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Stephen Curry and Jason Tatum named the NBA Players of the Week

November 8, 2023

After two weeks of basketball, NBA named Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Jason Tatum from Boston Celtics, as NBA Players of the Week of the 2023-24 season.

Stephen Curry

In their second week of the league, Stephen Curry helped the Warriors to a 3-1 week, where he averages of 30.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists. In just 7 games, Curry already made 40 3-pointers, the most in the league. Curry made his case of the player of the week after he torched the Pelicans with his 42-point, 5-assist, 5-rebound performance.

Jason Tatum

On the East side, Tatum powered the Celtics to be 3-0 this week. Stat-wise, the 25-year-old Celtic forward averages 30.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists over the first five games. Topping his performance with a 155-point win against the Pacers.

NBA announces that San Francisco Bay Area will host the 74th NBA All-Star 2025

November 8, 2023

Good news to all basketball fans in the Bay Area, since NBA has officially announced that the 74th NBA All-Star 2025 will be in San Francisco Bay Area at Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors. This will be the first time that the NBA All Star will be held at Chase Center, which opened in 2019.

NBA All-Star on-court events will tip off on Friday, Feb. 14 at Chase Center with NBA Rising Stars, an annual showcase for top rookies and second-year NBA players. On Feb. 15, the fourth NBA HBCU Classic Presented by AT&T will feature men’s basketball programs from two historically Black colleges and universities followed by State Farm All-Star Saturday Night which will feature the Kia Skills Challenge, the STARRY 3-Point Contest and AT&T Slam Dunk. NBA All-Star 2025 will culminate with the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 16.

You can watch the video below as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver make the announcement.

The 73th NBA All-Star 2025 will be in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Diana Zubiri posts photos of the original Sang’gres in full costume

November 7, 2023

Diana Zubiri just posted a photo to tease the fans of the original Encantadia. In the photo, we can see Diana Zubiri, Sunshine Dizon, Iza Calzado and Karylle in character, as Karylle’s guest for her Magpasikat 2023 performance.

Encantadia is a popular fantasy teleserye which first aired in 2005. It follows four sisters or sang’gre, played by Iza Calzado, Sunshine Dizon, Karylle, and Diana Zubiri, as they control their powers and manage their kingdom. GMA recently announced ‘Sang’gre,’ which is an Encantadia’ spin-off that will star Bianca Umali for the lead-role Terra.

Source: @dianazubirismith

Marvel release final trailer and movie poster of The Marvels

November 7, 2023

Three days before its release date, Marvel Studio release the final trailer of The Marvels and its film poster. The trailer started with clips from the first Capt. Marvel film and some of her scene in Avengers: Endgame, which believe it or not, was released 5 years ago.

We can also hear the voice of Nick Fury, Tony Stark/Ironman with Steve Roger with their “WHATEVER IT TAKES’ line in End Game. From there we can hear Carol Danvers/Capt. Marvel, on how even after destroying Thanos, the fight is not over and at the same time Thanos saying that there will always be someone who will continue his ‘work,’ which is, spoiler alert, to collect all six Infinity Stones and, and disintegrates half of all life in the universe.

Trailer

The clip then switch back to the new film, which features Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris reprising their roles as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau, respectively. The trailer also features the return of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and the introduction of Zawe Ashton as the villain of the film, who wears other half of Ms. Marvel’s bangle, and appears to have the ability to absorb any attack (power blasts) and bounce it back to its wearer’s opponent. Aside from the old clips that they used in the trailer, the final trailer teased that the film will also delve into “Multiverse” territory, which is the whole theme of Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universs (MCU).

Together with the final trailer, Marvel also release a new movie posters, which is an artwork by Liza Shumska;

Directed by Nia DaCosta and co-written by Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik. The Marvels will star Brie Larson, who will reprise her role as Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captail Marvel, Teyonah Parris returning as Monica Rambeau, returning from the WandaVision series, Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel from the Disney+ series with the same title and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. The film will also star Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn as the film’s baddie and Park Seo-joon as Prince Yan.

The Marvels will be theaters this Friday, 10th of November.

HONOR opens its first authorized store in Saudi Arabia

November 5, 2023

HONOR Saudi just open its first authorized store in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East earlier this month. The store is located in Al Hayat Plaza in Dammam, Eastern Region of the Kingdom. Those who visit the store’s opening day received special offers.

Here are some photos as posted by @HonorKSA;

Arm to acquire minority stake in Raspberry Pi

November 5, 2023

Arm announced that it had acquired a minority stake in Raspberry Pi. This investment is a significant development in the partnership between the two companies, which has been ongoing since 2008. Raspberry Pi has used Arm-based CPUs in all of its single-board computers (SBCs), and the two companies have collaborated on a number of initiatives, including the development of the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller.

The acquisition of a minority stake in Raspberry Pi is seen as a strategic move by Arm. Raspberry Pi has sold over 40 million SBCs to date, making it one of the most popular platforms for IoT development.

The partnership will benefit to both companies; Arm gains access to Raspberry Pi’s large and active community of developers, which can help to accelerate the adoption of Arm-based chips in IoT devices, Raspberry Pi, in turn, benefits from Arm’s expertise in chip design and its global reach.

“Arm and Raspberry Pi share a vision to make computing accessible for all, by lowering barriers to innovation so that anyone, anywhere can learn, experience and create new IoT solutions,” said Paul Williamson, SVP and GM, Internet of Things Line of Business, Arm. “With the rapid growth of edge and endpoint AI applications, platforms like those from Raspberry Pi, built on Arm, are critical to driving the adoption of high-performance IoT devices globally by enabling developers to innovate faster and more easily. This strategic investment is further proof of our continued commitment to the developer community, and to our partnership with Raspberry Pi.”

“Arm technology has always been central to the platforms we create, and this investment is an important milestone in our longstanding partnership,” said Eben Upton, CEO, Raspberry Pi. “Using Arm technology as the foundation of our current and future products offers us access to the compute performance, energy efficiency and extensive software ecosystem we need, as we continue to remove barriers to entry for everyone, from students and enthusiasts, to professional developers deploying commercial IoT systems at scale.”

The acquisition of a minority stake in Raspberry Pi is also seen as a sign of Arm’s commitment to the open-source community. Raspberry Pi is a popular platform for open-source software development, and Arm has stated that it will continue to support the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s commitment to open source. Financial details of the deals was not disclose.

Marvel Releases First Trailer for Echo Series on Disney Plus and Hulu on Jan. 10, 2024

November 4, 2023
Marvel Releases First Trailer for Echo Series on Disney Plus and Hulu on Jan. 10, 2024

Marvel Studios has released the first trailer for Echo, a new original series coming to Disney Plus and Hulu on January 10, 2024.

The series stars Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, a deaf Native American vigilante who is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship. Echo is a spin-off of the Hawkeye series, and will likely pickup where we last saw Echo in the series.

The trailer shows Maya struggling with her identity and her place in the world. She is haunted by the death of her father, and is determined to find out who is responsible. The trailer also shows Maya using her skills to fight crime and protect her friends and loved ones. We also see Wilson Fisk a.k.a. Kingpin surviving the gunshot by Lopez during Hawkeye and ending up blind in one eye.

Echo Series Poster

Echo is a highly anticipated series, and the trailer has generated a lot of excitement among Marvel fans, since appearing in the Hawkeye series. The series is expected to be one of the biggest Marvel Studios releases of 2024. Echo will debut on Disney+ and Hulu on Jan. 10, 2024.

Disney Plus to increase subscription plan in the Middle East

November 4, 2023

Disney Plus, the popular streaming service, has announced a price increase for its subscription fee in the Middle East. The new pricing will take effect starting 21 November 2023. This means all the existing users signed up on or before 17 October 2023 and set to renew every month, will be charged at the revised subscription prices starting 21 November 2023. If the payment fails, the billing retries that happen on or after 21 November 2023 will be billed at the new price.

The monthly subscription fee for Disney Plus in the Saudi Arabia increase from SAR 29.99 to SAR 39.99. The annual subscription fee will now be SAR 354.99. The price increase appears to be part of the company’s plan to “accelerate profitability for the business.”

Below will be the new price plan of Disney Plus subscriptions in the Middle East;

Compare to Netflix’s Standard plan of SAR 43/month, the new SAR 39.99/month price of Disney is still low.

Disney release first look image of Snow White and new release date

November 2, 2023

Disney just release the first look image of the live action remake of Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler as the beautiful princess and Gal Gadot as the evil queen.

The released image includes Rachel Zegler, who is in character with 7 dwarves. Disney originally announced that the dwarves would be reimagined as “magical creatures” without specifics but it appears that the “magical creatures” will be animated rather than using actual actors.

Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson wrote the screenplay for the film, Marc Webb is the director and Marc Platt is the producer. Together with the image, Disney also announced that the film’s new release date will now be March 21st, 2025, instead of the original date of March 22, 2024.

Source: Variety, CBR

Apple announces new 14‑inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 chips

October 31, 2023

Together with the new iMacs, Apple also announce the 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M3 chips, the 16-inch Macbook Pro will also be updated with the new M3 Processors. Aside from the refreshed Macbook Pros, Apple also release a new Space Black color for both the 14‑inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Both the 14‑inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro will share the following parts;

  • 14.2-inch (diagonal) Liquid Retina XDR display;1 3024-by-1964 native resolution at 254 pixels per inch
  • SDXC card slot
  • HDMI port
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack
  • MagSafe 3 port
  • 1080p FaceTime HD camera

There are also a number of differences that buyers needs to consider when choosing between the 14‑inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro; The 14‑inch MacBook Pro will be available in M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max processors while the 16-inch Macbook Pro will only support the M3 Pro and M3 Max CPU.

Macbook Pro Keyboard view
Macbook Pro Side view
MacBook Pro Cover

The 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M3 CPU;

  • Color – Space Gray and Silver
  • CPU – Apple M3 chip, 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
  • GPU – 10-core GPU
  • Storage – 512GB or 1TB; Configurable to: 1TB or 2TB
  • RAM – 8GB unified memory; Configurable to: 16GB or 24GB
  • Battery – Up to 22 hours Apple TV app movie playback and up to 15 hours wireless web
  • Ports – 2x Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with support for: Charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40Gb/s) and USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)

The 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro and M3 Max CPU;

  • Color – Space Black and Silver
  • CPU – Up to 12-core CPU with 6 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores
  • GPU – up to 18-core GPU
  • Storage – 512GB or 1TB; Configurable up to 8TB.
  • RAM – 18GB unified memory; Configurable up to 128GB (M3 Max with 16-core CPU)
  • Battery – Up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback and up to 12 hours wireless web
  • Ports – 3x Thunderbolt 4 ports with support for; Charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gb/s) and USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)

The 16‑inch MacBook Pro with M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max CPU;;

  • Color – Space Black and Silver
  • CPU – 16-core CPU with 12 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
  • GPU – up to 40-core GPU Hardware-accelerated ray tracing
  • Storage – 512GB, 1TB; Configurable to 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB
  • RAM – 18GB, 36GB and 46GB; Configurable up to 64GB or 128GB
  • Battery – Up to 22 hours Apple TV app movie playback and up to 15 hours wireless web
  • Ports – 3x Thunderbolt 4 ports with support for; Charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gb/s) and USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)

Both the 14‑inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro are now will be available with the follow prices;

  • 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 starts at $1,599 (U.S.)
  • 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro starts at $1,999 (U.S.)
  • 16‑inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499 (U.S.)

Apple announces new 24-inch iMacs powered by M3 CPU

October 31, 2023

After announcing the new CPUs, Apple announces the new 24-inch iMac powered by the M3 chips.

The new iMac with M3 is up to 2x faster than the prior generation with M1.1 And for those upgrading from an Intel-based iMac, the new iMac is up to 2.5x faster than the most popular 27-inch models,2 and 4x faster than the most powerful 21.5-inch model.3 It also features an expansive 4.5K Retina display with 11.3 million pixels and over a billion colors, faster wireless connectivity, and a seamless experience with iPhone. Combined with its best-in-class camera, speakers, and mics, along with macOS Sonoma, iMac with M3 is better than ever — perfect for everyone, from families to small businesses, aspiring creatives, students, and gamers. Customers can order the new iMac starting today, with availability beginning Tuesday, November 7.

The new iMacs will be available in 7 colors; Blue, Green, Pink, Silver, Yellow, Orange, Purple with a starting price of $1299 for the iMac with 8-core GPU and $1499 for the iMac with 10-core GPU and 256GB SSD model.

Here are the key specs of the new 24-inches iMac.

  • 24-inch 4.5K Retina display
  • 1080p FaceTime HD camera
  • Apple M3 chip (8-core CPU and up to 10 core GPU)
  • Up to 24GB unified memory
  • Up to 2TB storage
  • Thunderbolt 3 digital video output
  • Native DisplayPort output over USB-C
  • 2x Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • Two USB 3 ports (up to 10Gb/s)
  • Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
  • Bluetooth 5.3
  • Colors: Blue, Green, Pink, Silver, Yellow, Orange, Purple

You can checkout full specs of the new iMacs here.

Apple announces new M3 Family of Processors

October 31, 2023

In an event called ‘Scary Fast,’ Apple officially unveil the next general M-series processors; M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max.

The M-series processors based on a 3nm manufacturing process, which will allow Apple to pack more transistors onto a smaller die. This will lead to significant performance and efficiency.

The M3 is expected to be a direct successor to the M2 chip, which is currently used in the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iMac. The M3 feature an 8-core CPU, offers up to 35% faster than M1 for CPU performance, and a 10-core GPU, which is 65% faster than M1 for graphics. The M3 CPU supports 24GB of unified memory.

As powerful as the M3 CPU, the M3 Pro and M3 Max are expected to be even more powerful than the M3. The M3 Pro will feature a 12-core CPU and a 18-core GPU while the M3 Max will have 40-core CPU and a 16-core GPU. Both the M3 Pro and M3 Max will support up to 36GB and up to 128GB of unified memory, respectively.

In addition to the performance and efficiency improvement, the M3 family is also expected to bring a number of new features to the Mac. The M3 family will support AV1 decoding, which would allow users to watch high-resolution AV1 videos without using much battery life.

As more performance gains, the new M3 Processors also have an enhanced Neural Engine to accelerate powerful machine learning (ML) models. The Neural Engine is up to 60 percent faster than in the M1 family of chips, making AI/ML workflows even faster while keeping data on device to preserve privacy.

“Apple silicon has completely redefined the Mac experience. Every aspect of its architecture is designed for performance and power efficiency,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “With 3-nanometer technology, a next-generation GPU architecture, a higher-performance CPU, faster Neural Engine, and support for even more unified memory, M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max are the most advanced chips ever built for a personal computer.”

The M3 family will be powering new MacBook Pros and iMacs, which was also announced at the event, and is expected to be in the next generation MacBook Air and Mac minis, as well as future generations of Macs.

Bucks Star Giannis Antetokounmpo signs 3-years extension worth $186M

October 24, 2023

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has agreed on a three-year, $186 million contract extension with the team, announced on his social media accounts. The extension includes a player option for the 2027-2028 season. The deal will run through the duration of guard Damian Lillard’s contract and ends the possibility of him entering free agency in 2025. Bucks acquired Damian Lillard in a 3-team blockbuster trade this summer.

In a recent interview published on NY Times, Giannis said that we won’t sign any extension until he knows that the Bucks can continue to contend for a championship. This may have prompted the team to trade for Damian Lillard. Bucks as in a similar situation in 2020, where he signed a five-year, $228 million supermax extension, after the Bucks acquired Jrue Holiday from Pelicans. That same season, the Bucks became the NBA Champion, Giannis was named Finals MVP, after being awarded the regular season MVP and the Defensive Player of the Year award. Only two other player have ever won all 3 awards in the same season; Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.

OPPO officially announces Find N3

October 19, 2023

OPPO has officially announce the Find N3, the first horizontal foldable by the company to be available outside China. The Find N3 features a number of improvements over the previous generation, including a more powerful processor, a larger and brighter display, and a better camera system.

The Find N3 is powered by the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is the fastest mobile processor on the market. The phone also has 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of storage.

The Find N3 has a 7.82-inch AMOLED display on the inside and a 6.31 inches display on the outside. The inner display has a resolution of 2440 × 2268 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The outer display has a resolution of 2484 × 1116 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz, Min 10Hz.

The Find N3 has a triple-lens rear camera system with a 48MP Sony LYTIA-T808 “pixel stacked” sensor, 48MP sensor ultrawide lens with autofocus and then 64MP zoom camera sensor with a 3x 70mm f/2.6 stabilized periscope lens. AS for the front shooters, the OPPO Find N3 uses dual-selfie cameras; 20MP Main screen and 32MP for cover screen.

The Find N3 runs ColorOS 13.2, which is based on Android 13. The phone has a 4805mAh battery that supports 67W SUPERVOOC 2.0, SUPERVOOC, VOOC 3.0, PD3.0 (9V/2A) fast charging. You can find the full specs here.

The OPPO Find N3 is available Classic Black and Champagne Gold colors. Even though the device was launched globally, it will initially be available in Singapore for SGD 2,399 (SAR 6,552.67, converted). Preoders will be open tomorrow October 20, 2023.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse comes to Netflix in the US on October 31st

October 19, 2023

Netflix just announced that Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is coming to the streaming giant’s platform this 31st of October. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was released on digital download by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 5. Across the Spider-Verse earned over $690 million worldwide for its theatrical release on June 2nd.

Netflix is able to stream Spider-man content due to the deal it signed with Sony in April 2021, the detail basically let Netflix stream Sony’s films about 6 months after their theatrical release, this includes all of Spider-man and Spider-man related (Character) films that Sony produced and will produce.

Xeleqt AI wins the Grand Prize at the Start-up Innovation Challenge at the PH Digicon 2023

October 19, 2023

Xeleqt AI, a startup that develops artificial intelligence-powered solutions for the financial industry, has won the Grand Prize at the Start-up Innovation Challenge at the PH Digicon 2023.

Xeleqt AI is an IoT-enabled business-to-employee platform that helps businesses automate their operations, improve productivity and services. The company’s platform is already being used by a number of leading companies in the Philippines and around the world.

Together with Xeleqt AI, Mylo Speech Buddy and Vison Technologies won the contest, placing 1st and 2nd runner-ups, respectively.

The winners of the Start-up Innovation Challenge receive a number of prizes like; cash prizes of Php250,000 (1st), Php200,000 (2nd) and Php150,000 (3rd); mentorship, and access to resources and support from PLDT Enterprise and Smart Communications.

The PH Digicon is the largest digital technology conference in the Philippines. The conference brings together leaders from the government, industry, and academia to discuss the latest trends and developments in digital technology.

SBP and PBA release statement on the championship won by the Gilas Pilipinas Men’s Basketball Team at the 19th Asian Games

October 18, 2023

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) just released a joint statement regarding the gold medal that the Gilas Pilipinas Men’s Basketball Team won at the 19th Asian Games.

The statement is also a recognizes the work that Gilas Team Manager Alfrancis Chua and Gilas Deputy Team Manager Willie Marcial did to support the team while in tournament in Hangzhou, China. It also cite the “all-out support” of SBP Chairman Emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan and SMC President and CEO Ramon S. Ang, to the team, which resulted in bagging the GOLD medal for the nation and Filipino basketball fans after more than six (6) decades.

The statement appears to been release due to the controversies that Gilas Pilipinas Men’s Basketball Team have been experience after winning the Gold medal earlier this month. First, it was disclosed that a player as ‘Asking for the moon’ in order to join Gilas and then Justin Brownlee, testing positive for a substance linked to cannabis use.

X is testing “Not A Bot” service in New Zealand and the Philippines

October 18, 2023

X, the service formerly known as Twitter, is testing a new subscription service for new and unverified accounts to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post & interact with other posts. The service will only not affect existing users.

The “Not A Bot” service was created to “successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount.” The company added that this service “is not a profit driver.”

In a support article, the company explained that “New users who opt out of subscribing will only be able to take “read only” actions, such as: Read posts, Watch videos, and Follow accounts.”

It’s unclear how this test will affect potential new users but for me, as a rule of thumb, if an online service have been free for a long time charging to use the said service will be a big no for me.

PBA release the full schedule of 48th Season PBA Commissioner’s Cup

October 18, 2023

If you want to watch your favorite PBA team and/or stars, then you may want to checkout the full schedule of 48th Season PBA Commissioner’s Cup. The league just release the full schedule of the regular season with the venue.

You can checkout the full schedule from the embedded tweet by @PBAConnect;

Aside from the games in Metro Manila, there will also be provincial games like in Antipolo, Batangas, Quezon Province, Cagayan De Oro City and in Iloilo City. There will also be Christmas games which will be between SMB vs Phoenix LPG, for the first game, then Brgy Ginebra vs TNT for the second game.

Netflix release additional first look photo for Avatar: The Last Airbender

October 18, 2023

Ahead of the Geeked Week next month, Netflix release 4 new photos for their upcoming live action adaption of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The photos are from Fire Nation’s Royalty and Powerful;


Fire Lord Ozai, played by Daniel Dae Kim, the tyrannical and sadistic ruler of the Fire Nation, General Iroh’s younger brother, and Prince Zuko and Princess Azula’s father. He also voiced to the Avatar franchise multiple times—the first time in Book 2 of The Last Airbender, where he voiced General Fong, and in The Legend of Korra, where he voiced Hiroshi Sato.


General Iroh, played by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, a retired Fire Nation general, Fire Lord Ozai’s elder brother, and the wise and nurturing uncle and mentor to Prince Zuko.


Princess Azula, portrayed by Elizabeth Yu, the younger sister of Prince Zuko and a gifted Princess of the Fire Nation.


Commander Zhao, played by Ken Leung, the arrogant, ruthless, and dishonorable Fire Nation naval officer, who is also after the Avatar for its fame, power and prestige.

Netflix also said that they will reveal more about the coming series at their Geeked Week event. Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, scheduled in 2024 and it is reported to be 8-episode long, each episode is at least an hour long.

Official entries to the 49th Metro Manila Film Festival Announced

October 17, 2023

Ten movies for the 49th Metro Manila Film Festival have been officially announced. The first four entries was announced back in July, these film were chosen based on script submissions, and the 6 additional film was officially announced in a press conference that was streamed on the organization’s FB page @mmffofficial.

These are the first four entries;

  • “A Mother and Son’s Story” by Cineko Productions, Inc. starring Sharon Cuneta and Alden Richards
  • “(K)ampon” by Quantum Films starring Beauty Gonzales and Derek Ramsay
  • “Penduko” by Sari Sari Network starring Cristine Reyes and Matteo Guidicelli
  • “Rewind” a Star Cinema project of celebrity couple Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera

The six additional films to complete the 2023 MMFF entries are:

  • “When I Met You in Tokyo ” starring Christopher de Leon and Vilma Santos
  • “Becky and Badette” starring Eugene Domingo and Pokwang
  • “Mallari” starring Piolo Pascual and Janella Salvador
  • “Firefly” starring Alessandra de Rossi with Cherry Pie Picache
  • “Broken Hearts Trip” starring Christian Bables and Andoy Ranay
  • “Gomburza” starring Enchong Dee, Dante Rivero, Piolo Pascual and Cedrick Juan

The 49th Metro Manila Film Festival will kick-off with the parade of stars on December 17th, this year’s theme is CAMANAVA, then the film festival itself will run from December 25th thru January 7th, 2024. The MMFF Awards night will happen on the 27th of December.

Intel Announces 14th Gen Core Desktop Processors

October 17, 2023

Intel has officially announced the launch of its 14th Generation Core desktop processors. The new lineup, based on the refreshed Raptor Lake architecture, includes the Core i9-14900K/KF, the Core i7-14700K/KF, and the Core i5-14600K/KF2.

The 14th Gen Core desktop processors come in a variety of configurations, delivering up to 24 cores and 32 threads and up to 6 GHz of frequency right out of the box. The top-of-the-line Core i9-14900K processor has a boost frequency of up to6 GHz speeds, making it the fastest desktop processor from Intel to date.

In addition to the performance improvements, the 14th Gen Core desktop processors also include a number of new features, such as support for DDR5 5600 and DDR4 3200 memory speeds. The processors also feature Intel’s new Thread Director technology, which intelligently allocates workloads to the right cores at the right time.

The new 14th gen chips will feature integrated support for Wi-Fi 6/6E and Bluetooth 5.3, as well as discrete support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.42. There is also support for Thunderbolt 4 as well as upcoming Thunderbolt 5 wired connectivity – supporting up to 80 Gbps of bi-directional bandwidth.

Intel Core 14th Gen desktop processors will be available at retail outlets and via OEM partner systems starting Oct. 17, 2023. They will be compatible with existing 600/700-series motherboards.

Pricing for the new Intel Core 14th Gen desktop processors will be the same as the previous generations, Core i9-14900K at $589, Core i7-1700K at $409, and the Core i5-14600K for $319.

PBA to air live on A2Z

October 17, 2023

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) just announced that when PBA opens its 48th Season 48 on Nov. 5, live games will now be on A2Z every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Weekday games will be at 4:00 PM for first game and at 8:00 PM for the second game, while weekend games will be at 3 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.

A2Z is a Philippine free-to-air blocktime broadcast television network based in Quezon City, with its studios located in Ortigas Center, Pasig. It serves as a flagship property of ZOE Broadcasting Network in partnership with ABS-CBN Corporation as its main content provider through a blocktime agreement. A2Z’s flagship television station is DZOE-TV which operates on channel 11 (analog broadcast), and channel 20 (digital broadcast). The network’s name is an abbreviation derived from the first letter of the names of two parent companies, ABS-CBN and ZOE, and the channel number of the now-recalled frequency of the former network (which is now owned by Advanced Media Broadcasting System’s All TV).

Pilipinas Live, Cignal TV’s newest streaming platform, will also offer all games live and on demand with multiple viewing options exclusive to the app. It also offers PBA 3×3, PBA D-League and PBA Esports, along with original programs made for PBA fans. Aside from PBA games, Pilipinas Live also cover UAAP, PVL, eSports like Call of Duty and Tekken.

Aside from A2Z and Pilipinas Live, PBA Rush will will continue to air PBA events live and in high definition to all Cignal TV subscribers.

Netflix releases official trailer of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

October 16, 2023

Netflix has released the official trailer for its upcoming anime adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, titled Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. The trailer gives us a glimpse of the show’s vibrant animation style and its faithful adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s beloved graphic novels.

The trailer opens with Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) meeting Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) for the first time. Scott is immediately smitten with Ramona, but he soon learns that he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends in order to date her.

The 2-mins trailer (below) introduces us to the rest of the cast, including Scott’s friends Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin), Kim Pine (Alison Pill), and Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), as well as Ramona’s ex-boyfriends Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), Lucas Lee (Chris Evans), Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh), Envy Adams (Brie Larson) and Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman).

Based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s hit graphic novels, which were adapted into the 2010 live-action film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is set to premiere on Netflix on November 17, 2023. The show is produced by Science SARU, the studio behind the critically acclaimed anime series Devilman Crybaby and Star Wars: Visions.

DICT’s statement on the hacking and defacing of the House of Representative website

October 16, 2023

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) just release an official statement regarding the defacing of the House of Representative (HoR) website.

This is the full text of DICT’s statement;

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) confirms that a cybersecurity incident involving the House of Representatives (HOR) website occurred on Sunday, 15 October 2023.

The HOR immediately put the website offline to prevent further unauthorized access and reported the incident to the DICT – Philippine National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-PH).

CERT-PH is conducting an investigation to determine if sensitive data has been exfiltrated by the threat actor.

Recommendations were likewise provided to the HOR IT Team to prevent future security breaches on their website.

The DICT informs the public that the HOR website shall be online soon with its security vulnerabilities already addressed.

The next stages of the investigation on the incident, which include threat actor attribution and case build-up, shall be pursued by the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, in coordination with our law enforcement agencies.

The DICT reaffirms its commitment to be an active partner of government agencies as they fulfill the primary responsibility of safeguarding their own ICT systems and infrastructure against cyber threats.

By:

Renato A. Paraiso
Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs
DICT Spokesperson
pio@dict.gov.ph

At the sametime, DICT also release a Tagalog version of their statement.

Yesterday, the website of the House of Representative (HoR) was hacked by the hacker group 3MUSKETEERZ, defacing it with the troll face meme captioned it “You’ve been hacked. Have a nice Day! Happy April Fullz Kahit October Palang! Fix your website.” and changed its content with the same messaging.

Website of House of Representative hacked by 3MUSKETEERZ

October 15, 2023

Website of House of Representative (Congress) have been hacked and defaced by 3MUSKETEERZ.

The group used troll face meme captioned it “You’ve been hacked. Have a nice Day! Happy April Fullz Kahit October Palang! Fix your website.” The group even changed its content with the same messaging.

The official X (twitter) account (@HouseofRepsPH) already release a statement and that they are currently working with Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and law enforcement agencies concerned to investigate the matter.

PRESS STATEMENT
Secretary General Reginald Velasco

We wish to inform the public that the official website of the House of Representatives experienced unauthorized access earlier today. Immediate steps have been taken to address the issue, and we are working closely with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and law enforcement agencies concerned to investigate the matter.

While we work to restore the website fully, we ask for patience and understanding. We are committed to ensure the security and integrity of our digital platforms, and we will implement additional measures to prevent such incidents in the future.

For the moment, we advise the public to be cautious of any suspicious emails or communications that claim to be from the House of Representatives.

We will keep the public updated as more information becomes available.

As of this posting, the website is currently offline and accessing the website http://www.congress.gov.ph/ will just give you the standard “This site can’t be reached” message.

Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion

October 15, 2023

Microsoft has officially acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, the deal has now been finalized after a lengthy regulatory review. The announcement was made by both company and published official statement on their respective website. Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard, and he and his team will maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strengthen the company’s culture and accelerate business growth. Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming and will be part of Microsoft’s Xbox Team.

Activision Blizzard is one of the largest and most successful video game companies in the world. It is the publisher of popular franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush, and Diablo. Microsoft is already a major player in the gaming industry with its Xbox console and Xbox Game Pass subscription service. However, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard gives Microsoft a significant boost in market share and makes it the third-largest gaming company in the world, behind Tencent and Sony.

When the deal was first announced, it faced regulatory pushback and was delayed due to concerns about competition in the cloud gaming market. To address these concerns, Microsoft made several concessions, including giving consumers in the European Economic Area free licenses to stream their Activision Blizzard games. Microsoft also signed agreements with console rivals Nintendo and Sony, promising them access to Call of Duty games for 10 years.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was the last regulator to approve the deal. The CMA stated that the concessions made by Microsoft were a “game-changer” that would allow for competitive prices and better services.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, write a letter/email to announced the acquisition.

NPC launches “Na-leak ba ang PhilHealth Data ko?” Portal

October 14, 2023

In the wake of the PhilHealth Hacking, Philippines’ National Privacy Commission (NPC) launches the “Na-leak ba ang PhilHealth Data ko? Portal. The “Na-leak ba ang PhilHealth Data ko? Portal is a tool to check if your personal data is included in the PhilHealth cyberattack last Sept 22.

NPC explained that “Na-leak ba ang PhilHealth Data ko? Portal is a “simplified database search portal designed to help individuals verify the status of their personal information in light of the recent incident involving the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) database, purportedly exfiltrated by the Medusa Ransomware Group, and posted online on October 5, 2023. As of October 13, 2023, the initial batch of data available on the portal pertains to individuals aged 60 years and above, containing an estimated 1 million records out of 8.5 million senior citizens.”

To access the “Na-leak ba ang PhilHealth Data ko? database search tool, visit: https://philhealthleak.privacy.gov.ph, then just provide your PhilHealth Identification Number (PIN) to know if you are part of the leaked database.

Malacañang release official Philippine Holiday for 2024, sans EDSA People Power Revolution

October 14, 2023
Malacañang just release the official Philippine Holiday for next year, 2024. It’s the usual list of Holidays except that EDSA Revolution Anniversary was removed from the list of Special Non-working holiday which is celebrated every February. Malacañang explained that the EDSA People Power Revolution commemoration was removed, since the event has “minimum socioeconomic impact” as it falls on a Sunday. Malacañang moved the commemoration of the EDSA People Power Revolution Anniversary to Feb. 24 this year in lieu of Feb. 25, via Proclamation No. 167, as a special non-working day, to be consistent with holiday economics.
20231011-PROC-368-FRM
The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. The nonviolent revolution led to the ousting of Ferdinand Marcos and his family, including the current President of the Philippines, Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr., who was already in his late 20s at that time, ending of his 20-year dictatorship and corruption, and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines.

Netflix’s Live Action Anime Series ‘YuYu Hakusho’ to premiere on December 14th

October 12, 2023

Netflix just announced that their live action adaptation of the popular manga and anime series “YuYu Hakusho” will premiere on the streaming platform on the 14th of December.

The series will star Takumi Kitamura as Yusuke Urameshi (Eugene), Jun Shison as Kurama (Dennis), Kanata Hongo as Hiei (Vincent), and Shuhei Uesugi as Kazuma Kuwabara (Alfred).The series follows the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent who is killed by a car while saving a child’s life. He is given a second chance at life by the Spirit World, and is tasked with working as a Spirit Detective to investigate cases involving demons.

Based on the manga : Yoshihiro Togashi “Yu Yu Hakusho” (Shueisha Jump Comics)
Director: Sho Tsukikawa
Cast: Takumi Kitamura, Jun Shison, Kanata Hongo, Shuhei Uesugi
Screenplay: Tatsuro Mishima
VFX Supervisor: Ryo Sakaguchi (Scanline VFX)
Executive Producer: Kaata Sakamoto (Netflix)
Producer: Akira Morii
In Association with：THE SEVEN
Production: ROBOT
Produced by: Netflix

Just like Netflix’s live action One Piece, YuYu Hakusho will like focus on the origin story of Urameshi on he became Spirit Detective and how he became “friends” with Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara and Botan, as well as Koenma and Genkai.

You can watch all 4 seasons of the anime series on Netlfix.