This news just came in. Google is now offering Google News for Philippines (http://news.google.com.ph), the first local Google News in Southeast Asia.
This addition is the 56th local edition of Google News.
Here’s a portion of the press release:
Philippines – September 17, 2008 – Google Inc. today launched Google News in the Philippines, providing 24 million Filipino Internet users the latest local news from more than 4,500 English-language sources, including a wide range of Philippines news outlets. The Philippines is the first country in Southeast Asia to get its own local edition of Google News. Google News for the Philippines is available at http://news.google.com.ph. With this launch there are now 56 regional editions of Google News available in 20 different languages
Local news organizations are encouraged to include their news article in Google News. For more information on how to include your news organization, please check the “Help for Publishers” page.
It was this morning that I read yesterday’s news paper issue. As I was browsing the Business section of the daily publication, I came across the article where it says a local University partners with an international company in providing a tool for online learning.
I got alarmed when I read the line that says that the University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu city is the first school in the Visayas and Mindanao to use an online collaborative tool for learning. According to the article, the university paired up with Microsoft’s Live@edu, a competitor of Google Apps for Education, in providing an online platform where students and faculty can access online services (for learning) with the use of a single e-mail account.
As far as I know, DCNHS in Davao City (Mindanao) started using Google Apps for Education one or two years ago. They have been using Google Apps for their email services, online calendars, document sharing and other functions which comes along with Google’s services. The claims of USJ-R to be the first to use an online collaborative tool for learning in the Visayas and Mindanao region is definitely a hoax.
I’m just hoping that the administrators of the said university will be aware that there are lots of other schools coming from Mindanao that have made use of these kinds of technologies for learning. It’s just that these schools were not given the opportunity to publicize their little achievements.
Two of my friends, Kuya Andrew and Kuya Blogie, who are both using OpenDNS and PLDT myDSL encountered an annoying problem this afternoon. PLDT myDSL subscribers who uses OpenDNS blocks their access to search engine sites like Google, Yahoo and MSN.
The odd thing about it is the presence of the PLDT myDSL logo below the Site Blocked message of OpenDNS.
