not-another-blog

Android Tab RSS Readers: Feedly vs Pulse

2011-06-13T11:58:00.001+08:00

I was using Pulse on my HTC Desire HD and used it as well on my Tab. Recently I disovered Feedly which offers a clean interface compared to Pulse's magazine-like interface. But this is really just a matter of taste.

However, I switched back to Pulse because its able to synchronize content for offline viewing which is important for mobile browsing when data connection is not as reliable as advertised by our carriers.

Furthermore, Pulse integrates more neatly with Facebook so I can actually Like and Comment. It becomes my Facebook client until Facebook updates their client for Tab format.

For this round of versions of Feedly and Pulse, Pulse wins.

Acer Iconia A500 USB: Works but no decent software support

2011-06-12T23:08:00.001+08:00

Over the weekend I needed to copy files directly from a self-powered USB hard disk to my Acer Iconia A500. It eventually worked but the user experience was not smooth at all.

1. When the hard disk was plugged into the Iconia, it took a while before the file manager application saw the contents of the USB disk. It took around two minutes. Worse is that the operating system will not notify the user when the mounting has completed and the USB storage is ready for use. I had to open the mount folder several times.

2. I attempted to copy 30gb worth of data from the disk to the tab consisting of around 30 files. It seems that during copying, it paused a lot of times making the whole copy operation a lot slower.

3. The tab is unusable during the copy operation. Multi tasking is extremely slow. Live wallpapers froze.

4. The tab would turn off the screen during the copy operation. When attempting to wake the tab, its extremely slow to start the screen. I need the screen running to view the progress of the copy!

I think these issues severely ruins the user experience. But in the end, I was able to copy files without a third party computer! This is one of the reasons why I chose the Iconia A500.

Since there is no built-in File Manager for Android, I was using File Manager HD for copying. I've tried Astro File Manager too with the same result. Issue 4 above can be handled by these apps but the rest of the issues might be Android Operating System issues.

Blogger for Android

2011-04-17T16:59:00.001+08:00

Test post from Google's Android client.

Play PennyTel Voicemail on Android using VPlayer

2010-12-25T17:18:00.001+08:00

If you are using PennyTel's Voicemail and receive emails with the Voicemail attached, you can now play the AU file on Android using VPlayer.

Update 04 June 2011: PennyTel now serves voicemail as MP3 so there is no need for a third party application to play it.

Upgrading HTC Hero to Android 2.1

2010-09-11T21:15:00.004+08:00

The guys at villainrom has a good guide to upgrade Android to 2.1 for unlocked HTC Heroes.

http://www.villainrom.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?356-Guide-Newbie-Guide-to-Install-VillainROM-amp-FaQ

ABC News Widget for Android v1.2 Released: ABC Mobile News Links

2010-09-09T20:50:00.001+08:00

Version 1.2 Released
Version 1.2 fixes broken News Summary for texts containing apostrophes. Also, the links now use the ABC Mobile News site (m.abc.net.au) when tapping on the Headline.

ABC News Widget for Android v1.1 Released: Fuzzy Dates

2010-09-01T23:02:00.007+08:00

Fuzzy Dates
Version 1.1 of my ABC News Widget now shows a fuzzy date rather than the actual date of the article. For example, instead of showing 01 Sep 2010, it will now show "2 hour(s) ago". I think this is more useful information.

Bug Fixed
When the Phone reboots and it has not established an Internet connection yet (or for scenarios where the phone may not have not an Internet connection but the widget has initialized), Android will complain about a ArrayIndexOutOfBounds error. This is now fixed. When the widget detects that there is no Internet connection during initialization, it will show a Toast message about the situation and it will automatically retry to load the feeds at a later time.

Get the latest version from the Android Market! Make sure to remove the existing widget from your home screen and add it again.

ABC News Android Widget

2010-08-13T20:38:00.015+08:00

I have made an unofficial Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) News Android Widget. It loads the latest news from ABC's RSS feeds. Clicking on the news will load the next article. Clicking on the headline opens the full news on a browser.

Clicking on the source (e.g. ABC News: Just In) will open the configuration page to change the source.

Articles are updated from ABC RSS Feeds every 15 minutes.

The widget can now be downloaded from the Android Market under "ABC News Widget"

Updates:
01 September 2010: v1.1 Released

Feedbacks welcomed... just add a comment below.

iMovie and Lumix TZ7

2010-01-07T20:57:00.003+08:00

I've blogged about editing Lumix TZ7 AVCHD Lite video on Windows Movie Maker. It's do-able but recently I've seen how much easier it is to create movies on Apple iMovie! iMovie is a pleasure to use compared to Windows MovieMaker.

So my advice to other AVCHD Lite users, switch to Apple :-)

Timesheet Droid - My First Android Application

2009-12-17T21:31:00.003+08:00

I have a specific problem of keeping track how many hours I've worked as I am required to enter them for project costing purposes. I'd usually enter them at the end of the week and sometimes I cannot remember how much hours I spent for each day of the week. So I thought of creating an Android application that will keep track of the number of hours I've stayed in the office for the past 5 days.

Like most offices, we have a Wireless AP. I don't use it but its there. So my application would just check for our office wireless AP every 15 minutes and keep a record if it detects our wireless AP or not.

My first android application also gives me a hands on experience in using the sqlite db, running background services and developing a UI.

I've got the chance to test my application on an Android phone just today. There are some bugs and I'll fix these maybe after the holidays. But I'm generally happy that my application is working and I've completed my first Android application. When I'm 200% happy with my application, I will put this on the Android Market.

Samantha's Christening

2009-12-10T21:23:00.002+08:00

I love my Panasonic TZ-7 HD Video recording. Though it remains a pain to edit the clips, I love the quality (for the price of the camera).

Samantha's Christening November 2009 from Mark Bucayan on Vimeo.

Windows Error Message on a Citibank ATM

2009-12-10T20:08:00.001+08:00

I took this photo of the screen of a Citibank ATM.

From this, we learn several things:

1. Its using Windows Operating System

2. From the error message, we now know that they use a software from Solidcore (because it has a log file named solidcore.log). Did a bit of googling and its a company that has recently been acquired by McAfee.

3. The solidcore application is built using Visual C++

It's funny that the error message is displayed in plain sight.

The continuing challenge of monetization

2009-11-22T19:33:00.004+08:00

Related to my recent blog about the struggle of companies (old and new) to monetize their networks, I stumbled on this Oracle-sponsored research about the "Media Future Trends Report".

http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/039841

It is an interesting read.

Alongside the innovation in technology, there is a strong need in innovation in the business space. I am deeply concerned with business leaders giving up on technological innovation because they are unable to make a business case. Innovative products have important role in strategy and if it doesn't fit strategy, maybe its time to create a new market. I asked the business leaders of the day: have you created a new market lately?

XSLT Tool

2009-11-22T17:37:00.003+08:00

XPath is the key ingredient in XSLT. I was looking for an online tool and didn't found a good one so I made one. My requirement was pretty simple: I have an XML and an XSL and I'd like to test if I achieve my target output.

XSLT and XPath are supported in Javascript so the average browser can do them without additional installation. Here's the link:

http://markbucayan.appspot.com/xslt/index.html

XSLT Resources on the web:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Using_the_Mozilla_JavaScript_interface_to_XSL_Transformations

http://www.w3schools.com/xsl/xsl_client.asp

XPath Tool

2009-11-21T21:06:00.002+08:00

I've been looking for an online tool to test my XPath queries. I found my favorite to be this one:

http://www.bit-101.com/xpath/

It's implemented in Flash.

I thought that I can make one myself using the browser's own XPath Evaluator. So here's my simple XPath Tool. I've done this in one sitting so its pretty basic. And it will not work with IE for now.

http://markbucayan.appspot.com/xpath/index.html

XPath is pretty cool. It is easy to find data from XML. A pretty example is //book[title='Harry Potter']/price which gets the price of the book that has a title 'Harry Potter'.

For XPath Reference, here are some good resources:

http://www.w3schools.com/XPath/default.asp

https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Introduction_to_using_XPath_in_JavaScript

How do we earn from this?

2009-11-18T20:58:00.003+08:00

A business is about making money. Two ways to achieve this is either by increasing revenue or minimizing costs. There are several strategies to increase revenue. One I would like to put a spotlight on is the "Network Effect". In a Network Effect, the value of a product increases immensely from the number of users of the product. This is very true for Social Networks. The more of my friends use Facebook, my perceived value of Facebook increases.

Network subscribers continue to increase as long as the entry to the Network is affordable. Many of the social networks out there is FREE. There is no barrier. This is where the problem begins: Can networks have financial value if the subscribers don't pay a dime?

This problem has been avoided since the first free online product was offered. The answer that has been put forward is that Advertising will be the main revenue stream. To date, advertising seems to fund all these FREE networks.

The next question is: Will subscribers pay the premium for no advertising? The answer lies in the iPhone App Store and the answer is Yes. Consumers are willing to spend a dollar or so for useless applications that they may use only once. It seems to me that as long as the amount is of no material value to them, they will pay. In my previous company, we have pegged this material value to $5 monthly for our product. The challenge is to identify this materiality for each product. I believe that this will be the future.

It maybe a laughable proposition to charge for something that has always been free but this has been a strategy for a long time of many companies. Many of these companies are just extending the "burn time" of their capitalization by having advertising revenue streams. At this stage, many of these companies are just building their networks as much as they can.

In reality, subscribers will become more sophisticated and will require more and more feature for free. These features will require further capital and operational expenses. The easy way out for these companies is to charge subscribers and the easiest way to introduce fees is to find an amount that no one would mind spending. I would think this amount will be similar to the value of a large meal in McDonalds (e.g. $7 per year).

But as I said, that is the easy way out. Going further, can a Network be free and have minimal or no advertising at all and still be a viable business? This is what's occupying my mind lately.

My JavaFX Experiment

2009-11-18T20:22:00.002+08:00

I've attended a talk about JavaFX and decided to try it out. My experiment is a simple Karaoke Player for .KAR files. To try it out, click on the link below. A JNLP file is playable by JAVA. Make sure you have the latest JAVA plugin installed.

http://markbucayan.appspot.com/karaoke/VideoScene.jnlp

This application runs in a full window. To exit, simply Escape and click on the close button. I turned off video playing for now.

I'll post the code if anyone's interested at all. This application also demonstrates JavaFX talking to JAVA. The Karaoke Player is implemented in JAVA as MIDI Events is supported by JAVA. The GUI is in JavaFX.

Indeed, its a lot easier to prepare the GUI than plain old AWT. I implemented this same application a long time ago and used JAVA's drawing capabilities and I can conclude that JavaFX is a lot easier way to do the graphics. Most of all, binding variables is very powerful!

I will try to revisit this project when I have more time in the future. For now, I apologize that it plays only one particular Karaoke file. Try it out!

On Refugees

2009-11-09T20:11:00.004+08:00

Our country, despite being one of the poorest in the region, had been hospitable to refugees. During and after the Vietnam war, many refugees braved the South China Sea and landed on the Philippines on their way to the United States. They were settled in the island of Palawan where they enjoyed whatever is enjoyed by the locals. I know there is not much to offer to our guests but I am proud how the generation of our fathers have handled the situation. Many of these Vietnamese refugees have moved on to their final destination, the United States.

The Philippine experience as the "country of first asylum" is different from Australia's experience as the "country of final asylum". I have to admire the United States and even Australia for absorbing the refugees, despite of the long and arduous process. But the historical context that faced United States then is very different from what Australia faces today.

I empathize with the residents in remote cities in the Southern Philippines where their lives are continually at threat from both insurgents and the military. I would think that they are in the same shoes as the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Do my brothers in the Southern Philippines deserve refugee status? Can they embark and cross the Sulu Sea, skip Indonesia, and go directly to Australia and plead for political asylum?

The Tamils claim they are being persecuted in Sri Lanka. Yet, Sri Lanka is a Democracy. Indeed, Democracy comes in different shades. Can a free country, like Australia, accept refugees from another free country? But doesn't this pass judgment to the quality of democracy in Sri Lanka?

Many of our prejudgments are based on frameworks that we subscribe to. Sometimes, these ideologies like Democracy and Capitalism are barriers to our understanding.

The bottom line is that a refugee is a person impoverished of his piece of the sun. As Christians, we value Charity. As Filipinos, we welcome our guests, rich or poor, with compassion. We do this because we are in solidarity with the persecution that others experience. We may not everyday hear the gun rattling in Manila, we see it around us how life itself is a persecution to many because of poverty.

I understand how someone from a developed country would not be as compassionate. There is an economy to run. It is one of the economies that drives global trade. The health of this economy is not only important to Australians but for the rest of the world. Understandably, one of the main reason why Australia is selected as one of the "countries of final asylum" is because of its economy. There will be no such economy to speak of if Australia doesn't rationalize its migration program. In fact, I am only fortunate that I qualify in the migration program.

I have ideas how Australia can respond but given that I am relatively new to the Australian experience, I would rather keep them myself for now.

Here's an old article that is now a glimpse to our history:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/philippines-forces-boat-people-back-to-vietnam-1319072.html

Goodbye MS-DOS Boot Disk

2009-11-04T21:04:00.004+08:00

A friend's Windows notebook won't start. To recover the data before restoring from the Recovery CD (which overwrites everything), I booted with an Ubuntu Live CD and copied all the Photos and other important files into a USB Hard Disk. Ubuntu recognized the disk and the USB Hard Disk automatically. Simple but effective.

A decade ago, we'd use an MS-DOS boot disk.

Editing AVCHD Lite Movie Clips in Windows

2009-10-16T20:03:00.003+08:00

Floriade October 2009 from Mark Bucayan on Vimeo.

We recently bought a Panasonic TZ7 with AVCHD Lite video recording. Unfortunately, Windows Movie Maker doesn't support AVCHD natively. I have to convert the video files using FFMPEG to AVI before I can use it in Movie Maker. The resulting AVI is quite good.

To convert the AVCHD Lite video to AVI, here are the steps:

1. Download and Unzip FFmpeg to your computer. FFmpeg builds for Windows can be downloaded from http://ffmpeg.arrozcru.org

2. Open your Command Prompt (CMD) and go to your FFmpeg's bin directory

3. To convert AVCHD MTS file to AVI, this command can be used:

ffmpeg -i -vcodec libxvid -b 18000k -acodec ac3 -s 1280x720

For example:

ffmpeg -i h:\PRIVATE\AVCHD\BDMV\STREAM\00030.MTS -vcodec libxvid -b 18000k -acodec ac3 -s 1280x720 output\00030.avi

What if you have a lot of movie clips?

If like me you have a hundred or more of movie clips on your SD card, you can create a batch file. Open up your notepad and create a batch file (i.e. notepad batchconvert.bat) and copy the following lines of code:

mkdir output

for %%f in (dir /b %1) do (

echo %%~nf

echo %%f

ffmpeg -i %%f -vcodec libxvid -b 18000k -acodec ac3 -s 1280x720 output\%%~nf.avi

)

Save the notepad file and on your command prompt, you can use:

batchconvert.bat h:\PRIVATE\AVCHD\BDMV\STREAM\*

This batch file will save the AVI versions of your MTS files in the output directory.

After the batch conversion, you can simply import the files into Windows Movie Maker to build your movie. Above is my second video using clips from my TZ7. Unfortunately, I cant make longer videos on Windows Movie Maker because it fails during publish. On the other hand, its a good idea to keep videos short.

Recession Tips: Analyze your Spending with ANZ Money Manager

2009-04-30T23:02:00.003+08:00

I've been trying ANZ Money Manager for more than two weeks now and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants an easy way to analyze his/her spending. ANZ Money Manager is a web application from ANZ Bank that collects all your statements (even your Rewards Points from Flybuys toQantas Frequent Flyer) from various financial institutions including those not affiliated to ANZ Bank. ANZ Money Manager categorizes all your transactions with an option for you to override the categorization if needed. For example, I changed my
categorization of "Fuel/Petrol" to "Automotive Expenses" with subcategories "Car Care" and "Fuel/Petrol". Based on these categorization, ANZ Money Manager generates spending and other reports. For example, the Spending Report shows a Pie Chart of where the bulk of your money goes.

Knowing your Spending habits and your Net Worth are wake up calls in how to control your finances -- take this advice from someone who screwed up his finances ;-)

To make the reports of ANZ Money Manager more realistic in the future, I will minimize cash withdrawals and prefer to use EFTPOS or Credit Card. This will allow ANZ Money Manager to have a record of each individual payments I make based on my Bank and Credit Card Statements. ANZ Money Manager will be able to generate more accurate report. Cash
Withdrawals are very difficult to manage.

It must be emphasized though that ANZ Money Manager requires you to entrust your online banking login details to ANZ Bank. I think this will be raising alarms to some. If your online banking has an option to cross out credit card and account numbers and other sensitive
information, I suggest this feature should be enabled.

Unfortunately, my Philippine bank's Online Banking is not covered by ANZ Money Manager. So what I see is my Net Worth in Australia. Though I notice that there are financial institutions in the UK and US listed in the supported accounts.

What I look forward in ANZ Money Manager is the ability to enter recurring bills so that it can generate a Cashflow Forecast. This feature is very useful in Microsoft Money. It tells me when I will be cash-strapped so I can do something about it :-)

So if you are ready to face your financial demons, signup to ANZ Money Manager and get a Financial Checkup.

- No, I dont work for the ANZ Bank.

Stolen Wii Fit CD

2009-04-01T18:45:00.001+08:00

We lost our Wii console including the Wii Fit CD loaded in it. We still have the balance board but its unusable without the original CD. I've called Nintendo Support and they told me it'll cost $70 to replace the CD. The current price for Wii Fit package (CD and the balance board) is around $150. I feel $70 is too much. I'm wondering if there's another solution.

Easy "Contact Us" Form using Google Spreadsheets

2009-03-08T19:53:00.002+08:00

Create a Google Spreadsheet

1. On Row 1, enter the column titles "Name", "Email", "Subject", "Message" on A1, B1, C1 and D1 respectively.

2. Save the Google Spreadsheet. Optionally, create Notification Rules on the Share Menu. Notifications in Google Spreadsheet allow spreadsheet owners to be notified of changes in the Spreadsheet.

Create the Form

1. Create a Form by selecting "Form" in the menu. Select "Edit Form".

2. Design the Form using the Edit Form. Change the "Message" to "Paragraph Text". Optionally, set fields to Required.

3. Copy the published form URL in the bottom of of "Edit Form" window. This URL is your new "Contact Us" field. Put this link on your website.

Your visitors' messages will be saved on the Google Spreadsheet. If you set notifications on the Spreadsheet, you will also received a notification when new users fill up your "Contact Us" form. I have one myself on this blog: Contact Me.

Simple Joys

2009-02-10T21:04:00.001+08:00

Five years ago, before mortgages, credit cards and visas, life was simpler -- and satisfying.

I always ask people: what if we already have experienced the ultimate happiness, but we just let it pass by because we didn't know better? Hindsight is a gift because we can recognize those moments in the past that we indeed felt happy and that we are on the top of the world. Hindsight is also too late because the moment has already passed and even if we recreate those moments now, we will never feel the same level of joy. The present is too sophisticated for the simple joys of the past and the future is simply and unimaginably insatiable.

I think I've felt how it is to be on top of the world. It is simpler than I imagine. But I have let it pass by because there's a world to explore.

I guess the rule of the day is to enjoy each moment. Though moments can only bring us fleeting and primal happiness, we will never know if in the future, with the gift of hindsight, we will realize these moments are actually orgasmic.

Carpe Diem!

IHT.com Article: Voter polls find Obama built a broad coalition

2008-11-05T20:08:00.001+08:00

Today is a historic moment, not only for the American people, but for the rest of the world. Today, the United States elected her first African-American President.

The American Dream is once more alive. The tales of "The land of milk and honey" is regenerated. Truly, in America (at least, in majority of it) anyone can achieve his dream regardless of color. And not just a dream of a house and a good living, but even the most ambitious dream of being the leader of the free world.

At this moment, America has once shown to the world that her ideals is magnificent when it is practiced. This is America's moment and no one can steal this joyous part of history from her.

The election of Obama into the Presidency is a symbolic victory in many levels. A victory for all African-Americans. A victory for minorities. A victory for all migrants. A victory for equal-rights lobbyists.

This election is the ultimate sign of the dissolution of the color divide. Hopefully, it's a sign of the removal of other divides. There are more borders to be broken and the world's eyes (both wealthy and impoverished) are on Obama.

America has regained its leadership among the minds and hearts of the citizens of the world.
------------------------------------------------------

Voter polls find Obama built a broad coalition
By Jackie Calmes and Megan Thee The New York Times
Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Senator Barack Obama, the first African-American nominee for president, drew more support in Tuesday's election than any recent candidates of the Democratic Party among a broad range of demographic groups, including several that typically favor Republicans.

Promising change to a country now in recession, Obama built a coalition that included majorities of women, independent voters, political moderates, Hispanics, African-Americans, people of most income groups and education levels and voters under age 45, according to nationwide surveys of voters leaving the polls on Tuesday and telephone interviews of some people who had voted early.

The Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, won majorities of a few groups that make up his party's staunchest supporters � white men, older Americans, evangelical Christians and conservatives.

McCain won a majority of all white voters, both men and women.

But Obama, who would be the first African-American president of a nation that originally protected black slavery in its Constitution and counted each black citizen as three-fifths of a person, did better among white voters over all than a string of Democratic nominees, including John Kerry and Al Gore.

Obama outperformed Democratic nominees of the past eight presidential elections among women, blacks, young voters, moderates and independents. His support among Hispanics is about the same as it was for Gore in 2000, erasing the significant gains that Bush made in 2004.

Among the Republican-leaning groups that moved into the Democratic column for Obama were mothers and Catholics. Rural voters split their votes, with a bare majority supporting McCain, while Obama built on recent Democratic Party gains in the once reliably Republican suburbs.

Nearly half of voters to the end said they did not believe Obama has the experience to be an effective president, doubts that had dogged the first-term senator from Illinois throughout his 21-month campaign, including in his hard-fought Democratic nomination race against Hillary Rodham Clinton, the second-term senator from New York and former first lady.

By contrast, 6 in 10 said McCain, a member of Congress for 26 years and a navy veteran, had the requisite experience. Yet voters' hunger for the change that Obama promised trumped McCain's experience argument.

The results signaled a repudiation of President George W. Bush, the man who ran as "a uniter, not a divider" in 2000, and in his own elections managed to make gains for his party with nearly every demographic group.

The outcomes built upon the findings of the surveys of voters in 2006, when Republicans lost their majorities in the House and Senate after 12 years of control amid simmering voter discontent with Bush and the direction of the country.

This year's voter survey showed intensified negativity. Three-quarters of those polled said the country was on the wrong track, more than 9 in 10 rated the economy in bad shape and 7 in 10 disapproved of the job Bush is doing; those voters overwhelmingly supported Obama.

McCain's inability to separate himself from the Republican president � and Obama's success in ceaselessly tying his rival to the unpopular president � was clearly a factor in the results.

Nearly half of all voters said they expected McCain to continue the Bush policies, and 9 in 10 of them voted for Obama. Similarly, the big share of voters who disapprove of Bush went overwhelmingly for Obama.

For McCain, 72, age was more of an impediment than Obama's race was to him, the surveys suggest. Four in 10 voters cited McCain's age as a factor in their decision, and most of them supported Obama, 47.

Two in 10 voters said race was a factor for them, and more of those voters favored Obama than McCain, perhaps suggesting the excitement of some white and black voters to elect the first black president.

The economy, however, was the driving issue of the election, and a deeply personal one for many voters. Their answers to a variety of survey questions underscored the advantage for Obama.

Of five issues suggested to voters in the survey, 6 in 10 chose the economy as the most important one facing the country; most of them voted for Obama. About one in 10 voters named each of the other four choices � the war in Iraq, terrorism, health care and energy policy � and only among voters who picked terrorism did McCain prevail, according to the surveys.

Four out of five voters said they worried that the economic crisis would harm their family's finances over the next year; most backed Obama. About 4 in 10 voters said their family's financial situation was worse today than four years ago; they supported Obama more than two to one.

About half of voters said government should do more to solve the nation's problems, and they supported Obama three to one.

Two-thirds said they worry about being able to afford health care and a majority of them backed Obama.

Young voters and first-time voters, two groups that in pre-election polls had registered excitement about Obama, did vote in greater numbers than usual but so did other groups. So as a share of the electorate, they were little changed from 2004. Young voters under the age of 30 again made up just under 20 percent of all those who voted, and first-time voters about one in 10. Both groups, as expected, broke heavily for Obama.

Two-thirds of voters said Obama's running mate, Senator Joseph Biden Jr., is qualified to be president should it become necessary, while 6 in 10 said Palin is not. About 6 in 10 voters said the candidates' positions on the issues were more important than their leadership and personal qualities, and they favored Obama. The 4 in 10 for whom leadership qualities ranked more important than issues backed McCain. But Obama was seen as having better judgment than McCain and as being more in touch with average Americans.

The survey results are based on questionnaires that voters filled out as they left polling places nationwide.

Edison Media Research of Somerville, New Jersey, and Mitofsky International of New York City conducted the surveys for a media consortium of five television networks and the Associated Press news wire service. More Articles in US � A version of this article appeared in print on November 5, 2008, on page P9 of the New York edition.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/05/america/05poll.php

7 Bridges Walk

2008-10-26T20:04:00.004+08:00

Today I have crossed all seven bridges in the 7 Bridges Walk. I also tested a free iPhone application named firepin to track my walk. Unfortunately, the application stops tracking whenever the iPhone "sleeps". They recommend I play iPod in the background so the app can continuously track. Unfortunately, I don't have any music on my iPhone until now! So the map is not accurate in some parts. Below is a googlemap of our walk today.

Breaking and Entering

2008-10-23T17:58:00.001+08:00

Our house was broken in and a couple of our toys were stolen. HB lost his MacBook and his Oakley sunnies. I lost my digital camera (so no more photos for now) and my HTC Jasjam (good that I have a new iPhone). The Nintendo Wii and some of our DVD discs are missing too. Even our friend's old Acer notebook was stolen. I reported the crime to the police and they came over after an hour to check. It seems there is really nothing to do about it -- it's already done. I am thankful though that it's not a violent crime. It could have been worse.

The usual suspects, according to the police, are drug addicts looking for items that can be easily turned to cash for drug money. The economic environment in the Philippines and in Australia is very different. Economic poverty forces people to play the game of survival. Addiction, on the other hand, is a moral poverty - the sin of greed. I've seen too many poor people forced to live a life of crime. The solution to economic poverty is straight forward: social justice.

I have to acknowledge that in the Philippines, even those who come from wealthy families still commit crime for drug money. I believe this is the same here in Australia. There is moral poverty that has to be addressed. I think this is a challenge for modern society. It is a difficult task and any solution will seem to be too conservative or too religious. How do we quench the moral thirst without being dogmatic? Should we do nothing and humanity will fix itself just like a wound healing over time? Should we just continue to blame the parents and government like most of our contemporaries? Or is this just a revolution to a new cosmos of the coming generation and we should just go with the flow.

These are questions that I would like to form opinions on. But today, I resolved to my self to continue my way of life despite this traumatizing incident.

One fine day

2008-10-17T19:17:00.002+08:00

Thursday was one fine day. The Sushi Restaurant across the street opened and we had a company-paid lunch. I also got my company-issued iPhone 3G on the same day. And to cap the day, I attended Gene's Citizenship oath-taking. Gene treated us dinner and a beer. It seemed the world conspired to make Thursday one fine day.

Chief of PNP probe team abroad, too

2008-10-17T19:13:00.001+08:00

Here's more of the PNP saga in Russia. The police establishment, in this case, violated customs law (even in Manila, you cannot carry that much cash!) and possibly have been an unwitting (?) agent of money laundering and corruption. Definitely, a violation has been committed. But is it just a violation of Customs law or is it part of something more sinister?

Even if there is indeed a valid reason, the disregard of PNP of the law to enforce its procedures is disgusting. Officials must be discharged because of gross IGNORANCE or NEGLECT of the law and incredible MISMANAGEMENT. Discharge them dishonorably and broadcast them nationally with their full names and where they hail from. Shame must be brought to them and to their families.

This is a disgrace to the democracy in the Philippines. The rule of law is easily bent by those in power (Imagine: Why didn't Philippine customs pick up the transit of such huge amount of cash if the PNP claims it is SOP for PNP?)

Sent to you by Mark via Google Reader:

Chief of PNP probe team abroad, too

via INQUIRER.net Breaking News on 16/10/08

MANILA, Philippines -- The head of a police task force that will probe the incident in Moscow, Russia where customs officials held a retired police general carrying millions of pesos' worth of undeclared currency is out of the country, a ranking official said Friday.

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Dela Paz: ‘P6.9M was contingency fund’

2008-10-15T23:07:00.001+08:00

Why would a government official carry that much contingency fund? Its enough to buy a 3 bedroom apartment unit in the Philippines. What is the contingency for? And why would police officials knowingly violate regulations at the airport. If they do it abroad, think about the magic they do in our own airports? Why cash?! Why not use credit cards so it can be traced? Why not Travel Checks? How stupid do Philippine government officials think of Filipinos? The proof is in the cash (when its supposed to be untraceable, it becomes the trace evidence).

Sent to you by Mark via Google Reader:

Dela Paz: ‘P6.9M was contingency fund’

via INQUIRER.net Breaking News on 15/10/08

MANILA, Philippines -- Retired police director for comptrollership Eliseo dela Paz said Wednesday he welcomes any investigation into his brief detention, with his wife, by Russian customs officials for carrying cash beyond legal limits as they were about to fly out of Moscow, saying they "have nothing to hide."

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Imelda

2008-10-15T22:29:00.003+08:00

SBS showed the documentary on Imelda. I saw this documentary almost ten years ago. It narrates the rise, fall and continued endurance of Imelda. It also describes Imelda's principles that borders to "weird".

Imelda and the Marcos family will always be part of Philippine pop culture. Same as Erap. They will live eternally on our Filipino consciousness. These icons invested not merely on winning our minds, but more importantly our hearts. We are blinded by our idolatry.

Ironically, this is what we need today. An icon that will move us. A model that will aspire us. We need the moving spirit of Imelda and Erap. Let that be each one of us. Let us take pride of the achievements of our family members and neighbors. Let each other be a beacon of hope. Let us commoditize victory and greatness by acknowledging each other as a model. The alta-de-sociedad has no monopoly on greatness. Even the least paid laborer can be great in spirit and values. Once we break these walls dividing us as a nation, Imelda can rest in inutility as we see each other as motivation for greatness.

Regardless, here are some Imelda quotes to brighten up our day:

Continuous persecution of widows and orphans is a crime. Even the Bible says there is a specific place in hell for those who oppress widows.
Imelda Marcos

Doesn't the fight for survival also justify swindle and theft? In self defence, anything goes.
Imelda Marcos

Filipinos want beauty. I have to look beautiful so that the poor Filipinos will have a star to look at from their slums.
Imelda Marcos

God is love. I have loved. Therefore, I will go to heaven.
Imelda Marcos

I am First Lady by accident. I was not elected by the people but here I am.
Imelda Marcos

I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty.
Imelda Marcos

I get so tired listening to one million dollars here, one million dollars there, it's so petty.
Imelda Marcos

I hate ugliness. You know I'm allergic to ugliness.
Imelda Marcos

I have a different way of thinking. I think synergistically. I'm not linear in thinking, I'm not very logical.
Imelda Marcos

I have never been a material girl. My father always told me never to love anything that cannot love you back.
Imelda Marcos

I was no Marie Antoinette. I was not born to nobility, but I had a human right to nobility.
Imelda Marcos

If you know how much you've got, you probably haven't got much.
Imelda Marcos

If you know how rich you are, you are not rich. But me, I am not aware of the extent of my wealth. That's how rich we are.
Imelda Marcos

It's the rich you can terrorize. The poor have nothing to lose.
Imelda Marcos

Life is not a matter of place, things or comfort; rather, it concerns the basic human rights of family, country, justice and human dignity.
Imelda Marcos

My dreams have become puny with the reality my life has become.
Imelda Marcos

My husband does not like me to give interviews because I say too much. No talk, no trouble.
Imelda Marcos

Never dress down for the poor. They won't respect you for it. They want their First Lady to look like a million dollars.
Imelda Marcos

People say I'm extravagant because I want to be surrounded by beauty. But tell me, who wants to be surrounded by garbage?
Imelda Marcos

The problems with First Ladies is that you have to set the standard. My role is to be both star and slave.
Imelda Marcos

They call me corrupt, frivolous. I am not at all privileged. Maybe the only privileged thing is my face. And corrupt? God! I would not look like this if I am corrupt. Some ugliness would settle down on my system.
Imelda Marcos

We practically own everything in the Philippines.
Imelda Marcos

When they see me holding fish, they can see that I am comfortable with kings as well as with paupers.
Imelda Marcos

Win or lose, we go shopping after the election.
Imelda Marcos

PNP confirms exec detention in Russia

2008-10-15T14:01:00.001+08:00

The PHP7.5 million is actually what is left of the official funds for the business trip of the police officials according to the Philippine National Police. PNP may have severely overestimated the allowance for these officials. We can only salute the officials for not using them all up and government (hopefully) has PHP7.5 million returned to them. I find it extra curious.

Sent to you by Mark via Google Reader:

PNP confirms exec detention in Russia

via INQUIRER.net Breaking News on 14/10/08

MANILA, Philippines -- A report that a ranking official of the Philippine National Police was held briefly by authorities in Moscow, Russia after he was found to be carrying P7.5 million worth of euros was confirmed by a PNP spokesman Wednesday.

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PNP exec held in Russia over P7.5M cash

2008-10-14T22:22:00.001+08:00

Why would a PNP official have that much cash on him?

Sent to you by Mark via Google Reader:

PNP exec held in Russia over P7.5M cash

via INQUIRER.net Breaking News on 14/10/08

MANILA, Philippines—A high-ranking official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was reportedly held by airport officials in Moscow over the weekend for allegedly carrying about P7.5 million in cash, a source privy to the incident said Tuesday.

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Busy

2008-10-09T22:27:00.002+08:00

It has been a while that I have not written a line of blog. The past few months have been very life changing for me. I have seen some of my plans going to fruition and at the same time, I felt great sadness with the passing of a close friend. I have so many things to opined about recently -- the United States economic burnout is one of them.

I hope to update my blog more often again. Let me see if I can update at least once a week :-)

Mobile phones banned at the Immigration Area in Manila Airports

2008-07-23T22:05:00.001+08:00

The news article below from the ABS-CBN NEWS website caught my attention. On my last trip to the Philippines, there was a long queue at the Immigration counters in Terminal 2. Despite the long queue, one of the officers behind the counter chatted on her mobile phone as if she is at home despite the long queue. It was so irritating. Noticeably, the younger officers were faster and efficient with their jobs while the older ones just live like its the old days of Martial Law where public office demands respect. Younger officers of course cannot complain as they respect seniority. These behavior I believe are correlated to corruption.

ABS-CBN News Online (Beta): "Cell phones to be banned at airport immigration areas

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday said that cellular phones will soon be banned in areas around immigration counters at the country's international airports.

BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said that the measure is in line with the plan to jam mobile phone signals as a security measure.

Libanan said that in other countries, immigration officers and passengers are strictly prohibited from using their cell phones while they are within screening areas.

The bureau chief said they will install signal jammers near immigration screening areas. He said mobile phone signals within a 100-meter radius will be jammed.

The jammed signals would also prevent illegal recruiters or human smugglers from conniving with corrupt immigration officers.

The BI has laid out initial plans to install signal jammers at the departure and arrival immigration areas of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminals 1 and 2."

A Pound of CURE

2008-05-10T20:57:00.002+08:00

I have read in an online newspaper a couple of weeks ago that SMART Communications (owned by PLDT) has acquired CURE. Apparently, CURE has a congressional telecom franchise since 2001. The NTC gave CURE a 3G license too in 2006. Today, CURE has finally announced that it is launching its 3G service.

Without much information at hand, I cannot avoid to speculate a lot about these developments. Some questions in my mind are:

1. What is the basis of the telecom franchise? Doesn't CURE have an obligation as a telecom company to provide telecom service within a timeframe? Can any company with sufficient funding and political backing get a telecom franchise anytime? How many telecom franchises out there remain unused? Shouldn't congress cancel all these unused licenses as the circumstances on which they were approved on may have been changed over the past years?

2. Why do they have a 3G license? Can any telecom company even without a network available to the public apply for a 3G license?

3. Why were they allowed to be acquired by SMART? Did the original investors of CURE profited from its telecom and 3G licenses?

Businesses should be left to mind their own -- I am a believer of this principle. Government is most efficient when it least intrudes. But when it crosses public interest, we have the right to know what is going on. Public interest requires real telcos, not paper telcos.

Perhaps everything was done within the framework of Philippine law. If it did, then this is a problem that must be resolved. Franchises are issued by government solely for public convenience and necessity. If it is issued and it remains unused and it was profited from, it is a disservice to the public. This is the pound of CURE. It is time to find that ounce of prevention.

Cebu Pacific Refund Saga

2008-05-08T00:25:00.002+08:00

18 Jun 08 UPDATE: My latest credit card statement now shows that Cebu Pacific has made good on its refund -- After 5 months! The saga ends today.

Cebu Pacific is Philippine Airline's direct competitor in the domestic air services in the Philippines. Recently, they also launched International services competing against budget airlines in the region. I like budget airlines as I think planes are just flying buses. I am not after a hot towel, small meals or movies when I travel short distances. Budget airlines make sense. I tried AirAsia service from KL to Bali and KL to Bangkok. I've also tried Jetstar service from Sydney to Gold Coast and Sydney to Airlie Beach. I never really expected much of these budget airlines.

I also don't expect them to refund my money immediately. I guess as long as cash is within their books, it helps them with their cash flow. And I guess they are trying to schedule refunds to maximize their cash flows. I have no problem with that either.

Originally, I was planning to go to Boracay but my Mom wanted to go to HK. So I had to cancel my booking with Cebu Pacific.

So while waiting for my refund, I'll just write down a diary of my experience. I've read on many forums on the web that refund with Cebu Pacific is a long wait of even up to a year. So let's see how long before they refund me.

11 January 2008

I booked a flight for two to Boracay.

17 January 2008

Mom preferred to go to HK, I emailed onlinechange@cebupacificair.com to inquire about the process of cancellation and refund. They replied within the same day -- good one!

Dear Mr. Mark,

Greetings from Cebu Pacific!

For cancellation and refund (applicable for GO FARES only), please be advised that a Refund Fee of Php 336.00 for Domestic flights per ticket will be collected.

The amount paid less the applicable fee will be credited back to your card account. Refund process for credit card transactions is minimum of 60 working days.

NOTE:

1. Rebooking or cancellation for refund must be advised at least a day prior the scheduled departure not later than 2:00PM to avoid of the NO Show/Non-User's Fee.

2. Tickets can no longer be used once cancelled and applied for refund.

Please acknowledge for us to proceed accordingly. Or you may call Cebu Pacific Air 24-hour Call Center at (+632) 70-20-888.

I replied immediately to acknowledge the fees and confirm the cancellation. I received an answer the same day too!

Dear Mr. Mark,

Greetings from Cebu Pacific!

This is to confirm the cancellation and application for refund of Booking Number MLQ65. The details are as follows:

(Details Here)

Refund Fee: Php 336.00 per ticket

The application for refund will be forwarded to Accounting and Treasury Department. They will coordinate with the acquiring bank and issuing bank to finalize the refund. The amount paid less the applicable fee will be credited back to your account. Refund process for credit card transactions is minimum of 60 working days.

Should you need more information regarding this, please contact Cebu Pacific Air 24-hour Call Center at (+632) 702-0888.

Email support was commendable! So I placed a reminder on my Calendar to check after a couple of months.

11 March 2008

I followed up with Cebu Pacific via email.

15 March 2008

I got a reply from Cebu Pacific - 4 days wait for an email reply is not bad.

Dear Mr. Mark,

Greetings from Cebu Pacific!

This is to inform you that the booking number XXXXX was accepted and flagged for refund last 26 February 2008. The said refund was already forwarded to Revenue Accounting and Treasury Department who will be coordinating with the acquiring and issuing bank to finalize the refund.

For refund follow ups, you may call our Revenue Accounting at number (+632) 852-2328 loc 263 or 218 from 9:00am to 3:00pm (w/ no lunch break) or email them directly at cebrefacctg@cebupacificair.com. Please bear with us if you are experiencing a delay on your refund as we are all doing our best to give you a good service.

Please take note of the following details as it may be needed for follow up:

Name of Passenger:

(Details Here)

Thank you and we hope for your understanding.

I actually called the number during lunch time and the security guard answered the phone and told me they are on lunch break -- so they have lunch breaks after all even if the email states they should have no lunch breaks since they close 3:00pm. I tried to call after lunch break and I'm put on hold by the system until I'm disconnected.

16 - 18 March 2008

I tried calling everyday. I can't get hold of anyone at all!

19 March 2008

I emailed the address provided and no reply received at all.

9 April 2008

Emailed Cebu Pacific again.

Dear Cebu Pacific Team,
This refund has not reflected on my Credit Card UNTIL NOW. I have tried calling the number you specified while I was in the Philippines and no one answers the calls! And when I call during lunch time, the guard would pick up and tell me its their lunch break! I thought you said on your email that they dont have lunch breaks?
Anyway, please check on this immediately. Why has CEBU PACIFIC failed to refund me my money for almost 4 months
now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got no replies.

2 May 2008

I asked my Mom in Manila to go to Cebu Pacific shop in Robinsons Galeria. They just told her to go to the Airport Office. They also gave my Mom numbers to call... but no one answers.

8 May 2008

I wrote this blog entry. No word yet from Cebu Pacific. Nothing returned to my credit card.

Dignified Charity

2008-03-28T01:38:00.001+08:00

We should not make the age-old mistake of the landlords and their families in the Philippines. Helping the poor for most means succumbing to the system of Feudalism. This system has its roots deeply planted since the Spanish era in our country. This system involves a benevolent lord who takes care of his peasants. And in turn, the peasants commit their lives to their lord. History will tell us that this system doesn't not work and it doesn't benefit the poor but only fortifies the authority and social position of the wealthy and their bloodline. Benevolence has been a primary mover for the American occupation of the Philippines. Benevolence is a lie. It has no real value except for the wealthy as it helps ease his conscience in the midst of the stark inequity around him. It is his charity -- a peace offering to God. Regardless, it is a lie. A master, good or evil, doesn't promote social justice. Feudalism is not compatible with Democracy. It is not compatible with Socialism or even Communism. Feudalism is out of date. We must say no to feudalism.

Today, we are not masters and peasants anymore. We are co-equal in dignity -- and we should accord this to each other regardless of financial status. Everyone deserves a fair go in a manner that is dignified. We should do more than building houses. We should give each other the means to build their houses.

Here's a story that I believe is a genuine way to help others. If you are like me who believes that change is needed in the Philippines. And its something you can do at home.

Read here

In that article, the househelp earned her Economics degree without any favor as she labored for it. It is a purely economic transaction: exchanging labor with tuition and fees. In my opinion, there is no debt-of-gratitude to be paid. Heaven will offset the good deeds. I salute the household and the househelp for breaking the cycle of poverty. It is truly a Christian act of charity without any illusion of benevolence as it is economically profitable for both parties. It is, most importantly, dignified.

The Strength of Symbols

2007-11-30T21:44:00.000+08:00

In my Theology class a decade ago in college, our professor told us that the Catholic symbols are not simple representation and reminders of our faith. It is more importantly an emotional object as it invokes our deepest and sincerest human attachment to our faith. A symbol doesnt only touch our minds but our hearts. Furthermore, it guides us to a direction. A simple man-made object can easily be a of transcendental importance.

Yesterday in my country, a group of soldiers stormed into a first-class hotel wearing arm bands with the "Magdalo" insignia. They also called themselves the "Magdalo" soldiers. They try to invoke the spirit of the revolution. And this transpired the day before the celebration of Bonifacio's heroism.

If I remember my Philippine history correctly, there were two factions after the post-Spanish period: the "Magdiwang" and the "Magdalo". In the elections, the "Magdalo" won and Emilio Aguinaldo became the First President of the First Republic of the Philippines. Andres Bonifacio lost.

But in Philippine History, Andres Bonifacio represents the common man who started the revolution that resulted to Philippine Independence. He is our "Che Guevarra"

When the soldiers used the symbolism of "Magdalo", it was simply lost in translation. Many of us forgot our history. The symbol is not strong anymore. We don't know what "Magdalo" represents. It is simply a failure in Marketing for the rebel soldiers. It is sad at the same time as our culture has been so diluted that the symbol of "Nike Just-Do-It" is much stronger than "Magdalo".

I cannot approve of the extra-constitutional actions as I don't approve of the People Power revolution that placed President Gloria Arroyo in power. It is difficult to take the high ground on extra-constitutionality when you have a government that is a result of it. But the attempt to use national symbols is something I can appreciate. We need an identity as a nation, it is too bad that rebels are the only one that can think of a gimmick that attempts to revive a symbol that many of us have forgotten.

We are a open nation. Our culture is highly permeable. We are proud of this. BUT we need symbols to remind us and keep our faith in being a Filipino.

Spiders

2007-11-18T18:18:00.000+08:00

Found a couple of spiders in our garden today.

See Ya San Miguel

2007-11-08T15:53:00.000+08:00

Today, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) exited Australia for a sum of AU$3.1 billion. They only held their Australian investments for only 7 years. They entered Australia for $1.9 billion buying National Foods and Boag Beer. At first glance, it seems SMC is running away with $1.2 billion return on its investment. I'd assume they invested in Australia using US dollar-denominated loans and that further makes its exit a grand one given the strength of the Philippine peso.

But I cannot help to think that SMC also let go of a foothold on one of the strongest economies in the world. I cannot imagine the opportunity cost of this remarkable business decision.

SMC is now looking at investing in Philippine's energy infrastructure and mining. It will be good for the Philippine government to finally privatize its power transmission system. Hopefully, this will mean a more efficient energy sector and will improve this key industry.

SMC and other Philippine-based multinational companies like ICTSI are our version of Singapore's Temasek. Their success in the international arena is a source of pride.

A Nation of Seafarers

2007-11-07T21:50:00.000+08:00

The Manila Bay Sunset

Manila Bay Lamp Posts

Ten percent of the Philippine population are migrant workers. This is roughly 8 million people working in major growth areas in the world. Of the 8 million, around 250,000 are seafarers. We comprise 20% of the active seafarers globally.

Since we dont have a strong written tradition before the Spaniards claimed the Philippines, our history before is mainly passed through oral traditions. Official Philippine history confirms that our ancestors (at least the Malays and the Indonesians) arrived in the islands through boats they called "Balangay". This is the root word of our most basic political unit today: the Barangay (roughly translated as Village).

The oceans and the seas were our main bearers of trade. We traded with the Chinese, Arabs and Indians. This trade has made us an open and welcoming society. We are not afraid to absorb new culture. Our language was based on Indian Sanskrit. The south has embraced Islam and established strong Sultanates. We freely traded with the Chinese. We are truly "Juan Tamad" (i.e. John Lazy) but just because we are laid back and we live with the world without the Catholic guilt or the Westernize standards of beauty and quality of life. These all have changed when the Spaniards arrived (not that the Spaniards changed us for the worse, but thats for another post).

We are so involved with the sea that unofficial history (based on oral tradition) claims that we are called "The River People" or "Taga-Ilog". This word has since then been simplified "Tagalog".

The southern part of the Philippines also mastered the waters. The Sultanate of Sulu expanded political clout to neighboring kingdoms despite the sea that divided them. For example, the Sultan of Brunei gave the Sultan of Sulu sovereign over the Borneo in return for military assistance. Today, Borneo is part of Malaysia but the Philippine government has never given up its rights on the territory.

We are a nation of seafarers. We are a nation of migrants. Since time immemorial, we believe we are part of a wider community beyond our horizon.

Google is our Friend

2007-11-05T16:48:00.000+08:00

Blue Screen on a Mall LCD TV Poster

Ten years ago back in college, I wrote an essay about the Internet. I said that it is the ultimate leveler of the playing field... the equalizer of opportunities. Today, more than ever, it is never truer.

Information is easily accessible to anyone. Internet access has become cheaper and friendlier. And thanks to Google search, it is more organized and it is easier to make sense of it all.

It doesn't matter anymore whether I am born in Timbuktu, in Cebu, or in a more affluent city like Sydney. I can get Internet access and search the information I need. If we allow our children to be infront of a computer and armed with Google search, like we allowed them to watch TV all day, no child will be left behind.

MTV started it all. The success of MTV in the westernization of cultures all over the world is undeniable. Unlike the Internet, MTV is unilateral communication. It is an imposition of a point-of-view of the West. Information is given as it is. The Internet brings it to a new level. It allows information to be a conversation wherein anyone can react or even dissert about a topic. The Internet IS the ultimate product of the democratization of knowledge. We do not anymore take information as intended by the communicator: we want to arrange, further research and converse about it. This MUST not discount culture and character-formation. But that will be in another post.

And this could have not been possible without Google. So for this generation at least, Google is our friend.

Fishes

2007-10-27T16:24:00.000+08:00

We bought an aquarium three weeks ago. On it, we have 6 small fishes. Two of them are gold fishes. Today, we replaced the water completely and its crystal clear again. My favorite fish is the smaller gold fish. Its also the most active fish in the group.

Dreaming of Home

2007-10-24T19:59:00.000+08:00

I've been building my home for two years now in the Philippines. But never had the chance to enjoy it. Maybe next year I'll go home.

Waiting

2007-10-21T23:21:00.000+08:00

My life recently is like a wait in the bus stop. I know it should've arrived five minutes ago, but its still not here.
Should I call infoline? Or should I just wait.

Anxiety is a killer. It seeps into your mind and soul and consumes you. It deprives you of sleep and time. Your world stops when other worlds continue to spin... and faster. Everything else seems to blur to memory too fast.

A piece of stamp disrupts my present and puts my future on hold.

I resolved to myself that I should be ready to lose it all. Destruction is anything but the end of everything. It is the beginning of new things. If it were only easy to keep resolutions...

Show off

2007-05-18T10:08:00.000+08:00

The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella insurgent group that includes Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, claimed responsibility and warned that the soldiers would never be found. "We say to you that what you are doing, searching for your soldiers, will be in vain and lead to nothing but fatigue and unrest," the group said.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/14/africa/iraq.php

In what time period am I in? Everyone who knows his history knows that Iraq is where Mesopotamia was centuries ago. But to refer to it as Mesopotamia in a current event news is not helpful. In fact, it serves no purpose but to show-off. When I read the first paragraph of the paper, I feel like I'm in time warp. Unless Iraq has declared its name as "Mesopotamia" again.

Inappropriate Adverts

2006-10-05T17:52:00.000+08:00

I have to admit contextual adverts are useful for both the company and the consumer. But sometimes, they are outright inappropriate.

A news on the Sunday Morning Herald about a jet crash is accompanied by an advert from carmaker SAAB. It says "Pilots wanted" with a car flying like an acrobat plane. Now, is that funny or disturbing?

Two killed in Bathurst jet crash - National - smh.com.au

Of course, these adverts are automatically inserted by smart algorithms. But it seems they just match keywords rather than true contextualization. Contextualization must not only about showing relevant adverts but also about showing PROPER adverts. Anyone can match keywords, but who can do true contextualization?

Rainy

2006-09-09T19:50:00.000+08:00

Rainy
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

It's a rainy weekend.

Daffodil Day

2006-08-26T15:37:00.000+08:00

Teddy and Astroboy
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

Yesterday was Daffodil day. The Cancer Council Australia sells Teddy Bears, Daffodils and other items to fund cancer research.

IELTS

2006-08-25T21:34:00.000+08:00

Finally, I've signed up for the IELTS exam. There is a 5-month wait time here in Sydney. I signed up at the Macquarie University. They inspected my passport and my current ID picture. "You look like a kid on your passport photo," she said. "I guess work makes me a bit older". "Normally, people get fatter after a couple of years". "Then I guess Im very normal," I replied.

Macquarie University reminds me a lot of the university I attended back home. Walking on the university grounds brings back good memories.

Blue Mountains Tour

2006-08-20T16:10:00.000+08:00

Snake at Featherdale Park
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

I joined my Tita and cousin on their Blue Mountains Tour. The tour included stops at Featherdale and Olympic Parks.

I've been thinking either to buy a Digital SLR or just a set of lenses for my SONY DSC-H1...

For more, click on the photo above.

Gold Coast

2006-08-15T19:36:00.000+08:00

Gold Coast
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

The other week, I spent my weekend in Gold Coast. It is a very nice city by the beach. Like Sydney, it has its modern CBD. What distinguishes it from Sydney is that it has lots of theme parks. It seems the city was built with Tourism in mind.

Being new to the city, the Bus drivers were very helpful in providing information on how to go to places. They'd take time explaining how to go from point A to point B. My friend told me, for a programmer: The driver cannot be the controller (oh, thats a bit of programming joke... it took me a while to laugh at it though). In Gold Coast, the driver is not only the controller and the driver, but also the application (oh, thats another programming joke...)

We stayed in Seaworld Nara resort. But I think it would have been a better idea to have stayed in a hotel in the CBD where everything is accessible. Seaworld Nara is not that accessible if you don't have a car with you.

I like Gold Coast.

(More photos on flickr... Click on the Photo above)

My DELL will not bust... yet.

2006-08-15T17:02:00.000+08:00

DELL has recalled its batteries. Fortunately, my DELL is not affected by the problem. My DELL will die another day.

Henry's Point

2006-07-02T20:12:00.000+08:00

DSC05103
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

Went trailing over the weekend... Click on the photo for more.

Macbook Envy

2006-06-22T18:41:00.000+08:00

DSC00730
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

Officemate bought a Macbook.

Jose Rizal in Sydney

2006-06-22T18:39:00.000+08:00

DSC00722
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

Interesting. A bust of Jose Rizal proudly stands among other prominent figures from countries colonized by Spain in the Iber American Plaza in Central Sydney.

Reborn

2006-06-18T16:04:00.000+08:00

DSC05018
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

A bug shed its skin and left it in perfect shape.

Jump!

2006-06-18T16:00:00.000+08:00

DSC05060
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

Click on the photo for more.

Trekking

2006-06-18T15:56:00.000+08:00

DSC05074
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

I've trekked for the first time this weekend. They say its around 12km. I had the best sleep that night. :-) Click on the photo above for more.

island hopping

2006-06-12T11:58:00.000+08:00

I'll be home on October for a much needed break from work. I have added on my list 3 islands I want to visit:

1. Batanes, an isolated chain of islands very close to Taiwan
2. Palawan, a popular eco-tourist destination very close to the disputed Spratly's Islands
3. Boracay, everyone knows Boracay

I also want to visit the Sagada mountains (include the Rice Terraces) and maybe Bohol (for whale-seeing... if its the right season).

Let me see what I can squeeze in one month. For the half of the month, I prefer to stay at my house.

Now I have to get myself new lens for my digital camera to capture these great spots.

iBurst

2006-06-12T11:42:00.000+08:00

I am not subscribing to my 24/7 broadband connection in my apartment yet. I am sharing my wireless iBurst (www.iburst.com.au) connection I use for work whenever I am in the apartment. My Ilokano genes won this time.

See more progress on: get broadband

My first winning e-bay bid!

2006-06-11T19:49:00.000+08:00

Reflections on the Train
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

I just bought 2GB memory stick duo for only AUD 86 on e-bay. It's my very first winning e-bay bid. It's also my first paypal transaction. It's great it worked. Now I'm waiting for the package.

I took a photo on the train on a rainy night. It's only one photo though but it turned out nice.

Priceless

2006-06-05T22:39:00.000+08:00

Prepaid Recharge ... 30 dollars
Sushi Train Dinner... 40 dollars
Kasama Kita... Priceless

When I met JAVA, and now C#

2006-06-03T23:34:00.000+08:00

I've been moving files to my new laptop. I stumbled on my old JAVA programs and surprisingly, their links are still alive.

I have a karaoke prototype at
http://markbucayan.squarespace.com/online-karaoke/

Unfortunately, this plays only one song: Against All Odds. But for those who understand java APPLETs, it can be configured in HTML to play another MIDI file. Basically, its an applet that can play any MIDI file and if the MIDI file contains lyrics, it will show the lyrics karaoke-style. The image background is configurable too. Don't expect much, I just coded it under 8 hours years ago.

Another program is a Mobile game ala-Minesweeper. The link is:
http://markbucayan.squarespace.com/minesweeper-midp10/

I loaded this game to my Sony Ericsson w800i and it played correctly EXCEPT that the logo is not shown. Oh well, I was curious about J2ME at that time and decided to create another Minesweeper game from scratch. Again, don't expect much as I coded it under 8 hours.

I remember back in Manila when there were so many holidays and I really have nothing to do or nowhere to go... so I just code. There are other programs that are scattered in my hold hard disk.

These "trivial programs" helped me familiarize with JAVA. I remember that my first very own application in JAVA from scratch is a JAVA Applet version of "Hammer-the-Gopher". That and the web site I developed won me a place in a web site competition for the Philippine Centennial celebrations. The most memorable about it is that I was interviewed on MTV Asia and on a Philippine breakfast show :-)

Today, I began reading on C# and Dotnet. Creating the Hello World application was straight-forward as it resembles JAVA so far. Maybe its time again for me to create trivial applciations just to play with C#...

Nokia E61

2006-06-02T22:21:00.001+08:00

Someone bought a Nokia E61. It looks like a Blackberry. It has WIFI! and the best thing is that it has a SIP Client built-in. Its cool because it has a new field in Contacts named "Internet Phone" and it is used to make Internet calls.

Is this the Skype-killer?

Going Bananas

2006-05-28T20:30:00.000+08:00

Finally, I bought my very first personally-owned laptop. Its a DELL Inspiron 6400. It is the cheapest in its class. I upgraded its CPU to Intel Core Duo 1.83Ghz, its memory to 1GB and its hard disk to 100GB. I will use it as my mobile "Media Center".

First thing I had to setup up was to make it as my PVR (Personal Video Recorder). I bought the cheapest USB Digital TV Tuner I can find and fortunately it works fine except for minor annoyances (what do you expect from something cheap?). We now use my new laptop for Digital TV viewing and recording.

I am not yet done setting up my mobile Media Center. This weekend, I tried a software "Salling Clicker" that allowed me to use my Sony Ericsson phone as remote control. It looks promising. My project for the next couple of weekends will be to setup my mobile Media Center. Ideally, I should be able to use my laptop for entertainment without using the keyboard or mouse. I should be able to run everything using my mobile phone as my remote control. Of course, I'll blog my progress.

The DELL laptop is good performance-wise. But it doesn't have that UMPH factor when it comes to packaging. It is the Sparta of the Greek Empire. The screen isn't good either. The viewing angle is poor. When watching TV, I should be sitting infront of the laptop. I should have also upgraded to Microsoft Media Center so that I don't have to depend on my USB Digital TV Tuner's software.

Finally, I miss bananas! They are sold 10 AUD per kilo here. I hope they just import them from the Philippines so they have a more stable supply and bring down the prices.

P.S.

(For Kristin)

Standard TV vs. Digital TV is like Cassette Tapes vs. Compact Discs. I don't really know much about it but it means that instead of getting snowy pictures when reception is bad, Digital TV would SKIP just like fake CDs :-) Also, Digital TV allows networks to send DATA like Electronic Program Guides.

The other keyword is High Definition TV or HDTV. Imagine that regular TV is a 1 mega pixel camera and HDTV is a 5 mega pixel camera. HDTV has higher resolution and of course, better quality.

Australian TV stations already broadcast Digital TV. I think it is not even in the radar of Philippine networks at this time. So I guess we have to get our fix of high resolution movies and TV series from Quiapo. ;-)

We pray for our Indonesian Neighbors

2006-05-27T23:08:00.000+08:00

We pray for our neighbors. We live in the same restless soil. We are tied by the same belt of fire. Our politics and religion maybe different, but our aspirations are united.

not today

2006-05-22T18:20:00.000+08:00

i guess i have to suffer more mac-envy now. i decided to buy a dell inspiron 6400 laptop instead. it is the cheapest laptop with an intel core duo. for someone moving a lot like myself, i dont need to lug around a desktop. now i have two laptops: one for work and the other one for my personal stuffs.

i now use my new laptop to watch and record free-to-air hdtv. im trying to set it up as a PVR (personal video recorder) so i can just watch my favorite tv shows on the weekend. that’ll be in another blog.

See more progress on: buy a 20" imac

We climbed the Everest!

2006-05-18T18:25:00.000+08:00

Birdie
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

Well... I didnt really climb it. Two Filipinos reached the summit of Everest today.

Meanwhile, here in the office, we have a visitor. My officemate brought her very friendly pet bird. More of the bird's pic on my flickr. Click on the picture.

Photogenic Cuckatoo

2006-05-13T20:46:00.000+08:00

Photogenic Cuckatoo
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

Polly's ID Picture on my flickr! Click on the picture to see more.

Sydney has many open spaces. One of my favorites is the Botanic Gardens in Sydney.

Shadows

2006-05-06T23:21:00.000+08:00

DSC00159
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

The nicest thing about camera phones is you can carry them around. I am ready to shoot any subject any time.

I am particularly fascinated with the things we often neglect during commute.

I've uploaded new photos to flickr. Click on the photo above to see them.

Just Moved In!

2006-04-29T22:12:00.000+08:00

We finally moved to our apartment. This time, it's unfurnished and I have to again re-live my early days in college when I only have enough earthly comforts to keep me sane. I just find it impractical to buy good furniture at this point. I also have my first taste of home-cooked meal prepared by HB. I'm going to get that George Foreman grill one day so I can prepare something for myself! But first things first, we need a refrigerator and a telly! Well... we have tv but without an external antenna, we are on a diet of SBS Programming. That's the only channel picked up by my new USB-based HDTV tuner using its included antenna. I'll blog more about this cheap but good tuner later on.

The new apartment looks good. It seems Meriton buildings share the same good standard. It's a lot better than the motel I stayed for four months except that now, I have to clean (forget yayas, they dont exist here in Sydney) and buy necessary furnishings.

Google Map has a detailed satellite map of where I am staying in Sydney. It took me time to trace it. I had to start from the Darling Harbor Bridge in the City and trace the train tracks to the nearest train station. Here's the link.

Interestingly, Google Map also has a satellite map of my newly-adopted province, Bulacan. I had to trace it from the North Super Highway to figure out the Marilao town proper. Here's the link.

Moving to a new apartment...

2006-04-28T20:56:00.000+08:00

We are moving to a new apartment tomorrow!

See more progress on: move to a better apartment

Sydney by Night

2006-04-25T08:43:00.000+08:00

DSCF1798
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

This photo is taken by our Thai friend with her camera. I helped her with the settings to take a near-perfect shot. This is a bit blurry but looks good anyway.

Time to Discover a New Paradise

2006-04-23T18:08:00.000+08:00

Time to Discover a New Paradise
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

Finally, my country's Department of Tourism is doing something to promote our beautiful islands. Here in Sydney's Town Hall's train station, a big billboard definitely shows how our islands are a paradise.

Perhaps a major point that should be communicated is that despite having third-rate cities, our country has the best islands and we are always hospitable to foreigners regardless of our political situation.

Armed to Point-and-Shoot

2006-04-23T10:00:00.000+08:00

DSC00012
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

I recently got my Sony Ericsson w800i. One of my main reason for buying it is its 2 megapixels built-in camera. It didn't disappoint me!

The quality is good and truly leaves other camera phones behind. I'll be posting my review later on as I use it more often.

Now, I can take photos wherever I am. Yesterday, we ate lunch at a local Sushi Train before going to our Badminton game. I can't resist taking photos to try my new camera phone.

Im armed to point-and-shoot. Now I need to figure out how to disable the camera sound effects as it is really loud.

New Toys

2006-04-21T18:56:00.000+08:00

DSC00055
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

I stole HB's astroboy figure and tacked it to my monitor. Looks good eh?

I used my new Sony Ericsson w800i to take the picture. It looks good though auto-focus seems not to work so well in my other shots. Or maybe I still don't know how to use it.

Thirld World Opinion on the Middle East Conflict

2006-04-18T17:08:00.000+08:00

My uncle sent me a message that a suicide bomber set himself to ashes in his apartment block in Tel Aviv. It's in the papers today. It is known as the first suicide bombing under the democratically-elected Hamas leadership. Hamas do not condemn the attack as they claim it is a retaliatory attack against Israel.

The Middle East Problem (the Israel-Palestine Conflict) is touching our national borders as Israel is one of the prime destinations of Philippine labor. We ignored this problem too long. We thought it doesn't involve us as it is a geographical dispute (among Middle East countries), a religious conflict (Muslim and Jews), and an economic issue (because the stability of the region is highly correlational to the stability of oil prices and we rely on our big brother, the United States).

Clearly, we are one of the primary stakeholder in this conflict. The Middle East is a primary export labor destination with around a million of our workers already working there. This means there is 1 Filipino for every 5 Israelis. There is 1 Filipino for every 2 Palestine. With a significant of our population in the region, we definitely should care about what's going on in the Middle East.

Unfortunately, despite being a stakeholder, we have no bargaining power to broker anything in the region. We compete with India and other labor exporting economies. Being political will affect our competitiveness. Sadly, we conveniently become passive in this conflict. A strong Middle East, regardless of who holds the rein, is a benefit to our country.

To have an opinion on the Middle East conflict is more of a moral question. To be passive is a complete disregard of the safety of our people. We cannot put the safety of our countrymen into the hands of global economic powers. We cannot blindly ally ourselves to governments whose goal is to protect their own interests. We must not rely on the leftovers of their pillage.

This conflict only shows a fundamental truth: the Thirld World has no power to wield. It also highlights a shameful truth: Third World competes with Third World. We are like dogs fighting over the left overs of the First World.

The global economy is a complex interdependence of national economies. The only solution I can think of is for Thirld World countries to decide as a block. We can enforce embargo to countries we dont agree with their politics. We can refuse their investments and sever skilled labor export. We can support those countries we believe truly protect our interests. We will make their corporations wealthy by letting them enjoy our competitive advantages as Third World. We should select our friends and should not be afraid to say NO to money.

When we realize this economic power, perhaps we can broker peace. We have no other intentions but to build a strong Middle East as we want our people to work there away from harm. We dont compete for oil fields or banner any creed.

When will we have this kind of economic will? When will we stop dreaming of becoming Dragons when we are beautiful young swans? If all countries become First World, who will have the competitive advantage? What will happen to Modern Economics? I strongly feel that the First World dream is a pipe dream to keep us distracted in this rat race.

In reality, we dont want to be First World. We just want to be a Better World.

Here lies Windows98...

2006-04-17T17:45:00.000+08:00

Note: Microsoft will end support for Windows98 and WindowsME this coming July. I'm inspired by this event. I wrote a poem HAHAHA

Here Lies Windows98/ME
Here lies Windows98
Promised me plug and play
But never worked a day

Here lies WindowsME
Promised me Recovery
But I skipped it anyway

With them we bury into our memories
of college laboratories
and the blue screen crashes
that nights sleep i misses

Farewell blue wonders
Microsoft now needs more money in their coffers
They want us to upgrade
to the new version Microsoft made

Happy Birthday Marvin!

2006-04-09T19:43:00.000+08:00

My mom had a surgery over the weekend in a Singapore hospital. She told me that she is pleasantly surprised that the nurses are Filipinas. I am comforted to know that Filipinas are taking care of my mom. I have always stereo-typed the women of my country as both caring and extremely professional.

At the same time, the health industry in my country is crying foul to the exodus of our nurses. When I was hospitalized early last year, I asked a nurse "Why are you still here in Manila?" She answered, "I need two years experience". The hospital was understaffed and nurses were very apologetic that they can't attend to me as soon as needed.

The health industry is complaining that they can't get nurses locally anymore. To think of it, health care is expensive in Manila and the profits don't really affect the salaries of the personnel. I am thankful that I have an HMO buffering me from the price haggling (yes there is price haggling!) of doctors.

I am happy that our nurses are financially empowered through overseas employment. They are able to accomplish their dreams at the age that they can enjoy them. I don't think the solution is to decrease the supply to the international community of our qualified nurses. What is needed is to further increase the supply of nurses or the hospitals pay their personnel more! This is a good problem as it means more employment (not necessarily local).

We cannot stop migration. People in the provinces will want to work in Manila. People in Manila will want to work in Singapore. People in Singapore will want to work in the United States. And the funny thing is that people in the United States would love to live and retire in a tropical island. Thus, completing the circle of life.

Speaking of the Health Industry, Happy Birthday to my friend Marvin! He is a Health Informatics Researcher in California. Marvin, your days are numbered. Your job will be outsourced within a decade ;-) But according to United States statistics, there will be nine new jobs created for every job outsourced. You don't have to panic. Happy Birthday!

Dr. Picart, it seems the art of composition has met its doom.

2006-04-09T15:01:00.000+08:00

I read an article in Slashdot explaining how newspaper headline styles have become straight-forward to accomodate search engines (Google in particular). Newspapers change their writing style so that they get listed in search engine searches more often. This is no surprise as "Search Engine Optimization" is becoming its own sub-industry.

Three are two remarkable features that are worth noting:
1. We thought that machines would be intelligent to adopt to our idiosyncrasies. In this case, we sacrifice the art of writing to get more web site hits (equating to dollars). Simply put, writing style is now an economic factor! Technology has enabled this trend.

Perhaps, the end game is not "machine mimics the human" but "human mimics the machine". Technology has not only added words to the dictionary but it is also becoming the definitive dictionary and the new "Strunk and White" manual. This is not necessarily bad as language will always grow and develop. The current norms of writing has developed from centuries of human experience in communication. This century, writing is developing as we factor technology into it. Technology is precise and has no room for imagination and analogies that we so endear.

2. I predict that there will be dramatic changes in how we write. Everything I learned and unlearned from Dr. Picart's class in college will be obsolete. The structure of an acceptable composition style will be changed. Keywords will be king and the Thesis statement will be extinct. And these changes are not in the hands anymore of the Anglo-American authors but will be directly influenced by SEO writers. Most of these are in BPO countries like India and the Philippines where labor is cheap. Anglo-American wordplay and figurative speech will be phased out by Philippine English and Indian English.

3. Information is becoming bait for marketing. As corporations learn the art of SEO, it will be used to bait users and even deceive. One may say that we can live without the ambiguity (like analogies, exaggeration, etc) in writing because it deceives the newspaper buyer. Today, we will get search results that are most optimized to the keywords we type but they are not necessarily the best or even correct information around. We should be prepared to this oncoming onslaught of optimized information meant to lure us to web sites even when it is not relevant except for a paragraph that meets our search criteria.

We should not also lose hope. Perhaps, this is just an iteration of technology and the next iterations will have smarter engines that are not only reading keywords to define relevance. Is Google working on this? Or is this an open opportunity for the next generation search engines?

More at http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/09/035205&from=rss

Btw, who is Dr. Picart? He is my college professor who made me realize how bad a writer I am. He is notorious in giving "F-minus" grades. My initial compositions were graded F but I finished the course with a C. It felt good to be two notches better in a language I rarely use before college. Nevertheless, he is one of the professors who made me realize that many people can be well-meaning without being nice.

Man for Others

2006-04-08T22:05:00.000+08:00

I've read the address of the executive director of Gawad Kalinga to the Ateneo students batch 2006. "Gawad Kalinga" is building homes for the poor all over the Philippines. Corporations and Individuals commit their time and money to build these houses. It is like Habitat for Humanity.

It is a moving speech and it acknowledges the migration of workers. He says "Wherever you are in the world, excel and prosper but remain connected to the motherland and dedicate your success to the fulfillment not just of your dreams but to the many in your country who have lost their capacity to dream."

As a Catholic country, we are overflowing with good deeds. We know our corporal acts of mercy from Grade 1. What I am worried is it enforces the feudalistic feature of our society. We have the lords helping the peasants. The peasants pay through their eternal gratitude. This neuters our countrymen. Many of the donors mean well. I am afraid that this act of charity will be degraded into solicitation and a reinforcement of a neo-feudalistic system.

Many of our countrymen break out of this cycle by working overseas where they realize their own economic capacity outside the Philippine System. I am afraid that our workers abroad will become just another class of lords. At the same time, I am hopeful that experience brought from abroad will enrich our motherland when our workers come back home and reintegrate into our society. And maybe, this will break the feudal system.

Personally, I think charity starts within one's family and closest relatives. Then, it extends to the neighborhood and to the outlying communities. But effective charity is a tricky endeavour. We are too busy with our own lives and finances that we are stuck with our own and our family's welfare. At these busy times, we need a moment of reflection and step back and look into our life and our faith. Perhaps we can readjust our objectives and apply the necessary course correction. Easter is around the corner and there is no better time to reflect as we are reminded of the great unburdening.

Pouring money into organizations that have a concrete plan of action is not a bad idea. Its success is easily measured. Gawad Kalinga is a practical approach to cover one of basic necessities in life: a home. I will not hesitate contributing to this project.

More of the speech at http://news.inq7.net/viewpoints/index.php?index=1&story_id=72026.

Things falling into place...

2006-04-07T20:59:00.000+08:00

HB is joining me here in Sydney!

filipino-aussie pleaded guilty to drug smuggling in HK

2006-04-03T17:31:00.000+08:00

It's shameful for a fellow Filipino (who is very lucky to have a brighter future in Australia than her compatriots back home) to be blinded by drug money. Have she seen the economic hopelessness her family saved her from when they moved to Australia?

Migrants should be reminded of their values and the sacrifices they or their parents made just to get a citizenship from another country. This only shows how insatiable and increasingly materialistic we have become. We are like moths blinded...

I agree with the Australian PM when he says that we should sympathize with the parents. But we should not symphatize with the drug smugglers who circulates the poison in our society. Furthermore, we must find the head of this scam.

Let's start the party...

2006-04-02T21:15:00.000+08:00

Today, I read in the news that the foremost labor union group in the Philippines is disgusted that contact center agents in Manila are paid less than their US counterparts. Contact centers exploit local labor in airconditioned offices. They also remark the drop in factory output because workers prefer to work in airconditioned contact centers than in factories (not to mention that contact center workers gets paid twice than factory workers).

I think the newspaper may have misquoted the labor union group. The lack of macroeconomic basis for the statement is startling. It is so stupid that it is not funny. It smells like ignorance.

We need a new political party in the Philippines with strong labor-based policies based on a strong doze of reality. I wonder if I can start a Philippine community on the web focused on informed policy-making... and later turn it into a political party once we vote on a body of policies PLUS a code of ethics (which the current parties don't have or enforce). Political Parties must be an association of ideals.

My Bet's on Social Networking

2006-04-01T00:20:00.000+08:00

I've been trying 43things.com and its sister sites. I had a strong feeling years ago that social (networking) software products will get you laid (as they put it)!

Now, I think that social networking will shape mergers and acquisition in the IT industry. Companies will buy each other to complement the user information that their products hold about us. This is because we (consumers) are becoming sophisticated. We want our information (about us and what we like) to be connected rather than disjointed. We want our Amazon.com purchase linked to our book reviews in our blogs. We also want our blog linked to other people's blogs on the same subject. We will create more information and we want our information organized (not limited). Furthermore, we want our information linked to others in a seemingly interdependent fashion. It is inherent for us to have the craving to "connect" to each other and build a community based on the information we hold. Unlike existing online communities, these communities are formed not because they subscribe to same services or providers. They will be formed because of common or related interests regardless of which web application you are using (or who owns the application).

The web of the future will spawn new industries beyond applications. Fun and novel applications today will be commoditized in the future. Networks today will merge and new types of value services and products will be created. This will happen because of consumer sophistication. This will be enabled by vendor-agnostic technologies ( e.g. RSS, XML, Web Services, IP, etc).

We will never have information overload (even if the body of information will multiply significantly). This is because information will be linked/related and classified with regards to all other information sources. This is the next game in the web space. Today, this body of knowledge is for the consumption of our friends, families and colleagues. In the future, Artificial Intelligence will not be in a microchip but in the organization of information on the Internet. Robots will have intelligence not because of microchips but because they can gather knowledge from the collective formed from the interrelationship of information on the world wide web. But that is another story...

Don't forget the HDTV Tuner!

2006-03-31T23:29:00.000+08:00

Now I am decided to get a 20” with Intel Dual Core Processor! I’ve been debating whether to get a Mac Mini or the iMac. It seems that for someone totally new to Apple (and have no spare keyboard, mouse or display), the iMac is the best option.

Note to Self: Don’t forget to get an HDTV Tuner! I’d like to be able to watch TV and even record TV. Then view them later using Front Row!

See more progress on: buy a 20" imac

Moved to Flickr

2006-03-20T18:58:00.000+08:00

DSC03389
Originally uploaded by MarkyRoo.

I moved my photos (mostly travel photos) to Flickr. Click on the picture to go to my flickr account.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves

2006-03-19T14:05:00.000+08:00

It's been years I have read a book. Recently, I finished reading "Eats, Shoots and Leaves". It's a nice book about the English punctuation system. It is fun and informative. It simply narrates, in lay man's terms, the basics of punctuation (and how we misuse them) and a bit of interesting history on how they have been developed.

At some parts, it is very funny. For example, it narrates about a "Strunkenwhite" virus that infects email clients and disallows any email to be sent out unless it is compliant with Strunk and White's English grammar handbook. Just imagine what you will do if your email client will prompt you: "Email cannot be sent. Your subject and verb don't agree".

I also now know who is Aldus in "Aldus Pagemaker" :-) He's the guy who made many of the punctuation marks part of mainstream publishing.

Punctuation, like language, is a growing and changing system. I think this book is a fun way to be updated with the trends in the punctuation system.

X-Ray Painting

2006-03-19T13:55:00.000+08:00

DSC04735
Originally uploaded by Markky.

Australian Aboriginal Art Painting is also called x-ray painting because it shows the skeletons of the subject. It is distinct from the other ancient paintings that I know of. They are colorful and have a lot of dots :-)

I bought one yesterday. Its never too early to buy souvenirs.

More about aboriginal art at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_art

Once upon a time, in a monitor far far away, there was a princess...

2006-03-13T18:20:00.000+08:00

DSC04708
Originally uploaded by Markky.

I like the TV Series "The Office". Its an exaggeration of the office social environment, but I'm not blogging about that.

I feel like taking photos and since I'm in the office most of the time, I tried to find some interesting subjects.

Click on the picture to go to my flickr page.

Sydney for 15 AUD

2006-01-22T17:38:00.000+08:00

DSC04657
Originally uploaded by Mark Bucayan.

A daytripper ticket is only 15 AUD. It pays for all the ferries, buses and trains for the whole day. Since Sydney's public transportation reaches to almost all parts of Sydney, it is a great way to go sight-seeing.

Miles is reminded how nice it is to live in Sydney. I agree with her. For me, it was a nice way to reboot for the weekend.

Click on the photo above to view the rest of the album.

Flickr

2006-01-09T14:24:00.000+08:00

Beginning December 2005, I have been uploading pictures to Flickr instead of my other Blogger blog. I figured out that its better in handling pictures. Im not sure if I will upload the rest of my pictures to Flickr (maybe I will if when I decide to subscribe to it and let it archive my pictures). I have a total of 2GB pictures on my Hard Disk already for the year 2005.

To view my Flickr photos, click on the cool flash on the right of this page.

Brunei Stopover

2006-01-06T16:07:00.000+08:00

DSC04456
Originally uploaded by Mark Bucayan.

Holiday's over! On my way back to Sydney, we had a 12 hour stopover in Brunei. We took advantage and joined a 3 hour tour. I posted the photos at flickr.

My New Gate

2005-12-27T12:59:00.000+08:00

DSC04067
Originally uploaded by Nomadic Mark.

I blogged several months ago about a gate design I saw on the Internet that I really liked. I printed it out and asked a local contractor in our province to copy it.

I am happy that the final product turned out perfect.

Exciting Bangkok!

2005-12-09T20:13:00.000+08:00

I just uploaded photos of our 3-day trip to Bangkok. If it were an appetizer, it surely made me crave for more.

In three days, we managed to visit these places:
1. Safari World - Lots of Animals... of course
2. Floating Market - As shown on TV
3. Kanchanaburi / Bridge on the River Kwai - This has its own movie ... :-) I've never been to the Corregidor in the Philippines were our WW2 Heroes battled it out against the Japanese... But I've been to Thailand's version of it!
4. Night Market and the Notorious Pat Pong
5. Sunday Flea Market

I will definitely go back to Bangkok someday... for now, back to work.

Something Useful

2005-11-23T15:12:00.000+08:00

I received a nice email today. I starred-out information private to the sender.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ******
Date: Nov 22, 2005 8:09 PM
Subject: Hermes + ActiveMQ demo
To: ******

Hi Mark,

thanks for the great demo of using Hermes with ActiveMQ, helped me out a lot! (http://activemq.codehaus.org/HermesAndActiveMQ.html )

Kind regards,

********

**** / Information Services / Application Management / WebSphere Competence Centre
********
******** Amsterdam

The economics of haggling

2005-11-13T10:27:00.000+08:00

We spent around 30 minutes to ask for a lower price for a digital camera battery from 160 MYR. It is a savings of 10 MYR (about 3 USD). If I spend my work days haggling and save 6 USD per hour, I would have saved 48 USD per day. USD 48 is very good in the Asian context. It is even better than a Call Center job.

The caveat is that we do our shopping on our leisure time and we have to consider it as over time work. Also, we don't really haggle in massive quantity so it might not be really cost effective.

Weekend Routine

2005-10-30T14:42:00.000+08:00

I went to the mall again this afternoon. This is becoming a weekly
routine for me. I go to the grocery and the department store to buy
provisions.

I had my hair cut for 20 AUD. In Manila, my haircut will cost me only
5 AUD and that is full service already (including shampoo). There are
10 AUD haircut but most of them are closed on a Sunday here in where I
stay. Only the salon in the malls are open.

My friend (who is now in the US) recommended his old friend's Salon in
Fairfield. The name's Bhajune. Perhaps I'll visit that salon next
time.

Also, I bought my first ever wine today. I thought I might upgrade
from Beer :-) My office friend recommended that I get a Penfold
Chiraz to start with. They say wine is healthier so I hope I acquire
the habit.

Another weekend, and it set me back almost 150 AUD! The cost of
living here still surprises me until now.