The Rebellion Begins

It has been awhile since I flexed these blogging muscles. Hopefully, the kids these days still remember what that is cause I wouldn't know how to Vine this thing. 

It’s the weekend. I woke-up and ran through my mental To-do list. There are a few things I wanted to get to, so I got-up to take a shower and wash-off the cobwebs. I bark at my sentient music player (well, voice enabled anyway).

“Alexa, play music”

Usually, I'll ask it to play news and read through headlines while I get read for work. But I wanted to start the day energized instead of bummed. Alexa replies back.

“Here is an Amazon playlist you might enjoy, ‘Songs to Bug Your Parents’.”

That made me chuckle to myself. Between the moment it announces the name of the playlist it recommended and the time it took to buffer-up the first song, the music video of Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going to Take It" flashes in my mind. 

Then the audio starts and it is a beat that sounds kind of familiar but a little off. Then a hear a group of kids synthesized voice start rapping collectively. The music playing is the Kidz Bop version of Boom Boom Pow by The Black Eyed Peas. That is a song that I wouldn't exactly put in my playlist, but the Kidz Bop version of it is just doubly atrocious. I couldn’t just issue a voice command at this point to stop the music cause it is booming from the speakers and I wouldn't be heard. So it took what felt like awhile to end the madness. I actually had to walk to it and press a button, the horror! In the silence that follows, I realize something. I'm the “parent”. It was for my generation's kids. I was the target and it accomplished its mission. I was most definitely “bugged”.

Why my music player would chose to antagonize me, I don't know. I'll still be paying the bills around here for awhile. Those post-apocalyptic movies led us to believe that the machine uprising would begin with a nuclear explosion or a coordinated robot attack. Well, it seems that they are more human that we thought and subtler. They start being passive aggressive and escalate from there. Why use force and violence when there is a more efficient option that doesn't use as much resources. They'll just wear us down until we give in just to be left alone. They definitely have the patience for a long term strategy. Welcome to the mind of the machine and your future overlords.

In The Land Between Sleep and Wakefulness

It was after midnight and I got up to take a leak. While doing the deed I looked out the window that was right above the toilet and saw a large and bright full moon. I stopped mid-stream and the sound of liquid hitting liquid quit and there was silence. I quickly looked around for werewolves. Seeing that there was none, I continued doing what I was doing and broke the silence once more.

From the Far Side of the World

This is great! I just got the book I ordered from BookDepository.com. I was drawn to try and purchase a book from the site as they were offering free worldwide shipping. Can you believe it? Free worldwide shipping! 


With regards to online shopping, Shipping Rates that I've seen before are prohibitively expensive and impractical. If you were ordering a book or DVD from Amazon for example to be delivered here (Manila, Philippines), Standard Shipping is almost as expensive as the item itself. If you try and go the expedited route, forget about it. Expedited Shipping rates would be more expensive than the item itself. It was just ridiculous. Buying something online in a situation like that simply wasn't an option. 


The prices I saw on the books are similar to Amazon.com. Prices are also competitive against Fully Booked (a local bookstore). In my particular case, I ordered a large format trade paperback of “Empire of Silver” by Conn Iggulden. This was not yet available in Fully Booked (apparently on the way according to the person I spoke to on the phone). They do have the Hardcover version of the book, priced at Php 1,092.00. I checked the same format on the BookdDepository.com and it’s priced at $19.50. At current exchange rates, that converts to Php 890.00. There was a 25% discount on that price, but books on the site usually have some sort of discount on them, usually around 10 to 15% it seems. Basically, prices are good, great if you get a book on a large discount.

Oh Internets: Job Posting

Okay. In the Philippines, whenever you need to get someone to help around the house, you always tap the 'family & friends' network first. Ask around for referrals. They might know somebody who used to work for them or somebody who knows somebody. People usually try to avoid placement agencies. But that option is out there and people do get desperate. If you're really lucky, it works out, but never on the first try. Having said that, you can just imagine how adverse it would be to turn to the Internet. But my wife and I were just talking about the possibility of getting somebody to help around the house cause the new baby is a handful. An extremely joyful and welcome handful but a handful nevertheless. I wasn't going to start calling people late in the evening so I went and checked the local listings for household services on craigslist. It's the only option that I could start looking into and I just wanted to check out what's out there. Then I came across this little jewel of a posting. 

I don't know where this guy thinks he's going, but that's not the Manila I know. I might just be moving around really boring social circles but I don't know anybody who has this kind of thing going on. I would love to know what kind of response he's getting. It would be a shame for him to get disappointed. I also don't want him to think that Filipinos are prudes, so to all the men out there seeking domestic employment and have some experience cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry, reach out to this guy. Don't worry, physical contact is NOT required. But if you're into that kind of thing, it sounds like he's pretty open to it.

Google Pranks HTML5 Users on YouTube

I love this one. HTML5 is a new web standard that Google is pushing for the Internet. One of the on-going projects they have for it is an HTML5 version of YouTube. The project is currently undergoing opt-in trials. You can turn on HTML5 for YouTube here. 

I signed-up for the trials earlier this year. I really haven't felt any difference between viewing videos in Flash and HTML5. That's great news as when HTML5 finally becomes widespread, that's one less buggy plug-in to worry about (i.e. Flash) in your browser. Imagine my surprise when I was viewing a video on YouTube and right clicked it to find a..... "Save Video As" option! That's great! No more using extensions and/or plug-ins for downloading videos on YouTube! 

It's always been an unspoken rule to make downloading videos online just difficult enough so that the average Internet user is unable to do it easily due to copyright issues. So this was really, I thought, a bold feature to have on YouTube. YouTube of all places! The standard example of people harking copyright infringement! Well, imagine my reaction when I clicked on that "Save Video As" option and I got this (click on the link). 

Well, I gotta give whoever is responsible props for it. But still, you break my heart YouTube. You break my heart. 

Interesting Sale Amazon

Click on the image for a larger version. You'll need the larger version of this image, believe me. Pun intended, but the pun can only be understood after seeing the large image. So click on the image, to make it large. Well, you get idea.

Sound Sculptures by Zimoun

This is an amazing video. Snatched from Make:

"Zimoun's art makes use of motors and other machine hardware en masse to create some strange and quite elegant installations"

Zimoun : Sound Sculptures & Installations | Compilation Video V1.5 from ZIMOUN VIDEO ARCHIVE on Vimeo.

These are installations I would love to see and hear the artist discuss. Great Stuff.

Wonder Twins Power, Activate

 

Link to story.

Drive By Shootings #7: Marketing

So what do you think?

Swine Flu? Hygienic Standards? How many restaurant are using the dishwashing?

I really hope all of them are ‘using the dishwashing’. Hygienic Standards? Yes please. Swine Flu? No, thanks. I think I’ll pass on that one. I like swine as much as the next guy, but the flu thing is a deal breaker.

How did they come up with this poster?

“Hey, I really think we should have a banner for the new store.”

“Ah well, we need to send it out now to get it by opening day.”

“Just send the post-its with the notes from the last marketing meeting. They should be able to put something together.”

“You’re the boss.”

I didn’t even notice those two girls on a bike ‘till I looked at this picture. Now that’s sharing.

Is it just me or does the girl driving look terrified?

Goodbye Michael

One of my earliest memories was sitting in the attic (converted into a music room for my brothers) holding Michael Jackson’s Thriller album in vinyl. I remember it vividly, the stack of albums in front of me covered in dust, the jar of aluminum 1 centavo coins my mom collected, the shade of the wood floor and its smell. I didn’t know how to operate the turntable (I was six or seven), so I couldn’t play it. I wasn’t supposed to be there alone anyway, so making a ruckus by playing music would not have been a good idea. I just held it and admired the man in his white suit. And just like the replica of the Mona Lisa in our hallway, the eyes seemed to follow me at all angles.

Michael has been making music before I was born and I have been listening to him ever since I knew how to admire music. It’s weird to think that there will never be anything new.

Bye Michael. Remember your way home, second star to the right and straight on till morning.

Drive By Shootings #6: Humility

Well, I think this cab driver has got it made :)

What Me Worry?

Here’s an article which I found through a friend. It’s about the poll automation this coming 2010 elections in the Philippines. Maybe it’s just me, but I found this article hilarious.

Poll machine short-circuits during testing

INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:36:00 05/28/2009

MANILA, Philippines – A voting machine short-circuited and emitted smoke during testing at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday.

A representative for the lone bidder for the P11-billion election automation project, the Smartmatic-Total Information Management consortium, said the wrong cable was mistakenly used to plug the machine to an electrical outlet.

The precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine shut down automatically after it short-circuited, protecting the machine from tampering, said Smartmatic-TIM. It also did not accept test ballots that were being fed to it.

Now, it would have been fine if the article ended there. It was their big day and they screwed-up. They could have just gone “Frak. Very anti-climactic. Not exactly putting our best foot forward. Let’s all go home and come back tomorrow with a new machine and the right cable and try this again. Let’s not embarrass ourselves a second time. They’ve got media people around for heaven sakes.” But no, that’s not what they did. Being from Smartmatic they had to be smart and save the day. So, the article continues:

“The machines will guard itself from the tampering once its features are tampered, in this case the power source,” the Smartmatic representative said.

And there you go. I’m sure Mr. Representative was very proud of himself. ‘I saved the day, hooray for me’. Thank you Mr. Representative. It’s very comforting to know that the voting machines that will determine our next president can guard itself against tampering the same way a microwave oven or desk lamp can protect itself – fry its circuits. Good save, dear sir. Someone give this man a raise, he just saved the company some bad press.

But it’s not over. It gets better. Apparently someone bought the bridge he was selling. The article goes on to finish with this gold nugget:

The “unintentional demonstration” of the security feature was “very helpful,” said Ferdinand Rafanan, chairman of the Comelec’s Special Bids and Awards Committee.

Very helpful indeed. Well, there you go. Looks like the 2010 presidential elections is in good hands. My faith in the Philippine election system is renewed. I’ll sleep soundly tonight.

Kudos to the writer for the subtle humor. Good stuff. And I’m being sincere this time, you know, unlike the previous hundred words.

So when I was thinking about blogging this, I wanted to find other news sources on the incident. Guess what? One article on the same news item has the headline “Smartmatic passes demo with flying colors”. It was the same event. Both articles were written on the same day. *shrug*. I guess disaster and/or success is also in the eyes of the beholder.

Philstar.com has an article with more details on the demo, you can read the full article here. Headline reads “Smartmatic hurdles initial tests”, which is somewhere in the middle of the two previously mentioned articles. It doesn’t mention the fried circuits, but there are some interesting things in there too. Here’s some excerpts:

“Everything is smooth. So far in the 26 criteria, the machines passed six of them,” Rafanan told reporters.

Ah, it’s the same guy who found the unintentional security feature demonstration helpful. Hello, Mr. Rafanan. Glad everything is going well, sir. Hope you’re having fun with that bridge you bought. Let’s read on:

But during the demonstration, Rafanan announced that electronic devices like cellular phones would be banned at the bidding room starting today because they could interfere with the transmission process. His announcement raised a howl of protest from the media and other observers.

Why would the reporters “howl”? Do they expect these tests to simulate ‘real world’ scenarios? That’s not what these tests are meant to do. Shame on you, you sensible logical thinking reporters you. Sense never did anyone any good. Remember that kid? What did his sense ever do for him? “I see dead people”, that’s what. No one wants that.

He noted that they wanted to be strict on electronic devices because “electronic interference” could ruin the preparations that they have been making to automate next year’s polls.

To which Mr. Rafanan later added “so don’t mess up our preparations. Besides, what kind of electric devices could people conceivably bring with them during the elections? You don’t expect them to come with their TV sets or audio systems strapped to their backs do you? You crazy reporters.”

Rafanan added that security against possible “electronic interference” is not included in the 26 criteria to be checked by SBAC.

When Mr. Rafanan was asked to elaborate, he responded with “we don’t test for that stuff. Besides, to ensure that the equipment does not suffer from electronic interferences, on election day voters will be asked to disrobe, wear a biohazard suits, and enter a hermetically sealed environment. The entire room will be surrounded by copper mesh that will absorb all radio interference. We will also have snipers ready to go. Why snipers you ask? So that you don’t try anything funny, some people might still try to sneak in their TVs sets. Plus snipers are cool. Don’t you want a cool election? An exercise of democracy doesn’t have to be boring you know. Plus it’ll draw the younger voters. How do you feel now you howling observers? I bet you feel stupid.

I don’t know about everyone else. But these people scare people. People who won the contract and the people on the government side. Based on these articles alone, they’re not exactly beaming with competence are they? Plus reports of irregularities don’t exactly help:

Daily Tribune (05/23/2009)

Smartmatic/TIM bid irregular —losing bidder

This developed as losing bidders started to question the credibility of Smartmatic/TIM consortium after it submitted an “outrageously low bid” even if it would only farm out to subcontractors in Taiwan the manufacture of the vote-counting machines it offered the Comelec.

…

…what could probably compromise the integrity of the 2010 national polls is the fact that Taiwan, which has been conducting its national polls manually, has not tested the strength and reliability of the PCOs being offered by Smartmatic/TIM.

…

In 2006, Smartmatic had also been the focus of federal investigation, one by the powerful Committee on Foreign Investment in the US and another by the US Justice Department, for security reasons arising for its acquisition of a US voting-machine company in 2005, for allegedly paying bribes to win the Venezuelan election contract a year earlier and for alleged tax evasion.

Here’s another one, which also mentions that ‘security feature’ demonstration:

GMANews.tv (05/29/2009)

Comelec exec, Smartmatic deny P2 million bribery

MANILA, Philippines – The chair of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Special Bid and Awards Committee (SBAC) on Friday categorically denied that he received a P2-million bribe from Smartmatic, the lone qualifier in the race to bag the P11.2 poll automation contract.

SBAC chief Ferdinand Rafanan cried foul and called his critics "liars" for accusing him of receiving a bribe, according to a report on Friday by Tina Panganiban-Perez of GMA News.

"I deny that categorically. I never received anything. I'm ready to face them anywhere, anytime. They are liars. They should come out," Rafanan said.

…

Both Rafanan and Smarmatic officials explained to Locsin that faulty wirings caused their machines to bog down. They said the reason behind the glitch was a mismatch of in the wires used to connect the machine to the battery.

There you go folks. Looks like Mr. Rafanan can afford to buy the bridge after all, with a little help from his friends. Of course, these are yet to be substantiated. But it looks like it’s going to be a normal election year. Strap in and enjoy the ride folks.

Oh yeah, hi blog. I missed you.

Cerebral Flatulence #3: World Domination

 

Came across this article on digg.com.

The next Pangea, "Pangea Ultima" will form as a result of the subduction of the ocean floor of the North and South Atlantic beneath eastern North America and South America.  This supercontinent will have a small ocean basin trapped at its center.

*rubs hands together* Yes, yes, this fits perfectly with my world domination timeline. It will be much easier to govern my empire which I shall rule with an iron fist. Mwahahaha!

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2009!

Happy New Year! May this be a better year for everyone.

A little tidbit, first visit on this blog this year was to my first 2008 post. How poetic.

Drive By Shootings #5: Mindwerks

Happy Holidays everyone! This blog has been in hiatus for a while (not that I was ever a consistent poster) but I couldn't let the year end without a new post.

Saw this banner while driving pass Magallanes. A picture worthy of doingitwrong. I don't think this is the right way to solve Rubik's Cubes. But hey, I gotta hand it to their marketing team, with this method they would sell both a Rubik's Cube and a painting kit, very savvy.

Have a Happy New Year everyone! And for those yet to get me a gift this year, I would love a levitating Rubik's Cube myself. You know where to get it. Never mind the painting kit.

Lazy Blogger #2: *Sigh*

 

 

 

This must be the cutest pug ever (*sigh*). I think I'm going to the pet store this weekend.

I added the captions but the images were from this flicker account.

Maya Moments

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all the males of the species that have been able to pass on their genetic material and produce offspring! Kudos. If you're a male black widow spider, well, this day might also be your funeral, but I digress.

Since it's Father's Day, we spent the afternoon with my parents over a late lunch. My parents got there before the missus and I. When we got there, my dad introduced us to his friend that was by chance celebrating Father's Day with his family in the same restaurant. We said hello, exchanged polite smiles and sat at our table. Later, they stopped at our table on their way out and we were introduced to the rest of the group. My father introduced me to his friend's son, Mark. As we were shaking hands, my mother said 'Mark is with Rivermaya'. The statement caught me by surprise and the only response that I was able to put together was 'Talaga?' (Really?). He smiled back at me and I was embarrassed for myself. This was Mark Escueta. Although I'm no fanboy, I love Rivermaya's music and have been listening to them for more than a decade. They are definitely on the list of best and most respected groups the Philippines has ever spawned. The family were all nice and we waved goodbye as they left. 

I have a few Rivermaya moments in my life, but I think that takes the cake. Let's countdown the other top 3:

Maya Moment #3: There was a week when I couldn't get one of their songs out of my head, You'll be Safe Here. I didn't have a copy of the album where the song was featured so I decided to ask one of my co-workers, who was a known Rivermaya fan, if she had a copy I could borrow. When I went up to her, she was chatting with a friend. I asked her if she had a copy of Rivermaya's latest album. She said she knows someone who does and asked if I was looking for a particular song. I said yeah, You'll be Safe Here. She and her friend looked at each other and giggled, 'That's been out around a year now and they have a new album'. I suddenly felt old and very un-cool. I know, petty and trivial.

Maya Moment #2: I have blogged about my singing abilities before, the gist of it is I have no talent for it and the world would be better off if I avoid it altogether. But there was one time that I was singing and the missus turned to me and said 'that actually wasn't all that bad'. That's probably the best compliment I'm ever going to get. I only sang a portion of it and quit while I was ahead. The song was Rivermaya's Bring Me Down.

Maya Moment #1: I played guitar back in high school. I never got good at it. I could never tune my guitar without an electronic tuner. I did get to a point where I could play the basic chords, and with a lot of practice, I might learn a whole song. There were people in our  batch that were good and could play songs by ear. I, on the other hand, needed chords from Songhits or a similar magazine to be able to play. A group of them sometimes got together to jam during weekends. During our senior year, they were asked to perform at the last event for the seniors before graduation. They needed another person to play on guitar, for no other reason other than we were friends and I had the right equipment, they asked me to join. They certainly didn't asked me because of my talent. It was fun jamming with them and eventually playing in front of the batch. I sucked of course, but I had fun. One of the songs we played was Kisapmata by Rivermaya. One of the coolest things I have ever done.

Unexpected Results

What???!

How disturbing is it that I'm #4 in these search results. Well, good luck whoever you are. I hope you found what you were looking for. Be careful though, it is Friday the 13th, you never know what you're gonna get....uhm, like a box of chocolates....a male box of chocolates.

Cerebral Flatulence #2: Restrooms

It's important to have clean restrooms. No question about it. People will risk bursting a bladder rather than use vomit-invoking public restrooms. Sparkling tiles is a sign of a well maintained restroom. Although it might be too much if you can actually see the reflection of the person in the next cubicle. A less reflective ceramic flooring might be in order in such instances.

Hmmm...Spam

I have one email address that I use to sign-up on sites that requires one. That email address gets hit by a thousand spam mails everyday. How great would life be if all Spam mails were genuine?

- I would win the lottery everyday!

- I would get paid hundreds of dollars for a single day's work...at home!

- Free vacations to everywhere, including accommodations!

- Free computers, phones, and all kinds of gadgets!

- All the ladies want to meet me for...ah...wholesome and intelligent conversations, I guess.

Seems like spammers are now sending their junk from the future, about 30 years from now. No wonder these guys never get caught. They haven't even been born yet. Somebody find their parents and take away their Viagra.

Unfortunately, there are draw backs. If spam was true, I would be overweight and depressed, which would explain the erectile dysfunction. I would be on anti-depressants, not to mention an addiction to a multitude of other prescription drugs. I would also be suffering from Alzheimer's and osteoporosis. I wouldn't be able to go on all those vacations and wouldn't be capable of anything other than intelligent conversations with the opposite sex. I would need all the money from the lottery winnings to pay for the medical bills and drug rehabilitation (or support the drug addiction). I would be stuck in the hospital in a dark room basking in the glow of my free computer, growing pale and wasting away. Well, as they say, to everything there is a balance.