The Nissan GT Academy National Finals held at SM Mall of Asia (June 16, 2015)

  

The night of June 16, 2015 ended with a celebration. Nissan Motors Philippines Inc. proudly announced the winners of the GT Academy Philippines Challenge. The event was held at SM Mall of Asia Atrium on . 15,000 entries were narrowed down to 20 competitors. Out of the 20, only the top 6 were chosen to be sent to Silverstone U.K. for a once in a lifetime opportunity to be trained as a professional racecar driver. All this was done in a three month run where Gran Turismo simulators were sent to different parts of the Philippines. Thousands of hopefuls showed their skills by finishing the virtual Silverstone course in a Nissan GT-R in the fastest time possible.

The Top Twenty finalists are Francisco Adriano, Joel Agojo, Paolo Vittorio Alcance, Daryl Brady, Rabboni John Buenaventura, Luis Raphael Cachero, Kim Jiger Chong, Juan Carlos Eejay de Borja, Ramoncito de Luna, Rodolfo Faustino, Rio Halili, Richard Dean Jose, Jan Millard Lacuna, Terrence Aldrich Lallave, Raphael Miru Lesaguis, Luis Antonio Moreno, Cameron Jordan  Pa-dillo, Jose Gerald Policarpio, Mark Angelo Villamor, and Michael Vincent Yap.

The top six, taken out of the top twenty finalists are: Raphael Miru Lesaguis, Luis Cachero , Terrence Aldrich Lallave, Jose Gerald Policarpio, Daryl Brady and Mr. Joel Agojo.

The twist in selecting the top 6 out of the twenty hopefuls was done through a series a physical, mental and personality challenges in the Mall of Asia and the CCP Parking grounds. They were made to hurdle the sargent jump, push ups, and planking. Apart from that, they were made to drive a real car in a makeshift driving course set up at CCP. The contestants' expertise in playing Gran Turismo was tested again when they were made to finish 3 time attack modes in the best time possible. Lastly, their mental fitness was tested by a select panel of media members who gave them grueling and mind numbing queries.

The six selected drivers will be made to battle the Asian respresentatives of Thailand, India, Japan, and Indonesia in the GT Academy Asia leg in August. The competition will involve the use of virtual and real-world race cars. The venerable F1 race car driver Marlon Stockinger will be there to mentor them every step of the way.

For his part, NPI President and Managing Director Antonio Zara noted that Nissan has democratized the racing circuit by giving gamers and ordinary people the chance to turn their dreams to reality. The competition truly is a first in the field of motorsports. 

Let's all anticipate the conclusion of this novel event. The Nissan GT Academy will air in the ABS CBN Sports and Lifestyle channel as a reality show at the end of the year. The hopes and dreams of these 6 finalists will be seen worldwide and on-air. Cheer for your bet as they compete with others for the ultimate dream of becoming a race car driver.

Photos taken from http://beyondgallivanting.tumblr.com/ (Marge Guevarra) with consent.

CFL or LED? Which is the better light for you

With lots of attributes to consider, which is really better for you? Let’s scale it down.

CFL

CFL also known as compact fluorescent is your mini version of a standard fluorescent light bulb.

CFL gives lighting efficiency and has been used for decades now and it has graced our homes as it fits perfectly in an ordinary socket without using an adaptor.

CFLs normally takes a few moments to warm up and reach its full brightness.

However, CFLs contain a small amount of mercury which normally does not cause any hazard but if the bulb breaks accidentally, that’s where the problem comes in. Mercury has been banned in the medical field due to its harmful effect on human health.

Regular CFL bulbs lasts up to 6000 hours

Average energy use per year: 767 KWh/yr

Average cost in the Philippines: Php 125 to 300

LED

LED or Light Emitting Diodes was introduce several years back with the promise of lowering your electric bill.

According to the study made by Lighting Research Center, LED light bulbs work by bringing together currents with a positive and negative charge to create energy released in the form of light. The result of this is a fast source of light that is reliable and instantaneous.

LED bulbs also fits an ordinary socket without the need of an adaptor and it bright up as soon as you switch it on.

LED bulbs is considered good for the environment and are endorsed by green movements.

LED bulbs generally cost more to buy although manufacturing technologies are lowering these prices as we move along.

Regular LED lasts anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 hours.

Average energy use per year: 329 KWh/yr

Average cost in the Philippines: Php300 to 800

Equal Factor

Both serves your lighting needs efficiently. Both fits in sockets of your lamps and fixtures. Meaning, if you don’t consider the chances of your bulb breaking then you would likely choose CFL over LED because of the price difference.

Points to Ponder:

CFL might cost less but it requires you to buy more bulbs over time whereas LED lights last longer, so even though you’re paying more at purchase, you buy fewer bulbs in the long run.

Considering the humid weather in the Philippines, we should also consider that CFL bulb emits more heat than LED bulb, thus, by choosing wisely, you can reduce the heat index in your home.

Moreover, if you care for the environment, Lower energy consumption decreases carbon dioxide emissions, sulfur oxide, and high-level nuclear waste.

CD-R Kings makes it easier for you to decide

CD-R King, your one-stop media provider gives you the ease of choosing by taking away the drawback of price difference by making LED bulb available to the General public at a more affordable price.

This is effort compliments their advocacy in encouraging people to care for the environment during their California e-bike campaign early this year.

It is also noted that CD-R King offers several choices of LED bulbs with different price range both for personal and industrial use.

Below are some of the choices for regular household use.

For other variants, you may visit CD-R king branches or check out their website at www.cdrking.com.

You-Source: On time. On Budget. All the time. (Press Release)

When you think of a software development company, you most likely think of a bunch of nerds coding away in the dark with headsets on that are so big they cover the entire head of the programmer. You most likely think that these guys have no personality and can only speak in binary codes. Most likely, you think that they are the less cool version of the guys in Big Bang Theory.

The guys at You_Source could not be further from the truth. You_Source provides a fun and conducive environment to its employees. The CEO, Alain Franchimon, understands that happy workers are the best workers and so every Monday morning, he brings something fun to meetings and every Friday afternoon, people gather around and bond with each other. He also maintains an open door policy which leads to communications remaining constantly open amongst everyone.

From their website www.you-source.com

“We pick the right people, tools and equipment for the job. Our methodologies together with well designed, written and extensively tested software cater for change, fast feedback and real-time insight in quality and progress. We speak C#, Ruby, Objective C, Java, R, Typescript, Javascript, HTML, CSS, and a few dialects of SQL.

We believe that collective ownership is key to successful software. We care as much for your code as you do. We're not just software developers. We are a team of enthusiastic, social, helpful, passionate and highly skilled individuals, who are eager to take on new challenges.”

For anyone interested in having their software built right, on time, on budget, all the time, You_Source is the company for you. They will not work for you, they will work with you.

To contact them:

www.you-source.com

E: info@you-source.com

P: +63 (0)2 553 2465

Manila Touch Launches Filipino App Spa Finder PH

   

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The leading spa directory of the Philippines, Manila Touch, has launched SPA FINDER PH, an app devoted to bring convenience to its users who are a massage enthusiast on June 29, 2015.

SPA FINDER PH is designed to locate spas and home service massage near you preferred city or nearby your location via GPS. You can then check their facilities, amenities, services offered, pricing, and more. Soon as you've found that perfect place to relax, you can contact them directly for reservations via a call or even SMS.

FEATURES:

- Call or SMS your selected spa immediately for reservations.

- Find nearest spa from your location (initially available only to iOS users)

- Choose from the complete list of spas on your preferred city

- Submit information about a spa that is not included on this App

- Review an establishment by posting a comment or rating them

- Read the latest spas featured in ManilaTouch.com

Spa Finder PH is more than just a top Spa Directory for Day Spas, Medical Spas, Resort Spas, Hotel Spas and Destination Resort Spas, it also showcase the best spas in and around the Philippines. This App is initially available on Google Play Store (Download Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.app0e4f5066ea64), and will be launched on iOS on July 2015. For more info, visit www.manilatouch.com. 

ManilaTouch.com is a spa directory founded on 2010, featuring spas and on-call massage services around NCR, Boracay, Cebu, Iloilo, Pampanga, Cavite, Tagaytay, and other selected Luzon and Visayas cities.

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