TESDA, Informatics tie up for training of IT novice

With a P20-million infusion for scholarships, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is opening the doors of opportunity to beginners in the information technology (IT) industry.

Partnering with Informatics College Eastwood Inc., one of the country's leading IT educational institutions, the agency will tap "non near-hires" for intensive training to soon make them eligible for employment.

"Non near-hires" are individuals with limited or no IT background, as opposed to "near-hires," who already have the background and skills set in IT, but only need honing to be absorbed by a company.

The TESDA-Informatics tie-up was formalized in a memorandum of agreement aimed to provide individuals with the relevant and up-to-date IT education to take full advantage of the high demand in the growing IT-Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry.

The training will focus on Web Development and Animation, which Informatics pledged to offer in its branches nationwide in accordance with the TESDA Board-approved training regulation.

"We need to match the rapid growth that the IT-BPO industry is posting. It starts with tapping qualified individuals and giving them quality training," Villanueva said.

The crucial skill set will come through the support of the private sector such as Informatics, he added.

The P20-million fund will come from the TESDA Training for Work Scholarship Program and will be channelled to Informatics for the cost of the training and other related expenses.  At the end of the course, the students will undergo an assessment and those who will pass will be certified and get the TESDA national certificate.

Graduates will be referred to BPO firms for possible hiring. TESDA targets a 60 percent hiring rate among its students.

"We hope that through the training programs, we can improve the chances for the graduates in landing in jobs that they want," Villanueva said.

Villanueva signed the agreement for TESDA, while Informatics was represented by its vice president, Stephen Banares.

A vampire attack following a zombie’s?

A man who has remained unidentified was arrested for attacking a sleeping homeless man behind a shopping center in San Diego, Calif., Monday.

The 55-year-old victim was bleeding with his eye swollen shut, reports said.

“The attacker kicked him repeatedly in the face, head and ribs while saying that he wanted to kill him,” said San Diego police Capt. Brian Ahearn who first arrived at the scene.

Although details of the incident or the attacker are not yet released, one photo shoot of the assailant that revealed his vampire-like teeth gained attention, framing him a “San Diego vampire.”

This “vampire” attack sent shock waves to Americans who heard the news of a Miami “cannibal attack” in May.

Asteroid is heading towards Earth

A user has found a “huge asteroid” while scanning the virtual heavens using Googly Sky, the Daily Mail in Britain reported on June 5.

Youtube user planetkrejci, who has investigated other anomalies on NASA pictures, claims the object - found using the Google website which transports the heavens to desktop computers and smartphones - is an asteroid which is heading towards Earth, according to the MailOnline.

He says the asteroid - which, if real, has not been spotted by other scientists or astronomers - has only appeared recently on Google Sky, which receives updated images every few months.

Announcing his find on YouTube, he says the black object, mottled with green spots, is so clear that it must be within the solar system.

The user had been exploring the region a few months earlier, and had “bookmarked” a spot just to the left of the asteroid - so he is certain the object was not there previously.

There are other explanations - this could be a simple technical glitch, either on Google Sky's end or within the original photograph.

The earthbound Google Maps regularly has glitches where pictures have been incorrectly sewn together.

One thing that planekrejci does not substantiate is his claim that the object is moving towards the Earth, as it is not apparent how this calculation could be obtained without more information than the image provides.

However, if planetkrejci has found a new object, it will be quite an achievement for an earth-bound Internet user to discover a new object in our solar system before NASA or other observatories.

The object is easy to find on Google Sky, by typing in the co-ordinates 5h 11m 33.74s -12 50' 30.09" - although conspiracy theorists might read something into the fact that the search function on Google Sky is currently down