Sporadic Ramblings of A Four-Eyed Jester

Good Reads in Today's Issue of Manila Bulletin

2009-09-14T12:49:00.008+08:00

I'm a sucker for news and information but I don't usually find a lot of intersting articles in a single issue of a newspaper to warrant my attention. That's why I'm amazingly surprised at the slew of very interesting articles in today's issue of Manila Bulletin. As I flipped the pages of the paper I find myself more immersed in reading the writeups.
Below are articles that stood out (at least in my point-of-view):

In the news section, an article announced the passing of Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Peace Prize agricultrual scientist. He was known as the father of the "green revolution," which is reported to have saved a staggering 1 billion from hunger.

Leafing through the Arts & Culture Section, an article about Sarah Gaugler in Something About Sarah & Her Art revealed the personal side of the vocalist behind Turbogoth, an electronica band that my band, Tiny Cactus, has played along with in Club Dredd last summer. We've only known her as a tattoo artist and very much into art then. This article explored where she was coming from.

Another article in the succedding section was entitled "Hiyasmin Neri, another gem of an actress in the making." Hiyas' family used to attend the same church as Tiny Cactus' members (except Karl the guitarist). She also sang a couple of songs with the band in our maiden gig at Fullcup Cafe at Intramuros. She's a budding actress who has recently appeared in the Pinoy TV series, "The Wedding" and was also was one of the main cast of UPCAT the Movie.

I was surprised at how many tech related articles there are in the paper. If the newspaper keeps this up, IT and gadget magazines might be making a run for their money.

One tech article that caught my eye was an article entitled, "Spurning the cloud, local conglomerate pilots SAP." It's simply because last week, an old friend of mine and I attended a SAP B1 orientation and realized that this particular software has the potential of finding its way into the local market.

Another interesting tech article, "WebStore provides simple tech tools to start business" wherein it features a local startup that empowers individuals and small companies to set up online buying and selling of their good and services in the country. I'm just thinking though, what advantage does it have with the existing related services such as eBay, TipidPC, etc.

The technews section featured a slew of new gadgets and the new iPod nano was the first honorable mention. This is Apple's fifth generation offering of one of their best-selling products and offers a handful of new features that weren't avaialable with its predecessors: a camera capable of video recording, genius, FM radio + Live pause, voice over, and fitness. The most appealing for me is the FM radio + Live pause feature because you can tag the songs you hear on the radio and you can also buffer it for later listening just like what people do with TV.

The New Nokia N900. Normally I don't read new Nokia product articles because there are gazillions of them already and I can't keep up to keep track of the model numbers and features (which most people can easily do 5 years ago). What is attracts me to this model is that it runs on Maemo 5, a Linux-based mobile platfrom, and Mozilla is the engine behind the phone's browser. I've only used Symbian with the Nokia smart phones that passed through my hands and I'm curious how Maemo 5 would look and feel like. More importantly, would it offer SDKs to encourage hobbyists to tinker with and develop 3rd-party apps the way Apple's iPhone and Google's Android has done? I'm crossing my fingers, but I'm seeing a Nokia app store in the very near future.

The Techie Lola Behind Lola Techie. This article is the behind-the-scenes take on the real person behind the kewl lola of BayanDSL fame. It's very interesting to know that she's really a techie in real life and not just for marketing's sake. She has learned to be techie by necessity, she says. How I hope she'll inspire and motivate the not-so-young Filipinos to be tech-savvy as her. I also hope that with Bayantel's "Teach Lola" advocacy, this might become a reality.

What I missed though is Prof. Feria's of Mac N' Tux article which seemingly was not scheduled to be published in today's issue. But methinks the abundance of the tech-related feature articles more than compensates for this lack.

Kudos to Manila Bulletin for publishing several interesting and relevant articles that found me spell-bound and reading for almost an hour. What a way to make my day.

CNet WebWare 100 Winners That I Actually Use

2009-05-25T19:26:00.004+08:00

CNET has recently released its Webware 100 list. I've counted 48 of the winner's list that I have used in some way or another (three or four of which I have used in the past, but am no longer using now). Here's the list of the 48 winners that have been "a part of my life:"

Audio & Video

iTunes
LastFM

Commerce

Paypal

Browsing

Firefox
Safari
Google Chrome
iGoogle
Opera
Flock

Communication

Dimdim
Gmail
Pidgin
Skype
Windows Live Hotmail
Yahoo Messenger
Digsby

Infrastructure and Storage

Adobe Air
BitTorrent
DropBox
OpenID
YouSendIt
Facebook Connect
MySpace

Location-based Services

Google Earth
Google Maps

Photo & Video

Flickr
Justin.tv
Photobucket
Youtube

Productivity

Google Calendar
Google Docs
Remember the Milk
Zoho
LogMeIn

Search & Reference

About.com
Ask.com
Wikipedia
WikiHow

Social & Publishing

Drupal
Facebook
Meebo
Twitter
Wordpress.com

Editor's Choice

Cuil
GoogleVoice
Mobile Me
Twitter Search

Note: For links and complete list of winners, please proceed to the CNET Webware 100 page.

UPCAT Results Updates

2009-02-14T10:42:00.005+08:00

Batches 1-13 of Resolved Pending Cases have already been posted at the U.P. Office of Admissions. The list of additional Oblation scholarship awardees and INTARMED program candidates has also been released.

You can check the subsequent announcements in the main UPCAT Results Online page. You can also view the detailed listing of Resolved Pending Cases and Cleared Payment Deficiencies updates here. This is still experimental at the moment, although it is fully working. The main update page contains a summary listing of the batches/release dates. Clicking on the "View Details" link in a particular row will send the user to the detailed listing of the particular applicants/cases that have been resolved, in which the name, student number (if already available) and additional remarks (if there are still pending issues) are listed per row. Clicking on the "Details" link will trigger the UPCAT Results Online search with the particular applicant's name as parameter.

The summary and detailed listing of these updates are dynamic and database-driven, so once the UPCAT Results database is updated with the latest resolved pending cases and/or cleared payment deficiencies, these update pages will automatically reflect the changes.

List of UPCAT 2009 Oblation Scholars and INTARMED Program Candidates Released

2009-01-23T11:56:00.001+08:00

The list of Oblation Scholarship awardees and Candidates for the INTARMED program has been posted at the Office of Admissions. The lists can also be viewed online at the UPCAT Results site.

UPCAT Results Site Stats

2009-01-20T00:34:00.026+08:00

I'm just in shock as to how wide the discrepancy is between the UPCAT Results site stats between this year and last year. Whereas for the UPCAT 2008 site stats, the number of hits for the first day of release was only 26,411 this year, it was a whopping 426,555 hits. It is also interesting to note that the total no. of hits for January to March 2008 is just 186,000. That's very close to the no. of hits that the PHOpenIX mirror is getting for just the first 2 days it was set up (which is around 175,000).

UPCAT 2009 Results Site Stats (Main Server)

UPCAT 2008 Results Site Stats

The DILC mirror on the other hand garnered more than 121,000 hits on the first day it was set up - a far cry from the UPCAT 2008 stats - it still is more than the total number of hits for the first week of the UPCAT 2008 release combined.

UPCAT 2009 Site Stats (PHOpenIX Mirror)

If you combine the total number of hits for the main server and the two mirrors for the first three days since the UPCAT 2009 results were released, it would be more than 900,000 hits. A colleague asked me on the first day of release if the results site would total 1 million hits. I shook my head in disagreement (because I knew last year it didn't even reach 300,000 all in all). But surprise, surprise - it almost did! Note that the counter was reset almost an hour after the results was up, and the mirror sites got their individual hit counters on the 2nd day of UPCAT release (although they were already up and running a few hours before midnight).

UPCAT 2009 Results Site Stats (DILC Mirror)

I have yet to see the network bandwidth utilization for the UPCAT Results and I very much believe the UP Computer Center has done its very best to provide the maximum bandwidth possible for the traffic. Whereas in the past years, the network bandwidth capped the UPCAT traffic, this time the server itself was put to the ultimate test - a massive beating of http requests and db queries (considering the server settings were adjusted to accommodate the slew of traffic).

The online version of the UPCAT Results started a few years ago as an optional medium to display the results to a couple of thousands who have access to the web. But based on the statistics in the past two years we're seeing the exponential increase of hits. That, despite only around 70,000 applicants take the UPCAT every year (with a little more than 10,000 qualifiers and those with pending cases and cleared deficiencies for all 9 nine Constituent Units).

A few years ago, it made sense to create a searchable minimalist interface to display search results. But with the massive traffic and server load we've experienced in the first 2 days of release, it's either the Office of Admissions should get a sizeable funding to beef up the servers (talk about high-availability and clustering servers, etc.) or just resort to plain old board exam-type results using static HTML pages. It would actually be a good way to reduce the processing load of the server, and mirror sites can easily host these pages in the soonest possible time since there will be no additional setup and configuration to accommodate the existing backend that the UPCAT results site is using (this was actually one of the many suggestions of UPCC Director Ocampo).

Then, programming will just involve the generation of these static pages from the database or even the text files that OADMS is using. The search feature will then be optional (or made available after traffic has dwindled considerably. The search/db-driven feature will also be useful once the resolved pending cases and cleared deficiencies will begin to trickle in.

However, I'm opposed to just displaying the names of those who qualified. UPCAT is no ordinary exam where an applicant just qualifies or he/she doesn't. The applicant has to know if he/she qualified in what campus and what course. If he/she is waitlisted in his/her first campus choice, is he/she qualified for the 2nd chosen campus/course? Or is she/waitlisted or one of those who are not so fortunate with a pending case or requirement deficiency? These are minimum essential information that the applicants want to know in whatever medium the results will be in.

I also disagree with the idea of posting PDF files for viewing/download. PDF files consume a lot of space than plain text (such as HTML) so if 170,000 unique visitors (that's the current tally for the first 3 days of release) downloaded the PDF files, it would still be a disaster in the offing.

I believe that the current site statistics will foster some changes in how the UPCAT results should be posted in the future - starting next year. Actually, there have been a lot of suggestions both from UP colleagues and from bloggers/readers. Everyone is most welcome to share their comments and suggestions.

PS: Site stats courtesy of StatCounter.

Re: UPCAT 2009 Results Mirror Sites

2009-01-19T01:10:00.008+08:00

Just to clarify things, I created a makeshift searchable result script and uploaded it to the 2 mirror sites from scratch just yesterday to help de-load heavy traffic for the UPCAT server.

There were some code oversight when I first uploaded the scripts to the mirror sites 8pm (thus some queries did not return accurate results) but I corrected them as soon as former UPD College of Eng'g. Dean Ega Atanacio brought it to my attention. By 1030pm more or less the search scripts in the mirror sites are as accurate as the original site's search engine. The DILC mirror's database was also corrupted and I was able to repair it by Sunday 12:00am.

I had to create the scripts from scratch because the two servers offering to host the mirror sites do not have the the same platform used in the UPCAT server. (So should I name them backup sites rather than strictly "mirror" sites?) :O

By 12:00am Sunday separate hit counters were also set up for the mirror sites to reflect actual hits and not share the same hit stats with the UPCAT server.

Thanks to www.phopenix.net and dilc.upd.edu.ph for offering to host the mirror sites. Thanks also to Ma'm Dine Racoma for conscientiously updating her readers re: UPCAT results and even posting results for their requests. Public service talaga, galing. :)

And of course, many many thanks to the UP Computer Center for technical support, especially to Director Roel Ocampo and network engineer Francis Mendoza. :)

Traffic for the UPCAT server is now "tolerable." Maybe as soon as the latest update (for resolved pending cases and cleared payment deficiencies) comes, I will have to take them down. Well, it also depends on the orders "from above."

UPCAT 2009 Results Released!

2009-01-16T23:18:00.009+08:00

UPCAT 2009 results will be posted at the U.P. Office of Admissions at 5am. You can now view it online at the UPCAT 2009 Results site (http://upcat.up.edu.ph/results/).

Congratulations to all who passed!

For qualified applicants with application deficiencies, they have to clear their deficiencies with the UP Office of Admissions starting 02 February 2009.

For those with pending cases, please inquire at the UP Office of Admissions, Diliman, QC at Telefax no 9274561 or Tel no. (02)981-8500 loc. 3826 to 3831 starting 02 February, 2009.

The list of Oblation scholarship awardees and INTARMED program candidates will follow soon. Just stay tuned to this blog.

------

UPDATE (January 17, 2008 8:15PM):
To ease the UPCAT server's load the following mirrors are set up:
Mirror 1 (via www.phopenix.net)
Mirror 2 (via UP DILC)

Note for those using the mirrors for searching: if the surname is less than 4 characters long, include the first name in the search textbox for relevant results.

UPCAT 2009 Results Advisory

2009-01-16T23:02:00.003+08:00

The staff of the U.P. Office of Admissions (OADMS) are hard at work in finally releasing the U.P. College Admission Test (UPCAT) results for those who took the August 2008 qualifying exams. Most likely, the OADMS will be be able to post the results on Saturday, 17 January 2008 despite the UPCAT Results page announcement that it will be released on Sunday, 18 January.

So, just stay tuned as I will be adding a new blog entry here as soon as I publish the 2009 results online. You can also subscribe to RSS feeds to this blog here. You can also follow me on twitter at for the same announcement.

New Blog

2006-03-25T05:54:00.000+08:00

Since the last quarter of last year I have maintained a new blog but I wasn't actually sure if I will officially be planning transfer to it. I've made up my mind, so please visit my "new" blog site. I won't be updating this blog anymore.

Listen

2006-03-21T02:20:00.000+08:00

I was listening to Paul Colman's songs last week and it really made me nostalgic - for one, Paul Colman's Fill My Cup was one of the lineup of my first gig with Efishians. It kind of brings me back to those times when everything was fine - friendships and relationships were just blooming.

After that gig, I became the bassist for the band. We played in weddings, birthday parties, bars, open-air gigs, debut parties, and even on campus radio. I must admit, being with Efishians was one of the highlights of my life musically. Through it, my musical horizon widened and I have learned to play and even love genres that I once didn't really like. I was forced to stretch my musical ability (which is really not that much) to keep up with the level of excellence that the band's arrangements demanded, and I gave it my best, overcoming stage fright and public shyness along the way.

Even with my busy work schedule then, I didn't mind exhausting myself with the band's practices and gig schedules. After all, playing and making music is one of my passions in life.

After countless gigs and a couple of years, Efishians disbanded, and each one would play in different bands and projects, sometimes two or three former members joining in. But it never really got to reuniting all the members again.

There was one exception though. We were made to play as Efishians several months after we broke up to celebrate KBCF's Youth Worship Anniversary. And that was it. One of our "fan" friends even commented after that "reunion" gig that she's really "blessed everytime Efishians plays, kahit na di nyo na feel, basta."

From time to time I hear people say that they miss Efishians. I do, too. It had the flexibility of being a worship and a "show" band. It had potential. The covers were wonderfully and creatively arranged. And the original songs (which would amount to one album), were also splendid and a lot of people liked it, not just the band members and "groupies." The band's praise and worship songs were even sung in KBCF years after the band was long gone. The lyrics have substance, and the arrangements perfectly convey the emotion and the passion that came with the songs. I miss playing those songs. I miss listening to Efishians music.

The keyboardist told me just a few days ago that it's time I moved on. Call me sentimental. Perhaps I'm just regressing. Perhaps I have separation anxiety. I tend to get too attached to people and I get depressed when loved ones go or we have to part ways, or when I have to leave. That's why I hate goodbyes.

If I remember right, even on the verge of breaking up, there were 4 new songs composed by the vocalist/guitarist, and below is the lyrics of one of those last songs.

Listen
(Yubs Esperat)

So you tell me that you love Him
Yes I heard you say it all before
But if you won’t do
what He tells you
Tell me what is your love for

So open up the door of your heart
Listen to what your Father says
Coz it’s you He wants to bless
Soften up your stubborness
Or wait until He breaks

So you tell me that you trust Him
And believe without a doubt
So let’s put your faith to destiny
Walk the way that
He had planned it out

I know you might say it’s hard to
Follow, but it’s the only thing to do
Will you help me, help me
Will you?
Coz I just want to follow you

Now I see just where you’re heading
Heading where you ought to be
And there won’t be no regretting
In the end you will see.

Coz you opened up the door of your heart
And listen to what your Father said
Now it’s you that He has blessed
You got rid of all your stubborness
And He didn’t have to break you

We only got to play it twice, during the last two gigs before calling it quits. Some good things never last.

Pangadyi

2006-03-14T09:33:00.000+08:00

Lord, palihug paki-tangtang sa bi...

Prelude to the Week-Long Region-Hopping

2006-03-07T00:00:00.000+08:00

As I was bracing for a week-long trip to three regions in the country, I did two gigs as a session bassist with Jam for Breakfast on the 25th of February (last Saturday). The first gig was held at the Power Books Live! in Greenbelt Makati, and we played 4 songs for Church Strengthening Ministry's (CSM) True Love Waits (TLW) series. I was a little worried because the program started almost an hour late, and the next gig was at 8pm at KBCF, Kamuning. We were hoping to be there by 7pm.

After the TLW gig, each of the guys were given a copy of a book entitled Legacy, courtesy of CSM as a love gift (aside from the TF of course :P). It's a compilation of over a hundred exhortations to men, from 50 of the well-known Christian leaders and personalities in the country. I was surprised and quite pleased when I saw Kuya Caloy's name there, and he had 2 articles in the book. I was looking for his name because he's one of the influential Christian leaders of today, and working among students and campus ministries. I just love receiving books as gifts - especially books that really pique my interest.

We made it just before our scheduled set in KBCF's Singles Banquet. The banquet was the post-valentine gathering of Singles in KBCF, and at the same time, it showcased what's in store for the Singles for the year. I was glad because I saw many new faces, including one whole family. :P At first I thought the topic, "the 5 Love Languages for Singles" was a little bit off for such as gathering (although I was the one who suggested it), it really turned out to be interesting, and I got a lot of insights and learned a lot from the speaker. I also learned and realized a couple things about myself in the process.

Jam for Breakfast's set was quite different from the usual gig - we gave testimonies about how we related with the first two songs that we played, sort of an intro to the songs. Karl the guitarist cum band leader gave his bit for the song Worlds Collide by Plumb while I gave an impromptu testimony and intro for the song No Place So Far by Erin O' Donell. Basically we delivered the same set of songs for the CSM and KBCF gigs, but we added Sheila the vocalist's new favorite, Little Superhero Girl by Corrine Mae.

Met with Karl, Mel, TJ, Justin and Third at SM (Starbucks Morato :P) right after the gig to unwind. When I got home, I got so tired that I did not finish doing my laundry, so I slept at 4am. Woke up at 6am the next day, and finished washing my clothes, and packed my things for the flight to Butuan City at 10:40am.

Small World

2006-02-24T23:21:00.000+08:00

It's really a small, small world. One of my lab assistants in the NCC LAMP (Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP) Training is a kababayan, who goes to the same church as mine back at home, and also staying at the Molave Residence Hall. He is also an MCMer (Molave Christian Movement member - same dorm, same org) and incumbent Vice Chair of the Iligan-based org UP Saligan - the same position I held eons ago. I just knew him before as one of the members of a CS 198 group involved in the next version of an online University service that I am administering. I also bumped into him one Sunday in VCF Diliman when I sort of "church-hopped" last year. Turns out we also have the same discipler. Really amazing, huh.

And also, one of the participants in the NCC LAMP training comes from the same place and high school as one of my friends, and knows her and her sisters. Is the world really that small for us?

Another Long Day

2006-02-24T22:52:00.000+08:00

Spent the whole day at the National Computer Institute (NCI, formerly NCC) training around 20 participants (from Philhealth, Napocor, etc.). It's quite chaotic, since the whole training is 3 days long but all the necessary software needed by the trainees were not yet installed. It was a good thing we have able lab assistants (from CC and CS Department) to install and configure the PCs while I was giving the lecture.

I was quite taken aback because almost all who attended didn't have any background in SQL or database concepts. So I had to re-strategize and delved on databases and SQL in the morning. Because a lot of the participant's PCs were not yet ready for them to do their exercises, I just breezed through the PHP/MySQL scripts and showed them the resulting pages in my web browser. I even reviewed vi so they can edit the scripts confidently using it, later on.

I found it hard to determine the pace of the lecture because a few of them already know about the topic and I can see it in their bored faces, but I also have to teach the participants who only learned about databases and SQL or mysql only through this training, not to mention being overloaded with the previous topics for the past two days. I would have wanted to give a more in-depth discussion but one day is not enough for the topic. As one of the lab assistants said, we were compressing a semester-long subject in just three days.

I don't really like to do trainings and teach a bunch of people (especially when the organizers tell you explicitly to dress up, hehe) but when I'm already in the room I give it all I can to impart what I have learned so far, teaching them tips & tricks (most of them I learned the hard way) to get things done or how to make some tasks easier.

The driver totally forgot that we were expecting a ride back to the office after the training, so he already went home long before the training was over. I really can't blame him, because it was announced earlier that work was suspended because of the day's events. So, along with two lab assistants we walked back to the office.

After arriving at the office at almost 6pm, of course I had to "do the rounds" on a couple of tasks projects that I am involved with. And thank God, the UPCAT results are not in yet. :) I'm so tired...

UPCAT Results Released!

2006-02-23T11:15:00.000+08:00

That was what I dreamed about. I saw the messenger of the Office of Admissions handing a bundle of forms to one of the EDP Staff in our office. That's when I woke up, which was earlier than I had planned. I kept telling my officemates that I dread the moment UPCAT results are released, especially this week. No, please not this week. But that's what the Office of Admission announced. Buti na lang wala pa. Sigh.

I also regretted accepting a training stint at NCC. Although it was a good thing to distribute it between three lecturers (one lecturer per day), the preparation and coordination prior to the actual training is much too much for me to handle at this time. But well, the die is already cast, so be it. I just hope I could impart something significant to the attendees tomorrow.

That's it, just dropping by...

U.P. Fair 2006 Band Sked

2006-02-13T15:16:00.000+08:00

Here's the band schedule for U.P. Fair 2006: No Fairmit, No Rally:

February 13 (Monday)
No Fairmit, No Rally
Featuring: Sugarfree, Kitchie Nadal

February 14 (Tuesday)
Love is in the Fair
Featuring: Orange and Lemons

Februrary 15 (Wednesday)
POP-fiesta
Featuring: Cheese, Kamikaze Moonstar 88

February 16 (Thursday)
Sisfire4
Featuring: Bamboo, Hale

February 17 (Friday)
SchizoFAIRnia II
Featuring: Parokya ni Edgar, Bamboo, Kitchie Nadal, Hale and Rivermaya

[Got this from a poster in the Molave waiting shed]:
Eraserfest
Francis M and Hardware Syndrome, Urban Dub, Radioactive Sago Project, Kamikazee, 6 Cycle Mind, Pupil, Dicta License, Session Road, Imago, Spongecola, Paolo Santos, Moonstar 88, Stonefree, Chicosci, Juana
-> by the looks of it, it's gonna be like the Ultraelectromagnetic Jam campus tour. This is gonna be nice! :)

February 18 (Saturday)
Calibrated Pinoy Rock
Featuring: Matilda, Kamikaze, Karatula, The Jerks, Imago, Brownman Revival, Machinegun, Giniling Festival, Radio Active Sago Project, Datu’s Tribe, Juan Dela Cruz Band, Kiko Machine, Parokya ni Edgar, The Wuds, Up Dharma Down, UP Under-
ground Music Community Bands, UP Music Circle Bands, College of Fine Arts Bands, College of Music Bands

These are the main bands, and I just got this from the UP Diliman site. I only have limited intelligence... ;) For a full calendar of UP Diliman events, click here. The Fair starts tonight!

It's Back

2006-02-13T08:58:00.000+08:00

Just when I thought my ordeal's over, it's now back. As some of you already know, I had a minor toe operation last month, which forced me to extend my vacation in Iligan for two weeks. Had a mass growing underneath the kalyo (corn) of my right toe. It took 9 days before the 4 stitches were removed. And I wasn't allowed to wear shoes a week after that. To be sure, I wore sandals almost 2 weeks after my stitches were removed.

On top of that, I'm not allowed to play any sport, not until 2 months after the operation. Imagine, not playing either pingpong or badminton that long? Well, that's not really the problem. Just a couple of weeks after I started wearing shoes, a tiny mass is now growing again. And believe me, it's really a discomfort. I try hard to walk normally but it's really painful. Of course, it was more painful walking before the operation and yeah, when I was recuperating from the surgery.

My question is, was the 2 precious weeks of leave from work worth it, now that the mass is growing back again? Well, come to think about it, I had a longer stay in Iligan with my family which I only see once a year for just a couple of weeks. I also faced head on some of my worst fears and worries while recovering. Also learned to trust in God alone for comfort, strength and peace. Before, I can evade those thoughts and fears by hiding behind work, or hanging out with friends (which of course is a good thing per se), watching movies, etc.

So I think, it's still worth it. As the cliche goes, everything happens for a reason. And as the Old Book says, "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28, KJV).

As for the new mass growing again, I have to see the my uncle (the doctor who operated on me in Iligan) when I go to Mindanao on the last week of this month. Definitely I won't let him do it again. Maybe I will have another operation when I get back to Manila. I dunno, I already have so many backlogs and many tasks piling up, not to mention that the academic year is ending, which means more work and seasonal University operations are coming my way. I can't afford to be absent from work for the rest of the quarter.

I'm heeding Paul's exhortation to the Philippians. In everything give thanks pa rin. As in *everything*.

Good day, y'all.

That's What Love Is For (Amy Grant)

2006-01-25T09:46:00.000+08:00

Sometimes we make it harder than it is
We’ll take a perfect night
And fill it up with words we don’t mean
Dark sides best unseen
And we wonder why we’re feeling this way.

Sometimes I wonder if we really feel the same
Why we can be unkind
Questioning the strongest of hearts
That’s when we must start
Believing in the one thing that has gotten us this far.

That’s what love is for
To help us through it
That’s what love if for
Nothing else can do it.

Melt our defenses
Bring us back to our senses
Give us strength to try once more
Baby, that’s what love is for.

Sometimes I see you
And you don’t know I am there
And I’m washed away by emotions
I hold deep down inside
Getting stronger with time
It’s living through the fire
And holding on we find

That’s what love is for
To help us through it
That’s what love if for
Nothing else can do it.

Melt our defenses
Bring us back to our senses
Give us strength to try once more
Baby, that’s what love is for.

Believing in the one thing
That has gotten us this far
That’s what love is for
To help us through it
That’s what love if for
Nothing else can do it.

Round off the edges
Talk us down from the ledges
Give us strength to try once more
Baby, that’s what love is for
That’s what love if for.

That’s what love if for
Melt our defenses
Bring us back to our senses
Give us strength to try once more
Baby, that’s what love is for.
That’s what love if for.
That’s what love if for.
That’s what love if for.

Somewhere Down the Road (Amy Grant)

2006-01-25T09:45:00.000+08:00

So much pain and no good reason why
You’ve cried until the tears run dry
And nothing else can make you understand
The one thing that you held so dear
Is slipping from your hand
And you say

Why, why, why
Does it go this way
Why, why, why
And all I can say

Somewhere down the road
There’ll be answers to the questions
Somewhere down the road
Tho’ we cannot see it now
And somewhere down the road
You will find mighty arms reaching for you
And they will hold the answers at the end of the road

Yesterday I thought I’d seen it all
I thought I’d climbed the highest wall
Now I see the learning never ends
And all I know to do is keep on walking
Walking ’round the bend singing

Why, why, why
Does it go this way
Why, why, why
And all I can saysomewhere down the road
There’ll be answers to the questions
Somewhere down the road
Tho’ we cannot see it now
And somewhere down the road
You will find mighty arms reaching for you
And they will hold the answers at the end of the road

Find A Way (Amy Grant)

2006-01-25T09:44:00.000+08:00

(Amy Grant & Michael W. Smith)

You tell me your friends are distant
You tell me your man's untrue
You tell me that you've been walked on
And how you feel abused

So you stand here an angry young woman
Taking all the pain to heart
I hear you saying you want to see changes
But you don't know how to start

[Chorus:]
Love will find a way (How do you know)
Love will find a way (How can you see)
I know it's hard to see the past and still believe
Love is gonna find a way
I know that
Love will find a way (A way to go)
Love can make a way (Only love can know)
Leave behind the doubt
Love's the only out
Love will surely find a way

I know this life is a strange thing
I can't answer all the why's
Tragedy always finds me
And I'm taken again by surprise

I could stand here an angry young woman
Taking all the pain to heart
But I know that love can bring changes
And so we've got to move on

[Chorus]

If our God His Son not sparing
Came to rescue you
Is there any circumstance
That He can't see you through

[Chorus]

Love Can Do (Amy Grant)

2006-01-25T09:43:00.000+08:00

(Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant and Wayne Kirkpatrick)

Who can say
Why she turned and walked away
I can't see
But she's gone away
Sometimes love
Means we have to stand and fight
Everybody runs
Everybody hides
No this ain't the movies
Now it's flesh and blood
And there's one thing I'm sure of

[Chorus:]
Hey little girl running out so fast
Gotta stay put for love to last
Why you gotta say
That love has gone away
It's not like that
Everybody hurts when the feelings fade
If you want 'em back
You know you gotta stay
No running
Love's coming back
Like only love can do

Love can do
Things you never thought it could
Mend a hurt so bad
Make you feel so good
Love's for fools
Wise enough to take a chance
Hear the music play
Let me see you dance
No this ain't the movies
Now it's give and take
And it's your heart at stake

[Chorus]

Hey little girl running so fast
Looking for the love you're sure will last
Why do you have to say it
Love has gone away
It's not like that
Love's not like that

[Chorus]

Amy Grant on Love

2006-01-25T09:31:00.000+08:00

I've always loved Amy Grant's songs since I was in high school. Her songs are not limited to spiritual themes (faith, Word, struggles, etc.) only but also in other aspects of our lives but maintaining the Christian perspective. I think that's what makes her one of the pillars and the pioneer of the Contemporary Christian Music genre.

My several all-time favorites on Christian songs are performed by Amy and to name a few (hope I don't miss out the really nice ones) here goes (in no particular order):

Father's Eyes
I Have Decided
Jehovah
El-Shaddai
Angels
Sing Your Praise to the Lord
Ageless Medley
Shepherd of My Soul

It's not also surprising that some of my all-time favorite love songs are performed/written by Amy, too. Especially now that I'm going through something, these songs give more meaning to me nowadays.

Love Can Do (All-Time Favorite)
Find A Way
Somewhere Down the Road
That's What Love is For

I'll be posting the lyrics of the songs above in the next blog entries...

Makita Kang Muli

2006-01-24T17:14:00.000+08:00

by Sugarfree

Bawat sandali ng aking buhay
Pagmamahal mo ang aking taglay
San man mapadpad ng hangin
Hindi magbabago aking pagtingin
Pangako natin sa Maykapal
Na tayo lamang sa habang buhay
Maghintay

Ipaglalaban ko ang ating pag-ibig
Maghintay ka lamang, Ako’y darating
Pagka’t sa isang taong mahal mo ng buong puso
Lahat ay gagawin makita kang muli,
Makita kang muli

Puso’y nagdurusa nangungulila
Iniisip ka ‘pag nag-iisa
Inaalala mga sandali
Nang tayo ay magkapiling
Ikaw ang gabay sa aking tuwina
Ang aking ilaw sa gabing mapanglaw
Tanging ikaw

Ipaglalaban ko ang ating pag-ibig
Maghintay ka lamang, ako’y darating
Pagka’t sa isang taong mahal mo ng buong puso
Lahat ay gagawin
Makita kang muli, makita kang muli
Makita kang muli

Why?

2006-01-20T09:20:00.000+08:00

(by Avril Lavigne)

Why - Do you always do this to me?
Why - couldn’t you just see right through me?
How come - You act like this
Like you just don’t care at all
Do you expect me to believe I was the only one to fall

I can feel, I can feel you, near me even though you’re far away
I can feel, I can feel you baby, why?

It’s not supposed to feel this way
I need you, I need you, more and more each day
It’s not supposed to hurt this way
I need you, I need you, I need you - tell me
Are you and me still together? Tell me
You think we can last forever - tell me
Why

Hey - Listen to what we’re not saying
Let’s play a different game than what we’re playin’
Try - to look at me and really see my heart
Do you expect me to believe
I’m gonna let us fall apart
I can feel, I can feel you, near me even though you’re far away
I can feel, I can feel you baby, why?

So go and think about whatever you need to think about
Go and dream about whatever you need to dream about
Come back to me when you know just how you feel
You feel

I can feel, I can feel you near me, even when you’re far away
I can feel, I can feel you baby, why?

It’s not supposed to hurt this way
I need you, I need you, more and more each day
It’s not supposed to hurt this way
I need you, I need you, I need you - tell me
It’s not supposed to hurt this way
I need you, I need you, more and more each day
It’s not supposed to hurt this way
I need you, I need you, I need you - tell me

Are you and me still together? Tell me
You think we can last forever?
Tell me…Why

It's Over

2006-01-20T09:16:00.000+08:00

The Search Is Over - Survivor

How can I convince you
what you see is real
Who am I to blame you
for doubting what you feel
I was always reachin',
you were just a girl I knew
I took for granted the friend I have in you

I was living for a dream,
loving for a moment
Taking on the world,
that was just my style
Now I look into your eyes,
I can see forever
The search is over,
you were with me all the while

Can we last forever,
will we fall apart
At times it's so confusing,
the questions of the heart
You followed me through changes,
and patiently you'd wait
Till I came to my senses,
through some miracle of fate

I was living for a dream,
loving for a moment
Taking on the world,
that was just my style
Now I look into your eyes,
I can see forever
The search is over,
you were with me all the while

Now the miles stretch out behind me,
loves that I have lost
Broken hearts lie victims of the game
Then good luck,
it finally stuck like lightning from the blue
Every highway's leading me back to you
Now at last I hold you,
now all is said and done
The search has come full circle,
our destinies are one
So if you ever loved me,
show me that you give a damn
You'll know for certain the man I really am

I was living for a dream,
loving for a moment
Taking on the world,
that was just my style
When I touched your hand,
I could hear you whisper
The search is over,
love was right before my eyes

MOTD

2006-01-19T09:11:00.000+08:00

Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.
(Ecclesiastes 11:1)

Reality Bites

2006-01-09T14:00:00.000+08:00

It's been there all along, and it took you too long to you realize that it's what you really want more than anything. But it's already slipping away from you... And you wonder and scream silently in desperation, is there anything you can do about it? :'(

New Banner

2005-12-15T11:01:00.000+08:00

Just a short post. Thanks to Nechie for making the banner. Merry Christmas! Hehe...

You know you're drinking too much coffee if....

2005-12-11T03:52:00.000+08:00

You answer the door before people knock.
You speed walk in your sleep.
You haven't blinked since the last lunar eclipse.
You just completed another sweater and you don't know how to knit.
You grind your coffee beans in your mouth.
You sleep with your eyes open.
You have to watch videos in fast-forward.
The only time your standing still is during an earthquake.
You can take a picture of yourself from ten feet away without using a timer.
You lick your coffeepot clean.
You're the employee of the month at the local coffeehouse and you don't even work there.
Your eyes stay open when you sneeze.
You chew on other people's fingernails.
The nurse needs a scientific calculator to take your pulse.
Your T-shirt says "Decaffeinated coffee is the Devil's blend."
You're so jittery that other people use your hands to blend their margaritas.
Your first-aid kit contains 2 pints of coffee with an I.V. hookup.
Cocaine is a downer.
You don't tan, you roast. You don't get mad, you get steamed.
You soak your dentures in coffee overnight.
You go to AA meetings just for the free coffee.
You walk 20 miles on your treadmill before you realize it's not plugged in.
You've built a miniature city out of little plastic stirrers.
People get dizzy just watching you.
Instant coffee takes too long.
You channel-surf faster without the remote.
You name your cats "Cream" and "Sugar."
Your lips are permanently stuck in a sipping position.
You short out motion detectors.
You introduce your spouse as your coffeemate.
You get a speeding ticket even when you're parked.
You spend every vacation visiting "Maxwell House"
You think that being called a "drip" is a compliment.
You don't sweat, you percolate.
You want to be cremated so that you can spend the rest of eternity in a coffee can.

Thanks to Rheah and Nechie coming up with the list from Coffee Overdose. :)

Cheer Is Here

2005-12-11T03:22:00.000+08:00

Schedule for Starbucks Cheer Is Here in Tomas Morato is on December 17, 2005 5:00-8:00pm. See you there caffeine addicts! :)

KBCF Celebrates 30th Anniversary

2005-12-11T01:27:00.000+08:00

Kamuning Bible Christian Fellowship (KBCF) celebrates its 30th anniversary today, Sunday, December 11, 2005. Click here for more details

New Blog On New Blogging Service

2005-11-23T21:15:00.000+08:00

It's pretty cool for WordPress to offer their very own bloghosting service for free. That's why I have created a new blog, KBCF Online, to try it out.

Initial Impressions

It can detect my Flock browser so it has a separate registration for Flock users. Kewl! I am actually blogging from Flock's blog utility. :) One of WordPress' advantage over Blogger is that you can categorize your blog entries and it also allows multiple levels of sub-categories. It's really a cool thing because you don't have to create new blogs for different aspects of your life or job or for whatever purpose, and at the same time it keeps your blog organized intrinsically that way.

The only caveat I see is that you don't have much control over your blog template not like Blogger where you can edit the HTML and even CSS part of your template so you can easily customize your blog. You can only select a few templates (professional and neat nonetheless) and apply the plugins provided by WordPress.

Of course they have utilities for managing your blog, even from adding links to adding categories. But not to the HTML or CSS-level. If there's a way to do that, I haven't figured it out yet. I just explored it today. So if you ever know of a trick or two in WordPress, please feel free to comment.

Recommendations

Well if you're not so concerned about fine-tuning your own blog and you just wanna have to write your blog entries, then WordPress is for you. Great job WordPress! I hope it remains free forever. :)

Coffee Overdose: Stay In Or Move Out?

2005-11-18T00:29:00.000+08:00

Another Reason to Go for Go! ISP Cards

2005-11-17T23:12:00.000+08:00

FYI, Go! ISP has a promo that charges only 42 centavos per hour from 12 midnight to 8 in the morning. That's a negligible rate compared to its P4/hour regular connection rate. For more details click here.

If you're interested you can purchase from me through SMS (if you know my mobile no. No I'm not pubishing my mobile no. to the public) or just drop a line on the tagboard. Click here for details.

Your Coffee and You

2005-11-17T22:40:00.000+08:00

I came across this article from Thundercat, and I must say this is one revealing research study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2005. To quote a statement from the study:

"There is a real difference between caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee and, contrary to what people have thought for many years, I believe it’s not caffeinated but decaffeinated coffee that might promote heart disease risk factors that are associated with the metabolic syndrome."

According to the article, coffee intake of 1-2 cups daily is a healthy dosage. Another American Heart Association study is still under way in determining whether high caffeine intake increases the risk of coronary disease.

Starbucks na naman!

2005-11-14T23:28:00.000+08:00

As usual... Heto na naman ako...

Another long weekend

2005-11-04T02:11:00.000+08:00

I'm still at my favorite hangout place. Yes, I'm still wide awake and happily surfing the net over an espresso frappucino. It's only been recently that this Starbucks branch has deployed a wi-fi hotspot, after months of pestering the baristas. This might seem as a typical night for me in this coffee shop, but there are a few variations which break the monotony of my nightly coffee escapades. For one thing, tonight is a Thursday night (oops, it's already early morning Friday) and I'm not the least worried of waking up late in the morning because it's a holiday tomorrow. Yes, another long weekend. Also, I got to occupy the perpetually unavailable long table in this cafe. It's short of a miracle that this table was vacant when I came in. I also got to meet Karl and his friend Mel. I usually hang out with Karl in this part of the city, but it's not always that he brings his other friends that I haven't already met. I also got to treat Karl the same coffee that I ordered because of a Starbucks complimentary "buy-one-take-one" in celebration of Eid-Al-Fitr. They already left more than an hour ago though. Which is fine, cause I can maximize my "complimentary internet access" courtesy of Airborne Access. Yep, you read it right - it's free! And I don't know why. Not that I'm complaining though. And I also remember getting confirmation for three (3) tickets for the Harry Potter premier in the middle of November. Ain't it cool? Lotsa freebies today. PTL.

But hey, I gotta go. The partners are cleaning up the second floor already. Where have all the people gone? A few minutes ago, this place was nearly full. Now, only a handful of people are hanging out in the second floor. So much for the free wi-fi connection. At least I was able to post a blog entry from this place. Another first. So I guess this is it for now. Ciao!

Selling: Go! Premium Internet Cards

2005-10-14T11:06:00.000+08:00

I'm selling Go! Premium ISP Cards . Original price is PhP100 (25 hours) but I'm selling them for PhP95 only. If you want to purchase 5-9 cards, the price will be reduced to PhP90/card, and if you buy 10 or more cards, it will be further lowered to PhP85/card.

I can transact business in the vicinity of UP Diliman/Philcoa and Tomas Morato area only.

Just post your message in the comments area in this entry or on the tagboard.

Hurry! Offer good while supply lasts. :)

Plug: Mission Possible (Free concert)

2005-10-10T13:26:00.000+08:00

Please come and invite your friends. It won't hurt, it's FREE as in free beer. :) See you there!

Note: John Rey is the current saxophonist of Nyoy Volante and Acel is the former vocalist of Moonstar88. Bandang Indonesia is a chop suey collaboration of KBCF talents - from former/existing groups such as Fuse (Infusion), Ragdolls and Efishians.

Jam 4 Breakfast @ WWCF One Concert

2005-07-20T20:04:00.000+08:00

Jam 4 Breakfast @ WWCF One Concert
Originally uploaded by Macoy.

The concert was well-attended - yes, the 1,200 seats were filled up that night! It was emceed by Teri of FOJ and Vanna Vanna.

Jam 4 Breakfast did 4 cover songs namely: No Place So Far by Erin O'Donnell, One Pure and Holy Passion by Mark Altrogge, Lie Low by Plumb and A Little More by Jennifer Knapp. For the nth time I was the session bassist for Jam. Not that I'm complaining. :)

Kitchie sang 2 songs after our set: Wag Mong Sasabihin and Bulong, with just a guitar (and an instant percussionist, the guitarist of 2:20G). Impressive rendition of You Raise Me Up by tenor Jimwell(?) with video snippets from The Passion of the Christ, followed Kitchie's set.

Mark Juane and 2:20G really rocked - great band, great music and great message. Thanks for the organizers for inviting us and making us part of that memorable event.

A Working Filipino's Lament

2005-07-09T00:32:00.000+08:00

I don't know if you have read this article as a forwarded email. This same article is quoted by Sassy Lawyer in one of her blog entries. It is worth noting in the wake of the current situation in the Philippines because I can relate to most of the writer's sentiments, being a government employee myself. Around 50 comments follow Sassy Lawyer's blog entry, so you might wanna read them and post your own comments, too. As for me, I'm just gonna write my own comments and insights below. Got a lot on my mind, but I'm just gonna write what I can for now.

The article's suggestion that only the tax-payers should be given the right to vote given its premise looks very, very promising. Makes sense for us tax-payers and those in the middle class. Its observation on the desperateness and frustration of the middle class workers which forces them to work abroad and eventually majority of those in the country are the masses and the not-so-skillful middle class is right on the dot. That's exactly what the "brain drain" phenomenon is all about, and it's the reason why I am not entertaining the idea of working abroad. It really worsens the economic situation of the country in the long run, even if the OFWs pay remittances to the government.

I strongly agree with the article's take on the so-called masses and I feel the same way about them. However, I believe some NGOs and groups are aimed at helping them alleviate from poverty by educating them and enabling them to find jobs, make a living, even teach them how to save, etc. It's a quixotic undertaking but I believe it will be worth it in the long run. At least they have the initiative to do something, as opposed to the corrupt and grand-standing politicians, leftists and military adventurists who, instead of being part of the solution, become the major contributors of the worsening situation of our country.

I differ with the article in that, I don't believe that killing the corrupt political leaders will change the situation of the country. I mean, it has crossed my mind several times, wishing those elements to be exterminated, killed or whatever. But the truth is, no matter who stays in power, and what system of government is put up, no society can really change or progress if the people themselves do not change. As APO Hiking Society's song goes, "...there can be no talk of changing unless we all change from within..."

The article further states that Filipinos lack discipline and we are generally lazy as compared to other nationalities, and if I might add, the culture of corruption has been so ingrained in all strata of the Filipino society. The reason why Filipinos can make good in other countries is because the environment or culture overseas are stricter and Filipinos do conform or obey if strict measures are applied. But they see no reason to be as law-abiding here, because they can see that most law-enforcers are themselves law-breakers who can be bribed, which leads to inconsistencies in enforcing the law. They see the unequal treatment between the ordinary citizens and the privileged, the elite and the politicians. For what good will it do to those who will abide by the law when others can get away with it? Consistency and will-power in enforcing laws and policies are two basic requirements that we Filipinos as a society should espouse to create a culture of discipline -- if we want our beloved country to be better.

Although the Philippines is in the mire right now, I still have the hope that it will be better eventually, i.e. if the we Filipinos come to our senses and put our act together. It might no be that soon, notwithstanding. As the cliche goes, "when you're at the bottom, there's no other way to go but up."

New Toy Has Arrived

2005-07-07T01:56:00.000+08:00

Got my newest toy today, the 1GB iPod Shuffle. I know it's hard to find money these days, but just cut me some slack. Just think of it as a birthday gift to myself. Bought it from the Apple Store, courtesy of GeekSpeak who just came back from San Francisco the other day. With the slashed price of $129 instead of the regular $149 price, and considering that its local price costs much much more, I believe it's really a good buy.

I'm really impressed with the crisp quality of the sound coming out of the earphones. This is what I really needed, so I can distinguish each instrument in any song and dissect bass lines more easily without having to connect to a big speaker with a sub-woofer to get a good take on the smooth and defining riffs.

Its arrival couldn't have a better timing, because I'm now using it for an upcoming gig which is going to be in the next few days. I will also be playing for an upcoming musical come October this year so the Shuffle's really gonna be useful in its first few months in my hand. It's really very convenient since I can listen to the songs while I'm riding a bus or jeepney, or while waiting in line for the ATM or in a fastfood. And I can readily review the songs during rehearsals. Bringing the bulky notebook is very cumbersome, add that to the instrument I will be carrying around during practices. PDAs run out of power in just a couple of hours while the iPod Shuffle lasts for more than 12-hours , and the sound from the PDAs isn't as good and as hi-fi as that of the iPod Shuffle.

I still have to install iPod Shuffle software in my Linux desktop though. I just installed iTunes and iPod software on my office notebook running MS Windows XP Home. Don't worry, soon I won't be needing Windows to sync my playlists to Shuffle.

Sure feels like Christmas in the midst of the current crisis. :)

Watch Kitchie For Free

2005-07-05T16:26:00.000+08:00

According to a reliable source, Kitchie Nadal will be performing for free come July 15, 6-9 p.m. at the Word for the World, ACSM(?) Bldg., Valero St., Makati City. Ain't it cool? I heard that their front-act is kewl. Well, just see for yourself, you be the judge. Hehe...

Checked her gig sked, and by golly, she's performing in Iligan on the 29th pala. Too bad I won't be there to see her perform in the city of my origin. :(

Blog filler (na naman)

2005-06-20T18:44:00.000+08:00

Hehe. Kakahiya na to... Too busy (or lazy?) to post kasi these days...

Your #1 Match: ISTP

The Mechanic

You are calm and collected, even in the most difficult of situations.
A person of action and self-direction, you love being independent.
To outsiders yous eem impulsive, surprising, and unpredictable.
You are good at understanding how all things work, except for people.

You would make an excellent pilot, forensic pathologist, or athlete.

Your #2 Match: INTP

The Thinker

You are analytical and logical - and on a quest to learn everything you can.
Smart and complex, you always love a new intellectual challenge.
Your biggest pet peeve is people who slow you down with trivial chit chat.
A quiet maverick, you tend to ignore rules and authority whenever you feel like it.

You would make an excellent mathematician, programmer, or professor.

Your #3 Match: ISFP

The Artist

You are a gifted artist or musician (though your talents may be dormant right now).
You enjoy spending your free time in nature, and you are good with animals and children.
Simply put, you enjoy bueaty in all its forms and live for the simple pleasures in life.
Gentle, sensitive, and compassionate - you are good at recognizing people's unspoken needs.

You would make a good veterinarian, pediatrician, or composer.

Your #4 Match: ISTJ

The Duty Fulfiller

You are responsible, reliable, and hardworking - you get the job done.
You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings.
Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you.
Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy.

You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer.

Your #5 Match: INFP

The Idealist

You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world.
Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships.
It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close.
But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop.

You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.

What's Your Personality Type?

Nerd Test

2005-05-19T00:44:00.000+08:00

Got this test from Geekspeak and frankly, I don't know how I got such a score. There must be something seriously wrong with their criteria.
Anyways, a belated happy birthday to Geekspeak! Got a PUK prompt on my regular line's SIM card since Sunday night by accident and I got no more load in my prepaid SIM card that's why I wasn't able to send SMS messages since yesterday including two birthday greetings. Good thing I have a blog, though. :)

UPCAT Results Now Available

2005-02-23T14:06:00.000+08:00

UPCAT 2005 results are posted at the Office of Admissions in U.P. Diliman since February 19, 2005.
Online results are already available on the Web just this afternoon! Click here. Expect a slow connection though...

WAP version will also be available soon. Watch for it at http://wap.up.edu.ph/upcat/.

What Number Art Thou?

2005-02-10T09:54:00.000+08:00

You Are the Investigator

5

You're independent - and a logical analytical thinker.

You love learning and ideas... and know things no one else does.

Bored by small talk, you refuse to participate in boring conversations.

You are open minded. A visionary. You understand the world and may change it.

What number are you?

PERL Week

2005-02-04T01:51:00.000+08:00

Just bear with me if this blog will be riddled with Perl scripts and snippets. It's just the time of year when I have to brush up on Perl scripting for many of the seasonal tasks that I do here in the office. My officemates seem to be amused that I was cramming (a.k.a. reviewing) my long-lost Perl aptitude in one week. So, might as well call this week my PERL week.

The previous blog was also written to answer an officemate's question on how to do certain things in Perl. He has a lot of questions coming in, and I'll be providing another "solution" in this entry.

The scenario is this: how do you list files in a given directory in PERL? How do you prevent special unix files from being listed (such as the ".*", "." and "..")?

The story behind this scenario is that, being used to shell scripting and issuing commands at the linux shell, our tendency is just to place a system call in Perl, e.g.

system -e "ls ...";

Although this is perfectly valid, it helps to know what really is the built-in Perl function for this and how we could accomplish this task without invoking a system call.

Here goes:


1 opendir THISDIR, "." 

2   or die "could not open directory: $!";

3 @allfiles = grep !/^\.\.?$/, readdir THISDIR;

4 closedir THISDIR;

5 print "Current directory contents: \n";

6 foreach $key (sort(@allfiles)) { print "$key\n"; }

The snippet above is lifted mostly from Programming Perl by Wall, et al, except for lines 5 and 6, to answer my own sub-problem on how to perform a sort on an array in Perl. The sort() function arranges the array elements in ascending ASCII order. Line 2 obviously answers the second question in the scenario - and once again, PERL regular expressions saves the day. Happy PERL week everyone!

Banana Split

2005-02-02T15:45:00.000+08:00

PERL is a very powerful scripting language, and one of the simplest yet useful functions in PERL is splitting a string and placing each word in that string as separate elements in an array. To spice up this discussion, let's add a slight complication: in between the words are a random combination of tabs and spaces but we don't want tabs and spaces cropping up in our individual array elements.

For example, we have a string: "I want to eat some banana."
We want a new array @banana_split to contain only individual words from the above string, i.e.,
@banana_split = {I, want, to, eat, some, banana.};

Here's how one might go about this in PERL:


1 $myString = "I want    to  eat    some  banana." ;

2 $myString =~ s/\s+/ /g;

3 @banana_split = split(" ", $myString);

4 foreach $element (@banana_split) {

5    $i++;

6    print "element $i: $element\n";

7 }

Dissecting the above lines:

1 - Just declares and initializes the string in question.
2 - Cleans out the tabs and spaces with the help of the s/// operator to search for whitespaces (\s), but there are one or more whitespace in between, so we'll have to add "+" to the search expression. Then we replace these with just one space. Regular expressions can be quite cryptic at first but once you get to know them, some data manipulation would be a lot less burdensome.
3 - We then use the single space character as a delimiter for the creation of the array @banana_split which is based on the string $myString.
4-7 - Just lists individual elements of the array. the output should be:


       element 1: I

       element 2: want

       element 3: to

       element 4: eat

       element 4: some

       element 6: banana.

Nice way to fill my blog, eh? :)

What Age Do You Act?

2005-01-23T02:47:00.001+08:00

You Are 28 Years Old

28

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

2005-01-23T02:47:00.000+08:00

You Have A Type A- Personality

A-

You are one of the most balanced people around
Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want
You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you.

When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back
Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love!
You live life to the fullest - encorporating the best of both worlds

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

Which OS Are You?

2005-01-20T13:03:00.000+08:00

Which OS are You?

Survey of Threes

2005-01-20T01:11:00.000+08:00

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Macoy
2. Coyax
3. Max (I have up to a dozen more!)

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. SpicyMcWings
2. Sharkbait
3. Jester

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. I can play musical instruments. (Guitar, Bass, Soprano Recorder, Kubing, Lyre, etc.)
2. I look young for my age. (Hahaha!)
3. My hair. (vain! but seriously, i'm just stating a fact - i have nice hair, haha!)

THREE THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. I can get hot tempered.
2. Sleeping and waking up late.
3. Being always late.

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. Chinese surname (hahaha!).
2. Gambling as a family past-time.
3. Lands and riches. (dream on!)

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. Deadlines and forgotten schedules.
2. Wrong/forgotten chords.
3. Being separated from a loved one. (either by distance, death or breakup)

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. Coffee.
2. Music.
3. God.

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. Eyeglasses.
2. Black Polo Shirt.
3. Skecher cross-training shoes. (baduy ng combination, di ba? hehe...)

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS (OR ARTISTS) FOR THE MOMENT:
1. Maroon 5.
2. Kitchie Nadal.
3. Erasherheads.

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS AT PRESENT:
1. One Way (Hillsong United).
2. Wag Na Wag Mong Sasabihin (Kitchie Nadal).
3. You'll Be Safe Here (Theme from Spirits, Rivermaya).

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:
1. Learn to play a different musical instrument (flute or clarinet).
2. Develop using java or try to write programs for Symbian OS.
3. Implement Handbook and Multimedia Library in KBCF.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP (LOVE IS A GIVEN):
1. Respect.
2. Appreciation.
3. Trust.

*TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (GUESS WHICH ONE'S THE LIE):
1. 1 + 1 = 10.
2. The opposite of love is hatred.
3. I'm single and loving it.

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX (OR SAME) THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. Smile.
2. Eyes.
3. Hair.

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T DO:
1. Eat meat without hot sauce.
2. Do anything without music playing in the background.
3. Go overseas to find work. (don't wanna)

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. Reading.
2. Sports (table-tennis, badminton, darts, soccer).
3. Music (listening to it and playing musical instruments).

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Sleep.
2. Finish this %#@! survey.
3. Watch episode 12 of Desperate Housewives (but I can't, no copy yet...)

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CURRENTLY CONSIDERNG:
1. I.T. (where I'm currently in).
2. Business (Internet Cafe w/ Library).
3. Music.

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Iligan, my hometown!
2. Camiguin. (so near yet so far...)
3. Puerto Galera.

THREE KID'S NAMES:
1. Joyce.
2. Bernadette.
3. James(?).

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. Concert tour overseas.
2. Have my own business and make lots of money from it.
3. Settle down in Iligan.

*if you're reading this survey, you're required to answer this portion.

Dominant What?

2005-01-11T01:02:00.000+08:00

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.
An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.
You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view.
A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary.

You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

I'm A Proud Daddy (Again)

2004-10-20T17:56:00.000+08:00

My new Fedora Core 2 dual head desktop
Click picture to enlarge.

As promised, I have reinstalled my new PC. It almost feels like I've just done a general house cleaning. Feels shiny and spanking new again. The hard part was backing up gigs of data. Good thing there's a 3.5" external hard disk enclosure with spare hard disks just for this purpose. I have alse repartitioned my internal HDs for dual booting and of course ensure optimal independent data partitions.

My primary OS is now Fedora Core 2 and I've already installed some useful applications including Open Office.Org 1.1.1 (built-in), LAMP (built-in), Mozilla Firefox 1.0PR browser + plugins, Mozilla Thunderbird 0.8 email client, XMMS, mPlayer, IM clients Gaim (built-in) and Yahoo! Messenger, Azureus bit torrent client (ehem), ArgoUML modeling editor, apt-get and its Synaptics GUI for application management, Winex3 3.3.1 for emulating Windoze applications, etc. The data partitions are also VFAT or FAT32 so I can access and write data either from Linux or Windoze without worrying about crashing the partitions. That, plus the dual head display is working fine, spanning two 19" flat monitors for optimal workspace. So I think it's in tip-top shape a few days after its birth. I feel proud to be a daddy again. Haha.

But of course, it still is an "installation and configuration in progress." I still have a lot of things nagging me though. For one, I have yet to install an mplayer plugin to be able to play multimedia files within the Firefox browser, although I already have a Flash plugin. I need to view Quicktime files for streaming. Chikka IM Java Lite doesn't support my browser. It's bad enough that they don't have a linux client, and it's worse because their supposed multi-platform client doesn't support my browsers (Firefox and Konqueror)! I still have to check though, if Opera can support Chikka's Java Lite. I still have to make my external usb external drive accessible, as well as my bluetooth dongle, usb flash drive and 8-in-1 memory card reader. Still a lot of work to be done, but I can make do with or without them so it's gonna be one step at a time from here.

As for the Windows partition, I only installed the free AVG antivirus and latest updates, Lavasoft Ad-aware anti-spyware and latest updates, SP2 and applied the latest patches and drivers for my devices.

Filler

2004-10-13T02:07:00.000+08:00

Name Four Things/Person You Are Thinking About Now :
1. One more song for Sunday (probably Wynonna's rendition of Avalon's Testify To Love)
2. Videocon Project to-dos
3. Elisha Cuthbert - and why The Girl Next door DVD isn't working in this notebook. It has many scratches already . :(
4. Project meetings/demos this week

Name the Last Four Things You Have Bought :
1. Starbucks' tall Espresso Frappucino
2. V-Cut Sweet Chili Flavor
3. Swiss Miss sachets
4. Dinner at Area 2 a.k.a. Lutong Bahay

Name Four Drinks You Regularly Drink :
1. water
2. iced tea
3. Mountain Dew
4. Wan Chai Morato's botomless house tea

Last Time You Said 'I Love You' And Meant It ?
- Last year. But it seems like it's so looong ago already...

Last Time You Cried ?
- Just last night. Put too much chili sauce for the dimsum. It was still very red even if I already mixed soy sauce with it. Fotunately my lips didn't swell though.

What's In Your CD Player ?
- Not using it. Last played As Good As It Gets a few weeks back. (It's also a VCD and MP3 player).

What Color Socks Are You Wearing ?
- brown

What's Under Your Bed ?
- another bed - a pull-out bed.

What Time Did You Wake Up Today ?
- 7 am. O di ba, aga no? ;)

Current Clothes ?
- U.P. shirt and Adidas shorts

Current Longing
- backup all my data in my notebook and my PC in the office - I need to reformat and reinstall them. I hate Windoze!!! I long to install Fedora Core 2 as the primary OS in my PC. This week, promise.

Current wallpaper in desktop
- Kill Bill spoof with Linux mascots (Kill Bill Gates, haha!). Got it from Rhea C. Thanks ha!

Current Worry ?
- tambak projects. :o

Current Hate ?
- the current situation sa country, the fiscal crisis. The government's austerity measure. The rank and file are the most affected. They should rather be after the big fish and sacred cows in the government. There are lots of them there. Don't wanna expound, my blood pressure will just shoot up.

Favorite Physical Feature/s Of The Opposite Sex?
- hair, lips/smile, eyes. haay....

Last CD You Bought ?
- Joe Satriani Live in San Francisco DVD

Favorite Place To Be ?
- I pay homage whenever i'm in the vicinity of a Starbucks "shrine." :)

Least Favorite Place ?
- any enclosed area where smokers are around me.

Can You Play An Instrument ? Why?
- yes. Because i love music ever since. My older brother also taught me a couple of instruments when I was about to enter high school. And most of all, God gave this talent to me, so I'd better make good use of it.

Do You Believe In An Afterlife ?
- Yup. But I don't believe in reincarnation. But I believe in predestination. Haha, labo na ba?

HOw tAll arE you?
5'6" (rounded off to the nearest inch, hehe)

Current Favorite Word/Saying ?
- Nakupo (English: oh, my mother! Spanish: Mi Mama!)

Favorite Season ?
- Christmas season. haha. Tis when I can go back to Iligan, bond with family, relatives, churchmates and old schoolmates/friends.

One Person You Wish You Could Go And Talk To ?
- Can't decide whom. I have a lot of close friends you know...

Favorite Day ?
- Saturday

Where Would You Like To Go ?
- Definitely not to Microsoft's. I wanna go to heaven. Heaven is a wonderful place, filled with glory and grace... Come sing with me now. Haha!

How Many Kids Do You Want ?
- 3 at the most. i.e., if I'd get married.

2004-09-13T23:44:00.000+08:00

wow, this is cool! blogging from a pocket pc..

online reunions and moving on

2004-08-13T01:25:00.000+08:00

the brother (the youngest) and his favorite sister (who's two years his senior) chatted separately while the rest of the five siblings were engaged in a chat conference. three siblings including the youngest brother and sister were in the country, two were abroad who were hemispheres apart from each other. they were a lot older now. with the exception of the youngest, they already have families of their own.

after chit-chatting for a while, out of nowhere, the sister pops the question.

sis: ...okay. how is she. has she gotten over you already?

bro: i think she's okay now. happy with her married life naman daw. which is good. she said she's happy now.

sis: that is good. she's attending sunday services again but it's not consistent though.

bro: she even thanked me a while ago, i'm the best kuya daw. haha...

sis: know what, she already finished the puzzle you gave her even before she gave birth. she did it in three weeks.

bro: i wanted to tell her jokingly, that i wasn't the best at all, because i wasn't good enough because she got married and she couldn't wait. haha! that's good, she's attending church again. at least there's progress. by the way, she mentioned that her baby' name was ___ luiz. wasn't able to reply to her text because she bade goodbye already, and she just borrowed that cellphone. why is it that there's a ____ in the baby's name? i mean, it would be less troubling if i'm the father, which isn't the case.

sis: it's a way of venting her frustration that she could've waited for you.

bro: ugh, and she's transferring the burden/guilt on me by forever imprinting here baby's name after me. should i feel guilty over this or what?

sis: of course not. it was her fault.

bro: i know... i honestly do not know if i should be remorseful or what. i wasn't even able to seriously think about the possibility of an "us" yet, much less consider it - and its already the end of the story. haay life...

sis: not for you. there was a potential, as i said, but it's not for you.

bro: i know... i think it's one of her deepest regrets. that's why i am relieved and happy that she's enjoying her married life right now.

sis: yeah, to get you off the guilt that she may be miserable for not waiting long enough for you.

bro: you are so mean!

sis: hehe, she deserves to be happy, and you too. get on with your life.

the two shifted to other topics as the rest of their siblings discussed prospects of a family business and of course, how they missed each other and their ailing dad, and also took a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about the life before, mourning over dead pets and other facets of growing up as brothers and sisters.

gadget review: Linksys WAP54G

2004-08-12T02:46:00.000+08:00

Note: I only copy-pasted this one from a review I made a couple of months back. :) For other reviews made by myself and my officemates, click here.

Specs:

High-Speed Wireless-G (802.11g) Access Point
54Mbps
Interoperable with 11 Mbps Wireless-B equipment (802.11b)

Product link

Features:
The familiar packaging of the Linksys WAP54G with that of Linksys WAP11 makes it a lot easier to set up (even for those who have no prior experience of setting up a Linksys product). The only difference between the two is the name of the model, and you got the familiar purple and black plastic gizmo with two detachable external dipole antennas at the back. The power jack is at the back of the unit, along with the RJ-11 jack and reset button. The additional thin rectangular plastic for wall or ceiling-mounting the unit is also included.

Just like the WAP11's indicators it has three LEDs at the front that make it easy to diagnose the unit's status, even from a distance. The red LED (left-most) is the indicator for power, the amber (center) for wireless activiy, and green LED (right-most) for LAN activity. The normal operating condition is indicated by a constant red and green LED lighted up, and a flickering amber LED if there is wireless traffic, and a constant amber LED for available wireless service without traffic.

Linksys WAP54G has only three modes. These are, the basic access point mode and the wireless bridge mode – point-to-point and point-to-multipoint. For the access point mode, you can set it to B-only, G-only or mixed, so you have greater flexibility in deploying this unit. The web interface does not specify whether the bridge mode is point-to-point or point-to-multipoint, as compared to the WAP11 device. Which makes sense, because you don't have to. If you enter only one MAC address, then it would be a point-to-point connection with another access point acting as a wireless bridge. If you enter more than one, then it's a point-to-multipoint wireless bridge connection – less options, less clutter and a simpler interface.

If you're thinking of buying an access point to act as a wireless repeater or a wireless client, then WAP54G is not for you, as these modes are not present in the unit. These modes, however, are available in the WAP11b unit.

Security features include 64/128-bit WEP encryption, WPA and MAC address filtering of up to 10 devices. Activity logs can also be viewed online.

Installation
Just like the Linksys WAP11, you can configure the equipment in two ways: by running the Linksys WAP54G configuration software in the companion CD, or by accessing its built-in web server. It's much of a hassle to install the unit using its software, because you have to load the CD everytime you set it up. Or you might as well copy the file in your hard drive, eating up a couple of megabytes of your hard drive. Moreover, the windows-based config utilitys is somewhat erratic in locating the default device, causing in a delay in installation. And besides, this is no longer a Windows-only universe – more people are using various operating systems. Therefore, installing via the web browser is a universal, optimal and a much less convenient way to configure the unit. After all, after deploying this unit, you will most likely access it through its web server if you want to change its settings or view the logs.

Another improvement from the WAP11 packaging is that, it has included in its quick install guide the default TCP/IP settings of the device. For the WAP11 device, you might spend a couple of hours tinkering with the installer CD or the equipment and your PC's TCP/IP configuration to locate your access point in the network. Sooner or later, you'll realize that the unit has a preset static default TCP/IP setting - depending if you've searched Google or perused its online manual. And mind you, you will only find this precious bit of information in the WAP11's online manual.

Pros and Cons
As with the WAP11b device, upgrading its firmware is a breeze. Just visit this link, download the file, access the unit's web server, upload the file in the firmware upgrade section and commit changes.

The Linksys WAP54G Wireless Access Point is several notches higher than its Wireless-B counterpart, Linksys WAP11 in more ways than one. Firstly, it is a little bit more reliable than its Wireless-B predecessor, requiring less frequent resets (when its wireless service freezes). If you're used to resetting a wireless access point, this might come as a relief. But this is also a downside of the WAP54G - any wireless access point need not require manual resets. This may be more observable as more wireless clients access your unit. This is an aspect that Linksys needs to improve on, in terms of its access points' performance. Perhaps the more stable performance is attributed to Cisco's acquiring it and therefore delivering better performing equipment - but exactly which component, hardware or software (or is it just quality control?) is yet to be found out.

One thing to note though: the Linksys WAP11 or WAP54G may have intermittent performance and to some degree unreliable in access point mode, but they're far more stable if you pair two units in a wireless bridge setup.

The obvious advantage of this equipment over other models is that it's the cheapest in the bunch. For around P8,500 (average price in the Philippine market as of the 1st half of 2004), the buyer might find it tolerable to endure manually resetting the unit from time to time. The next cheapest is already twice its cost, followed by another brand costing around P20,000. The most reliable and the most expensive for such devices we have acquired is almost five times its cost.

Another advantage that I see is that, although this unit might disconnect its clients intermittently, it can reach a wider range - I can access the internet wirelessly through this unit several rooms (good for two floors) away from the access point. Yes, it can surpass the other brands which are around twice its price. In wireless bridge mode, it has a much, much wider range than in access point mode, and we have actually deployed several units around the campus to extend network access to units or buildings that do not have a connection to the campus network. Actual measurements and distances have yet to be made though.

Conclusion
So, it's really a balancing act between cost and performance in buying wireless access points. If you can't afford to have your wireless clients disconnect intermittently from time to time you you have to choose the more expensive but more reliable brands. But if budget is limited and you have a lower number of wireless clients, or frequent resetting or disconnection is not that critical to you, then you might want to settle for this unit.

what to expect from this blog

2004-08-09T02:43:00.000+08:00

I have been tempted to create separate blogs for book/movie/music reviews among other things, but it got me thinking. If I can't even write that frequently, why should I even attempt to create more blogs for that matter? So I've decided that this is gonna be my personal blog to contain, as the subtitle goes, "my... insights on anything under the sun, or even beyond it."

Maybe I could write any of the following in this blog, for starters:

- book/movie/music/tech reviews. This is gonna be more like making a reaction paper to the books, movies, songs and gizmos that shall come along the way or catch my attention.

- vague online diary. Maybe if I'm bored enough, I'll just type away what I'm feeling in a specific moment, how my day went and the like, my new obsession, new crushie or whatever. It's gonna be vague to protect my privacy and avoid embarassment. For instance, I might write something about a person, and for some unfortunate twist of fate, he/she might come across it. E di lagot ako! Ibidinsya dudung...

- life in general. Maybe I could post my insights or observations about different issues in life, love, technology - anything that affects me enough to write something about.

Note: The Bisayâ 101 blog will still be a separate blog of course, for obvious reasons. My mind is nagging me to add new lessons to that blog, or just finish the HTML formatting of the second lesson. That's what I get for getting too maarte in publishing the lessons.

tribute to my old blog

2004-08-09T02:10:00.000+08:00

Hmm... It's been a long while since I last posted a blog, much less viewed my own blogs. Seems like work and extra-official activities got the best of conspiring against my writing more blogs as much as I would like to. Which makes me wonder, how on earth do people find the time to write and update their blogs from time to time? I can't even read all my official emails anymore.

I got a nagging "About Me" still posted on a blog that I recently deleted. No matter how many times I updated my "About Me" text, it still didn't refresh in the actual blog even after several tries. Maybe that's why I lost my appetite adding articles in this site. I just copied it from my Friendster account and it was a mouthful, in that, someone reading it might mistake me as a desperate bachelor or something.

Imagine my surprise when I visited this site after months of ignoring its existence, the "About Me" section on the blog named after my nick was still there, announcing to the world what I wrote about myself, as if mocking me. I updated it several times more in the hope of making it go away. Finally I gave up in frustration and deleted that blog. Whew! I don't know if my brain's already cranky right now or I'm just too lazy to tinker with this site. Or maybe, my brain is just plain cranky. Period.

This is not sour-graping, but I only wrote one nonsense sentence as an article just to test if that blog was working. So theres' nothing much to be rueful about its demise. So here's my new blog. As with anything that happened in my life, I have to move on.