Bob Ong Shirts: For Official Use Only
Bob Ong Shirts… Hmm… Is he the guy who authored the ABNKKBSNPLAKo?! and Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang Mga Pilipino? And now they have shirts? Yes! and Yes! They come in green with Honeycomb/Lacoste-type fabric and the yellow one is a cotton shirt. Both with the same logos you saw in Bob Ong’s first two books. The yellow one is really an eye catcher but I bought the green one instead with the ABNKKBSNPLAKo?! logo in front. I don’t really know why. Maybe i’m really biased towards the color green… For 290Php each, the only way to purchase the shirts is to buy them online. Go to their site. http://www.officialuse.net/. I ordered mine, paid through BPI and poof! It became coco crunch! (No problem looking for a BPI branch coz i bet you can spot one in a 1000-meter radius.) I think I’ll get the yellow shirt anytime soon, I hope i don’t get the cut-off of 200 shirts. Instructions for buying is so easy. They have a step-by-step-fool-proof guide in their site even your 4-year old will not have a hard time understanding.
I wanted to write this in a way sounding like Bob Ong but I’m sure no one can imitate him and it should be written in Tagalog to appreciate the humor. I’m also promoting his books not because I know him or have seen him. Only a very few people know who he is even the CIA doesn’t have a clue. I heard his parents also don’t know that their son is the mind behind the books. In fact I believe there are only three entities in this whole world who know him. His publisher, his illustrator and himself. Anyway out of Bob Ong’s six books (http://www.visprint.net/publications/bob/), my favorite is Alamat ng Gubat, not only because the illustration is so nice (illustration by Klaro de Asis? Maybe I’ll contact him to help me in some of my advertising plans for my business), but because of the dialogue between the animals specially when the turtle… Oops! no spoilers. Just buy the book. Maybe the people behind these shirts should also print an orange shirt with the Alamat ng Gubat logo. Just an idea.
Question (to the people behind the shirt printing), did Bob Ong compose the entries in the website? I have a hunch he made the entries himself. And do you really have a 200 limit on the shirts?
Boring meets Entertaining
One of the most boring subjects some say is statistics. Why not present it in such a way that anyone even those only with a right brain can appreciate. That’s what Hans Rosling did. He was able to make a web-based application called GAPMINDER. I recently watched a video in www.TED.com by Hans Rosling titled Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you’ve ever seen. If he was a teacher in my university and he’s teaching math, I bet no one will get bored. His style of presenting with drama and urgency as a sportscaster, everyone would like him.
He already has two videos on TED. The other titled New insights of poverty and life around the world. The tool that made both presentations very interesting is GAPMINDER. Just click on Gapminder world. Will you like it or not or am I just geeky enough to appreciate it? It depends. It’s not a matter of like, it’s just understanding statistics of the world with style. You have to see it for yourself and be amazed.
Also watch Hans’ videos on ted.com. Plus, as they put it, Ideas worth spreading, I recommend the videos on TED. I can’t explain enough the knowledge that you can get in an 18-minute video. Entertaining and knowledge is full packed. Remember the time when you were very idealistic thinking that you on your own can change the world world? That’s what it feels when you finish every video. Inspired talks by the world’s greatest thinkers and doers. See for yourself. The roster of presentors itself will make you want to watch every video…
Chikka Problem
Chikka has been helping me a lot so I just want to help him. When you login in chikka, there is an option to check the “Remember Me” box. Since I have my own computer at home, it would be more efficient if I click that box. However, when you attempt to login the next time, this shows up.
Nice! It recognizes me going back to the site again. But something’s missing… hmmm… I’m really not sure. Oh I remember… yeah, there’s no option to continue if I’m successful at identifying myself as Kaiser Fernandez. I then have to click the “click here” if I wanted to login as another user, but of course I’m logging again as Kaiser Fernandez. Conclusion. The remember me box is useless.
Just to help them out. I already asked an ex-chikka employee to tell Chikka about this problem…
Good thing it’s still Beta. I heard gmail is still in Beta. That means no one can sue them whatever happens. Hehe. 
Honestly Chikka is a lot of help, It saves me money whenever I have to send group messages/announcements! I hope you don’t stop giving away free credits. BTW, how do you earn?
Obama wins
McCain has already accepted defeat without sounding resentful. He has set set the tone. And I admire the Americans for showing humility in accepting it. Unlike of course to our poor country where everyone says that he was cheated. As I type this, McCain is giving his speech. His crowd is booing Obama but McCain signals to stop them. His message… to bridge the gap between their differences, and help each other bring back prosperity to the US, he will do everything for the American people…
All Obama needed was 270. CNN updates their website every ten seconds. What ever appears on TV is updated immediately on their site. The election shows that age and liberalism is more of a factor than race. The first African-American to win the presidency.
Giving back to Pisay
To PISAY batch ‘04 and to alll PISAY batches,
I bet everyone is aware as to what happened to our dear campus. I was there 2 weeks ago, some people were doing load testing to ensure the strength of the floors. It’s not at all cool to see students having classes at the grandstand, canteen (co-op), ASTB, gym, dorm, etc. I asked a student how was there schedule specially the lab subjects? What I had in mind are the equipment and chemicals they need to complete the experiments. He said it was fine, no real problems with completing the requirements. But compared to our batch and what we had before, we are to be considered very lucky. The humanities building is now completely shut down.
So maybe we could use this opportunity, to give something back to Pisay, as we’ve been mentioning in the emails. It was like coincidence when Gerard sent an email on September 6 and then on September 30 a Fire hit a school in Quezon City.
Maybe we could start simply with this. The Values Education Department, (one of the departments affected, what am I saying everyone got affected!) came up with a list of items needed by the department.
ECE Board Exam Results
Click here for March 2009 Results
I heard that the ECE board exam results for October will be released today. I think I am as excited as my friends who took the exam last Saturday and Sunday. So a quick type in google of “PRC Board Exam Results” will give you the option to go to the website of the Philippine Regulation Commission at www.prc.gov.ph or to this website www.prcboardexamresults.com. The latter is a better option because as expected with all websites of any government office (of our beloved Philippines), information processing takes them three years for when i clicked the ECE results page, the latest they have 2005. Wow!
This morning, I had no problems accessing www.prcboardexamresults.com, but this afternoon until 8pm, their website was down, I suppose the server’s bandwidth wasn’t able to handle the traffic this afternoon (or is it just my computer?), but now it’s up again (8pm).
Results will be released at 10pm…
***After playing a short game of DOTA vs my brother on LAN***
It’s down again (10:25; traffic!).
After continuous refreshing for 5 minutes… I found out that the main site is working, only the sub-pages are not.
Ok (11:03pm). I have to sleep now, I’ll just post this tomorrow morning with the results. (Hopefully!)
***Can’t sleep so back to the computer (11:47).***
Whoa! Congratulations to my two good friends who took the exam. Engr. Alvaro Miguel Bolisay and Engr. Walter Chua.
Good thing they have an alternative site.
http://prcboardexamresultsph.blogspot.com/2008/10/october-2008-electronics-engineer-ece.html
The Top Ten
Top 10 October 2008 Electronics Engineers (ECEs):
- FERDINAND MATUTINO SANCHEZ, TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES-QUEZON CITY – 91.10
- KRISTOFFER SY LAIZ, ATENEO DE NAGA – 90.30
- ROY ANDREW MANQUERIA GARCIA, DIVINE WORD COLLEGE OF CALAPAN – 90.20
- LEDA CELICA BAUTISTA SAMIN, WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY-PHILIPPINES-CABANATUAN CITY – 90.20
- DON JOVEN RAVOY AGRAVANTE, UNIVERSITY OF SAN CARLOS – 90.00
- KENNETH ALDRIN OPIS PRUDENCIO, POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-MAIN-STA. MESA – 90.00
- JEFRIL MANONGSONG AMBOY, BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY-BATANGAS CITY – 89.90
- RIGOR LANCION CABUÑAG, POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-MAIN-STA. MESA – 89.80
- JASON MARC ALMIROL ALEGADO, UNIVERSITY OF SAN CARLOS – 89.60
- MARK JOSEPH BERNABE PE, UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST-CALOOCAN – 89.00
- EDISON DIMAALA DE LARA, POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-MAIN-STA. MESA – 88.90
- ELEANOR ANNE BASA TIGLAO, HOLY ANGEL UNIVERSITY – 88.90
- CHESTER DE VERA PARAYNO, SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY – 88.70
- RYAN DE LEON RIVERA, POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-MAIN-STA. MESA – 88.70
No UP Diliman, Mapua or La Salle….
Just wait, I hope to see DLSU in the top ten in April 2009.
Poverty During Christmas
I heard some people say Christmas will be cancelled here in the Philippines because of poverty. Yeah right! Of course that was a joke.
But poverty is not a joke here in our country. The solution I have in mind maybe a very mild and very simple solution, but I very well know that it will help our fellow Filipinos.
Back in 2000, I can say our family business (shoes) literally got bankrupt. Not because the trend of wearing flip flops (even in formal events) was starting to pick-up, but because China made shoes had selling prices lower than our manufacturing cost. Such advantage, really!
I would always go for the cheaper product if I’m limited with the resource of money but that doesn’t mean I would go for it. It’s a fact that China made goods are cheaper but it doesn’t mean we always have/need to buy from them. If I gave you the option, buy a pair of shoes that would last for a week from China or a locally made pair that would last for a month but costs four times the cheaper one, which would you choose? This is a break-even example, but when you do your own buying, try to do your calculations and sometimes be surprised that taking quality into consideration would sometimes save you more money.
Besides the quality and the money you save in exercising prudence when you purchase something, learning the habit of purchasing our locally made products, even if it costs more, can bring tons of jobs to other Filipinos in provinces and enable a good flow of cash for them. If you buy from them, demand will increase, jobs will also increase to increase the supply.
I can’t make you a pair of slippers but I know what benefit it can bring to local manufacturers. Each pair, if handcrafted, with a streamlined setup, from my observations will be touched by at least seven (7) hands. And all of those hands will earn money because they contributed something to its becoming a full-pledged slipper.
Filipinos are getting smarter. We are getting more aware. The smelly stuff hidden in Chinese goods are now starting to smell. The unsafe imported Christmas lights (theorized to be the cause of the fire that killed the De Venecia family) back in 2004, cardboard found in meat products and melamine found in milk are just some of them. What else will we find out later in these goods that will greatly affect us? China may completely remove all melamine in all food products but it’s not easy to remove the mindset of people that if it comes from China and it’s dirt cheap, there must be wrong with it. Let’s all learn from this.
This message is addressed to the Filipinos who may have a little extra in their pockets, to purchase Filipino made products that they may consider the hands that crafted them. Let’s help our fellow Filipinos. Specially this Christmas Season.
Last thing, I’m not sure if we do have locally made Christmas lights, but before purchasing them. Check it’s quality first, Ok? Ok.
Understanding the US Financial Crisis for Dummies
Last month, I posted something about the fall of Lehman Brothers (Red Arrows and Red Blood). This entry would be a sequel to that one.
For the past month, it had become a routine to turn on the TV and switch the channel to CNN, Channel News Asia, BBC or Bloomberg. Honestly I really tried to digest everything I hear from the news about the economy, but only when sports news are shown on CNN do I stop my nose from bleeding. I really can’t figure out why a whole country like Iceland can file for bankruptcy? Or where does the money go, do they burn cash literally? With these odd stupid questions in my mind, I started to look for sources on the internet to help myself in understanding the financial crisis. A simple googling solved the problem.
If you want a lengthy explanation from the source of the problem to the probable solutions, you can go to Obstinate Observations. If you want a very practical explanation for dummies in Tagalog go to Red Arrows and Red Blood. If you want a visual explanation, you can go to the Financial Times. However I was not relieved by this graphic explanation because some heavy finance jargon were still there. I still looked for something that you can show to a 12-year old, an 80-year old, or to someone like me who all the while thought that my three units of accounting only covered addition and subtraction and make him understand, I would recommend How To Explain The 2008 US Financial Crisis to your Kids (and Most Adults) by Say it Visually. It also comes with Spanish subtitles too.
BTW, I’m also inviting you to join a get-together on Understanding the US Financial Crisis by Fernand Tansingco. Go to http://www.mayniladstudycenter.net/ for more details.
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EDSA Billboards and LRT2
Told you. (Yan na nga bang sinasabi ko sa inyo e!) This would be BF’s comment if he’ll be asked to say something regarding the billboards which fell just this afternoon. And expect Senator Santiago (author of the Anti-Billboard Blight Act of 2006) to say something as well. I bet the DPWH, the local government and the private owners will point fingers at each other again just like what happened after billboards fell during the Milenyo storm back in 2006.
Just to recall, back then, Senator Santiago asked the Supreme Court to investigate judges who had issued temporary restraining orders to the MMDA to prevent it from tearing down billboards. Can’t really think of a logical reason why you would issue a TOR on keeping people safe. Oh yeah! I got it! Maybe the judges… and the billboard owners… you know… had a greasy conversation.
Another thing. Do you ride the LRT2? Take a close look at all the fire extinguishers inside the trains.
One typical day on the train, using my very creative imagination, I thought of a 10-70 scenario inside the train. (10-70 is a radio ten code for a fire alert.) Wanting to be a hero in my story, my first reaction would be to dash for the fire extinguisher to be the one to put out the fire. But lo and behold! The pin that keeps the device from being accidentally pressed is locked by a cable tie in such a way that even if you really wanted to operate the fire protection device, only a very strong cutter would allow you to loosen it. But since they don’t allow sharp objects inside the train, I bet there’s a zero chance that you can cut the cable tie. Unless you are very good in sneaking a sharp object through the very stringent (grabe super stringent as in) security employed by the station guards.
The fire extinguisher was put there with the purpose that in the event of a fire situation, a nearby civilian can operate it immediately, hassle free. The LRT2 management is just so smart (grabe as in super smart!)! Think of it this way, If there was really a fire and you didn’t bring a sharp object to loosen up the cable tie, the conclusion would be to kiss your sorry @__ goodbye.
If the management would tell me that it’s purpose is to keep playful hands from accidentally pressing it, then I think fining someone for playing with the extinguisher is a better off solution than letting myself be killed if indeed a fire situation happens in the train. May God forbid this to happen.
Even if you had the grandest idea on telling people that accidents can be prevented, that’s only half of it. Another half is thinking of a way to make them listen.
May God have mercy on us Filipinos.
