Cyberbullying, Sexting 400 new words added defined by Oxford Dictionary in its 12th edition of concise Oxford English Dictionary

Cyberbullying, Sexting 400 new words added defined by Oxford Dictionary in its 12th edition of concise Oxford English Dictionary



In 1911 the first edition of Oxford dictionary was published.

Angus Stevenson is the editor of the new, twelfth edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.



Now this month heralds the publication of the centenary edition: the new 12th edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary added new 400 words or entries to name few entries are cyberbullying, domestic goddess, gastric band, sexting, slow food, and textspeak.







Angus Stevenson, the dictionary's editor, said: "its how the dictionary has always worked - we get as much evidence as we can so we know it's not just a small number of people using the word and it's not going to disappear.



"There's no official panel of cabinet ministers for new words or anything like that," he told Channel 4 News.



The new words were selected after being entered into a database of 2 billion words drawn from contemporary websites and texts to prove their ubiquity.



The dictionary keeps adding new words

many times meaning of the word also keeps changing with times.



For example in 12th edition the meaning for word follower is given as follows –

Follower means Someone who is tracking a particular person, group, etc. on a social networking site.



Friend – the primary meaning has not changed but the new added meaning is ‘a contact on a social networking website’, while the first edition had ‘person who acts for one, e.g. as second in duel’.



Some of the new definitions now available include:



1. Cyberbullying (noun): The use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature: children may be reluctant to admit to being the victims of cyberbullying



2. Woot (exclamation, informal): Used to express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph: I definitely get Fridays off, woot!



3. Retweet (verb): (On the social networking service Twitter) repost or forward (a message posted by another user): tweet the URL of your posting: people love to retweet job ads. Also: (noun) a reposted or forwarded message on Twitter: traffic spiked quickly and contained a mix of retweets and original posts



4. Sexting (noun, informal): The sending of sexually explicit photographs or messages via mobile phone: like it or not, sexting is part of growing up in 2010



5. Textspeak (noun): Language regarded as characteristic of text messages, consisting of abbreviations, acronyms, initials, emoticons, etc.



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Tags- Oxford English Dictionary 400 New word entries 12th Edition

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Know Test Duration and Pattern of the (CAT) 2011 Pattern of CAT Common Admission Test 2011 Important 22 Facts regarding CAT 2011

Know Test Duration and Pattern of the (CAT) 2011 Pattern of CAT Common Admission Test 2011 Important 22 Facts regarding CAT 2011



Indian Institutes of Management announced the highlights of the Common Admission Test 2011 (CAT 2011).



Prometric, trusted provider of market-leading test development and test delivery solutions is IIMs’ partner in developing and delivering CAT 2011.





1. The number of test days has been retained at 20 days within the window from 22 October to 18 November 2011. This would provide candidates with the flexibility of choosing a suitable test day based on their convenience.



2. For those candidates who are differently abled, additional support will be provided as required.



3. The CAT 2011 will have only two sections.



4. The first section is Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation;

5. the second section is Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning.



6. These two sections will be implemented sequentially with separate time limits.



7. The examination will be 140 minutes.



8. Candidates will have 70 minutes to answer 30 questions within each section which will have an on-screen countdown timer.



9. Within the 70 min provided for the section, candidates can review the answers.



10. Once the time ends for the first section, they will move to the second section and will no longer be able to go back.



11. A 15-minute tutorial will be provided before the start of the test, and candidates are advised to go through that carefully before starting the main examination.



12. The total duration will be two hours and thirty five minutes including the tutorial.



13. A practice test to provide candidates with a feel of the timed sections, as well as navigation and functionality of the actual test will be made available in the coming weeks.



14. Once again candidates are advised to go though them carefully to familiarize themselves with the screens, layout, and navigation.



15. At the test venue, each candidate will be seated at a desk with a computer terminal and he/she will be provided with a scratch paper for calculations.



16. After the test, candidate must leave the scratch paper at the desk.



17. Rough work cannot be done on any other paper/sheet, as nothing will be allowed inside the testing room.



18. No breaks will be given during the test.



19. Three new cities - Bhilai, Jammu and Dehradun - have been added to the existing 33 test locations.



20. CAT brochures can now be purchased from any one of the 201 branches of Axis Bank.



21. IIMs and Prometric have reviewed the operational processes and contingent on the continued punctuality of candidates, the check-in procedure this year will start one-and-a-half hours before the scheduled test time instead of the previous two hours. With this change, we are also able to have an earlier start time of 3:15pm for the afternoon session.



22. CAT 2011 Test Sites = Ahmedabad Bangalore, Bhilai, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh Chennai Cochin Coimbatore Dehradun Durgapur Faridabad Ghaziabad GreaterNoida Gurgaon Guwahati Hyderabad Indore Jaipur Jammu Jamshedpur Kolkata Kozhikode Lucknow Mumbai Nagpur Navi Mumbai New Delhi Noida Patna Pune Ranchi Shillong Siliguri Varanasi Vishakhapatnam



Watch Video by Prometric describing IIM's CAT 2011 registration and scheduling process.







Watch A video by Prometric on IIM's CAT test day procedures









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Tags- CAT 2011 Examination Date Duration Pattern

READ MORE - Know Test Duration and Pattern of the (CAT) 2011 Pattern of CAT Common Admission Test 2011 Important 22 Facts regarding CAT 2011

Say it ain't so: APS raises lunch prices

NewsNM - Swickard: I wonder how they would look at my peanut butter and jelly sandwich when I was going to school? From KOB-TV.com - Albuquerque Public Schools will be back in session in less than a week, and between breakfast and lunch, the district will serve more than 75,000 meals to students everyday. This year, APS raised its lunch prices 10 cents. This means $1.85 for elementary students and $2.10 for middle and high schoolers. The school system must follow strict nutritional guidelines. Each meal must have a protein, dairy, grain, fruit and vegetable. About 80% of the food served is homemade or hand-packaged, which does cost more for the district. APS is also adding "Meatless Mondays" and "Turkey Thursdays" to its menu, and it will have a "Produce of the Month" that will be served at least twice. Read more

READ MORE - Say it ain't so: APS raises lunch prices

1st time Pamela satellite discovers Antimatter, antiprotons Belt around Earth – a treasure trove of future fuel

1st time Pamela satellite discovers Antimatter,

antiprotons Belt around Earth – a treasure trove of future fuel



In 2006 Pamela satellite (an acronym for Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) was launched to study the nature of high-energy particles from the Sun and from beyond our Solar System - so-called cosmic rays.







Cosmic rays - high-energy particles from the Sun and beyond the solar system which barrel into Earth.

When those cosmic rays smash into molecules in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, a shower of smaller particles is created. Physicists have assumed that a small number of those resulting particles will be anti-protons.



Most of those will be instantly annihilated when they collide with particles of ordinary matter. But those which don’t collide should get trapped in the Earth’s torus-shaped Van Allen radiation belt, and form a layer of antimatter in the Earth’s atmosphere.





One of the goals of the Pamela was to specifically look for small numbers of antimatter particles among the far more abundant normal matter particles such as protons and the nuclei of helium atoms.



To find them, the satellite regularly moved through a particularly dense section of the Van Allen belt called the South Atlantic Anomaly. Over a period of 850 days from July 2006 to December 2008 sensors aboard PAMELA detected 28 anti-protons.



For the first time a thin band of antimatter particles called antiprotons enveloping the Earth were spotted by the Pamela satellite.



The astronomers say that a small number of anti-protons lie between the Van Allen belts of trapped "normal" matter.



The new analysis shows that when Pamela passes through a region called the South Atlantic Anomaly, it sees thousands of times more anti-protons than are expected to come from normal particle decays, or from elsewhere in the cosmos.



The bands were found to be located several hundred kilometers from the Earth's surface in the region overlapped by low earth orbit (LEO). The antiproton deposits spotted by PAMELA were three orders of magnitude (>1,000 times) higher than that typically seen in this region of space, evidence of a trapping effect.



The antimatter is a few hundred miles up, in a ring near one of Earth’s Van Allen belts, which collect charged particles created or trapped by the planet’s magnetic field.



In an interview with the BBC, University of Bari (Italy) professor Alessandro Bruno, the paper's eleventh author said that "The band is the most abundant source of antiprotons near the Earth.





PAMELA was built by Russia, Italy, Germany, and Sweden and launched aboard Russia's RESURS-DK1 satellite in 2006. The 470 kg, 335-watt instrument cost around $32M USD to build.



Proton - With a +1 charge Proton is a key constituent to most of the matter of the universe.



Anti Proton – Antimatter Particle that is Anti proton carries a -1 charge.



What is Anti Matter?



The antiproton was first predicted by luminary physicist Paul Dirac in his 1933 Nobel Prize lecture.



In 1955 Emilio Segrè and Owen Chamberlain, research professors at the University of California, Berkley, created an antiproton in the lab.

The discovery earned the pair a Nobel Prize in Physics.



The antimatter particles are antiprotons opposites of regular protons

Antimatter has similar properties to regular matter, just with opposite charge and spin



When protons and antiprotons come in close proximity with each other, they eliminate each other, converting to radiation (energy).

But occasionally the antiproton survives, by separating from its sister particle and avoiding protons.

Such events fill the reaches of space with low levels of antimatter.



Physicists knew that as antiprotons are charged they can be trapped by strong magnetic field.

Now the next question was earth has a large and strong magnetic field so could it trap antimatter?



Now Pamela has given the answer to this, now it is confirmed that antimatter is trapped by the earth’s magnetic field.



Antiprotons will be useful for space ships; they can be used in special cancer treatments.



Now we know the location where they are stored now next step will be how to get them.



How to reach those antiprotons and bring them on earth.



Then the third question will arise how to storea them for long time.

The longest time that scientists have been able to contain antimatter is about 17 minutes.



When the antiproton comes in contact with that matter, it annihilates it.



Now human race will start to go where never no man has gone before.



The finding study will be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters

abstract print - http://arxiv.org/abs/1107.4882



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Tuesday, August 09, 2011



Tags- Antimatter Antiproton Pamela

READ MORE - 1st time Pamela satellite discovers Antimatter, antiprotons Belt around Earth – a treasure trove of future fuel

Christopher Lao on his Floating Car in Flood Issues (Video)

Christopher Lao's name has recently trended in news and social networking sites. This is after he drove his car in flood "unknowingly" so it floated. Christopher Lao, a University of the Philippines (UP) student received offensive comments and insults on SNS sites specifically in Twitter and Facebook immediately after GMA aired the incident video on news.

Former UP Dean of Law, Marvic Leonen already gave her statements regarding the incident. As quoted, she said:

"You may be amused by the mistakes or misfortunes of others. But this does not entitle you to degrade their entire character or make conclusions about their whole person. Christopher Lao does not deserve the treatment he is getting from others on Facebook and Twitter. And yes, he is from UP College of Law and we are still proud of him"

Howie Severino, Editor-in-Chief of GMA News online also aired his side regarding the issue. In a GMA news article, as quoted,

"Mr. Lao was already victimized by the flood and a lack of warnings. He shouldn't be victimized again. Many of us could have been in his situation. We are urging the public to stop the insults. We regret that our video, which was meant to provide a lesson for all motorists, was used in any way to make fun of another person."

Christopher Lao already gave his official statement regarding the issue, he said:

"The past few days have been very disheartening for me and my family. As you know I have been a subject of a viral video that showed my helplessness during a trying moment. As it stands right now, I have several hate pages in Facebook and Twitter with hurtful and derogatory messages attacking my person. The reputation that I built the past years has been besmirched. A bad day has now turned into wounded feelings and sleepless nights for me and my family.

I have been silent the past few days as I want this to go away soon but not before saying sorry and thank you to people who matter.

I would like to apologize for my behavior that was seen on nationwide television and now on the internet. It was unfortunate that I was caught on camera immediately after an overwhelmingly stressful mishap.

I would like to again sincerely thank those who braved the flood to help a distraught stranger like me. Their selfless act reminded me of how dependable Filipinos are in times of crisis.

Lastly, I would like to thank my family, friends and all of those who showed empathy, consideration and support throughout these trying times. You have given me strength and courage to rise above and be a better person."

Meanwhile, here is the video of Christopher Lao's floating car in flood.



Video courtesy of leoneil01

READ MORE - Christopher Lao on his Floating Car in Flood Issues (Video)

4 Billion Years Ago Earth had 2 Moons which Collided Merged – New Scientific Theory

4 Billion Years Ago Earth had 2 Moons which Collided Merged
– New Scientific Theory

Scientist always tried to find the reasons and understand why the near side of the Moon - the one visible from Earth - is flat and cratered while the rarely-seen far side is heavily cratered and has mountain ranges higher than 3,000m.

Researchers after studying computer simulations found that a collision with a second, sibling moon in Earth's early history might solve the longstanding puzzle of why the two faces of the moon differ so dramatically.


The moon shows only one face to the Earth because its centre of mass is slightly off-centre – around 2km closer to our planet than the geometric centre.
There is no dark side of the moon, though much of the surface spends 14 days in daylight and 14 days in darkness.



Left side - Far side of moon --------------- near side of the moon right side


According to scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Bern in Switzerland, two moons merged in a very slow collision more than 4 billion years ago to create the one that lights up the night sky.

Prevailing idea is that gravitational tidal forces are to blame for the moon's lopsided outer layer.
But current theory can explain the vast differences in the lunar landscape.
The moon's far side has mountainous highlands while the side facing Earth is low and flat.
Scientist claim that the remnants of a second moon that orbited the Earth billions of years ago may be splattered across the far side of our moon.


Big Impact of the moon theory –

Dr Martin Jutzi from the University of Bern in Switzerland, who led the research, said it is likely that both moons were created at the same time, when an object the size of Mars crashed into Earth and broke up.

Earth was struck about four billion years ago by another planet about the size of Mars. This is known as the global-impact hypothesis. The resulting debris eventually coalesced to form our Moon.
This new theory says the incident also created a smaller, second moon.

Asphaug and Jutzi have created a computer model showing that the Moon's current state can be explained by a collision with a sister moon about one-thirtieth the Moon's mass, or around 1,000 kilometers in diameter.

Computer models showed that a sister moon roughly 1,200km in diameter could have accompanied the larger moon around the Earth for tens of millions of years.

But as the two moons' orbit moved further away from Earth, the balance of forces became unstable and they collided.

A high-speed impact would have punched a giant crater into the moon and kicked a shower of rock into space, but if the two bodies met at less than three kilometers a second, the smaller moon would have splatted onto the surface of the larger and stayed there.

Martin Jutzi said that "It's kind of a gentle collision that doesn't form a big crater. The smaller moon gets more or less pancaked onto the larger moon."

Further he said that the impact thickened the moon's crust on the far side, creating the highlands and forcing subsurface magma to the opposite side. "It wouldn't matter where the impact happens, because after the collision, the moon would reorient itself so that the material left from the impact was on the far side.

Now scientist are planning to further prove this idea by is to compare Jutzi and Asphaug's simulations with details of the moon's internal structure, gleaned from lunar maps drawn up by Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and high-resolution gravity maps of the moon, which will be obtained next year by Nasa's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission.


New Theory Explained in simple language

1. Earth is hit by another planet the size of Mars

2. Then two moons were formed from the debris following same orbit

3. Moons move away from earth and in that they came close to each other

4. At low speed both hit each other and got merged

5. Smaller moon pancakes across the face of larger

6. This is the reason difference between two sides of Moon. Far Moon and Near Moon which we see

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Source – published in the journal Nature - The study appears in the journal, Nature

Tags - Two Moon Theory

READ MORE - 4 Billion Years Ago Earth had 2 Moons which Collided Merged – New Scientific Theory

Class Suspension August 4, 2011 (Thursday) in Elementary, Highschool and College?

Second Update: DepEd announced that no suspension of classes today. Classes at all levels in NCR will be resumed August 4, 2011.

Fresh from the suspension of classes which were announced by Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday due to heavy rains and floods; students from preschool, elementary, highschool (secondary) and college (tertiary) levels from NCR and other areas are asking if classes will be suspended on August 4, 2011 (Thursday) in different levels.

Quoted from DepEd,

"Superintendents, principals and LGUs may suspend classes if the situation warrants it. Parents can decide whether to send their children to school or not."

As of this writing, the Department of Education (DepEd) is not yet releasing class suspension notices.

Meanwhile, CHED said that the jurisdiction for cancellation of classes on tertiary levels depends on the college or university officials.

READ MORE - Class Suspension August 4, 2011 (Thursday) in Elementary, Highschool and College?

Class Suspension August 3, 2011 in Elementary, Highschool and College due to Heavy Rains and Floods

Fifth Update: DepEd announced that preschool, elementary and secondary classes in Dagupan and Pangasinan are also suspended.

Fourth Update: All classes in National Capital Region (NCR) will be suspended starting 12 noon, DepED said. This is after PAGASA predicts that a moderate to heavy rainfall will be experienced throughout the day.

"Taal Batangas Municipal Mayor declared suspension of classes in the afternoon due to heavy rains being experienced at the moment."

"Upon consultation w/ the office of Mayor Aldrin San Pedro of Multinlupa, afternoon classes are suspended due to heavy rains."

Third Update:  Quoted from DepEd,

"Region 1: San Carlos City - due to continuous rainfall, the Provincial Government suspended classes from Kinder to Highschool today, Aug 3."

"CALABARZON: Regular classes resume in all levels today, August 3."

"REGION 3: Regular classes today except for the following still flooded schools in Pampanga: Macabebe West Dist - San Esteban ES, Consuelo ES, Sta.Maria ES, San Rafael ES, Sto Nino ES, Dalayap, Dalan, Baliti ES, Castuli, Sta Lutgarda, SanJuan, Lolu Sapang Malalam, Sitio Mindanao. Macabebe East district - Caduag Tete ES, San Isidro ES, SanGabriel, San Roque, Sta.Rita Telacsan, Masantol San Isidro ES and Sapang Kawayan ES."

Second Update: No Class Suspension. As of 4:00 AM, DepEd announced that classes at all levels (private and public) will be resumed today (August 3, 2011) in National Capital Region (NCR). This is after PAGASA predicted that the amount of rainfall today will only be half of yesterday's rain volume.

Update: Class suspension will be announced by DepEd tomorrow, August 3 2011 (4:00 AM).

Students and parents are asking if classes in elementary, secondary (highschool) and college schools on August 3, 2011 (Wednesday) are still suspended due to rains and scattered floods brought about by the Southwest Monsoon.

As of this writing, the Department of Education (DepEd) is not yet announcing any public or private schools or places where preschool, elementary and secondary classes will be suspended.

On August 2 2011 (Tuesday), the Malacanang Palace suspended National Capital Region (NCR) classes and government work due to heavy rains and scattered floods.

Meanwhile, class suspension for college levels (according to CHED) depends on the school or university officials.

READ MORE - Class Suspension August 3, 2011 in Elementary, Highschool and College due to Heavy Rains and Floods

Learn to use correctly There, Their and they’re

Learn to use correctly There, Their and they’re

There" and "their" are homophones.
Homophones are two words with different spellings and usages, but have the same pronunciation.




We find many words with same pronunciation with different meaning and different spelling of that word.

There, their and they’re the pronunciation is same for all these 3 words.

So when to use there, When to use their and when to use they’re
It’s very simple but still we make mistakes.
We want to use there but we write their vice versa.

Now let’s learn how to use them properly and how to tell the difference between there, they're, and their

A - How and when to use there

We should use there when we are referring to a place or abstract.
There is used as an adverb or pronoun.

Examples –
1. There is a hotel on Rajiv Gandhi road.
2. we are going over there to eat

How to know you are using correctly word there?
It’s simple to know just replace there with here and if it makes sense then you are using it correctly.

B - How to and when to use word their


The word their is used to indicate possession or relating to something.
It is a possessive adjective and indicates that a particular noun belongs to them.
Their is the plural form of pronouns such as "her" and "his."

Example –
1. Their cat is beautiful.
2. Did you saw their new home build with the corruption money which they got in CWG scam?

How to verify you are using their correctly?
Replace their with our in the same sentence, and it still makes sense, then you are using it correctly.

How to use they’re?
They’re a contraction of the words they and are.

Example –
I am happy that they're investigating 2G scam very slow and saving their friends.

Important Tip –
"there" shows place and "their" shows possession.

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Tags Keyword – Learning English Language How to use their there English Grammar

READ MORE - Learn to use correctly There, Their and they’re

CHED - Trending Topic in Twitter after Class Suspension (Netizen Reactions)

The word CHED (Commission on Higher Education) is currently trending in Twitter. This is after CHED didn't announce any college class suspension yesterday, July 27, 2011 in National Capital Region (NCR) and other affected areas of the typhoon Juaning. It was earlier mentioned that CHED has a memorandum order which includes the guidelines of class suspension. (Read the guidelines here)


Here are some of netizen reactions:

"Salamat naman CLASSES SUSPENDED! Ayaw ko na ulit mabasa at Mastranded sa Baha! Salamat Sa #ched" - Christine Gubat

"if hindi na #ched ang nag dedeclare ng suspension as per the memo, bakit inaantay pa ng universities at colleges ang kanilang announcement" - Raymund D

"anyway, #ched has a point in the reiteration of their circulated memo, kids ignorant enough of the existing memo should just shut up since it was issued last 2010. They shouldn't blame #ched for passing the decision over the school heads. Nang dahil sa typhoon." - ClongClong

"If #ched keeps on leaving the suspension to the universities, it might as well not have the authority to make a decision at all" - Bea Padilla

You may also read other reactions in Twitter.

READ MORE - CHED - Trending Topic in Twitter after Class Suspension (Netizen Reactions)

Class Suspension July 28, 2011 (Thursday) due to Typhoon Juaning in Elementary, Highschool and Colleges

4rd Update: Quoted from the announcement of DepEd via Twitter account. Here are the announcements regarding class suspension.

CAR: Only kindergarten classes suspended in Abra today, July 28.

Region 2: All classes suspended in Kindergarten only.

Region 1: Due to Storm Signal No. 1, classes in Kinder are automatically suspended in Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, and La Union.

Region 5: Classes remain suspended from Kinder to HS in the divisions of Albay & the city divisions of Tabaco, Ligao & Legazpi.

Kindergarten classes are automatically suspended in areas under signal number 1.

CALABARZON will resume classes today except in Rosario, Cavite where classes remain suspended as declared by Mayor Ricafrente.

Region 3: No classes in kindergarten. Other levels upon the discretion of school heads/LGUs.

NCR will resume classes today, July 28, except Tonsuya Elementary School in Malabon, classes remain
suspended from kinder to grade 2 only.

Department of Education said that classes in all levels will be resumed in Region 5 today (July 28, 2011) except in Albay.

NCR class suspensions, according to DepEd, will be announced after the release of PAGASA's 4:00 am weather bulletin tomorrow. The department also said that class suspensions are made in agreement with Chief Executives of local government units. (Read the PAGASA latest weather news)

DepEd Undersecretary Tonisito Umali said that except for Rosario Cavite, suspension of classes in pre-school, elementary and highschool in affected areas will be announced tomorrow July 28, 2011 at 4:00 AM (interview by DZMM).

Mayor Ricafrente of Rosario, Cavite through the Department of Education (DepEd) declared suspension of classes in preschool, elementary and highschool tomorrow (July 28, 2011) because of flooded areas.

Most of the preschool, elementary, highschool/secondary and tertiary classes were suspended on July 27, 2011 (Wednesday) due to the heavy rains brought by typhoon Juaning. Now, the question of students and parents is, "Are classes suspended tomorrow July 28, 2011 (Thursday) at all levels?"

As per guidelines of the Department of Education (DepEd), classes in preschool will be postponed at Signal No. 1 while elementary and secondary classes will be suspended at Signal No. 2.

As reported, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is not releasing the list of schools to be suspended. The decision on suspension of classes in tertiary/college levels depends on the college or university officials. (View CHED guidelines)

Stay tuned for the most recent updates about possible July 28, 2011 suspension of classes.

READ MORE - Class Suspension July 28, 2011 (Thursday) due to Typhoon Juaning in Elementary, Highschool and Colleges

Typhoon "Bagyo" Juaning Update as of 11:00 AM July 27, 2011

3rd Update: PAGASA released the tenth weather bulletin regarding the status of Juaning. (Read the details here).

2nd Update: PAG-ASA at 5:00 PM July 27, 2011 said that Metro Manila storm signal is lowered to signal no. 1 but will still be rainy until Friday.

Typhoon or "Bagyong Juaning" Update: As of 11:00 AM, July 27, 2011 weather update of PAGASA-DOST, tropical storm Juaning with the international code name "Nock-Ten" has slightly intensified before it made landfall over Dinalungan Aurora this morning. The eye of the typhoon was located 40 kilometers southwest of Casiguran, Aurora (as of 10:00 am). (View previous weather update - 5:00 AM)

Juaning has a maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 120 kph.


On Wednesday morning, Juaning crossed Northern Luzon area. It was predicted that on Thursday (July 27, 2011), the typhoon will be at 160 kilometers West Southwest of Laoag City and on Friday (July 28, 2011), Juaning will be at 600 km west of Basco, Batanes. Classes at various levels in affected areas were suspended today (July 27, 2011) due to expected heavy rains brought by the current typhoon. (View the list of schools that cancelled their classes)

Satellite Image as of 11:00 AM July 27, 2011

Signal No. 2 was raised to the following areas in Luzon as of 11:00 AM (7/27/11):
Aurora
Quirino
Nueva Vizcaya
Abra
Kalinga
Ilocos Sur
Mt Province
Isabela
La Union
Benguet
Ifugao
Pangasinan
Zambales
Tarlac
Nueva Ecija
Pampanga
Bataan
Bulacan
Rizal
Quezon
Polillo Island and Metro Manila

Signal No. 1
Ilocos Norte
Apayao
Cagayan
Cavite
Batangas
Laguna
Mindoro Provinces
Lubang Island
Marinduque
Camarines Norte
Camarines Sur
Albay
Burias Island

READ MORE - Typhoon "Bagyo" Juaning Update as of 11:00 AM July 27, 2011

CHED Guidelines in Class Suspension

The Commission on Higher Education does not suspend classes but schools can. The guidelines issued dated October 22, 2010 signed by Patricia B. Ucuanan, Chairperson.

View the details of CHED guidelines of class suspension.



Courtesy of scribd

READ MORE - CHED Guidelines in Class Suspension

Suspension of Classes at All Levels (NCR) on July 27, 2011 - Announced by Malacañang Palace

The Commission on Higher Education through PAGASA-DOST said that the decision for cancellation of tertiary/college classes are dependent on the college/university officials.

While parents and students are waiting for the official statement from the Commission on Higher Education(CHED), Malacañang Palace stepped in and officially released the announcement for suspension of classes in College. (View detailed cancellation of classes)

According to a DZMM interview, Malacañang suspended classes at all levels (preschool, elementary, secondary and tertiary/college) in the National Capital Region (NCR) upon the recommendation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). As mentioned, the announcement came from the Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda.

READ MORE - Suspension of Classes at All Levels (NCR) on July 27, 2011 - Announced by Malacañang Palace

Class Suspension July 26, 2011 due to Typhoon Juaning

As of 4 am today, PAGASA reported that the typhoon Juaning is located at 130 kms Northeast Virac, Catanduanes with a maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour near the center.


Update: Quoted from the Department of Education (DepEd), classes are suspended in the following areas:

NCR – Afternoon classes in preschool, elementary & high school suspended, public and private (per Regional Director Elena Ruiz).

Region 1 – Due to Public Storm Signal No. 1, all classes in preschool (public and private) are automatically suspended in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan.

Region 2 – Due to Public Storm Signal No. 1, all classes in Preschool (public and private) are automatically suspended in Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino.

CAR – Due to Public Storm Signal No. 1, all classes in Preschool (public and private) are automatically suspended in Abra, Apayao, Kalinga, Ifugao, Mt. Province, and Benguet.

Region 3 – Due to Public Storm Signal No. 1, all classes in Preschool (public and private) are automatically suspended in Nueva Ecija and Aurora.

Region 4A

* Per announcement of Cavite Gov. Remulla, all classes in Preschool, Elementary, and HS are suspended in Bacoor, Imus, Noveleta, Rosario, Kawit, Tanza.
* Gen. Trias Mayor suspended classes in Pre-school, elementary, and HS (public and private).
* Silang, Cavite Mayor Clarito Poblete has also suspended Preschool, Elementary, and HS classes.
* Laguna: San Pablo City – Classes are suspended in Pre-school, Elementary, and HS (public and private) due to heavy rains.
* Batangas: Lipa City – Classes are suspended in Pre-school, Elementary, and HS (public and private) due to heavy rains.
* Quezon Province including Polilio Island – Due to Public Storm Signal No. 1, all classes in Preschool (public and private) are automatically suspended.
* Per Region IV-A Regional Director Lorna Dig-Dino classes from Preschool, Elementary, and HS levels are also suspended in Dasmariñas Cavite and Batangas City, Batangas.

Region 5 – All provinces have suspended classes from Pre-school, Elementary, and HS (public and private).

Parents from the affected areas are asking if classes will be suspended today, July 26, 2011. As to the rule of Department of Education (DepEd), when an area is at signal no. 1, pre-school and elementary classes are automatically suspended. Therefore, the pre-school and elementary schools at the following affected areas (Signal No. 1) are suspended:

• Ilocos Norte
• Ilocos Sur
• Abra
• Apayao
• Kalinga
• Cagayan
• Isabela
• Ifugao
• Mt. Province
• La Union
• Pangasinan
• Benguet
• Nueva Vizcaya
• Nueva Ecija
• Quirino
• Aurora
• Quezon
• Polillo Island
• Catanduanes
• Sorsogon
• Albay
• Camarines Provinces

READ MORE - Class Suspension July 26, 2011 due to Typhoon Juaning

State's schools drop in progress benchmark

From KOB-TV.com - The grades are in for New Mexico schools and only 13percent met Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP. That's down from 23 percent last year. But, some are concerned this year's numbers don't tell the whole story. The reason is, the data from this year, isn't measured the same way as the data has been measured in the past. That means scores released Friday may not be as bad as they seem. No Child Left Behind Law requires that all states meet a 100 percent proficiency by 2014. Education Secretary Hanna Skandera says it comes down to the fact that New Mexico students need to perform better. As far as ranking New Mexico with other states, Skandera said, "Every state has different standards and assessments, so technically speaking, the comparison is apples to oranges today." She believes the letter grading system the state plans to implement in the fall will help with that. Next year the state plans to send a waiver to the U.S. Department of Education to replace AYP with that system. Read more

READ MORE - State's schools drop in progress benchmark

August 29, 2011 and August 30, 2011 Holiday in the Philippines

The Malacanang Palace confirmed that August 29, 2011 (Monday) and August 30, 2011 (Tuesday) are official non-working holidays at all sectors in the Philippines. This is to celebrate the National Heroes Day (29) and the End of Ramadan (30).

For those with no work or classes on Saturday and Sunday, this is a long weekend for the last week of August 2011.


The holidays were finalized in accordance with the proclamation No. 84 released by Malacanang Palace last December 2010. As quoted from the Section 2 of the Proclamation,

"The proclamations declaring national holidays for the observance of Eid’l Fitr and Eidul Adha shall hereafter be issued after the approximate dates of the Islamic holidays have been determined in accordance with the Islamic calendar (Hijra) or the lunar calendar, or upon Islamic astronomical calculations, whichever is possible or convenient. To this end, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) shall inform the Office of the President on which day the holiday shall fall."

Meanwhile, here is the list of Philippine official holidays for 2011.

READ MORE - August 29, 2011 and August 30, 2011 Holiday in the Philippines

Class Suspension July 25, 2011 in Colleges and Universities at Quezon City - CHED Announced

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) issued class suspension at different colleges and universities in Quezon City (QC) dated July 25, 2011 in cooperation with the second SONA of President Benigno Aquino III.

Reports said that Aldrin C. Cuna, QC Chief of Staff issued that classes will be suspended the following colleges and universities:

ABE International Business College (Commonwealth)
Access Computer College (Lagro)
AMA Computer College (Fairview)
Asia School of Arts and Sciences
Asian Institute of Computer Studies
Ateneo de Manila University
Bestlink Institute of IT
Colegio de Sta. Teresita de Avila

Datamex-College of St. Adeline (Fairview)
Diliman Computer Technology Institute
FEU-Fern College
FEU-Dr. Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation
Institute of Community and Family Health
Mary the Queen College
Metro Manila College
Miriam College
NCBA (Fairview)
New Era University
Our Lady of Fatima University
St. Anthony Mary Claret College
St. Bernadette of Lourdes College
St. Dominic Institute
STI (Fairview)
University of the Philippines Diliman

The Department of Education earlier announced that all classes in elementary and highschool at Quezon City will also be suspended on Monday.

READ MORE - Class Suspension July 25, 2011 in Colleges and Universities at Quezon City - CHED Announced

Roswell School Suspends Students for Sharing Bible Verses

From charismamag.com -The suit alleges the Roswell Independent School District retaliated against a Christian group called Relentless, punishing and suspending its members for buying and giving fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts with Bible verses to each of their teachers. The students went to great lengths to share the Word of God. The closest Krispy Kreme shop was in Texas. Some members of the group drove almost six hours round trip, stayed overnight, got up at 3 a.m., filled their car's back seat with fresh doughnuts and got back to school on time to deliver the doughnuts. When they handed out the doughnuts, a Scripture verse was included. One student was immediately sent home and two others were forced to spend a Saturday morning sitting alone in the classroom for four hours as a punishment.  More News New Mexico

READ MORE - Roswell School Suspends Students for Sharing Bible Verses

Pre-Schoolers Punctured by Needles in Their Classroom

From koat.com At least four children were accidentally punctured by syringes that they found in their preschool classroom, and now the city is trying to figure out where the syringes came from.  At the bottom a box full of donated medical items meant for kids to play doctor, some little children at a city run pre-kindergarten program at Governor Bent Elementary School found something that could make them very sick.  More News New Mexico

READ MORE - Pre-Schoolers Punctured by Needles in Their Classroom