happy bday tserman

a dear friend

a loving son

a spiritual leader

a good husband

a cheerful colleague

a loyal employee

a helping soul

a gma-7 fan

a gadget techie

an FB newbie

a DS luminary

a chat addict

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAOUL!!!

adiks sa mazby

lunch-out kahapon ang mga adik courtesy of ricky. kumpleto ang grupo na nag-pose pa sa harap ng resto. here's a few pics courtesy of matt...

(back row) raoul, irwin, vayren, norman, james and ricky

(front) ega, ariel, me, marco, bong, junc and mark

si matt ang nasa camera

get rich

forbes looked into the common attributes of the uber-rich and found 5 interesting facts. here's what they found, check out if you're cut to be a billionaire too...

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A recipe for Riches by Duncan Green

Want to become a tech titan or hedge fund tycoon? Up your chances by dropping out of college or going to Harvard and working at Goldman Sachs. Are billionaires born or made? What are the common attributes among the uber-wealthy? Are there any true secrets of the self-made?

We get these questions a lot, and decided it was time to go beyond the broad answers of smarts, ambition and luck by sorting through our database of wealthy individuals in search of bona fide trends. We analyzed everything from entrepreneurs' parents' professions to where they went to school, their track records in the early stages of their careers and other experiences that may have set them on the path to extreme wealth.

Our admittedly unscientific study of the self-made members of the Forbes 400 yielded some interesting results.

First, a significant percentage of them had parents with a high aptitude for math. The ability to crunch numbers is crucial to becoming a billionaire, and mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of Forbes 400 members (for whom we could find the information) were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.

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Consistent with the rest of the population, more American billionaires and near-billionaires were born in the fall than in any other season. However, relatively few of them were born in December, historically the month with the eighth-highest birth rate.

Of the 274 self-made tycoons on the Forbes 400, 14% either never started or never completed college. The number of precocious college dropouts is highest among those who forged careers as technology entrepreneurs: Bill Gates of Microsoft (MSFT), Steve Jobs of Apple (AAPL), Michael Dell of Dell (DELL), Larry Ellison of Oracle (ORCL) and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.

Forbes 400 members who derive their fortunes from finance make up one of the most highly educated sub-groups: half of them have graduate degrees. Roughly 70% of those with M.B.A.s obtained their master's degrees from one of three Ivy League schools: Harvard, Columbia or the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

Goldman Sachs (GS) has attracted a large share of hungry minds that went on to garner 10-figure fortunes. At least 11 current and recent billionaire financiers worked at Goldman or one of it subsidiaries early in their careers, including Edward Lampert, David Tepper, Daniel Och and Leon Cooperman.

Several Forbes 400 members suffered bitter professional setbacks early in their careers that heightened their fear of failure. Pharmaceutical tycoon R.J. Kirk's first venture was a flop--an experience he regrets but appreciates. "Failure early on is a necessary condition for success, though not a sufficient one," he told Forbes in 2007.

According to a statement read by Phil Falcone during a congressional hearing in November 2008, his botched buyout of a company in Newark, N.J., in the early 1990s taught him "several valuable lessons that have had a profound impact upon my success as a hedge fund manager."

Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, and FedEx (FDX) founder Frederick Smith.

Parents Had Math-Related Careers
The ability to crunch numbers is typically a key to becoming a billionaire. Often, mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires for whom we could find that information were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.

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September Birthdays
Of the 380 self-made American tycoons who have appeared on the Forbes list of the World's Billionaires in the past three years, 42 were born in September--more than in any other month.

Tech Titans Who Dropped Out of College
Forget everything your guidance counselor told you: You don't have to go to college to be successful. Close to 15% of the self-made American moguls on the Forbes 400 never finished college. Many of the list's drop-outs made their fortunes in tech, including Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Michael Dell (Dell), Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook).

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Skull and Bones
Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman and FedEx founder Frederick Smith.

Goldman Sachs
A stint at investment bank Goldman Sachs is a prime credential for achieving greatness on Wall Street. Of the 61 tycoons on our list who derive their fortunes from finance, at least six cut their teeth in Goldman's investment banking, trading, or asset management divisions. The company's crown jewel: its "risk arbitrage" unit, which launched the careers of billionaires Edward Lampert and Daniel Och, as well as former billionaires Tom Steyer and Richard Perry

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/107927/a-recipe-for-riches.html?mod=career-leadership

the real spidey

here's the latest stunt of alain robert, the french spiderman. he climbed a 33-floor skyscraper (approx 152m) in paris as usual, with his bare hands (and feet).

actually it looked like a simple warm-up for this guy. maybe he's just practicing his skills for something more grand. afterall, he's already conquered a lot of tall buildings including the grand dame, the petronoas towers in kuala lumpur.

here's spiderman sans harness and camera tricks...

hotnothot 18

Hotnot: Typhoon Parma (local code: Pepeng) still wreaking havoc in the already heavily battered Philippines. As of the latest report, more than 160 died from landslides in the northern provinces of Benguet and Mountain Province. Let’s pray for our kabayans. And let’s pray for God’s mercy in this very worrying times.

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Hothot: Barrack Obama winning the 2009 nobel peace prize. Yup, the charismatic president who’s barely 9 months in his office was given one of the most prestigious awards for two reasons: his ‘reaching out’ to the muslim community and his attempts to curb nuclear proliferation. The announcement was met with a bit of controversy. Some sectors were not happy and expressed doubt coz according to them, Obama is yet to produce results in his various initiatives. I say these people just reiterate the fact that anywhere, sore losers abound.

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Hotnot: The Pope issuing a biting statement about the Philippine government. He says the Philippines needs upright leaders. Tantamount to saying that the current government is nothing but. A huge slap on the faces of the only Christian nation this side of the world. But a very timely wakeup call. We should make a banner for this come election time to remind everyone to choose the next President with much wisdom. http://www.abante-tonite.com/issue/oct0909/news_story5.htm

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Hothot: Windows 7, to be released Oct 22, said to be better than Vista. Where Vista is sluggish, Windows 7 is said to be offering a whole lot of features designed to make us, users, forget the frustrations and high blood pressure we got from Vista. One thing I’m looking forward to is its built-in touch-screen feature. Man, that would be so cool. Read more from the link below. http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/107925/a-windows-to-help-you-forget?mod=career-worklife_balance

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Hothot: The floating houses of Amsterdam. Being one of the cities continually battling it out with the rising water level, Amsterdam came up with a house that will survive any flood. And probably earthquakes too coz they’re not anchored to the ground. If climate change remained unchecked, I think this is what houses around the world will look like. Something like the ‘waterworld’ Kevin Costner tried to depict in his mega-flop 1995 movie.

sabi me... #1

We all have these nuggets of wisdom na nakatago sa ating mga kamalayan. Ito yong mga bumubuo ng paniniwala natin at prinsipyo sa buhay. Kelan lang, sumikat si Bob Ong sa email dahil sa kanyang mga one-liners. Mga nakakatawa yet very true na pananaw sa buhay.

But since may kanya-kanya tayong ideas at paniniwala, I thought of doing my own version. I-share ko lang sa inyo yong mga mumunting pamimilosopo ko. I’ll be doing this in installment para may time kayo to digress and tell me how stupid, twisted, jaded or ridiculous my ideas might be. Ito po ang unang installment:

On Opportunities:
Sabi nila, when a door closes, a window opens daw. Sa akin naman, tingnan mo mabuti yong bintana bago ka mangalakyat. Baka naka-grills. Or kung nakasara ang pinto, i-check mong mabuti baka hindi naka-lock. Laki mong engot kung hindi mo man lang tinulak.

On Life:
Alam mo ba kung bakit puno ng hirap at drama ang buhay? Kasi umpisa pa lang pina-iyak na tayo. Di ba paglabas natin sa ating mga nanay, tinampal na tayo agad para umiyak. Bakit hindi na lang tayo kiniliti. That way baka mas masaya pa ang buhay.

On Love:
Kung gusto ka rin ng gusto mo, swerte ka. Kung gusto mo naman at hindi ka gusto, swerte ka pa rin. Makakapili ka pa ng mas maganda/gwapo at mas mapagmahal. Dami kaya dyan. 94 million na ang populasyon Pilipinas pa lang kaya move on agad!

real survivor

Just a day after Ketsana battered various parts of Metro Manila killing a few hundreds of my kabayans, dumiretso ito sa Vietnam at ilang Vietnamese din ang pinatay. Oras lang ang pagitan, isang tsunami naman ang tumama sa Samoan islands kung saan marami ding namatay. Almost simultaneously, a killer quake hit Sumatra which has the biggest casualty (estimated at around 1,000 last night). Kahapon naman, flooding and landslide hit a small town in Sicily. Ano na bang nangyayari sa ating mundo?

Habang pinapanood ko ang mga balita tungkol sa mga kalamidad na ito, hindi maiwasang tumakbo na naman ang utak ko. Let me share some of my random thoughts about these events.

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Medyo mababaw:

- Marami siguro sa binahang kababayan natin ang nag-iisip na kung sa mataas na lugar tulad ng Sicily sila nakatira, hindi sila aabutin ng baha. Marami naman sa mga taga-Sicily, siguro nag-iisip na kung sa may beach lang sila nakatira tulad ng beaches sa Samoa, walang landslide. Pero ang mga taga-Samoa siguro, iniisip na mas mabuti pang sa city na lang sila nakatira, sa condo tulad ng sa Sumatra para hindi abutin ng tsunami. Samantalang ang mga taga-Sumatra nag-iisip na kung sa isang mababang bahay sila nakatira, something like yong mga bahay sa Marikina, ligtas naman sila sa lindol. Ironic di ba.

Medyo malalim:

- Ang daming nega sa mga tumutulong lalo na pag celebrity o pulitiko. Talaga naman kasing nakakainis pag masyadong obvious na umeepal lang. Pero kung ako naman ang nasa evacuation center, wala akong paki kung totoo sa puso mo ang pagtulong o nagpapapogi ka lang. Ikaw ang may alam sa totoong dahilan ng pagtulong na ginagawa mo. And you’re the one going to go to bed with it.

- May nakita akong report ng isang lalaki na after ng baha at bagyo, naghalungkat ng basura para kumita ng pera (24 Oras, Thursday, 01 Oct 09 report). Kumita sya ng halos 1,000 pesos na pinangbili nya ng pagkain ng kanyang pamilya. Bilib ako sa kanya. Tinulungan nya ang kanyang sarili instead na mag-ngangawa sa paghihintay ng tulong ng kung sinong pulitiko.

Eto talagang malalim:

- Some call these calamities ‘acts of God’. Parang sa akin hindi ko kayang sabihin yon. Coz I know the God that I believe in is not killing his people senselessly. Bakit hindi na lang natin tanggapin na parte ito ng balance of nature. At parte din ng circle of life. We should all understand that there is one grand scheme na hindi natin kayang unawain dahil ang utak at pang-unawa natin is too miniscule to fathom the wisdom of God.

- Pag may ganitong mga pangyayari, very common maririnig natin, pinaparusahan daw ng Diyos ang mga tao dahil sa mga kasalanan. Again, bakit ang Diyos ang ituturo? Aren’t we the bigger part of the problem? Na kung hindi inaabuso, pinakialaman at dinadapurak ng tao ang maraming bagay sa mundo, hindi masisira ang magandang balance nito? Example na lang ang missile testing. Most of these testing is done underground. Imagine the destruction it brings to the intricate layers of earth that, when disturbed, causes movements of plates. Tapos ituturo natin ang Diyos pag may lindol? Kung hindi ba naman tayo isang bulto ng mga ingrato.

Eniweys, nuf said. Let’s just be thankful that Pepeng didn’t hammer us as hard as it can. At sana wala nang susunod pang mas matindi. Let us pray that people will be given enough chance to restart their lives. Hindi biro ang kakaharapin nilang challenge. This is Survivor, real life edition.