Christmas Vacation 2006: Day 15

What the hell, I cannot believe it has been 15 days already since I have started slacking around. I just remembered that I would have an exam on January 5.

A while ago, I got up early, at around 10 in the morning, because my mother woke me up to register as a voter here in Pasig. I did not really want to, but there was some ad shown on TV saying that tomorrow is the last day of registration for voters, for the 2007 elections. I got convinced that I should go though.

So we went and when we arrived at the municipal hall, there were hordes of people in front of the entrance. As much as it dismays me, almost all of them were going to register, too. Some other, well, including my mother, were there to accompany some of the registrants. We went into the crowd, and found that there was someone speaking on a megaphone. Then the people said she cried. She probably felt helpless because many people were asking her many questions. After minutes of standing with the crowd, we decided to step back and sit away from the crowd. Then a guy from the Commission on Elections started a speech using the megaphone. He made many remarks that I did not like. He clearly blames the people for not registering early. Then he defended the COMELEC by stating that they have limitations in equipment and stuff. Finally, he just said to everyone to just go back at 6 in the morning the next day to get a number then wait 2 hours in order to register because office starts at 8 in the morning. Come on, 6 in the morning? Are you kidding?

Things you just can't find

I'm currently not very happy because I can't find the network cable in this house. I've been looking for around 30 minutes already. I need it to transfer XCode to the Mac so that I can program java/c/c++ in a neat IDE. I also want to transfer some of the freshly ripped music from my sister's CD collection.

In addition to that, for a while now, I cannot find a single good online reference to management information systems. I have been hoping to find a good reference for my class because I am just not happy with my instructor's lectures.

I got the thought that there are things that you just can't find, for everything else, there's Google.

The thought made me remember that I rely too much on the Internet, as expected.

Christmas Vacation 2006: Day 5

Erik, one of my high school friends, came to the house today. Earlier, he was asking me about why his computer is bugged and stuff so I told him to go to my place and to bring his hard disk. That is because I was thinking that the hard disk is the most probable broken thing in his computer. I was also not in the mood to go to his place. Anyhow, he brought his hard disk, with the hope of getting it fixed, and obtaining other stuff along the way. He arrived at around 3 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, my sister was having her chatting session again, so we had to wait until around 6 p.m. to be able to start with the work. The good thing is that the two of us were able to bond and relinquish our friendship because of that.

So at 6 p.m., I hooked up his hard disk to our computer, setting it as a slave to our hard disk. I used the free AVG program to scan it for viruses, and lo and behold, a sight I have never ever seen before, it found 13 viruses. I was amazed. I have never really found that much up until a while ago. So I was like, cool, what the hell happened to your hard disk?

Because his disk was totally fucked up, we decided to reformat it, and reinstall the OS. He has XP, bleh. The biggest problem is that even if you can select the slave as the installation path, eventually, it bugged my disk. I think it installed some of the needed files into our disk, which is why when I disabled our disk, the installation failed. That is very bad programming indeed, what did I expect?

Anyhow, I needed to re-plug the wires, and start all over again. Fortunately, I was patient.

We finished at around 8:30 in the evening because of the above aside from the fact that our computer has a relatively slow and old motherboard.

Erik called when he got the hard disk attached to his system, it did not work. I totally forgot that for the installation to be successful, we had to have a similar set of hardware.

I am going to their place tomorrow, to take care of the problem at the proper environment.

After that part of the day, right after having dinner, my sister told my mother to come with her and buy some pancit at Ado’s. That is because my sister’s boss told my sister that pancit at Ado’s is quite delicious. So they went to buy that food. I do not know where that store is located though.

Eventually, my mom came home with a single serving of pancit, puto bumbong, and bibingka.

I started munching the pancit. It was great. It tasted good, and it had lots of sahog. After eating around half of it, I saw a small roach stuck in between the teeth of my fork. I was flabbergasted. I was like, oh my god, so much for tasting good. Eventually, I told my mom, she brought it back to where she bought it, and when she returned home, she had two servings of pancit. I have not eaten them, yet.

Fortunately for the storeowner, my mother was not in warpath mode a while ago. Otherwise, they might have less customers dining in their store.

I wonder what would happen when we tell my sister about what just happened.

Full Metal Panic Fumoffu

I finished watching the whole series after two seatings (I did eat and take a bath afterall).

As expected, it is very nice. The character drawings are far better than in the original FMP. (I never found Kaname attractive in the original). That is, even if some episodes have a story, which is just too unrealistic in the context of that anime.

Anyhow, it is entertaining, a good way to spend slack time.

I'm going to watch The Second Raid tomorrow. hehe

Another one of those stupid things on Earth

The concept of land ownership here on Earth is stupid.

Ownership is gained by people who have power.

What will happen when going around space is easy?

When some people find some cool planet, they will eventually own it.

There is no such thing as equal opportunity.

That is annoying.

Fireworks and high places

I was just reading stuff about the greedy world bank and globalization, when somewhere around the SM area, there were fireworks flying around. The funny thing I noticed is that the smoke from the fireworks immediately mixed with the moisture. I believe it turned into smog. The smoke from the explosion did not even disperse, it formed shapes that looked like how they exploded. Imagine seeing the follow through smoke of a firework.

So much for seing a pretty display of dazzling colors.

Programming "Truths"

Stumbled upon some weird stuff.

Important Programming Truths

I really don't agree with these "truths" because most of them don't apply with my style.

Some of them do sound too good to be true.

I have officially decided to ignore most of them.

Very fun though.

Tamang Batchoy Lang

Naranasan mo na ba ang mapagalitan dahil nagtapon ka ng basura sa tamang tapunan?
Kung hindi pa, daan ka sa Session Road, sa may bandang Solibao, magtapon ka dun sa itim na trash bag. May sisista sa'yo. Yun yung mga kolektor ng tinapong pagkain mula sa restaurant. Sa malamang kakainin nila, hinihiwalay nila yung mga hindi nakakain eh.

Kung titignan mo yung panig nila. Siyempre magagalit ka rin kung yung pagkain mo ay tatapunan ng basura 'di ba?

Ang static na website at ang kwento ng Powerbook

Nagsimula ang lahat sa isang website na ang tawag ay e-bay. Marso 2006, nasa Baguio ako noon, nahihirapan at nagaalinlangan kung maipapasa ko ba ang mga asignaturang pinasok ko. Naisipan ko tuloy umuwi sa bahay namin sa Pasig para malimutan kahit saglit ang masalimuot na mundo ng pag-aaral. Pagdating ko sa bahay, nagimbal na lamang ako nang sinabi sa akin ng aking ina na may biniling laptop ang aking ate. Macintosh Powerbook G4. Ang ganda ng tunog 'di ba? Hanggang tunog nga lang yata eh. Nabili niya ang naturang laptop, powerbook, sa e-bay (kaya dun nalang nagsimula), sa halagang sampung libong piso P 10,000, mula sa isang mayaman na nagsawa na sa naturang gamit at bibili na ng mas bago. Pagkarinig ko sa presyo, nagimbal nanaman ako sapagkat mahirap makahanap o makabili ng ganoong klaseng bagay sa ganoong presyo. Siyempre, dahil punong-puno ako ng galak dahil sa pangyayari, hinanap ko yung powerbook. Nung tinanong ko na si ate kung nasaan yung powerbook, isang masayang salita lang ang sagot niya sa akin, “sira”. Siyempre, hindi ako, yung powerbook. May topak ito kaya pala ganoon ang presyo. Kung titignan ito, hindi na talaga bago ang hitsura, maraming gasgas, at medyo nababakbak na yung parang pilak na pintura. Isa pa sa mga problema nito ay wala itong fan, kaya medyo mabilis uminit. Kapag pinatakbo naman, medyo maayos kapag simula, aabot ka sa desktop kung swerte. Pero minsan, nagugulat na lang at titigil ito sa pagtakbo habang wala ka namang ginagawang sadya na kung anong makakapagpatigil sa kanya. Maiinis ka talaga dahil minsan tuwang tuwa ka na sa ginagawa mo, bigla na lang itong hihinto, talagang hinto, sa pagtakbo. Hindi na ako nagtaka kung bakit ibinenta ito.

Isang araw, pumasok ang pagkahilig ko sa pagkalikot ng mga bagay-bagay, naisipan kong kalikutin ang nakakaasar na powerbook. Sa tulong ng Google, natuklasan ko na nagkakaroon pala ng short circuit sa may bandang ilalim ng space bar kapag medyo nalalakasan ang pagpindot sa mga parte sa banda roon. Napag-alaman ko na tumatama ang kable ng trackpad sa metal na nasa ilalim ng keyboard kaya ito tumitigil sa pagtakbo, epekto ng stupid engineering ng Apple. Bukod dito, natuklasan ko rin na hindi lang ang powerbook namin ang may ganoong problema, marami palang tao ang nagkaroon ng parehong problema sa Powerbook G4 Titanium series na modelo, na epekto talaga ng stupid engineering ng Apple. Mabuti na lamang, sa bawat problema, kadalasan mayroong solusyong hindi mahirap gawin. Nalaman ko na kung lalagyan ng plastik na harang ang kable ng trackpad at ang metal na nasa ilalim ng keyboard, hindi na magkakaroon ng short circuit. Ginawa ko yung mungkahi at dahil doon, ilang buwan din akong naging maligaya sa paggamit ng powerbook.

Dumating ang unang semestre sa, sana, huling taon ko sa kolehiyo. Bandang Hulyo, isang gabi, nakatulog ako at naiwang nakasaksak ang power adapter ng powerbook. Umabot siguro ng mga sampung oras iyon. Noong binubuksan ko na ulit siya, ayaw nang bumukas. Hindi na nag-boot. Ginawa ko na lahat ng aking makakakaya, ngunit hindi kinaya ng aking powers ang sira ng powerbook kaya ipinaubaya ko ito sa aking ate, para ipagawa, kasama ang pag-asa na magagamit itong muli. Lumipas ang Agosto, Setyembre, at Oktubre, na walang nangyari kung hindi kumapal ang alikabok sa ibabaw ng powerbook. Busy kasi si ate.

Pagdating ng Nobyembre, dahil sembreak, ako na mismo ang umasikaso sa problema na nais kong masolusyonan. Dinala ko ang powerbook sa Apple Center sa Mega Mall, at ipinakonsulta ito. Doon lang ako natuwa sa ibig sabihin ng “patience is a virtue”. Busy kasi yung repair guy nila kaya ipinag-boot lang yung powerbook. Habang may tinitignan siyang ibang mga sirang Mac, laking tuwa ko nang nag-boot ang powerbook dahil sa kakahintay. Umalis ako sa Apple Center, nakangiti at puno pa rin ang bulsa. Hindi ko rin masyado naintindihan kung ano yung naging sira pero kung tama ang pagkakaalala ko, noong kinalkal ko siya nung isang beses, may parte sa loob na lumuwang, kaya siguro hindi nag-boot ay hindi niya na-dedetect yung hard disk. Matapos ang masamang yugtong iyon hanggang ngayon, maligaya ako sa paggamit ng powerbook.

Hindi ko alam kung bakit kahit may kalumaan na ay gustong-gusto ko pa rin gamitin. Napapaisip nalang tuloy ako minsan kung totoo ba na hindi importante kung ano ang mayroon ka, ang importante ay kung ano ang halaga nito sa iyo. Wala talaga eh, kahit ipa-trade ito para sa mas bagong modelo medyo nag-aalinlangan pa ako. Para kasing iba na yung bonding namin, iba na yung attachment. Kaya ang best gadget ko for 2006 ay ang bulok na Powerbook.

Gumuguho na ang gusali ng Kolehiyo ng Agham

Ang sobra ng titulo.

Nakakagimbal, yung isang parte ng sahig sa KA 402 parang natupi. Yung tiles para bang papel lang. Yung mga pader naman mukhang matibay, ang problema lang talaga siguro ay yung pundasyon. Ang labo rin kasi medyo malaki yung ginastos para sa proyektong iyon. Nakakaloko rin kasi wala pang dalawang taon ang naturang gusali. Mas matibay daw talaga ang Juan Luna building na mahigit dalawampung taon nang nakatayo, sabi ni Ma'am Gladys Cruz.

Sana nga gawin nila ang mga nararapat na mga aksyon para maayos na ang problemang iyon.

Putik na MIS

Bad trip yung comsci elective na to fre, hindi na maganda yung pagkaka-discuss sa lesson, bigla pang may binigay na project na hindi naman madali gawin. Yun talaga hirap sa ibang tao, akala nila madali lang ang pinapagawa nila. Hehe

Movie: Spirited Away

Another one of those Studio Ghibli animated films, which has the man versus nature theme.

I thought that it is for kids but when I was watching it, I found that the story is pretty hard to swallow, and most of the characters are creepy. The only part that made me think that it can be for kids is the ending. That is, because it is a happy one. Not a drop of sadness is present. Everything ends perfectly.

Anyhow, it is an entertaining piece. I like it.

The Da Vinci Code

Whatever. These are some of my thoughts when I was reading the book.

Brown's use of words. Fag, "what the devil", "like a kick in the gut", for me, means that Brown is trying to be modern and not Shakespeare like in his way of writing.

The pentacle is a symbol of Venus. It relates to beauty and perfection. The planet Venus creates a pentacle every 4 years.
The meaning of the pentacle is related by many movies to devil worship, but the basis is not solid. The church was behind the change in meaning of the symbol. It was a propaganda to make the old Pagan religion unlikable.

The sexism of the Opus Dei

The issue between countries. U.S.A. v.s. France.

The use of french.

"What was the rationale for fusing science and faith? Unbiased science could
not possibly be performed by a man who possessed faith in God. Nor did faith have any need for
physical confirmation of its beliefs." - Aringarosa

The word "Sophie" is mentioned a total of 1128 times.
The word "Langdon" is mentioned a total of 1579 times.
Unfortunately for my interests, 1579/1128 is 1.39982269504..
The words "Aringarosa" and "Collet" are both mentioned a total of 181 times. Cool.
I just remembered, I'm no cryptographer. XD

Different people are different

Its pretty funny and ironic that in my Humanities class my teacher says that dates for certain events are important while in the PI 100 class that I sat in, the teacher says that dates aren't that important as long as you know what happened. Talk about difference in opinion.

Week update

• Got my new I.D.
• Although hindi talaga ko willing i-surrender yung luma.XD
• Finding combinatorics pretty complicated.
• Dumarami ang dinidiscuss at pinapagawa niya.
  
• Completion of my Time Dilation Project
• Ang sarap talaga ng feeling pag natapos ang isang project.
• Finished the first season of Arrested Development.
• Masaya yung series.
• Watched Happy Feet
• Pretty cool movie hehe, panget lang ng ending.
• Fooled around with Barqs because he wasn't able to watch Happy Feet with Ash.
• Wahehe
• Slept on a stool outside my boarding house because my land lady got asleep when I texted that I was gonna go home late.
  
• Late umuwi dahil sa Happy Feet.
• Nakapag star gazing ako.
• Nakita ko ang mars.
• NBA Live 2007
• Panget ng system ng game. Amp. Ipaayos niyo nga yun.
• Nico's accident
  
• Amfufu, na balian siya ng buto between the wrist and elbow. Ang laki ng perang kailangan..
  

Pacquiao v.s. Morales 3

Nanood kami ng laban ni Pacquiao kahapon, katabi ng mga manong guards sa iskwelahan. Nakakatuwa kasi isa sa mga tropa nila itinaya yung pang matrikula niya kay Morales. Eh talo, hehe.

Nung kumakanta pa lang ng pambansang awit ng mga bansa, maliit lang yung telebisyon. Nagulat kami nung bigla na lang silang may hinihilang mas malaki. Ayun mas nag-enjoy tuloy kami sa tatlong round ng umaatikabong labanan.

Ang kupal din ni Morales eh no, nang-cheap shot pa nung magkadikit sila ni Pacman.

Inaasahan ko na talaga na mananalo si Manny eh, ang hindi ko inasahan eh yung napakabilis na pagkatalo ni Morales. Sa tingin ko mas magaling at mas makunat pa si Larios.

One for the Humanities Class

I got a flat one for the class that made me make this blog.

The Last Enrollment, Hopefully

Yep, I'm going back to Baguio to find myself a boarding house and to enlist for my subjects.

Movie: Click

The movie is just too good. We rewatched it and it easily touched my "heart", again.

What the

I just got home from a gimik with some of my high school friends. We drank all we can at some bar in Makati. After all the heavy beer, crablets, pizzas, and juices, some went home, and some of us spent the night at a friend's house. Pretty fun actually.

Movie: The Skeleton Key

I just watched and enjoyed it. It portrays how nurses should be, caring about the patients, not about the business. Unfortunately, especially here in the Philippines, many youth get into nursing for the money. Can't blame them though. XD
Anyhow, another thing I like about it is that in the start it appears to be a ghost movie. But halfway through it, it will seem to be a voodoo and belief movie. But then, at the end, it is a combination of the two. Everything in the beginning and in the middle were build ups, no ghosts, only clues, for the ending.

The story is good. A nurse who takes care of her patient but gets in the middle of something else.
Something she does not believe initially, but eventually... When she started believing, they got her.
The characters are good. The main character's background, not being able to take care of his dying dad, is enough to justify her longing to take real care of her patients. Unfortunately for her, she gets into trouble for doing her job well. I feel sorry for her. Lolz.
The ending is pretty much one of the best I've seen. All my questions are answered and cleared. After seing the ending, I actually got stunned because all the answers came in fast and my pentium-poor brain had a hard time processing the information.

Movie: Event Horizon

I just finished watching it right now. Remember watching it long ago. At that time, I wonder why I never thought what I think now.

The movie is just plain gore, and horror. In every scene, the concept of the inevitable shocker is presented. The style is typical for horror movies.
The story sucks.
The characters are said to be "professionals" but they don't behave like ones.
The sounds are shocking (Name a horror movie without shocking sounds).
The effects are pretty much okay.
The ending is horrible.

The idea that the shortest distance between two points is zero is pretty interesting though. But if their distance is zero, that could only mean that they are actually just a single point. That is since no two things can occupy the same space at the same time. I don't know. XD

Anyhow, if you want some time-wasting, sci-fi, gore, and horror movie, this one is the way to go.

Another one of those work related stuff

I and some of my block mates took this work related exam a while ago. We traveled to the examination place in Makati. We did not know where the location was exactly so we utilized the power of the taxi.

I was a bit late so I was not with them when they got to the spot. Fortunately, I managed to get there within the five minutes when they told me that they were to enter the building whether or not I was there.

The exam reminds me of the UPCAT, pretty funny actually. It is like the UPCAT minus the physics and chemistry part and plus the computer science parts. In addition to that, it is only to be taken for two and a half hours. The questions are also easier, but there are many of them. So under time pressure, answering them is like the ACM. I’m glad that I have just been subjected to that kind of pressure earlier. I suppose my team mates, who also came with me to take the exam, thought the same thing.

I liked the exam. It was a pleasure taking it, not like the exam that I took last month.

If I pass, cool. Otherwise, it’s okay. Lolz.

2006 ACM - ICPC Asia - Manila

The contest proper started at around 12:00pm in the afternoon. Our team started solving the "easy" or "five-minute" problems first since that would most probably give us a great chance at solving anything at all.

We solved the Gaussian Primes problem within the first hour. The crappiest thing is that we did not pass our solution, and skipped that problem because we thought that the solution was wrong. Very dumb indeed. I suppose this is the bring down factor that affected out perfomance throughout the competition. We proceeded to another problem called AGTC, which was basically a longest common subsequence problem. The best part of that is that the code for the LCS in our notebook was very buggy. So I ended up using a lot of our time copying the code but not being able to utilize it. Damn. XD We tried another problem, I forgot the name, but it was, again, basically a minimum cost spanning tree. The code in out notebook, again, was not very friendly. Those are the moments when memorization or, at the very least, familiarization of codes or concepts, is essential. It was about 4:30pm when I finally decided to have our team focus on a single problem, which was the Gaussian Primes problem. We successfully solved and passed it, but too late. We also tried solving the Nuevo Romano problem, which is basically a parsing problem made because the computer is too dumb to recognize, and add roman numerals. XD

I was the main programmer and "captain" of our team. I guess my unwise judgment and the team's lack of experience made us get, if I remember correctly, the rank 39 out of 82 teams. XD

Anyhow, we did have that one hundred percent factor, since the only solution that we submitted was correct. XD

We also enjoyed most of everything regarding the competition. The preparation, the travelling, the food, the places, the problems, the contest, the slack times, etc.

The contest is finished. It took a good two-week part in my life. Great experience.

More pics here

I'm off

I just prepared my stuff and self to go back home. I realized that it is very hard to pack up, bring your stuff, and after that repack again... I get tired of it, literally. Hopefully, I'm not going to do this again. It's so exhausting.

It's going to be three days of mind churning. Tomorrow and the day after will be the Manila ACM ICPC. Me and my team mates prepared for a single week. And yes, we expect to get to the top 10. XD

After that, a work related exam and interview. I hate these kinds of things...

When all these are over, I'll slack, yet again.

Movie: Dead or Alive

The introduction is pretty nice. Some of the cast are pretty. There are some cool action scenes. But the thing is, I've seen those kinds of stuff in other movies already. Can't they like think of innovative ideas that will make the audience awe or something? In addition, the story sucks, a lot.

Whatever great there is in the movie is swept away by its flaws. It is not a very good movie.

no trash bins

Another thing, which we noticed here in Baguio, at least outside of the UPB campus, is that there aren't any trash bins anymore. Back when we were freshmen, there were many trash bins all around with the name of the former mayor, Bernardo Vergara. After his reign, all the trash bins with his name were removed. Now, after about two years after the new mayor's term, there are still no trash bins, even in session road.

Although it's very inconvenient to have no trash bins around, where anyone can just throw trash, an advantage of this scheme is that people usually take home their trash. That is, with exception to some people who just throw around their trash anywhere, without care. It seems that people in Baguio care a little more.

When I remember the garbage bins in Manila being very unaesthetic, I just get the thought, maybe having no trash bins is for the better.

mobile babes

The Baguio Convention Center is located in front of the UPB campus. Many events are done in there. Anyhow, it has a wide parking lot directly beside it, and oftenly, there are buses parked there. The cool thing is that, seemingly so, every night there is a sort of service that brings girls, who are casually dressed and wearing cosmetics, to that place. Events also take place Baguio Convention Center parking lot. There is one night when we saw the service unloading the girls and each of the girls just entered a bus. Another funny thing that confirmed that this is an every night ordeal is that we see the service at around 10pm at session road. What they are doing is obviously illegal. Unfortunately, it's just another manifestation of having no policemen roaming around at night. XD

sembreak?

We started training for the ACM-ICPC only last Wednesday. It's going to end this Wednesday so it's just a week of training before the actual competition. We are not expecting to win the top prizes, but we do hope that we will be able to get to at least the top 20 or, better, top 10. That is, even if we did not train well, relative to all the other teams. XD

After that programming competition, I'm going to take another non-academic exam for a job.

After that exam, I'm going to focus on my flash time dilation project because it's due on November 21. It's supposed to be a nine month project. XD Anyhow, I've already got the idea on how to implement it so I'm hoping that I'd finish it nicely.

Technically, no sembreak. Maybe it's justice. I don't really know. XD

mr/ms conductor

In EDSA, there are buses, many buses. In each and every single one of those buses, there is a conductor (konduktor). If you happen to need to ride in one of those buses, and the bus that you need is full, the conductor of that bus will still announce "maluwag pa, maluwag pa, pasok lang". Sweet.

Another unusual thing is that the conductor does not usually announce that the bus is still not loaded when there are few passengers in that bus. Reverse psych ni conductor.

humanities class is over

The class ended with us watching the conclusion of the movie "My Fair Lady". Wala lang, I'm sure gonna miss the class, I'm not gonna have any other class like it.

nasaan na ang mga pulis

Tuwing gabi, habang ako ay nagpapahinga na sa aking higaan, mayroon nalang ako biglang maririnig na humaharurot na mga kotse. Sa malamang, nagkakarera sila. Drag racing nga siguro. Ang nakakabagabag lang talaga eh wala man lamang sumisitang kung sino man. Nakakatakot din dahil baka makadisgrasya ang mga yun. Wala lang, wala ring pulis. Hindi ko alam eh, baka nga dito lang sa Baguio... Kaya kung ako, magiingat ako kapag gabi.

weekend

After all the "hard" work that I have been doing for the past months, my labors seem to be paying off. A while ago, I passed my 15-page BitTorrent continuation paper and my Haruhi Suzumiya book report. After passing the requirements I felt their weight slipping off my shoulders. Another requirement that I have just completed is the thesis prototype, which we finished in about five hours after cramming for several weeks. I could'nt be any happier about that. There are still a few more things to do before the semester ends, but I'm just happy that I can feel the fruits of my labor.

Its another weekend, I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I'll most probably study for the Economics exam on monday, read the report on undecidable problems for automata, and prepare the presentation of the BitTorrent paper. If I finish them all, cool. XD

a thing about personal essays

I attended a short lecture by Jessica Zafra in the auditorium a while ago. Of course, it is another requirement for my Humanities class. Anyhow, the lecture was very entertaining and I learned a thing or two from it. The line that I can't forget from it is when she said that in order to write a personal essay, one should cannibalize one's self. That is, if there is actually a self to cannibalize. Then she also mentioned things about the importance of knowing one's self. She also mentioned something like a person develops his/her personality by reading books. And apparently she loves the Old Testament. Pretty cool lecture.

Movie: You, Me and Dupree

I watched the movie last night, twice. I was just bored and I thought that I could use a little entertainment. Anyhow, the movie was great. Many concepts and stuff were tackled. The casting was pretty sweet, too. The best thing about it is that it reminded me of the fun of being unmarried and the fact that sometimes people are too attached to their partners that they forget other things, friends for example. Yun lang. XD

non-academic exam

I took this work related exam, given by some company, in the morning and got the results in the afternoon. I failed. XD I really dislike the exam. In addition to being a multiple choice exam, it is full of iterations, and basic stuff that an examiner would just has to brute his/her way in order to get the correct answer. I wasn't in the mood for that kind of thing. The good news is that my friends passed it. :D

palarong pinoy

Kahapon, out of nowhere, hindi namin binalak, nasali kami sa isang palaro. Ganito kasi iyon, lolokohin dapat namin yung isa naming kaibigan dahil kasali siya sa palarong nabanggit. Bale pumunta kami sa lugar kung saan gagawin ang palaro, sa Oble grounds dito sa campus. Tapos, nakita kami nung isang tagapangasiwa ng palaro, kalbo siya. Bigla niya kaming tinuturo tapos, ayun, kasali na raw kami bigla kasi magkakasama kami at, siguro para sa kanya, mukhang kalahok grupo. Yung unang salang, relay siya na may piko, pagbalanse ng kalamnsi at kamatis sa kutsara, pagbubuhat ng tao, kadang-kadang at pagkarerang gamit ay isang paa lang. Ang masaya run, naka 3rd place kami sa first elimination round. XD Yung pangalawang salang, tirahang bola. Talo kami. XD Ayun, sa pagkakaalam namin tapos na kami, yun pala hindi pa, mayroon pa raw na moro-moro. Pero hindi na kami sasali. XD

all those short stories

The short story "saga" of my Humanities class is over. The period spanned about less than two months and covered nine short stories in total. Because of that "saga", I had to develop the habit of expecting to read a short story for the next meeting. If I didn't, I would have to sit like a rock in class without any idea what everyone else is talking about. Well, in reality, I would not have had the motivation or the idea itself to read stories like "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket" or "Through the Tunnel" and everything else. Actually, I never knew that the stories and their corresponding authors existed. XD But now, I think that it is good that I had the chance to know those short stories. All of them are worth the effort and time to read. I learned and relearned concepts relating to value, challenges, life, death, time, freedom, youth, etc. because of those stories. Here is a brief list of ideas that I got from each story:
Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket
The concept of value is embedded within the story. The knowledge of what we should value will make us better off.
Through the Tunnel
The concept of value still appeared here. But the main idea that I got from the story is the importance of risks. The idea of risking a lot for something that we want to achieve...
The Widow and the Parrot
Oh, dear. Kindness to animals. I don't usually care about animals... XD I actually hate the dog at our front gate. It barks at me so loudly. I'm kind but I don't care about them. XD Moreover, the presentation of this story doesn't convince me to be any kinder to animals.
The Masque of the Red Death
Death will come for anyone, in time.
The concepts of egalitarianism, stages of life and unjust rulership also appeared in this story.
Two Friends
Responsibility is something that should always exist for any action.
Nationalism.
Doing what we want to do; freedom.
War affects everyone.
The Problem
The substance of this short story is pretty hard to digest. Something about disciplining and spoiling. I think it is about how "adults" should handle young people or youth. And that no matter how the adults handle youth, the latter will behave in the same manner (I don't believe that though). Or probably, adults should discipline the youth so that the latter will not be abusive or something.
Magnificence
Don't completely trust newly found friends.
Summer Solstice

All in all, the "saga" is a good find. Without it, I wouldn't have learned more about these concepts. The Humanities class is actually proving to be more beneficial than I thought.

The constant seating arrangement is unadvisable especially because the chairs are usually disarranged by some force. In addition, there is a scarcity in chairs; there are times when seats are taken to other classrooms.

Another suggestion is for the novel part to have a list of pre-chosen novels so that a student can choose a novel from a set of predetermined novels. This will make the choice easier, especially for preoccupied students. Custom choices are still available, nonetheless, for students who do not want any of the given choices.

Why is it that the Humanities I G.E. only got offered without prerequisites when I am already at my fourth year of college? If I took the course at an earlier year level, I would have understood what I just learned, to improve reading skills, read, read a lot.

The Humanities class is now off to poetry. I am hopeful that this time I will be able to appreciate the jibberish that Shakespeare utters.

damn

The Mac broke. Damn. Sana magawa agad.

word coinage

I was about to sleep when I suddenly recalled Mr. Garrison, from South Park, saying "fag". It was pretty funny, his articulation that is, and because other characters were censored upon uttering that word. And now, I've been wondering about the coinage of the word fag. In a dictionary (the built-in Oxford Mac dictionary)
fag 2 |føg| |fag|
noun informal chiefly offensive
a male homosexual. See usage at queer .
DERIVATIVES
faggy adjective
ORIGIN 1920s: short for faggot .

faggot |ˈfagət| |ˌføgət| |ˌfagət|
noun
1 informal chiefly offensive a male homosexual. See usage at queer .
2 British spelling of fagot .
DERIVATIVES
faggoty |ˌføgədi| adjective
ORIGIN early 20th cent.: perhaps from the obsolete sense of fagot ‘contemptible woman.’

Offensive is a relatively mild adjective, used to describe anyone or anything that is unpleasant or disagreeable

I was thinking about why this word ever came about. I mean, I don't have anything against homosexuals or anything. I certainly am not someone who advocates gay rights. And I am absolutely not gay. I'm just annoyed at the fact that the word fag is defined to be "offensive". There is no such word to describe "offensive" males and females, too. I think that it is not fair to have such a word. It is the coinage of these kinds of words that I find detestable. (Geez, I learned something from the dictionary).
People may say that words are empty and that their meaning lies in the interpretation, but having those kinds of words greatly demoralizes those who get hit by it. Another issue here is the "to not get hit by a word". Because social norms usually dictate people to behave in an accepted way, this issue makes some people uncomfortable, which leads to having people who cannot express themselves properly. In a sense, it makes some people become whom they are not. That is something that we do not want do we? I don't want to see any more pretenders. There are lots, by the way. Most of them are sitting in power. Like Glo.. Whatever. As a final note, although some people use these "offensive" kinds of words, their existence is somewhat detrimental to society. I think that the coinage of words deserves to have some sort of responsibility.

work work

Over the past few months, I've been thinking about why I succumb to finish anything that I start with. This spreads out from watching series, doing projects and other things. The point is I hate to leave anything unaccomplished. Yes, I have failed many times already. I've learned how to stand whenever I fall. The concept of failure is anything but outside of my heart and mind. But I guess, out of persistence, or perhaps stubbornness, I end up in situations where, even if the end result is apparently unfavorable, I still struggle in order to finish my work. Perhaps I'm just challenging myself to see how far I can go with my abilities. Or perhaps I'm just a real time workaholic.

mumble, mumble

There is no such thing as a specific reason to live. I believe that there is no reason for us to be in this world. That is because we are not forced to do anything at all. Most people just act with instinct. For example, a working person doesn't have to work to live. He/She wants to work because it is going to give him/her something that he/she wants, like food, clothing, cars, etc. The biological structure of the body implicates that people should eat in order to survive. But I don't buy that. It's too disturbing. I think that there is more to life than just surviving. If living is just about eating, sleeping, drinking, then living is pretty boring.

full metal alchemist quote 4

The things we can do are always the things before our eyes. The statement is just too real for common people, like me. I cannot do anything to stop warring nations. I cannot do much for every starving person I see. I cannot do a lot of seemingly good or great things. It seems that I am just another helpless individual living in a cruel world. But I choose not to believe that. The power of this choice lies in what I can possibly do for everyone before my eyes. I believe that if I help myself and other people, I am able make this world better. Although the effects for it are too little to be significant for the whole world to benefit, I am certain that if each and every one of us practices this kind of idea, the world will eventually become a better place to live in.

full metal alchemist quote 3

Anyone who pays the price known as hard work surely gains something. That is a very optimistic line. It is very encouraging and moralizing to hear. I am certain that I have wanted to hear something like that to motivate me to do a lot of things that I question to do.

full metal alchemist quote 2

Altruism falsifies the concept of equivalent trade, but only for people, that is. For instance, the love of a parent to a child. Based on what I remember in Psychology, altruistic behavior cannot perfectly exist. Acts, that people say are altruistic, have deep within them some ulterior reason for being done.

full metal alchemist quote 1

There is always something more important than yourself, than your dreams. Well, I guess that it may be true. But then again, isn't it that many people live for their selves or their dreams? I guess that when it comes down to it, most people think only about those two. It is just another flaw to our culture. Then again, I can't blame other people for doing what they do.

Movie: Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest

It is a good movie. Nonetheless, Mr. Depp is just too good for such story lines. XD
I liked the character development of Elizabeth though. She has to choose between the one she loves and the one she wants to be with.
The ending of the movie obviously denotes that Captain Jack is alive or that he can be resurrected or something asides from making the idea of the part 3 clear to the audience. In addition, it is a Disney film; I don't think Disney will kill Captain Jack. XD

the storm is gone

Aww, I hate the past storm that hit our country for days. I hope none of my country people suffered too much from it.
I was unable to perform a lot of my academic duties because there were no classes. It is most probable that make up classes will be held to compensate for the days when classes were suspended. Also, I just realized how much time it takes to create a research paper. So damn time consuming.
I want to watch Pirates of the Carribean later so that I can unwind, even just for a little while...

Movie: Cars && Superman Returns

Cars
I watched the movie cars. It was about a race car. Oops no, it was a 3D race car. Period. XD

Superman Returns
I watched Superman Returns. In the movie, Superman falls from space. He was brought to the hospital. He recovered from his injuries and went out of the hospital... without paying... Damn, I wish that everyone is like Superman. Free health care and hospital services. But, of course, the reality is that no one may be able to do those services for free because DRUGS are expensive. XD

I'm planning to see Pirates of the Carribean... Can't wait to see Mr. Depp's acting. XD

Anime: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu

The first season is over. It's a great series and I can't wait for the next season. That is, if there is a next season.

last night

I got a little drunk last night. We celebrated the 20th birthday of a friend of ours and got a little wasted while we were at it. There were lots of pulutan but not that much to drink though XD. There were plenty of "pointless boy talks" about gaming, girls, sex etc. etc. The celebration lasted for 7 hours at most. The longest part of the celebration was our talk with barqs. We were interested in his feelings and present/future plans for our block head (girl, of course). Unfortunately, whenever a straight forward question was asked of him, he wouldn't give answers which were direct to the point. So yes, we ended up giving him advice and stuff. The birthday boy was out shined by our interest in that topic but it was okay because he was interested in it as well. The celebration was fun. I was one of the guys who wanted to extend it more. The thing is that we have a lot of things to do so we decided to call it the night after the advice giving session.

so weird

concerns this week:
  -I haven't got the official appointment for my student assistance thing, so yeah, no work BUT no income X(
  -I'm having a hard time adjusting with my automata class, well yeah, automata is not simple. It gives me a headache.
  -The first long examination for my economics class is next week.
  -The first draft for my BitTorrent paper is to be submitted next week.
  -It feels like the readings in my humanities class are increasing XD.
  -Nothing much is happening to our thesis.
  -I need to be adept in the networking capabilities of java for my networking class to make it easier.

totoo ba to? XD

I believe that the most important thing in my life is life itself. It is a general creed that branches out into many specific applications in itself. For instance, I love my family, friends and relatives because I value my life. I do not let myself go on a single moment without letting them know how much I love and appreciate them. With this belief, I am able, in my perspective, to live as a better person because I live each day as if it were my last.

Weekend

Hayhay, weekend nanaman, ang bilis talaga ng panahon. Sana ma-finalize ko na ang mga possible topics ko for my thesis at undergraduate symposium... Kung hindi, hihirap ang lahat XD

First Post

First post. I don't have anything in particular in mind that I want to blog about, so most probably this blog would contain random things or ideas that pop into my head. Wala lang hehe