Social Climate By Mahar Mangahas Philippine Daily Inquirer

Not only President Noynoy Aquino but also other top officials achieved new personal bests in public satisfaction in the third quarter 2012

Social Weather Survey, which was conducted last Aug. 24-27 and released through BusinessWorld the last two Fridays.

The President. Compared to the second quarter 2012 survey of May 24-27, the percentage satisfied with P-Noys performance rose to 77 from 63, and the percentage dissatisfied with him fell to 10 from 21.

Consequently, his net satisfaction rating rose from +42 in May to +67 in August, topping his previous best of +64 in November 2010. Both his old and new personal bests are classified by SWS as Very Good (+50 to +69).

P-Noys net rating rose most of all in the National Capital Region, from merely +18 (Moderate) in May to +59 in August. It also rose significantly in Balance of Luzon, from +41 (Good) to +70 (Excellent), and in the Visayas, from +41 (Good) to +76 (Excellent). In Mindanao, it was at a Very Good + 61 in both May and August.

Everyone is entitled to do her/his own analysis of the survey findings. Personally, I do not emphasize too much the timing of the interviewsthat is to say, during the tragic week of mourning for the lost Interior Secretary Jesse Robredobecause I prefer to look at the total picture encompassing the two successive quarters, in which the obvious big difference was the ouster of Chief Justice Renato Corona. For that very popular move, the people apparently give credit not only to P-Noy but also to other top officials.

Another remarkable thing is that this new personal best has happened as late as the ninth quarter of P-Noys term, when the honeymoon should normally be over. In the surveys closest to their ninth quarters, the net ratings of Presidents Cory Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos were +64 and +55, respectivelyalso Very Good, but below P-Noys nowwhile that of Joseph Erap Estrada was merely +13 (Moderate). Their respective personal bests of +72, +69 and +67 happened much earlier in their terms. (Comparing with Gloria Arroyo is no use, since her personal best in nine years as president was a mere +30.)

The Vice President. Vice President Jojo Binay likewise scored a new personal best in August, with 82 percent satisfied versus only 6 percent dissatisfied, for a net rating of +76, after already having posted successive excellent +70s in both the first and the second quarters. His previous best was +74 in March 2011.

To me, it is proper to compare a vice president not with a president but with previous VPs. As popular as Jojo Binay presently is, some past VPs were even more popular. In FVRs time, his VP

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Second honeymoons

The Daily Drivers | By Peter Couture and Lyra Solochek, Times Staff Writers

By Peter Couture and Lyra Solochek, Times Staff Writers Peter CoutureLyra SolochekTampa Bay Times In Print: Saturday, September 15, 2012

Audi gives its A5 a gentle facelift for 2013 that keeps it one of the more striking coupes on the road. The midsize A5 is more about style and personal luxury than performance, but that doesn't mean it suffers in the get-up-and-go department. Audi also makes a cabriolet, a convertible A5.

Appearance: Audi has remade the A5 with sleeker designs, with crisp body creases and yet more flowing lines than the previous model. The biggest change comes in the headlights that bookend the now single-frame grille. They are more angled and carry Audi's iconic light strips as daylight running lights. It's both an aggressive and elegant look very R8. The taillights also now have LEDs.

Performance: The turbocharged 2-liter four-cylinder produces 211 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, which may not be performance-car numbers, but still makes for some fun acceleration. We noticed turbo lag only when really stepping on it. The electromechanical steering is responsive, with good feedback. The A5 has Audi's quattro all-wheel drive, which makes for a composed ride and handling. We think the 8-speed tiptronic automatic is one of the smoother transmissions on the market its shifts are almost imperceptible and it helps the A5 get decent fuel economy.

Interior: The A5 is more about personal luxury for the driver and front passenger. There's ample headroom and legroom, as well as power leather seats (12-way for driver and eight-way for the passenger). Its low roofline doesn't allow much headroom or legroom in the rear. Better leave the back seats for kids. Elsewhere, the cabin has Audi's usual fine fit and finish, even though there's a little more plastic than we'd like in a luxury model. Lyra found the front seats to be plush and comfortable, but Peter would have liked more lumbar support after taking the A5 on a jaunt to Orlando. Audi seems to be making its multimedia interface a bit more intuitive, but the A5's controller knob is far forward on the dash's console. We remain annoyed that Audi builds in an extra step to control the AC fan speed. Peter also found the placement of the button for the in-dash driver information display confusing. Why is it on the tip of the windshield washer stalk? Instead of a push button, you press the key fob into the dash to start the car. The panoramic sunroof brings in lots of light, but the shade screen is opened and closed manually.

Our 3 favorites

Peter Couture

Sleek styling: A coupe should attract attention. It does.

Driving modes: You can choose from four settings.

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The Daily Drivers car review: 2013 Audi A5 Coupe

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Just the idea of a big 160-pound fight had promoter Bob Arum reminiscing about the 1980s, when Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns took on all comers and middleweights ruled the boxing world.

Saturday night's fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sergio Martinez isn't exactly Hagler-Hearns, but it is intriguing enough to get boxing fans excited about the middleweight division again.

Chavez defends the piece of the 160-pound title Martinez believes should still be his when they meet in a fight that seems quite personal to both. There's a good chance the fight could turn into an old-fashioned brawl, the prospect of which was enough to sell out the 19,000-seat UNLV campus arena for the Mexican Independence Day weekend bout.

Chavez Jr. is fighting to escape from the shadow of his father, the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez, and establish himself as one of the new stars of the sport. Martinez is trying to solidify his position as the best middleweight in the world, and dispatch a fighter he doesn't think even deserves to be in a title fight.

At the final pre-fight news conference, they traded verbal shots, with Martinez about as angry about an opponent as any fighter can get.

''It will not be an easy knockout,'' Martinez said. ''I will punish him a lot and after that I will knock him out.''

Martinez is a 2-1 favorite in the scheduled 12-round bout, which will be for the WBC title that Martinez held before being stripped of it by the ratings organization. Chavez ended up fighting for the vacated title against Sebastian Zbik, part of the reason Martinez says he has a lot of animosity toward him.

''It is very simple. I cannot accept the fact he is world champion,'' Martinez said. ''The only reason he is world champion is because he is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the son of the legend, and his mouth is so big - even bigger than his own brain - and he's talking too much.''

The fight is part of a big boxing night in this gambling city that also features Mexican sensation Saul ''Canelo'' Alvarez in a 154-pound title defense against Josesito Lopez a few blocks away at the MGM Grand hotel. The Chavez-Martinez fight will be broadcast on HBO pay-per-view at a suggested price of $49.95, while the Alvarez fight will be broadcast without an extra charge on Showtime.

Chavez, who has struggled in recent fights trying to make the 160-pound limit, was a surprisingly light 158 pounds at the official weigh-in Friday. Martinez came in at 159 pounds.

Link:
Getting personal: Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez in Vegas

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Performance coach Erin Owen; who has consulted with and coached hundreds of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and private individuals from more than 10 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia; has released her first book: Refuel, Recharge, and Re-energize: The Conscious Entrepreneur's Guide to Taking Back Control of Your Time and Energy.

Refuel, Recharge, and Re-energize shares the Eastern-inspired performance techniques Owen uses with private clients, all aimed at helping self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs achieve more by doing less. The wisdom of ancient practices such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yoga, Reiki, Ayurveda, and Buddhism informs her work and helps her clients eliminate sources of stress and reenergize their personal and professional lives.

By applying the principles of Yin and Yang to our Western lives, Owen shows how to:

With an MBA and over a decade as a leadership and organizational consultant, Owen works with professionals to align their thoughts and action with a greater sense of purpose, ease, and confidence. "Working harder is not the answer," she notes. "The professionals I work with are spending extraordinary amounts of time and the energy, expecting to be rewarded with better results, but they're getting diminishing returns. That burning-the-candle-at-both-ends mentality is old school. You end up overworked and undernourished, wondering where the excitement disappeared to."

Refuel, Recharge, and Re-energize guides the reader through seven techniques ranging from quick meditation and yoga-based exercises to nutrition and time management. Her simple, flexible, portable, and free approaches, with an emphasis on becoming a "single-tasker," are supported by additional materials, including guided audio meditations, recipes, and organizational principles on her website (www.yourperformancebreakthrough.com).

"The new way of working," explains Owen, "is to be really clear about the life you want to live, take care of yourself first and then and only then build your business around that. In this way, you'll actually see much greater productivity and performance in your business and be able to reach your goals of making an incredible impact on the world, not to mention living a life that makes it all worth it."

About Erin Owen

Erin Owen, MBA, has been coaching professionals to achieve greater personal performance since 2003. With a background in Chinese Studies, holistic health (including alternative nutrition), Reiki, Mind/Body/Spirit Medicine, Comparative Eastern Religions and Philosophy,Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction, Ayurveda, and Yoga, her unique expertise is in applying the wisdom of ancient Eastern practices to the Western idea of performance.

Media contact:

Erin Owen Email: info@yourperformancebreakthrough.com Telephone: 215-771-8968 Website: http://www.yourperformancebreakthrough.com

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New Book Reveals Utilizing Wisdom of Ancient Practices Improves Professional Performance

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Sept. 13,2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Tablets are transforming the way content is consumed and challenging the usage patterns for personal computers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction StudySM released today.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20050527/LAF028LOGO-a)

The inaugural Tablet Satisfaction Study finds that tablet owners spend 7.5 hours per week browsing the Internet, watching videos, listening to music, and reading books on their device, compared with spending 9.6 hours per week on a personal computer for the same activities. Overall satisfaction is 857 (on a 1,000-point scale) among owners who view three or more hours of video per week on their tablet, which is 45 points higher than among those who do not. In addition, those who spend three or more hours viewing video content are more likely to purchase another tablet from their current manufacturer in the future than are those who do not watch as much video content (90% vs. 81%, respectively).

"As tablet computing, multimedia, display, and application offerings continue to evolve, their impact on usage patterns will continue to grow," said Dr. Uma S. Jha, senior director of mobile devices at J.D. Power and Associates. "Tablets are a force in the marketplace that offer a great alternative to laptops and netbooks."

The study measures tablet owner satisfaction among those who have owned their tablet for less than two years. Satisfaction is measured across five key factors. In order of importance, they are: performance (26%), ease of operation (22%), styling and design (19%), features (17%), and price (16%).

Apple ranks highest, achieving a score of 848, and performs well in four factors: performance; ease of operation; styling and design; and features. Amazon (842) closely follows Apple in the rankings and performs particularly well in the price factor.

The study also finds the following key tablet usage patterns and purchase trends:

The 2012 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study is based on experiences reported by 1,985 tablet owners. The study was fielded in July 2012.

Overall Tablet Index Rankings

(Based on a 1,000-point scale)

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J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Tablets Challenge Personal Computers for Top Position in Content Consumption

CHAMPAIGN, ILL. A national program that promotes youth fitness is changing to emphasize health over performance and materials published by Champaign-based Human Kinetics will be part of the new program.

The President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition announced Monday it is replacing the President's Council Youth Fitness Test with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program.

The new program will use Fitnessgram, an assessment that reports on a student's individual health and fitness.

"It tells you how healthy you are, based on what you should be able to do for someone in your age group," Human Kinetics President Brian Holding said.

That's a change from the old youth fitness test, which compared a student's performance with those of his or her peers.

Fitnessgram software published by Human Kinetics for the Cooper Institute measures health-related fitness by evaluating cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition.

Fitnessgram has been adopted by many metropolitan school districts, including those in New York City, Indianapolis and Miami, Holding said.

The software also has been adopted statewide by Texas, Georgia and Delaware and is used in much of North Carolina, he added.

Holding said it's estimated that two-thirds of the schools that do physical fitness testing have been using Fitnessgram, and the other one-third have been using the President's Council Youth Fitness Test.

But with the President's Council switching gears, all those schools stand to be using Fitnessgram, he said.

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Presidential fitness program switches focus to personal health

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/85j2rw/glaxosmithkline_pl) has announced the addition of the "GlaxoSmithKline Plc in Beauty and Personal Care (World)" company profile to their offering.

GSK remains a small player in the vast beauty and personal care industry due to its focus on oral care. The company's strong background in pharmaceuticals and consumer health offers it potential in developing health-orientated beauty products. This report analyses the company's performance in 2011 with focus on oral care and evaluates its growth potential in the near future.

Euromonitor International's GlaxoSmithKline Plc in Beauty and Personal Care (World) Company Profile offers detailed strategic analysis of the company's business, examining its performance in Beauty and Personal Care industry. The report examines company shares by region and sector, product developments, market and distribution strategies, challenges from the competition and future prospects. Use it to understand opportunities and threats facing the business and the factors driving success.

Why buy this report?

- Get a detailed picture of the Beauty and Personal Care market;

- Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change;

- Understand the competitive environment, the market's major players and leading brands;

- Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop.

Key Topics Covered:

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Research and Markets: GlaxoSmithKline Plc in Beauty and Personal Care (World) - An Analysis of the Company's ...

Statistical highlights of the Twenty20 [ Images ] International between India [ Images ] and New Zealand [ Images ] played in Chennai on Tuesday.

# Virat Kohli's [ Images ] 70 off 41 balls is the highest individual innings by an Indian player against New Zealand in T20s.

# During the course of his innings, he has recorded a strike rate of 170.73 -- the highest in India-New Zealand T20s.

# Kohli's innings is his highest score in T20s, bettering the 68 against Sri Lanka [ Images ] at Pallekele on August 7, 2012.

# Brendon McCullum's [ Images ] excellent 91 off 55 balls is his second highest score in Twenty20 Internationals -- the best ever and the highest is 116 not out off 56 balls against Australia [ Images ] at Christchurch on February 28, 2010.

# McCullum's score is the second highest against India in T20s. Chris Gayle [ Images ] had made 98 at Bridgetown on May 9, 2010.

# McCullum's innings is the highest individual knock in Twenty20 Internationals in India.

# For the first time in T20s, McCullum has received the Player of the series award. He has received his fifth Man of the Match award in T20s.

# McCullum's tally of three Man of the Match awards against India is a record in T20s.

# McCullum is the first batsman to register 10 innings of 50-plus in Twenty20 Internationals -- a hundred and nine fifties. He is also the first player to post three fifties against India in T20s.

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Stats: Kohli records personal best score in T20s

Coming off a performance in which the offensive line gave up six sacks, senior left guard Chris Jacobson didn't pull any punches about his unit's motivation heading into Pitt's game Saturday against Virginia Tech.

"It's definitely personal," he said. "We're 0-2, we're coming in against a good defensive front, good defense. We're going to be as good as our front five are going to be."

Jacobson, and the rest of the offensive line, are looking to bounce back against the Hokies after a disappointing performance in a 34-10 loss Thursday to Cincinnati.

The Bearcats got pressure on quarterback Tino Sunseri early and often, with three sacks coming on Pitt's first three offensive drives.

While the offensive line is usually the unit blamed for poor pass protection, coach Paul Chryst said the responsibility flows throughout the offense. The quarterback needs to get rid of the ball quickly, receivers need to run precise routes, and backs and tight ends need to help when called upon.

"That's one of the neat things about football is that it takes all 11 guys, and that's a great example of it," Chryst said. "We all know that certain areas are lightning rods and everyone can take ownership of it. That's the great thing about football."

Still, Jacobson admitted there's plenty of room for the offensive line to improve after the first two games. Coming into the season, experience at the position was a major concern. Jacobson and center Ryan Turnley had plenty of experience, but the other three starters -- left tackle Cory King, right guard Ryan Schlieper and right tackle Matt Rotheram -- had only 15 career starts between them.

"There's no excuses," Jacobson said. "A couple of times we all missed calls, myself included. I mean, there's stuff I need to work on. The crowd noise played an effect for those guys, but they're fine. They're the hardest-working guys on the team."

Despite the disappointing result, Jacobson and Turnley said that there were some positives to take away from the Cincinnati game. Notably, Pitt's running backs ran the ball for an average of 4.9 yards per carry.

"We had some nice run plays, we had some bad ones," Turnley said. "Same thing in the passing game. We picked up some blitzes and we got beat a couple of times and we've just got to fix that."

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Pitt's line is taking the 'personal' approach

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/xm67n5/rf_analog_impairme) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "RF Analog Impairments Modeling for Communication Systems Simulation. Application to OFDM-based Transceivers" to their offering.

With the growing complexity of personal mobile communication systems demanding higher data-rates and high levels of integration using low-cost CMOS technology, overall system performance has become more sensitive to RF analog font-end impairments.

Designing integrated transceivers requires a thorough understanding of the whole transceiver chain including RF analog front-end and digital baseband. Communication system engineers have to include RF analog imperfections in their simulation benches in order to study and quantify their impact on the system performance.

Here the author explores key RF analog impairments in a transceiver and demonstrates how to model their impact from a communication system design view-point. He discusses the design aspects of the front end of transceivers (both receivers and transmitters) and provides the reader with a way to optimize a complex mixed-signal platform by taking into account the characteristics of the RF/analog front-end.

Key features of this book include:

- Practical examples illustrated by system simulation results based on WiFi and mobile WiMAX OFDM transceivers

- An overview of the digital estimation and compensation of the RF analog impairments such as power amplifier distortion, quadrature imbalance, and carrier and sampling frequency offsets

- An exposition of the challenges involved in the design of both RF analog circuits and DSP communication circuits in deep submicron CMOS technology

- MATLAB codes for RF analog impairments models hosted on the companion website

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Research and Markets: RF Analog Impairments Modeling for Communication Systems Simulation. Application to OFDM-based ...