pinoyTeacher

Champions!

2011-06-14T20:41:00.001-04:00

My picks in championship games usually end up losing. Not this time though.

Dallas Mavericks won its first NBA championship trophy by winning 105-95 in its game 6 against Miami Heat! Miami Heat may have three of the best players but Dallas Mavs definitely is the better team.

Ateneo Eagles won the FilOil-Flying V Hanes Preseason Premier Cup (75-56) against the NCAA 2010 champion, San Beda Lions.

Pilipino Funny Komiks

2011-04-26T03:28:00.002-04:00

Pilipino Funny Komiks for Children was published by Islas Filipinas Publishing Company from 1978 to 2004. I collected PFK starting with issue #2. I stopped buying PFK when I was already in College (but I did remember buying a PFK issue when I was still a freshman, as a 'pasalubong' to my siblings). My whole PFK stash was left in our old house when we moved. I remember having several boxes of PFKs. I wish I could have those copies back. :-)

In October 2008, PFK was revived by Infinito Publishing. Three issues were published in 2008 (#1405, #1406, #1407) and one issue in 2009 (#1408). It is really hard to look for a copy of these PFKs. I was able to purchase my first copy of #1407 at the National Bookstore at SM Megamall and #1408 at Filbars at SM Megamall. The National Bookstore at Pavillion Mall (Sta Rosa) still has a copy of #1407. I was able to get #1405 and #1406 from a newstand at Farmer's Market, Cubao.


#1405	#1406

#1407	#1408

There are some scans of old PFKs floating in the Internet.

If there are people out there who want to part with their old PFKs (circa 1978 to 1990), I would gladly take them. :-)

The Push for K+12

2011-01-19T01:54:00.002-05:00

The Regional Consultation on the K+12 Educational Reform is on-going. This morning, Dr. Isagani Cruz talked about the current ideas on how to implement K+12 in the near future. K+12 is actually kindergarten + 6 years of elementary + 4 years of high school + 2 years of career academy. Dr. Cruz however calls the last 2 years of basic ed as senior high school and not career academy. Career academy is the one being pushed by Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ.

The K+12 will actually start next School Year (i.e., SY 2011-2012). This however is met by hesitations and concerns. Participants from Elementary schools expressed concern about training their teachers to teach an appropriate preparatory curriculum (i.e., the K in K+12 proposal).

The kindergarten program (the K in K+12) is essentially the familiar prep and not the current "kindergarten" program and not the nursery program. In the K+12 proposal, kindergarten is necessary and not optional as before.

My concern is more on the assurance that graduates of Career Academies will actually get jobs. This will entail close partnership with employers and the industry players. I hope that DOLE and Employers Confederation of the Philippines actively participate in the implementation of K+12.

Nowadays, some employers would insist on a college degree requirement even if that is clearly an over-qualification. I hope that graduates of a Career Academy will be attractive to employers and will be well paid.

Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ provides an excellent coverage of the K+12 Educational Reform (see : http://taborasj.wordpress.com/).

Remembering Robert Frost

2010-12-08T00:49:00.000-05:00

I keep on hearing the President about "tuwid na daan" since his campaign to clinch the presidency. I have this thought that people might mistake the "tuwid na daan" as the easy path and the "baluktot na daan" as the difficult one.

I think it should be stressed that what we should be doing is to find the correct path, the path not easily discovered. I recall a poem that we read in Mrs. Favoreal's class back in early 80s at NPS. The poem was written by Robert Frost, an American poet.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

(Robert Frost, Mountain Interval,1916)

Robert Frost was born March 26, 1874 and died January 29, 1963.

Giyera ng gulay -- circa 70s

2010-11-01T07:32:00.001-04:00

Noong unang panahon sa konstantinopla
Hari ang pipino, reyna ang malunggay
May anak-anakan na isang prinsesa
Bansag na pangalan, si donya patola
Kaginsa-ginsa ko, nag-kagulo-gulo
Lumabas ang lahat na konstabularyo
Nagpa-embahada si heneral upo
Si kondeng kalabasa ang siyang sumaklolo
Si sundalong talong ay sulong pa nang sulong
Dahilan sa giyerang hindi mai-urong

-- author unknown

I recall that this is part of our required readings when I'm in Grade 1 or 2. I think the poem is longer.

The author perhaps is referring to a sort of a vegetable cuisine that involves pipino, malunggay, patola, upo, kalabasa, and talong -- salad?

Revisiting Fractal Compression technique

2010-08-01T03:02:00.001-04:00

During the early nineties, I was involved in the Fractal Image Compression research of Ateneo de Manila. Last night, I uncovered an early IFS-based algorithm implemented by Michael F. Barnsley and Lyman P. Hurd in 1992. The implementation was written in C and only works on TGA monochrome images. I modified the algorithm so that it would work on colored images. I then implemented it in C++.

A total of 2304 affine maps are needed to encode the 192 x 192 image below:

Using the said 2304 affine maps, the image below was produced after 16 iterations:

Obviously, the resulting image is not good because the reconstruction errors are very apparent. I decided to throw away the use of unsigned char (used by Barnsley and Hurd). Instead I used floating point datatype to represent pixel data. After a thorough code modification, I got the result below:

This result is amazing! The difference image below shows where the errors are:

While I'm quite satisfied by my implementation, the compression process is slow. I recall that this is a problem that hindered the progress of our research then. I may work on this problem again when I get a substantial amount of spare time.

Gusto ko lamang

2010-07-24T07:30:00.001-04:00

Gusto ko lamang sa buhay ay yakapin mo ako
Hindi naman ako milyonaryo
Basta't araw-araw yakap mo ko
Feeling ko ang yaman yaman ko

-itchyworms

Configuring Prepaid Globe Tattoo in my Ubuntu Linux 10.04

2010-07-11T11:57:00.006-04:00

I bought Prepaid Globe Tattoo several weeks back. However, it would not work in Ubuntu Linux out of the box. I found this thread in the internet and the guys there can't find a solution either.

I finally made Globe tattoo work. It turned out that the Globe dongle I have is by default in mass storage mode. A quick lsusb shows the following information.

me@me-laptop:~$ lsusb

Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 09da:000a A4 Tech Co., Ltd Port Mouse
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 08ff:1600 AuthenTec, Inc. AES1600
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 064e:a103 Suyin Corp.
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 12d1:1446 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

The product ID is 1446 (mass storage mode) and not 1001 (modem mode). I simply have to switch to modem mode! To do this, I have to install usb-modeswitch program, which quite easy to do using apt-get.

me@me-laptop:~$ sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch

After which, the next step is easy. Switch to modem mode using the following command!

me@me-laptop:~$ sudo usb_modeswitch -H 12d1:1446 -v 12d1 -p 1446 -R -V 12d1 -P 1001

I ejected my Globe Tattoo and reinserted it. I now works wonderfully. In fact, I'm using Globe Tattoo now in my trusty Ubuntu Linux box.

Btw -- of course you still have to do the usual mobile broadband configuration.

Making Epson T10 work in Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

2010-07-06T22:16:00.002-04:00

I have been using Ubuntu Linux since October 2009 as my main OS (Windows 7 is still available though on top of VirtualBox OSE). I can't print however using Epson T10 even if I already installed the gutenprint library and cups-driver.

For three days, I searched the net for instructions on how to install the correct driver for Epson T10. Not one worked except for this post I got from Pinoy Computing Tips & Tricks. It turned out that I have to downgrade libgutenprint2 v5.2.5 and cups-driver-gutenprint v5.2.5 to version v5.2.4.

Here's a procedure that worked for me (I'm using 64bit Ubuntu Linux 10.04):

1. Remove the existing gutenprint packages:

sudo apt-get remove libgutenprint2 cups-driver-gutenprint

2. Download the 64bit version of gutenprint v5.2.4 packages:

libgutenprint2 v5.2.4 (64-bit)
cups-driver-gutenprint v5.2.4 (64-bit)

3. Install the library. Double-click libgutenprint2_5.2.4-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb file and click the Install button.

4. Install the cups-driver. Double-click cups-driver-gutenprint_5.2.4-0ubuntu2_amd64.deb file and click the Install button.

5. Lock the v2.5.4 version. Run Synaptic Package Manager and search for the gutenprint packages installed. Select each package and click Package ->Lock Version.

To Gie -- our colleague in teaching

2010-05-14T18:49:00.004-04:00

She's someone who will never give up in any challenge.

She's my first Senior Project advisee back in the late 90s. If I'm not mistaken, she's the first one to finish the Senior Project requirement in the history of the Department of Computer Science of Ateneo de Naga. She's also the first editor of the Computer Science student publication named Bits and Pixels. She's the first CS graduate who accepted a teaching position in the Department of Computer Science. She's the first Region 5 Chapter President of the Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators.

She's a well loved teacher and a well loved colleague in the College of Computer Studies. She's a well loved daughter, sister, wife, mother, and friend to us. We will surely miss her.

There's no more fear, no more pain. When you surrendered your soul to God Almighty, only love remains -- love that we will remember in our hearts.

New Posting for 2010!

2010-03-09T11:36:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since my last post.

Hello Blogger! I'm here again.

End of vacation

2009-01-04T10:25:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is the start of the classes after the mid-semester vacation. Two weeks of vacation should have revitalized and prepared us to work ahead.

I would not exchange for anything else the time I spent with my family.

That was a vacation well spent.

Starting the year

2009-01-01T10:14:00.002-05:00

I welcomed 2009 with my wife and kids in our new home in Cavite. We watched the fireworks in the neighborhood and feasted on pasta, chicken lollipop, glazed ham, roll, and salad. The most important thing is that we spent the media noche as a family in the new house.

Happy new year to everyone!

The year is almost over

2008-12-21T01:17:00.004-05:00

This year has been a roller-coaster ride and I'm glad my wife is always here with me and I with her. We finally have a new home! There are still a couple of things to fix and furniture to buy though. Also, we never anticipated the inconveniences of following up documents and paying dues -- from the Engineers to the people at the City Hall to the utility companies.

Teaching is good but research is kind of faltering in the sense that there are few research opportunities. -- I'm glad though that our 3 year research proposal to DOST is approved. Hopefully we get the research fund early next year. I am under the impression that our research grant is a very small part of government budget devoted to research.

My undergraduate thesis advisees have been very diligent -- hopefully they will finish their projects on time.

Building our dreams - bit by bit

2008-01-09T04:12:00.000-05:00

We wished to have our own home for a long time. Late last year, we finally started building one. The groundbreaking went without fanfare. The "trabajantes" even asked us if we are to celebrate the groundbreaking with lechon and pancit. Since we don't have any money to spare -- we have to disappoint them.

Our architect -- vis-a-vis -- our project manager is very efficient. The second floor of our house is already partitioned. Next week, our house will have roofing. Possibly, the stairs will also be in place next week.

Building a house, we realized, is not easy -- even if a husband and wife have decent jobs. You have to cough up a huge amount for house-bonds and for starting up the construction. In fact, the bank will not release your loaned money until X percent of the construction is done. I envy those OFWs who have the dollars to have their houses built. I have been thinking lately, that if -- a big IF -- I stayed a little bit longer in the US, I might have the money to finance the house construction without resorting to loans. Now, a substantial part of our net pay goes to mortgage.

Hopefully, we can transfer to the new house before the summer vacation.

State of construction, late December 2007

Planning for the construction, November 2007

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T08:30:00.000-05:00

My wife and kids are here with me in Naga today. What could be merrier?

Merry Christmas everyone!

Striked!

2007-12-12T00:21:00.000-05:00

I commute daily. Others like me are affected by the transport strike today. Students commuting from outside Naga City will surely miss classes.

The Duke Superbowl

2007-11-17T00:20:00.000-05:00

Duke U is known for excellent college basketball program but not in college football. Their weekend match with notre dame, a traditional college football powerhouse, however upped the desire of Duke fans to win. Duke and ND are both 1-9 in football standings (that is 1 win and 9 losses). There is a big possibility of Duke winning it -- a rare opportunity in a lifetime. :-) For a more humorous story, visit http://www.dukesuperbowl.com/

A new life!

2007-11-13T00:19:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to daddy Manny and mommy Girlie. A 7-plus lbs baby will now make their nights memorable. We are very happy for them!

Close gamin'

2007-09-27T00:13:00.000-04:00

... 65-64! That's how close the game was. A rubber match is forged between the Blues and the Greens.

From http://www.hoopaddict.com/livescores/
...
63-58 DLSU
Rico Foul on Baclao 2PF
Baclao 0-2 FT
JV RB 2:12
Long blocking foul 1PF penalty
JV 1-2 FT
64-58 DLSU 2:10
ADMU TO on inbound
JV miss
ADMU RB 2:00
Tiu 3
64-61 DLSU 1:45
JV missd 3
Ty RB 1:30
Walsham missd 3
ADMU RB 1:08
Tiu airball 3
Long RB
Rico Off Goal tending on Arao shot 51 sec
64-63 DLSU
Bader miss
Baclao RB 25 sec
Tiu drive 7.3 sec
64-65 ADMU
Timeout DLSU
Bader missd 3
End of 4th Quarter
64-65 ADMU

Successful defense

2007-09-22T00:14:00.000-04:00

Jen, Jasper, Katkat, and Sha all successfully defended their senior thesis! Congratulations!

Metaphor of absence

2007-09-22T00:11:00.000-04:00

Last friday, a faculty's cubicle is empty. Nobody bothers. Another faculty declares that it is not unusual. For a long time, she's quite hard to find whenever it's her birthday.

This time however is different.

She's migrating with her husband and kids to Canada this October. Her absence last friday is a foreshadow. I think the college will miss a friend. The college will miss a faculty who for a long time worked hard in keeping the department intact and running smoothly. The college will miss a faculty who always submits her grade reports on time (actually, most of the time earlier than the due date). She mastered teaching discrete math with linear algebra and computer-aided statistics. She always come to class prepared. There was a time I worried that she's working too hard and that her blood pressure might shoot up because of n concerns in the department (btw, n approaches infinity).

I wish her and her family all the best in their adventure at the other side of the world. I have been there and life there is quite good.

1 point

2007-09-18T00:10:00.000-04:00

.. and that my friend seals the fate to meet the tigers. hehe

UPDATE: The blue eagles (69 pts) won the knockout game vs the tigers (64 pts).

Time out

2007-09-10T00:09:00.000-04:00

It's nice to play bowling with Rey, Josh, Froi, and JP. We even made it to the final round of the competition. We are assured of 3rd runner-up. heheh.

1-1

2007-09-09T00:06:00.000-04:00

The hokies were simply overwhelmed by the tigers. In 2002, I saw how the hokies embarrassed the then nationally ranked tigers by winning 26-8. It was the first time I watched a football game at the Lane stadium. Today, the hokies just managed 7 points against the tigers's 48. Game recap is here.

Get Real J!

2007-09-08T00:03:00.000-04:00

Just saw this at www.phdcomics.com. I'm not quite sure if I'd laugh or not. ;-D

Teaching is a real job. .. right? heheh.

...and I'm quite happy here.

Routing maroons!

2007-09-05T00:02:00.000-04:00

beating the katipunan rivals would ensure a match with the taft guys during the semis.

UPDATE: Slow start but the eagles prevailed. ;-)

UPDATE: I was wrong. Two more games to go.

Happy Birthday to Blogger!

2007-08-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

Blogger.com is 8 years old today.

Clearing the-fence

2007-08-16T23:59:00.000-04:00

Another undergraduate advisee passed her preliminary defense today. I am happy with the research results of my four advisees. We can possibly write papers and submit to NCITE 2007. ;-)

Crunch time

2007-08-15T23:58:00.000-04:00

Somehow that's what I feel today. There's just a lot to do and so little time.

Dyipni

2007-08-14T23:57:00.000-04:00

You can learn at least two values when you ride passenger jeeps in the Philippines.

First is honesty. The usual ritual is that a passenger would hand out his fare to the driver as soon as he or she gets inside. Now, if you are at the far end of the seat, you naturally ask someone near you to hand out your money towards the driver. If there's a change, it would be handed out to you by the driver, usually also through the same person who handed out your fare to the driver. If there's not enough honesty, this passenger jeep business will not thrive. Of course, there are occasional passengers who would deliberately "forget" whether they already handed out his fare or not.

Second is humility. Every time you get in or out of the jeep, you really have to bow low -- which is sometimes quite embarrassing because your buttocks sticks out. ;-)

On being a good teacher

2007-08-13T23:53:00.000-04:00

Bro. Nono is a very good friend of mine since high school. He will be ordained as deacon this September 8 (together with with Bro. Xavier) at the Ateneo de Naga University Church.

Back to Blog!

2007-08-12T23:50:00.000-04:00

I stopped blogging for more than a year now. My alibi? -- I was completely tied up with my work (but, hey until now!). I am happy however that my undergraduate advisees are doing well in their research work. I am also happy to be back teaching Computer Science subjects to undergraduates.

Roy recently got his PhD from Virginia Tech. Soon, he will work in that company at Redmond famous for its Operating Systems and Office Productivity software.

Domesticated Life

2006-01-16T07:03:00.000-05:00

.. but happy. I got to enjoy my stay with my family before I start work in the academe again.

Last day in Blacksburg

2005-12-20T01:36:00.000-05:00

Farewell Blacksburg. I will miss you and your people.

It is kind of sad to finally log out of my computer in the lab. The wind is cold outside. There are very few people in the campus. My advisor and I went for lunch at Pks. Later, Liqing treated us with coffee at Bollos.

Bing and Mel are driving me to the airport. I feel kind of sad and happy. Sad because it will be a long time before I meet my friends here again. It is hard to keep those tears from flowing. I am also happy and excited since I will finally be with my family again this Christmas. I love Suzette and Eking. They will pick me up when I arrive in the Philippines.

Roy and Ricky flew yesterday. I was left in the apartment cleaning my room (which will be occupied by Ricky next year) and the kitchen. I might see them before they go back here in Blacksburg next year.

Getting back my laptop

2005-12-11T20:48:00.000-05:00

One day after I distributed the draft of dissertation to my committee, my laptop's hard drive broke down. I cannot write anything on the disk. Doing so leads to the dreaded blue screen of Windows. Fortunately, using a bootable Linux CD, I managed to back-up my data. It turned out that I cannot write on the hard drive but I can still read from it. The next day, Nov 20 (Sun), I brought my laptop to Bestbuy (ROA) to have it fixed. I was promised that it will be fixed on Nov 28 (Mon) and if they cannot fix it on that day, they told me they will call. I didn't get any call on Nov 28. Thinking that my laptop was fixed, I decided to get the laptop on Dec 4 (Sun) since that was the time I was free.

With a very indifferent face, the 'geek squad' guy told me that my laptop will be delivered the next day (Dec 5). It turned out that another department in another place took care of the laptop and it was just delivered by USPS. Of course I am disappointed. They promised me again that it will be ready by tuesday, Dec 6.

I called yesterday, Dec 10 (Sat), to verify if my laptop was ready to go (I am just making sure this time as Roy and I might just go to Bestbuy for nothing). The "geek squad" guy on the other end of the line said that my laptop is not yet ready for pick-up. This pissed me off! I told him that I need my laptop and I need it that day! The laptop just needs a hard drive replacement and I know that it would not even take half an hour to do that -- they are the "geek squad" after all -- isn't it? The guy on the other end of the line took was silent for a while and then told me I can pick my laptop in the afternoon.

No Email?

2005-12-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

Something unexpected happened today. There is not a single new message in my inbox this morning. It turned out that the University mail system is broken and currently being fixed.

Checking email early in the morning is a routine for me. Most of the emails are work-related (aside from those spams filtered out by my trusty Thunderbird email client). Knowing what's ahead keeps me on top of things most of the day.

Without email -- what should you do? Well, I had to go to the lab earlier than usual. :)

Bowling at Jacksonville

2005-12-04T17:21:00.000-05:00

The Gator bowl officials are impressed enough of the late-rally of the hokies during the 4th quarter last night. On January 2, the hokies will go back to Jacksonville to face Big East #2 Louisville Cardinals. Miami hurricanes end up in Peach bowl to face LSU tigers.

Night Blindness

2005-12-03T22:58:00.000-05:00

Robert has a theory: Marcus Vick cannot see clearly at night time. His passes tonight are either under or over thrown. At half time, clearly the defense of FSU and VT held their ground. The teams are tied 3-3 at half-time. Early in the 3rd quarter, the seminoles scored 17 unanswered points. We were watching the game at Jess' place. Around the middle of 3rd quarter, we went home -- thinking that the hokies are in their worst mood again.

Unless the offense steps up, it seems that the hokies are not even going to Gator bowl.

Day's best

2005-12-02T00:19:00.000-05:00

I celebrated this day with friends. Robert brought a cake. Joanne and Mel brought fried bangus. Roy cooked tinola. What more can I ask for? Of course, a long distance call from my wife and kid. -- Suzette and Eking called and greeted me a happy birthday. Now, my day is complete. :)

D!

2005-11-29T21:24:00.000-05:00

I came out alive of my defense today! It is with a happy thought that I'm now in the process of revising my thesis. What else could possibly go wrong? :)

Last home game of the season

2005-11-27T01:29:00.000-05:00

The hokies beat the tar heels today, 30-3! With the win, they earned their berth in the ACC title game next week. This might be my last football game here at VT -- It feels good to watch our team win their last home game this season.

The pictures taken by Roy are here.

Tech beats the Canes

2005-11-19T23:20:00.000-05:00

Today, the hokies rout the cavaliers and the yellow jackets reduced the hurricanes to tropical depression.

The hokies still control their destiny. :)

sweet.

The second One!

2005-11-15T21:24:00.000-05:00

I tried the QuizFarm flyingroc suggested in his website -- Oh boy, I'm the second One! Is being in CS got to do about it?

You scored as Neo, the "One". Neo is the computer hacker-turned-Messiah of the Matrix. He leads a small group of human rebels against the technology that controls them. Neo doubts his ability to lead but doesn't want to disappoint his friends. His goal is for a world where all men know the Truth and are free from the bonds of the Matrix.

Neo, the "One"

79%

James Bond, Agent 007

75%

Lara Croft

71%

Maximus

63%

Indiana Jones

63%

The Amazing Spider-Man

63%

William Wallace

58%

Captain Jack Sparrow

54%

Batman, the Dark Knight

54%

The Terminator

50%

El Zorro

46%

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com

Laying Eggs

2005-11-05T22:46:00.000-05:00

The hokies are on the way of being shut-out in 10 years. The hokie nation is being rampaged by Category 5 hurricanes.

... Peach bowl - here we come. :(

Category 5 hurricane in Blacksburg

2005-11-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

Cold pizza held their show yesterday near the Torgersen bridge and the Gameday trio would do the same today. The Hokie country are excited! Most of the predictions I have read says the Hokies would beat the retro-Canes. Which team would Lee Corso pick?

A terrible wind is blowing from the south... and we have no tickets!!!

Thursday Night Lights

2005-10-28T00:49:00.000-04:00

We got 10 student tickets and we went to watch the game of Hokies vs the Golden Eagles. The Hokies won 30-10. The average score of opponents of the Hokies this season is 9.0. The golden eagles are #13 in the nation and they were able to muster 10 points -- one point above the average. :)

The offensive line led by Marcus Vick was very conservative. It is good to see Marcus near perfect again. His passes were never intercepted. Also, it is great to see a touchdown pass and a defensive touchdown again.

Four more to go

2005-10-20T23:20:00.000-04:00

The Terrapins forced 4 turn-overs but failed to capitalize on them. They only got 3 points to show for those turn-overs. Marcus Vick was forced to show some leg work. He run for more than 100 yards tonight and put the Hokies first on the scoreboard with a rushing touchdown.

It is disappointing however that the Hokies got penalized for two consecutive personal fouls. The penalities moved the football for 30 yards for the benefit of the terrapins and the Terps got their only touchdown. Consecutive personal fouls are something that we haven't seen for a while. Penalities like these cost the Hokie teams of 2002 and 2003.

Vick had 3 interceptions tonight while Brandon Pace's only field goal attempt didn't convert for a score. The Hokies however find ways to move the football and score 4 rushing touchdowns (1 by Vick, 2 by Imoh, and 1 by Ore).

The Hokies won 28-9 againts the Terps.

Four more games remain for the Hokies: vs Boston College, vs Miami, vs Virginia, and vs UNC.

North's windmills

2005-10-12T09:30:00.000-04:00

This is something you don't see everyday in the Philippine news. We actually have modern windmills at Bangui bay in Ilocos!

Doing the right thing

2005-10-12T09:16:00.000-04:00

La Salle recently found out that one of their players is ineligible to play in the men's basketball team. The team's center man -- Mark Benitez -- has allegedly provided a forged Philippine Educational Placement Test Certificate of Ratings in leiu of HS diploma. Hence, La Salle is ready to give up its trophy won last year and forfeit all games where Benitez played.

La Salle actually placed second to FEU this year. La Salle denied Ateneo and UE the chance to play for the UAAP title. La Salle sweeped Ateneo and UE this year. Had this incident known before, either Ateneo or UE could have played FEU for the UAAP crown.

I wonder how the UAAP board would resolve this issue. Would FEU get the UAAP 2004 throphy? Would the 2005 UAAP title game be replayed? -- or just forget about it and move on?

The story is here.

Rout of herd

2005-10-09T17:53:00.000-04:00

The thundering herd surprised the hokies during the first half. They can actually penetrate the hokie defense and run the football! There was a moment during the second half where Bud Foster was furious -- after the herd got a touchdown. Is an upset brewing?

During the third quarter, the hokies showed why they are #3 in the nation. They scored 17 points in 3 and half minutes. The herd just moved 1 yard compared to 200 yards of the hokies during the third quarter. With 41-7 on the scoreboard, Frank Beamer and the coaching staff let the second stringers handle the ball.

Aside from Marcus Vick, Vince Hall, and Darryl Tapp, the redshird freshman, Brenden Ore emerged as a star to watch. Ore stepped up to do the running job when Cedric Humes went to the sidelines because of injury. Mike Imoh is also injured and did not play.

The hokies won 41-14.

A couple of upsets however happened later of the day:

#16 Penn state lions beat #6 Ohio buckeyes
#20 UCLA bruins beat #10 Cal bears
#25 Oregon ducks beat #17 Arizona St. sun devils
Minnesota gophers beat #21 Michigan wolverines
Northwestern wildcats beat #14 Wisconsin badgers

Lolo Jose

2005-10-03T23:19:00.000-04:00

Coritha is one of my favorite pinoy folk singers. I memorized the lyrics and chords of a few of her songs when I was still learning to play the guitar. The chords are amazingly simple and the lyrics deep. Lolo Jose is one of those Coritha's compositions that I still like.

~

Lolo Jose

Noong panahong siya ay hari
Masigla ang kanyang pagbati
Mahigpit ang hawak ng mga daliri
At and lakad nama'y matuwid

Mahusay ang kanyang talumpati
Makisig kung siya ay magdamit
Malalim ang kanyang pagiisip
At lahat ay sa kanya nakatitig

Ngunit ngayong siya'y pagod na
Mahina na rin ang katawan
Pinagmamasdan na lamang sa bintana
Ang unti-unting pagdaloy ng ulan

At ang unang tanong sa umaga
Kung ano ang kanyang nagawa
Sa paglipas ng siyamnapung taon
Nang siya'y malakas at bata pa

Si lolo jose, si lolo jose
Si lolo jose ay matanda na
Ngunit mahal ko pa si lolo jose
Kahit siya ngayon ay laos na

Sa piling ng mga ala-ala
Lagi na lamang nag-iisa
Kahit sulyap walang maaasahan
Sa anak na di man siya mapagbigyan

At ang unang tanong sa umaga
Kung mayro'n pa siyang magigisnan
Na liwanag sa nalalabing buhay
Ngayong siya'y matanda at laos na

Si lolo jose, si lolo jose
Si lolo jose ay matanda na
Ngunit mahal ko pa si lolo jose
Kahit siya ngayon ay laos na

Sa dilim ng kanyang pag-aasam
Maghapon na lang nakabantay
Kung kanyang matatanaw pa ang hiwaga
Ng hindi malimot niyang nakaraan

At ang diwa ng kahapon
Di na matagpuan
At ang sinag ng umaga
Dinaanan ng ulan
At hirap ng nasa puso
Di mapapantayan

Kung maari lang
maari lang
Pawiin ang dusa

Si lolo jose, si lolo jose
Si lolo jose ay matanda na
Ngunit mahal ko pa si lolo jose
Kahit siya ngayon ay laos na

not until 2015

2005-10-01T15:10:00.000-04:00

Two years ago, the hokies beat #16 Syracuse by 51-7 score. With #3 ranking on their shoulders, the hokies went to Morgantown only to be clobbered by the mountaineers.

Today, the hokies went to Morgantown after beating #15 Georgia tech 51-7 last week and again having a #3 national ranking. Deja vu? It didn't turn out so.

The defense of the hokies were vulnerable several times during the first half. It was a good thing that the hokies kept their calm and composure. The hokies never trailed thoughout the game and won the match 34-17.

They will be keeping the black diamond trophy possibly until 2015.

The better tech wins!

2005-09-24T17:49:00.000-04:00

The hokies beat the yellow jackets 51-7! Until the 3rd quarter of this game, the hokies defense didn't gave up a touchdown since their match-up with the wolfpack.

Almost every hokie player wants a touchdown -- not only the offense team but the defense and special teams. With around 12 minutes still on the clock, Marcus Vick let Cory Holt do the QB job. If Marcus stayed, I imagine the yellow jackets will be buried.

This lopsided match-up features the first beamerball in 2005. Parker made a rushing touchdown with the blocked kick during the first quarter.

What can I say?

Sweet.

UAAP Final Four

2005-09-18T08:40:00.000-04:00

La Salle archers came from behind and dumped UE warriors in their contention for the second twice to beat advantage in the UAAP Final Four. The number one seeded team is FEU tamaraws. While La Salle archers, Ateneo eagles, and UE warriors have the same 10-4 cards -- La Salle has the highest quotient over Ateneo and UE. Hence, the second seeding goes to the archers.

FEU has beaten La Salle twice, La Salle has beaten Ateneo twice, and Ateneo has beaten UE twice. It is noteworthy that the two losses of FEU came from Ateneo and UE.

The La Salle archers have the drive and spirit to defend its title. While I root for the Ateneo eagles, I think Norman Black and the Ateneo squad must solve the unyielding defense of the archers if they want to get to the finals.

Excitement at Blacksburg

2005-09-17T23:25:00.000-04:00

The tail gate food of the College of Engineering was catered! Of course, the smell of food never escaped us. Roy, Robert, Jess, Romeo, and I enjoyed the food before watching the rout of Ohio bobcats. The hokies won 45-0, the second shutout in a row.

The hokies will not move in the rankings -- however Tennessee volunteers might leave the hokies alone in the 4th place.

We were also trying to catch up with the Clemson tigers and Miami canes face-off at death valley. During the half time, we saw in the little screen at the south-west corner of lane that the score was 10-6 in favor of the tigers. However, on our way out -- the canes were gaining. We thought the game was over. But then, upon reaching the apartment, to our surprise, the game was tied 20-20. The tigers never gave up easily. We were rooting for the tigers -- but the younger Bowden never made it. Cocker was triumphant at the death valley.

The other dark horse, Boston College eagles, also lost to Florida state seminoles.

Warren Abstract Machine

2005-09-15T10:37:00.000-04:00

I found this webpage about WAM. Prolog compilers are based on WAM and it is interesting that someone has a tutorial book about WAM. I might read the details of WAM when I have the time later this year -- presumably after I graduate. :)

Peru in pictures

2005-09-14T22:27:00.000-04:00

This is the facade of CIP. Collaboration with scientists here is the reason for our visit to Peru.

The message on the side of this mountain of dry soil says: Peru Moderno.

This is "La Catedral" -- a very beautiful natural landmark in Ica.
It is very difficult to reach this place.

La Catedral dates between 30 and 34 million years old according to this sign.

These are skulls of ancient peruvians. Notice that the skulls have odd shapes. These skulls remind me of the "coneheads" movie years ago. It turned out that the ancient peruvians actually shaped the skulls of their babies using elaborate methods.

This is the entrace to an Inca palace in Tambo Colorado at Ica.

This is a sign in near the entrace to the Inca palace.

This is a very old bathtub of the Incas. Their plumbing system is amazing -- especially when you realize that this palace is sort of in the middle of a desert.

This is a fishing port in somewhere in Ica.
No, we didn't buy any fresh fish. :)

Flying back to Virginia

2005-09-09T19:43:00.000-04:00

I stayed here in Peru for a couple of days -- to collaborate with scientists at CIP. I'm flying tonight. My flight goes straight to Miami, then get a connecting flight to North Carolina. I'll post some pictures when I get back to Blacksburg.

I could possibly catch the match of hokies with the blue devils tomorrow afternoon. :)

Tough wolves!

2005-09-04T22:55:00.000-04:00

I thought the wolfpack would get a touchdown its last drive during the dying minutes of the 4th quarter. However, they came short and the hokies claimed their first win in the ACC conference this season. The final score: hokies (20) - wolfpack (16).

The other ACC teams fared well in their opening games:
> Clemson tigers upset the 17th ranked Texas A&M aggies
> Georgie tech upset the 16th ranked Auburn tigers
> 22nd ranked Boston College eagles have beaten BYU cougars
> 25th ranked Virginia cavaliers have beaten Western Michigan broncos
> Maryland terrapins have beaten Navy midshipmen

Duke blue devils and Wake Forest demon deacons came short in their respective opening matches. For tommorow's match between Florida State seminoles and Miami hurricanes, I would go with the seminoles.

Expectations are high again

2005-08-22T21:47:00.000-04:00

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated projects that the Virginia Tech hokies will face the Tennessee volunteers at the Orange bowl. Well, if Marcus and the gang delivers, the hokies might even have a shot to play at the Rose bowl.

But then, the hokies have a bad reputation in living up to the hype. Remember the days of the untouchables? :) The projection of College Football News that the hokies will play the Arkansas razorbacks at the Peach bowl might be more believable.

This football season however will be good. Go hokies!!!

The moving castle

2005-08-16T22:58:00.000-04:00

Hayao Miyazaki's adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones's book: "Howl's moving castle" is amazing! I love this movie. I will get the DVD as soon as it is released by Disney. If you get the chance, enter the magical door and enjoy the story of Sophie and Wizard Howl.

Guitar software

2005-08-11T23:21:00.000-04:00

This website (http://www.harmony-central.com/) has a list of music software. I plan to check these software as soon as squeezed some time from my research work. For the meantime, I saved the link to guitar windows software here.

UAAP eliminations - first round

2005-08-07T06:40:00.000-04:00

Ateneo posted a big win against Adamson today, 91-75. The blue eagles got their fifth win since their first game loss to the green archers. It they continue to have their winning ways, they could end up in the final four. After the first round of elimination games, the FEU Tamaraws remained unbeaten (7 W - 0 L). Ateneo blue eagles and UE red warriors tied at second place (5 W - 2 L). UP maroons and La Salle green archers tied at fourth place (4 W - 3 L).

Summary of Ateneo games:
W: ADMU (91) vs AdU (75)
W: ADMU (65) vs UE (63)
W: ADMU (70) vs UP (63)
W: ADMU (83) vs NU (51)
L: ADMU (54) vs FEU (65)
W: ADMU (79) vs UST (72)
L: ADMU (60) vs DLSU (78)

Hokie in space

2005-08-05T22:45:00.000-04:00

Charlie Camarda, a mission specialist in the Discovery shuttle team, studied at Virginia Tech for a year, earning his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering under former professor Raphael Haftka. The story is in CollegiateTimes. An interview with Dr. Camarda is here.

Bicolano leader

2005-08-05T08:18:00.000-04:00

Former senator Raul S. Roco, died friday morning, 5 August. He was 63. Inq7.net has this story.

Listening to Jim

2005-08-01T22:25:00.000-04:00

I bought Jim Croce's Classic Hits CD today. It is a 20-track CD and I liked all the songs!

Broadband gaining popularity in RP

2005-07-31T13:54:00.000-04:00

Bayantel is offering DSL for PHP 899/mo -- that is around $16/mo -- for a 192 kbps plan. This is kinda slow compared to DSL speeds here in the states which is around 336 kbps (upload) and 1800 kbps (download).

PLDT also offers a 386 kbps plan for PHP 1,995/mo ($36/mo).

10th planet!

2005-07-30T22:59:00.000-04:00

Astronomers are saying that we have another planet (10th) in our solar system. I have read about this in 2001 -- they are calling it planet X then -- but they are not sure whether or not it can be categorized as a planet since their initial estimate of its size was less than that of pluto. Their recent estimate however indicates that the size of the planet could be close to the size of mars.

Story is here.

bowing out in yellow

2005-07-24T23:05:00.000-04:00

Lance Armstrong clinched his 7th consecutive Tour de France cup! He was 4 minutes and 40 seconds ahead of Ivan Basso of Italy. Jan Ullrich was 3rd.

Full story here.

blues of eagles

2005-07-24T18:55:00.000-04:00

After four games, the Ateneo blue eagles are 2-2 (tied at 4th place with DLSU archers and Adamson Falcons). They were beaten by De la Salle archers and FEU tamaraws. The only teams that the eagles have beaten are UST tigers and NU bulldogs. Both teams are currently winless.

The eagles will face UP maroons on 30 July, UE warriors on 4 August, and Adamson Falcons on 7 August.

TEAM STANDINGS
- - - - - - - - - - -
Team............W - L
- - - - - - - - - - -
FEU Tamaraws....4 - 0
UE Warriors.....3 - 1
UP Maroons......3 - 1
DLSU Archers....2 - 2
ADU Falcons.....2 - 2
ADMU Eagles.....2 - 2
UST Tigers......0 - 4
NU Bulldogs.....0 - 4

Goodbye Scotty

2005-07-22T22:53:00.000-04:00

James Doohan played Montgomery Scott in the original Star Trek TV series. He died last wednesday. He was 85.

Wonka and Potter

2005-07-21T22:22:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed children's stories this week.

Charlie and the chocolate factory is good. I thought it I might be disappointed -- however, the wumpa-lumpas are crazy and Wonka is -- oh well -- weird! Imagine having lots of wumpa-lumpas in your backyard.

Got my HPHBP last sunday. I thought of reading 5 chapters a day -- but what the heck, I finished reading it last night. I liked the book. It is a good read and I look forward to the last installment of JKR. According to rumors, the 7th book would probably be published in 2007-2009.

Break

2005-07-02T21:19:00.000-04:00

Spending this weekend at NOVA...

UPDATE: Pictures are here.

Too early for football ...

2005-06-28T23:55:00.000-04:00

7 ACC teams are in the top 25 of CollegeFootballNews.com!

#4 Miami Hurricanes
#10 Virginia Tech Hokies
#11 Florida State Seminoles
#14 Boston College Eagles
#19 Virginia Cavaliers
#20 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
#24 Clemson Tigers

Hmmnnn 3 months to go.

Hello?

2005-06-27T22:07:00.000-04:00

PGMA finally admits that she's the voice in the infamous wiretapped telephone conversation with an elections official. I guess that's for the better. I hope people would now focus on rebuilding from the mess that stemmed from the issue.

It seems that the "hello garci" cellphone ringtones are popular back home...

Cardinal Sin, 76

2005-06-20T22:10:00.000-04:00

Reverend Jaime Cardinal Sin died 6:15am, tuesday -- Manila time. He is one of the prominent figures in the People Power revolution in 1986 and 2001.

Best Batman film ever!

2005-06-19T19:53:00.000-04:00

Christopher Nolan did it! The new batman film is awesome! And when you thought Ra's Al Ghul is dead...

Original paper on Google

2005-06-18T15:30:00.000-04:00

It is amazing how far Google have gone starting from this 1998 school paper of Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page. The paper is entitled 'the anatomy of large-scale hypertextual web search engine'. It is interesting to know the basic ideas used to implement the original version of Google.

Mathomatic

2005-06-15T18:07:00.000-04:00

While installing cygwin in my laptop, I noticed one computer algebra system included in the installation package -- it is called mathomatic. I was curious and googled the term 'mathomatic'. I found the webpage of this computer aided algebra system (here). It seems that the author, George J. Gesslein II, of New York is actively developing this program since 1987! The most recent update to this system is just three days ago.

I tried doing some algebra and calculus stuff with it and I find it easy to use.

Illustrador ng kabataan (INK)

2005-06-05T22:50:00.000-04:00

INK is a group of pinoy illustrators of children's books. It is great to know that their tribe is increasing in number.

An essay describing a history of children's literature in the Philippines can be read here.

Cal Sobrepeña

2005-06-03T21:35:00.000-04:00

Cal Sobrepeña is one my favorite illustrators in komiks --I love his clean illustrations in Funny komiks! He also illustrated for Aliwan, Silangan, and Lovelife komiks. I didn't know he already passed away last year.

I found this website dedicated to him.

R.I.P. Teddy Benigno

2005-06-03T07:10:00.000-04:00

Teddy Benigno, 79, of Philippines Star died of cancer. Story is here.

Backups

2005-05-29T18:43:00.000-04:00

I bought a XiMeta Netdisk today at OfficeMax. I have been thinking of having a backup system for a while. This 120GB netdisk should be enough. :)

DRM on new Intel chip

2005-05-28T15:14:00.000-04:00

Intel launched last thursday a new DRM-enabled chip. The chip would presumably allow copyright holders to prevent unauthorized copying and distribution of copyrighted materials. (This makes the big companies happy.) Read the story here.

I will not be surprised if people starts buying computers equipped with AMD chips or IBM PPC instead.

Kindergarten

2005-05-27T23:50:00.000-04:00

My son will start kindergarten this coming school year. I'm very happy for him.

Rutter won over Jennings

2005-05-26T22:35:00.000-04:00

Ken Jenning bow out to Brad Rutter in the 3 day Jeopardy! tournament of champions. CNN.com has the story.

Rainy summer

2005-05-25T23:34:00.000-04:00

I cannot understand why the wheather is bleak. Well at least, we don't have to buy an air-conditioner.

Roy and robots

2005-05-24T22:36:00.000-04:00

I attended Roy's lecture class today. I am very interested on how object-oriented programming will be taught using the world of karel robots. Roy's interesting lecture is interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone (was it Roy's?). A large part of the session today is devoted on how to instruct karel the robot to put 9 beepers in a 2-D space. The beepers should be in the shape of VT logo. The students are required to use BlueJ, a java program development environment for beginners.

Balita

2005-05-23T21:52:00.000-04:00

I learned to play the guitar during my senior year in high school. Balita is one of the songs I used to practice playing. It is a song made popular by the pinoy band called Asin. The sharp-witted lyrics of this song composed by Saro Banares is perhaps the reason it became popular. The chorus of the song is even included in the Apl song by Black eyed peas.

The chord pattern is simple: at capo VI do Am-Em-Am-Em-F-G-Am-Em-Am (repeat).

[KORO]
Lapit mga kaibigan at makinig kayo
Ako'y may dala-dalang balita galing sa bayan ko
Nais kong ipamahagi ang mga kwento
At mga pangyayaring nagaganap sa lupang ipinangako

Ang lupang pinanggalingan ko'y may bahid ng dugo
May mga lorong 'di makalipad nasa hawlang ginto
May mga punong walang dahon, mga pusong 'di makakibo
Sa mga pangyayaring nagaganap sa lupang ipinangako

Mula nang makita ko ang lupang ito
Nakita ko rin ang munting apoy sa puso ng tao
Ginatungan ng mga kabulukan hanggang sa lumago
Ngayon ang puso'y may takot sa lupang ipinangako

[Ulitin ang koro]

Dati-rati'y ang mga bukid ay gulay ginto
Dati-rati'y ang mga ibon 'sing laya ng tao
Dati-rati ay katahimikan ang musikang nagpapatulog
Sa mga batang walang muwang sa mundo

Ngayon ang lupang ipinangako ay nagsusumamo
Patakan n'yo ng luha ang apoy sa kanyang puso
Dinggin n'yo ang mga sigaw
Ng mga puso ng taong kung inyong dadamhin, kabilang sa inyo

Duul mga kaigsuunan nugpaminaw kamo
Duna ko'y dala nga mga balita gikan sa banwa ko
Gusto ko nga ipahibalo ang mga istorya
Nga nagagahitabu sa banwagisa na 'to

Raising Vader

2005-05-22T10:40:00.000-04:00

We watched the Star Wars (Revenge of the Sith) movie yesterday. I enjoyed it.

The path of Anakin Skywalker to being Darth Vader however is not very convincing. The story went too fast there. (But then the movie is already long!) Towards the end of the movie, it is a good decision not to show the actual carnage of the young Jedis at the temple. Too many children (with their parents) watched the movie. A carnage segment can ruin their Star Wars experience.

I have a VCD collection of Episodes IV to VI. Now I am not sure if I would purchase the DVD versions of Episodes I to VI.

Louis Leithold, 80

2005-05-09T21:23:00.000-04:00

Louis Leithold is the author of the calculus textbook we used in Ateneo de Manila. The book is so good that I used to teach calculus in Ateneo de Naga.

Last April 29, Louis Leithold was found dead in his L.A. home. He was 80.

Full story is here.

Lunch at Homeplace

2005-05-08T20:37:00.000-04:00

After the mass, Jess, Roy, Matt, and I went to Homeplace for lunch. We arrived at Homeplace around 1:05pm. Boy, a lot of people waiting are waiting for their turn to eat (It's mother's day!). We were told to wait for 1 hour and 40 minutes. We considered going to another place to eat -- but then we thought the manager might have overestimated the waiting time. We managed to kill time talking about lots of things -- and then, we suddenly realized that almost two hours have passed....

Well, we enjoyed the meal though -- lots of fried chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, beans, etc.

Thanking for all the fishes

2005-05-07T23:21:00.000-04:00

Roy, Matt, and I watched the Hitchhiker's movie today. It is not bad as what most reviews of the said movie are saying.

Now, do you know the question to the ultimate answer? :)

OpenOffice software

2005-05-06T23:37:00.000-04:00

OpenOffice is a productivity suite of application software. It includes a word processor (WRITER), a spreadsheet processor (CALC), math editor (MATH), drawing software (DRAW), database management system (BASE), and presentation software (IMPRESS). This software suite is being developed by lots of volunteers and friendly people at Sun microsystems. The good thing is that this software is free. You can also opt to save your files in formats readable by Microsoft Office suite.

The 2.0 beta version is available here.

uses of the lightsaber

2005-05-05T21:51:00.000-04:00

Want to know how lightsabers work? Howstuffworks.com has the answer!

Prepare for the coming of the dark side.

Dr. Calata - - sounds good

2005-05-04T21:10:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Jess!

Human-animals?

2005-05-03T23:01:00.000-04:00

Research sometimes pushes things to the limit. I guess the prevalence of animals with 'human' organs would drive the animal rightists crazy. I shudder the thought of some mouse thinking like a human. Perhaps mickey mouse is not a figment of Walt's imagination at all. :)

CNN.com has this story about human-animals.

Early for the meeting

2005-05-02T06:55:00.000-04:00

I thought I would not cram anymore. But I did prepare my report for an 8:30am meeting today around 5:00am. :)

Lunch at Charlie's

2005-05-01T16:18:00.000-04:00

Sundays after the mass is usually our time to lunch out. At Charlie's, you can't go wrong. We had a sumptous treat of steamed fish, spicy chicken, sweet and sour pork, fishball soup, and vanilla ice cream.