ANIMATE THIS: Animahenasyon 2007 highlights original Pinoy animation
The Filipino animator must be one of the most overlooked artists in the Philippines. As diligent and creative as the Pinoy independent filmmaker but not as recognized, the local animators have, for the longest time, been looking for a chance (and in some cases, a venue) to finally showcase their originality and talent. Strangely enough, it is the foreign animation companies that have been recognizing the local animators by giving them steady work for the many years now. Indeed, it has been an open secret that some of the cartoons produced by foreign production houses employ Pinoy animators. No doubt about it, Filipino animators are talented but the question is: when will they be given the spotlight they so rightfully deserve? Enter ANIMAHENASYON 2007, Pinoy Animation Festival slated on November 21 to 25 at Robinsons Galleria’s Indie Cine. The festival aims to finally give professional and amateur Filipino animators a venue where they could screen their original works. “I think it is about time to give these animators a chance to show their own works,” says Ricky Orellana, festival director of ANIMAHENASYON. “After all, they have been working on other’s people’s materials for the longest time.” He says that viewers might be surprised to discover that Pinoy animators are not just copycats of American or Japanese animation. “We have our own style,” he says. Indeed, if the entries this year prove anything, it’s that Filipino animators are hard to pigeonhole. “Some are in 2-D and 3-D and some used cell animation but what is really surprising is that we received entries from all over the Philippines: from Baguio to Iloilo, from Lapu Lapu to Marinduque,” Orellana said. Suffice to say that the topics are also diverse. Some are interpretation of local folklore and some are original stories by the animators themselves. “Even now, I expect our judges to have a hard time picking which entries to include in the final list,” the festival director said, “because some of the entries are really good.” And since ANIMAHENASYON’s goal is to spotlight Pinoy animators, what better way to do that than to have two very successful Filipino animators from PIXAR (Toy Story, Finding Nemo) and Dreamworks (Shrek, Madagascar) to give a talk during the festival. “Aside from the original Pinoy works, we are also inviting two Pinoy animators who have done significant work in mainstream Hollywood,” says Orellana. “Hopefully, the forum will give animators a chance to discuss pertinent issues concerning not only the local industry but the international animation industry as well.” And like any other festival, ANIMAHENASYON will hand out various awards for deserving entries. Up for grabs are the GRAND PRIZE AWARD, AWARD for BEST REGIONAL ENTRY, JURY’S SPECIAL AWARD, and AUDIENCE’S SPECIAL AWARD, among others. But of course, as the festival organizers never fail to point out, the real prize is that finally Pinoy animators are not just anonymous workers toiling on some cartoon series but, through ANIMAHENASYON, artists in the real sense of the word. ANIMAHENASYON 2007 is spearheaded by the Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI), a non-stock and non-profit organization. The members of ACPI specialize mainly in—but not limited to— 2D or 3D animation. The organization, which is recognized and supported by the Philippine government, aims to create an identity for the Philippines to be considered among the preferred countries that service the animation industry. Animation by some of the members of Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. Contact Persons: Mario Banzon Laisa Gonzales Animation Council of the Philippines T: 4382983 local 150-151
PHP Everywhere! December 1, 2007
PHP User Group Philippines, Inc. (PHPUGPH), a non-profit organization established to provide support for LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) and open-source enthusiasts in the Philippines, will be holding it’s 1st ever PHP Developer’s Conference on December 1, 2007 (1-day event)/9am-6pm. This is in follow-up with last Aprils successful event, a gathering of professional LAMP developers, web freelancers and companies utilizing OSS (Open-Source Software) technologies for enterprise use. The goal for this upcoming conference is to spread the news of using OSS solutions such as Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP and some Web 2.0 technologies in wider audiences such as universities and training institutions. Many noted members of our group are certified and professionally affiliated with leading company in the industry such as Barclays, UN-IOSN, Yahoo! Singapore, Accenture, Mobius Asia and some semi-conductor/electronics like Intel, Atmel, Amis, which has some open source software deployed in production environment. Last Aprils event was sponsored as listed below that capture’s local IT industry attention and it is our aim to widen the coverage this coming December’s event with your support. Contact ajbatac–at–phpugph.com for more details.
Neo Laptop Drivers
For those looking for Laptop Drivers for your NEO Notebook, and like us you couldn’t find any online*, we’ve taken the liberty of uploading them to our support site as a ‘temporary’ repository while NEO themselves decide to offer it in their website. Download the drivers at: http://corp.eacomm.com/support/neolaptopdrivers *UPDATE!!!! – As of mid-2008, Neo Philippines are now offering Laptop Model-specific Device Drivers for all its current and past Laptop Models. Please visit their Support Page at: http://neo.com.ph/support.html to download! DISCLAIMER: We make no guarantees that the drivers available here would work for your specific NEO Laptop Model. For best results, we still suggest you visit the nearest NEO laptop service center or inquire at: http://www.neo.com.ph You’re still free to download the versions we have on the link above, but we HIGHLY RECOMMEND using the drivers available from NEO itself.