Yahoo! Philippines Answers blog

I’m sure this is not news anymore for most of us but just so everybody knows, this coming December 6, 2008 our very own Manny “the Pac-Man” Pacquiao is set to meet “the Goldenboy” Oscar dela Hoya in a match dubbed “Dream Match” at the shining MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Not only will the fight be a Dream Match for Manny but it will be a dreamy evening for singer-actress Karylle, who was handpicked by the Pac-Man to sing the Philippine National Anthem before an anticipated sellout crowd.  Karylle will be wearing an Albert Figueras creation.  Here are the details of her gown:

New York-based Figueras will create a stunning wine-red Filipiniana terno for the statuesque singer. The basic gown, cut in a serpentine line with a heart-shaped neckline for the bodice, will be draped with checkered dupione silk. It will have a silk tapis woven with a checkered pattern of lines in a cacophony of colors of lively red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, and pink; superimposed on paisley and royal blue acanthus leaves outlined with Mutzumo cut beads, and glass beads with hologram of flat sequins. The tapis will take on a new look by way of embroidery and beadwork embellishments giving it a scalloped finish.

“The terno manga likewise would echo the ornamentation of the tapis,” says Figueras. The terno will be sans the usual panuelo, which is accustomed to traditional dresses and gowns. The bodice will be accented with Swarovski crystals to give more emphasis on the heart-shaped neckline, and low-cut back.

Figueras adds, “Karylle will sashay in the arena with a pair of shoes of the same material and pattern of the tapis. The total look would be that of sophistication, and understated theatricality.

Some more trivia for everyone, interestingly, Karylle is a boxing and kickboxing enthusiast herself.  And her grandfather, Carlos “Sonny” Padilla, Jr., even refereed the historic boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier dubbed “Thrilla in Manila” held in 1975.  Many thanks to Oliver for sharing this news!  Now there’s 2 things to look forward to this coming December 6 – Karylle’s rendition of the Pambansang Awit (wearing the Figueras terno) and Pacquiao winning the match against dela Hoya.

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Photo by  Amsk

You have no idea how happy I am to announce that Answers is up again after undergoing the second part of essential maintenance.  As mentioned in a prior post, the work was essential and will make Answers stronger and healthier from now on!  So from this day onwards it’s up, up and away!  Many thanks for your patience and understanding.

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Hi everyone, the planned maintenance and outage yesterday was moved today, November 21, again around 4:30pm and lasting for a few hours.  This is the second of the two planned outages and will conclude the scheduled maintenance for the immediate future.  If there is any change to this schedule, I will update everyone ASAP through this blog.  Again, thanks for understanding.

In the meantime, do check out the details on the planned YAPpers Christmas activity, aptly dubbed “YAPPasko 2008″.  To those who expressed their willingness to support this worthwhile activity, kindly email me (jonasdelosreyes [at] yahoo [dot] com) how you intend to do so (through your attendance, through cash or kind) because the YAPPers will start buying the gifts this weekend.  To those who just found out about this, your support and donations are very much welcome!

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(Photo by Stitch)

I’m so happy to announce that that the site is back after undergoing essential maintenance.  I apologize if we have to deprive you of Answers for a few hours (hehehe, Answers addicts!) but trust me when I say the work was essential and will make Answers stronger and healthier from now on.

As announced earlier, there will be another planned outage this Thursday, November 20 starting at 4:30 pm to 9:00 pm (more or less).  This will conclude the planned maintenance for the immediate future but rest assured after this maintenance, the site will look just the same as it did before and should help it avoid future downtime.

Again, many thanks everyone!

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Photo by Amsk

Actually, our engineers will be performing regular maintenance on Yahoo! Answers this Tuesday (Nov. 18) and Thursday (Nov. 20), 4:30pm.  Please expect the work to last for about 3 and a half hours which means during that time, Answers will be totally inaccessible.

We are so sorry for the inconvenience caused but no worries, I’ll keep you posted should there be any changes to the schedule.  In the meantime, do stick around longer to read the other posts here, specifically:

• meet our Knowledge Partner, Spot.ph
• discover the many ways you can get in touch with us in Answers
• be part of YAPPasko 2008!

Thanks everyone!

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I am obviously an 80’s kid judging by that title but of course, I’m not referring to ghosts but basically, what I want to talk about right now is the various ways you can communicate with us in Yahoo! Answers and where you can find more information about Answers.

Let me start with the basics.  The Community Guidelines and the Terms of Service are two fundamental documents in which all the guidelines that rule Answers are written.  You can find a link to these at the bottom of all Yahoo! Answers pages.

If you are about to post something, but are not sure whether it violates the Community Guidelines, you have a handy link at the bottom of the page where you can double check.

What about appeals?  If your content has been deleted and, after reading the Community Guidelines and the Terms of Service you still feel it was a mistake, you just need to click on the link “appeal” that appears on the notification email and explain to us the reasons why you think the content should not have been taken down.  Rest assured that your appeal will be reviewed.

Questions about Answers.  If you don’t know how to do something within Answers, you can always check out the help pages: http://help.yahoo.com/l/ph/yahoo/answers/.  Here you can find info regarding how to use Answers and its various features.  Just browse the categories to find what you are looking for.

If you cannot find an answer to your question in the Help pages, then trying checking out the Forums.  This category was especially created for you so you can ask the community about things you don’t know how to do.  As you know by now, the community is always happy to help and the most experienced members are eager to share their knowledge.

Be the first to know!  And you can do that by regularly checking the Answers blog.  Here you will find the latest news, tips, events, and other interesting stuff from and about the Answers Community.  Make sure you subscribe to the RSS feeds so you’ll always be on the know and be updated on my latest posts!

Feedback.  Of course we haven’t forgotten that.  If you need to give us feedback about anything Answers related, you can always leave a comment here in the blog (really appreciate the regular community members who leave a comment in my posts), you also go to the Forum to do that, or fill in the feedback form that you will find at the bottom of each page.  We will be happy to hear from you and look forward to your ideas on how to improve Answers.

Now you know who you gonna call.   If you have any comment that you wish to tell us, feel free to share it to us after this post, many thanks!

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Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment and emailed me regarding their support of YAPPasko 2008 and their willingness to contribute to this charitable endeavor!  This event is spearheaded by the YAPpers and we’re here to support the community and join in this noble cause.

As promised in my earlier post, here are the details on the upcoming YAPPasko 2008:

Who: YAPpers (short for all Pinoy community members of Yahoo! Answers!)
What: YAPPasko 2008
When: December 13, 2008, Saturday
Where: Cottolengo Filipino Orphanage in Montalban, Rizal

For everyone’s info, the Cottolengo Filipino Orphanage is a non-stock, non-profit religious and non-government organization licensed and accredited by the DSWD and is owned and managed by the Sons of Divine Providence Congregation.  Their mission is to give special children a home to live and the possibility to be rehabilitated.  In short, they take care of physically and mentally disabled children.  Right now, there are 40 orphan boys living in the center and they also help out 45 poor disabled children in the nearby community.  All of these children receive free special education and basic medical assistance in this orphanage.

What we all need to do right now are two things:

1. Raise Awareness

Spread the word to your fellow Pinoy Answers user about upcoming YAPPasko through your blog, email, text or simply word-of-mouth.  Let’s get as many people involved as possible because volunteers who will be buying the gifts, wrapping them and joining the community to visit the kids on Dec. 13 are surely needed.  This will be an excellent opportunity for the community to meet each other, get to know one another and extend the bond of friendship offline, while we all do something for a worthy cause.

2. Raise Funds

Aside from your presence, the YAPpers will be needing donations that will be given to the kids of the Cottolengo Orphanage.  If you plan to give in kind, donations like clothes, books and educational kid-friendly toys will be much appreciated!  If you wish to give cash (ideal if you’re based abroad), I can email you the details of the bank account.  The money will be used to buy more gifts for the kids and food for the party (although I’m hoping to help get a sponsor for the food) and hopefully, if there’s enough, allow us to donate a brand new computer for the orphanage.

If you’re willing to be part of all of this goodwill, whether as a volunteer or someone who wish to donate (or both), please email me at jonasdelosreyes [at] yahoo [dot[ com and I’ll send you further details regarding the outreach immediately.  Feel free to leave a comment as well if there’s anything else you want to share to me and the community.  Thank you very much!

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Christmas is just around the corner and as the countdown to the big day draws near (we’re 44 days away as of today), what comes to mind right now is Christmas shopping!  The best advice you can get when it comes to Christmas shopping is to start early so you can avoid the Christmas rush and be able to save time and money.  If you’re on the lookout for a sale then here’s some good news!  There’s one coming up this weekend – the TriNoma Green Light Sale!

For everyone’s information, TriNoma is one of the Ayala Mall’s newest malls located in Quezon City, at the end of the MRT northbound line, specifically the North Avenue station (as answered by stfu to Dorcas P).  The sale happens on November 13 to 16, Thursday to Sunday, with discounts of up to 70% off on selected items!  The usual mall hours are 10am to 10pm on Friday and Saturday and 10am to 9pm on Sunday until Thursday (thanks for answering this Venice!) however you can shop until 12midnight on November 14 and 15 (it’s a sale on a weekend so you get more time to shop, hehehe).  I heard they’re giving out freebies to all shopaholics in the mall (click here to find out how) so do check it out!

If you’re dropping by there anytime soon, may I suggest you check out the different food establishments in the mall because they offer a variety of restos that serve really delicious and sumptuous meals!  As valkyrieace99 shares to beegeesoldao, regardless of your budget you’ll find an excellent restaurant that will cater to your taste.  Hope this helps you out, enjoy shopping!  Oh, but don’t spend too much money, save some for the YAPpers Christmas Community Outreach!  More on that on the next post.

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One of the things that characterize Pinoys is our love for food.  There’s no doubt about it, we love to eat!  Whether it’s a home-cooked meal, a sidewalk vendor’s tasty street food or in a posh, trendy restaurant, it doesn’t matter, Filipinos simply have a love affair with food (and by that I mean good, tasty food).

That’s why it’s no coincidence that our first ever Knowledge Partner here in Yahoo! Philippines Answers is Spot.ph!  Before I further introduce Spot.ph, allow me to give everyone a short heads up on the Yahoo! Answers Knowledge Partners program.  It’s basically a way for businesses to share their professional knowledge with Yahoo! Answers users by answering questions in its specialized field.  They are not commercial sponsorships and are also held to the same guidelines and standards as all Yahoo! Answers users.  They are here to bring their knowledge and experience to Yahoo! Answers, and provide a valuable contribution to our community.

And to food-loving Pinoys, I’m sure Spot.ph’s contribution will definitely be valued.  Spot.ph is an eating, drinking and going out online guide that’s proudly Pinoy. Their goal is to make city living easier by helping users find the cool places to dine, chill and play.  Their service enables community members to give each other the most accurate and current reviews on different establishments.  Spot.ph is a knowledge-sharing service as well and the great thing is they’re here to share their expertise to the Answers community!

You can check out their Answers profile through this link.  It has just been one day and already two of the questions they answered got the best answer!  Sekaputoseka asked if the Longrain Restaurant in Rockwell Center, Makati is still open and Spot.ph informed her that it’s already closed but in its place is a place that actually boasts of a spin-off of its original menu – Wild Ginger Restaurant.  In another question, Fel asked what’s the best vegetarian resto in Metro Manila and Spot.ph shared some really good recommendations – Cyma and Bodhi Café.

That’s a great start and we all are looking forward to more great answers in the Dining Out and Food & Drink categories from Spot.ph!  Expect some questions from them as well as they will be engaging and connecting with the rest of the Pinoy Answers community in more ways than one.  So without further ado, help me welcome to Answers Spot.ph!

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It’s official.  US Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama has just been declared the 44th President of the United States, defeating Republican John McCain and becoming the first African-American to hold America’s highest office.

Our very own House Speaker Prospero Nograles has just expressed his congratulations to newly-elect US President Obama and sees an improvement in RP-US relations noting that many Filipino-Americans have supported Obama.  Our news editor also recently posed a question to the Pinoy community and asked them, “Do you think the Philippines’ relationship with the US will change now that Barack Obama is President? Why?”  Please feel free to share your views on this important Pinoy issue in light of the recent events in US politics.

Now, Yahoo! Philippines Answers does not endorse any one political viewpoint (both local and international) but we do recognize the fact that a new US President will surely bring leadership when America and the global economy needs it the most.

The great thing about the 2008 US Presidential elections is how much debate and discussion took place offline and online.  And fortunately for us here in Answers, both Barack Obama and John McCain used Answers as a platform to encourage knowledge sharing regarding their platforms and positions.

Barack Obama posed the question:

How can we engage more people in the democratic process?

The Best Answer, one of over 17,000 that “tremendously impressed” Obama, came from Rebecca W in CA. It began:

“As a parent of 2 teenage daughters, I hear the frustration they share with “rigged class elections, popularity vs. content, etc.” within their own peer elections. I worry that our youth is missing the truth and honor of “personal integrity” and need to learn democratic integrity first from their parents and then from public role models such as teachers, community leaders and elected officials.

The democratic process should begin in the home with active parenting; not passive or dictatorship styles. Active parenting provides a forum to share and to hear ideas, solutions, praise, criticism, etc. as well as an understanding that one’s ideas should always be heard, considered and respected, but not necessarily always taken. This foundation then naturally expands into school where teachers may mirror this type of democratic atmospheres. Additionally, I feel more demonstrative practice is needed within the school system in order for our youth to understand the democratic process on a personalized local level. Washington is far away; OUR community is right in front of us.”

Click here to read the rest of her answer.

John McCain posed the question:

What would you do to stop wasteful government spending in Washington?

The Best Answer one of over 16,700 replies, came from Suthern R:

“Reward federal agencies for coming in under budget and STOP punishing them for saving money. Right now, if a group in the federal government does not spend all the money allotted in the budget for that year, they lose the money and they are further punished by having their budget reduced by that amount the following year. This flawed practice only encourages them to spend any excess monies at the end of the fiscal year to avoid having that money taken away and not getting the same budget the following year.”

Click here to read the rest of his answer.

Now that the 2008 US presidential election is over, let’s all learn from this experience that knowledge-sharing, particularly asking and answering questions, is very important in helping the community in their decision on who best to choose to lead them.  When it’s our turn to vote for the next Philippine President, I hope we get to apply this as well.

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