Yesterday's elections ended peacefully (as always) in our barangay but with some major points that need to be refined. Unlike the previous elections, this one made me wait around an hour before finally casting my vote. I'm sure all of us might have experienced the same thing.
Frankly, I would not want to blame the automated PCOS machines for the delay. In fact, the queue to the machines were very short. Plus, it only took a few seconds for the machine to scan the ballot. What then caused the long lines?
I think, what really caused the delay was the clustering system done by the COMELEC. Clustering was done to consolidate or merge some precincts to accommodate the fewer number of machines. Although it is understandable that we really had a shortage of machines to accommodate every precinct, still, this system gave most of the voters a hard time because they had to find out which cluster they belong to before lining up. And to make things worse, the voting area only allowed a certain number of people per cluster, which caused the long lines. Funny, but some clusters had longer lines than others. Although I waited for an hour, thank heavens, my queue was shorter.
Unfortunately, there were some people who were turned off by the long lines and went home, forfeiting their vote. Still most of us were patient enough to cast ours.
In order to counter this, hopefully next elections, we should have more machines that can handle the queue. And if there will still be few machines available in the future, COMELEC should provide more marking pens and tables for the voters so that we will not wait for hours and hours doing nothing. Take note, the machines only take a few seconds to scan our ballot, hence the short queue on the machines.
Another observation... I'm not sure if my ballot was read correctly. Although the machine accepted my ballot, there was no readout, display, printout, or whatsoever to show if the machine actually made the proper scan of my ballot. I wondered about this because when I fed my ballot for scanning the first time, it was rejected. Only after the 2nd scan was my ballot accepted into the machine. Hopefully, the machine read my answers right.
With regards to the ballot, I'm sure there are some who might have observed this, but the pen markings can stain through the other side of the ballot. The ballot itself is printed back-to-back, so if you tend to mark your ballot heavily (like me), chances are those marks can be seen on the 2nd page. This might be cause for the PCOS machines not to read our ballot properly. If I may suggest, the next time we have elections, COMELEC, please do not have our ballot printed back-to-back anymore. Or if COMELEC insists on back-to-back printing, maybe they should make sure our markings will not stain through the back side by changing the material of the ballot.
As for the peace and order of the elections, there were a lot of volunteers and teachers that assisted which made yesterday's voting pretty smooth. I'm not sure if the other precincts holding their elections were that lucky.
As of writing, the count seems pretty fast granted that results are automatically generated. I am personally glad that today's election results are speedy, unlike the 2004 elections where it took almost two months to proclaim the winners. Hopefully the winners of the elections will be announced soon so that cheating candidates will not have enough time to conjure their 'magic' tricks on the outcome.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
My general observations this 2010 elections
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Wacom Kids and Animals Photo Contest
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.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
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 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...
Monday, July 20, 2009
Cadbury Pure Happiness Festival - Contest Entry
exhibit location: Upper Ground floor, event center near Kenny Roger's
exhibit location: Bldg A, Upper Ground floor
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
House and Lot for Sale!!!
Location: Hauskon Subdivision,
Bojulugan, Tanza Cavite
House and Lot - Bungalow
Lot Area: 98 square meters
Lot Placement: Corner Lot - Yellow Bell St. corner Santan St.
Price: PHP 1.4 million negotiable
w/ Clean Title
Contact Details: cel# 09274865523
look for Pening
Click here to read more...
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Imumo SEO Blogging contest - contest entry
Here is what the contest is all about.
The “Imumo SEO blogging” contest is organized by imumo.com [“Organizer”]. The Contest will commence from 00:01 on 07 May 2009 and end 23:59 on 22 May, 2009 [“Contest Period”]. The winner of this Contest will receive a iPod Shuffle 4th Generation (4GB).
The following must be discussed to qualify for the contest:
1) Job Matching benefits
2) Looking for a job in the Philippines (there should be links going to imumo.com)
Posted below is my entry for this contest.
HAAAAY BUHAY! How difficult it is to find a good paying job in the Philippines! Thanks to the economic crunch and the population boom here, more and more college graduates are having a rough time finding one. At the same time, those with jobs are scared of moving on to a different company offering better pay for fear of losing their current position, and not being able to get the better paying job either. Because of this difficulty in finding good jobs, some are forced to settle for low paying jobs, sidelines, and odd jobs in order to earn a living.
My first day on the job as a street vendor / "pulubi"Because of the current problems we have in our country today, the chances of landing a job has clearly become smaller. And so, in order for us applicants to get a better chance of landing a job, we try to find as many job openings possible. There are many ways to do this.
How do our applicants look for a job here in the Philippines?
Door Hopping
During the dark ages of no internet access, the old way is to drop by the doors of each company you are interested in applying for, then drop-off your application form and resume at the front desk. This is a time-consuming and tiring process because of the long travel time and uncertainty of job openings for each company you visit.
Classified ads through newspapers are sometimes tedious to browse through...Job Fairs
Some job applicants give a lot of effort going to job fairs just to submit their application forms and resume to various hiring companies in attendance. The advantage of this is you can drop-off your application forms and resume to a lot of possible employers in one trip.
The downside is, if you happen to be the applicant yourself at the job fair, specially the popular ones in Metro Manila, you'll find yourself jam packed with many other applicants as well! Imagine yourself and the rest of the applicants crammed in the venue like sardines in a can!
Desperate for a job, we Filipinos generally tolerate any hardship - the long lines, the waiting time, and the smothering competition.
The internet
Finally, with today's widespread internet accessibility, one can hunt for a job in the comfort of their own homes, or nearby internet rental shops.
Thanks to the internet, we can find job listings at the comfort of our home...a) Visit official company websites. Company websites, specially large ones have links that post job openings for interested applicants. They may contain contact information where applicants can send their soft copy (saved data/information) of their resume, contact information and other relevant info about themselves via e-mail.
b) Register at Job related websites. Some web sites like imumo.com offer job seekers a wide range of choices for job openings.
Why imumo.com?
imumo.com provides Philippine job hunters a great concept called Job Matching. Job matching is a feature where the applicant is given possible openings based on their educational background, listed qualifications, work experience, skills, etc. With this advantage, it is like having the job looking for the applicant, and not the applicant hunting the job.
a snapshot of www.imumo.com's home pageJob Matching benefits
Here are some advantages of job matching...
a) Minimizes time to job hunt. Because the jobs presented to the applicant is qualified for him to do, it shortens the time needed to browse and apply for a job. imumo.com sorts this out for you.
b) Gives the applicant better choices. Not all applicants want the same thing. Some applicants want to work near their homes. Others are willing to travel. Some want fixed schedules, others want flexi-time. imumo.com considers each applicant's preferences in presenting job openings.
c) Higher chance of landing a job. With imumo.com, the applicant is presented jobs and how well he will be able to do. imumo.com presents the applicant's standing of a particular job opening against other applicants applying for the same job. This standing is called match score. The higher your match score, the better your chances for that particular job opening.
And so, if you're looking for a job and you want to find possible openings fast, the first thing you could do is visit imumo.com and register FOR FREE! (Or simply log-in to imumo.com, if you are already a member.)
Registration is simple! It just requires you to fill up personal information like your name, e-mail address, birthday, contact information, educational attainment, and skills - just like creating an on-line resume. Then, that's it! You are now ready to have the imumo.com advantage!
To know more about the site, please do visit and experience www.imumo.com
Happy job hunting!
:-)
P.S. Just click any of the www.imumo.com links found here to visit the site.
http://www.imumo.com
Click here to read more...
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