Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will build 10 emergency quarantine facilities (EQF) located beside military hospitals, to house personnel who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but have mild or no symptoms.
In a statement, SMC said the 10 facilities will have 15 beds each, and will be located beside military health facilities — NOLCOM Hospital in Tarlac, SOLCOM Hospital in Lucena City, Eastmincom Hospital in Davao City, CENTCOM Hospital in Cebu City, Westmincom Hospital in Zamboanga City, Veterans Memorial Center, CJVAB Hospital in Pasay City, Naval Air Group in Cavite City, and WESCOM Hospital in Palawan.
“We are thankful to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for giving us the opportunity to collaborate with them on this initiative. This is one way we can help our hospitals efficiently attend to COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms as well those suffering from other life-threatening conditions,” said SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang.
“We are one with the country in finding ways to accommodate more patients as hospitals reach their full capacity. These emergency COVID facilities we are helping build will serve not just our military front liners but also other PUIs in surrounding communities,” he elaborated.
Identity theft is an enormous problem. While the ever-growing use of modern technology to make purchases, bookings, and fast payments is highly convenient, the downside is that this leaves many opportunities for scammers and fraudsters to take advantage.
Be careful with your ID
The passport contains a lot of information about you! Don’t let that information get into the wrong hands. The same applies to ID cards, driving licenses, and any other forms of identification. Always be cautious, and keep them in a safe place.
Protect your personal information
Always be aware of receiving calls from scammers. Often posing as banks, or other official institutions, their only purpose is to get as much information from you as possible. This also applies to scam e-mails. If it looks suspect, it probably is. Typos, bad grammar, etc. are always a giveaway. Also, always check the e-mail address of the sender, no matter how authentic the message looks.
Destroy confidential papers
If you have a shredder at work or home, use it to destroy papers that you no longer require, which contain personal information. Even if you don’t have a shredder, you can still do a good job of destroying confidential papers. Be thorough.
Protect your mail
Don’t leave mail lying around unopened, especially if you live in a communal building. There could be a lot of personal information about you in the letters. If you are normally away from home a lot, consider a pick-up service or the redirection of mail to your post office.
Check bills and statements
Always be aware of checking bills, bank statements, and credit card statements for unauthorized transactions. It is very easy not to notice small discrepancies, but this is how fraudsters often make their money. They make the amount small enough that it will not be obvious, and do this to many different accounts.
Check your credit report
The information in your credit report is a footprint of your financial activity, make sure to check it on a semi-regular basis. You may find erroneous information about you on your credit report, which would have gone unnoticed had you not checked it.
Stop pre-approved credit offers
If you receive a pre-approved credit offer by mail, the best thing to do is to destroy it, and request that the credit card company removes you from their mailing list. Some pre-approved credit offer letters can come with a lot of information about you! All they want is your signature to approve the application. Make sure that you tell these companies in no uncertain terms to desist.
Ask how your information will be used
Don’t be afraid to question why you are being asked to provide certain personal information. If you are not satisfied with the answer, refuse! Never reveal personal details of any kind if you don’t know for absolute certain who you are talking to.
Protect your computer
The best way to ensure that your computer is safe is to use strong passwords, and to download anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Also, be cautious with what you download, and avoid suspect sites that spam your computer with pop-up windows.
Be cautious online
Look out for the padlock symbol next to the website address to indicate that the site is secure, before entering any personal information or credit card details. Make sure that you fully trust the site before giving any details. If it is not well known, check to see how many reviews of the company you can find online. If in any doubt, avoid!
Keep receipts
Even though some receipts obscure most of your credit card digits, it is still not a good idea to leave them lying around. Be cautious, and keep them. Not only will keeping receipts protect you from fraud, it will also allow you to keep a better track of your transactions, which will be useful when comparing them to your statements.
Keep your credit cards in sight
It’s always advisable not to let someone take your card away. They can bring the card machine to you. In the wrong hands, a card could easily be cloned in a matter of a few minutes. Don’t let this happen.
Ask to be removed from databases
If you are constantly receiving unsolicited calls, even if it is not regarding financial matters, ask to be removed from their databases. Be firm. The same can apply to e-mails. There should always be an option at the end of the message to unsubscribe from further correspondence.
Use two step-verification where possible
While this is not universally available, its popularity is increasing, with companies like Google and Amazon setting the trend. It may seem slightly inconvenient, but it is certainly a better alternative than having your personal information stolen.
Be aware at the ATM
Not all people who hang around behind other people at ATMs are simply muggers. Some of them use very elaborate and clever schemes to relieve you of your money. Try and use ATMs that are more private, wherever possible, and always be aware of who may be watching you enter your PIN number.
If you’ve been thinking about getting a new car lately, you’re in luck. Current market conditions have made new autos more affordable than ever. Dealerships are desperate to offload unsold 2018 and 2019 inventory to make space for the 2020 … Continue reading →
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A group of scientists in Australia used a “microcomb” to accelerate internet connection speeds to breakneck speeds of 44.2 Tbps — roughly 1 million times faster than an average user’s internet speed.
Modern cable and fiber optic internet connections allow us to browse the web at home, play online games, stream videos, and keep our businesses running smoothly. But while content grows more complex, the world needs even faster internet speeds. This is why researchers in Australia developed an internet connection capable of reaching 44.2 terabits per second, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications.
If this is too abstract for relating, consider the average user’s internet speed, which in the U.S. is roughly 50.2 megabits per second — roughly 1 million times slower than the breakneck speed of the researchers.
‘Microcomb’ takes fiber optics to a new extreme
The Australia-based team consists of researchers from Swinburne, Monash, and RMIT universities, and achieved the wildly fast connection via an optical device called a microcomb in place of a standard bunch of roughly 80 lasers found in modern telecom equipment.
A microcomb “generates very sharp and equidistant frequency lines in a tiny microphotonic chip,” according to phys.org. This unique technology is compatible with other fiber optic lines, which could mean that this new device could be implemented without a wholesale overhaul of existing internet pipelines. “What our research demonstrates is the ability for fibers that we already have in the ground […] to be the backbone of communications networks now and in the future,” said Monash University’s Bill Corcoran.
44.2 Tbps could help businesses in IoT, cloud computing
While at present most internet users don’t need a 44.2 Tbps connection. But this wildly fast speed might help businesses leverage greater internet speeds while adapting to the rise of developments like IoT and cloud computing.
Additionally, due to the ever-more-complex nature of web content compounded by the wholesale shift of consumer industries to online service, there’s not much time before average users need much faster connection speeds to surf the web. —By Brad Bergan
A coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine tested for the first time in humans is safe and induces a rapid immune response, researchers at China’s CanSino Biologics Inc reported on Friday in The Lancet medical journal.
Blood samples from a group of 108 vaccinated adults showed both neutralizing antibodies and T-cell responses against the novel coronavirus in most of those tested.
Further studies will be needed to confirm whether the vaccine protects against infection.
“These results represent an important milestone. The trial demonstrates that a single dose of the new adenovirus type 5 vectored COVID-19 (Ad5-nCoV) vaccine produces virus-specific antibodies and T cells in 14 days, making it a potential candidate for further investigation,” coauthor Professor Wei Chen from the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology in Beijing said in a statement.
“However … the ability to trigger these immune responses does not necessarily indicate that the vaccine will protect humans from COVID-19 … we are still a long way from this vaccine being available to all.”
More than 100 vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 are in development, with about 12 in human testing designed to mainly evaluate safety.
A few, including CanSino’s, have moved to larger mid-stage studies that are evaluating safety and the ability to induce an immune response.
Healthy adult volunteers in Wuhan, China, received a single intramuscular injection of either a low, middle or high dose of the vaccine.
Four weeks after the injection, the most common adverse reactions were mild pain at the injection site, fever, fatigue, headache, and muscle pain. There were no serious adverse events.
A mid-stage trial of the vaccine is already underway in Wuhan. — By NANCY LAPID, Reuters
Thai Airways International Plc will go to bankruptcy court rather than go ahead with a rescue plan that was previously suggested as a solution to aid the ailing airline.
The airline had previously hoped to cash a 90 billion baht bailout cheque from the Thai Government, however, officials today confirmed that the bailout will not go ahead leaving the airline no option but to file for bankruptcy.
A visit to bankruptcy court will likely see a reconstruction of the airline that has outstanding debt of more than 92 billion baht accused over the past three years. Even before the covid-19 pandemic, Thai Airways was posting significant losses.
The most likely scenario is that Thai Airways will be forced to reduce the size of its fleet and retire older or larger aircraft as has happened with other airlines who are facing financial uncertainty over the last few weeks.
Owned by the Finance Ministry, Thai Airways is currently unable to operate due to the extended incoming international flight ban to Thailand which will not end until June 30th.
A government spokeswoman, Narumon Pinyosinwat, confirmed the bankruptcy filing, saying:
“The State-Enterprise Planning Office agreed in principle for the rehabilitation of Thai Airways in court… the procedure will be submitted to Cabinet tomorrow… It is similar to filing Chapter 11 in the United States.”
SAN FRANCISCO, California — Facebook on Thursday said that its Messenger app will be watching behind the scenes for scammers using the smartphone communication system.
Safety notices will pop up in Messenger text chats if activity taking place in the background is deemed suspicious by artificial intelligence software, according to director of privacy and safety product management Jay Sullivan.
He said the new safety feature “will help millions of people avoid potentially harmful interactions and possible scams without compromising their privacy.”
The feature began rolling out to the Messenger app tailored for Android-powered smartphones in March and will head to Messenger on iPhones next week, according to Facebook.
“Too often people interact with someone online they think they know or trust, when it’s really a scammer or impostor,” Sullivan said.
“These accounts can be hard to identify at first and the results can be costly.”
Artificial intelligence software scans for scammers based on account behavior, such as sending messages in bulk targeting demographics or geographies, according to Facebook.
Warning notices pop up before people respond to messages of possibly dubious origins.
Since the feature does not involve looking at what is in messages, it should continue to add a layer of safety when Messenger takes to encrypted missives as planned by Facebook.
“As we move to end-to-end encryption, we are investing in privacy-preserving tools like this to keep people safe without accessing message content,” Sullivan said.
Messenger already uses software tools to fight spam and thwart efforts by adults to contact minors they don’t appear to know.
Messenger has been ramping up capabilities and security as use of online tools to communicate and socialize surges due to restrictions of movement during the pandemic.
Facebook recently unveiled a new video chat service with virtual “rooms” where people can pop in to visit friends, aiming at users turning to the popular Zoom platform during the pandemic. — Agence France-Presse
OCONOMOWOC, Wis. — Firefighters in Wisconsin sent out a reminder to everyone that it can be potentially dangerous to leave clear plastic water bottles or hand sanitizer in your car if they’re exposed to direct sunlight during hot temperatures.
“By its nature, most hand sanitizer is alcohol-based and therefore flammable. Keeping it in your car during hot weather, exposing it to the sun causing magnification of light through the bottle, and particularly being next to the open flame while smoking in vehicles or grilling while enjoying this weekend can lead to disaster,” wrote the Western Lakes Fire District on Facebook.
A picture shared by the department shows a smoldering driver’s side door. It’s a message of caution that these sorts of accidents can happen, and a reminder as summer approaches to be careful of these sorts of things.
The 10-part Michael Jordan documentary, “The Last Dance,” about his final season with the Bulls, drew mostly widespread acclaim. One of his former teammates, however, thinks it was 10 hours of propaganda, calling out Jordan for alleged lies and throwing others under the bus, and labeled it a “so-called documentary.”
In a radio interview with ESPN 1000 in Chicago, Horace Grant said the idea coming from Jordan that he was the source in author Sam Smith’s infamous book, “The Jordan Rules,” is false.
“[He] puts this lie out that I was the source behind [the book],” Grant said in the interview. “Sam and I have always been great friends. We’re still great friends. But the sanctity of that locker room, I would never put anything personal out there. The mere fact that Sam Smith was an investigative reporter. That he had to have two sources, two, to write a book, I guess. Why would MJ just point me out?
“It’s only a grudge, man. I’m telling you, it was only a grudge. And I think he proved that during this so-called documentary. When if you say something about him, he’s going to cut you off, he’s going to try to destroy your character.”
Michael Jordan and Horace Grant AP: Getty Images
Grant won three NBA titles with the Bulls from 1991 to 1993, before leaving for the Magic in 1994. To support his claims, he pointed to relationships Jordan has had with other players that fell apart. For instance, Charles Barkley and Jordan no longer talk after being close for decades.
“And my point is, he said that I was the snitch, but yet and still after 35 years, he brings up his rookie year going into one of his teammates’ rooms and seeing coke, and weed and women,” Grant said, referring to one of the earlier episodes of the show. “My point is: Why the hell did he want to bring that up? What’s that got to do with anything? I mean, if you want to call somebody a snitch, that’s a damn snitch right there.”
Grant admitted the show was “entertaining,” but there were several inaccuracies. He didn’t like how many of his former teammates were portrayed and felt the documentary played loose with the truth, claiming 90 percent of it was “B.S. in terms of the realness of it.”
“It wasn’t real — because a lot of things [Jordan] said to some of his teammates, that his teammates went back at him,” Grant said. “But all of that was kind of edited out of the documentary, if you want to call it a documentary.”
Grant also said he felt Scottie Pippen got a raw deal. The Hall of Famer hasn’t spoken publicly since the documentary aired. Grant’s biggest issue was why the time Pippen sat out the final play against the Knicks in Game 3 of the 1993 Eastern Conference playoffs was included, since Jordan was out playing baseball.
“I have never seen a quote-unquote number two guy, as decorated as Scottie Pippen, portrayed so badly,” Grant said. “In terms of the migraine, in terms of the 1.[8] seconds, [Jordan calling him] selfish. I have never seen this in all of my life. And the respect of, Pip was out there in Game 6 [of the ‘98 Finals], could barely walk, getting knocked down on his back. Tried to do whatever he could to help that team. My point is, why was that 1.[8] seconds in the documentary, so-called documentary, about Pip?
“MJ wasn’t even on the team. Why was that in there? We handled that that year really well as a team.”
Alt + E Edit options in current program F1 Universal help (for all programs) Ctrl + A Select all text Ctrl + X Cut selected item Shift + Del Cut selected item Ctrl + C Copy selected item Ctrl + Ins Copy selected item Ctrl + V Paste Shift + Ins Paste Home Go to beginning of current line Ctrl + Home Go to beginning of document End Go to end of current line Ctrl + End Go to end of document Shift + Home Highlight from current position to beginning of line Shift + End Highlight from current position to end of line Ctrl + f Move one word to the left at a time Ctrl + g Move one word to the right at a time MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® SHORTCUT KEYS Alt + Tab Switch between open applications Alt + Shift + Tab Switch backwards between open applications Alt + Print
Screen
Create screen shot for current program Ctrl + Alt + Del Reboot/Windows® task manager Ctrl + Esc Bring up start menu Alt + Esc Switch between applications on taskbar F2 Rename selected icon F3 Start find from desktop F4 Open the drive selection when browsing F5 Refresh contents Alt + F4 Close current open program Ctrl + F4 Close window in program Ctrl + Plus
Key
Automatically adjust widths of all columns in Windows Explorer Alt + Enter Open properties window of selected icon or program Shift + F10 Simulate right-click on selected item Shift + Del Delete programs/files permanently Holding Shift During Bootup Boot safe mode or bypass system files Holding Shift During Bootup When putting in an audio CD, will prevent CD Player from playing WINKEY SHORTCUTS WINKEY + D Bring desktop to the top of other windows WINKEY + M Minimize all windows WINKEY + SHIFT + M Undo the minimize done by WINKEY + M and WINKEY + D WINKEY + E Open Microsoft Explorer WINKEY + Tab Cycle through open programs on taskbar WINKEY + F Display the Windows® Search/Find feature WINKEY + CTRL + F Display the search for computers window WINKEY + F1 Display the Microsoft® Windows® help WINKEY + R Open the run window WINKEY + Pause /Break Open the system properties window WINKEY + U Open utility manager WINKEY + L Lock the computer (Windows XP® & later)
OUTLOOK® SHORTCUT KEYS
Alt + S Send the email Ctrl + C Copy selected text Ctrl + X Cut selected text Ctrl + P Open print dialog box Ctrl + K Complete name/email typed in address bar Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection Ctrl + I Italicize highlighted selection Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection Ctrl + R Reply to an email Ctrl + F Forward an email Ctrl + N Create a new email Ctrl + Shift + A Create a new appointment to your calendar Ctrl + Shift + O Open the outbox Ctrl + Shift + I Open the inbox Ctrl + Shift + K Add a new task Ctrl + Shift + C Create a new contact Ctrl + Shift+ J Create a new journal entry
WORD® SHORTCUT KEYS
Ctrl + A Select all contents of the page Ctrl + B Bold highlighted selection Ctrl + C Copy selected text Ctrl + X Cut selected text Ctrl + N Open new/blank document Ctrl + O Open options Ctrl + P Open the print window Ctrl + F Open find box Ctrl + I Italicize highlighted selection Ctrl + K Insert link Ctrl + U Underline highlighted selection Ctrl + V Paste Ctrl + Y Redo the last action performed Ctrl + Z Undo last action Ctrl + G Find and replace options Ctrl + H Find and replace options Ctrl + J Justify paragraph alignment Ctrl + L Align selected text or line to the left Ctrl + Q Align selected paragraph to the left Ctrl + E Align selected
