by Jovie Cabais | May 10, 2010 | Tech Updates
The Bohol Table Tennis Club congratulates the winners of the 4th Bohol Table Tennis Club Open Tournament: Class A 1st Prize: Victor Causin Jr. 2nd Prize: Ivan Cagas 3rd Prize: Ruji Cuizon Class B 1st Prize: James Perlas 2nd Prize: Maurello Petalcorin Jr. 3rd Prize: Arnel Aparicio The BTTC would like to acknowledge the following sponsors: – Boysen Paints -Magnolia Fruit Drinks -Hon. Rene Relampagos -Judd Joshua Gesite Share...
by Jovie Cabais | May 9, 2010 | Tech Updates
The automation of counting of ballots at the precinct level on the May 10 national elections is hounded by a lot of controversy of malfunction and other issues. The latest and embarassing mistake made by COMELEC and Smartmatic involved a relatively simple program issue: single space vs. double space. It is something that is easily tested and fixed before they came out to the public. However, it is also possible to be an honest human error and nothing more. The machine just follows whatever instruction it is given and an erroneous instruction would lead to erroneous results. But this error is already fixed and should not be used a basis for calling the coming elections a failure. In the last several weeks, so much misunderstanding, either due to lack of information or misinformation that has confused all of us and has created a cloud of doubt on the capability of COMELEC to succeed in the coming elections. Auza.Net has compiled 10 Myths About the May 10 Elections. This serves as a guide to all voters and hopefully everyone can vote according to their concience and free will rather than be influenced otherwise because of some of these myths. 1. We can’t verify the results of the counting and therefore it is easier to cheat in this election. — Of course we can. The ballots will not be destroyed after counting. In the worst case scenario, we can always do a manual count. But let’s do an automated count first because the machines are definitely faster and more accurate and consistent than humans. And we can repeat the counting as...
by Jovie Cabais | May 2, 2010 | Tech Updates
The May 10, 2010 elections is perhaps information technology’s biggest moment in Philippine politics. The automation of the counting of ballots is intended to speed up the counting at the precinct level. It should be made clear though that the automation is only up to the counting at precinct level. Everything else is the same process of manual consolidation of ballot counts per precinct to municipal, provincial and then national levels. Some sectors have suggested that a parallel manual count must be done but this is unnecessary and very costly, not only to the government but to the political parties who have to monitor the manual count per precinct. The random manual count to audit the results of a randomly selected precinct is sufficient for the purpose of verifying the level of error occuring which we hope should be close to zero. Also, let’s not forget that manual counting is most likely going to be more error prone due to the biases of the persons doing the counting. The candidates can be confident they are elected, even with some level of counting error, by making sure they have a significant lead. A lead of 10% should be quite secure even with a 2% counting error. A lead of just 1% is just subject to naturally occuring error. It is the responsibility of the candidate to make sure he leads by enough votes and that he makes sure the votes he gets are protected from fraud after the automated counting. Can the computer that counts the votes on the PCOS machine be programmed to favor a certain candidate? Unfortunately the answer to this is yes. However, that is the reason for having a random manual count to audit the results. Organizations watching the elections should make sure the random selection of precincts where manual counting will be done is truly random and that random selection is done only after the official results are printed on all PCOS machines in the area. A candidate with enough influence and financing can implement a dagdag-bawas scheme if the manual count audit is not random. Also, the results of the precincts with manual counts should be compared to other precincts nearby to make sure the results are similar. If the random manual count for audit is done properly, it would be impossible not to detect an intentional rigging of the program doing the counting on the PCOS machine. As Ronald Reagan used to say, “Trust, but verify”. We should trust COMELEC and the technology they have implemented to speed up our election process. However, let us verify the results and not be complacent. And lastly, let us hope candidates not elected will concede gracefully and not blame technology for their situation after the elections. Share...
by Jovie Cabais | Apr 25, 2010 | Tech Updates
MARIBOJOC – Residents of the 22 barangays of the municipality were beneficiaries of the Summer Operation ‘Tuli’ and Dental Extraction 2010 initiated by the Divine Word College-High School Department Batch 1993 (DWCT-HS Batch ’93) in cooperation with LGU Maribojoc. 137 young boys were circumcised during the operation ‘tuli,’ while 37 barangay residents benefited from the free dental extraction held at the Parola Hall in Poblacion, Maribojoc, Bohol last April 17. Dr. Elva D. Evasco-Auza, DWCT-HS Batch ’93 president, expressed elation over the heavy patient turnout from far-flung barangays. According to her, because of the successful pilot activity done last year in Maribojoc, DWCT-HS Batch ’93 alumni organization decided to conduct another civic activity in the municipality to make the services and medicines available to Maribojocanons. Mayor Leoncio B. Evasco, Jr., commended DWCT-HS Batch ’93 for choosing Maribojoc as a beneficiary of their yearly medical missions. Evasco declared that the people of Maribojoc are very fortunate to have the support of countless organizations and government agencies who share the common goal of pro-active local governance. The operation tuli volunteer doctors included Dr. Elva Evasco-Auza, Dr. Luci Dianne Ejercito, Dr. Charmaine Magpayo, Dr. Allan Magpayo, Dr. Ronaldo Rances and Dr. Shary Manuta- Baton. Dr. Anthony Vitorillo, another Batch ’93 alumna, provided free dental extraction. 30 registered nurses, headed by Marc Vallar, volunteered to assist in the surgical area. Auza.Net, Unilab/Pediatrica, Inc., Pasonangka, Hats-Inn, Pharmalink Sales, and Batch ‘93 alumna Oliver Pingkian sponsored the medical mission. Other DWCT-HS Batch ’93 alumni who assisted during the activity were Crisamerl Geonzon, Jescel Lagari, Joyce Cris Badinas, Myrna Fabiosa, Malle Bataycan, Jeffrey Inojales, Anastacio Torralba...
by Jovie Cabais | Apr 25, 2010 | Tech Updates
Perhaps the most anticipated event of the year for Filipinos is the first election with automated ballot counting. Even if there are concerns aired about the possible failure of elections due to system breakdown, the Philippines needs to take the risk and finally implement this sytem. There has been too much manipulation happening in the past elections with manual counting which also takes too long and the only way to eliminate that is an automated counting. A successful implementation of the automated counting would be a triumph of the IT industry which provided the technology necessary for such a project. However, no system is perfect so we should expect some issues but let us hope that these issues would not affect the integrity of the elections. Announcement: The Bohol Table Tennis Club is announcing its 2nd BOHOL TABLE TENNIS OPEN TOURNAMENT this coming April 28, 2010 at the K of c Recreation Center. Registration starts at 8:30 in the morning. See you there! Share...
by Jovie Cabais | Apr 25, 2010 | Tech Updates
As a business organization grows beyond a few people, inefficiencies when communicating and collaborating with each other become more apparent. As the organization is divided into departments, the need for an efficient and cost effective tools for communication and collaboration becomes more needed. This is where Google Apps come in. Google Apps is a collection of various tools like email, shared documents and calendars, and instant messaging in one unified system. It allows the business organization to use its own domain name for the email addresses giving it more prestige and credibility when communicating with someone from outside the company. And using the same email accounts, the employees may send instant messages or chat to each other and the resulting conversation is automatically added to the user’s inbox for future reference. Shared documents is a fairly new concept and the idea behind this is that a document can be edited in real time by more than one person. All persons authorized to edit the shared document will always see the latest version of each document. This allows users to edit a document without needing to attach the document in an email for review. And perhaps the best thing about shared documents is that everyone sees the latest version everytime. Users can share and collaborate on making a draft of text documents, spreadsheets and presentations. It is not recommended though to put elaborate formatting on Google Apps because it would require higher bandwidth overall, especially that in Bohol, not all users have access to high bandwidth broadband service. When using Google Apps, users should focus on the content and when the draft is already...
by Jovie Cabais | Apr 18, 2010 | Tech Updates
The latest mobile device to hit the market and will potentially make a huge impact is the Apple iPAD. It is perhaps the most sensible attempt to provide mobility of today’s tech savvy individuals. It packs the essential applications to help stay connected with work and family in a beautifully designed device. Touch screen and LED-backlit IPS display allows for unprecedented ease of navigation using just your fingers and superior display quality. It also includes a virtual keyboard on the screen allowing you to type emails and documents quickly and on the go. The iPAD includes WiFi connectivity and a version with 3G capability is also coming up. The 3G version would allow the user the ultimate in mobility. At 1.6 pounds (1.5 for non-3G) and at 9.56 x 7.47 x 0.5 inches, the iPAD 3G would be easy to bring along. And not only that, it would be easy to use for jotting down notes, sending a quick email or reviewing your favorite websites even when you are literally mobile. For more information on the iPAD, visit http://www.apple.com/ipad. [use this picture: http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/2041/1683/store.apple.com/Catalog/US/ Images/ipad/img/product-wifi.jpg] Sources: http://www.apple.com/ipad, CNN.com Share...
by Jovie Cabais | Apr 18, 2010 | Tech Updates
The online classified ads website for Bohol, www.boholclassifiedads.com, currently features its Jobs section and encourages companies around Bohol to also utilize this free classified ads service for its Job hiring ads. More and more people search on the web for job openings and complementing the traditional ads with online ads allow for maximum exposure. Several companies have already utilized Bohol Classified Ads website to post job hiring, product or service promos and even sell real estate. Because the website is focused on Bohol, the advertiser gets exposure to a specific target market compared to online advertising on other online ads that are too big for certain ads. To help increase the popularity of the website, Auza.Net, the owner of the website, will do offline promotions also, like distribution of leaflets, putting up streamers, text blasts and other means. In addition, the company will publish on this page one ad per week for free. Companies who wish to gain maximum exposure may pay for a reasonable fee to be added as a featured ad or occupy a prime space on the website and have their ad displayed in a prominent section of a page. The website is also great for promotions. Share...
by Jovie Cabais | Apr 11, 2010 | Tech Updates
In a matter of 29 days from today, the Philippines will finally implement an automated counting system for the national and local elections. May 10, 2010 will be a day when our country will finally show the world that we are done with the error-prone and easy to manipulate manual counting of ballots. Automated counting removes several opportunities to manipulate the election results at the precinct level but it also makes some worry that cheating can be automated, and that a scenario causing a failure of elections like continuous power outage would occur forcing us to go into a constitutional dilemma of having no replacement to officials who will end their terms this year. While it is easy to imagine scenarios of doom, these are really not that easy to do. In order for the automated counting to fail, any, or the combination of the following scenarios would have to be created: Total Power Failure throughout the country. Total power outage that lasts several days or weeks, causing total failure of all communication systems and draining all the battery power that comes with the counting machines. This power outage will have to start well before election day in order to ensure a failure of elections as well as a failure of everything else that requires electricity. Diesel and gasoline supply cut-off several days before the power outage starts to ensure all backup power systems will run out of fuel. If this total power failure happens, the elections probably won’t matter. All telecoms systems are jammed. Someone shells out a significant amount money to buy enough jamming machines to jam...
by Jovie Cabais | Apr 4, 2010 | Tech Updates
Auza.Net completed its selection of students who will undergo its Summer 2010 OJT Program on March 31, 2010. More than 30 applicants were screened and interviewed from Bohol Island State University, Holy Name University and University of Bohol. 16 promising students qualified for the program and will start their OJT program on April 5, 2010. The company’s summer OJT program has been a successful project allowing its trainees to be highly qualified job applicants to various IT companies upon graduation. The students who qualified, in alphabetical order, are: Alinab, Ivy Alombro, Jagad Marxcarlo Balaba, Noel Bonao, Analyn Calope, Mary Lee Corrales, Mark Angelou Damasin, Anna Rea Jumila, Mikejun Naguita, Hanna Harrette Naquila, Lalaine Malayao, Glenn Mark Omalsa, Louraine Pequino, Catherine Raut, Mary Jean Suarez, Sweetania Tapuroc, Mark Paul Share...
