Good Vibes

TWITTER - "Even Manila Link is more credible than ABS-CBN News," said one of the many fans of the fictional AlDub couple.

The #2 news source in the Philippines came under fire as they published obvious clickbait headlines targeted at Vice President Binay's forum at UPLB on September 15. ABS-CBN News claimed that students of UPLB shouted "trapo" instead of "sample" and that the Vice President felt disrespected by the questions and "allegations" by the students of the esteemed University.

Here's an open letter that was posted on Twitter.:



#ALDUBMostAwaitedDate breaks 10M goal
AlDub beat their own record by taking the hashtag to 10,000,000+ tweets on Twitter. Most of their fans were reportedly ecstatic at yet another ABS-CBN mishap claiming that Manila Link is more credible than the "almost satire" news company.

"Buti pa AlDub 10 million tweets? Eh yung ABS-CBN? Nag-ttrend nga, against naman sa kanila," said one of the many AlDub fans on Twitter whose timeline contained many retweets of AlDub-related tweets claiming that she has no time for her personal life and has neglected feeding her children their lunch because she wanted to watch AlDub on TV.

UPDATE: ABS-CBN Posts Their Apology
In a five paragraph "apology" letter that did not contain the word "sorry," ABS-CBN attempted to put a stop on the bad publicity with their smugly written damage control. You can read it on their website.

ML - Local Apple resellers announced that the starting price of the iPhone 6s will be at least Php 115,000.00 due to the 85% import tax increase imposed by the customs on the shipping cargos.

The customs told the media that the 85% import tax is set so high to "keep it fair" with the local mobile phone designers and developers. "Masyado na natin tinatangkilik yung mga iPhone at Samsung na yan. Dapat yung sariling atin naman," ("We support iPhone and Samsung brands too much. We should start supporting our own,") said Anthony Paz in a quick presser with the media 3:00 AM Manila time.

iPhone 6s: Just a dream in the Philippines?

Filipino citizens who purchase their iPhone 6s overseas will be given a ticket to pay at their corresponding city hall. According to customs, this is to prevent people from going overseas just to buy an iPhone 6s for cheaper prices.

The iPhone 6s starting price in the USA is $199.00 which would roughly be Php 9,300 in today's exchange rates.

The first places to get the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus will be Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the UK and the US.

Preorders begin on Saturday, Setember 12 with the line coming out on September 25.

ML - In a shocking turn of events, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) has announced that they will start reducing the internet speed of customers that complain about them online.


The largest telecommunications company in the Philippines released a statement to the press after "enduring cyber bullying on Facebook and Twitter." "We are going to throttle customers who publicly bully PLDT as a whole," said Julian Vega, a spokesperson for PLDT.

The issues began when Facebook users began posting complaints on the comments section of the PLDT Home Facebook page's posts. You can view the PLDT Home Facebook page here.

After the announcement, no complaints have been made publicly so far, but a PLDT in-house technician that refused to be named said that they're cross-examining the names of the customers to the names that they post with on Facebook.

"Kung ang subscriber name niyo ay name niyo din sa Facebook, wag na kayo mag-post ng reklamo. Babagal ang internet niyo," said the technician.

TWITTER - It now appears Twitter is using its legal authority to crack down on these tweet-stealers. A number of tweets have been deleted on copyright grounds for apparently stealing a bad joke.

As first spotted by @PlagiarismBad, at least five separate tweets have been deleted by Twitter for copying this joke:

saw someone spill their high end juice cleanse all over the sidewalk and now I know god is on my side

— uh (@runolgarun) July 9, 2015

Olga Lexell, who, according to her Twitter bio, is a freelance writer in LA, appears to be the first person to publish the joke on Twitter. In a tweet posted this afternoon, she confirmed that she did file a request to have the tweets removed.

I simply explained to Twitter that as a freelance writer I make my living writing jokes (and I use some of my tweets to test out jokes in my other writing). I then explained that as such, the jokes are my intellectual property, and that the users in question did not have my permission to repost them without giving me credit.

She added that most of the accounts that were reusing her tweets without accreditation were "spam accounts that repost tons of other people's jokes every day." This also isn't the first time Twitter has complied with a request like this: Lexell tells The Verge that she's filed similar requests for other jokes. Twitter staffers typically remove the offending tweets "within a few days" without asking Lexell any follow-up questions.


Twitter, like many companies that host content from users, has an entire system for handling claims of copyright infringement. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Twitter is provided "safe harbor" from copyright claims so long as it does not try to protect infringing material. Typically, claims concern embedded media like photos and videos, or they're for tweets that link to other websites that are illegally hosting copyrighted material, like movies. It's rarer for a DMCA request to involve the actual text of a 140-character tweet.

Anyone can submit a claim through Twitter's web form, and Twitter staffers weed through the claims to decide which appear valid. If it decides to follow through with the request, Twitter can then remove or delete the tweet. The company's policy is to then give the offending user ten days to file a counter notice. Twitter also publishes DMCA requests publicly on the website Chilling Effects, though records of this particular claim do not appear to be on the site yet. Twitter declined to comment for this story.

Of course, it should come as little surprise that people and corporations have tried to use DMCA takedowns for illegitimate reasons. Most recently, The Sunday Times tried to use DMCA to block criticism of one of its articles, and GoPro was accused of trying a similar tactic to cut down on negative reviews.

[Source]

MAKATI - 27 suspects were arrested today at a raid in an undisclosed warehouse in south Makati. Police said there was an illegal fight club operating in the area led by Maximo "Brad Pitt" Mariano.

Inspired by the movie "Fight Club," Mariano founded the illegal fighting organization in Las Piñas before moving to Makati summer of 2014. According to a notebook confiscated during the raid, the said fight club has a total of 85 members.

"Napanood ko kasi yung movie ni Brad Pitt. Kaya gumawa kami ng kuya ko ng sarili naming Fight Club," said Mariano. ("We watched Brad Pitt's movie. So my brother and I made our own Fight Club.")

Mariano explained to the police officers that he has a brother named Allan who is his accomplice but records show that he is an only child. Psychiatrists have been running tests on Mariano since this afternoon and will release findings before the court hearing.

In the Fight Club movie, the protagonist has a split personality who he thought was another person until the end. Mariano's stories have loose ties to the movie's storyline which is also being investigated by the police.

More on this story as it develops.

TORONTO - A University of Toronto research showed that Filipinos are the undisputed #1 bullies on the internet. See the rest of the list here.

3. Americans (United States)

2. English (United Kingdom)

1. Filipinos (Philippines)

FACEBOOK - A screen cap of an argument among students sparked the debate whether theology and science shouldn't mix together in schools.

Image too small? Click to enlarge

Pro-God
The pro-God stance argues that schools should not teach science, especially the Big Bang Theory, as the root of men and all creations. "We don't care what facts they have, we have the Bible," said one netizen in response to the viral screen cap.

Pro-Science
The pro-Science stance argues that teaching God as the root of all creations disqualifies and "disrespects" other beliefs. "Science has facts, these religious people should know how to respect facts. Whenever we try to argue with them, they just say 'bla bla bla, you're going to hell,'" said Martin Baltazar in a Facebook post.

Celebrities have been tagged on both Facebook and Twitter, but no big names have chimed in on the debate so far.

MANILA - The bishops of the local Catholic Church has picked their side on the ongoing debate of marijuana legalization. To them "medicinal marijuana is OK."

“Catholic health care ethics, in fact, considers as morally justifiable the use of marijuana for terminal cancer patients in severe pain,” Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) told the media.

Social media has responded with mixed reactions. Half being in favor of the Catholic Church while the other half think that they have other agendas up their sleeves.

Responses

Alfaro Tan said on Facebook, "I'm sure these [expletive] priests have some money-making tricks up their sleeves. They probably have their own plantation."

Agar said on Facebook, "this is the right choice. There's nothing wrong [with marijuana]. Even Jesus used it once. I read it on Wikipedia."

Tony said on Facebook, "something is corrupting our churches from the inside. Why would the church promote such indecent activities? Even medicinal is not OK! [Expletive] them all to hell."

Ladia Montenegro said on Facebook, "I won't go to Sunday mass until they retract this statement. Shame on them!"

Shane said on Twitter, "the church should influence the youth to frown at drugs, not promote it."

More on this story as it develops.

MANDALUYONG - A sales lady for a popular mall in Mandaluyong was reportedly fired after calling a transgender "ma'am-sir."

The sales lady, who we'll call "Karen" as she refused to give her real name, got into a quarrel with a transgender in the popular Mandaluyong mall. The transgender, Adrian Gonzales, born male, was window shopping in the lady's footwear area when Karen called her attention.

According to Gonzales, it was in the Alexander Wang isle.

"Nag-lalakad ako, minding my own business, tapos tinawag ba naman niya (Karen) ako. 'Ma'am-sir, Alexander Wang. 50% off po.'" ("I was walking, minding my own business, then she (Karen) called for my attention. 'Ma'am-sir, Alexander Wang. 50% off.'")

"I was very offended. I've already transition from male to a female, then she'd (sic) disrespect me by calling me ma'am-sir? Where's the professionalism?" Gonzales filed a complaint against Karen who was then released from her post this afternoon after a mutual agreement with the mall.

Bystanders during the quarrel said that Gonzales immediately raised her voice at Karen and feinted slapping the security guard who was attempting to separate them from each other.

Netizens have already come in defense of Karen, who they think is the one being oppressed in the situation. One user from Twitter posted: "I don't know the entire story, but Karen seems to be the one being bullied, so I will side with her."

Gonzales, who made public comments about the mall on her Facebook account has since switched off her social network profiles including her Instagram and Twitter accounts to avoid "being bullied."

QUEZON - AMA University has released a statement that it will be adding a new batch of courses to its curriculum including Bachelor of Science in Networking. The 3-year course will be added along with 11 others in 2016.

"AMA University has recognized that employers and recruitment agencies no longer accept applicants that graduated here, so we're looking at the next best solution: networking," said Anthony Arcillo in the press conference.

A research in 2014 showed that recruiters in Metro Manila would put resumes in the trash can if it stated that the applicant graduated from AMA University.

"Networking doesn't need the person to be employed. He will be self-employed. He can either sell products or recruit more people to his pyramid. Money is guaranteed," added Arcillo.

The multi-level networking community was ecstatic to hear the recognition of their methods in AMA University. In the press conference, many attendees were overheard to be shouting "power" over and over until they were escorted out of the venue by security personnel.

MANILA - DMCI has released an artist rendition of what they plan to do behind Rizal Monument. "We are planning to build 29 more skyscrapers," said DMCI spokesperson Arnold Miranda to the media in a presser earlier today.


DMCI's Vision
"We plan to build a total of thirty skyscrapers behind the Rizal Monument. The city's skyline will be more magnificent than it already is," said Miranda. "The DMCI board understands that the monument has a sentimental value, but we have to advance with the times. Our emotions can't bar us from advancing economically."

Torre de Manila, the first building planned by DMCI, is already halfway finished according to Miranda. "After the construction of Torre de Manila, we plan to build 2 more next to it. A business hub and a shopping hub."

Public Backlash
The public took to social media to voice out their objection with DMCI's plans. "How dare they? Why would we let them taint one of our national treasures?" Bryan Allegro lashed out on DMCI through Twitter adding, "I'd rather we stay behind economically than lose the heart and soul of the country."

#StopDMCI trended for 2 hours worldwide before dwindling down to just the national level.

Minority Support
A minority, however, supports DMCI including many celebrities and politicians. Companies also expressed their approval with DMCI's plans to paint the skylines of Manila in yellow with the lights of the skyscrapers at night.

DMCI's plans are expected to come to fruition in late 2017 with all of the projects being finished by early 2021.

UST - According to a research published by the University of Santo Tomas, out of 1,000 who Filipinos who were surveyed, nobody knew what the word "satire" translates to in Tagalog.

A 2,581 page research on satire published by Asia's oldest university detailed how nobody in the Philippines knows what "satire" translates to in Tagalog. 13% knew what the word meant, but none could give a one word synonym in Tagalog.

"Even us, the professors, don't know what 'satire' is in Tagalog. We haven't Google'd it yet. We don't trust the internet -- especially Wikipedia since everyone can edit that," said 2-year Filipino-American professor Jeff Cole.

A Google search returned that "uyam" is the Tagalog equivalent of "satire," but none of the professors in UST accepted it. "Someone probably edited Google and put that there, we do not trust it one bit," said Cole.

According to UST, the lack of knowledge as to what "satire" translates to in Tagalog is the primary reason why Filipinos can't differentiate "satire" from "hoax" and "fake." The full 2,581 page research can be downloaded in UST's library. It's a 8.31 GB uncompressed file.

MANILA - A gay couple attempted to get married in a Manila church says local correspondent Tony Sabone. "We thought the legalization was worldwide," said one of the males.

Days after the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. The international LGBT community has shown their support for the couples that will finally be able to take advantage of marriage laws in the states. Those outside the US also pushed for their home country to legalize same-sex marriage.

A couple in Manila thought that the legalization of same-sex marriage was passed down by the United Nations and not the United States which led to a confusion with a local church. "They were very upset that I was refusing to grant them God's blessings. Good thing that one of the ushers confirmed to them that the legalization was only in the US," said the parish priest of the church.

"We are very embarassed," said Trevor, 28. He and Al, 30, has booked a flight to Las Vegas instead to be wed there after the mishap in Manila.

FACEBOOK - Globe Telecom has just announced that Facebook will now only be exclusive to Globe and TM subscribers. The website, app and messenger will not work on other handlers according to the deal.

The press conference will be held in Makati, Philippines next month to finalize the deal. This could mean that Smart and Sun subscribers will no longer be able to take advantage of their Facebook promos.

SAN FRANCISCO - Ellen Pao, CEO of Reddit is currently in talks with Bill Schuberg of Microsoft over a possible purchase of the social bookmarking and forum website.

BREITBART: Reddit Revolt Flares Again as 'AMA' Moderator Sacked the Day After a Disastrous Jesse Jackson Q&A

Reddit subforums have been closed down by voluntary mods as a protest against the administrative team of the popular social networking site. The revolt started after the firing of talent Victoria Taylor, the key person in the AMA (Ask Me Anything) feature of the website where users are allowed to submit questions directly to celebrities, authors and other persons of interest.

TECHCRUNCH: Reddit Moderators Are Locking Up The Site's Most Popular Pages In Protest

• It looks like Taylor’s firing may have been triggered by an AMA with Jesse Jackson which spiralled out of control following questions from Reddit users and Jackson’s replies. That said a now deleted answer on Quora suggests that there may be more to it than that. - TC

A petition to have Ellen Pao removed from her seat as the CEO of Reddit has already gained 14,000 signatures as of the time of this posting.

An anonymous tip, however, has sent us and multiple news portals that Pao is currently in talks with Schuberg. Schuberg has recently expressed interest in purchasing a social networking site for Microsoft where Digg and StumbleUpon were the key names in June discussions.

The Philippines subforum on the website has chosen not to participate in the content blackout.

Ellen Pao is an American lawyer and the interim chief executive officer of Internet company Reddit. Pao was previously a junior investing partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and a corporate director at Flipboard.

TUCSON - Explaining that the vast scale move in geologic conditions and social association would oblige another taxonomic grouping, scientists at the University of Arizona published a report Tuesday uncovering that humankind is more or less 10 years from something that will be known as the Ash Age.

"As indicated by our projections, over the course of the following decade, conditions on Earth will turn out to be such that human development will enter the Ash Age, or possibly the Gray Epoch," said the study's co-creator Kevin Reynolds, who told columnists that by 2025, Ash Age people groups will suspend their city- and town based social orders and move to the more normal "roaming clan system" that will characterize life for the following period of human presence.

"Our information show that the Ash Age will be further subdivided into three particular periods, known as the Smoldering Ash Age, the Middle Ash Age, and the Wailing Ash Age, each of which will keep going for roughly 200 to 250 centuries." Reynolds included that early estimations flagged the Ash Age would likely end around 700,000 A.D. furthermore, be trailed by something many refer to as the Eon of Blood.

MANDALUYONG - The National Bureau of Investigation has ordered a warrant for all members of the notorious networking group known as the Royale Business Club.

"Royale Business Club members are to be arrested on sight," as per the memo given out by the NBI. The primary charges against the members of the networking group were tax evasion and harassment through recruitment.

"Yung mga member nila kasi, lolokohin ka. Sasabihin sa'yo kakain kayo sa labas o kaya mag-kakape pero pera mo lang ang pakay nila," ("Their members trick you. They invite you out to eat or to drink coffee, but all they want is your money,") said NBI detective Adrian Statiko.

"Ang masama pa dun, hindi ka nila titigilan hanggang hindi ka nila naipapasok sa grupo nila. Harassment na 'yun." ("The worst part is, they won't stop until you're not a part of their group. That's harassment.")

Statiko refused to go into detail as to what their modus operandi against the group is, but he gave out that one of their methods will take advantage of the apparent obsession of Royale members with luxury automobiles.

"Mag-iiwan kami ng Ferrari sa mga McDo. Pag may lumapit na nag-selfie habang sumisigaw ng 'power,' sila na yun. Huhulihin na namin." ("We'll park a Ferrari near McDo branches. When someone takes a selfie [near it] while shouting 'power,' that's them. We'll arrest them on the spot.")

The Royale Business Club made waves in the news in the early half of this year with tax evasion charges against their group and several executive board members.

MANILA - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) heightened its watch against individuals who toss rocks at autos that go through underpasses in Quezon City and in Mandaluyong.

MMDA Traffice Discipline Office executive Crisanto Saruca said the organization has officially alarmed its movement constables to look for suspicious acting individuals on top of the underpasses.

Saruca included that the MMDA has likewise begun introducing extra shut circuit TV cameras at the underpasses and has additionally begun organizing with the police units of Mandaluyong and Quezon City.

The Quezon City Police District prior cautioned drivers of stone-tossing occurrences along the Quezon Avenue underpass that goes through Agham Road to EDSA.

Police said they are especially vigilant for "batang hamog" or road kids as those supposedly behind the stone tossing occurrences.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino additionally prior said that the office is likewise wanting to introduce wire lattice fences on the highest point of the underpasses to dissuade rock hurlers.

"Doon mismo sa taas ng pinangyarihan nang sa ganoon matutukan. Baka makadisgrasya sa buhay ng motorista," he said.

Reports said that no less than three drivers have been casualties of rock tossing in Quezon City.

Beside the Quezon Avenue underpass, the MMDA has likewise gotten reports of asserted rock tossing occurrences on autos that go through the EDSA-Shaw Boulevard underpass in Mandaluyong City.

VATICAN - "The [Nae Nae] dance heavily resembles a 500 year old demonic ritual that was practiced to spawn Satan himself," says the Bishop of Rome and the Sovereign of the Vatican City.

Fox News (United States) caught up with the Pope in the Vatican today as he delivered his statement towards the LGBT community, divorce and legalization of marijuana as a recreational drug. Pope Francis was also asked to comment on the latest dance craze, the "Nae Nae" dance, to which he shook his head.

"This 'Nae Nae' dance you speak of, it's a form of Devil worship," the Pope told interviewer John Sly. Sly was shocked after the lighthearted question backfired. "It is what the Greek cultists used to do in their attempt to summon Satan and intercept the resurrection of the Holy Father's Son." He asked the devotees to not participate in the dance craze and save their peers from doom by stopping the viral hit from being shared.

You can watch the full video below:

YOUTUBE - Award-winning late night show host Jimmy Kimmel interviewed the man who invented pizzas topped with pizza on his show. The pizza itself will make you hungry!