music is a totally different experience - spontaneous yet intelligent. Their three tracks namely: Incognito, No Man's Land and So What have given Rendezvous lots of praise from fellow musicians and fans alike in the music scene.


Rendezvous - improvising on Blues In Space during recording session break...

Rendezvous experimenting on their music for their upcoming 1st album

If you're familiar with Pink Floyd's psychedelic style of music, you might want to give this band's music a listen. Rendezvous has a lot to offer when it comes to re-inventing jazz and electronica.

Since Rendezvous is coming out to the mainstream music world, watch out for their first album to be released this year (2010) in the Philippines .

To sum it up, Rendezvous, a band that combines the class of jazz and the euphoria of electronica have created a genre of its own.

To know more about Rendezvous, you may visit them on the Facebook fan page, or on the official Rendezvous website.

Happy listening!

:-)

Click here to read more...

Join The EU Music Video Contest

CONTEST ALERT! We are invited to join a music video contest entitled "Ang Aking Europa" (My Europe) sponsored by the delegation of the European Union (EU) to the Philippines. This is in partnership with the UE cultural group, De La Salle College of St. Benilde and The Phil. Blog Awards.

This contest is open to all Filipinos except for the officers implementing this contest, and the EU member embassies' staff.

Winners will receive a trophy plus the following...

1st prize - 1000 euros
2nd prize - 800 euros
3rd prize - 600 euros
* A special prize for original music scoring - 800 euros

Requirements:
- The video must have a maximum time of 2 and 1/2 minutes, including the opening and closing credits.
- any video format / equipment / editing software / camera provided it is suitable for viewing via the internet.
- maximum of 5 entries per contestant.
- To submit: upload video on Youtube. Add a tag comprising the title, plus Aking Europa, plus the initial of your 1st name and surname.

e.g. My EU. Aking Europa. J.dela Cruz.

- details should be submitted separately though e-mail to DELEGATION-PHILIPPINES@ec.europa.eu

- you may also submit your entry through mail to the following address:

The Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines,
30th Floor, Tower II, RCBC Plaza,
6819 Ayala Avenue
Makati City.

Note:Your entry must have this info if submitted by mail: participant's name/s, title of video, address, phone numbers, and school or employer.

Criteria for judging:

1) clarity in depicting EU's role in the Phil. - 20 percent
2) originality of interpretation - 25 percent
3) relevance to the theme "Ang Aking Europa" - 15 percent
4) choice of imagery, subjects, scenery - 15 percent
5) technical quality - 25 percent

Deadline is October 15, 2010 at 12:00 noon.

For more information about this contest, please visit the EU website or the EU delegation website.

...or you may contact contact Thelma Gecolea, public affairs officer, Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines, with landline 859-5124 or mobile 09209441371.

Good luck to all who want to join this cool contest!

:-)

Click here to read more...

Singapore Airlines Story Writing contest

AAHHOOYY MATEES! Want to travel the world? Then this contest is just for you! Singapore Airlines together with The Philippine Star launched a story writing contest entitled “SIA A380 & Me”.


All you have to do is write an essay no more than 380 words describing your wonderful flying experience with SIA A380.


Mechanics & Requirements of the contest:

1. To join, participants must be residents of Philippines and must have taken a flight on the A380. Participants should indicate the date of their travel on the A380 and the destination.

2. All entries must be sent with the published Contest coupon cut out from the Philippine Star Lifestyle section. These coupons will be printed thrice weekly until May 30.

3. Entries can either be mailed or dropped off in two areas: SIA Manila office 33rd floor LKG Tower Ayala Avenue Makati or the Philippine Star, Classifinder, in Greenbelt 1.

4. The most unique and interesting experiences will be chosen by the panel of judges.

5. The judges’ decision is final.
6. The winners will be notified by June 20, 2010.

Upside:
- Free and fairly easy to do.

Downside:
- You must have a contest coupon of the Philippine Star to be filled up.
- You must have taken a flight with the A380.
- No online submission (by mail only)

For more information you may visit Philippine Star or the Singapore Airlines contest link.

Click here to read more...

One-Shot Summer Moments: Seize Summer with Canon Photo Contest

This looks like a pretty neat photo contest - the "One-Shot Summer Moments: Seize Summer with Canon" photo contest.


Your photo entries must adhere to the theme of summer moments with good emotional impact. Entries will be judged accordingly. No online voting required (not mentioned in the criteria)


In order to join you may...

a) post your photo entry on the Canon Digital Cameras - Facebook Page or
b) submit through e-mail through shotofthemonth.canon@gmail.com.

Prizes include a Canon Powershot A495 digital camera (1st), a Selphy Printer (2nd) and an i-Pod shuffle (3rd place).

Good luck to those who want to try out this contest...

Click here to read more...

What is Your Summer Reading List? - Powerbooks Contest Entry

I joined the Powerbooks "What is Your Summer Readling List?" contest on Facebook. Contestants are required to submit an "artwork" with 5 books of their choice, and a caption of 100 words or less answering the following:

a) Why these books for your reading list?
b) Where do you plan to read them?
c) Why Powerbooks is your favorite book store?

Here is my "artwork" below...


Hehehe, my sister says it looks more like a UNICEF greeting card rather than an "artwork". Maybe I need to improve my drawing skills...


Anyway, in order to vote, just visit the Powerbooks fan page on Facebook. Then, be a fan of Powerbooks (just click +1 fan on that page). Then head to their Photo Album entitled "What is your Summer Reading List". My entry is number 44 on the 3rd page of the album (parang malas/unlucky ata number ko ngayon) .

Voting is 40% of the criteria. The remaining 60% will be judged by Powerbooks.

Good luck to all of us contestants.

Click here to read more...

Clash of The Titans: Clash or Crash?

Last Saturday, I was able to watch Clash of the Titans with my gf. The eye candy visual effects in the TV trailers and the adventure of the story made me anticipate this movie. The story is about a Greek hero named Perseus who saves a city from the threat of destruction. But after watching the movie, I couldn't help but compare it to the old movie I saw a long time ago of the same title. I was a just little kid back then.

After the movie, I asked my gf if she liked it and I got a positive answer overall. The movie had a realistic-looking Kraken. (Yeah, just like the bad-ass sea creature from Pirates of the Caribbean II). The Olympian Gods do have godly-looking armor and the mythical beasts and the Argos setting give the movie a very 'Greek mythology' appeal. Still she said that the story telling could have been done better.


As for me, I feel that there are important details missed out, or changed which could have made this movie a classic.

What the hell is lacking in the movie?

WARNING: spoiler alert. Do not read this part if you still want to watch the movie...

In the movie, Perseus was given a sword (by Zeus himself) and a pegasus which mysteriously appears out of nowhere. These are trademark accessories of the hero but, if you are a fan of Greek Mythology, you might be disappointed because Perseus (Sam Worthington) lacks important pieces of Divine weaponry in his arsenal. This includes his...

a) Helm - this was given by the nymphs/dryads. Wearing this renders him invisible. Thus it was called the helmet of invisibility.

b) Shield - this was given by Athena, a highly polished shield which allowed Perseus to defeat Medusa (by not looking at her directly). In the movie, Perseus was also given a carapace-like shield, but not by the gods.

c) winged sandals - based on classical myth, Perseus used this to fly. Other versions of the tale say Perseus rode Pegasus to fly. It would would have been great to show both in the movie.

Heck, Perseus should be more equipped if he wants to challenge Kraken and the gods. This, by the way, is the whole point of the story.

The story writers may have added some story elements to make this movie more appealing to a wide audience. Some include their scorpion-battling adventure, and a Protoss cross Undead hybrid character (from Starcraft and Warcraft video game, with glowing blue eyes) who joins them in the middle of the story. See the movie to know what I mean...

In my opinion, the story could have been more 'astig' (awesome) if the screen writers would try to base original plot points of the literature rather than re-inventing the story and characters. Plus, it would be better if they delivered memorable lines ala 300 (the movie). Don't take it from me, take it from Kratos (God of War - Playstation II)

Pardon me for mentioning a video game character, but I think the developers of that game made more research on Greek mythology than the ones who made this modern adaptation. At least here, Perseus (on God of War II) was more equipped, and still that wasn't enough against our PS II hero, Kratos...lol

Kratos: WHO'S YOUR DADDY NOW!!!

P.S. Images belong to their rightful owners...

Click here to read more...