Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Without rain, Angat may have only 40-days supply of water

If the rains do not come yet, the Angat Dam reservoir, which provides 97 percent of the water needs of the national capital region, may not have enough water to supply Metro Manila and other provinces after 40 days, the National Power Corporation said Wednesday.

Angat Dam is a multi-purpose facility that supplies potable drinking water to Metro Manila and nearby provinces. It also irrigates farmlands in nearby provinces and augments power supply for the Luzon Grid.

Napocor president Froilan Tampinco said the water at the dam will not last for 40 days if the rains will not yet come and the water level remains at 158.2 meters above sea level (MASL), way below the critical level of 180 MASL.

Kung walang ulan, remember we are releasing through the low level outlet, kung bumaba yun doon, kahit gusto natin maglabas ng tubig, walang lalabas (If there is no rain, remember that we are releasing through the low level outlet, even if we want to release water, nothing will come out)," Tampinco said.

“We need more rainfall but not the kind that would cause destruction. We just need heavy rainfall," he said. The rainfall should be at least 50 milliliters per day for one month to reach the 180 MASL level.

Tampinco said the Angat dam water level is expected to reach 180 MASL by September, noting that the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the water concessionaires rely on the data from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

He said the decrease of water from the dam is not due to evaporation but more on the lack of inflow.

Hindi nadadagdagan, nagbababawas lang tayo ng tubig (There's no new supply; we are just decreasing the current supply of water)," Tampinco said.

Tampinco also clarified that the water shortage is largely due to lack of rainfall and not because of the alleged overspilling from the dam from December 1 to 15 last year.

“What we are realizing now as a situation is to our analysis, largely due the weather, which was caused by the lack of proper inflow of water into the dam. It is not because of the releases that we have made," he said.

“It is best for the agencies concerned to sit down and talk things over and look for solutions. I don’t think it will be productive for us to pinpoint and blame anybody," Tampinco said.

Tampinco said cloud seeding can help increase the water level but it also carries risks.

“What we can cite is what experienced recently, and we had an increase of about 0.6 meters. The water level in Angat actually increased, because of the rains that we have been experiencing. Of course, it’s not enough but still significant, and if this trend goes on, we may be able to reach a level when things are comfortable and normal," he said.

Napocor said in a separate statement that the agency tried to implement measures to ensure that Angat dam will have enough water, in anticipation of an El Nino period as forecast by the PAGASA, the state weather forecasting agency.

Expecting an extended summer as predicted by PAGASA, Napocor maintained the water in the dam above the normal operational level by more than two meters to 212 MASL from 210 MASL as of December 2009.

"Our total outflows were only almost 93 million cubic meters (MCM) from December 1 to 15, 2009; which is even lower than the more than 108 MCM – the requirement of both the National Irrigation Administration and MWSS for the same period," Napocor said.

It added that all the water releases during that period were within dam operation protocols and regulatory requirements.

“There are no releases made for that period that are outside the allocations given by the National Water Resources Board (NWRB). There were no extra releases, contrary to the allegations," Napocor said.

"However, dam water release is not an exact science. There will always be discrepancies, because of the nature of water itself. Its not like you can measure the volume as it flows down exactly to the last drop. What is important is that we were able to maintain the level of water released, on the average, as required by the NWRB," Napocor said. –VVP/JV, GMANews.TV

Thursday, September 17, 2009

oes tsetnoc

Oes Tsetnoc what's this? Well for the information oes tsetnoc is the reverse for seo contest. I've been interested in any contest, joining is a challenge for me to prove my self and know my improvements for being online. Promo Junkie is a Webmaster Forum organize the contest, I know this contest will be more challenging for me but I will try to be on the run like I said its a challenge for my self.

In every contest their are always prizes as expected and here it is:

1st place – $1,000 (the site that ranks on first position)
2nd place – $300 (2nd in position)
3rd place – $200 (3rd in ranking for oes tsetnoc search)

Good luck for this contest and have a nice optimization! :)

Today: October 02, 2009

It’s been weeks now since the contest started. And my entry is not on top 10. I’m wondering if I can still reach those on top. I don’t know if I have to worry now, but instead of worrying I will do what I can to reach those guys on top.

My entry is at number 62. Let me see what I can do to increase the ranking. :)

link: Webmaster Forum

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

How Can You Use the Results of Birth Records Search?

One of the types of public records that are commonly searched is the birth records. This piece of information is valuable for many people, thus the demand for it continues to increase. There are also many instances when the results of this search would be very important. There are genealogy searches and the family history study that makes the results of these documents very important.

With the start of the information age, there are more people that use the Internet in gathering information about birth records. There are already many government offices that keep the records but with the use of computers and the Internet, it is easier to store, retrieve and share these files. There are some rules that are applied in the retrieval and use of these documents.

The major document that can be yielded from the birth records would be the birth certificate. This is a piece of document that contains the basic information about the individual such as the full name, date of birth, gender, parent’s or guardian’s name and other vital details. If you need this document, you can get it by requesting in the vital information offices in your locality. You should personally ask for the certified copies of this document. This is due to the privacy of the person protected and only the authorized representative of your family may get it for you. These are acquired for free and you can get it in government offices.

There are also commercialized databases that store these documents. You can get their services but you must be ready to pay for their services. These services still give importance to the confidentiality of the results and the preservation of the privacy of the person or persons involved. Also, you can get this online thus making the search easier and faster for you. The cost can also be a small amount but you would still get the information that you need.

If you are in need of the birth records search results seriously, you should take the services of the professionals. There are still resources that can provide you with quality and comprehensive results and they can be accessed through the Internet. You should invest a good amount of time to do your search so that the results can be useful. You should only get the birth records from sources that have large databases. This will help you have more options and to make the search easier.

Article source: Public Records

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

reBlog from Admin: Breakfast At Tiffany's lyrics - Deep Blue Something | Music Beat Cafe

I found this fascinating quote today:



You say that we’ve got nothing in common No common ground to start from and we’re falling apart You’ll say the world has come between us Our lives have come between us still I know you just don’t careAdmin, Breakfast At Tiffany's lyrics - Deep Blue Something | Music Beat Cafe, Aug 2009



You should read the whole article.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

This one goes out to the one I love

The sentence "this one goes out to the one i love" is a part of the lyrics The One I Love.
The song was beautiful...

"The One I Love" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. It was released on the band's fifth full-length studio album, Document, and also as a 7" vinyl single in 1987. The song was their first hit single, reaching #9 in the US Billboard Hot 100, #14 in Canada, and later reached #16 in the UK singles chart on its UK release (1991). The song was included in Activision's Guitar Hero World Tour and is in Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades.

The accompanying video's director was artist Robert Longo. The director of photography was Alton Brown, who later became a Food Network celebrity chef.

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "The One I Love" at number 57 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Source: Wikipedia

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Nearly 170 killed in Iran plane crash

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran – A Russian-made Iranian passenger plane nearly 170 people crashed shortly after takeoff Wednesday, smashing into a field northwest of the capital and shattering to pieces. State television said all on board were killed.

The plane's tail burst into flames in the air and it circled in the air as if looking for a place to land before it crashed, an unidentified witness told the semi-official ISNA news agency.

The impact gouged a deep trench in the dirt field, which was shown littered with smoking wreckage in footage shown on state TV. It showed a large chunk of a wing, but much of the wreckage appeared to be in small pieces, and emergency workers and witnesses picked around the shredded metal for bodies and flight data recorders to determine the cause of the crash.

The Caspian Airlines Tupolev jet had taken off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport Wednesday and was headed to the Armenian capital Yerevan. It crashed about 16 minutes after takeoff near the village of Jannat Abad outside the city of Qazvin, around 75 miles northwest of Tehran, civil aviation spokesman Reza Jaafarzadeh told state media.

At Yerevan's airport, Tina Karapetian, 45, said she had been waiting for her sister and the sister's 6- and 11-year-old sons, who were due on the flight. "What will I do without them?" she said, weeping, before she collapsed to the floor.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but Iran has frequent crashes that are blamed on poor maintenance of its aging fleet. Hossein Ayaznia, an aviation police official, said emergency workers were searching for the plane's black box.

The deputy chairman of Armenia's civil aviation authority Arsen Pogosian told reporters in Yerevan there were 154 passengers and 15 crewmembers on board the TU-154M. Earlier, Jaafarzadeh had put the number at 153 passengers and 15 crew, and the reason for the discrepancy was not immediately known.

Six Armenian citizens and two Georgian citizens were on the flight, and the rest were likely Iranians, Pogosian said.

Serob Karapetian, the chief of Yerevan airport's aviation security service, said the plane may have attempted an emergency landing, but reports that it caught fire in the air were "only one version." He did not elaborate.

Qazvin emergency services director Hossein Bahzadpour told the IRNA news agency that the plane was completely destroyed and shattered the pieces. "It is highly likely that all the passengers on the flight were killed," he said.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a statement expressing condolences for the deaths and urging a swift investigation of the cause.

Also among the passengers were eight members of Iran's national youth judo team, along with two trainers and a delegation chief, who were scheduled to train with the Armenian judo team before attending competitions in Hungary on Aug. 6, state TV said.

Tehran blames the maintenance woes of its airlines in part on U.S. sanctions that prevent Iran from getting spare parts for some planes. However, Caspian Airlines — an Iranian-Russian joint venture founded in 1993 — uses Russian-made Tupolevs whose maintenance would be less impaired by American sanctions.

In February 2006, a Russian-made TU-154 operated by Iran Airtour, which is affiliated with Iran's national carrier, crashed during landing in Tehran, killing 29 of the 148 people on board. Another Airtour Tupolev crashed in 2002 in the mountains of western Iran, killing all 199 on board.

The crashes have also affected Iran's military. In December 2005, 115 people were killed when a U.S.-made C-130 plane, crashed into a 10-story building near Tehran's Mehrabad airport. In Nov. 2007, a Russian-made Iranian military plane crashed shortly after takeoff killing 36 members of the elite Revolutionary Guards.

___

AP writer Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, contributed to this report.

Source: Yahoo News

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

In love? It's not enough to keep a marriage, study finds

SYDNEY, July 14 (Reuters Life!) - Living happily ever after needn't only be for fairy tales. Australian researchers have identified what it takes to keep a couple together, and it's a lot more than just being in love.

A couple's age, previous relationships and even whether they smoke or not are factors that influence whether their marriage is going to last, according to a study by researchers from the Australian National University.

The study, entitled "What's Love Got to Do With It", tracked nearly 2,500 couples -- married or living together -- from 2001 to 2007 to identify factors associated with those who remained together compared with those who divorced or separated.

It found that a husband who is nine or more years older than his wife is twice as likely to get divorced, as are husbands who get married before they turn 25.

Children also influence the longevity of a marriage or relationship, with one-fifth of couples who have kids before marriage -- either from a previous relationship or in the same relationship -- having separated compared to just nine percent of couples without children born before marriage.

Women who want children much more than their partners are also more likely to get a divorce.

A couple's parents also have a role to play in their own relationship, with the study showing some 16 percent of men and women whose parents ever separated or divorced experienced marital separation themselves compared to 10 percent for those whose parents did not separate.

Also, partners who are on their second or third marriage are 90 percent more likely to separate than spouses who are both in their first marriage.

Not surprisingly, money also plays a role, with up to 16 percent of respondents who indicated they were poor or where the husband -- not the wife -- was unemployed saying they had separated, compared with only nine percent of couples with healthy finances.

And couples where one partner, and not the other, smokes are also more likely to have a relationship that ends in failure.

Factors found to not significantly affect separation risk included the number and age of children born to a married couple, the wife's employment status and the number of years the couple had been employed.

The study was jointly written by Dr Rebecca Kippen and Professor Bruce Chapman from The Australian National University, and Dr Peng Yu from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

(Writing by Miral Fahmy; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: Reuters
Useful Resources: Marriage Records

Monday, July 13, 2009

Total solar eclipse

Total solar eclipse will happen on July 22, 2009. Here is an animated image that you can view.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Google takes aim at Microsoft with new PC platform

By Alexei Oreskovic and Edwin Chan

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) - Google Inc is planning a direct attack on Microsoft Corp's core business by taking on the software giant's globally dominant Windows operating system for personal computers.

Google, which already offers a suite of e-mail, Web and other software products that compete with Microsoft, said on Tuesday it would launch a new operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks.

Called the Google Chrome Operating System, the new software will be in netbooks for consumers in the second half of 2010, Google said in a blog post, adding that it was working with multiple manufacturers.

Netbooks are low-cost notebook PCs optimized for Internet surfing and other Web-based applications.

"It's been part of their culture to go after and remove Microsoft as a major holder of technology, and this is part of their strategy to do it," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group. "This could be very disruptive. If they can execute, Microsoft is vulnerable to an attack like this, and they know it," he said.

Google and Microsoft have often locked horns over the years in a variety of markets, from Internet search to mobile software. It remains to be seen if Google can take market share away from Microsoft on its home turf, with Windows currently installed in more than 90 percent of the world's PCs.

The news comes as executives from the world's biggest technology and media companies, including Google and Microsoft, gather in Sun Valley, Idaho for an annual conference organized by boutique investment bank Allen & Co.

A spokesman for Microsoft had no immediate comment.

Key to success will be whether Google can lock in partnerships with PC makers, such as Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc, which currently offer Windows on most of their product lines.

HP, the world's largest PC brand, declined to confirm if it would sell PCs running on the new operating system.

"We are looking into it," said HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak, referring to the operating system. "We want to understand all the different operating systems available to customers, and will assess the impact of Chrome on the computer and communications industry."

Google's Chrome Internet browser, launched in late 2008, remains a distant fourth in the Web browser market, with a 1.2 percent share in February, according to market research firm Net Applications. Microsoft's Internet Explorer continues to dominate with nearly 70 percent.

FAST AND LIGHTWEIGHT

The new Chrome OS is expected to work well with many of the company's popular software applications, such as Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Maps.

It will be fast and lightweight, enabling users to access the Web in a few seconds, Google said. The new OS is based on open-source Linux code, which allows third-party developers to design compatible applications.

"The operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web," Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management at Google, said in the blog post. The Chrome OS is "our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be."

Google said Chrome OS was a new project, separate from its Android mobile operating software found in some smartphones. Acer Inc, the world's No.3 PC brand, has already agreed to sell netbooks that run on Android to be released this quarter.

The new OS is designed to work with ARM and x86 chips, the main chip architectures in use in the market. Microsoft has previously said it would not support PCs running on ARM chips, allowing Google an opportunity to infiltrate that segment.

Charlene Li, partner at consulting company Altimeter Group, said Google's new OS could initially appeal to consumers looking for a netbook-like device for Web surfing, rather than people who use desktop PCs for gaming or high-powered applications.

But eventually, the Google OS has the potential to scale up to larger, more powerful PCs, especially if it proves to run faster than Windows, she said.

Google did not say how much it would charge for the operating system (OS), but Enderle expects Google to charge at most a nominal fee or make it free, saying the company's business model has been to earn revenue from connecting applications or advertising.

Microsoft declines to say how much it charges PC brands for Windows, but most analysts estimate about $20 for the older XP system and at least $150 for the current Vista system.

Li added: "A benefit to the consumer is that the cost saving is passed on, not having to pay for an OS."

"It's clearly positioned as a shot across the bow of Microsoft," she said.

(Additional reporting by Kelvin Soh in Taipei; Writing by Tiffany Wu, editing by Will Waterman)

Source:Reuters