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Italy marks 78th “Festa della Repubblica”

06/06/2024

Italian ambassador to the Philippines Marco Clemente led the celebration of the 78th founding anniversary of the Republic of Italy last Monday, expressing his fond discovery of the country’s real wealth-its people. Ambassador Clemente concludes his more than 40 years of diplomatic stint, with the Philippines as his last posting. “The real wealth of this country is the Filipinos-whom I find to be amazing, hospitable, warm, and happy people,” said Clemente, adding, “and if I have to find one secret (to these traits), there is one word-Bayanihan- a sense of community which is something you must treasure.” June 2 is celebrated as Italian Republic Day, widely known as ‘Festa della Repubblica’ for Italians. The historical day commemorates the 1946 institutional referendum when Italians voted to establish a Republic instead of a monarchy. Ambassador Clemente said the referendum marks the celebration of democracy in Italy. “We celebrate a referendum-the very symbol of democracy.” Italy is home to more than 200,000 Filipinos. Undersecretary Charles Jose of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) joined the celebration and gave a speech together with Ambassador Clemente. H.E. Most Reverend Charles John Brown D.D. Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines was also present. The Italian National Day celebration in the Philippines marked a two-week festivity which included or will include 11 events: Italian Food Festival at Ayala Triangle Gardens (25-26 May 2024) Screening of the movie “Gianni Schicchi: a live opera in Tondo”(25-26 May, 1 and 7 June) “the Young Puccini” concert at Areté, Ateneo de Manila University Youth of Tondo Italian Talent Show, San Pablo Apostol Parish, 2279 Velasquez Street, Tondo (1 June) National Day Reception at Grand Hyatt Hotel (3 June) “The Philippines-Italy Friendship Cup 2024”, a friendly football game between the Under 19 National team of the Philippines and a selection of different nationalities at Rizal Memorial Stadium “Food Fiesta-Friends are Forever” with the community of the Servants of Charity of Quezon City (8 June) Giacomo Puccini’s “Messa di Gloria” at St. Agustin Church in Intramuros (9 June) This series is linked also with another Festival organized by the Embassy in Tondo starting from November 2023 and which included 8 events: 18 November 2023 – Fiesta con Gusto Italian Drama Theatre 8 December 2023 – Children’s Christmas Party 30 January 2024 – Workshop on Italian cuisine 3 February 2024 – Start of the 6-month Italian language course 23 March 2024 – Gianni Schicchi: live opera in Tondo 27 April 2024 – Sports Day 23 May 2024 – Italian theatre workshop 1 June 2024 – Italian Talent Show The Italian national day celebration concludes with the “Gianni Schicchi” performance screening at Greenbelt cinema on June 7, 2024 and Street Food Fiesta with the community of the Servants of Charity of Quezon City on June 8,2024 to be held in Pinkian road in Pasong Tamo, Tandang Sora. Church goers at San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila will also be treated with Giacomo Puccini’s “Messa di Gloria”: the musical performance and religious service on June 9, 2024.

2023 NBA playoffs: Tapatan ng Apat na Mahuhusay na Koponan

15/06/2023

ni Enzo Brillantes Hindi lihim na isang sobrang init na Eastern at Western Conference finals kung saan ang huling apat na pinakamahusay na koponan ay magtatapatan sa court. Gayunman, mahalagang tandaan na ang dalawa rito ay nakarating kamakailan sa dulo. Ang napapanahong usapin na ito ay naging laman din ng pananaliksik na isinagawa ng Capstone-Intel Corporation, isang private firm sa bansa na dedicated sa pagbibigay ng high-impact research na pinagtibay ng actionable intelligence. Bahagi ng kanilang pananaliksik na isinagawa nang isang buwan sa bansa at mula sa datos ng Facebook. Dito inilahad ang dami ng performance keywords mula sa bawat pangalan ng koponan ng NBA na nasa Finals mula sa Nuggets, Lakers, Heat at Celtics. Sa overall engagements score, pinakamataas ang nakuha ng Nuggets na may 83,395.2. Sumunod dito ang 65,995.3 para sa Lakers. Ang nakagugulat na bagay ay – mula sa aking pananaw – sa kabila ng pagiging pinakakilalang basketball team na Los Angeles Lakers sa buong mundo, mas maraming interaksyon kapag ang Denver Nuggets ang pinag-uusapan. Ito ay maaaring resulta ng pagsang-ayon ng lahat sa deklarasyon ni Nikola Jokic na kahit si LeBron James ay hindi mapigilan ang hindi maiiwasan. Ang Nuggets ay nangunguna sa listahan dahil sa kanilang sweep sa James-led Lakers na nagapi lamang ng isang hindi mapigilang Nikola Jokic at isang nakababaliw na second scoring option kay Jamal Murray. Si Murray, na inaasahan ang isang trade dahil sa kanyang mas mababang halaga na dulot ng injuries, ay sumabog para sa 32.5 PPG para sa buong serye. Si James, na halatang pagod sa pagtatapos ng Game 4, ay naglalaro pa rin sa world-class level sa edad na 38. Ang ilan ay nagtatalo na ang nakaraang serye (Lakers vs Warriors) ay ang tunay na NBA Finals dahil sa koneksyon ng Akron Curry-James. Walang alinlangan na babalik si Lebron, at umaasa ang mga tagahanga na lalaro siya kasama ang kanyang anak na si Bronny. Tinalo ng Miami Heat, na nakapasok bilang eighth seed, ang Boston Celtics sa Eastern Conference Finals. Si Tyler Herro, ang Sixth Man of the Year, ay wala dahil sa playoffs, ngunit pinasan ni Jimmy Butler ang kanyang koponan dahil iba lang ang pagkakagawa niya sa kanyang mga kapantay. Sa Eastern Conference Finals, ginapi ng Miami Heat ang Boston Celtics na nagmula sa 8th seed. Ang baraha sa playoff na si Jimmy Butler ay sadyang naiiba ang pagkakagawa sa kanyang mga kapantay at dinala ang kanyang koponan sa kanyang likuran sa kabila ng kawalan ng Sixth Man of the Year na si Tyler Herro. Para sa parehong mga koponan, ang mga hindi inaasahang manlalaro—na kilala rin bilang “Dark Horses”—ay umabante pa. Kabilang dito sina Caleb Martin, na umiskor ng 26 puntos sa Game 6 at Derrick White, na nagpalawig ng serye sa pamamagitan ng buzzer-beating 0.3-pointer. Ang Boston Celtics, na isang malakas na kalaban para sa NBA Championship matapos na maabot ang finals noong nakaraang taon, ay hindi inaasahang nakasunod sa koponan sa pangunguna ni Erik Spoelstra 0-3 sa serye. Ang mga koponan ay may 0-149 na rekord kapag nahaharap sa limitasyon na ito, at ang Boston Celtics ay nagdaragdag sa rekord na iyon ngayon sa klasikong paraan sa pamamagitan ng pagsakal sa bawat oras at pagbibigay ng parang roller-coaster na mga pagtatanghal. Ang pagganap nina Jayson Tatum at Jaylen Brown sa mga mahahalagang sandali ay naging paksa ng talakayan sa mga analyst at tagahanga. Ang mga istatistika ay nagsasalita para sa kanilang sarili, na si Brown ay gumawa ng 8 turnovers sa Game 7. Ayon pa sa eksperto na siya ay mas malala pa kaysa kay Russell Westbrook, na sikat sa pagiging clown ng lahat dahil sa kanyang hindi produktibo, pagkawala ng playstyle. Sa kanyang unang alpas sa Game 7 ay agad na nadale ni Tatum ang kanyang bukung-bukong at iyon ay lubhang nakapanghihina ng loob sa fans ng Boston, kung saan sila ay sumabog sa second half at ito ay malinaw na siya ay wala sa isang daang porsyentong lakas. Ang mga tao sa comment sections komento ay magkakaroon ng iba’t ibang dahilan kung bakit nawala ang Lakers at Celtics sa pakikipag-ugnayan at pagtatanggol sa kanilang sariling mga koponan hanggang sa punto ng maling akala na ang bawat isa ay may mainit na pakikitungo sa kanilang sarili. Ang tapatan ng Los Angeles Lakers at Nuggets sa Facebook live ay hahantong sa kasabay na 500,000+ live na manonood (kabilang ako rito), milyon-milyon kung ang isa ay magdadagdag ng livestreaming Facebook channels nang buo at mayroong humigit-kumulang 5 hanggang 10 komento na lumalabas bawat segundo sa bawat livestream. Gayunman, mapapansin na ang pakikipag-ugnayan na ito ay maaaring hindi malaman ng algorithm dahil sa Faceboos pages na agad na nagbubura ng mga naka-stream na laro dahil sa mga batas sa copyright upang maiwasang ma-Zucced. Iibahin din nila ang tono ng boses ng mga komentarista dahil sa kakayahang makita ng Meta.io bot ang naka-copyright na audio. Sa hindi mahuhulaan na mga natural ng sport, kung saan bumagsak na ang dynasties, at lahat ay may pagkakataong manalo sa chip, walang alinlangang naging kapana-panabik ang 2023 playoffs. Nalampasan ng Heat ang Milwaukee Bucks, ang 2021 NBA Champions, bago ang Knicks na si Jalen Brunson lamang ang mapagtitiwalaang opsyon sa pagmamarka dahil nakalimutan ni Julius Randle kung paano maglaro ng maayos na basketball ay nalampasan ng malalim na pag-ikot at star power ng Heat. Inaasahan ng mga tagasuporta ng Heat at Nuggets sa buong mundo, na umaasa at nagdarasal na manalo ang kanilang club, ang kapanapanabik na NBA finals. Hindi alintana kung sino, ang social media ay walang alinlangan na magtatakda ng isang firestorm para sa susunod na ilang, matinding araw. Naging mabangis ang 2023 playoffs dahil sa hindi malamang natural na galaw ng sports kung saan ang dynasties ay nagagapi ngayon, at lahat ay may pagkakataon na magwagi. Ang Milwaukee Bucks, na naging hari ng 2021 NBA Champions, ay nabigo sa first round ng Heat at sumunod ang Knicks, na nagkaroon lamang ng surefire scoring option kay Jalen Brunson dahil kay Julius Randle na nakalimot na maglaro nang

MrBeast wins because he’s the real deal

06/01/2023

Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast, is the biggest Youtuber in the world. Forbes estimates him to be valued at $500 million. Buying a 10 percent stake in his production company could cost an investor, based on MrBeast’s asking, as much as 150 million dollars, making him the first Youtuber to be worth a little over a billion and a half dollars. Market experts may agree with that value. MrBeast has over 126 million subscribers. Has been the top influencer in recent years. He won the 2022 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Social Media Star, and his sphere of influence has grown exponentially. The most viewed video from his main channel is his accurate recreation of the set of the movie Squid Game, which has accumulated 334 million views as of today. “I recreated every single set from Squid Game in real life, and whichever one of these 456 people survives the longest wins $456,000.”, Donaldson says at the beginning of the video, The production value was just astonishing, and so was the cost. He spent $3.5 million on the video. MrBeast brand expansion He has invested in other business ventures, including the MrBeast burger food chain, which has over 1700 virtual locations throughout the United States. He has sold more than a million burgers since it started. His first brick-and-mortar store opened at the American Dream Mall in New Jersey last year. On the store’s grand opening, they were visited by over 10000 people and served around 5000 burgers which is a record. He also has his chocolate brand called Feastables. It’s made out of natural cacao and has only five ingredients. Venture capitalists invested $5 million to start it. Immediately, he was able to sell $10 million of the product after his launch last year. The secret of the beast’s success His success has been attributed to countless hours of hard work and dedication. He started posting videos on Youtube when he was 13 years old. He’s been creating videos for over 10 years, and during the early part, he spent hours watching other people’s videos. He is learning as much as possible and using the accumulated knowledge to constantly improve his content. The first $10000 he earned, he gave away. He soon discovered that the more he shared his blessings, the easier it was for him to make more money. That’s how his formula for success was born. “My overarching goal is to make a lot of money and then, before I die, give it away.” MrBeast famously said. He soon collaborated with other Youtubers and helped them gain more subscribers. This attitude has gained him more fans who appreciate his generosity and grounded personality. The success he’s attained seems to grow leaps and bounds. There was a point after he posted his Squid Game video that he increased his YT subscribers by 10 million in one day. He puts back what he earns He also spends a lot of money to make his videos entertaining, like putting up a million dollars as prize money for a game of hide and seek with some of Youtube’s top influencers like Logan Paul participating. These videos are highly watchable. The payoff is also substantial regarding the increased following, engagement, and revenue. The only drawback now is after the highly successful Squid Game, the pressure to maintain such a high standard is more significant than ever. Therefore, it takes longer for him to create a new one. Some subscribers have already commented on having to watch content from other creators due to how long it takes for MrBeast to post the following video. He did resolve this by setting up other channels like MrBeast 2, MrBeast Gaming, Beast Philanthropy, and Beast Reacts. The future is bright It will not come as a big surprise if MrBeast becomes global; as a matter of fact, he’s already come up with a brilliant idea of translating his videos into different languages. And this has totally worked as he gained more subscribers abroad. His Squid Game video, based on the analytics, showed that five million people from South Korea watched it right after it was posted. He has set his sights on expanding his subscriber base and eventually dominating Youtube for years to come, which at the moment, he already does. It couldn’t have happened to a better person. It’s a sentiment thousands of his followers share. He will be the best example if you’ve heard of the term Effective Altruism. MrBeast shows that timeless virtues such as authenticity and generosity sell in this brave new world we call social media. He genuinely cares about his fans, and that’s what really matters. Don’t be surprised if the next thing you know, you catch yourself walking on BGC High Street, taking a massive bite of your Feastables bar, and being happy about it. Photo of Jimmy Donaldson on cover photo taken from Shopify.com