CyberPress sets 3rd laser tag tourney

CyberPress, the country’s organization of IT journalists, is staging the third edition of its laser tag tournament for local IT firms on April 22 (Thursday), 1 to 6 in the afternoon, at the Lazer Xtreme gaming arena in Market! Market! in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

IT executives from the country’s top technology and BPO firms are expected to slug it out in a friendly competition meant to serve as a continuation of the annual sports tournament organized by the local IT press corps.

The tournament, which will employ a knock-out system, will be held in a high-tech and futuristic venue. Unlike in most war games using high-pressure pellet guns or paint projectiles, Lazer Xtreme provides electronic tag games minus the danger, pain, wardrobes ruined by paint, the need to buy expensive gear, among other concerns, making the game suitable for people of all ages, shapes, and sizes.

Moreover, unlike in many simulation-shooting games that rely mostly on marshals to monitor hits and casualties, the state-of-the-art facility uses infrared signals that are fired through the guns and received by the laser tag vest worn by the other player which registers onto a computer.

IT and BPO companies, as well as organizations coming from the ICT sector, can participate in the games which is also serving as fund-raising activity of the CyberPress. A participation fee of P5,000 will be charged per team (composed of five members). Food and drinks is included in the fee.

To join, contact Melvin Calimag at melvsgc@gmail.com or 09209609984. Please select one of the time slots available so we can manage the games better and avoid delay (1:40, 2:20, 3:00, 4:20, 4:40, and 5:20 PM).

CyberPress’ No. 2 official announces retirement from the org

After 14 committed years of service and dedication to the Information Technology Journalists Association of the Philippines (ITJAP) aka CyberPress, Red Samar, IT Editor of the Manila Bulletin is retiring from the organization effective today.

Samar is leaving his position of Vice President for Externals to concentrate on his job covering the IT beat for the Manila Bulletin, following the merger of the InfoTech section within the business section of the paper starting March 16, 2010.

In 1996, Samar together with fellow journalists covering the IT beat, helped co-found CyberPress, the first professional organization of IT journalists in Asia. The pioneering officers and members of ITJAP were inducted by President Fidel V. Ramos in Malacanang Palace.

ITJAP is registered with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a non-stock, non-profit professional organization.

CyberPress expresses its sincerest appreciation to Red Samar for steering the presscorp in his various capacities as officer in the last 14 years that he was associated with ITJAP to help the organization become what it is today. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

CyberPress Official Statement concerning HP Phils. and Stratworks

CyberPress Official Statement

The IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress)
denounces in the strongest terms, what the group sees as an unfair and
arbitrary treatment of CyberPress members Melvin Calimag and Red Samar
who were penalized for doing their work -- reporting IT industry news.

Calimag was a long-time IT correspondent of the InfoTech section of
the Manila Bulletin and was told to stop writing for the paper. Samar,
on the other hand, was the editor of the same section and was stripped
of his editorial responsibilities.

On March 1, 2010, Calimag reported the resignation of a country
manager of HP Philippines – a development actually confirmed by the
company. The report also stated that the executive, Bernadette
Nacario, had thrice been bypassed for promotion to the top post, an
issue denied by the company.

HP Philippines vehemently branded the report as “wrong,” though it
announced the Nacario’s resignation later on. We believe, however,
that the report, in its totality, is true and correct.

We believe that the proper course of action that HP and/or its PR
agency, Stratworks, could have taken was to raise the concern/issue
directly with the publication’s section editor responsible for the
page and/or the reporter who wrote the story.

Instead, HP Philippines, allegedly upon the persistent counsel of
StratWorks, HP’s PR agency, ignored this course of action and chose to
address the issue in a dubious manner. In other words, there was a
breakdown in basic business ethics and public relations practice.

In the eyes of the CyberPress, the manner of how this “issue” was
handled is categorically unacceptable. The IT journalists involved
have always kept an open line of communication to both IT company and
PR agency but were never approached.

We believe that our members, if they did violate any protocol in the
pursuit of their story, due process should have been followed. They
deserve to be treated like any professional with respect and fairness.


Information Technology Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress)
March 12, 2010

CyberPress-EMC Write IT Right Contest Year 2

The Information Technology Journalists Association of the Philippines {ITJAP), also known as CyberPress, together with information infrastructure solutions company EMC Philippines held its annual “Write IT Right” on-the-spot writing contest at the STI Academic Center in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. The contest was participated in by 21 high schools from private and public academic institutions with judging lead by Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Hall of Famer Alfred A. Yuson. The top three winners will be announced on January 15, 2010.

FINALISTS (in alphabetical order): Chiang Kai Shek College, De La Salle Araneta University, Diliman Preparatory School, Elizabeth Seton School, Lakandula HS, Mandaluyong HS, Manila Science HS, Philippine Science HS, Quezon City Science HS, Ramon Magsaysay Cubao HS

For more information on the finalists, visit www.cyberpress-emc.com

The IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress) condemns violence against any person, especially atrocities against media people!

The IT Journalists Association of the Philippines, also known as CyberPress, is one with the civilized world in condemning the brazen killing of our colleagues in the journalism profession in Maguindanao. The Philippine government should act swiftly in putting the perpetrators of this dastardly act to justice – we expect nothing less.

CyberPress joins Consumer Electronics Live Manila 2009

The I.T. Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress) joins Consumer Electronics Live Manila 2009 dubbed "the country’s biggest gadget show and thePhilippines' version of CES," on November 13 to 15, 2009 at the 9,000 square meter floor space World Trade Center Halls A-C.

A key acivity of CyberPress will include an industry survey in line with the 2nd CyberPress IT Choice Awards next December.

According to Gerard de Guzman, General Manager of Summit Live, organizers of CEL Manila 2009, "what makes CEL Manila special is the gathering of large and small brands not just to exhibit their products but to sell them as well. I think there is nothing worse for a techie than seeing and salivating over a device on display but then you can’t buy it right there and then. With CEL Manila exhibitors putting together special promos just for the 3 day event, techies are sure to find devices at terrific values."

On its second year, CEL Manila 2009 "will have a greater focus on not just showcasing the latest and greatest gadgets, but on buying them as well," de Guzman said.

For more information about CEL Manila 2009, visit http://celmanila.com.

UP wins int’l collegiate programming tilt

CHAMPION, ACM ICPC Asia Manila 2009, Team 'Mga SOGO ni E.T.', University of the Philippines-Diliman, and First Place, 3rd Philippine National Programming Competition.

MANILA, Philippines – A team from the University of the Philippines-Diliman won first place in the 2009 ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) Asia-Manila Regional Competition held at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City recently. Team "Mga SOGO ni E.T." – Kevin Charles Atienza, 3 BS Computer Science; John Eddie Ayson, 3 BS Computer Engineering; and Marte Raphael Soliza, 5 BS Computer Science – solved 10 out of 10 problems to emerge champion. The team’s coach is Eric Tambasacan. Ho Chi Minh City University of Science’s Team “Passion” - Pham Tuan Vu, Trinh Tran Dang Khoa, and Le Do Hoan Nam – coached by Dang Nguyen Tien, took first runner-up honors, while second runner-up was Team 'NUSSOC1' of the National University of Singapore, composed of Victor Loh Bo Huai, Adhiraj Somani, and Doon Hanh Hung, and coached by Steven Halim.

The following teams received special awards:

* 'Passion', Ho Chi minh University of Science, Vietnam, Best Foreign Team
* 'Mga SOGO ni E.T.', U.P. Diliman, Best Team from the Philippines
* 'SOGOng long ong moy poso', U.P. Diliman, 2nd Best Team from the Philippines
* 'LCD ver. 2', Ateneo de Manila University, 3rd Best Team from the Philippines
* 'Mga SOGO ni E.T.', U.P. Diliman, Best Team from Metro Manila
* 'Lemorcichein', U.P. Los Banos, Best Team from Luzon (Outside Metro Manila)
* 'Jaguars', University of San Jose-Recoletos, Best Team from the Visayas
* 'You I See (Ark)', University of Immaculate Conception-Davao, Best Team from Mindanao ACM stands for Association for Computing Machineries, one of the most prestigious I.T. organizations in the world. Each year, ACM holds the ICPC, which is participated in by thousands of teams from hundreds of universities worldwide. From selected regional sites on six continents, winning teams advance to the World Finals.

The ACM ICPC World Finals will be held February 1-6, 2010 in Harbin, China. The Philippine leg of the competition was sponsored by IBM. The competition involves teams of three college students and a coach who are given a set of programming tasks (from eight to 10 problems) to be solved in 5 hours using a standard computer and programming languages such as C, C++, and Java.

Fifty-five teams from four countries and 23 schools participated in the ACM ICPC Asia Manila Regional held October 22-23.

This is the first time a Philippines team has won an ACM ICPC Asia regional competition and the third time the Philippine Team advanced to the ACM ICPC World Finals.

This was also the third time Ateneo de Manila University hosted the ACM Asia Regional Competition.

This year's Asia Manila contest director was Dr. Rafael Saldaña of Ateneo de Manila University. The judges, from the Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP), were:
* Dr. Henry Adorna (University of the Philippines - Diliman)
* Dr. Caslon Chua (De La Salle University - Manila)
* Dr. Pablo Manalastas (Ateneo de Manila University) (Chief Judge)
* Dr. Nelson Marcos (De La Salle University - Manila)
* Dr. Felix Muga II (Ateneo de Manila University)
* Dr. Rafael Saldaña (Ateneo de Manila University)
* Dr. Allan Sioson (Ateneo de Naga University)
* Dr. Kardi Teknomo (Ateneo de Manila University)
* John Michael Yap (University of the Philippines-Diliman)

Following are the Top 10 Schools in the 2009 ACM ICPC Asia Manila Competition:

1. University of the Philippines - Diliman (PHILIPPINES)
2. Ho Chi Minh City University of Science (VIETNAM)
3. National University of Singapore (SINGAPORE)
4. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HONG KONG)
5. University of Hong Kong (HONG KONG)
6. Ateneo de Manila University (PHILIPPINES)
7. De La Salle University - Manila (PHILIPPINES)
8. University of the Philippines - Los Banos (PHILIPPINES)
9. Ateneo de Naga University (PHILIPPINES)
10. University of Immaculate Conception - Davao (PHILIPPINES) The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) traces its roots to a competition held at Texas A&M in 1970 hosted by the Alpha Chapter of the UPE Computer Science Honor Society. The idea quickly gained popularity within the United States and Canada as an innovative initiative to assist in the development of top students in the emerging field of computer science.

The contest evolved into a multi-tier competition with the first Finals held at the ACM Computer Science Conference in 1977. Headquartered at Baylor University since the 1980s, the contest has expanded into a global network of universities hosting regional competitions that advance teams to the World Finals.

Since IBM became a sponsor in 1997, the contest has increased by a - Hide quoted text - several factors. Participation has grown to involve several tens of thousands of the finest students and faculty in computing disciplines at over 1,600 universities from more than 70 countries on six continents.

The contest fosters creativity, teamwork, and innovation in building new software programs, and enables students to test their ability to perform under pressure. It is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious programming contest in the world.

For more information, visit the contest website: http://www.math.admu.edu.ph/acm.