DOLE | May 1, 2009 | Labor Day

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said that May 1, 2009 (Friday) is a regular holiday nationwide in observance of Labor Day.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said that as affirmed under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Presidential Proclamation No. 1699 issued on December 24, 2008, Labor Day is a long-cherished tradition that the Filipino workers celebrate on its exact date.

“It is both a national celebration as well as an international event that our trade unions have fought hard to institutionalize in the country,” Roque said.

He advised the country’s employers on the lawful holiday pay rules to be applied during the nationwide regular holiday of Labor Day on May 1, 2009, as follows:

A. If the day is the employee’s regular workday:

- If worked, [the employee] is entitled to 200% of his [or her] basic wage for the first eight (8) hours and, for work in excess of the 8 hours, an additional 30% of his or her hourly rate on the said day;
- If unworked, the employee is entitled to 100% of his daily rate, provided he or she was present or was on leave with pay on the workday immediately preceding the holiday.

B. If the day is the employee’s rest day:

- If worked, the employee is entitled, for the first 8 hours, to 200% of his or her daily rate for work in excess of 8 hours, plus 30% of his or her hourly rate on the said day;
- If unworked, the employee is entitled to 100% of his or her daily rate, provided he or she was present or was on leave with pay on the workday immediately preceding the holiday.

C. Where the day immediately preceding the holiday is a non-work day in the establishment or the scheduled rest day of the employee, he or she shall not be deemed on leave of absence on that day, in which case he or she shall be entitled to the holiday pay.

source: Information and Publication Service

DOLE | May 1, 2009 | Labor Day

Swine flu is a respiratory disease which infects pigs.

By Julie Henry

Commuters wear face masks to prevent the infection by the swine flu virus Photo: GETTY

Caused by influenza type A virus, there are regular outbreaks among herds of pigs, where the disease causes high levels of illness but is rarely fatal.

It tends to spread in autumn and winter but can circulate all year round.

There are many different types of swine flu and like human flu, the infection is constantly changing.

Swine flu does not normally infect humans, although sporadic cases do occur usually in people who have had close contact with pigs.

There have also been rare documented cases of humans passing the infection to other humans.

Human to human transmission of swine flu thought to spread in the same way as seasonal flu – through coughing and sneezing.

The outbreak in Mexico seems to involve a new type of swine flu that contains DNA that is typically found in avian and human viruses.

The World Health Organization has confirmed at least some of the cases are caused by this new strain of H1N1.

“We are very, very concerned,” World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman Thomas Abraham said. “We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human… It’s all hands on deck at the moment.”

It is genetically different from the fully human H1N1 seasonal influenza virus that has been circulating globally for the past few years. It contains DNA that is typical to avian, swine and human viruses, including elements from European and Asian swine viruses

The Mexican government has confirmed 16 deaths from a swine flu outbreak and they are investigating 50 further possible deaths.

The geographical spread of the outbreaks is worrying – while 13 of the 20 deaths were in Mexico City, the rest were spread across Mexico – four in central San Luis Potosi, two up near the US border in Baja California, and one in southern Oaxaca state.

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also investigating seven non-fatal cases of human transmission of swine flu that have been reported since March 2009 but there has been no confirmation of a link.

When any new strain of flu emerges that acquires the ability to pass from person to person, it is monitored very closely in case it has the potential to spark a pandemic.

The WHO is concerned but says it is too soon to change the threat level warning for a pandemic. However, it has convened an expert panel to consider whether to raise the alert level or issue travel advisories.

It might already be too late to contain the outbreak, a prominent US pandemic flu expert said on Friday.

Dr Michael Osterholm, a public health expert at the University of Minnesota, said given how quickly flu can spread around the globe, if these are the first signs of a pandemic, then there are probably cases incubating in other parts of the world already.

“Literally hundreds and thousands of travellers come in and out of Mexico City every day,” Dr Osterholm said. “You’d have to believe there’s been more unrecognised transmission that’s occurred.”

There is no vaccine that specifically protects against swine flu, and it was unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer.

However, the CDC says two flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said the company is prepared to immediately deploy a stockpile of the drug if requested.

Both drugs must be taken early, within a few days of the onset of symptoms, to be most effective. There have also been concerns that some forms of flu have been developing resistance to the drugs.

Scientists have long been concerned that a new flu virus could launch a worldwide pandemic of a killer disease.

A new pandemic flu virus could evolve when different flu viruses infect a pig, a person or a bird, mingling their genetic material. The resulting hybrid could spread quickly because people would have no natural defenses against it.

The most notorious flu pandemic is thought to have killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19. Two other, less deadly flu pandemics struck in 1957 and 1968.

DOLE | May 1, 2009 | Labor Day

here are the list

Sex.com – Sold for: $14 million on January 19th, 2006

Fund.com – $9,999,950 – Sold in 2008

Porn.com – Sold for $9,000,000 sometime in 2007 (Update: OR $9,500,000 — Two different prices shown across many different sites/news reports)

Business.com – Sold for $7,500,000 in 1999 (Remember: This was pretty much a “business” sale with a developed name)

Diamonds.com – Sold for $7,500,000

Beer.com – Sold for $7,000,000

AsSeenOnTV.com – Sold for $5,100,000 in January of 2000

Korea.com – $5,000,000 – Sold in January of 2000

Casino.com – $5,500,000 – Sold to a private company in 2003

YP.com – $3,850,000 – Sold to YellowPages.com

Shop.com – Sold for $3,500,000 in 2001

View the orginal list of Expensive Domain Names ever

DOLE | May 1, 2009 | Labor Day

By JumpLine.com

Your domain name is the center of your Internet identity. So what type of things should you take into consideration when choosing the name that will represent you on the Web? Jumpline.com offers these 8 handy tips.

1. Keep it short

Although some places allow you to register a name with up to 63 characters, you have to keep in mind that people need to be able to remember it, and easily type it into their browser. Try to register the shortest name that your customers and visitors will associate with your Website. The general rule of thumb is, keep it under seven characters if possible. (Not including the suffix.)

2. Dot What?

There are many different extensions available right now. For businesses, we recommend a .com suffix. It is the first extension that most people try when searching for a Website. Also, since it is one of the oldest extensions, .com shows that your business has been around for a while and that you have a well-established presence on the Web.

3. Avoid Trademarked Names

There are two really good reasons for this. First, it’s not very nice. We have all heard the stories about the zany guy who thought ahead and bought “some-huge-multi-million-dollar-company.com” and sold it to the company for enough money to retire on. But, remember that those companies, like yours, have spent lots of time and money creating their brand, and what goes around comes around. Also, companies are no longer opening their pocketbooks to get their names back. They are calling their lawyers.

4. Register Your Domain NOW

Domain names are being snatched up faster than candy at the St. Patrick’s Day parade. You must register soon unless you want to get stuck with “the-domain-name-that-no-one-wanted.net“. You do not have to have a Webmaster or an ecommerce department or a Web design consultant or… Heck, you don’t even need a Web page. Just get out there and register before you loose the opportunity to get the name you really want.

5. One May Not Be Enough

Sometimes, it isn’t a bad idea to register several similar domain names. If you have “yourname.com”, register “yourname.net” so no one else takes it. You can register your full company name and a shorter, easier to remember version. Some people even register common misspellings of their company’s name. (You don’t need a separate Web page for each. Several domains can point to the same Website.)

6. Character Types

Just a reminder. Domain names can only use letters, numbers, and dashes. Spaces and symbols are not allowed. Also, domain names are not case sensitive.

7. Ask Around

When you have settled on several available name choices, see what your friends and clients have to say. A name that may make perfect sense to you may be too hard for other people to remember. Is your domain easy to say? Is it hard to spell? Do you have to explain why you chose the name?

8. Don’t Shell Out Large Amounts of $$$

At one time, companies were able to get away with charging reservation fees plus a “mandatory” $70 InterNIC fee. Recently, it was decided that other companies should be able to compete to sell domain names. This has lowered prices dramatically.

And remember, if you think that if you have found the right domain name, but you’re not quite sure if it’s the one… register it anyway before someone else does!

DOLE | May 1, 2009 | Labor Day

Gears of a Successful Website

What does a successful website look like? We’re not talking about the look and feel, but rather the structure. What sort of components do “Fine” websites share?

We separate these gears into the Visible and the Invisible. In other words, what the nomral visitor sees, and what is going on behind the scenes, or under the hood.

Visible – The tip of the Iceberg
Just like an iceberg, what you see when you go to a website can be a portion of what is actually there. The design and the messaging are simply end products of a more comprehensive strategy.

Invisible – The 95% beneath the surface
It all starts with objectives. From this comes a strategy; key to a good website. You’ve probably heard the old saying that an hour of planning is worth 10 of doing. This holds true for web design. Without a solid, in-depth understanding of what you’re trying to accomplish and how best it needs to happen, you’ll spin your wheels. You will eventually create a plan for your website; it’s simply a question of whether you do it up front, efficiently and in one chunk, or if you do it piecemeal throughout your project, putting out fires as you go.
The rest of the ‘invisible’ includes:
•    Architecture
•    Technology Choices
•    SEO Planning
•    Graphic Design
•    Programming
•    Content Production
•    Marketing and Promotion
•    Maintenance Strategy