eBay is asking all its members to change their passwords following a cyberattack. By Dale G. Israel

In a message to all its registered users, the online shopping site has discovered a cyberattack "on our corporate information network." "This attack compromised a database containing eBay user passwords," the eBay statement read via email. "To help ensure customers' trust and security on eBay, I am asking all eBay users to change their passwords," said Devin Wenig, President of eBay Marketplaces. However, Wenig said that they are yet to determine if any financial information from all users have been compromised especially that the passwords were left encrypted during the attack. As a safety measure however, eBay still calls on their users to change their passwords. "If you changed your password on May 21 or later, we do not need you to take any additional action at this time" "Changing your password may be inconvenient. I realize that. We are doing everything we can to protect your data and changing your password is an extra precautionary step, in addition to the other security measures we have in place," explained Wenig in the same statement. Wenig also said that it may be necessary to change passwords of other sites used within eBay like Paypal especially if they are the same. 

by Dale G. Israel



May 27, 2014 at 08:55PM

from Facebook

via IFTTTfrom Facebook

via IFTTT

lone Pinoy winter games athlete gets the spotlight from US media-giant NBC

Being the lone athlete from the Philippines, Michael Christian Martinez gets the attention of the Olympics' US media-partner NBC. The article described Martinez as making history partly because it will be the first time the Philippines (a tropical country) will be sending a contender in figure skating. It's interesting to note also that the story on the NBC website mentioned how the mall ice skating rinks are a key factor for developing figure skating here.

  "olympic dreams started from an air-conditioned mall in humid manila"

Here's the story as published at NBCOlympics.Com:

SOCHI, RUSSIA – Taped to a red training coat with a not-be-seen logo underneath it, a small laminated plastic flag of the Philippines is placed squarely on the chest of figure skater Michael Christian Martinez, the country’s first Winter Olympian in two decades.

The 17-year-old Filipino who trains in Los Angeles and has a Russian coach is also the Philippines lone representative here, making his Olympic debut and becoming the first-ever figure skater to represent any Southeast Asian country.

RELATED: Understanding the team event

“It feels great that I'm here representing the Philippines at the Olympics,” Martinez told NBCOlympics.com in an interview Wednesday. “There is a lot of pressure on me because not only am I skating for my country, but for all the hard work I've put in the last four years.”

Olympic dreams start all over the world each and every day. For Martinez, it was in an air-conditioned shopping mall in humid Manila at the age of nine.

“I saw skaters doing jumps and spins on the rink at the mall,” the teenager remembered. “After the first time I tried it I loved the sport already.”

- See more at: http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/michael-christian-martinez-figure-skater-philippines-makes-olympic-history#sthash.vt4faDJv.dpuf

Waka Waka brings lights to Northern Cebu

What in the world is a Waka-Waka solar lamp? Catchy name. But more than what's in a name, these solar lamps have definitely helped those that were rebuilding their lives from the destruction brought about by the Super Typhoon Yolanda. Here's an article shared through email by our friends from the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation about the "waka-waka" LED lights.

"In partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) distributed 2,500 WakaWaka solar lamps in northern Cebu to temporarily light the homes of survivors who still have no access to electricity last Jan. 28.

Nearly three months after super typhoon Yolanda ravaged northern Cebu, many survivors are living with fuel-powered lamps or candles at home. The typhoon toppled most of the electrical posts.

That is why the beneficiaries in the towns of Tabogon, Medellin, Madridejos, and Daanbantayan were grateful, as they can now light up their homes, especially during night time. They found the lamps useful, as the solar-powered lamps can be used up 16 to 100 hours or good for five days.

Because the lamps have solar panels, they can be charged during the day by exposure to sunlight and can then be used at night. With its multi-purpose cables, the WakaWaka lamps also serves as universal charger of cellular phones, ensuring that people could still have power to make emergency calls even when electricity is down.

IRC, an organization created upon the request of Albert Einstein, also gave blankets, jerry cans, and mats, which RAFI used to complement the shelter kits that funded by funded by Caritas Germany.

Since its founding in 1933, the IRC has responded to nearly every major global humanitarian crisis, helping millions of people.  Its main office is in New York, but it also has offices in Washington DC, London, Brussels, Geneva, Bangkok, and Nairobi.

It chose RAFI as partner when it came to the Philippines to help in humanitarian efforts for supertyphoon Yolanda survivors. 

The WakaWaka lamp has solar panels on one side that stores heat energy from the sun that later on powers its LED lamp. Its multi-purpose cables, the lamp also serves as universal cellular phone charger."

First Post (but not new to blogging though) :)

I will be posting here several news stories that I got from my various news coverages, accounts of people I encounter daily and the gadgets and apps I use in the course of my work at work in the Newsroom.


I have several blogs before like the one on wordpress and the now-defunct multiply. Now, I am trying to consolidate these accounts as well as with my Facebook page, Twitter account and other social networking sites.

That's it for now and you will be hearing more from me in awhile. Feel free to roam around my site.Hopefully, I can make this site informative for everyone.

This is Dale G. Israel, Senior Reporter of Cebu Daily News and this is my personal blog.


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