List of Winners at the 66th Palanca Awards

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Fifty-one literary personalities emerged as winners in the recently concluded 66th Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (Palanca Awards). Among this year’s victors, 24 were first-time winners and one contender took home prizes in two separate categories.

The Carlos Palanca Foundation, Inc., the Awards’ organizer and sponsor, received entries in 20 categories, as the Novel and Nobela categories were not opened this year. Distinguished judges handpicked from their respective areas of expertise evaluated the submissions.

The awarding ceremony had multi-awarded actor, director, and theater artist Antonio “Tony” Mabesa as speaker and guest of honor. Mabesa is a professor emeritus at the University of the Philippines, for which he founded Dulaang UP. Mabesa was conferred the Gawad Dangal ng Lahi for a stellar career spanning six decades, during which he was involved in countless productions and has mentored students who eventually carved their own names in the industry.

The Palanca Awards is the longest-running literary competition in the Philippines and is considered as the gold standard in writing excellence. Named after the businessman and philanthropist Don Carlos Palanca Sr., it aims to both enrich Philippine Literature by giving incentives to writers and serve as a treasury of Philippine literary gems.

iPhone 7 Launch: Has Apple Lost Its Innovative Drive?

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"Water resistant, dual camera, with stereo speakers, no more wired headphones and... (finally) a longer battery life. I just don't know how long is "longer" but that "jet black" is so sexy." - MJ De Leon

"Wow! Guys!! The new iPhone is water resistant!! This is amazing, no other company have ever done this, Apple was the first!! <--- This is what I think the iTards are saying right now."- IJ Torres

"When will people accept the power of this brand? It's the iPhone vs. countless Android high end/midrange/China brands...but still winning?" - James De Guzman

September 7, 2016 was a big day in the tech world, as Apple held its annual launch event, where the iPhone 7 was revealed. The event was held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco and was led by Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. The launch was said to be ordinary, except the wireless earpods, nothing was new and impressive. Many were disappointed because there was no real change from iPhone 6 or 6s. Has Apple lost its innovative drive?

I just loved the new double camera on the 7Plus... city pictures gonna get better! To say it challenges DSLR's is simply not true. First gen 1DS will still outperform an iPhone. It is simply the convenience. But the same feature is offered by the LG G5. It isn't a new feature. However, LG can't in-trench smoothness of system like iOS. Also, If you love double cameras you have to try new Hauwei P9 and Galaxy S7.

The new iPhone camera uses IPS Technology which performs 100 Billion operations every time we capture a photo within just 25 Milliseconds! This is really a supercomputer for phone camera.

How excited can one possibly get when the most talked about new feature of the world's most exciting smartphone manufacturer is the 'absence of a headphone jack'?! Lol!

Apple has ditched the headphone socket, this means that users will experience whole new wireless headphones. The wireless "AirPods" give 5 hours of listening time and charged within the case! Just plugin the lightning cable to the case. This headphone jack is a big disappointment. Millions of people still use corded headphones you know. It will include an adapter in the box, anyway so it's time to get with it then!!

The new Mario game is like a cross between Temple Run and a traditional side scrolling Mario game.

The new iWatch now comes with Pokémon Go, downloaded more than 500 million times. Trainers have walked more than 4.6 billion kilometers while playing.

Specifications:

Dust and water resistant because of redesigned interior components and structure

Wireless earpods called AirPods 5 hours battery, comes with charger, connects to Apple Watch, costs $159

Two DSLR-like 12 mp wide angle and telephoto cameras that shoot as one, optical zoom at 2x, digital zoom up to 10x

7mp FaceTime HD camera

Stereo speakers

New Home button

4.7" Retina HD display with wide color gamut
A10 Fusion chip - most powerful for a smartphone

Longest battery life is said to be for 24 hours
256GB internal storage

LTE advanced up to 450 Mbps

Best worldwide roaming

iOS 10

Pricing starts at $649 for iPhone7 and $749 for iPhone7Plus

Hong Kong and Singapore gets the iPhone 7 on September 16. No Philippines until end of September.

My 6s is an obsolete technology now.  Still haven't heard the "selling my kidney to buy the new iPhone 7" from anyone though.

Intensified Drive Versus Zika Virus Is Needed

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There is a need for an intensified government prevention and detection drive against the Zika virus after a sixth case was confirmed by the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday.

The DOH should equip the barangay health centers, as they are the frontline service providers that can aid the government in the monitoring and providing of immediate care to those infected with Zika virus especially the pregnant women.

“I support the on-going preparations and ground work of the Department of Health to strengthen its information, detection and monitoring drive to prevent the further spread of the disease, and to provide immediate care to those infected with the virus. Kailangan nating suportahan ang ginagawang hakbang ng ating DOH at mga lokal na pamahalaan upang mapanatiling ligtas ang ating pamayanan mula sa komplikasyon na dulot ng Zika virus,” Senator Risa Hontiveros said.



“Anti-Zika Virus packets”

The DOH to provide anti-Zika virus packets to barangay health units to protect their constituencies from the virus. The packets should contain mosquito nets, mosquito repellents, condoms and reading materials on the virus. She said the Zika virus is spread by mosquito bites during the day and night, and through unprotected sex from a person who has Zika.


2017 budget

The DOH should ensure that funding for these kind of health-related issues are included in the proposed 2017 health budget in order for the government to immediately and properly respond to the needs of the public,” she added.

Meanwhile, Hontiveros lauded the DOH action in including Zika virus in its Philippine Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System, which reports within 24 hours all suspected cases of Zika virus to the Epidemiology Bureau of the health department.

Hontiveros also advised overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to immediately contact the Philippine embassy or consulates once the epidemic of Zika spreads in their country of work of if they showed symptoms of the virus. She said that Filipinos should seek medical intervention once they experience fever equal to or higher than 38 degrees centigrade for more than two days, conjunctivitis, skin rash, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, body weakness and pain behind the eyes.

The Senator said that per DOH advisory, patients who experienced those symptoms within two weeks after traveling from countries with confirmed reported cases of Zika virus and patients who have a history of Guillain-Barre syndrome should seek immediate medical intervention.

She, however, said that Filipinos should get accurate information from the DOH and other reputed medical institutions regarding Zika virus and refrain from sharing information from unauthorized sources.