"Education in a Pushcart"

I have never heard of the CNN Hero of the Year until today. What is the CNN Hero of the Year? Most importantly, who is Efren Peñaflorida? As I read about all the answers to these questions in this article, I am humbled by Efren's work. Truly, he is the change that this world needs to be.




Source: YouTube, philstar.com

"I Missed the Leonid Meteor Shower"

Did anybody see the Leonid Meteor Shower? I'm so busy lately that when I get home I just take my dinner and just sleep early. Oh, I really feel terrible especially when I heard that in Asia it would be like 500 meteors per hour at its peak- which was last November 18, 2009!

I remember when I was younger, my sister and I along with my Dad would just stare up the sky and wait for "wishing stars" to fall from the sky. Who would have thought those times would stick to me even after I'm all grown up.

Well, for the rest of us who missed the meteor shower, there might still be hope as they say the Leonid Meteor Shower can be seen until November 20, 2009. I also found this helpful site from NASA with a calculator called Fluxtimator or Flux Estimator which can calculate the expected meteor shower rate wherever you may be. For now, I just look at this beautiful photo by Navicore.

Source: NASA's Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign Homepage

"New $399 Notebook from HP"

There is a new notebook arriving in town on October 22, 2009 called the Compaq CQ61z and it costs only $399!

So what are the specifications? HP has not disclosed it all yet but here's what I know so far:

• Black and silver color combination
• 15.6-inch display
• 2 GB RAM
• 160 GB hard drive
• DVD drive
• Windows 7 Operating System
• 6-cell battery

"A Rescuer's Story about Typhoon Pepeng"

They call him Mr. Dario. I found out he was one of the rescuers who came to the aid of a pregnant woman on top of the roof of a house in Pangasinan during the fury of typhoon Pepeng (Parma).

It was an ordinary day for me but this man's story was extraordinary. I have not fully recovered from the news about typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana). Everywhere I look there's a sad news about the victims- lost properties, lost lives even lost hopes. Then here comes typhoon Pepeng with the same if not more damage made worse by floods brought about by many dams releasing tons of water. My family and I are blessed to be spared from all these but I often wonder how it will be for these victims.

I also wonder about these brave rescuers risking their lives to save others. Then Mr. Dario walked in. He walked into our office limping and wearing only shorts and a t-shirt. I found out that it was because of the many hours he hanged on the helicopter ladder as he was rescuing people from the flood in Pangasinan. While he was busy saving others, his house had been flooded as well burying all their earthly possessions. He lost his wallet during the rescue with all his identification and some cash. For two straight days he rescued a lot of people, braving the torrential rains, hanging from the helicopter for hours without thought for food. Amazing! I tell him at least he survived, his family is safe and he saved many lives- something he should be proud of.

To all rescuers thank you!

"San Mateo Inmates Survive Typhoon Ondoy"

I was greatly disturbed by a news I heard from a friend that the inmates at the San Mateo Jail in Rizal were drowned by the flood caused by Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) last September 26, 2009. After searching the internet for some clues, I stumbled upon this article by Amita O. Legaspi. The inmates are all alive thanks to these jail personnels who responded to the inmates' timely rescue. To the following jail personnels, you certainly made it to my modern heroes list.

San Mateo Jail Personnel Awarded the Medalya ng Kasanayan (Efficiency Medal):

Chief Inspector Godfrey Galigo
Inspector Joey Doguiles
Senior Jail Officer 2 Reyland Tabios
Jail Officer 3 Jesus Cernal Jr
Jail Officer 2 Alberto De Jernel
Jail Officer 2 Roger Marcelo
Jail Officer 1 Rolando Ayqui
Jail Officer 1 Almeire Ver
Jail Officer 1 Raniel Batta
Jail Officer 1 Samy Immatong
Jail Officer 1 Ernesto Bugaling
Jail Officer 1 Carlito Ganagana Jr
Jail Officer 1 Olivert Angel
Jail Officer 1 Clifford Castro and
Jail Officer 1 Cristina Labayo

"What's Your Sign?"

Have you ever read the morning newspaper and browsed through the horoscope page? Are you a Libra? Your horoscope says you will find Mr. Right today! Unfortunately, you are not. Worst, you always seem to get a wrong forecast whenever you read your horoscopes. Well, you just might get your forecasts right this time. How is that? You might not be Libra after all. You could be an Ophiucan.

It appears that the zodiac signs we know today is based on the constellations observed by ancient astronomers back when there was still no high-powered telescopes. More importantly, there had been many solar activities (and solar activities debate for that matter) since this system was adopted. Today, modern technology can map out the exact location of these constellations.

Ophiuchus ("the Serpent Holder") is a constellation claimed by some modern astrologers to be the tenth sign (or the 13th sign for some people) of the real solar zodiac. It forms into a figure of a man holding a serpent. This man is believed to be Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. Unfortunately, there are no forecasts yet for the sign Ophiucus out there but Betty Rhodes gives an overview of the attributes of an Ophiucan.

Check out your real Zodiac Sign below. Maybe you are a Libra after all. Look out for Mr. Right!

Capricornus - Jan 19 to Feb 15

Aquarius - Feb 16 to Mar 11

Pisces - Mar 12 to Apr 18

Aries - Apr 19 to May 13

Taurus - May 14 to June 19

Gemini - June 20 to July 20

Cancer - July 21 to Aug 9

Leo - Aug 10 to Sept 15

Virgo - Sept 16 to Oct 30

Libra - Oct 31 to Nov 22

Scorpius - Nov 23 to Nov 29

Ophiuchus - Nov 30 to Dec 17

Sagittarius Dec 18 to Jan 18

Sources: The Red Thread, Geocities

"Dear God"

I wonder how one finds time to pray in this age of seemingly growing fast-paced lifestyle. I am as guilty as some in this aspect. Sometimes I go to bed planning my activities for tomorrow and the next day, barely awake, I plan some more. But people find the time and even go all out. Just ask Alon Nir. Reuters found this Israeli university student who opened a Twitter site hoping that people around the world can somehow experience the Jewish tradition of placing notes with prayers in the crevices of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The Western Wall or Wailing Wall is a Jewish religious site that people believe provides a direct access to God because heaven's gate is near the Western Wall and therefore God can easily hear prayers from that spot.

Sources: Reuters, Wikipedia, and photo by szlea on Flicker