One of the most talked about issues today in the field of environmental science is one that involves the rights of animals. As we all aware of it, animals should be left the way they are. We must not attempt to artificially change their genetic properties just to produce higher breeds of animals. Today, issues about crossbreeding has reverted the eyes of people who stands as advocate to the animal rights. But it will surely and greatly help us if we first know what is this process all about and let us try to find out why some people go against this one process which is dubbed by some of us as “one of the major advancements made by the use of technology.”

As wikipedia defines it, Crossbreeding refers to the process of breeding such an animal, often with the intention to create offspring that share the traits of both parent lineages, or producing an animal with hybrid vigor. While crossbreeding is used to maintain health and viability of animals, irresponsible crossbreeding can also produce animals of inferior quality or dilute a purebred gene pool to the point of extinction of a given breed of animal.

The term is also is used at times to refer to a domestic animal of unknown ancestry where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, though the term “mixed breeding” is technically more accurate. The term outcross is used to describe a type of crossbreeding used within a purebred breed to increase the genetic diversity within the breed, particularly when there is a need to avoid inbreeding.

As the definition is given, we can say that there is a benefit that we can get from this process and that is to maintain the health and viability of animals. However, its negative effect says that it can lead to serious extinction of a certain breed or specie of an animal if not to produce inferior breeds. Here in the Philippines, the birth of a “hebra”, that is the combination of a horse and a zebra, in the Manila Zoo, brought delight to many people but not into the eyes of some agencies such as PETA or the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The “hebra” came from a female zebra and a male horse. PETA said that with this condition, the “hebra” will have to hide behind the bars will never ever earn the chance to run free in the wild-a freedom that has been taken away from it because of the condition it got from the process of crossbreeding. PETA believes that zoos just continue their crossbreeding process in order to increase their profit as this process provides them with endless “cute animal babies” and will draw crowds and that would mean more income for the zoo. Although the administration of the zoo already said their defense, that since it is the last zebra they have in the zoo, they have decided to let it mingle with horses because they don’t want it to be lonely, PETA just seems not to buy it.

Animals have rights too, right? If that is true, then it be just great if we let them live the way they should be. We should not be involving them in any process that alters the way they are. Crossbreeding, as a process of maintaining health and viability of animals can, more or less, lead to the extinction of some of the animal species that we have today. That is a fact we must keep in mind before we say that it is entirely good for the welfare of animals.

The exciting part in the up-coming 2010 election is the prospect of unscrupulous candidates starting to rely on geeks, aside from their goons, to affect the vote. Like a friend said, cheating attempts may actually give more people throughout the country more incentive to learn techie stuff like programming, network management, etc.

Of course, no one wants to see fraudulent elections. But what if Filipinos in the most remote areas of the Philippines suddenly learn computer programming? That’s a possibility, especially if candidates are willing to pay good money for results. But with all of the positive things that have been said about the automation of the election, there are still risk factors that we have to consider. Such risk factors might include:

1. Software – The software used all throughout the process, from ballot reading all the way to returns tallying, must be open for public scrutiny. It may not be proprietary and secret.
2. Devices – Ballots and computers used throughout may fail. Backup/contingency plan must exist and be robust. Sabotage could be the way cheating will be introduced, in order to force reverting to manual process.
3. Architecture – Transmittal and reporting of results could be susceptible to hacking. Instant public visibility of results as counted at source and as transmitted at receipt will mitigate threats of hacking.
4. User – Voting needs to be simple and straightforward. Many Filipinos are not computer literate, and barely literate. PEBKAC errors can lead to many spoiled ballots, which may either be invalidated like in the US, or can be used as a pretense to revert to manual.

Some may argue opening the COMELEC’s system up for review will make it easier for cheaters to find vulnerabilities they can exploit. Yet at the same time, it also allows people to find these same holes and suggest ways to plug them.

The thoughts regarding sabotage make a lot of sense. Any issues encountered with the system will give its detractors more excuses to call for its rollback, potentially making clean and fast elections harder to achieve.

Most important though is making sure voters won’t have a hard time. A relatively easy way to come up with a system that’s not impossible to use is to test it, as detailed. PEBKAC stands for “Problem Exists between Keyboard and Chair”, a term computer experts use to make fun of user errors. Yet it also represents a serious problem for anyone designing a system, especially when user errors in automated elections mean lost ballots.

Automation of elections will mean that Philippines will have an easy and fast electoral process. However, no matter how great is the assurance that no flaws will happen, we should consider the fact that as long as it has not yet proven, we should never assume that this will be safe. It is not safe from errors. Remember that if people who created machines commit errors, ho much more with the machines they created?

A state of calamity has been declared in Metro Manila as rains brought by Ondoy caused the worst flooding in the capital in more than 20 years. The Extensive flooding in the metropolis that forced thousands out of their homes and turned many areas into virtual lakes drew comparison with hurricane “Katrina” which devastated the southern United States city of New Orleans in August 2005. As Katrina pounded New Orleans, levees broke and about 80 percent of the city was flooded, killing over 1,800 people and leaving damage estimated at more than $100 billion. This must be a very scary tragedy. I wonder why it says that it’s like Katrina? I don’t believe so. During the Katrina rescue, there were allegations that the white were given priority and placed in better rescue centers than the black.

In our case, there are many to be rescued, there is no discrimination but there is inadequate resources involved or put into the operations. In Marikina, there were only two rubber boats that were involved in the rescue. This is very inadequate. In another report, people waiting for 12 hours to be rescued.

Yes, I changed my position, this is worst than Katrina because the rescue operation is just mere lip service. Government agencies are just doing the easier part of the rescue such as mere monitoring, declaration of state of emergency, etc. etc. but in the actual operations they are failing miserably.

This whole aspect of rescue operations must be reviewed so that the citizens are given adequate service, rather than this one, lips services!

Honest to goodness declogging of esteros & sewage systems, relocation of squatters in riverbanks & esteros, responsible garbage disposal in Metro neighborhoods are some of viable solutions to our perennial problem of flooding in Metro Manila. But sad to say government, national & local, lack political will to implement these flood prevention programs.

One more thing, I wish some form of updated radar system and more micromanaged technology could be installed for the Philippines in forecasting and presenting weather patterns as they happen, and way before emergency disasters happen again. Of course, once a storm hits, there is little anyone can do, but in preplanning efforts, would help a lot. Depending on the Weather Channel reports is not the thing to do here…the Philippines needs several high-power and accurate reporting weather stations based in conspicuous spots in the country, making exact forecast references up-to-the-second, and transmit such details to all television stations or install a special weather channel for the Philippines only, and stop using the animal-lover with the little Commando hat giving the weather. We need professionals for the

* Let us all pray: May God help the Filipino people. That they will learn from this catastrophe (and all that have come upon us in the past). That they will have the wisdom to vote for the right leaders in the coming elections. That graft and corruption, which have stopped our nation from progressing, will be reduced or eliminated by those we vote into office. That our government employees, especially those in charge of public works (DPWH) do their jobs properly as expected in them. That they will do their best to make sure that our homes will not experience flooding in the future by making sure that all funds and resources they require is used wholly for projects in flood control.

All rivers follow a gently winding path, regardless of the terrain. Now Physicists at the University of Cambridge have produced a mathematical model that explain a river’s winding, or meandering, habits.

The group of physicists has successes in modeling certain meanders from their beginning using “an equation of model.” This equation describes the river in terms of both time and space. Competing processes keep the river from making unusual paths through the terrain. Some of these processes include the erosion of material at the outside of a bend where the water’s speed is fastest and the deposition of sediment on the inside of the bend, where the water travels more slowly. The formation of oxbow lakes is a powerful competing factor. An oxbow lake is formed when a river bends so far out that it makes a complete loop. Eventually, the river pinches off the bend and flows straight through, isolating the water in the bend. Rivers naturally seek a steady state in which the two processes of forming bends and pinching off the bends to flow straight through again exactly cancel each other out. Terrain variations cause a river to reshape the terrain. Rivers always follow natural, scale invariant paths.

The forces which shape a river’s course may be predictors of oil deposits. Rivers have the force to compress organic sediments into oil over the course of thousands of years. By understanding the behavior of meandering rivers, it may someday be possible to explore for oil using far fewer test drills.

The cleanliness of the house should not be confined on certain areas alone; it must be extended to all parts of the house. Great advantages will accrue to the house owner if this is done. It would lend a balanced atmosphere of tidiness in the house. Old wisdom has it that for a house to be truly clean, it must be clean both in the exteriors and the interiors. Even the minutes detail should be given attention to make sure that everything is kept and in order.

One of the most difficult types of house cleaning is that of removing dirt stain, mold or mildew from the concrete walls or vinyl sidings. An ordinary cleaning using water host will not be enough to remove the dirt. Power washing can provide the immediate solution to this dirt problem.

Most homeowners look for a reliable power washing company to do the job for them. I’m sure you want only the best for your home so do your homework and research what companies offer this service. I recommend using a local cleaning company that has been in business for a number of years. The employees are more likely to be fully trained and be masters of their craft. Also look for reviews of the company you intend to hire for power washing and check if a company offers related services like ceiling cleaning, window washing or gutter cleaning. You might get a discount or a better price if you need more than one job done.

Give your house a fresh and new look and remember: the cost of repair is a lot more expensive than a simple home face lift.

‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’

In this July 20, 1969 photo, astronaut Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin Jr. poses beside a US flag on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Aldrin and fellow ‘moonwalker’ Neil Armstrong gathered Friday with other Apollo astronauts as part of the first moon landing’s 40th anniversary celebration.

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Malnutrition is still one of the major health problems in school children and could be considered deadlier than the swine flu plague, a partylist representative said today.

“While swine flu is a threat, malnutrition remains a deadlier menace to students’ well-being this school opening and the government has continuously overlooked this through the years,” Kabataan partylist Rep. Raymund Palatino said.

Palatino cited that 21 percent of students are malnourished. In the elementary level, 37 percent have iron deficiency anemia, 36 percent have Vitamin A deficiency, and 67 percent have intestinal helminthiasis.

He noted that there is only one designated doctor for every 80,000 students, one dentist for 20,000 students, and one school nurse for every 5,000 students.

“These are the glaring conditions of our health system in public schools. We blame this on lack of doctors, nurses and medical facilities in our schools because of very low education spending,” Palatino said.

Courtesy of Philstar.com

The issue on the automation of the 2010 national elections have reverted all ears as it creates noise. Billions of pesos will be spent for a strategy that is not proven to eliminate the problem of elections, and so, a test is about to be done.

Opposition Senator Allan Peter Cayetano said in a press conference that he is filling a resolution for COMELEC (Commission on Elections) to appropriate an amount of 100 million pesos out of the 11 billion pesos fund on the automation of elections as a reward for anyone who can show and convince the people that the automated elections is also susceptible to dirty tactics such as fraud and tampering of election paraphernalia. If this goes through (the resolution), this will be a test to the automation process’s invulnerability and probably will make the fear of people for any untoward act regarding the elections vanish.

This is why the Commission on Elections (Comelec) challenged hackers to try to hack into the voting and counting machines that will be used in next year’s elections, but expressed confidence that they would fail.

Comelec executive director Jose Tolentino said they are very confident the security features of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines would be able to thwart hackers.

“Even in the first level, we can already detect any tampering,” noted Tolentino, who is also the project manager of poll automation.

“After that, we’ll know if the machines are accurate… The parties will then sign a document to certify that the machines are accurate,” Tolentino added.

The election process is one of those processes that should not be taken with risks for it would determine the future of our country. I for one would like to contribute by saying that I am also a computer enthusiast with knowledge about hacking and I will try my best to penetrate and hack the system to prove whether the automation process will be a success or yet again, another failure. So to all the hackers there, I urge you to try and give it your best shot to prove yourself as hackers. You might just got lucky and take the 100 million pesos reward plus the bonus of helping your own country.

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