Maniolas

Philippine Stock Exchange index. STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) retreated yesterday as profit takers swarmed the market following the downtrend in most bourses abroad. The PSEi slipped 0.37 percent or 28.79 points but managed to stay above the 7,800 level at 7,819.04. The broader all shares index also finished in the red, dropping 0.21 percent or 9.71 points to close at 4,547.60. Most analysts said investors have been too enticed to pocket in gains from Wednesday’s all-time high performance, resulting in the decline during yesterday’s session. The much anticipated outcome of February’s inflation data did not make much of an impact yet to the local market during Thursday’s session.  “With foreign demand seeming to have dried up in the previous session, investors may check for flat trading with a downward bias in the next couple of sessions,” said Jason Escartin, investment analyst at F. Yap Securities Inc. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Abroad, most Asian markets and even Wall Street indexes ended lower. Locally, counters in the red overwhelmed those in the green, as only the services and mining and oil companies managed to increase. Industrial firms led counters which closed in the negative territory as it loss 1.07 percent or 137.59 points. Value turnover stood at P9.09 billion with 7.02 billion shares changing hands. Market breadth was positive as advancers beat decliners, 94 to 90, while 46 stocks were unchanged.

Pioneering macroscopic filming techniques reveal that there is much more to these creatures than meets the eye. Photo provided by Animal Planet. MANILA, Philippines – Right beneath our feet is an often unseen world of disguise and espionage, social networking and courtship, rape and pillage, parenthood and relationships. This March, renowned broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough reveals the world of the arthropods – the most successful group of animals on the planet – on ‘Micro Monsters.’ Discover the intricate behavior of insects, scorpions and spiders in this revolutionary new series as bugs fill the screen. The show premieres on Animal Planet (available nationwide in the Philippines on every major cable, DTH and local provincial operator) every Thursday at 9:00 p.m., starting March 12. From armies of killer ants and spiders weaving silken trap doors, to bees communicating with a waggle dance and assassin bugs that clothe themselves in their victims’ corpses, David and the crew get up-close and personal to capture the creepy-crawlies, setting up shoots in three different continents. Pioneering macroscopic filming techniques reveal that there is much more to these creatures than meets the eye. Meet the jeweled cockroach wasp and have a glimpse at bug love, from courtship to reproduction. You will be surprised at the tactics that some bugs employ to get the attention of a prospective mate. There is also a scorpion that engages in an elaborate dance, a wasp that dabs on perfume, a cricket that resorts to bribery, and a spider that takes Read More …

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen says he has found the Japanese Navy’s biggest warship at the bottom of the sea in the Philippines, 70 years after US forces sank it. Allen posted a photo on Twitter on Tuesday of the World War II battleship Musashi’s rusty bow, which bore the Japanese empire’s Chrysanthemum seal. The American billionaire, who has also pursued space exploration, said his luxury yacht and exploration ship, the M/Y Octopus, found the Musashi one kilometre (1.6 miles) deep on the floor of the Sibuyan Sea. The Octopus’ remote operated probe Octo ROV located the Musashi on Monday, according to Allen’s website. The Octopus is also outfitted with an exploration submarine. “RIP (rest in peace) crew of Musashi, approximately 1,023 (lives) lost,” Allen said in another tweet. Allen also posted a photo of a valve from the wreckage, which he described as the “first confirmation” that it was of Japanese origin. He said on Twitter he would soon post video of the ship’s catapult and valve areas. The Sibuyan Sea, at the heart of the Philippines’ central Visayas islands, covers busy shipping lanes and lies on the path of most tropical storms that cross the country from the Pacific Ocean. American warplanes sank the Musashi in the Sibuyan Sea on October 24, 1944, at the height of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, considered the largest naval encounter of World War II in which US and Australian forces defeated the Japanese. The Musashi was a “mighty battleship” with “mammoth 18-inch Read More …

MANILA, Philippines– According to a recent research by CB Insights, the total Education Technology (Edtech) funding in the U.S in 2014 rose to $1.87 billion, a 55% increase from previous year. Online education has become a new trend joined by many top universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, and South East Asia is no exception with many prominent institutions such as Sains, Tenaga Nasional (Malaysia), Binus (Indonesia), and AMA (Philippines) on their way to bringing their courses online. Online teaching has become popular In US and Europe, online degree programs have become popular. Students can pick the classes and timeframes which are more suitable for them. They can also study anywhere whereinternet connection is available. Dozens of US institutions including Harvard, MIT and Princeton are offering their courses via Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) format, while hundreds of other universities such as UC Berkeley and University of Maryland have launched their own online degree programs. A report by Sloan Consortium in 2013 shows that 74% of Chief Academic Officers in US considered the learning outcomes in online education as the same or superior to those in face-to-face instruction. Top World-Rank Universities: Harvard, Stanford, Princeton have carried out e-learning programs According to Coursera, one of the most well-known education companies online, online teaching will play a disruptive role in the next 10 years. However, it is highly risky and may cost a lot for universities to set up online teaching programs by themselves. A report from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Read More …

  — A little boy is carried on a spine board by the standby medical personnel to be brought temporarily to a medical station during the 2015 Panagbenga Festival Grand Float Parade on Sunday (March 1, 2015) along Session Road in Baguio City. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – A lawmaker has filed a measure mandating the employment of qualified lifeguards at all public swimming pools and bathing facilities to protect the public especially the children. Rep. Sherwin T. Gatchalian (1st District, Valenzuela City) said House Bill 5378 seeks to establish a formula based on World Health Organization standards for the number of lifeguards required to be on-duty at all times at public swimming pools. Gatchalian filed the bill citing a 2009 report, which identified drowning as the second leading cause of death among Filipino children. “Drowning rates among children have remained at the same level for decades, indicating that it is an issue that has been inadequately addressed by public policy,” Gatchalian said. The measure, to be known as “Lifeguard Law of 2015,” mandates strict enforcement of the lifeguard requirement by the Department of Health, Gatchalian said. Under the measure, each public swimming pool shall employ at least one certified lifeguard for every 250 square meters of pool during all hours of operation and shall be duly certified by any nationally recognized organization accredited by the DOH. The pool operator shall provide the appropriate local government unit (LGU) with a certification and supporting documents proving that he or she has Read More …