Monday, December 24, 2007

Dementia

Sigh. My grandfather had a mini stroke last year and it left him blind in one eye as well as decreased his mental acuity; he now has trouble finding some words to communicate. The day before I arrived home for the holidays, my grandfather was admitted to the ICU of the hospital because they, my grandmother and mother, feared my grandfather had another stroke. I don't know what makes a stroke a mini and I don't know what made them fear that my grandfather had another one but I do know that my grandfather looked pretty wasted away when I saw him in the hospital.


He is eighty-four years old and is suffering from delusions that my grandmother might be looking for another man. He is throwing tantrums when only my grandmother is there with him and sometimes even trying to choke her although at his age he doesn't have the strength to do so. My mother, a neurologist, tells my grandmother that you can't just tell him it's so silly to think that way. "It's the disease talking," she says.


I don't know what to do.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

PSP Pdf Reading


I'm sad to say that I can't get Bookr Pdf Reader to work on my psp but I used PDF Tools to convert pdfs into images then use irfanview to do a batch rename as well as increasing the jpg compression rate. The batch rename is needed because PDF Tools creates image files without left zero padding and this might change the order of viewing the images.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

My Daemon From the Golden Compass site!



Desra. She's my daemon. She's modest, shy, solitary, spontaneous and fickle. I wanted a dog. A bulldog. Or a grizzly bear. *sigh*.

Friday, November 30, 2007

The Day After Trillanes Stormed The Manila Peninsula Hotel




I don't know if that's real smoke. And I don't know where those buildings are.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Basic Math

I can't believe what happened to me last night. I don't know what caused it but I suspect the framework I'm using at work is to blame.

I went to CDR King to buy some blank dvds and asked how much would twenty-five of those cost me. The girl at the counter said they were priced at twelve pesos each so I struggled to calculate it and ended up with six hundred pesos. Damn it. Counter-girl then told me they didn't have any stack less than fifty pieces so I told her to go ahead and get them for me.

I held three five-hundred peso bills as the girl rang up my order because I thought I was going to shell out a thousand and two hundred for the stuff. Everything was totaled and my bill was at six hundred pesos. I embarrassingly pocketed my extra bill.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Neat Questions

From necramirez:

questions sa client (U.S.) interview via phone:

CompSci questions!

1) Given an array of integers of length N, you know that the values are unique and belong to the range 0..N, where one number is missing (0..N is N+1 numbers). Provide a solution to determine the missing number and what is its running time.

2) Given a 2xN grid, provide a solution to determine the number of possible ways to arrange 1x2 tiles to cover the entire grid.

3) Design Problem: You are able to accept different forms of input (XML via Web Service, plain string, XML via HTTP request) and should likewise be able to output in different formats (HTTP Response, Web Service Response, e-mail). Describe how you will set-up the application such that it will be easy to add new forms of input and output.


I will try and solve these later when I have the time. In the meantime, feel free to post your solutions.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Interviewing Developers

Joel Spolsky writes a very interesting guide (The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing (version 3.0)) on how to interview candidates properly to find out the best hire for a developer position. I've only recently been able to test applicants for our company but only as a peer level test. I haven't interviewed any of them other than viewed their resumes and the results of the interviews of managers.

Most of the candidates failed the Java and SQL proficiency tests but our company is desperate so I made up some small problems for them to try and solve. I made them write a program that would use a loop to display the following:

*
**
***
****
*****

I then asked them to rewrite that loop to display:

*****
 ****
  ***
   **
    *

Next, they were asked to take the last triangle and count the number of asterisks per line. Lastly, they were asked to sort the number of asterisks into ascending order.

I'm very surprised that no one was able to ace the exam and only two had some competent solutions to the first and third problems. Those two might have just been copying each other's work.

We ended up hiring one of the two who were able to answer some of the test. I'm hoping it's not a bad decision.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Nodame Cantabile


It's a live Japanese Television series. It's funny and awesome. Check it out.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

The Approaching Storm

Manila Bay under "Kabayan" Tropical Storm.

Ye ole pen case thingy

... out of old diskettes.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Fairy Tales and Their Dark Pasts


I'm a subscriber to www.straightdope.com and I'm amazed what Cecil, the author can dig up. This piece about fairy tales and their earlier and darker versions just give me the creeps. I mean, necrophilia and cannibalism? Whoa. Pic from the article.

Internet Explorer

Alright, which one of you guys accessed my blog using IE? I feel so dirty.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Manila Bay


From Marina.

Holloween


SM Centerpoint Hollow's Eve Toys.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

@#$%%^*@#@#$!!!

ABS-CBN Interactive: Arroyo Pardons Erap

There is no justice here in the Philippines.

There are frameworks and there are frameworks

I just want to rant about the current framework I'm using. I'm not that experienced in Struts or Hibernate or any other framework so I really can't compare but the framework I'm currently using is so shitty it makes me want to just give up and die.
To add a new DOM element you have to revamp everything. It's not just attaching a new object, you have to rewrite all data validation rules that happen to affect that object. I wish I could just attach it to the DOM then specify some rules. What happens is I attach it then give some dos and don'ts for the data then I check what other stuff happen to be affected. Argh, I think this rant is going to be spread out in a lot more posts. I can't write coherently what I think is wrong and what should be done to correct it.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Friday, September 7, 2007

Politicians and their stunts

Here's an article from Inquirer.net titled "Another solon joins fights against online pornography." *sigh*.


Here's an excerpt:
Legarda has filed Senate Bill 1375 which hopes to impose stricter penalties on online smut. Under the bill, people found peddling child pornography and other "indecent materials" online would be punished with up to six years in prison or fined as much as P500,000, or both.
What these people have against pornography I don't know. I can understand a stance against child porn and human trafficking but being against all forms of pornography is just stupid. The bill even just singles out online porn and doesn't restrict other forms of pornography.

Here's another gem:

"The decision of Boy Bastos to close down its electronic gallery of Filipino women and girls indicates guilt, and that its administrator is fearful of the potential legal consequences of the (site's) lewd materials," Santiago said.

Idiot. Circular logic must really do wonders for this Catanduanian Representative. I bet he'd deduce the non-existence of gravity because clouds don't fall from the sky.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Randori training: Jerrold Tubay vs Me

Here's a video of Jerrold Tubay and me doing randori. As you will see, I still have a hard time against him. It's been over a year since I last trained so I'm really slow on reacting.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Funny!



Gang Kidnaps Gamer

"An armed gang of four kidnapped one of the world's top RPG gamers after one criminal's girlfriend lured him into a fake date using Orkut, ...". Here's the link. It's so strange.

Boot up Windows before you even log in

Here's the link. With this new discovery, I don't have to log in to get my start up programs to finish up; I can now turn my pc on and get my morning cup of coffee and have my pc ready for work when I get back.

Simpsons Spiderpig!

Spider pig! Spider pig. Spider pig!


Happy Pi Approximation Day!

22/7!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Youtube Comment

Weird, I tried entering a comment on the "Thriller" youtube video but the comment was rejected because "it had a URL or email address." Here's a screenshot (click for bigger):

Filipino Inmates Perform Thriller

From the video's description: "1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice! This is not the final routine, and definitely not a punishment! just a teaser."

Family Guy 300 Trailer

This so rocks!

Finally Smart Bro Responds

After a week of calls and another week of emails, I'm getting some help from Smart Bro. They just called me to check my connection and they said that they'll be watching the base station I'm connected to for more problems. I really hope they get my speed up or at least back to what it was like on June and previous months.

Wizards That Could Kick Harry Potter's Ass

Here's the link. [Spoiler] The Microsoft Internet Connection Wizard part really cracked me up.

Email posting

This is so cool, now I can post whenever I can't access the internet from a pc. I used mobile gmail from my N73 to post the previous post by the way.

Test: posting thru mobile email.

Woot!

Smart Bro (DSL) Sucks So Much

I HATE SMART BRO! Now they're refusing to answer my emails about my complaints of intermittent and slow (80 kbps; thats kilo bits, not bytes, per second). I get about a total of two hours of connection in a day and at a very slow speed at that. I wonder what happened to my connection because a month ago it was working fine. I had an average sustained speed of 384kbps and I was loving it. Now, I get zip.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass Trailer

Looks cool.





Stars Eva Green, too. It'll be nice to see more of her, again.

XKCD Rollercoaster

I've always been a big fan of xkcd since I stumbled it a few months ago and the rollercoaster comic really cracked me up. Here's a link to pics of people actually doing what the comic suggested. Check it out here. It's about riding a rollercoaster while "playing" chess.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Being Owned



This is my second randori match of the day and this is against Jed Araneta(?). God I wish I didn't stop training a year ago.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Heroes vs Watchmen

I've been recently reading the Watchmen graphic novels and I've seen some remarkable parallels between it and the Heroes television series. Sylar's watchmaking past and the New York holocaust are but a few.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Randori


Jerrold vs Niphi. Randori Training. Not that exciting but should evoke some memories from old Phoenix members. Note the new/different mats.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Back to training after a year


God I need to slim down. I'm the one in the white gi.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Smart Bro technical support sucks

Stupid Smart Bro technical support. I was at work and I had my girlfriend who was at home to re complain about the loss of my home internet connection. They made her look up stuff and found out something about my local IP address was wrong. Their solution? They told my girlfriend to upgrade my OS. What the fuck?!? Aside from the OS having no bearing on what my IP address is because I obtain my address automatically from the router antenna they installed, they have the nerve to tell me that I need to upgrade my Windows XP?!? They should be shot, stoned, flayed, and burned alive.

I called the support line myself and made my feelings on their response very clear. Now they tell me that my antenna may not be pointing to the base station; they think it might have been messed with somehow. My theory is those damn cats always running on my roof are to blame. Now, if those idiots at Smart just said something like this before then it would have saved me some time to get it fixed.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Vacation + new Phone!

Last week had training at Sun Microsystems. Also got new phone. Mom bought it for me.

The training sucked. I already knew the basics of Java. The only good things I got from it were the changes in version 5. I have the feeling that I was only sent to the training so that my company can tie me down using a bond.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Monty Python LotR

Ala Monty Python script for Lord of the Rings.

Conan's Speech

Conan O'Brian's Harvard commencement speech.

Friday, April 13, 2007

My Sister

Joshua Bell plays as street musician

What would happen if one of the most brilliant violinists in the world played in a street corner. Would people stop and listen or just ignore him? I just loved this article.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Yahoo hacked?



Here's what I found when i tried to access mail.yahoo.com.






<?PHP
ini_set('display_errors', 0);
$data = yahoo_reg_login_setup();

if ( $data === FALSE )
{
exit();
}
else if ( ! isset( $data['DISPLAY_FORM'] ) )
{
error_log( "yahoo_reg_login_setup didn't set the DISPLAY_FORM field" );
header( "Location: http://login.yahoo.com/");
exit();
}

$tstname = @$data['.testname'];
$src = @$data['.src'];
$partner = @$data['.partner'];
$intl = @$data['.intl'];

// This is a hack put in place so that persistancy files are
// picked from the regular html directory.
// yinst packaging didn't allow for the multiple links to be created
// with one single command.
if($tstname == "tst_pst") {
$tstname = "";
}

// Adding support for pkg using PHP
if(($data['pkg'] != null) && ($data['pkg'] != "" ))
{
$data['.abs_path'] = "/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${intl}_shrkwp";
$res=include("/home/y/share/pear/Yahoo/reg/logic/shrkwp.inc");
}

// Adding support for .partner via PHP
// If both .src and .partner are present, and .src=ym, then .src takes
// precedence, else .partner takes precedence. - Aanchal, Bug #368481
// Please note that if in future, a more complicated pprecednce has to
// be added, the priorityMap array from propTemplate.inc.ros and
// header.inc.ros should be used.
// Disabling the src=ym precedence over the partner user as ym is not
// converted in intls like ca and cf and users end up seeing the older
// login_verify page for ym. It is better if we show them the partner
// branding. - bug # 652617
//else if(($src != null) && ($src != "") && ($src == "ym"))
//{
//$data['.abs_path'] = "/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${tstname}/${intl}_${src}";
//$res=include("/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${tstname}/${intl}_${src}/login/${data['DISPLAY_FORM']}");
//}
else if(($partner != null) && ($partner != ""))
{
$data['.abs_path'] = "/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${tstname}/${intl}_${partner}";
$res=include("/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${tstname}/${intl}_${partner}/login/${data['DISPLAY_FORM']}");
}
else if(($src != null) && ($src != ""))
{
$data['.abs_path'] = "/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${tstname}/${intl}_${src}";
$res=include("/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${tstname}/${intl}_${src}/login/${data['DISPLAY_FORM']}");
}
else
{
$data['.abs_path'] = "/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${tstname}/${intl}";
$res=include("/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${tstname}/${intl}/login/${data['DISPLAY_FORM']}");
}

// This check is put in place to avoid showing a blank login page
// when some test is set in common_login.conf and that test package is not
// installed on the machine.
// Ideally this should not happen. - Aanchal, Feb 3, 2005
// Bug # 305858
if($res != '1')
{
$data['.abs_path'] = "/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${intl}";
include("/home/y/share/htdocs/idaho/php/${intl}/login/${data['DISPLAY_FORM']}");
}
?>


Saturday, March 31, 2007

Recent Internet Connection

Sigh. I was so excited to have my new internet connection and I find out that the router used by the ISP isn't compatible with any peer to peer applications. Some problems about NAT configuration or some such. I tried searching the net for help but it seems that my ISP is on a list of bad ISPs that don't support P2P stuff. Sigh, again. I'm just gonna finish my contract with my current ISP, which is Smart Bro (or Smart Bro(ken) according to some), to Globe Telecom. PLDT myDSL is about the same as Smart Bro in that it doesn't support port forwarding or NAT thingies or whatever.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Fast Thinking Girlfriend

My girlfriend got hit by a motorcycle while she was making a u-turn in Ortigas from C5. The bike had two guys aside from the driver. My girlfriend got their license plate number and cellphone number, too. After they had a lot of peeks inside my girlfriend's car (and found out she was alone, I bet) they started acting and demanded that my girlfriend should pay for the hospital bills. She should pay for the driver being injured and not be able to drive anymore, they said. The passengers couldn't drive either so they should be driven in her car, they added. Good thing my girlfriend is a fast thinker and she excused herself quickly and got in the car. I think that when they saw that she was alone, they decided to pull a fast one on her and have her take them to a more secure location (for them). Good thing my phone got stolen last week. If that is the price to pay for getting my girlfriend to be more wary of strangers then I'd gladly pay.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Acceptance

*Sigh*. I'm starting to feel a bit better. I was very angry and depressed because of the theft of my phone but now I'm moving into the acceptance phase. I'm still a bit crazy and I want to get a credit card just so I can buy the newest and hottest phone in the market even though I can't afford it.

My stolen phone was a Nokia N73 Music Edition. I miss it a lot.

I'm going to have my phone blacklisted. Here in the Philippines, it's little known that blacklisting of phones is possible. You have to mail some forms and ID copies to the NTC and you better make sure you have the IMEI sticker of the stolen phone.

The bastards who stole my phone even had the nerve to send out SMS's to my contacts asking for money. I hope they live long lives stripped of all hope and joy. I curse them to live without purpose and to die without being remembered.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

My Phone Got Stolen!

Dammit all to hell! My phone got stolen! I'm riding this jeepney (see philippines, jeepney) and I notice my phone's gone. I check My pocket and suddenly these two guys say they saw someone go down at the previous gas station. I'm a bit addled and so I get off the jeepney. After a few moments I realize I've been had. I remember the other guy spat out the jeepney and supported himself on my knee. He probably set it up for the guy next to me to feel out my phone in my pants. Probably desensitized me to my phone in my pocket. Dammit! That phone was worth about 1 month and a half's salary without deductions! I've been using it for a only a month!

Friday, February 2, 2007

Last Question

And here's Asimov's The Last Question.

Meat

Heard about this great short story by Terry Bison about meat?

Shockwave


Taken from Here.

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Ender's Game, The Movie

    I just finished reading the opening part of Ender's Game's script. (Whew, I don't know how many grammar rules I broke in writing the previous sentence.) The script read great for me, I particularly enjoyed reading about Rackham's victory.
    I remember when I first read the book when I was in high school. I devoured the book overnight, finishing in the wee hours of the morning. The book was straightforward and never dull. It also reminded me a bit of what I wanted to be: a kid genius. Living in a very competitive high school with underachieving tendencies almost got me flunked out but reading that story made me feel a little better, though I don't know why.
    Come on, Hollywood! Finish the movie! It's been years!
    Wow, this is the longest post I've ever made.

    Credit for the link goes to necramirez.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Awesome photos

Here's the link.

Ugly, gross, and disgusting

I hope you haven't had lunch yet.

Homemade gifts

This guy is a riot. He thinks up some crazy gift stuff. I especially love the new ending part.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Eherm
















Look closer. Those of you who can understand Tagalog might understand this.

My new frigging glasses!

Damnit! My new lenses are screwing up how my glasses fit on my face. I try to bend it a little bit here and there but it just keeps making my face screwy! Arrgh.

Idiot woman tries to blame Squirrelmail developer for her ISP problems

Friday, January 26, 2007

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Etiquette

After sex etiquette.

Blu-ray

How Blu-Ray encryption was defeated.

Sorry

I haven't been able to surf the net much today. Maybe tomorrow.

Popsci

Weird things scientists are experimenting with these days, from popsci.

First Post!

Welcome delvers of the net! This is my first post and this marks my first venture into sharing my discoveries from social networking and other link heavy sites to you, dear reader.

And here is the first link the Penny Arcade comic strip.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

New Transformers Pics




















Above is a sample from their site which is linked to here.








Good luck.

http://captionthis.com/pictures/660.102217.jpg



Taken from http://captionthis.com/pictures/660.102217.jpg.





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Can't Find Original Link

Heard of Lazy Sunday? I'm looking for the site where I got the link to the video from. It's not from The Lonely Island Website nor is it from Andy Samberg's unofficial site. Anyway, here's the referrer URL for Lazy Sunday.





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