Kobe Bryant in Manila Today

NBA superstar Kobe Bryant of the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers flashes the victory sign as he arrives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last night. Bryant hopes to inspire the youth to continue aspiring for their hoop dreams. The Manila visit kicks off a six-city tour that includes stops in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Shanghai. RUDY SANTOS

Los Angeles Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant kicks off his six-city Asian tour in Manila today and is expected to mesmerize his legion of Filipino fans during two events where he will meet young ballers from Gawad Kalinga communities and conduct a clinic for promising elite youth cagers.

Bryant, 30, is no stranger to Asia, a destination of choice the last four years. This is his third Manila visit after 1998 and 2007. Bryant knows how popular the game is here and how passionate Filipino fans are in embracing their favorite sport.

What makes Bryant’s trip more significant is it comes on the heels of his spectacular MVP performance in the NBA Finals this past season. Bryant won his fourth NBA title with the Lakers and established his dominance on the court by averaging 32.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists against Orlando.

Now a veteran of 13 NBA seasons, Bryant has two years left in his Lakers contract which expires in 2010-11. He inked a seven-year deal in 2004 and earned a salary of $21.3 million last season.

A highlight of his one-day visit is the introduction of the new Nike Dream Season shoe, a first-of-its-kind lightweight and durable basketball model for outdoors. The shoe retails for P6,995 and is available at all Nike stores nationwide.

Bryant himself had inputs in the shoe design. The shoe has his signature on the heel and the tongue shows his sheath logo. Small “81s” are etched in the outsoles to commemorate his 81-point game against Toronto on Jan. 22, 2006, at the Staples Center. In that explosion, Bryant shot 28-of-46 from the field, including 7-of-13 triples, and 18-of-20 free throws in 42 minutes as the Lakers won, 122-104.

Bryant is one of only five NBA players ever to score at least 70 in a game. The others are Wilt Chamberlain (who holds the all-time record high of 100 – he also netted at least 70 in four other games), David Thompson (73), Elgin Baylor (71) and David Robinson (71). Michael Jordan’s career-high was 69 points. Bryant’s eruption was the highest in NBA history since Chamberlain’s century feat in 1962.

The Dream Season features an upper that is constructed of spacer mesh and is similar to the Nike Zoom Kobe IV with a heel that is scooped low for more ankle movement. It is engineered with Nike Zoom and LunarLite foam in the forefoot. An outsole made of XDR (Xtra Durable Rubber) has a life that is two to three times longer than conventional rubber.

Bryant will be introduced to the press in an exclusive by-invitation-only conference at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati at noon today. Then, he will visit Nike Park, The Fort, at 2 p.m. Bryant will meet with kids from Gawad Kalinga as an expression of his continuing support for deserving institutions in every tour, setting aside quality time to be with children who are interested in basketball “to encourage them to keep dreaming big.” The Nike Park event will be broadcast live over W.N.I.K.E. radio on 89.9 DWTM.

The main event of Bryant’s visit will be his personally-supervised workout session with the Nike Elite Campers, a group of up-and-coming youth players, at the PhilSports Arena. Some 3,000 tickets are to be distributed free to the public to witness the camp where Bryant will showcase his skills and share his basketball prowess with his “students.” The camp will start at 4 p.m. and the gates will be open an hour earlier. The camp will allow Bryant to work with young players to help them upgrade their level of play.

From Manila, Bryant will proceed to Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chengdu.

Bryant was invited to play in Singapore tomorrow but a source said he was not permitted by the Lakers to reinforce an Asean Basketball League (ABL) selection coached by Filipino Louie Alas in a 20-minute exhibition game against the Singapore Slingers. Bryant will reportedly watch the game. The ABL selection will include local players Jerwin Gaco, Al Vergara, Rico Maierhofer and Benedict Fernandez.

“Nike Philippines is proud to welcome Kobe back to Manila and we are excited to be the first stop of his Asia tour,” said country marketing manager Mae Dichupa. “Since his last visit, Kobe has further cemented his status as a basketball powerhouse, having been awarded the NBA’s 2007-08 MVP trophy. The Lakers’ clinching the NBA championship and Kobe being named the Finals MVP in the recently concluded season makes the timing of his visit doubly exciting and though brief, we know he will again touch many young lives, inspiring them to reach for their hoop dreams.”

The New Filipiniana

Metro Magazine holds the M One hundred designers' fashion show dubbed 'Metrowear Filipiniana,' held at the Garden Harbour Tent, Sofitel Hotel, Pasay City. The fashion show is a special tribute to Filipiniana in celebration of the Philippines’ 113th year of Independence, the designers' staging their interpretations of Terno, Baro’t Saya and the Barong Tagalog.

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Angel Guirado of Azkal defends teammates

YAHOO.PH - "It’s good to have Filipino-foreigners in the team so that football in the country will create noise,” said Filipino-Spanish Angel Guirado as he responded to criticisms on the Philippine national team for having more half-Filipino players.

Born to a Filipina mother and Spanish father, Guirado admitted to having hard time finding a place to play football during his visit in the Philippines five years ago. His older brother is a professional footballer in Spain.

With the growing popularity of the Philippine Azkals, the 26-year-old footballer said the national team could recruit more local players once the sport is established.

The 6’3’’ striker who formerly played for Spanish league Third Division club CD Ronda said he wanted to inspire the Filipino youth and is willing to do anything to help develop football in the Philippines.

"It is a dream come true," Guirado said describing how he felt playing for the national team. He has so far played five winning games and scored three goals for the Philippine Azkals.

Guirado is still keeping his options open with scouts from Indonesia, Japan, United Arab Emirates and China, according to Guirado’s manager Rafael Garcia.

Aside from playing football, the Fil-Spanish player is eyeing endorsement deals and other commercial projects following the footsteps of the most popular Azkal Phil Younghusband.

Guirado said he is not interested in entering the entertainment industry. His teen star niece Coleen Garcia is currently making waves in the local showbiz industry.

The 18-year-old actress who arrived during his uncle’s press conference said that they are “very close” despite the language barrier.

She said she is trying to teach her "Tito Angel" who has visited her in the set of Showtime how to speak Tagalog and English.

Guirado is now learning Filipino. His favorites include “kamusta ka,” “saan ka pupunta,” “maganda” and “salamat.”

He will visit first his grandfather in Isabela before going to Bahrain on July 14 to train with the Azkals for the team's two-game World Cup qualifying series on July 23 against Kuwait.

How Google Detects AdSense Invalid Clicks

Fooling Google Adsense is like fooling yourself

Thinking to cheat AdSense? Stop that. It will never bring you anywhere. You might pull it off with smaller ads network, but definitely not with Google. Here are some detection methods they might use. At the very least, they have the resources to do so.

IP Address

If the AdSense click is originated from the same IP Address as the one used for accessing your AdSense account, your account is flagged.

Cookies

Most home users do not use static IP Address for Internet connection. In most cases just disconnect and reconnect will give you a new IP Address. But don’t forget, Google has set cookies on your computer.

Other Google Services

Thinking that you are safe just because you do not access your AdSense account? Think again. This time, consider these: GMail, Google Earth, Google Calendar, Google Search, Google Toolbar, Google Talk, Google Sitemap, Google Desktop, Blogger, and so on, and so on. With the wide range of services they provide, Google can trace the originator of most (or probably almost all) clicks.

Click Pattern 1

Oh, why this computer / IP address / person is so trigger-click-happy on this particular website but never click on the ads on other sites?

Click Pattern 2

And why is it that people accessing these sites direct (type-in URL or from bookmark) tend to be very active ad-clickers compared with those referred from search engine or other sites?

Click Pattern 3

And why the ad-clickers like to hit and run, compared with non ad-clickers that surf a few pages before leaving?

Click-Through-Rate (CTR)

Your CTR may range from 0.5% to 10%, but if it exceeds a certain point (probably around 10%), you are flagged.

Geo-Location

Used Urchin (Google Analytics) before? Then you should know that Google can trace traffics origin down to the small town. Different IP doesn’t mean much. Unless you site is really targetted to one small geo-point, a high number of clicks from nearby location will get you banned quickly.

Hardware address?

MAC address of the LAN card, modem, and router works almost like a fingerprint. I’m not sure if Google can track this, but probably they do. They have rocket scientist, remember?

Advertisers conversion rate

Ad click is one thing. But does it bring value to the advertisers? If none of the clicks on your site translate to conversion to the advertiser, you are in trouble. First the Smart-Pricing hits, then your AdSense account disabled.

Search Engine Ranking

Your website is not indexed on any search engine, not linked by any prominent website, but get consistently high traffic? That sounds like something is in play. Regardless of whether it is an adware-embedded software, spam, trojan clickbot, or intentionally installed click-exchange network, it doesn’t sound right.

Webpage design

How about the “click here” or “support us”? Google has the best search engine in the world. Is it really that hard to find those words?

Combo

Each of these detection methods might seem rather weak. But combine them together, and not many click-fraud can pass-through these filters. Even the smartest clickbot will have a hard time. In short, it is almost impossible to cheat AdSense in the long term. Instead of spending time, money, and effort trying to outsmart Google, try these tips to improve your AdSense earning.

Disclaimer : I’m not working for Google nor in anyway know anyone inside Google. Google might or might not use these methods to detect click-fraud. I’d believe that they have much better detection mechanism.

Posted by: http://bloggingforbread.blogspot.com

Mga babae ni Pangulong Aquino

Clockwise: Grace Lee, Liz Uy, Patricia Ann, Barbie Paragos, Shalani Soledad, at Bunny Calica.

Maliban siguro sa kung papaano niya pinapatakbo ang gobyerno at lulutasin ang problema ng kahirapan sa bansa, ang love life ni Pangulong Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III ang isang bagay na tinutukan ng publiko nang husto sa unang taon niya sa Palasyo.

Bakit nga ba sa mga babaeng naugnay sa kanya ay nananatiling binata ang ating 51-anyos na pangulo?

Para malaman ang kasagutan, ilang taong malapit kay Aquino ang tinanong ng GMA News Online. Pero dahil ilang beses nang nakiusap ang kauna-unahang binatang pangulo na ibalato na lang sa kanya ang kanyang privacy – lalo ang kanyang love life – nakiusap rin ang mga taong nakapanayam natin na huwag nang banggitin ang kanilang pangalan dahil sa pare-parehong pabirong katwiran na, “mayayari ako kay Presidente."

Sa magkakahiwalay na panayam, nagkakaisa sila sa paglalarawan kay Aquino na gentleman sa mga babae, hindi nagsasabay-sabay ng girlfriend, at higit sa lahat – hindi kiss and tell.

“Wala kang maririnig na kuwento sa kanya tungkol sa ex [girlfriend] niya," ayon sa isang aide ni Aquino. “Hindi makuwento ‘yan tungkol sa girlfriend niya. Kapag ayaw niyang pag-usapan yung ex (gf) niya, ibig sabihin may hindi maganda siyang nakita dun."

Kung anong bilis daw na mabighani sa babae ang presidente, siya rin daw bilis na tabangan ito kapag may nakitang hindi niya gusto sa babae.

Marahil isa raw ito sa mga dahilan kaya hanggang ngayon ay nananatiling binata si Aquino, ayon naman sa isang kaibigang pulitiko ng pangulo.

Hindi matukoy ng pulitiko kung ano ang mga partikular na bagay na ayaw ni Aquino sa babae, pero napapansin daw nila ito kahit noong kongresista pa lamang ang pangulo. May mga babae raw na kinikilala ng pangulo at inaayang lumabas pero hindi naman nito tuluyang liligawan.

“May standard siya sa babae na tinitingnan, at mukhang mataas," anang pulitiko. “ Siguro sa ugali rin ng babae. Kapag may nakita siya na hindi niya gusto hindi siya magta-take ng risk na makasama yung babae for the rest of his life."

Ayon naman sa ilang mamamahayag na naging malapit kay Aquino, isa marahil sa mga dahilan kung bakit binata pa rin ang pangulo ay ang biglaang pagpanaw ng ama nito na si dating Senador Ninoy Aquino. Bente-tres anyos pa lang si Noynoy nang mapaslang ang kanyang ama noong 1983.

Mula nang mawala ang ama, si Aquino na ang nagsilbing tagapangalaga sa kanyang apat na kapatid na babae na sina Ballsy, Pinky, Viel, at Kris, at sa kanilang ina na si dating Pangulong Cory Aquino.

Nang makapag-asawa na ang lahat ng mga kapatid, siya ang naiwang kasama ng kanilang ina sa bahay nila sa Times Street sa Quezon City.

Bukod sa pagiging pihikan sa babae at mapagmahal sa kanyang pamilya, may isa pang nakikitang dahilan mga kaibigan ni Aquino kaya atubili itong mag-asawa – “trauma" sa karanasan ng mga kaibigang may-asawa na.

“Magandang ‘pases’ si ‘Noy," ayon sa isang kaibigan ng pangulo na nakapuwesto ngayon sa isang ahensiya ng gobyerno. “Kapag may gigimik na kaibigan at magdadahilan sa asawa na gagabihin o uumagahin, ang gagamiting alibi, kasama nila si ‘Noy."

Panatag umano ang mga asawa ng mga ni Aquino dahil wala itong bisyo at hindi mahilig sa mga night club, na malayo sa imahe ng mga pulitiko. Kapag nasa “gimikan" na kadalasan mga may tumutugtog na banda o kaya nama’y restaurant, paninigarilyo at pag-inom lang ng soft drinks ang ginagawa nito.

“Minsan may nasabi si presidente na parang mahirap ang may asawa na naghihintay sa ’yo pag-uwi. Kapag dumating ka ng alanganing oras, kailangan ipaliwanag mo bakit ka ganung oras umuwi," ayon naman sa isang mamamahayag na nakasama ni Aquino noong kongresista pa ito.

Pero kahit tila atubiling mag-asawa, sinabi ng mga nakausap ng GMA News Online na kilalang matuwain sa bata ang pangulo, lalo na sa kanyang mga pamangkin. Katunayan, halos sa poder ni Aquino lumaki ang pamangkin nitong si Joshua, anak ni Kris.

Type ni PNoy

Ano nga ba ang tipo ng babae na magpapatibok sa puso ng pangulo?Magmula noong kampanya ng May 2010 presidential elections, pitong babae na ang naugnay kay Aquino.

Matapos ang break-up nila noong Oktubre 2010 ni Valenzuela Councilor Shalani Soledad na mahigit isang taon niyang naging girlfriend, naugnay ang pangulo sa isang Barbie Paragos na nakunan kasama siya sa isang restaurant.

Napaulat din na naka-date ni Aquino ang kanyang dating stylist na si Liz Uy, ganoon din ang stock broker na si Len Lopez.

Nagkaroon din ng ingay ang tungkol sa isang Singaporean reporter na inimbitahan umano ni Aquino na pumasyal sa Malacanang.

Kahit ang TV5 reporter na si Patricia Ann Roque, 22 anyos at pinakabata sa lahat ng mga babae, ay na-tsismis din sa pangulo. Pero mabilis din naman itong namatay matapos kapwa nila sabihin na hindi pa nila nakikita ang isa’t isa.

Ang pinakahuli at sinasabing nakapunta na sa Bahay Pangarap na tinutuluyan ngayon ni Aquino ay ang 27-anyos na titser na si Bunny Calica.Una silang napag-usapan nang manood ng concert ng bandang Hotdog. Sa isang ulat, mismong si Kris ang nagkuwento tungkol sa ginawang pagdalaw ni Bunny sa Bahay Pangarap kung saan ipinakilala ng pangulo ang kanyang mga pamangkin na sina Joshua at Bimbi – mga anak ni Kris.

Sinabi ng isang taga-Malacanang na patuloy ang “friendly dates" nina Aquino at Bunny. “Si Presidente na rin naman ang nagsabi na pwede rin namang mag-date ang magkaibigan," paliwanag niya.

Sa isang panayam noon sa kapatid ni Aquino na si Ballsy, nakangiting ikinuwento nito na napuna nila na kung noon ay nalalapit sa mga ka-edad ni Kris ang mga nauugnay na babae sa pangulo, sumunod naman ay nalalapit na sa edad ng kanyang mga pamangkin.

Ayon sa isang local government official na kaibigan ni Aquino, napapansin nila na mahilig ang pangulo sa mga maputi at simpleng babae.“Si Presidente Cory, simpleng may-bahay. Parang ganun yung babae na hinahanap siguro ni Presidente (Aquino). Kahit nga si Presidente simple rin lang. Kaya kapag medyo may pagkamaarte yung babae at nagpapansin sa ibang tao, parang nate-turn-off yata siya," paliwanag ng opisyal.Dagdag pa ng lokal na opisyal, bukod sa maputi ang balat, malakas din umano ang dating kay Aquino ng mga babae na matalino, at mahusay makinig at magsalita. Ito raw marahil ang isang dahilan kaya malakas ang dating ng mga babae kay Aquino na nasa media.Sa inagurasyon ng isang coal power plant sa Cebu nito lang Hunyo 27, tila isa na namang taga-broadcast media ang nakabighani sa pangulo. Hindi nakaligtas kay Aquino ang kagandahan ng Kapuso host na si Grace Lee, na tumayong emcee sa naturang pagtitipon.

“Kaya pag inimbita ho ako sa Cebu, hindi ho talaga mahirap maimbita rito. Pati ang bisita nating si Miss Grace Lee, ‘kala ko tuloy Pinay e. Hindi nga pala, Korean. Pero pati yung mga Korean na dumarating talagang gwapa lahat" sambit ni Aquino.

Gimik nga lang ba?

Sa 75th anniversary ng Department of Budget and Management kamakailan na dinaluhan ni Aquino, ikinuwento nito sa kanyang talumpati ang ginawang paraan ni Sec. Florencio “Butch" Abad para mapag-usapan siya sa media noong una siyang tumakbong senador.

Si Abad ang nagsilbing campaign manager ni Aquino sa senatorial elections noong 2007 at presidential elections noong Mayo 2010.

“Noong araw, noong tayo’y nasa oposisyon at walang pera, nag-isip siya ng paraan, paano ba ako ipakikilala sa taumbayan? So ang ginawa po niya, mayroon pong isang sikat na artistang mang-aawit, at awa ng Diyos po ay naging laman kami ng mga ilang tabloid at diyaryo na hindi bababa ng walong buwan," kuwento ni Aquino.

“Ako po’y nagtataka, dahil minsan ko lang ho nakilala sa buong buhay ko itong tinutukoy na singer, at kinalabasan lahat raw ho ng concert pinanood ko, parang nagkakaigihan kami. Basta, walong buwan ho tumatakbo iyan, at ako’y nagtataka na talaga, paano pahahabain ang istorya na walang laman?" patuloy niya.

Dumating pa umano ang pakulo sa punto na may nagpapadala ng bulaklak sa singer at natatanggap naman. Ang lahat ay nangyari umano nang hindi alam ng pangulo.

Sa husay daw ni Abad na gumawa ng “fiction," natatawang sinabi ni Aquino na dapat naging manunulat ang kanyang kaibigang kalihim.

Wedding in the Palace?

Sa kabila ng ilang ulit niyang pakiusap sa media na bigyan ng privacy ang kanyang lovelife, ilang beses din naman niyang isinisingit sa kanyang mga talumpati ang kanyang pag-asam na makahanap ng magiging asawa.

Pinakahuli na rito ay ang pagbisita niya sa Cebu kung saan inilahad niya ang planong gamitin ang palasyo sa Cebu para maging madalas ang punta niya sa lalawigan. “Kailangan yatang buhayin ang Malacanang [sa] Sugbu. Baka dito na rin tayo magkatuluyan," ayon kay PNoy.

Kunsabagay, maging si Bunny na ipinakilala na niya sa kanyang mga pamangkin na sina Joshua at Bimbi ay tubong Cebu rin.

Sa isa pang pagtitipon, nabanggit din ng pangulo ang kanyang pag-asam na makapag-asawa bago matapos ang kanyang termino sa 2016, kaya naman marami rin ang naghihintay kung may magaganap nga kayang kasalan sa Palasyo sa unang pagkakataon.

Pero mukhang matatagalan pa ito. Ilang ulit na nag-text ang GMA News Online kay Aquino para makahingi ng update tungkol sa kanyang love life, partikular sa takbo ng kanilang “pagkakaibigan" ni Bunny, pero hindi ito sumasagot.

Gayunman, sinagot ng pangulo ang mala-Facebook na tanong tungkol sa kanyang “status" kung siya ba’y “single" or “in a relationship" sa ngayon.Maigsi pero malinaw ang naging sagot ng binatang pangulo: “SINGLE." - YA, GMA News