Category Archives: Business

Business, International, Politics, Uncategorized

WORLD BANK WITHDRAWS PHILIPPINES’ ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST

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011712_WorldbankWashington, D.C. – Hours after The World Bank predicted a 7% economic growth for the Philippines,  the international monetary body withdrew its forecast, saying that interns committed an embarrassing data error. The earlier prediction would have made the Philippines a standout as the bank cut its projections for most of the rest of Asia.  The bank attributed the Philippine growth forecast to increased infrastructure spending, consumer spending, remittances and business process outsourcing.

Background: Makati skyline; foreground: slums by the Pasig River
Background: Makati skyline; foreground: slums by the Pasig River

In withdrawing the forecast, World Bank officials said that interns working at the bank’s Washington, D.C. headquarters misinterpreted some of the data they were reviewing.  “They thought they were looking at financial data when in fact, they were reviewing the Philippines’ population growth rate,” they said.

Economic experts familiar with the actual situation in the Philippines have been skeptical of the investment-grade rating received by the country from Moody’s Investment Service,  Fitch Ratings, and Standard & Poor in recent months, as they have with The World Bank’s forecast. “The ratings and forecast are simply not consistent with the ever-increasing gap between the rich and poor in this country of almost 100 million,  as well as the massive political corruption and financial scandals that have pervaded many levels of the Philippine government,” the experts said.

Business, Politics

FACEBOOK, GOOGLE, TWITTER THREATEN TO SHUT DOWN

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imageSilicon Valley, California – As the government shutdown enters its second day — thanks to the stubborn Republicans and Tea Partiers in the U.S. Congress — three of the country’s social media giants threatened to go into their own shutdown unless the Legislature gets its act together soon.

Facebook, Google and Twitter issued a joint statement today saying that unless Congress passes a bill to reverse the government shutdown that went into effect yesterday, the social networking sites will also shut down their operations, essentially creating a total black screen on smart phones, tablets and computers.

Washington politicians know that  the shutting down of Facebook, Google and Twitter will  enrage millions of Americans who are already addicted to the social networks, and would, in effect, derail their chances of winning in next year’s midterm elections.

Facebook , Google and Twitter have given Congess until midnight tomorrow night to put up  or shut up. The companies are urging their customers to inundate the phones, Facebook  and Twitter pages, and web sites of their legislators  with text messages and posts to pressure them to pass legislation that would put the government back in operation.

None of the Relublican leaders could be reached for comment because they all had left the  Capitol early for happy hour in Washington, D.C. bars which were uncharacteristically empty tonight.

Business, Technology

APPLE TO DUMP “AUTOCORRECT”

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imageCupertino, California – Facing mounting criticism for the autocorrect feature of its smart phones and tablets, Apple today announced that it will be issuing an update to its iOS 7 that will virtually eliminate the much ridiculed feature which has embarassed a lot of people and cost them their personal relationships.

In place of autocorrect, iOS 7-C  will feature an automatic copy editor that will correct spelling and grammatical errors on social media.

Netizens have long been annoyed by grammatical errors on posts, texts and other Internet messages, so this iOS update is definitely a welcome relief.

Apple will employ copyeditors at its Cupertino headquarters to secretly monitor all posts and messages from its customers. These “live” persons will flag any grammatical errors and correct them in real time.  Apple has reportedly hired hundreds of copy editors who were fired or laid off from newspapers and other media outlets  as a result of downsizing, mergers and bankruptcies.

Examples of grammatical errors that will disappear from social media are the misuse of words like “It’s and Its,” “There, They’re and Their,” “Affect and Effect,” “Lie and Lay.”

“Social media will also see a vast improvement in the use of commas, apostrophes, quotation marks, among others,” Apple said.