Five little ways to help others during the quarantine

The little acts of kindness go a long way to show how we are #OneAgainstCOVID19 

As the entire country deals with the current public health situation, it can be tough to find spots of hope and happiness in the confines of our home. While we may be healthy physically, it is also important to keep our mental health in check. In a time of difficulty, it isn’t too hard for all of us to be someone else’s source of light with small acts of kindness even when we cannot be physically there.

You might be thinking how to do anything when you’re practicing social distancing and staying at home. With the help of apps like PayMaya, it’s easier than ever to send some love and share your blessings with others. Here are little ways to spread love in the time of COVID-19.

Learning @ Home with Girls4Tech™ Connect: Mastercard Provides Free Online STEM Lessons to Children, Teachers and Parents

Mastercard extended access to its signature STEM curriculum, Girls4Tech™, through a suite of new online, creative educational resources. The program has been designed to help parents and teachers engage and inspire kids, ages 8-12.

Through the newly launched website Girls4Tech Connect, as well as through activities made in collaboration with our education partner Scholastic, teachers and parents can download lessons to help students learn about STEM topics, from the comfort of their homes or anywhere around the world.

These activities are built on global science and math standards – and incorporate Mastercard’s deep expertise in payments technology and innovation – to enable children to discover a range of STEM careers, such as Fraud Detective, Data Scientist and Software Engineer.

Now in its sixth year, Girls4Tech has engaged more than 800,000 students across the globe through inquiry-based activities and real-world challenges, all with the goal of inspiring more girls to pursue STEM careers and reduce the gender gap in these fields.

“We know that these are challenging times for parents and teachers on many fronts and hope that these learning resources are a fun way to engage and inspire kids about STEM while at home,” says Susan Warner, vice president of Community Engagement at Mastercard, and founder of Girls4Tech. “The easy access to the website enhances what we’ve done in so many workshops. We look forward to building on both efforts when it’s once again safe to gather in person.”

Beginning this week, new activities will be posted on a weekly basis at the Girls4Tech website, Facebook page and Twitter handle. Lessons are currently available in English, with additional Spanish and Chinese language content to follow in the coming weeks.

While all lessons are designed for students to work independently, materials are also available for teachers to guide online sessions.

Celebrating Holy Week Online

From drive-through confessions, where a priest - seated a meter away - hears a parishioner confess his sins while inside his car, to receiving holy communion in front yards, the Catholic Church has found innovative ways to engage its flock in prayer and participate in church activities amid the worldwide spread of the novel corona virus (Covid-19) which necessitates everybody to practice physical distancing, among other things.

Filipinos, as well as most people of the world, will still be staying at home under enhanced community quarantine as we observe the Holy Week, starting Palm Sunday, April 5 until Easter Sunday, April 12. But everybody will be blessed, Pope Francis said. And Holy Week will be celebrated online, with masses to be livestreamed on Facebook and Youtube by various dioceses across the country.

At the Vatican City, the Pope celebrates daily masses at 2pm at Vatican News English on YouTube.

Following is the schedule of masses in various Philippine churches:

Manila Cathedral

Time: Sunday - 8am,10am, 6pm; Monday to Friday - 7:30am, 12:10pm; Saturday - 7:30am

Where: Manila Cathedral's Facebook page

Quiapo Church

Time: Daily - 5am, 6am, 12:15pm, 3pm, 4pm

Where: Quiapo Church's Facebook page

Diocese of Kalookan

Time: Sunday - 6:30am, 7:45am, 9am, 10:15am, 3pm, 4:15pm, 5:30pm, 6:45pm, 8pm; Monday to Friday - 6am, 12nn, 6pm

Where: Diocese of Kalookan's Facebook page

Diocese of Cubao

Time: Sunday - 8am, 11am, 6pm; Monday to Saturday - 8am

Where: Diocese of Cubao's Facebook page

Diocese of Pasig

Time: Sunday - 6am, 7:30am, 9am, 4pm, 6pm; Monday to Saturday - 6am, 8am, 12nn, 6pm

Where: Pasig Cathedral's Facebook page

Philippine Jesuits

Time: Daily - 8am, 1pm

Where: Radyo Katipunan Facebook page and Radyo Katipunan YouTube channel

Radio Veritas

Time: Daily - 6am, 12nn, 6pm

Where: Radio Veritas' Facebook page

Sambuhay TV Mass

Time: Saturday (anticipated mass) - 5pm; Monday to Friday - 6:15am

Where: Sambuhay's Facebook page

Online masses led by Singapore Archbishop William Goh

Time: Sunday - 10am; Monday to Saturday - 1pm

Where: Archdiocese of Singapore's YouTube channel

PLDT's free speedboost for Fibr subscribers will provide a unique holy week experience in the time of COVID-19. Staying at home as we pray with people online can be our most meaningful contribution in stopping the spread of the dreaded coronavirus.

Fujitsu expands ScanSnap Cloud in Asia-Pacific Region

Cloud service enables PC-less scanning for increased efficiency at work and in the house

PFU Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., the headquarter for Fujitsu scanner business in Southeast Asia, today announced the regional expansion of ScanSnap Cloud, a service that enables ScanSnap users to streamline workflow by delivering scanned data directly to their favorite cloud services such as Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, Google Photo, and OneDrive*1, without a computer or mobile device. This service has been available in Japan since 2015, as well as in North America and Europe since 2016 and, is now expanding to Asia-Pacific regions to meet growing demands.

Globe creates chatbot to monitor employees’ health while on enhanced community quarantine

To ensure that its workforce remains safe and healthy while on enhanced community quarantine, Globe Telecom has created a chatbot that automatically checks on the health status of each of its over 8,000 employees everyday.

Called Digital Usher for Disasters and Emergencies or DUDE, the chatbot makes a friendly visit in the morning to inquire if the employee is well or not.  

Employees are asked to choose between the two options provided - “I’m good” and “Not so well.”  Those not feeling well may key in their symptoms and DUDE will forward the information to the appropriate support team. There is also a COVID-19 Helpdesk and hotline to assist the employees.

“We are committed to protect our workforce while we continuously bring telecom services to the country.  We value the safety and welfare of our employees so we decided to implement a daily health check to ensure that all of them are looked after even with the full work from home and critical skeletal force in place,” said Renato Jiao, Globe Chief Human Resource Officer.

DALAWANG PISO: Thoughts of the Pandemic (And How We Will Survive)

It is already stressful to be inside the house everyday for weeks now. Almost everywhere in the world is experiencing that as well, even industrialized nations. This virus was not only a test of healthcare policies and solutions, but also governments on how they handle them from the national departments to local government units. In the Philippines, the nation now has the Enhanced Community Quarantine, and placed Luzon under lock down. Other provinces in Visayas and Mindanao also followed as their own initiative.

I do get out just to buy supplies good for days and see the outside world or our side of the small city of Mandaluyong. Seeing the difference from the busy city to almost a deserted one seems like one of those dsytopian films and books. But it is necessary move to flatten the curve and avoid mass infections and deaths. Economically it hurts but still the best move to avoid deaths which will also lead to a crumbling society. 

How Under Armour’s App Offerings Help Athletes Stick To Their Health and Fitness Routines

STAYING ACTIVE AT HOME

Under Armour’s DNA is rooted in performance—and if your HIIT workout is in your kitchen instead of the gym, or you are learning how to craft nutrient-dense smoothies at home—we’re all in this together. In light of current guidelines and restrictions put in place to combat the spread of COVID-19, Under Armour is committed to empowering athletes during this new normal. Here, we’re sharing how our apps can help you be healthy and stay on track from home.