Biyernes, Mayo 24, 2013

NBA Draft: DJ Stephens records the highest vertical leap ever measured by the NBA

By Jay Busbee | Ball Don't Lie – Fri, May 24, 2013 2:19 AM PHT


DJ Stephens creates a poster. (Getty Images)

It's workout time for lottery teams, and the stories of draft-prospect magic are beginning to trickle in. Take, for instance, DJ Stephens of the University of Memphis, who recorded a 46-inch vertical,according to Chad Ford. Performed while working out for the Brooklyn Nets, the leap is the highest ever recorded by the NBA.

He also lit up the arena during Memphis' brief NCAA tournament run.
The previous leap record belonged to Kenny Gregory, who jumped 45.5 inches way back in 2001. Earlier this draft season, Shane Larkin hit 44 inches. Outside the NBA, though, things get weird: Kevin Bania apparently leaped 64 inches from a standing start (see the video here). Michael Jordan and LeBron James are both in the 44-inch range.
Now, in many ways, the vertical leap in the NBA draft is the equivalent of the 40-yard-dash time in the NFL draft: a nice handy benchmark, but not indicative in and of itself as a barometer for future success. For instance, Michael Wilson, a fellow Memphis alum, could dunk on a 12-foot-rim ... but hedid it for the Harlem Globetrotters.
Stephens isn't a lottery pick; indeed, he's no guarantee to get drafted at all. He averaged less than eight points and seven rebounds this year in Memphis, though his blocks were something to behold. The NBA doesn't really have room for projects, but Stephens has gotten himself some impressive positive press, and at this time of year, any positive press is golden. He may have just leaped his way onto an NBA roster.

State agencies get P832 M from DBM for performance-based bonuses

 (The Philippine Star) 


MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has turned over P831.8 million in funds  to several departments and agencies, state colleges and universities (SUCs), and government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs).
The money would cover the performance-based bonus (PBB) of qualified employees of SUCs and GOCCs.
“Since the administration launched the merit-based bonus scheme in December 2012, the DBM has been receiving and processing submissions from departments and agencies as efficiently as possible, in line with the PBB’s goal of rewarding excellent work among our government employees,” DBM Secretary Florencio B. Abad said.
Of the total amount, P806.1 million has already been authorized for release by the Governance Commission for GOCCs.
Another P25.7 million has also been remitted to five agencies and three SUCs for the merit-based incentives of 2,780 officials and employees.
The DBM also confirmed that the Department of Health (DOH) and the Laguna State Polytechnic College have already complied with all their requirements, and that their releases are currently being processed by DBM.
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DOH is the first major government agency to have fully complied with the PBB requirements, with 25,307 employees eligible for the PBB.
“I enjoin other agencies and departments to complete their submissions to the DBM. This will allow us to facilitate the quick release of their PBBs, and ultimately, ensure that their employees receive the bonuses due them,” Abad said.
The PBB is one of the components of the administration’s performance-based incentive system (PBIS), an incentive program that recognizes and rewards exemplary performance in government. It aims to improve the delivery of goods and services to all Filipinos, as well as institute a culture of excellence in public service across the bureaucracy.
Under the PBIS, qualified agencies that submitted all compliance reports on time would be assessed, provided they meet at least 90 percent of their targets for the year. Agencies are also required to fulfill all the good governance conditions set by the inter-agency task force on the harmonization of the national government performance monitoring, information and reporting systems.
Employees ranked as “Best” in a best-performing bureau would receive as much as P35,000, while under-performers — those who were unable to meet at least 90 percent of their individual targets, or employees in a poorly ranked bureau —would not be eligible for PBB.
In releasing the PBB, the DBM emphasized the need for qualified departments and agencies to establish grievance mechanisms that would allow them to respond to employees’ feedback.
“Because the PBB is a new initiative, we have much to learn on implementing it with greater efficiency. Part of this fine-tuning process is the establishment of grievance mechanisms within agencies, specifically to give employees the chance to provide honest feedback on the execution of the program,” Abad said.


Germany 'most popular country' in the world: poll



Germany is the most popular country in the world despite well-publicised protests against its insistence on austerity measures within the European Union, an annual poll for the BBC World Service revealed on Thursday.
More than 26,000 people from around the world were asked to rate 16 countries on whether their global influence was "mainly positive" or "mainly negative".
Some 59 percent of those polled rated Germany as having a positive influence, while at the other end of the spectrum, Iran came last with only 15 percent looking upon it favourably.
Even in Spain, which is suffering from stringent austerity measures due to a German-led financial rescue package, 68 percent said they felt Germany had "a mainly positive influence in the world".
Respondents in Greece, which has seen anti-German protests depicting Chancellor Angela Merkel as a Nazi for her insistence on fiscal belt-tightening, gave it the worst rating with 52 percent saying it was a bad influence.
Germany displaced Japan at the top of the table, with the Asian giant's popularity falling from 58 percent last year to 51 percent.
Canada and Britain scored second and third, both with 55 percent positive ratings, while Pakistan and North Korea completed the bottom three.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/germany-most-popular-country-world-poll-205709684.html

Facebook users warned: Rogue browser extensions can hijack profiles




Facebook users may have to be wary of a browser extension targeting Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome, as it can hijack their profiles.
Jonathan San Jose of the Microsoft Malware Protection Center said said the threat, dubbed Trojan:JS/Febipos.A, was first discovered in Brazil.
"(T)his Trojan monitors a user to see if they are currently logged-in to Facebook. It then attempts to get a configuration file from (a particular website). The file includes a list of commands of what the browser extension will do," San Jose said in a blog post (http://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2013/05/10/browser-extension-hijacks-facebook-profiles.aspx ).
He said the malware can do any of the following on the Facebook profile it compromises:
Like a page Share Post Join a group Invite friends to a group Chat to friends Comment on a post
San Jose also said the malware contains a Portuguese message which, when translated into English, hints at a lure by claiming to have a video of a 15-year-old bullying victim committing suicide after showing her breasts on Facebook.
"There may be more to this threat because it can change its messages, URLs, Facebook pages and other activity at any time. In any case, we recommend you always keep your security products updated with the latest definitions to help avoid infection," San Jose said.
A separate article on The Next web said the threat appears to be currently targeting mainly Facebook users in Brazil.
However, it said the threat could easily be modified to target more users.
"The fact that it uses a configuration file shows that the criminals specifically designed it to be modular," it said.
"(Y)ou should make a point to only install browser extensions and add-ons from trusted sources such as the Chrome Web Store and Add-ons for Firefox," it added. — TJD, GMA News

Comelec proclaims early party-list winners


By  | Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom


(UPDATE) Fourteen early winners in the party-list race have been named Friday even as the protracted count of votes continues.

The Commission on Elections, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, said the following groups have topped the tally so far:
Buhay
A Teacher
Bayan Muna
1-CARE
Akbayan
Ako Bicol
Abono
OFW family
Gabriela
COOP-NATCCO
Agap
CIBAC
Magdalo
An Waray

The groups have bagged at least 2 percent of the total votes counted so far, which means that they are assured of at least one seat in the House of Representatives.

A total of 58 seats are up for grabs in the midterm polls, with 111 groups competing for the slots.

The poll body has only resumed counting party-list votes Monday, May 20, after it suspended its party-list canvass a day after the polls.

This, after several questions had been raised over the inclusion of votes for 12 groups earlier disqualified by Comelec.

The party-list count was supposed to have been conducted simultaneously with the canvass of votes for the senatorial elections.

The poll body however went ahead with the Senate count, proclaiming winners partially as early as three days after the polls.

It completed the list of 12 winning Senate bets Saturday.


Meet PH's Poorest Congressman


By  | Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom


Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano remained the poorest congressman in the 15th Congress, a document from the House of Representatives showed.

Mariano was ranked last in terms of in a list summarizing all the statement of assets, liabilities, and networth (SALN) congressmen filed for the year 2012.

The veteran party-list lawmaker only had P92,507 in net worth as of December 2012, which included P67,507 in the bank and his clothes, which he valued at P25,000.

His current assets, though seemingly a drop in the bucket placed alongside his richest colleagues, actually doubled from the P46,946 he reported in 2011.

Mariano, who did not list any liabilities in his last two SALNs, has been in Congress since 2004, representing Anakpawis, the electoral wing of Kilusang Mayo Uno.

Following Mariano is the list of poorest House members was South Cotabato Rep. Daisy Avance-Fuentes whose net worth stood at P118,000.

Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino's P205,000 net worth meanwhile made him the congressman with third least amount of wealth as of December 2012.

Also among the poorest House members in 2012 are:

4. Akbayan party-list Rep. Arlene "Kaka" Bag-ao  with P230,788
5. Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro "Teddy" Casino, P446,389.95
6. Kalinga party-list Rep. Abigail Faye Ferriol, P501,951
7. Bulacan Rep. Joselito "Jon-Jon" Mendoza, P850,000
8. COOP NATCO party-list Rep. Cresente Paez, P1.2 million.
9. Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Emmerenciana De Jesus with P1.24 million
10.  Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, P1.29 million