Let's Do The News! (November 17, 2016)

- The Sandiganbayan cleared the charges on former Makati City Mayor Elenita Binay, the wife of the former VP Jejomar Binay, and two others in the 13.2 million peso graft case over the purchase of allegedly overpriced furniture for city hall.

- Recent Social Weather Stations survey showed that Filipinos rated the Duterte administration a "very good" net satisfaction rating as giving the government's war on drugs an "excellent" rating.

- The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo said that defeated VP candidate and former senator Bongbong Marcos has previously failed to establish his case over electoral fraud against the COMELEC and should stop. According to Robredo's lawyer, Marcos' complaint filed at the Manila Prosecutor's Office was earlier dismissed due to lack of evidence.

- Actor Robin Padilla has been given by President Duterte an absolute and unconditional pardon, according to Palace officials. Which means that the action star is now able to run for any public office as well as his right to vote.

- The Department of Health wants e-cigarettes and vapes to be covered by the government's campaign against smoking, meaning that they could be included in the public smoking ban.

- Believe it or not, Mazda once made an open-top "parade car" based on the current-generation Mazda Atenza/6 used on the parade for the Hiroshima Carps baseball team.

Mazda Atenza parade car

- The second Love Live Sunshine Nendoroid is finally revealed, this time it's You Watanabe! This Nendoroid based on a character who appeared from the hit TV series is available to order starting at 3,241 Yen plus tax and delivers this May.

Nendoroid You Watanabe

- If you're a fan of THE IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, you'll going to love Max Factory's offering. This Halloween Nightmare figure of Koume Shirasaka can be yours to order starting at 14,815 Yen plus tax and will be delivered this September 2017.

Koume Shirasaka
Halloween Nightmare Ver.

TTFN!!!

Let's Do The News! (November 16, 2016)

- President Rodrigo Duterte has congratulated US President-Elect Donald Trump for a "well-deserved victory" and says he's very excited to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the upcoming APEC summit in Peru.

- Senator Antonio Trillanes IV reacted to President Duterte's statement that martial law is a "contingency to meet widespread violence". He condemned Duterte for failing to curb the drug problem which he promised to fulfill within three to six months in office.

- Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said that the testimonies Ronnie Dayan and Kerwin Espinosa will make the case against Senator Leila de Lima airtight but also said the cause is strong as it is.

- Retirees will receive an additional 2,000 pesos to their monthly Social Security System pension on a staggered basis - the first half in January 2017 and the second tranche in 2020. The committee approved the reported regarding the pension hike.

- Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is seen as the favorable pick for the next US Secretary of State in the imminent Trump administration, according to a senior official.

- ICYMI: the massive sinkhole that struck the roads of downtown Fukuoka, Japan, has been fixed a week later and was later reopened.

- The second-generation Mazda CX-5 crossover has been unveiled before this month's LA Auto Show premiere. New looks aside, it still retains the SKYACTIV Technology knowhow from the previous model.

2017 Mazda CX-5

- The Mercedes-Maybach S650 Cabriolet was unveiled before its LA Auto Show premiere and it's expected to be sold next year. The luxurious open-top grand tourer is powered by a 6.0L V12 engine producing 630HP of power, while mated with a 7G-TRONIC gearbox.

2017 Mercedes-Maybach S650 Cabriolet

- Aston Martin unveiled the Vanquish S, a facelifted Vanquish with an improved 6.0L V12 engine producing 600PS of power while mated with a 8-speed gearbox and other improvements to its dynamics.

2017 Aston Martin Vanquish S

- What's comedian Conan O'Brien's take on the upcoming Final Fantasy XV game? Take a look...

TTFN!!!

15 Years of XBOX

The 14th of November, 2001, a year after Sony launched the PS2, 10 months since then-President George W. Bush took office in the White House, and two months after series of attacks on American soil. Microsoft's CEO Bill Gates thrown the gauntlet as he told the gaming world that Microsoft accepted their challenge to create their very own gaming console we know as the XBOX. The year 2016 marks the 15th anniversary of the XBOX console gaming as a whole and with the XBOX spawned three different generations from the first one, to the XBOX 360 of 2005, up to 2013's XBOX One, 15 years of progress have shown that Microsoft accomplished their goal to create a gaming console to up the ante in the console gaming revolution.

So, 15 years of XBOX, and as the world honors the XBOX's 15th anniversary with loads of memories of their favorite XBOX hits such as HALO, Forza Motorsport, Gears of War, Project Gotham Racing, and many others, rest assured that the original XBOX cannot be forgotten and let's investigate Microsoft's entry to the console gaming revolution, back in the time when the Dreamcast is fading away while the Gamecube and PS2 are surging like a power surge.

It all began with a project involving numerous laptops disintegrated into pieces following Microsoft's cooperation with SEGA to support Windows CE on the Dreamcast. After its cooperation with SEGA in terms of network connectivity to a short-lived console, the XBOX was born and its innovative features set a template to future gaming consoles to come.

Although the Sega Dreamcast is the first console to provide online connectivity, the XBOX pushed online connectivity further with a fee-based XBOX Live service launched a year later, allowing its subscribers to play multiplayer games and download new content via broadband connection. It was the first to offer an 8GB or 10GB HDD, which eliminates the dependent use of memory cards like what the PS2, the Dreamcast, and the GameCube do. Whereas the Dreamcast failed, the XBOX rose to prominence and such success was carried out to its successors such as 2005's XBOX 360 and 2013's XBOX One.

For the past fifteen years, the XBOX garnered 222,468,423 players, 100,539,390,670 total gaming hours, 29,000,304,183 total multiplayer hours, 32,667,582,157 achievements unlocked, 572,605,554,587 Gamerscores (with the highest gamerscore is a legendary 1,416,465), and 4,233,891,482 friends made. With hit XBOX greats like HALO and Forza Motorsport, there's more to celebrate 15 years of XBOX by whatever means necessary.

Cheers, XBOX! And here's for another 15 more years!

Report: http://news.xbox.com/2016/11/15/celebrating-15-years-xbox/

Forza Horizon 3: Tricolore

The Lamborghini Aventador, the Pagani Huayra, and the Ferrari F12. They are the three kings of the Italian exotic hierarchy and when these three Italian V12 kings face each other, they can all see their true selves. When it comes to measure its styling, performance, and how a driver behaves, it's everyone's guess because while these cars reign the supercar realm by its iron fist approach, what they differ is how they perform as a car made for the elite few.

Of course, I did record a little message about something regarding these three kings of the exotic realm. Shall I play the tape for your understanding? Time for a message playback on what I said about these three from a distant past.

(clicks button)

The F12 maybe the most powerful of the three but because the F12 is a class apart from these two, apart from the fact that both the Lambo and the Huayra are mid-engined royalties, it can't just storm in recklessly because despite its power advantage, its drivetrain is what confuses these two. Although the Aventador and the Huayra's V12 engine produces the similar power output, the Aventador is the most fun car to drive because its ancient engine sounds so natural to our ears (because it's naturally aspirated), its gearbox is so fun to shift than double clutches, and overall, it's so generous to drive even if you're not paying attention. The Huayra, though, even though it's a rear-wheel drive scaremonger, is just plain serious. Serious about getting the best lap times with its capabilities as a track weapon and a grand tourer in its own right.

Okay, now that you get the idea, let's translate these words into action and since this is FH3, a certain area from the Outback that was onced used for street racing purposes in mind was made to see how good these three are. As always, fastest time wins so let's hit these three kings on the outback roads.



And now, the results...

F12 - 2:29.383
Aventador - 2:25.779
Huayra - 2:23.577







It's amazing that even though the rivalry between the prancing horse and the raging bull is still as hot as Vesuvius, the outsider from Modena that is Pagani is still reigning as hard as a gladiator in a Roman coliseum, beating both the horses and the bulls. Sounds rhetorical but because no Italian supercar maker does it better than the hands of Pagani, the Huayra is a clear example why an exquisite underdog like Pagani can outlash the likes of the more established ones like Lamborghini and Ferrari. This battle between these three maybe over...







...but the so-called Holy Trinity of Italian supercar hierarchy got something special in store. So, what's it going to be? You'll find out later.

FIA Formula E 2016-2017: Marrakesh

As Marrakesh, Morocco held their annual Climate Change Conference, the second round of the FIA Formula E championship is using the conference's hosting city as an opportunity to promote the future of zero emission motorsport to the global masses and while using the climate change conference as a marketing ploy to promote the FIA Formula E Championship, the second round have been quite a blast for the racers and spectators alike, especially when two cars engaging on a close-quarters combat for the desired spot.

Sebastian Buemi from the Renault e.Dams team is the winner of this race while DS Virgin Racing's Sam Bird finished second and Mahindra's Felix Rosenqvist finished 3rd.

Highlights:



The next race will be set on Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the 18th of February, 2017.

Let's Do The News! (November 15, 2016)

- Danilo Concepcion, the dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law was named as the national university's president. The 11-member UP Board of Regents voted for Concepcion to replace Alfredo Pascual who will end his six-year team on February 2017. Concepcion is also the executive director of the UP Bonifacio Global City campus, which hosts graduate classes of various colleges.

- President Rodrigo Duterte gives a green light on the Philippine National Police to proceed with its firearms procurement from the United States. PNP chief Director General Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa said yesterday the President approved the deal during last week's Malaysian trip.

- Senator Leila de Lima admitted her relationship with her former driver, Ronnie Dayan, but denied other allegations linking her to the drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison grounds.

- US President-Elect Donald Trump's appointment of former Breitbart News president Steve Bannon as his chief strategist sparks fury as Breitbart news was known for causing conspiracy theorists and became the forefront of the "alt-right" movements. If that wasn't enough, Trump even gave thanks to the infamous conspiracy theorist and Infowars presenter Alex Jones.

- More quakes continue to rattle New Zealand following a powerful tremor struck the South Island. The magnitude 7.8 quake struck early Monday and triggered tsunami waves of up to 1.5 meters were observed about 40 minutes later along the coast of Kaikoura. Two people are confirmed dead as of this writing.

- After its global success, the first-ever Ford EcoSport compact crossover has finally arrived in the USA and it will make appearance at this year's LA Auto Show. The new EcoSport is powered by a choice of either a 1.0L three-cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost or 2.0L 4-cylinder engine, mated with a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Sales will commence in early 2018.

2018 Ford EcoSport

- Jaguar showcases its I-PACE electric crossover before its LA Auto Show premiere. Previewing its first ever electric car coming in the near future, the I-Pace concept features two electric motors that can produce over 400PS of power and 700Nm of torque.

2016 Jaguar I-PACE Concept

- New Pokemon Sun and Moon info on the radar! The starters' final evolved forms are getting their signature Z-moves, status moves giving Z-move special effects, Alolan Diglett and Alolan Dugtrio, new Ultra Beasts, and more! The full story will be out when the games will be released on November 18.

- The first trailer for next year's live action rebirth of Disney's Beauty and the Beast is now up. The film stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast. It's set to hit theaters on the 17th of March.



TTFN!!!

F1 2016 - Brazilian GP

Photo: Associated Press

Despite the heavy rainfall pouring in at Brazil's Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, the penultimate round at this year's Formula One season is just one of the most definite examples of the ongoing struggle between the aces of Mercedes-AMG, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, as the race to the championship title draws near until only one stands tall among the rest.

Scoring his 52nd win in his career, Lewis Hamilton survived the heavy rainfall and won the race while Red Bull's grassroots driver Max Verstappen, following his tire change, placed 2nd, and Rosberg's in 3rd place.

Despite his win, Hamilton's now 12 points behind Rosberg, making it too close to call, and the finale, set in Abu Dhabi within the next two weeks, will decide who files or falls from grace. Watch for it.

Forza Horizon 3: Ready Go, FR.

We already got our hands on the S14 Nissan Silvia as an event car back at last month's Forzathon event but the S14 we got was a "Zenki" S14 Silvia and fans from around the world demanded a late-model S14 Silvia, referred to as a "Kouki" S14 Silvia to be here in Horizon 3. They've been demanding this ride since the birth of the Forza franchise a decade ago and at long last, it's here and its ready to shred some tires.



The "Kouki" S14 Silvia, from Forza Horizon 3's Alpinestars Car Pack, is by no means one of the most demanded rides in the history of Forza and now that's finally here, fans can't wait to try out a car that remains a hit among speedo boys worldwide for its drifting reputation and its Frankenstein tuning that no one saw it coming.

Let me give you a quick story about how those Frankenstein creations to their JDM sportscars became a speedo boys' trend. You see a long time ago, speedo boys from Japan created a machine called a "Sileighty" which is an 180SX with a Silvia's front end on it. Thanks to the Sileighty, speedo boys from across the world are doing that kind of stuff and the S14 is no exception. If you went to a drifting competition a long time ago, you may have encounter an S14 with an S15's front face on it, which is a mashup between two different generations no one can tell the difference between those two, and what you see is a fine example of how speedo boys doing Frankenstein stuff on their sportscars not just for show but for their "bravado" manner as speedo boys who are good at drifting with their Asian sportscars.



For further explanation about how the S14 "Kouki" Silvia became a hit among speedo boys who can bend it like Frankenstein, there is a special Rocket Bunny "Boss" kit offered on this S14 Kouki and with this kind of body kit, the S14 Kouki's front face looks similar to American muscle cars while delivering a stance with a capital S. That will be enough to appeal speedo boys who love to drive the best 90's Japanese sports cars in history. You can thank Rocket Bunny's Miura-san for that later but for now, I'm off to some shooting with this car and it's time for the S14 Kouki with the Rocket Bunny Boss kit to do some action!

Ready Go, FR.



So, there you are. If you got an S14 Zenki Silvia from a special event and if you're unhappy with it, look no further than driving the S14 Kouki Silvia Down Under. The differences between them can be slight but as you keep enjoying with these two, you will know the real deal. If you like both the S14 Silvias, feel free to drive different Asian sportscars offered in-game and how you live it up to their reputations is up to you.

Until then, sayonara!

Forza Horizon 3: Showcase Me!

Ah, showcase events. The hallmark of every Horizon Festival masterpiece that traces back since the original Horizon in Colorado. It's about advanced challenges where one car versus a different kind of transportation be it by land, air, and sea, and here in Forza Horizon 3, this is like taking on a boss battle of some sorts.

In the beginning, you're driving The Cholla against a helicopter carrying an old Jeep, and as you gain more and more fans, you will be able to take on another showcase event after another. There are five showcase events occurred Down Under and since I already mentioned the first one, the next one involves a Camaro Z/28 versus a steam locomotive, a Trophy Truck versus jetskis, a Lamborghni Centenario versus a VTOL jump jet, and the final showcase involves a Polaris RZR up against a blimp.

I already cleared all of the events, although I forgot to film the whole action by myself. So what I'm doing now is to redo most of the events and film it so I can make myself a compilation of all five showcase events, which are indefinite proof that I am running the best festival ever.

Ready to check out my greatest hits? Roll the VTR!

Ah, clearing the final showcase in the game. I know that this may sound like a happy ending for me but I'm not done yet because while I already cleared the big finale, there are still roads to travel, cars to drive, people to meet, challenges to take on, and so on. Man, everything around Down Under really brings out the many personalities of me and with so much things to do in so little time, I feel like I am not resting down my laurels and keep moving forward to keep this show going on as long as I like.

For now, I would like to keep duck, dodge, push, and shove for more because things are about to get LOUD. So, whaddya say? Ready to hit the trail some more?

Super GT 2016 FINALE

Under certain circumstances, the season finale of Autobacs Super GT is a two-parter held at the Twin Ring Motegi. The main reason why it's a two-part finale is because that third round, which is supposed to be held at the Autopolis (which is near the quake-struck Kumamoto Prefecture) was suspended and therefore, making the final round a two-parter to ensure that this season remains an eight-round event as planned.

Check out the highlights of this epic two-part finale of the 2016 Super GT season.

In part one, the winner in the GT500 class goes to the #24 Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R, driven by Daiki Sasaki and Masataka Yanagida, while the winner in the GT300 class goes to the #21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS, driven by Richard Lyons and Tomonobu Fujii. In part two, the #39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F, driven by Heikki Kovalainen and Kohei Hirate, won the GT500 class while the #25 VivaC 86 MC, driven by Takeshi Tsuchiya and Takamitsu Matsui, won the GT300 class.

Still, the champions of the Autobacs Super GT 2016 Series go to the #39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F, driven by Heikki Kovalainen and Kohei Hirate, for the GT500 class and the #25 VivaC 86 MC, driven by Takeshi Tsuchiya and Takamitsu Matsui, for the GT300 class. It really was a winner take all finale, after all, huh?

Anyway, this concludes the AUTOBACS Super GT 2016 Series. See you next season.

Let's Do The News! (November 14, 2016)

- According to a UP professor, US President-Elect Donald Trump may adapt "peace through strength" policy in the Asia-Pacific region. Jay Batongbacal, director of the UP Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea said than an imminent Trump administration indicates such policy and added that the United States would focus less on the economic aspect and would be open to a so-called "grand bargain" with China.

- President Rodrigo Duterte may hold two to four bilateral meets on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Peru. According to a foreign affairs official, nothing is final yet regarding the meetings, which are dependent on the availability of Duterte and other world leaders.

- PNP Police Director General Bato Dela Rosa is willing to be imprisoned if it turns out he broke the law by going on a trip to Las Vegas to see the Pacquiao-Vargas fight. Dela Rosa admitted that Senator Manny Pacquiao paid for everything when he and his family flew to Las Vegas to watch his recent fight against Jessie Vargas.

- The University of the Philippines will vote tomorrow for its next president, who will succeed Alfredo Pascual whose six-year term ends in February 2017. The 11-member UP Board of Regents, will select the next UP president during a special meeting at the Diliman campus. They will choose among six nominees, who are expected to face the regents prior to the election.

- A strong quake rattled the South Island of New Zealand early Monday, shaking residents awake, causing damage to buildings and triggered small tsunami waves. The M7.8 quake struck just after midnight in a mostly rural area close to the city of Christchurch. So far, no reports of injuries but it reminded them of a M6.3 quake that hit Christchurch five years ago and killed 185 people, making it the worst disasters in New Zealand.

- Check out what's in store with the brand new Love Live School Idol Festival ~afterschool Activity~ arcade game, set to arrive this December, including smartphone app connectivity as well as printing real cards for your collection! Now, where did they get that idea from?

- The first teaser trailer for the live-action Ghost in the Shell film starring actress Scarlett Johansson as the Major is now up and running.



- In case you missed the recent Eat Bulaga Kalyeserye, that "positive" the lolas are talking about regarding Maine Mendoza could only mean one thing...



TTFN!!!

Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet

Back in 2014, Mercedes-Benz made their first-ever S-Class Coupe to serve as the replacement to the CL-Class, which was based from the previous S-Class of yesteryears. Although being a two-door flagship grand tourer derivative of Mercedes' flagship saloon, the S-Class Coupe has been the potent pugilist against Bentley's Continental GT in terms of pricing but only those Marquises and Marchionesses who owned it will live up to their tales. Now, there's an open-top version that is all about business and leisure all day long.

2017 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet

Say hello to the first-ever S-Class Cabriolet from Mercedes-Benz and by the looks of it, this open-top grand tourer is about Great Ocean Road meets Wall Street from one place to another, but this grand tourer can rest its case, even though its super-expensive 139,885 Euro pricing stuns the Bentley Continental GT Convertible.

Of course, being convertibles, they can weigh more than its hardtop equivalents but in a normal S500 Cabriolet, with the 4.7L V8 engine connected with the 9G-TRONIC gearbox, developing 455PS of power and 700Nm of torque, it can get out from 0 to 100kph in 4.6 seconds, which is .4 seconds quicker than the Continental GT V8 Convertible, but sadly, the Benz is electronically limited to 250kph.

2017 Mercedes-AMG S63 Cabriolet

2017 Mercedes-AMG S65 Cabriolet

Although, if any high rollers want to up the ante, they can go with two powerful AMG versions; the S63 Cabriolet or the S65 Cabriolet. This should give them plenty of oomph to give the opposition a run on their briefcases load of cash from Fifth Avenue to Verrazano Bridge. While the S63 Cabriolet uses the soon-to-be-rot 5.5L V8 BiTurbo engine producing 585PS of power output, its 0-100kph time of 3.9 seconds will drown the CGT V8 S Convertible at the start line, although the option to limit its top speed of 300kph is a tad 8kph less than the CGT V8 S Convertible.

The S65 Cabriolet, with the turbocharged 6.0L V12 engine and with the SPEEDSHIFT PLUS gearbox, sees the CGT Speed Convertible as the target, and with its 630PS of power output, getting away from the Bentley .2 seconds quicker is an easy task but be warned because even with the optional package to increase its top speed limit, that will be 28kph less than what the CGT Speed Convertible can pull off. So, even with these open-top versions weighing more than their hardtop equivalents, the story remains the same although the price difference sets these rivals apart.

Hmmm, if you can recall how the S-Class Coupe handles, they can be very hard to handle due to its weight and in terms of dynamics, it's very challenging indeed if you're not careful with it. The same story goes to the open-top versions. Even though you can feel a slight difference due to its added weight from these open-top equivalents, it takes guts to get these cars from one point to another very carefully because they can tend to oversteer or understeer and looks like you're going to need a new artificial hip after that long struggle with these open-top grand tourers. Of course, if you're not in a mood to be as loud as a house with lots of kids inside, they can be very subtle and enjoyable to drive on the open road like smelling the fresh air from the Great Ocean Road.

With the first-ever cabriolet variant, there are different kinds of S-Class to choose from and whichever S-Class you choose is proof that you have the highest standards, a cut above the rest if you really understand what it means, but with stiffer competitions aside, looks like the S-Class range will going to be on a tough slob but if anyone's greedy enough to spend their briefcases load of money, look no further.

Photo: Daimler AG