Hostage Taking in Makati

Less than three months after the infamous hostage taking in Quirino Grandstand, Manila, Philippines, another hostage-taking is said to be happening now in Makati City, Philippines.

GMANews.tv reports that prior to the hostage-taking drama, the suspect allegedly shot at least two people along Evangelista Street, Brgy. Bangkal, Makati City.

After the shooting incident, the gunman fled to a nearby building and is said to have taken some people as hostages. As of the moment, police authorities have arrived in the area.

Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay (son of former Mayor and now Vice President Jejomar "Jojo" Binay) is also spotted in the area.

The injured victims are now being treated at the Ospital ng Makati.

Business Management Made Easy

Sometimes I couldn't help but envy my brother who has landed a very great job with a fat salary (and other perks to boot) as a Computer Programmer in one of the top emerging Call Center Stations in the city of Manila, Philippines.

He shares that though the work is much challenging and time-consuming, he enjoys doing Custom Application Development for their company, especially when he and his co-programmers are able to come up with good and simple solutions to complex business process problems that the company is experiencing.

Application Development Defined-

Application Development, or software development, pertains to a development of software product (involving the creation of computer programs), in a planned and structured process.

Due to the fast-paced introduction of various new technologies in computer programming, Computer Programmers now have lots of resources and means to create better applications. In fact, there are even ready-made application development programs that are available for use by business entities.

However, it is much better to have to hire (or employ) computer programmers that will customize applications suitable for the need of the company.

As a fine example, I used to work in a company that owns a chain of stores that offers Sporting Goods such as rubber shoes, jerseys, basketballs, volleyballs, apparels, etc. We purchase the items directly from big sports suppliers (like Adidas, Nike, Reebok) and store them in a warehouse located near the Main Office. Periodically, these sporting goods are transported to the various stores all over the country.

Due to the large volume of inventory movement, it is thus necessary that a good inventory process (or system) is in place. The management has decided to do away with the basic inventory system where we only use excel spreadsheet to track inventories. An employee was tasked to browse through the internet to check where to purchase a good inventory database system. He also joined in an application development forum and made discussions with members in order to get additional ideas.

After much research, it was determined that it is much better to hire computers programmers to customize the application /program that the company needs. This is because the program is custom-fit with the specific requirements that the we need.

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Custom Application Development, indeed, has become a necessary partner in making businesses easier to manage.

Do Gold Coins Still Exist?

The answer to the question is a reasounding Yes.

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The question was raised during our discussion of the popular Harry Potter book (and movie) series where wizards and witches are using gold 401K coins and silver coins when transacting business.

Although now, we are already using bills and coins in transacting, it is good to know and realize that French Gold are still existing, and even Gold IRA coins are still available in some parts of the world.

French Gold coins are, of course, very much known to historians because it dates back into the early centuries. Thus, we could boldly say that French Gold coins are a rare collectors' treat.

For those who are still unaware, IRA (for Gold IRA) referes to Individual Retirement Account. These are normally used by workers and employees as part of their investments.

Thus, we can indeed say that even though bills and other forms of moneys have already emerged as the primary form of business transaction, Gold coins are still existing and are still very much in demand, especially for people who use them as their investment. The fact that golds and jewels continue to appreciate and not depreciate still rings true today.

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Did you know?

An interesting fact about St. Gaudens Gold Coin.

According to history, St. Gaudens Gold Coins are named after one of America's well-known sculptors, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. It was then President Theodore Roosevelt who asked Saint-Gaudens to redesign America's coinage, and thus, the St. Gaudens double eagle coin emerged.

A Perfect Giveaway

A friend has emailed me a few days ago asking for my opinion on what would be a nice take-home giveaway for her mother's 70th birthday celebration.

I gave out two criteria to help her out. I said to her that we have to:

1. identify the types of visitors who will receive the giveaways;

2. determine the budget allocated per piece.

She said that most of the visitors would be her mother's friends and peers, and that we don't have a problem on the budget because her brother (who is in overseas worker) would take care of the costs.

I suggested to her that we may only opt to give giveaways to ladies (men don't make a fuss of giveaways and tokens, anyway).

I also told her about a wedding I attended about a year ago, where the couple chose Pashminas Shawls as giveaways to visitors. The giveaways are an instant hit to us because they are such an uncommon gifts in parties and events.

To those unfamiliar, a Pashmina Shawl is hand spun, woven, and embroidered in Kashmir, and made from fine cashmere fibre. People have to beware, however, because there are product imitations that use sub-standard materials, so needless to say, always ensure to buy Pashmina Shawls to suppliers who offer only the top-grade, quality checked Pashmina wraps.

A Shawl Pashmina will be a perfect giveaway on the birthday of my friend's mother. It may have to be a bit expensive; but it will definitely be an instant hit to the visitors.

Balakubak

It's nice to be back

For The Rainy Days

Have you ever noticed those seemingly excess materials that protrude outside vehicle mirrors? Well, many people might find them a bit excess design to our cars but actually, these materials do have great functions!

I found it out during our most recent trip to the countryside last May 2010 to visit our old folks. Apparently, the Sports Utility Vehicle, or SUV, that we are riding on does have these Rain Guards installed on the windows.

According to our driver, these Rain Guards, or Wind Deflectors are very much useful especially while you are traveling during windy or rainy weather conditions. Rain Guards ensure that excess raindrops are being blocked before they reach the windows, that's why it is very much helpful for drivers to still get a clear view outside the vehicle.

This was proven when we got back to the city because while we were travelling back to the city, a heavy rain has approached us in the expressway, and the rain guards proved to be very efficient in keeping a clear view from outside the vehicle. As we all know, travelling during bad weather conditions is a bit risky especially when you can't see clearly from outside.

Moreover, Rain Guards cut down excess wind and noise from outside the car, so basically, these additional accessories give lots and lots of functions for travellers.

So for frequent travellers, it is really most advisable to install rain guards or wind deflectors on our cars to ensure that our travel is safe and sound all year round- even during the rainy days.

How To Control The Crowd

It is the month of May and we are now getting ourselves busy in church in preparation for our International Missions Convention in July 2010. This year, we are targetting about 500 to 800 attendees who will participate in the conference.

One of the main preparations we are doing is how we can set-up an effective crowd control system during the participants' registration which will take place in the morning of the conference. Although there are some who are registering early via the internet, most of the participants are registering on the first day of the convention.

The initial idea is to set-up barricades that will help to control the flow of traffic. Of course, it has already been proven during our previous conferences that barricades greatly help in the traffic flow, so we would still be using the same on July.

Aside from that, a group member suggests that we use stanchions. Wikipedia defines stanchions as portable posts that help to manage lines or queues. We oftentimes see these on banks, payment centers, government agencies and food chains, and are actually very much effective in managing customer lines. Some examples are the retractable belt stanchions and the velvet ropes.

We can actually make a customized barricade or stanchions, however, we can also opt to purchase durable ones at stores and even purchase via the internet. After all, we will still be using these when we conduct other conference or conventions.