Trash Chronicles

Manny Pacquiao made sure his kababayans in the Philippines will have a jolly celebration of the holidays after beating Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto to a pulp in their scheduled 12-round “Firepower" slugfest at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

Manny Pacquiao, right, lands a right to the head of Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto during their WBO welterweight boxing title fight Saturday in Las Vegas. AP
Months of preparation between both fighters ended Saturday (Sunday in Manila) with Pacquiao needing 12 rounds and referee Kenny Bayless’ decision in collecting his record seventh weight division crown.

Pacquiao's win again gave the country the chance to forget the calamity brought by several typhoons that battered the country - mostly Luzon - and more reason to be more hopeful.

Now the “Pacman" can surely take his place among the great fighters, Filipino or foreign, that danced their way inside the four corners of the ring.

He has grown big, physically and in stature, from his humble beginnings around the busy streets of General Santos City where he began his career as a 106-lb strawweight.

Cotto fought gallantly, controlling the first two rounds where he kept Pacquiao out of his usual game.

But Pacquiao was apparently just taking his time to to study and size up his opponent first.

When the 30-year-old Filipino icon finally measured Cotto’s power, he started weaving his magic inside the ring, baffling his opponent with blinding speed and forcing the Puerto Rican to hit the canvass twice in the third and fourth rounds.

At times, Pacquiao unleashed several powerful combinations that rocked Cotto. But the deposed champion managed to fight back and exchange shots with the Filipino ring icon.

In the later round, Cotto started backpedaling and seemed content on just waiting for an opening to land a big shot when the tireless Pacquiao came forward.

His wife Melissa, seeing enough of the pounding his husband was receiving from Pacquiao, left the arena with their 10-year-old son at the start of the 10th round. Even Cotto’s father begged for a stoppage.

Bayless was the one who saved Cotto from Pacquiao’s beating, stopping the fight with still 55 seconds left in the 12th.

Pacquiao landed 336 punches out of the 780 he threw at Cotto for a 43 per cent accuracy rate while his opponent connected 172 times on the 336 he tossed (28 per cent). More than 270 of Pacquiao’s punches are aimed at Cotto’s head.

But based on the power punches, Pacquiao proved the stronger, one landing 276 out of the 560 he unleashed compared to the 93 out of the 300 by Cotto.

“I did not know where the punches are coming," was all a dejected Cotto could say after the match.

Had the match gone through the scorecards, judges Adalaide Byrd, Duane Ford and Dave Moretti would have still ruled in favor of Pacquiao. So dominant was Pacquiao that all three judges saw Cotto winning only two rounds of the fight. – GMANews.TV

Manny Pacquiao’s 12-round annihilation of Miguel Cotto on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) gathered some of Hollywood’s top celebrities along with past and current athletic superstars.

Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rourke and Mark Wahlberg were among those who watched as Pacquiao dismantled Cotto and completed his mission of winning a record seventh division title. Both actors are known Pacquiao fans with Rourke being a former student of Freddie Roach, the Filipino ring icon’s American trainer.

Manny Pacquiao salutes the crowd that features top Hollywood and sports stars after wresting the WBO welterweight belt from Miguel Cotto Saturday in Las Vegas (Sunday in Manila.) AP
Also at ringside were veteran actor Joe Pesci, socialite Paris Hilton, R&B artist Sean “P. Diddy" Combs, comedian Will Ferrell and Jeremy Piven, star of HBO’s hit series “Entourage".

Some of the finest athletes also dropped by to witness the showdown dubbed “Firepower."

Former boxing champions Roberto Duran and Tommy “The Hitman" Hearns, reining International Boxing Organization light heavyweight titlist Chad Dawson, undisputed light middleweight king and a current middleweight contender Winky Wright, Shane Mosley, New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, Derek Jeter of the World Series champs New York Yankees, and basketball legend Magic Johnson were also seen at ringside.

Philippine Vice President Noli De Castro, Deputy National Security Adviser and former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit" Singson and Mayor Bing Leonardia were among local politicians who trooped to Las Vegas to cheer for Pacquiao.

Kapuso singing group La Divas – Maricris Garcia, Aicelle Santos and Jonalyn Viray – sang the Lupang Hinirang followed by Ednita Nazario who sang Puerto Rico’s National Anthem. Fil-Am Ramiel of the American Idol fame sang the Star Spangled Banner before ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced both fighters.

Pacquiao reportedly earned $13 million (P611,000,000) from the megafight while Cotto pocketed $7 million just to have his face rearranged by the seven-division champion.

Undercard

Eight undercard bouts took place before the Pacquiao-Cotto showdown with two Filipino boxers, a relative of the deposed champion and an aspiring rabbi winning their respective matches.

Abner Cotto, cousin of the former WBO welterweight king, opened up the card with a victory over Lupe Guzman in their lightweight bout while Richie Mepranum, one of the two Filipino boxers in the undercard, won over Ernie Marquez by split decision.

Rodrigo Garcia defeated Martin Guerra by unanimous decision while Eden Sonsona, another boxer from the Philippines, scored a technical knockout victory over Eilon Kedem. Alfonso Gomez needed six rounds to beat Jesus Soto-Krass while Matt Korobov bested James Winchester in their middleweight division match.

Belarus-born Yuri Foreman of Israel, an aspiring rabbi, snatched the World Boxing Association super welterweight championship belt from Daniel Santos when he defeated the Puerto Rican via unanimous decision.

Julio Cesar Chavez outpointed Troy Rowland for the final undercard bout.

Manny Pacquiao’s 12-round annihilation of Miguel Cotto on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) gathered some of Hollywood’s top celebrities along with past and current athletic superstars.

Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rourke and Mark Wahlberg were among those who watched as Pacquiao dismantled Cotto and completed his mission of winning a record seventh division title. Both actors are known Pacquiao fans with Rourke being a former student of Freddie Roach, the Filipino ring icon’s American trainer.

Manny Pacquiao salutes the crowd that features top Hollywood and sports stars after wresting the WBO welterweight belt from Miguel Cotto Saturday in Las Vegas (Sunday in Manila.) AP
Also at ringside were veteran actor Joe Pesci, socialite Paris Hilton, R&B artist Sean “P. Diddy" Combs, comedian Will Ferrell and Jeremy Piven, star of HBO’s hit series “Entourage".

Some of the finest athletes also dropped by to witness the showdown dubbed “Firepower."

Former boxing champions Roberto Duran and Tommy “The Hitman" Hearns, reining International Boxing Organization light heavyweight titlist Chad Dawson, undisputed light middleweight king and a current middleweight contender Winky Wright, Shane Mosley, New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, Derek Jeter of the World Series champs New York Yankees, and basketball legend Magic Johnson were also seen at ringside.

Philippine Vice President Noli De Castro, Deputy National Security Adviser and former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit" Singson and Mayor Bing Leonardia were among local politicians who trooped to Las Vegas to cheer for Pacquiao.

Kapuso singing group La Divas – Maricris Garcia, Aicelle Santos and Jonalyn Viray – sang the Lupang Hinirang followed by Ednita Nazario who sang Puerto Rico’s National Anthem. Fil-Am Ramiel of the American Idol fame sang the Star Spangled Banner before ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced both fighters.

Pacquiao reportedly earned $13 million (P611,000,000) from the megafight while Cotto pocketed $7 million just to have his face rearranged by the seven-division champion.

Undercard

Eight undercard bouts took place before the Pacquiao-Cotto showdown with two Filipino boxers, a relative of the deposed champion and an aspiring rabbi winning their respective matches.

Abner Cotto, cousin of the former WBO welterweight king, opened up the card with a victory over Lupe Guzman in their lightweight bout while Richie Mepranum, one of the two Filipino boxers in the undercard, won over Ernie Marquez by split decision.

Rodrigo Garcia defeated Martin Guerra by unanimous decision while Eden Sonsona, another boxer from the Philippines, scored a technical knockout victory over Eilon Kedem. Alfonso Gomez needed six rounds to beat Jesus Soto-Krass while Matt Korobov bested James Winchester in their middleweight division match.

Belarus-born Yuri Foreman of Israel, an aspiring rabbi, snatched the World Boxing Association super welterweight championship belt from Daniel Santos when he defeated the Puerto Rican via unanimous decision.

Julio Cesar Chavez outpointed Troy Rowland for the final undercard bout.

Manny Pacquiao’s 12-round annihilation of Miguel Cotto on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) gathered some of Hollywood’s top celebrities along with past and current athletic superstars.

Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rourke and Mark Wahlberg were among those who watched as Pacquiao dismantled Cotto and completed his mission of winning a record seventh division title. Both actors are known Pacquiao fans with Rourke being a former student of Freddie Roach, the Filipino ring icon’s American trainer.

Manny Pacquiao salutes the crowd that features top Hollywood and sports stars after wresting the WBO welterweight belt from Miguel Cotto Saturday in Las Vegas (Sunday in Manila.) AP
Also at ringside were veteran actor Joe Pesci, socialite Paris Hilton, R&B artist Sean “P. Diddy" Combs, comedian Will Ferrell and Jeremy Piven, star of HBO’s hit series “Entourage".

Some of the finest athletes also dropped by to witness the showdown dubbed “Firepower."

Former boxing champions Roberto Duran and Tommy “The Hitman" Hearns, reining International Boxing Organization light heavyweight titlist Chad Dawson, undisputed light middleweight king and a current middleweight contender Winky Wright, Shane Mosley, New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, Derek Jeter of the World Series champs New York Yankees, and basketball legend Magic Johnson were also seen at ringside.

Philippine Vice President Noli De Castro, Deputy National Security Adviser and former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit" Singson and Mayor Bing Leonardia were among local politicians who trooped to Las Vegas to cheer for Pacquiao.

Kapuso singing group La Divas – Maricris Garcia, Aicelle Santos and Jonalyn Viray – sang the Lupang Hinirang followed by Ednita Nazario who sang Puerto Rico’s National Anthem. Fil-Am Ramiel of the American Idol fame sang the Star Spangled Banner before ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced both fighters.

Pacquiao reportedly earned $13 million (P611,000,000) from the megafight while Cotto pocketed $7 million just to have his face rearranged by the seven-division champion.

Undercard

Eight undercard bouts took place before the Pacquiao-Cotto showdown with two Filipino boxers, a relative of the deposed champion and an aspiring rabbi winning their respective matches.

Abner Cotto, cousin of the former WBO welterweight king, opened up the card with a victory over Lupe Guzman in their lightweight bout while Richie Mepranum, one of the two Filipino boxers in the undercard, won over Ernie Marquez by split decision.

Rodrigo Garcia defeated Martin Guerra by unanimous decision while Eden Sonsona, another boxer from the Philippines, scored a technical knockout victory over Eilon Kedem. Alfonso Gomez needed six rounds to beat Jesus Soto-Krass while Matt Korobov bested James Winchester in their middleweight division match.

Belarus-born Yuri Foreman of Israel, an aspiring rabbi, snatched the World Boxing Association super welterweight championship belt from Daniel Santos when he defeated the Puerto Rican via unanimous decision.

Julio Cesar Chavez outpointed Troy Rowland for the final undercard bout.

Windows 7 and Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala will both be released this month. We look at what the two new operating systems will offer.

Next week, Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system will officially be released to users. And the week after that will see the release of Ubuntu 9.10, or Karmic Koala, the latest release of Ubuntu Linux. We look at what users can expect from both these releases.

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala)

Karmic Koala is the latest in a long line of six-monthly releases from the Ubuntu development team. With a substantially quicker release cycle than Microsoft's Windows roadmap, the changes in Karmic Koala since Jaunty in April are fairly limited. The Karmic Koala release is also the latest long-term-support release of the operating system which means it is inherently more conservative than other releases as it is designed with enterprise users in mind.

The first thing users, hopefully, will see is a new theme for Karmic which will make it feel a little more contemporary. The problem is that a new theme for Ubuntu has been in the pipeline for the past two releases and apart from some minor tweaks has largely been insignificant.

Karmic is also expected to have improved audio capabilities which will be an important development. Audio handling on Linux has been famously bad over the years and as multimedia becomes an increasingly important part of the modern desktop, audio failings become increasingly noticeable.

Faster boot-up time is also to be expected. With increasing numbers of users using notebooks as their primary work platform most software and hardware makers have been looking to reduce the time that notebooks take to go from cold start to a workable state. The Ubuntu team has been saying for some time now that they hope to achieve boot times of less than 20 seconds with the release of Ubuntu 9.10. And more recently developers laid out plans to reduce that to sub-10 seconds with the release following Karmic in April 2010.

Boot-up on Ubuntu is also expected to be a lot smoother and attractive because developers are using Red Hat's Plymouth boot system. Using Plymouth, users will get a new, mostly flicker-free, graphical bootup. This won't be worrying Microsoft but will go a long way to reduce the impression that Linux is overly geeky.

Windows 7

Unlike Ubuntu Karmic, Windows 7 has been in development for years and has had a public beta version available for the best part of a year. But that effort looks likely to pay off with Windows 7 really looking the part of a modern operating system with its transparency, floating desktop widgets and aqua-toned desktop.

Multimedia is a big focus of Windows 7 and the OS will ship with Windows Media Player 12 by default. Unlike previous versions of Media Player, version 12 includes better features for managing media files. This is done with a dual-mode approach: the Library view and the Now Playing view. Microsoft has separated the two roles and enhanced each of them. Using the Library view users have access to all of the media management tools including categories, playlists and ratings. One of the nice features of the Library view is the ability to list all media types in a single tree view, making it easier to manage them in a single place. The Now Playing view, on the other hand, shows the current playlist, videos, visual effects and so on.

In use the most obvious benefit of Windows 7 is the significant reduction in what could be called "interference". Microsoft has been working hard on reducing the levels of interference for users by limiting the number of pop-ups and warning notices. It's all about the changes to User Account Control which instead of constantly popping up warnings of impending doom and danger are slightly muted and less obtrusive. They're still there but just not with the same vigour as before.

The taskbar in Windows 7 is also a great deal better than the taskbar offered by Windows Vista or XP. For the uninitiated the taskbar operate as a series of "flyouts" which are smaller representations of open Windows. They're pretty and functional but could be just as effective without the flashy popup windows. One of the complaints against the task bar could be that by default the open windows are all crammed together on the taskbar, which can make it messy if you have too many windows open.

Perhaps Windows 7's biggest asset is that it is noticeably slicker than Windows Vista, which has a sluggish feel about it.

In Ubuntu's case one of its assets is the work done to support netbook PCs. Ubuntu's Netbook Remix interface is a very slick alternative for the smaller screen space common on netbooks.

Windows 7 is being released on October 7 and Ubuntu Karmic on October 29.

With the release of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system slated for tomorrow, several Linux releases and announcements are arriving. Paula Rooney at ZDNet suggests that the Linux flurry may represent wave-making in reaction to the release of the much discussed new version of Windows. Does Windows 7 threaten to stifle Linux, and what are the prospects for Linux as Windows 7 rolls out?

As Rooney notes, this week IBM and Canonical announced the launch of the IBM Cliet for Smart Work package. It allows cloud- and Linux-based online work via Ubuntu and IBM's Lotus Symphony suite of productivity applications. Novell has also introduced SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Service Pack 3, which brings many software upgrades and more support for hardware. Meanwhile, Red Hat is out with a new beta release of its Fedora Linux dubbed "Constantine." Is the timing of all of this meant to make waves as Windows 7 approaches?

As we noted here, Microsoft was very shrewd to open its beta and release candidate testing for its new operating system to anyone, and the company got a slew of pre-orders for Windows 7 through the effort, as well as good early reviews. The company has also already delivered the new OS to Microsoft's volume licensees. The actual Windows 7 rollout has been a multi-step process and doesn't just consist of fanfare to take place tomorrow.

Microsoft has stated that it is aiming Windows 7 squarely at the hot netbook market, and it's there that I'm hoping Linux and Linux-based platforms can maintain some entrenchment. Large computer makers such as Acer and Dell have continued with efforts to keep Linux and Linux-based operating systems alive on netbooks. Acer is even going to offer a dual-boot version of its Aspire One netbook that runs Windows as well as Android.

The netbook market has largely been driven by rock-bottom pricing, and open source operating systems and applications can continue to usher in impressive prices. That's the stated goal with netbooks that will run the Moblin operating system, for example.

But Windows 7 is also likely to gain strong market share as a desktop operating system, partly because there hasn't been a completely trustworthy version of Windows for businesses to bank on in many years. Microsoft hopes to reverse that trend with Windows 7. Large players on the Linux front continue to fail to market Linux with the same fervor that Microsoft markets Windows, and the marketing blitz that will surround Windows 7 could be a blow to desktop Linux. We'll see how this all plays out soon, but I'm especially watching the prospects for Linux and variants on mobile devices. There, where cost and choice have been so important, Linux has a chance to make a difference.

NEW YORK - Next week, Microsoft is releasing Windows 7, a slick, much improved operating system that should go a long way toward erasing the bad impression left by its previous effort, Vista.

If you've been holding off on buying a new computer, Windows 7 will be a good excuse to get back into the game. And if you've been weighing a Mac versus a Windows PC, then you should know that "7" makes Windows more attractive, though not a clear-cut choice for everyone. Windows is now easier to use and better looking than it was before, while maintaining its core advantage of cheaper, more diverse hardware.

However, most PC users should not take the release of Windows 7 as a call to action, or feel that they have to run out and buy the software for use on a computer they're planning on keeping. The upgrade will most likely not be worth the time or money, much less the effort of hosting a Windows 7 "launch party" as Microsoft suggests.

Windows 7 will come in several versions. The one aimed at US consumers is Home Premium, which will cost $120 if bought as an upgrade to XP or Vista. You can buy it as a download or on a disc. Beginning on Oct. 22, it will come installed on new PCs.

Here are some of its highlights:

• The taskbar — the strip of icons usually found at the bottom of the screen — now does more than show which programs are running. You can also stick icons for your favorite programs on it, to launch them quickly. It's fast and convenient, combining the best features of the old Windows taskbar and Apple's Dock.

• File folders can now be organized into "libraries." You can have a photo library, for instance, that gives you quick access to pictures in folders spread out over your hard drive, or even several hard drives. This is great because many applications don't automatically put files into Microsoft's My Documents and My Photos folders, and tend to deposit content in their own folders. The new arrangement also makes for easy backups.

• Like Vista, Windows 7 will ask you twice if you really want to make changes to your settings or install programs, for the sake of security. But Windows 7 does it less often, and the prompts can be turned off.

• Windows 7 can sense if you use more than one finger on your touch pad or touch screen, allowing for neat tricks such as spreading your fingers to zoom into a picture, just like on the iPhone. This is isn't revolutionary per se — computer manufacturers have bolted multitouch sensing on previous versions of Windows. But it does make it easier for them to include advanced touch capabilities, and many of them are planning to do so. That is what could really revolutionize how we use computers. I've tried laptops and desktops with touch screens, and found it nice to be able to directly tap links and buttons, bypassing the touch pad and mouse.

• For a lot of users, the step up to Windows 7 will also mark a transition to a 64-bit operating system. That means computers will now be able to use a lot more Random Access Memory, or RAM, for better performance in demanding applications such as video editing. Vista and XP came in 64-bit versions in addition to the regular 32-bit versions, but the XP version was never popular, and the Vista version became mainstream only last year. But 64 bits will be standard on Windows 7, installed on nearly all new computers.

Windows XP users have a lot more to gain by going to Windows 7. Vista introduced some great features, such as fast searches of the entire hard drive, that of course are present in 7 as well. Unfortunately, upgrading an existing PC from XP to 7 is not easy.

After upgrading, users will have to reinstall all their programs and find their files in the folder where Windows 7 tucks them away.

They may also have hardware problems. I found an old HP laser printer no longer worked with Windows 7. This isn't really Microsoft's fault or, specifically, a problem with the new operating system — HP just doesn't provide a 64-bit driver for that printer. A driver is a program that tells a piece of hardware how to work with an operating system.

If you do upgrade, I would still recommend tackling that transition head-on by installing the 64-bit version of Windows 7, which doesn't cost more. Microsoft recommends a minimum of 2 gigabytes of RAM to run it.

If your computer runs Windows Vista, I think it's hard to justify spending $120 for an upgrade. The new features are nice but hardly must-haves. For daily e-mail and Web surfing, they won't make much of a difference. Vista was much maligned when it arrived in early 2007 for being slow, buggy and annoying. Now, it really isn't that bad, because updates have fixed a lot of the problems.

However, if you bought a Vista-based computer after June 25, you should be eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 7 from the manufacturer, and I suggest taking advantage of it. Your computer likely already is running 64-bit software, so there should be no problems with drivers, and the upgrade is much easier than one from XP. Windows 7 can keep your installed programs and your files in their old folders.

In weeks of testing the final version of Windows 7 on five computers, I encountered only one serious glitch. The backup function simply didn't work on one computer. The error message was obscure as always, and troubleshooting on Microsoft's Web site provided no solution. I ended up using third-party backup software. Given that regular backups are essential for a home computer, one can only hope that this will be an unusual problem that gets fixed promptly.

Another disappointment is that Windows 7 doesn't seem to improve boot-up times. In my tests, it took slightly longer to get going on Windows 7 than with XP or Vista on the same computer. I don't think this should be a major issue, though — instead of shutting your computer down, use "sleep mode" instead. This function has improved a lot since XP, and most computers take about 10 seconds to wake up.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about Windows 7 is that it's inspiring computer manufacturers to try new things, and reviving old ideas like touch-enabled "tablet" PCs. It's breathing new life into the computer market. It just won't do much for old clunkers.