Google Pagerank Update

What is PageRank? PageRank is just what it sounds like. Google places a rank on all web pages with a value between 0 and 10, 10 being the highest. Theoretically, the higher the pagerank, the more of an authority your blog/website is, or the more popular it is. It’s basically a metric of reader interaction with your site, in the form of traffic, links and how many people find your site to be useful. The more links, and the more that popular sites link to you, or the more people that link to you, the higher you will get. But, really, this is just my opinion, and no one really knows how they calculate it. We just guess and try to play accordingly. From my experience, the game gets exponentially tougher as you try to increase your PageRank from 5 to 6 or higher. Just recently another PageRank (PR) update was made. That’s right! My blog increase its PR from PR3 to PR4 after several updates a couple of months. I hope that this will continue and i was hoping to recieve another PR update, a higher PR update like PR5.

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New Wi-Fi technology to let gadgets talk directly

The Wi-Fi Alliance, an industry group, said Wednesday it is nearly finished putting together a Wi-Fi Direct specification, a set of technical "rules" that guide consumer electronics companies that plan to add the new capability.

Kelly Davis-Felner, the Wi-Fi Alliance's marketing director, said Wi-Fi Direct will make it easier to liberate the mounting gigabytes of digital family photos that are trapped in cameras, smart phones or PCs. Now those gadgets will be able to connect directly to digital photo frames, TVs or printers.

In creating the specification, the Alliance is moving into the territory of Bluetooth, a competing wireless technology that already handles direct gadget-to-gadget connections. Bluetooth uses less power but has much shorter range and a lower transfer speed. To tackle the latter problem, the industry group behind Bluetooth announced last year that it would co-opt Wi-Fi technology to make it possible to send videos and other bandwidth-hogging files around the house, much as Wi-Fi Direct promises to do.

Only one of the gadgets need have the new Wi-Fi Direct technology to make a two-way connection work. In one scenario, you could connect a smart phone with Wi-Fi Direct to a laptop and piggyback on its wired Internet connection for a quick e-mail check without tapping your phone's data plan.

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Congratulations Mar and Korina Sanchez-Roxas

MANILA, Senator Manuel Roxas II and ABS-CBN anchor Korina Sanchez finally walked down the aisle and exchange “I do’s” Tuesday at the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City. Sanchez, 45, beaming in a white Filipiniana terno, walked toward the altar with her brothers Milano and Mickey Sanchez as the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers sang “Ave Maria.” Clad in barong tagalog, Roxas was accompanied by his mother, Judy. "I take you as God's special gift. I love you as you are," said Roxas, 52, as he exchanged vows with Sanchez. For her part, Sanchez said Roxas was the "fulfillment" of her heart's desire, describing him as an ally and a friend. "Ikaw ang katuparan ng lahat ng aking hinhintay at minimithi ng aking puso na makakasama, karamay, kaibigan at kakampi,” Sanchez said. “Dumaan man ang unos, ang mga pagsubok, ang sakit at kabiguan, ako ay mananatiling dikit sa iyong piling." Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, who together with more than 10 Catholic bishops and priests officiated the two-hour concelebrated mass, officially pronounced them husband and wife shortly before 6 p.m. Hundreds of guests—relatives, friends, politicians, dignitaries, celebrities—came to witness the much-awaited union of the high profile couple. As early as 11 a.m., hundreds of people—including children—gathered outside the historic church to have a glimpse of the Roxas and Sanchez. Like a movie star, Roxas, was mobbed by the crowd when he arrived at around 3:00 p.m. Before proceeding inside the church, Roxas took time to shake hands with the people, who were chanting his name. "Excited,” was how the senator, who is running for vice president in the 2010 polls, described his feelings about the wedding. Roxas said he last talked with Sanchez Monday morning. And just before the wedding, Roxas said he received a mobile text message from Sanchez saying, "Pray for me so I will not trip." Just a few minutes after Roxas arrived, the well-wishers went wild again on seeing former president Joseph Estrada walking down the red carpet outside the church. Some of the spectators, however, went to see popular TV host Kris Aquino, who arrived with his youngest son, baby James Jr. James served as ring bearer in the wedding. Teresita Pancho, 62, said she came all the way from Pampanga just to see Roxas in person. "Nagugutom na nga ako eh pero ‘di ko pa nakikita si Pareng Mar (I’m already hungry and I still haven’t seen Mar," said Pancho. Aside from Estrada, other prominent politicians and personalities who came to witness the union were US ambassador Kristie Kenny, Vice President Noli de Castro, Chief Justice Reynato Puno, former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, former vice president Teofisto Guingona, Representatives Lorenzo Tanada III, Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Locsin, Neptali Gonzales, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, former senator Franklin Drilon, former congressman Florencio "Butch" Abad, and Pepeng Cojuangco. Also in attendance were actress Gretchen Barreto and live-in partner Tony Boy Cojuangco, actor and television host Richard Gomez, and celebrity beauty doctor Vicky Belo. Paolo Zaldarriaga, Roxas’ son from past relationship, served as his best man, while the maid of honor is the bride's close friend, Dang Cecilio-Palanca. The principal sponsors are Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, former Senate president Jovito Salonga, ABS-CBN chairman and CEO Eugenio Lopez III, Roxas’ uncle Jorge Araneta, multi-awarded actress and philanthropist Rosa Rosal, Helen Costales, groom’s aunt Ruby Roxas, TV host Cecilia "Che-Che" Lazaro, and the groom's aunt Maria Flores. The secondary sponsors are: (cord) Ria Roxas-Ojeda and Augusto Ojeda, (veil) Victoria Fores and Manuel Roxas, (candle) Juliana Valencia and Jorge Fores. The bible and coin bearers are Mathew Garcia and Miguel Sanchez, respectively. Anika Custodio, Ana Conchita Khouri, Saila Sanchez and Louise Tan served as flower girls. Twelve are listed as bridesmaid, including news anchor Pinky Webb and ABS-CBN senior reporter Ging Reyes.

Source: inquirer.net

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Happy Halloween!

Halloween, holiday observed on the evening of November 1 in most areas of the Philippines. The holiday is symbolically associated with death and the supernatural. Halloween falls on the eve of All Saints’ Day (which is November 1, here in the Philippines), also known as Allhallows or Hallowmas, a holy day in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. Originally a pagan festival of the dead, All Saints’ Day was established by the Catholic Church in the 9th century to honor Christian saints. All Souls’ Day, a holy day established by the Catholic Church in the 10th century, is also closely linked to Halloween. All Souls’ Day, on November 2, is observed to help purify the spirits of the dead and we light candles in front of our houses to commemorate of past love ones. Halloween is historically related to similar folk holidays celebrated in other countries. Most Halloween festivities are based on folk beliefs concerning supernatural forces and spirits of the dead. Halloween decorations typically feature imagery associated with supernatural beings such as witches, werewolves, vampires, and ghosts. Images thought to symbolize bad omens—such as black cats, bats, and spiders—are also commonly featured in Halloween decorations. Dressing in costume is one of the most popular Halloween customs, especially among children. Traditional costumes usually represent witches, ghosts, and other supernatural beings. Trick-or-treating is another Halloween tradition, in which costumed children go from house to house soliciting candy or other treats from their neighbors. According to this custom, children greet each homeowner with the cry “Trick or Treat,” suggesting that some sort of prank will be played unless treats are provided. Happy Halloween to all!

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Pets are not furry people

So how should you treat your cat or dog? With respect, but not the same respect you would give a child. Unlike a child, your pet will never learn democratic values. There is no room for democracy in our relationship with our pets. We make decisions for them. Threats are also pointless. A pet won’t understand a declaration such as, “If you do that once more, you are gated for the night,” even if it is satisfying for you to say it. Both cats and dogs respond best to standard and inflexible rules: No climbing the curtains, no raiding the garbage, no barking, or whatever. And pets learn rules most effectively when no threat is involved. Reward training—techniques in which a pet learns to do something good because there is a reward—is the route to training your pet. Living with other species is a privilege. And it is wholly natural. It is only in the last few “seconds” of evolutionary time that we as humans disassociated ourselves from the natural world in which we evolved. Pets remind us where we have come from; they are “ambassadors from the Paleolithic,” in the words of Professor Lionel Tiger. What marvelous ambassadors. We owe them the respect of acknowledging their unique emotional and physical needs. Are pets members of the human family? Of course. Furry people? Only in your fantasy and only if that fantasy causes no harm.

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Earthlings

Landslides, earthquakes, eruptions, floods, storms, and other cataclysms have wrought many changes in the complexion of the planet's face during the past millennium. Still, despite some significant local alterations, the overall physiognomy of the Earth is not so very different from what it was in AD 1000. In contrast, change in the composition and distribution of the world’s living communities has been almost universal. The catalyst of this transformation of life on Earth is our own species. That people should have such a profound influence on the rest of the world’s creatures and their habitats isn’t surprising. We are, after all, very large. We dwarf well more than 99 percent of other animal species, most of which are insects. Furthermore, the number of people is astonishing. In October of 1999, the global human population passed 6 billion. Such staggering numbers of such large animals can hardly fail to affect other species and the environment we share. The human population explosion is very recent. There were about 200 million people in the world 1,000 years ago. By the end of the 2nd millennium, a single country, China, had six times that many people. India had five times that number. Every year the world grows by 80 million people—40 percent of the entire population of the globe in AD 1000! As recently as 1800 there were still fewer than 1 billion people, but soon after that a combination of improvements in agriculture, hygiene, and medicine enabled more people to survive infancy and live comparatively long lives. Owing to depressed death rates and increased numbers of reproducing adults, the world population began to swell rapidly. Demographers believe that the number of people in AD 2050 will stand at 8.9 billion, almost half again as many as are alive today. The problems that beset the Earth and its inhabitants are still daunting, of course. We can only hope that these examples and others like them are harbingers of a saner, sounder, and more enlightened millennium to come.

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Klitschko vs. Johnson

The Vitali Klitschko vs. Kevin Johnson fight will hold at the PostFinance Arena, in Berne, Switzerland on December 12, 2009. This will be the third fight of the year for Klitschko (38-2, 37 KO’s). Vitali will again face a very strong contender. Johnson (22-0-1, 9 KO’s) is undefeated, self-conscious and knows what a great chance this will be for him. Although Johnson is undefeated, he lacks any kind of power to trouble Vitali and this fight will probably end up as one-sided as Klitschko’s recent fight with Arreola.

“I am in an excellent shape and had a perfect preparation and fight in Los Angeles. I can hardly wait to step into the ring again. Kevin Johnson is very dangerous. He already had 23 fights as a pro and is undefeated. He is technically much better than my last opponent Arreola. I know I can’t underestimate Johnson but I have no doubt to keep the WBC belt.” Klitschko said.

Kevin Johnson is confident of taking Klitschko’s WBC World Heavyweight title

“I’ve been working hard for this chance and I will definitely take it. On December 12th, there will finally be an American heavyweight champion again. I am sorry for ruining Klitschko’s Christmas holidays.” Johnson said.

HBO is mostly interested in putting on fights that they see as competitive and ones that will interest the casual boxing fan. A fight between Vitali and Johnson would seem to be anything but competitive. Ticket sale started last October 24 for the Vitali Klitschko vs. Kevin Johnson at the PostFinance Arena, in Berne, Switzerland on December 12, 2009.

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UFC 106: Lesnar vs. Carwin

UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) meets top challenger Shane Carwin (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC). "UFC 106: Lesnar vs. Carwin" takes place at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on November 21, 2009. The main card airs live on pay per view. The main event is Lesnar's first title defense after unifying the UFC's heavyweight belts with a UFC 100 win over then-interim champ Frank Mir. Meanwhile, Carwin will seek his 12th-straight win in addition to the UFC's heavyweight title. The 34-year-old has yet to fight longer than 2:11 in any bout. While both fighters have apparently agreed to the contest, bout agreements have yet to be issued. If the bout is finalized, the match would be Lesnar's first title defense after unifying the UFC's heavyweight title with a UFC 100 win over then-interim champ Frank Mir. The 34-year-old Carwin has registered three-straight impressive wins in the UFC, scoring first-round wins over Gabriel Gonzaga, Neil Wain and Christian Wellisch. Carwin has registered first-round stoppage win in all 11 of his career bouts. Other Main cards fight includes: Tito Ortiz vs. Forest Griffin, Dustin Hazelett vs. Karo Parisyan, and Luiz Cane vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Not officially announced) Tickets for UFC 106 are currently on sale. UFC 106: Lesnar vs. Carwin fight is scheduled to take place Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas so buy your tickets now. With the official addition to the card, UFC 106: Lesnar vs. Carwin now includes:

PRELIMINARY CARD
• Phil Baroni vs. Amir Sadollah
• Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders
• Kendall Grove vs. Jake Rosholt
• Brian Foster vs. Brock Larson*
• Fabricio Camoes vs. Caol Uno*
• Jason Dent vs. George Sotiropoulos

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Lady Tamaraws repel Lady Eagles fightback

Far Eastern U made key adjustments in the last two sets to repulse Ateneo-OraCare, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19, and notch its third win in four games in the Shakey’s V-League Season 6 second conference at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday. Guest player Rachel Daquis unloaded a season-high 22 hits, including 18 attacks, while Shaira Gonzalez came away with 21 points but the Lady Tams needed a solid defensive job in the third and fourth frames to finish off the Lady Eagles in 1:41. “We made adjustments in defense and reception in the last two sets that’s why we were able to bounce back from our loss in the second set,” said FEU coach Nes Pamilar in Filipino. The victory thus shoved FEU to second place behind first quarterfinalist UST while the loss was Ateneo’s second straight after routing University of the Philippines. The Lady Eagles tried to send the match into a deciding set as they stormed to a 16-15 lead in the fourth on a drop shot from Bea Pascual. But the Lady Tams regrouped and toughened up on net defense then countered with six straight points spiked by Gonzalez’ two service aces to post the victory.

San Sebastian reasserted its mastery over St. Benilde, fashioning out a 25-21, 25-19, 25-14 victory in the second game for its second straight victory in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza. Elaine Cruz, Margarita Pepito and Joy Benito combined for 39 points for the Lady Stags, who also beat the Lady Blazers in sudden death to bag their fifth straight NCAA women’s volley crown recently. St. Benilde, led by Katty Kwan and Charmaine Velez’s combined 22-point output, fell to 0-2 in a tie with Lyceum. Cherry Vivas added 17 points, including three blocks, for FEU, which primed up for a tough game against newly crowned five-time NCAA champion San Sebastian tomorrow in the league organized by Sports Visions and backed by Accel, Mikasa, Mighty Bond and OraCare. Fille Cainglet scored a career-high 20 points, including four blocks, while alumna guest player Charo Soriano and Angeline Gervacio finished with 16 and 15 points, respectively, for Ateneo-OraCare. Meanwhile, the FEU-Ateneo match will be shown on NBN-4 today starting at 2 p.m. while the SSC-St. Benilde match will be aired tomorrow. Monique Tiangco and skipper Rose Cabanag combined for 11 points while providing superb floor defense for the Lady Tams throughout the match.

Source: PhilStar.com

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Michael Jordan son's, Nike collides with Adidas

ORLANDO, Florida - A fight over the shoes Michael Jordan’s son will wear at the University of Central Florida could cost the school financially. First-year guard Marcus Jordan is refusing to wear shoes made by adidas, the brand the university has a contract with for all its sports. He says he will wear only his father’s Nike Air Jordan shoes because they hold special meaning to his family. The problem is UCF is in the final year of its contract with adidas that requires coaches and athletes to use the company’s apparel and equipment. UCF says its five-year deal with adidas ends on June 30, 2010. There have been media reports that UCF is negotiating a new deal that could be worth up to $3 million and last up to six years. UCF said in a statement on Thursday that adidas was aware of the situation during contract renewal discussions.

Sourcs: PhilStar.com

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Gaming Technology

“Fire in the hole, Enemy Spotted, You take the point, Enemy down” this shout comes from one of the best-selling games for the year 2001, counterstrike. A first-person shooter where you get to play either a Terrorist or Anti-Terrorists, trying to either obliterate all your opponents or meet specific objectives. Counterstrike is just one of the few games being patronized by gamers, other games include; Red Alert, Starcraft, DOTA All-Stars, Need for Speed, Splinter Cell, just to name a few. With the popularity of games in the market of teenagers and not so teen anymore, hundreds of Computer Game Centers have opened nationwide catering to the addiction of numerous people who want to feel the rush of competing against the computer and even against other people. Question is why are so many people so addicted to playing computer games? Simple. Computer games take you to a different world of entertainment. You get to choose who you want to be, where you want to be, what objectives you want to meet, whenever you want and most of all you’re in command! Add to that, it doesn’t hurt when you loose. You can start again. Gaming is a fast-paced industry with so many new developments happening at the same time. Game developers play significant role on how this industry is today and how it will be in the future. If you’re a gamer, why not get into the business of game development. If you enjoy the industry so much, why not get paid as well. With the growing demand of manpower needs in this industry, people interested to become game developers are secured of opportunities to get into. Game development is just part of Computer Technology. Good imagination and programming background is all it takes to start-off a career in game development. If you have good imagination, then you’re in for a good start. The second part is, Learn Programming! Over the last decade, the game world has tremendously grown into a large industry that major companies are starting to jump-in and invest. Companies like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft are just a few of major players in this field. Today, head-on competition with the players is taking place in the game console development. The strength of the industry can be attributed to the broad penetration of Sony Playstation and Xbox, the primary consoles in the market today and the game world is unquestionably worth the business venture.

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Kelly Pavlik vs. Paul Williams

According to the Top Rank head Bob Arum, a deal has been reached A press conference is set for Tuesday in East Rutherford, N.J., to officially announce the Dec. 5 middleweight title fight between Youngstown’s WBC/WBO welterweight champ Kelly Pavlik vs. Paul Williams. The title bout will take place in Atlantic City, N.J., and will be televised by HBO. The match was originally scheduled for Oct. 18, but it was postponed because of a nagging staph infection to Pavlik’s left hand. Pavlik won his 160-pound titles exactly two years ago, Sept. 29, 2007, when he stopped champion Jermain Taylor in the seventh round. The current WBC/WBO champ Kelly Pavlik who has an impressive records of (35-1, 31 KOs), while the former welterweight champ Paul Williams (37-1, 27 KOs). If the deal gets done, Williams who is listed as 6’1 but most say 6’2, slender, high volume puncher, with a physique not unlike that of Pavlik, would move up in weight by 13 pounds to meet Pavlik in 160. I don’t know if they already finished the issue of money matters because Williams was initially, according to Arum, demanding as much as $ 2.5 million for the fight. Either he came down quite a bit or HBO offered more money to make it happen. Pavlik’s Manager Cameron Dunkin that HBO had a lot of interest in a Pavlik vs. Williams fight. He won a non-title rematch against Taylor, but suffered his lone professional loss when he was decision by Bernard Hopkins in an over-the-weight bout in Oct. 2008. He stopped Marco Antonio Rubio in Youngstown to defend his titles in February. I think it’s a hard style and a tough fight, but it’s a good fight. Paul Williams is a tough fighter. He’s not a guy moving up. I like the fight, fans like the fight. HBO likes the fight.

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Protect your Network

When you create a home network connected to the Internet, you increase the vulnerability of your computers to unauthorized access, including viruses. To protect your network, you need to create a type of barrier called a firewall. Windows XP comes with a firewall that you create when setting up a home.

How does a firewall work?
Like an actual firewall built to prevent fire from spreading between adjoining buildings, computer firewalls prevent the spread of unauthorized communication between an individual computer or group of networked computers and the Internet. One of the most effective ways to protect a home network—and the least expensive—is to create a firewall on the ICS host computer, and to make sure that computer is the only one on the network with a direct connection to the Internet.

Other network possibilities
Another way to protect a home network is to use a hardware device called a residential gateway, or router. A residential gateway contains a firewall and replaces an ICS host computer as the central Internet connection. Because it contains no files, folders or other data, and cannot be used to manipulate computers to which it is linked, a residential gateway offers a greater degree of protection than an ICS host computer. Should a hacker manage to bypass the firewall, the only access gained is to the device, which is in effect empty. A disadvantage of a residential gateway is the extra cost it adds to putting together a network. You can create a home network having neither an ICS host computer nor a residential gateway, but at a high cost to security—and convenience. With such a setup, Internet access can be obtained by linking each computer directly to the Internet service provider via the computer's own modem, or else all computers on the network can be linked to an Ethernet hub, which functions as a central Internet connection. Neither of these methods provides firewall protection; and while Internet Connection Firewall can be enabled on networked computers running Windows XP, doing so prevents those computers from sharing files and devices such as printers.

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Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto: Will the Southpaw Jinx Strike Miguel?

Freddie Roach’s latest studies of Miguel Cotto has led him to state, “He [Cotto] doesn’t fight southpaws really well.” Roach goes on to discuss how Cotto struggled against Zab Judah for much of the early part of their encounter before running out of steam. Roach contends that Pacquiao can do what Zab did in the early rounds for the entire twelve. Although Cotto did eventually overcome Zab, and he dominated Carlos Quintana, there may be some merit to Roach’s comment. Judah hurt Cotto early with an uppercut, but failed to capitalize because Cotto countered with an uppercut to the testicles. Additionally, in his bout with DeMarcus Corley, Cotto was rocked by a tricky right hook. And we all saw what ‘Manila Ice’ (Pacquiao’s right hook) did to Ricky Hatton. In addition, Roach claims Cotto does not take shots to the body well, and Joshua Clottey echoed this sentiment before his bout with Miguel as well. Expect Manny to send many straight left hands to Cotto’s body. But Cotto’s stock has risen since Mayweather’s one-sided domination over Juan Manuel Marquez, and many feel the weight advantage will carry Miguel to victory. But the difference between Marquez and Pacquiao is simple: Manny carried up his power and speed. And the Pac Man is nothing like any of Cotto’s defeated opponents at welterweight. All of them, Mosley, Judah, Quintana and more, all had something in common: they all fought flatfooted. Manny will box on his toes hit, move his head and move out of the way of returning shots. The trickiest punch a southpaw can land on an orthodox fighter is a right hook. Look for Cotto’s legs to turn to Jell-o if he is hit clean with ‘Manila Ice’: shades of Corley. Southpaws do everything backwards, and Cotto will have to deal with that in addition to speed, head movement and footwork that he has never dealt with before in his career. But in defense of Cotto, he has knocked out every southpaw he has faced. And Cotto has won all of his fights only being stopped by a huge welterweight with cinder blocks for fists.

Next fight Mayweather vs. Pacquiao...

Source: boxingnews24.com

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Pacquiao Looking Stronger Than When He Fought Ricky Hatton

Filipino boxing hero and world pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao is stronger than he was when he scored a devastating second round knockout over IBO light welterweight champion Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last May 2. That’s the word from conditioning expert Alex Ariza who spoke to BoxingScene.com, insidesports, Standard Today and Viva Sports from Pacquiao’s training camp in the summer capital of Baguio City. Ariza said Pacquiao sparred four rounds with undefeated light middleweight Shawn Porter who has a record of 10-0 with 8 knockouts and two rounds with lightweight Urbano Antillon (26-1, 19 KO’s) and “looked good and strong” with six weeks left before the “Fire Power” showdown with WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto on November 14 in Las Vegas. Ariza quoted trainer Freddie Roach as saying Pacquiao “looks better and better every time he sees him.” The conditioning expert conceded that the 21 year old Porter gave Pacquiao some problems in their first sparring session but that Pacquiao recovered quickly and “has been on track ever since” and even looks stronger than he was for the Hatton fight in which he separated the Briton from his senses with a crippling left in round two. Ariza said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who visited the training camp as well as Roach had “made some comments on how big Pacquiao is getting so fast.” However, the conditioning expert who helped Pacquiao improve in terms of his power and explosiveness since joining the Roach team prior to the David Diaz 9th round demolition explained that “the body and the muscles have memory so he’s just reverting back to what it used to be but a little faster than we had in the past. That’s all it is. It remembers where it was in the Hatton fight and is getting right back.” Ariza said he had told Roach “not to worry because its not going to affect his speed.” He emphasized that Pacquiao “is stronger, is faster than he was in the past.” He said he “took Pacquiao to the track last week for the first time and said his speed is almost what it was in the last camp.” Pacquiao went 15 rounds on the punch-mitts on Monday and two circuits of plyometrics and strengthening and conditioning routines and looked very good. Ariza stressed that “if we could hold it here until we get to America and we can hold that weight we will be right on track.” Former world champion Jose Luis Castillo was also reportedly joining the roster of Pacquiao spar-mates. He was supposed to fight last month and so he is expected to be in condition because Roach has made it clear that if Castillo is not in shape he will be sent back home on the first available flight.

Source: boxingscene.com

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Why Are Reef Fish So Colorful?

Strangely enough, I became curious about the colors of fish while swimming in the crystal-clear waters surrounded by countless incredibly colorful fish. Sitting slightly apprehensively at a depth of only two meters, I was trying to catch fish in a hand net. Suddenly I became dimly aware of hundreds of little black dots shooting past me almost at the limits of my vision in the silty water. I was stunned to realize the black dots were the eyes of an enormous school of kyphosids swimming past on their way to the reef edge. Here was a wonderful example of camouflage underwater. I was humbled by my ineptitude as a predator—I allowed literally tons of fish to pass within a meter or two of me and my net before I even realized what they were. I noticed that many of the fish and other reef creatures that the school had by now joined were boldly colorful, their bright patterns making them pop out from the background—and also, it would seem, making them an obvious meal. Like terrestrial rain forests, coral reefs are isolated enclaves that are important for their extreme biodiversity. For example, the Great Barrier Reef is superlative: it is home to around 1,500 species of fish. This huge variety is all the more surprising in light of the relatively young age of the reef. It began to form 12 to 18 million years ago and in some places is only two million years old; reefs of the western Atlantic and central Pacific formed 25 million years ago. The diversity of colored fish and invertebrates on the Great Barrier Reef is truly awe-inspiring. Yet the color patterns exhibited by these inhabitants did not evolve for human eyes. To understand this role of color and appearance requires some understanding of survival on the reef and also of the optics of the undersea realm. At its most fundamental level, survival for any animal species demands three things: eating, not being eaten and reproducing. Unfortunately for sea creatures, the demands on appearance imposed by the first two of these survival requirements conflict with those of the third. A good way to avoid being eaten, or, indeed, to lurk undetected while waiting for prey to swim by, is to be camouflaged to match the background (the scientific term is "cryptic"). Masters of camouflage include the frogfish and the school of kyphosids. But to attract a mate, chase rivals away or provide other warnings, bright colors that are easily seen underwater may be the order of the day. In the blue waters of the reef, the colors yellow and blue travel the farthest, so many reef animals have evolved bodily patterns of yellow and blue in striped or spotted combinations. Because yellow and blue are also widely separated in the spectrum, they offer strong contrast underwater. Compared with some species of fish and other creatures, humans are relatively colorblind. People have three color receptors in their eyes: the blue-, green- and red-sensitive cones. Some reef fish (and indeed amphibians, reptiles, birds and insects) possess four or more. The record is currently held by the mantis shrimp (a stomatopod), a reef dweller whose eyes have 12 color receptors. Also, they can see in greater detail some of the colors humans see. Such impressive visual capabilities might seem to be unnecessary on the reef, where so many creatures have evolved bold patterns that emit strong visual signals. Alternatively, it may seem incredible that these brightly colored fish manage to survive with markings so striking that they would seem to attract the attention of even weak-eyed predators. Could it be that coral reefs are colorful, and therefore that colorful animals fit in and may even be camouflaged? Logical though it may seem, the notion does not hold up to scrutiny. A reef stripped of its fish and other mobile life-forms is actually relatively monochromatic. Most of the corals are brown or green, their colorful splendor coming out only at night when the polyps open or under the falsely bright illumination of the camera strobe or video light. Parts of fish may be disguised by a pattern, such as the dark stripes that run near the eyes of the Moorish idol. Similarly, colorations may make it difficult for a predator to determine which end is the head and which is the tail. Bright colors can also warn of toxicity. Whether for display or camouflage, the visual signals emanating from reef fish all depend strongly on contrast, and this aspect appears to have evolved with unexpected elegance. We know that the change is to accommodate the demands of a new mode of life—the emergence from the plankton, where all fish begin life. So far, however, the details of this vision change are known for only two of the 1,500 species on the Great Barrier Reef. This is just one of the mysteries that leave vast gaps in our knowledge. We still have only fragmentary ideas about what the colors of a reef mean to its inhabitants, making each visit to this world of secret color communication an endeavor as tantalizing as it is beautiful.

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What are the main threats to coral reefs around the world?

Some of the most significant threats to coral reefs result from human efforts to exploit the rich diversity and abundance of life they support. Threats include commercial over fishing—an especially serious problem in tropical Asia—and the capture of rare fish and other marine creatures for the aquarium trade. More than 90 percent of creatures caught for the aquarium trade die before reaching consumers, and capture techniques often damage coral and kill other organisms. Cyanide may be used to stun fish for easier capture, and its impact on reef ecosystems can be devastating. Collection of coral for jewelry and other uses destroys reefs that took hundreds of years to grow. Pleasure boats, trawlers, developers, and mineral exploration can physically degrade reefs. Other threats include pollutants released at sea and the introduction of exotic invasive species that have hitched rides on boats. These nonnative creatures, frequently discharged from the ballast tanks of ships, can spread profusely and wreak havoc. Intensive or careless sport fishing and sport diving can damage reefs as well. Many threats to reefs originate from human activities on land. Pesticides, fertilizers, and sewage in runoff from land can damage reefs. This water pollution can alter reef communities and cause catastrophic losses of marine life. Soil erosion from cleared land can bury a reef in silt and mud, or kill it by blocking light needed for photosynthesis. Some damage to reefs may be linked to increased ultraviolet radiation that results from the depletion of atmospheric ozone by air pollution. Most problems facing the world’s coral reefs are global, although they vary from one reef to the next. Reef destruction is most serious in regions where human populations are growing fastest. The impact of these losses is significant. Coral reefs are home to a bewildering diversity of life, but they also serve as nurseries for commercial fisheries, and they create protective fringes around our shorelines, limiting the erosive damage of wave action.

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What Biodiversity Means

"Biodiversity" has become such a vogue word that academics have begun to take surveys of scientists to find out what they mean by it. Biodiversity is the totality of biological diversity from the molecular level to the ecosystem level. That includes the distinct species of all living things on Earth. Scientists have identified 1.4 million species, but no one knows how many actually exist, especially in hard-to-reach areas such as the deep heart of a rain forest or the bottom of an ocean. Biologists believe there may be 5 million to 10 million species, though some estimates run as high as 100 million. Biodiversity also means the genetic diversity within a species, which is important in maintaining the species’ health. For example, one of the threats to the North American bison is its relative genetic homogeneity since it was hunted to near extinction a century ago. That makes the bison more vulnerable to reproductive problems, birth defects, and massive die-offs if a disease should sweep through the species. Because of a steep population crash about 10,000 years ago, cheetahs, too, are vulnerable; today's cheetahs are almost perfect carbon copies of each other. And they face greater environmental stresses than ever before. Most scientists include entire ecosystems in their definition of biodiversity because plants and animals are often dependent on one another for their survival. To focus on just an individual species, then, would be shortsighted, since that species could not exist outside its ecosystem, outside the community of other living things in which it has evolved. In a general sense, any time you manage for one species, you run the risk of managing against the best interests of other species. What you want to do is to preserve the ecosystem and let the species within it maintain their own balance. You're interested in maintaining not only the genes in an ecosystem but the processes.

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Why Save Species?

But why go to the trouble of saving species and ecosystems? Countless species became extinct before humans evolved into the dominant form of life on Earth. Habitats and ecosystems changed dramatically. Indeed, several mass extinctions have taken place during the Earth's history (at least some of them, many scientists believe, were triggered by a catastrophic event such as a gigantic volcanic eruption or a collision of an asteroid or comet with the Earth). One estimate is that on average, before the advent of the human era, an ordinary century saw 25 species die off; meanwhile, new species appeared. Why should things be different now? It wouldn't be important from a human perspective if we weren't, in some senses, just another species on Earth. Ultimately, our physical well-being depends on maintaining the biodiversity of life. Plants provide oxygen, which we breathe, and they also help renew air tainted by industrial development. Plants and animals provide us with food and with fibers for clothing. One might object that species used by human beings for food and clothing are in no danger of extinction. In fact, their widespread cultivation in carefully controlled monocultures—areas such as farms where only one species is allowed to flourish—has pushed many other plant species to the very brink of extinction. Only 20 plant species provide the vast majority of the world's food. Of those, just four—wheat, rice, corn, and potatoes—feed more people than the next 26 crops combined. But relying on just a few plant varieties as food sources may be shortsighted. Suppose a disease or pesticide-resistant insect devastated a food species. In that case we might be tempted to turn to one of the estimated 30,000 other varieties of plants that have edible parts, such as the remarkable winged bean plant of New Guinea. The entire plant, starting with its roots and including its seeds, leaves, flowers, and stems, is edible. Such a plant could be useful to human beings in the future, but only if it has not become extinct in the meantime. Another reason to preserve the world's biodiversity is the vast potential for new medicines that can be formulated from compounds in plants. The medicinal properties of plants are largely untapped; only about 5 percent of the estimated 250,000 species of trees, shrubs, and other plants have been studied for that purpose. Oxygen, food, clothing, and medicine are all important reasons to preserve biodiversity, but even so, the vast majority of the globe's known species have no practical value to humans. They simply exist. Whether that fact entitles an individual species to protection is a matter of sometimes heated debate—particularly when preserving biodiversity runs counter to the needs of human beings. If, say, an endangered tiger were killing people in a village, would the villagers be right to shoot the tiger? Or a less extreme but real situation: African elephants cause extensive damage to the landscape, including croplands, as they forage for food. Is it right to kill the elephants to save the crops for humans? Is it right even to prevent the elephants from moving through an area and thus limit their food supply? But then there is the issue of the health and happiness of future generations. Ultimately, most people who are working to preserve biodiversity are doing it because they believe that the ultimate result of the current path of human development is self-destructive.

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