As if the NBA Lockout wasn’t enough, Kobe Bryant will be experiencing one lonely Christmas day as his wife, Vanessa, files for divorce, officially ending their 10 1/2 years of marriage.

Vanessa Bryant, filed the divorce on the ground of “irreconcilable differences“. According to TMZ (through Yahoo!), Vanessa filed the divorce . . . → Read More: Kobe Bryant’s Marriage ends with Divorce.]]>

As if the NBA Lockout wasn’t enough, Kobe Bryant will be experiencing one lonely Christmas day as his wife, Vanessa, files for divorce, officially ending their 10 1/2 years of marriage.

Vanessa Bryant, filed the divorce on the ground of “irreconcilable differences“. According to TMZ (through Yahoo!), Vanessa filed the divorce papers because of an alleged “unfaithfulness” of Kobe, yet again.

Kobe however did not say anything to the press regarding the divorce.

According to TMZ.com;

Vanessa Bryant filed legal docs Friday afternoon, citing “irreconcilable differences.”

Sources connected with the couple tell TMZ … Vanessa — who stuck by Kobe after he was charged with sexually assaulting a Colorado woman in 2003 — decided to end the marriage because she believes Kobe has been unfaithful … again.

As one source puts it, “She’s been dealing with these incidents for a long time and has been a faithful wife, but she’s finally had enough,” adding, “This one is the straw that broke the camel’s back.” And our sources say … Kobe “desperately” wants to win Vanessa back and will do “whatever it takes” to save their 10 1/2 year marriage.

According to the legal docs, Vanessa is asking for joint custody of their 2 daughters — 8-year-old Natalia and 5-year-old Giana — but Vanessa is asking that Kobe get visitation rights, which means she wants the kids in her care most of the time.

Although Kobe did not give any statement regarding the divorce, fellow player Pau Gasol was also asked by reporters regarding the divorce. Check out his interview regarding Kobe Bryant’s divorce below:

And so the famous saying goes.

Christopher Lao, that famous flood victim who submerged his Nissan Sentra into a flooded street last August when Typhoon “Kabayan” hit the country, is now the main character of a tv ad. He used his criticized image from a victim of . . . → Read More: Famous Christopher Lao Flood Victim in BPI Commercial.]]>

If you can’t beat them, join them.

And so the famous saying goes.

Christopher Lao, that famous flood victim who submerged his Nissan Sentra into a flooded street last August when Typhoon “Kabayan” hit the country, is now the main character of a tv ad. He used his criticized image from a victim of cyber-bullying into a celebrity.  Who’s laughing now?

As you can see in the tv ad below, Christopher Lao stars in BPI’s new commercial concerning car loans, BPI Auto Loan. In the video, Lao, yet again, submerges his car into a flooded street, stating his famous words “I should have been informed”. BPI used his famous situation to insert their car loan plans, which comes with one year car insurance plan and act of nature coverage.

Well, you have to give credit to Lao – he just used all the cyber-rants against him to his own use. That makes him one wise cyber-bullying victim.

Image source: www.eater.com

For over 30 years, the McDonald’s Happy Meal haven’t changed that much. If you go to your local McDonald’s restaurant and buy yourself a McDonald’s Happy Meal, you will see food that has been in that Happy Meal menu years ago; an order of . . . → Read More: McDonald’s Happy Meals to include Fruits and Vegetables as a Response to Obesity.]]>

Image source: www.eater.com

For over 30 years, the McDonald’s Happy Meal haven’t changed that much. If you go to your local McDonald’s restaurant and buy yourself a McDonald’s Happy Meal, you will see food that has been in that Happy Meal menu years ago; an order of a burger with fries and cold softdrink on the side (don’t forget the toy, of course).

Well, not anymore. McDonald’s has recently announced that they are planning to include fruits in their Happy Meals.

Will this “Happy Meal makeover” be significant to consumers?

According to the news, the three main stay of the Happy Meal will still be present, (That is, Hamburger, Softdrink, and Fries), although there will be a cutback on french fries servings to give way to their new fruit addition.

Check out a news report from ABC regarding McDonald’s Happy Meal makeover below.

McDonald’s were initially planning on replacing the french fries with fruits or vegetables but consumers, both parents and kids alike, are not buying it. Well, McDonald’s are also famous for their tasty french fries right? (Don’t think of non-decomposing french fries over at youtube for a moment).

I wonder if McDonald’s will similarly implement this Happy Meal makeover here in the Philippines.

Recently, researchers aboard the Research Vessel Dan Moore raised from the depths of the sea one of the four anchors of Blackbeard’s vessel, Queen Anne’s Revenge.

Blackbeard was that legendary English pirate that notoriously operated around the West Indies and and the eastern coast of the of the American colonies.

And . . . → Read More: Pirate Blackbeard’s Anchor raised from the depths of sea after 300 years.]]>

Recently, researchers aboard the Research Vessel Dan Moore raised from the depths of the sea one of the four anchors of Blackbeard’s vessel, Queen Anne’s Revenge.

Blackbeard was that legendary English pirate that notoriously operated around the West Indies and and the eastern coast of the of the American colonies.

And yes, Blackbeard is also the same character portrayed in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (although it differed on what his real persona was, historically).

In order to raise this precious salvage, divers used airbags to float the anchor. The anchor will be placed at the North Carolina Museum of History, but will be restored before it can be officially displayed in the museum. The restoration will take five years according to conservationalists.

Check out the actual raising of the historical anchor on the video below:

As you have already heard in the news, Family Radio, a ministry in the United States, is preaching/ informing people all over the world that the . . . → Read More: May 21, 2011 – Judgment Day?]]>

Yes, judgment day, as in “end of the world” kind of day, where the earth will experience numerous earthquakes and destruction that is meant for human race’s annihilation.

As you have already heard in the news, Family Radio, a ministry in the United States, is preaching/ informing people all over the world that the end of the earth is near, more specifically, on May 21, 2011.

Err, wait, isn’t that a day from now?? Anyway.

The 89 year old leader of the ministry, Harold Camping, prophesized that the end of the world will come (yes, WILL come) on May 21, 2011.

Camping–an uncredentialed evangelical minister in California whose radio show is broadcast on 66 stations–took out an ad in Reader’s Digest magazine proclaiming: “The Bible guarantees the end of the world will begin with Judgment Day May 21, 2011.” He’s also plastered the message on 2,200 billboards around the country, according to Reuters, and his followers have traveled around in caravans to spread the word. After a big earthquake on Saturday, true believers will be swept up to heaven while everyone else descends into hell before the world is officially over, he says.

-Yahoo! Article.

Camping also had a similar prediction back in 1994, where he predicted that the end of the world will come on September 6, 1994. Well, we all know what happened on that day. But according to Camping, this was due to a miscalculation on his part. He went back to the drawing board and recomputed the date and apparently, a new, correct result came out – May 21, 2011.

However, a pastor from Washington informs media that the ministry might have left a valuable information regarding the “Rapture” or Judgment day;

But Pastor Joseph Fuiten of Bothell, Wash., told the Seattle Times that he puts no stock in the prophesying of Camping and his followers. “Unfortunately they have overlooked the obvious words of Jesus: ‘You do not know the day or the hour’ of such events,” he said.

Well, we’ll never know until May 21, 2011 is actually here – so until then, you can still enjoy the remaining hours you have here on earth.

Cheers!

Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony Corporation, recently released a statement regarding the situation of Playstation Network (in which it’s still down due to a hacking incident).  In the statement, Stringer informed their Playstation Network users that no credit card and personal information has been compromised or misused . . . → Read More: Sony releases Statement regarding Playstation Network’s Hacking.]]>

Image Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com

Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony Corporation, recently released a statement regarding the situation of Playstation Network (in which it’s still down due to a hacking incident).  In the statement, Stringer informed their Playstation Network users that no credit card and personal information has been compromised or misused as of their findings, and that the said Network will be up and running in a few days.

Check out the whole statement of Howard Stringer regarding the hacked Playstation Network’s situation.

Dear Friends,

I know this has been a frustrating time for all of you.

Let me assure you that the resources of this company have been focused on investigating the entire nature and impact of the cyber-attack we’ve all experienced and on fixing it. We are absolutely dedicated to restoring full and safe service as soon as possible and rewarding you for your patience. We will settle for nothing less.

To date, there is no confirmed evidence any credit card or personal information has been misused, and we continue to monitor the situation closely. We are also moving ahead with plans to help protect our customers from identity theft around the world. A program for U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers that includes a $1 million identity theft insurance policy per user was launched earlier today and announcements for other regions will be coming soon.

As we have announced, we will be offering a “Welcome Back” package to our customers once our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are up and running. This will include, among other benefits, a month of free PlayStation Plus membership for all PSN customers, as well as an extension of subscriptions for PlayStation Plus and Music Unlimited customers to make up for time lost.

As a company we — and I — apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused by this attack. Under the leadership of Kazuo Hirai, we have teams working around the clock and around the world to restore your access to those services as quickly, and as safely, as possible.

I know some believe we should have notified our customers earlier than we did. It’s a fair question. As soon as we discovered the potential scope of the intrusion, we shut down the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and hired some of the best technical experts in the field to determine what happened. I wish we could have gotten the answers we needed sooner, but forensic analysis is a complex, time-consuming process. Hackers, after all, do their best to cover their tracks, and it took some time for our experts to find those tracks and begin to identify what personal information had — or had not — been taken.

As a result of what we discovered we notified you of the breach. Our investigation is ongoing, and we are upgrading our security so that if attacks like this happen again, our defenses will be even stronger.

In the last few months, Sony has faced a terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan. But now we are facing a very man-made event – a criminal attack on us — and on you — and we are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the world to apprehend those responsible.

In the coming days, we will restore service to the networks and welcome you back to the fun. I wanted to personally reach out and let you know that we are committed to serving you to the very best of our ability, protecting your information better than ever, and getting you back to what you signed up for – all the games and great entertainment experiences that you expect from Sony.

With best regards,
Howard Stringer

Playstation Network users around the world were “interrupted” again with their online gaming experience when the Playstation Network itself was hacked a few days ago. Issues of misuse of credit card and personal information of Playstation Network users by the unidentified hacker quickly loomed around the internet. The network hasn’t . . . → Read More: Playstation Network will return “in the coming days”.]]>

Image source: www.sitetrail.com

Playstation Network users around the world were “interrupted” again with their online gaming experience when the Playstation Network itself was hacked a few days ago. Issues of misuse of credit card and personal information of Playstation Network users by the unidentified hacker quickly loomed around the internet. The network hasn’t been online until now.

But good thing that Sony takes their business and customers seriously. Sony, through Hoard Stringer, the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, of Sony Corporation, released a statement regarding the situation.

According to Stringer, there hasn’t been any confirmed evidence that credit card and personal information was misused in the hacking process. Sony went on to give a “Welcome Back” package to their customers when the Playstation Network finally comes online.

As we have announced, we will be offering a “Welcome Back” package to our customers once our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are up and running. This will include, among other benefits, a month of free PlayStation Plus membership for all PSN customers, as well as an extension of subscriptions for PlayStation Plus and Music Unlimited customers to make up for time lost.

As a company we — and I — apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused by this attack. Under the leadership of Kazuo Hirai, we have teams working around the clock and around the world to restore your access to those services as quickly, and as safely, as possible.

You can check out the entire letter of Hoard Stringer here.

The popular yellow cabs of New York city will now be phased out and will be replaced by a new model of taxi cab. Wait, taxi “vans” would be more appropriate.

New York city mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 that the Nissan NV200 will be the next . . . → Read More: NYC’s Yellow Cabs (taxis) are now Yellow “Vans”.]]>

The popular yellow cabs of New York city will now be phased out and will be replaced by a new model of taxi cab. Wait, taxi “vans” would be more appropriate.

New York city mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 that the Nissan NV200 will be the next taxi model of New York City – complete with the recognizable “yellow” car paint.

Nissan NV200? – yep, its the Nissan Vanette.

The Nissan NV200 van will be New York city’s new yellow cab starting 2013 after Nissan Motor Co. won a 10-year-$1 billion deal to the city of New York.

The new yellow van (it still doesn’t sound good though ) is a first in New York city’s taxi scene not only on aesthetics-wise but also safety-wise. It’s the first taxi in the city that has passenger airbags and pass the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) crash testing.

Image source: news.yahoo.com

“We started this process to leverage our taxi industry’s purchasing power to get the highest quality taxi, one that that can expand and redefine the legendary image of New York City taxicabs.” Mayor Bloomberg said on the press conference.

“The new taxis will be custom-designed to meet the specific demands of carrying 600,000 passengers a day in New York City traffic and the vehicle meets the top priorities identified by the public in our on-line survey.” The mayor added.

Source: news.yahoo.com

This affirms the age old saying that the “long arm” of the law will get those who breaks it – even after 10 years of hiding.

The founder of the jihadist organization Al-Queda, responsible for the September 11 attack against the United States (where terrorists took over . . . → Read More: Osama Bin Laden: Officially Dead.]]>

Image Source: news.yahoo.com

This affirms the age old saying that the “long arm” of the law will get those who breaks it – even after 10 years of hiding.

The founder of the jihadist organization Al-Queda, responsible for the September 11 attack against the United States (where terrorists took over two commercial aircraft and successfully destroyed the World Trade Center by ramming the jets into it in New York).

The military operation that killed Bin Laden lasted only 40 minutes.

So how did Osama went down to his grim end?

United States Intelligence found a compound  that was custom built back in 2005 to hide someone. The compound was located in Abbotabad, Pakistan, 50km north of Islamabad.

Acting under President Obama’s direction, a team of 20-25 US Navy Seals stormed the compound. Bin Laden was killed on the ensuing fire fight. The operation was not informed to Pakistani officials, thus giving way to intrusion issues (but, Bin Laden was a declared terrorist, and the US might get away with the intrusion issue now that their main objective is finally accomplished).

Bin Laden’s identity was confirmed through DNA compared to the DNA of Bin Laden’s dead sister. His body was buried at sea in accordance to Islamic traditions.

Americans rejoiced when the news of Bin Laden’s death came to US shores. Crowds gathered outside the White House and Times Square, New York to celebrate this “victory” against the main man that rained terror 10 years ago.

Repercussions (like terrorists attacks due to vengeance against US) is expected now that the leader of Al Qaeda is dead – and this is expected. But speaking on a “morale” point of view – this will certainly be a big blow against the terrorist group.

Japan was hit by a 8.9 Magnitude quake earlier today. The earthquake’s epicenter was near Miyagi prefecture. 200 to 300 bodies were found by authorities were found by Police in the coastal city of Sendai as a result of the devastating earthquake. After the dreaded earthquake comes the expected tsunami.

The . . . → Read More: Japan Hit by 8.9 Magnitude Quake – California on Tsunami Alert.]]>

Japan was hit by a 8.9 Magnitude quake earlier today. The earthquake’s epicenter was near Miyagi prefecture. 200 to 300 bodies were found by authorities were found by Police in the coastal city of Sendai as a result of the devastating earthquake. After the dreaded earthquake comes the expected tsunami.

The off-shore quake unleashed a 23-foot tsunami that struck its coastal areas. The tsunami wave traveled fast toward the city and flooded streets, houses and open fields.

As with other Asian countries near Japan, California is also expecting a tsunami caused by the 8.9 magnitude earthquake. Check out the pictures below regarding the tsunami warning:

Below is the travel time of the wave caused by the tsunami:

Image source: www.huffingtonpost.com