Technology Tuesday on Empty Streets: Windows 7 - What to expect

Windows 7 is soon to invade our market and is rumored to be scheduled for release in Oct 2009. To help people out here are some of the things that one can expect from this new version of Microsoft Windows.

So what does this new Windows 7 include and why is it called Windows 7?

• Windows 3.0, 3.1 and 3.11 were the first public versions of Windows, and they used version numbers as part of their official names.
• The following version, Windows 95, was then officially Windows 4.0. Windows 98 and Me were just minor updates of that fourth version (4.10 and 4.90 respectively).
• The next step is Windows 2000 - that is, Windows 5 – followed by Windows XP which was again a minor update (5.1).
• Then there it comes Windows Vista, which obviously corresponds to the sixth version of Windows.
• And finally Windows 7, which was used as a codename for this version but which has finally become the official name for the next Windows version.

As for new features in Windows 7, it’s going to look very similar to Vista. In general, the new Windows 7 File Manager is going to be an evolution of Windows Vista’s shell and will allegedly include a new menu system based on the Office 2008 “ribbon” toolbar.

Gadgets in Windows 7 will also be embedded in the File Explorer. There will be improved and updated versions of Paint and WordPad, an enhanced Start menu and toolbar and also a more complete Control Panel with many new items.

You should always take into account that these are all just rumors that will – or will not - be confirmed as Microsoft works on the new OS. In fact, according to the schedule published on its website, the next PDC 2008 (which will take place at the end of October) will host a special event where Microsoft intends to reveal a more detailed information about the new features in Windows 7.

Here is a video presentation of what you can expect from Windows 7 with regards to features:

List of Call Centers in Metro Manila that Offer Inbound CS

As far as I know, all of these call centers offer inbound services.

Business Beanstalk
Fax: (650)249-0107
Business Beanstalk US Mailing Address:
955 Black Mountain Road
Hillsborough, CA 94010
Business Beanstalk Philippines Mailing Address:
Goldloop Towers
7th Floor Building B
One Goldloop Plaza
Ortigas Center, Pasig
Metro Manila 1600

Call Center Operations
Clark Philippines 1-800-254-4550

Call Center Philippines Outsourcing
Global Sky
8th Floor, Hanston Building
Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center
Pasig City, Philippines 1605
877-545-6338
213-943-5241

Callworx Philippines, Inc.
Unit 8A, 8/F Hanston Building
Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center
Pasig City, Philippines 1605
Phone : +63 2 637 0840
Fax : +63 2 637 0810

C-Cubed
Eastwood Contact Center
# 1 E-Commerce Avenue, Eastwood City
Cyberpark, E. Rodriguez, Jr. Avenue,
Libis, Quezon City 1110, Philippines
Call us at (632) 434-5300
Or Fax us at (632) 434-5122

Connect2inc
8th Floor Net One Center
26th Street Cor. 3rd Avenue
Crescent Parkwest,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila
Philippines 1634
+632 811 7400

ePacific Global
Orient Square
14th & 17th Floor, Orient Square Building
Emerald Avenue Ortigas Center
Pasig City, 1605
Philippines
Tel No.: (632) 687-4780 / (632) 687-9215
Fax No.: (632) 687-0474

Epixtar
eTelecare Global Solutions
20th Floor CyberOne Megaworld Bldg.,
Eastwood City Cyberpark,
E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Bagumbayan, Libis, Q.C.
Tel No.: 916-5670

Immequire, LLC
Manila Contact Center
11th Floor The Peak Tower,
107 L.P. Leviste Street,
Salcedo Village, Makati City
Philippines
Phone: 1-888-835-2674

IPMAC
8/F RCI BUILDING
RADA STREET
LEGASPI VILLAGE
MAKATI CITY
METRO MANILA
12000
PHILIPPINES
TEL: +63-2-750-5197
FAX: +63-2-750-5196

PNI
Unit 210, 2nd floor Strata 2000
Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center
Pasig City, Philippines
+632 631 5206 / +632 687 7498

Qinteraction
NATE VINCE
USA Sales Office
Cell: 1-510-366-6076


Software Ventures International
Philippine Office
Software Ventures International
6th Floor JMT Building
ADB Avenue, Pasig City
Tel: (632) 6338788
Fax632) 6338798

SYKES
Asia/Pacific Headquarters
Manila (Makati)
Sykes Asia Inc.
26th Flr. Robinsons Summit Bldg.
6783 Ayala Avenue
Makati City, Manila 1200
The Philippines
Phone: +63 2 849 9398
Fax: +63 2 849 9396

TELUS Philippines
31/F Discovery Center
25 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center
Pasig City 1605 Philippines
Tel: 800-306-1586
Fax: 866-275-5727

Five9 Philippines
Tim Keefe, President
2nd Level Celebrity Sports Plaza
Capitol Hills, Diliman
Quezon City
Phone: +632 951-3781
Fax: +632 951-3525
Mobile: +63 917-855-6125

Pacific ConneXion
MAKE THE CONNEXION @ 1.800.314.0PCX (0729)

Practical Outsourcing LLC
2005 North Daniel St., Suite 202
Arlington, VA 22201-4140
Toll Free Tel.: (866) 820-6493
FAX: (270) 458-0122

If you have additional call centers to be placed on the list please leave a comment and I will update this list :) xoxo

Music Monday on Empty Streets: Lady Gaga

With the upcoming Manila Concert of Lady Gaga I was compelled to talk about her for today in Music Monday. Today I would like to share with you the influences she has had in terms of her style and music. Gaga has been primarily influenced by glam rockers like David Bowie and Queen, singers Michael Jackson and Madonna, artist Andy Warhol, poet Rainer Maria Rilke and fashion as a whole. She states that she is "very into fashion" and that it is "everything" for her. She said,When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to wear on stage. It's all about everything altogether—performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us.

With Times Online, she stated that her love of fashion came from her mother, who was "always very well kept and beautiful." Gaga has also said she channels Versace in everything she does and considers Donatella Versace as her muse in many ways. "She's iconic and powerful, yet people throw darts at her. She's definitely provocative." Melissa Magsaysay of Los Angeles Times reported that Gaga could be Donatella's doppelgänger. Magsaysay stated "her aversion to wearing a top and bottom at the same time ... swigging champagne and being fanned by oily men in Speedos is very Donatella-esque." Gaga has her own creative production team called "Haus of Gaga" which she handles personally. The team creates some of her fashionable clothes, props on stage and hair-dos.

Towards the end of 2008, comparisons were made between the fashion sense of Gaga and American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera, noting similarities in their styling, hair and make-up. Aguilera later claimed she was "completely unaware of this person" and even "didn't know if it is a man or a woman." Afterward Gaga released a statement in which she welcomed the comparisons because the media attention had provided useful publicity. Gaga said, "She's such a huge star and if anything I should send her flowers, because a lot of people in America didn't know who I was until that whole thing happened. It really put me on the map in a way." However, she later added that she doesn’t just want to be remembered for the "Christina Aguilera scandal" and that "nobody can copy me, because I can’t be copied."

Gaga is a natural brunette, though her hair has not been its natural color since 2008. According to Times Online, her hair is bleached because as a brunette, she kept being mistaken for fellow singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. Her image and fashion sense has been channeled by other celebrities like Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie. Recent studies indicating a 25% increase in the sales of large knickers in Britain have been accredited to Gaga's influence. According to lingerie expert Annette Warburton, teenage girls as young as age sixteen were buying the black undergarments and wearing them as hot pants to emulate Gaga's style. On the May 2009 issue of Rolling Stone, Gaga stated that she is bisexual and is inspired by beautiful women. According to her it's an aspect of her sexuality that makes her boyfriends "uncomfortable." In April she told a crowd at one of her concerts that her song "Poker Face" is about keeping a poker face when fantasizing about a woman while in bed with a man.

For those curious about her concert here in Manila on August 11, 2009 here are the details:

Lady Gaga Live in Manila concert tickets:

VIP (1ST 10 ROWS OF 101 & 103) (Reserved Seating) 7875
Patron Standing 5775
Patron (Reserved Seating) 5775
Lower Box (Reserved Seating) 3675
Upper Box A 2625
Upper Box B 1050
Gen. Admission 525

For inquiries and reservation, you may call Ticketnet at 911-5555 or visit the Ticketnet outlets near you.

The concert dubbed as “Lady Gaga in Manila” is on August 11, Tuesday, 8:00 PM at the Araneta Coliseum

To her fans here is a a remix of one of her popular singles (I Like it Rough):

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

Sports Saturday on Empty Streets: History of Lawn Tennis

My Favorite sport pastime is Tennis and with the Wimbledon at its finals now many have tuned in to watch. However, not very many understand the history behind this well watched sport. So out of curiosity and the strong need to know, I did a little bit of research into the matter.

Here is what I found out about the history of Tennis:
Tennis as the modern sport can be dated to two separate roots. Between 1859 and 1865, Major Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, United Kingdom. In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club in Leamington Spa. The Courier of July 23, 1884 recorded one of the first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall.

In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed a similar game — which he called sphairistike (Greek meaning "skill at playing at ball"), and was soon known simply as "sticky" — for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate of Nantclwyd, in Llanelidan, Wales. He based the game on the newer sport of outdoor tennis or real tennis. According to most tennis historians, modern tennis terminology also derives from this period, as Wingfield borrowed both the name and much of the French vocabulary of real tennis and applied them to his new game.

The first championships at Wimbledon in London were played in 1877. In America in 1874 Mary Ewing Outerbridge, a young socialite, returned from Bermuda where she met Major Wingfield. She laid out a tennis court at the Staten Island Cricket Club in New Brighton Staten Island, New York. The exact location of the club was under what is now the Staten Island Ferry terminal. The first American National tournament in 1880 was played there. An Englishman named O.E Woodhouse won the singles match. There was also a doubles match which was won by a local pair. There were different rules at each club. The ball in Boston was larger than the one normally used in NY. On May 21, 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions. The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island.[9] The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887. Tennis was also popular in France, where the French Open dates to 1891. Thus, Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis. Together these four events are called the Majors or Slams (a term borrowed from bridge rather than baseball).

The comprehensive International Lawn Tennis Federation, now known as the International Tennis Federation, rules promulgated in 1924 have remained remarkably stable in the ensuing eighty years, the one major change being the addition of the tiebreaker system designed by James Van Alen. That same year, tennis withdrew from the Olympics after the 1924 Games but returned 60 years later as a 21-and-under demonstration event in 1984. This reinstatement was credited by the efforts by the then ITF President Philippe Chatrier, ITF General Secretary David Gray and ITF Vice President Pablo Llorens, and support from IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch. The success of the event was overwhelming and the IOC decided to reintroduce tennis as a full medal sport at Seoul in 1988.

The Davis Cup, an annual competition between men's national teams, dates to 1900. The analogous competition for women's national teams, the Fed Cup, was founded as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ITF.

In 1926, promoter C.C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences. The most notable of these early professionals were the American Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen. Once a player turned pro he or she could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments.

In 1968, commercial pressures and rumors of some amateurs taking money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction, inaugurating the open era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and top players were able to make their living from tennis. With the beginning of the open era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis's popularity has spread worldwide, and the sport has shed its upper/middle-class English-speaking image (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).

In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport, Rhode Island. The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well as a hall of fame honoring prominent members and tennis players from all over the world. Each year, a grass-court tournament and an induction ceremony honoring new Hall of Fame members are hosted on its grounds.

Just as an added bonus here is a bit on how tennis fashion has evolved :)

Food Friday on Empty Streets: Tuna Sisig

One of my favorite meals to prepare and serve to my family and friends is Tuna Sisig. It is very easy to prepare and all it takes is a few minutes to cook.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoon cooking oil
1 cup tuna, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
2 tablespoon Barbecue Marinade
Juice from 6 pcs. of calamansi (lemon juice can be used as a substitute)
1 piece white onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot Pepper sauce

Procedure:
1. Marinate tuna in Barbecue Marinade for 5-15 minutes.

2. Pan-fry the tuna for 3-5 minutes on each side.

3. Remove from pan and cut into bite size pieces.

4. Place cut up tuna in hot sizzling plate.

5. Pour calamansi juice (can be substituted with lemon juice) and chopped onions over the tuna.

6. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Serve with Hot Pepper Sauce to add spice.

Here is a video of how to make the best rice partner for Tuna Sisig:

Travel Thursday on Empty Streets: Toronto, Canada

I love going to places where there is a lot of growth and where living is fun and the people are warm and welcoming. One of these places is Toronto, Canada. Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America. Toronto is at the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and is part of a densely populated region in Southern Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe, which is home to 8.1 million residents and has approximately 25% of Canada's population. The census metropolitan area (CMA) had a population of 5,113,149, and the Greater Toronto Area had a population of 5,555,912 in the 2006 Census.
As Canada's economic capital, Toronto is considered a global city and is one of the top financial centres in the world. Toronto's leading economic sectors include finance, business services, telecommunications, aerospace, transportation, media, arts, film, television production, publishing, software production, medical research, education, tourism and sports industries. The Toronto Stock Exchange, the world's seventh largest, is headquartered in the city, along with a majority of Canada's corporations.
Toronto's population is cosmopolitan and international, reflecting its role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada. Toronto is one of the world's most diverse cities by percentage of non-native-born residents, as about 49% of the population were born outside of Canada. Because of the city's low crime rates, clean environment, high standard of living, and friendlier attitudes to diversity, Toronto is consistently rated as one of the world's most livable cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Mercer Quality of Living Survey. In addition, Toronto was ranked as the most expensive Canadian city in which to live in 2006. Residents of Toronto are called Torontonians.
To find out more about this wonderful place now ranked 4th best place to live in the world click here: Toronto, Canada

To tease your senses just a little bit more, here is a video presentation of what there is to see in Toronto:

Wellness Wednesday on Empty Streets: Implantable Contact Lens

I have been researching on new methods to help my eye as I have astigmatism and I have had word about Lasik Treatment. However one has to think that going under the laser could leave permanent effects that may or may not be as desirable as one would want. So I sought out other alternatives and I found a new method that was just developed and released last 2004 - Implantable Contact Lenses.

Here are some of the questions that have been answered regarding ICL(implantable contact lenses):

What Are Implantable Contact Lenses?

Implantable contact lenses, or phakic intraocular lenses, are lenses implanted in the eye to work with the crystalline lens to correct myopia (nearsightedness). Because an ICL can correct a wider range of myopia than laser refractive procedures, implantable contact lenses are often turned to as an alternative to LASIK surgery.
What is the Difference between ICLs and IOLs?

Implantable contact lenses are often referred to as phakic IOLs, which may cause some confusion when trying to distinguish between an ICL and an IOL. The term "phakic" refers to an eye with the natural lens still intact. Therefore, the main difference between implantable contact lenses and traditional IOLs is the fact that an ICL works in conjunction with the eye's crystalline lens and an IOL replaces the eye's natural lens.

Typically, IOLs are used to treat cataracts and, in some cases, presbyopia. Implantable contact lenses treat myopia, myopia with astigmatism, and hyperopia (farsightedness). Currently, toric ICL models (to treat myopia with astigmatism) and hyperopic ICL models are only available outside of the United States, although toric and hyperopic ICL lens models have been submitted to the FDA for review.
What Does the ICL Procedure Involve?

The ICL implantation procedure for the Visian ICL™ and the Verisyse™ phakic IOL share some similarities, including the use of eye drops and anesthetics and the insertion of the ICL into the eye. However, lens placement and incision size vary between the implantable contact lenses requiring slightly different procedures. Review the ICL eye surgery in more detail.
Are Implantable Contact Lenses Safe?

Yes. Although all surgical procedures carry some risk of complications, implantable contact lenses have a proven track record of safety. Because implantable contact lenses are removable and do not alter the cornea, patients tend to feel less threatened by possible ICL risks than the potential complications associated with laser refractive surgery.
Are Both Eyes Treated at the Same Time?

No. Typically, one eye is treated at a time.
Will I Feel the ICL after the Procedure?

No. Although you may experience slight discomfort during the procedure, you should not be able to feel a properly implanted ICL.
What Results Should I Expect after ICL Treatment?

Almost immediately following ICL treatment, you should experience clearer vision. The benefits of implantable contact lenses include convenience, safety, and amazing results.

Here is a website that is also very helpful in finding the right clinic that can do this procedure for you: Implantable Contact Lenses
Here is a video documentary of how Implantable Contact Lenses work: