Good Vibes

GLOBAL - Numerous UFO (unidentified flying object) sightings are circulating the web showing a smoke-like black ring hovering over different areas in the world. The respective governments of the countries involved are yet to release a statement, but social media has been picking up on the sightings with more and more recorded videos and images being posted online.

1. Philippines


2. Argentina


3. California, USA


4. England


Speculation among netizens lead to these UFO's being maneuvered by extraterrestrial beings or aliens, but most experts say otherwise. Whether these black rings are linked to each other is the subject of debate. More on this story as it develops.

ESPN - As per ESPN sources, rapper and media mogul Curtis James Jackson III a.k.a 50 Cent has challenged boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather, Jr. to a boxing match. The rapper has been cited to be joking that drug testing will not be necessary, "but he'll have to do a reading test." If the fight will come to fruition, however, is for the Mayweather camp to decide.

FACEBOOK - Facebook, Inc. has released a new list of keywords and phrases that are now considered as spam by the Facebook website. Among the 322 is the phrase "proud to be Pinoy" which caused an outrage with the Filipino online community.

"Ano bang masama sa pagiging proud na Pinoy?" ("What's wrong with being a proud Pinoy?") Thousands of Filipino Facebook users posted on Facebook's official corporate page in droves as the announcement was made. The phrase was auto-flagged as spam by the website's bots, but the system administrators have no plans to remove the flag.

"We trust our anti-spam bots and if it's saying that the phrase should be considered as spam, then it is," said Stephen Cobweb as he addressed the media in Menlo Park. "Thousands of accounts post the phrase whenever a Filipino achieves some global recognition, but that phrase itself doesn't contribute to the conversation. It's meaningless exhibition of pride that's clogging up the users' timelines," he added.

Posts containing the phrase will be silently omitted after 7 days and will not appear on public trends unless used under a hashtag (#) symbol. Facebook has stated that it will be firm with its decision to flag the phrase as spam.

MOSCOW - With Vladimir Putin's ongoing campaign against Russia's freedom of speech, he has requested access to Google, Facebook and Twitter's user data. Failure to comply with the Russian leader will result in the ban of the three websites in the country.

According to The Huffington Post, Vadim Ampelonskiy spoke with CNBC on Friday. The spokesman for Roskomnadzor said, "Such correspondence is regular in dealing with foreign internet companies. Usually after sending official requests and letters, we can see some positive movements and progress in communication. Roskomnadzor hopes this time all the compailes will respond again and will fulfill those requirements, which were asked many times before."

Observers have reported that this is one more step towards an authoritarian government that has been progressing since 2012. The reason why the country is requesting access to sensitive data is not yet known to the public.

MAKATI - MMDA has published a statement that prohibits the blockbuster film franchise The Fast and the Furious to film its 8th installment "Fast & Furious 8" to be taped in Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly known as EDSA, in the Philippines.

Vin Diesel, who visited the Philippines in 2013, wanted a set of scenes to be filmed in the country for his Fast & Furious 8 project. The scenes would've involved Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and Ludacris among other names. He filed the request early May 2015 to the MMDA board, but was rejected.

The MMDA published a statement on their Facebook page and website that they have publicly declined Vin Diesel's request to film in the EDSA area due to the roads that would've been involved. "The heavy traffic in the area would have been tripled if we closed the lanes that Vin Diesel requested for the taping," said the press release.

The crew of Fast & Furious 8 are still scouting to possibly film in Southeast Asia, but the "failure to grant this one wish" turned off Vin Diesel which means having any scenes filmed in the Philippines is very slim.

The Fast and Furious 7 movie was a big hit in Philippine theaters which prompted an online petition to bring the FAST crew to the Philippines upon the film's release.