Blog-crosoft Word 2007??

In an effort to provide current and daily content, I will be using MS Word 2007's blog functionality, its a heaven sent for office workers, since most setups block blog sites from the proxy side.

Parental Guidance

I often wonder whether there's some truth on the notion that most of us measure ourselves against our parents' achievements, or on how we've "faithfully reproduced" their expectations or counsel....

Okay, so most of my friends' folks have done very well for themselves, given whatever daunting odds that they have to overcome then...

Shell-shocked egotist needs help!

It all started like any other job....

Paid Professional

Every once in a while we come across a sort of a "life changing" question...

Questions like, "Is there an afterlife?" or "How can I ensure that I'd be on His good-side on the final judgement?".... and finally, the eternal question that you'd neither admit or deny asking (at least once in your life) - "Doc, why does it burn when I pee??"

Hehehe... just kidding...! (but if the last question was true for you, better checked with your Heath Care Policy if it covers this illness category...)

National Election 2010

I always know, that there has never been an honest, clean, and peaceful election in the country.

I always know, that despite several measures, that somewhere in the archipelago, some candidate is either switching ballots, buying votes, or parading armed "bodyguards" on polling stations to intimidate the populace...

The bad thing about the whole matter is, that although most of us Filipinos know that these practices exists, no one really wanted to make any difference, to make a stand for something or for someone else's rights...

It's either that most of us are just too indifferent of the whole election-rama that we're blind of what is truly happening around us. Or maybe some of us have actually accepted these as facts and has put our civil liberties a price tag, casting our votes to the whoever is the "highest bidder".

Or maybe, some of us just don't believe in the democratic process or on the concept of exercising suffrage since the past four administration has plunged us deeper in to poverty, hunger, disease, and suffering than our parents can ever imagine....

Now, before you nod your heads in agreement and turn right back to what you're all doing - I want you to picture this......

The year was 1894, and tension was mounting around the town on the news of a total armed revolution is the buzzword...

There was news that the efforts of the local elites' and nobles' campaigns for independence in Madrid was reduced to a rude Spanish Outhouse joke...

And that the usual corruption, rape, and other sadistic atrocities of the foreign masters, are intensifying in the southern provincial domains....

There were also news that underground guerilla movement is already putting their plans into motion, news of sporadic armed activities popping like wild mushrooms during the monsoon season - the hijacking in Baler, the sabotaging of various Spanish installations in Cavite and Laguna, the smear campaigns to the friars of the Basilica Manila ...

But despite these news of valor and courageous individuals putting their heads on the chopping block, a lot of the folk's you know are either too dense to acknowledge the revolutionists efforts as something that they themselves want, or are simply too afraid of the consequences and the responsibilities if they choose to join the campaign.

As you could imagine - the scenario above is not unlike the "circus" what we have right now...

All the atrocities of our own countrymen has left most of us either too afraid or just simply indifferent to the fight for the "cause".

And now, imagine this... on the "hypothetical" scenario I told above... you were one of the select few who was given an invite to actually make a difference and join the fight for freedom.....

Are you going to turn it down?!?!

Now, that your country and your people are on their knees - withered, ravaged, tired, and dying by the second??

We trust that you would make the right choices... this time....

Be involved!

Make your votes count!

Fight for your rights and for your Freedom!

And maybe, just maybe, we can all redeem ourselves, our country, the second time around!

When getting excited doesn't involve a lube, tissues or tapes...

Nowadays, it usually takes a lot to rouse my interest.

And by that I mean, like one of those hanky-over-mouth, hyper-ventilating, high school giggling kind of excitement.... (*not that I'd know how what the fuck means...) =D

Everything have become routine now, its like your 25-year old marriage minus the old hag you call your spouse =)

Gone are the days that you spend so much tension and aggravation, stressing over when will you be able to catch up with either work or personal matters...

Ahhh... I miss those days.... (really, I do!)

Before, it was as if everything was pre-school days to me and that I was literally looking forward of diving right in that ever-omniscient pool of knowledge and wisdom...

I was actually more than happy to get my ears wet (...amongst other bodily appendages).

Essentially, learning (everything) something new everyday is like an addictive habit of mine.

I guess that's how most of us are... right?

I in particular, always thought that the measure of my satisfaction is not how soon I can get comfortable executing a task, but by how long I can sustain that 'excitement factor' for that task!

Let me give you an example --- when I first had to "go-live" a production server (Windows NT??), the aftershock of the amphetamine-like rush lingered in my system for about 3 days!

That was the 'excitement factor' that I was referring to....

But after a couple thousand (??) server builds later.... you simply cannot stand seeing an ILO command line staring you at your face, like an obnoxious *fugly 4-year old kid mocking you in public about how weird your parted hair looked like!

Sure, I've tried learning a new skill here and there to re-kindle the 'spark' - like brushing up with contemporary network security architecture, reviewing annotations with the different IT Ops/Management standards, getting whitepapers on cloud-computing strategies and architectures, trying like mad to learn SAP's FI/CO without having a clue what its U.I. looks like or how its database back end works.... then finally, I've finally got pressured to learn Microsoft Sharepoint Services because my stupid boss said "you just gotta!"

Learning a new thing right now with my current line of work, is initially appealing, I must admit. But the excitement fails to carry anything forward after only a couple of weeks.

Reason being is I never really felt compelled to sustain the excitement since its never a "requirement" for my line of work or never really a genuine interest to begin with.

I usually end up getting bored and most often than I'd want to - kicking myself for spending my time with another 'useless' trivia, knowledge, or skill...

This year, dad retired (unofficially?).

And seeing how this lifetime event affected him, it got me thinking about the future.

For starters, I asked myself - Why have you never found a retiree whose genuinely looking forward at doing nothing after a lifetime of toiling mindlessly over their careers or business ventures?

Sure - they'll always tell you that they are 'that' excited over lazy afternoons, weekly family reunions (probably because their anxious to soak the news on who from the clan have recently developed arthritis or some other health related problem or have them "talk-till-its-time-to-take-your-pill" nonsensical discussion over something about politics, showbiz, the weather, or health), gardening, indoor hobbies, or that grand Europe tour they've been planning all their lives, but really --- who are they fooling?

I mean, lets look this for a minute --- if you're one of those whose been in the 'self-empowered' working class category all your life (*like what your parents, siblings, and yourself probably belongs to right now...) you've probably settled down with the idea of working all your life to make a living...

So just take a moment to imagine what would happen when one day, all of sudden, you're no longer compelled to wake up early for work after partying all night (some of you might probably be saying - well what the fuck is wrong with that D'shah?).

But think about it? By that time, you'd probably long gotten over your party-animal evil twin... or better yet, you're already in the process of experiencing the 'fruits' of all those years of neglecting your health (i.e. hard-drinking, smoking, or heaven forbid ganja-nippin')....

Therefore - I bet you'd agree with me when I say that you'd probably be bored out of your wits after a couple of weeks doing nothing! Am I right?

Now - Gardening....

I bet you my pathetic excuse-of-a-boss you probably wouldn't like gardening, period... Cause that would mean that you'd have to get down with your hands and knees, and probably end up all sweaty, itchy and panting after three and a half minutes... oh, wait, doesn't that sound familiar for most of you folks? ;-)

Hehehe!

But seriously? Gardening?

Okay what about the alternatives? What about that grand European Tour?

Sight-seeing in Athens, picture taking with those costume-clad plaid-skirt wearing ladies in the Swiss alps or sipping coffee in one of them posh Parisian shops....?

Read my lips --- WAKE UP Stupid!!!

That will never ever ever ever happen... not as long as your pathetic yearly salary adjustment is like, a fourth or a quarter or a third of the Philippines' inflation rate - which for most folks here roughly translates to about 0.000000000010332913% increment per year.

Thats it... we're all probably feeling screwed and loony by this point, I personally feel a little light-headed... which is my cue to end this post....

Hope that I've given some of you folks out there an minor insight into your future and hopefully, made you imagine what would you be in about 30-35 years from now...

Annual Self-Exam: 2009

I never really had an opportunity to go through a full introspection for 2009.

I mean, I've had 'eureka' moments from time to time, but never that time where I sit down and mark myself against my objectives for this year.

So for this post, I'm doing just that!

Below are my "carefully" identified pre-conditions and arguments about a year ago when I was trying to decide whether to accept this opportunity and repatriating my family back to Manila:

1) That this opportunity presents a possibility of migrating and settling in the United States.
2) That due to the low cost of living in Manila, compared to Muscat, that I can expand my savings potential by a conservative three-fold margin
3) That further career development in terms of professional trainings is possible due to the progressive nature of the company and of the job itself
4) That I could complete a post-graduate/or another bachelors degree - further opening doors to other career choices/opportunities.

Well, here's the low-down:

Item 1 (Did not occur) - The possibility of travelling to the United States was struck down early (1/2009) due to budgetary concerns in the organizations, in lieu of the economic fall-out in the States and as well as the recent mergers and acquisitions, orchestrated by the company by late 2008.

Item 2 (Did not occur) - The potential savings brought by the lower cost of living, was effectively leveled-off by the sheer deductions and taxes drawn from my monthly compensation. I did account for this possibility of course, but did so, with a naive, sort of childish/fantasy-like rigor... By not factoring in the compounding effects of the local inflation rate, escalated cost on basic necessities (utilities, petrol, water, basic services, etc) - I've essentially made a serious mis-calculation. Thus, effectively striking out this item from my list.

Item 3 (Did not occur) - This item hinged very closely with item number 1. The opportunity to gain further certification in my field is not possible locally, therefore, when the news that no travel-advise will be given for 2009, this too obviously was stricken out from the record.

Item 4 (Did not occur) - Due to the nature of my work, that we support most endeavors in locations with 8-13 hours time difference from the Manila, it was a struggle to a family man like me, whose domestic responsibilities essentially takes 40% of my offline hours to pursue another degree or any post-graduate degree for that matter. I simply cannot function effectively with less than 4 hours of rest daily. Don't say I didn't try though - I actually had myself enrolled for a post-graduate class, but had do drop a week later because I feel like collapsing to the sidewalk .

All in all, I just feel that there is really nothing to cheer about, even with the local holiday scene... *Big sigh!

Wikipedia's decline

I raved at the news when I first heard about the idea of an open-source encyclopedia with the intent to provide free access to information and knowledge to all way back in 2001-2002.

As a technologist growing up in the '90s, I am well aware of the corporate greed that has shaped the once benign thrust of the world-wide web, and that is, to liberate humanity through free information access.

I never had any doubt that the such (wikipedia) a concept would take off - however, I do concede, that when Wikipedia first announced their program, it did made me think about how the entire concept could stand the test of time, mostly questions about - what sort of governing infrastructure could they put in place.

As a student from a modest family, I didn't have the luxury that the elites have at their disposal - namely access to the latest books and articles as afforded only by cash.

Basically, all we have was a 12-year-old "World Book" encyclopedia and the school's mostly out-dated collection of documents at our disposal. The encyclopedia is bound to the information available at the time of their print. So it didn't fare well on topics like - medical, technical and scientific developments, which requires constant updates due primarily to their constantly changing nature.

Now, when Wikipedia first came out - I said, "this is good".

Now, it literally would cost anything to learn! I was then, as now, a true advocate of what the Internet stand for --- "free information access".

Now, all of humankind will have access to free information, literally, at their finger-tips.

Obviously, the next big question on everyone's mind then is - "so how does this work exactly?".

As with anything open-source, the articles and materials on Wikipedia will be constantly subjected to arbitration (i.e. disambiguation, updates, etc) for everyone, and anyone within the community. Which is, really, a good thing.

But obviously, as the contributing community grows - it will inevitably go through the age old problems that a typical society faces, namely: governance, relevancy, rules and regulation, and of course, posterity.

It was clear from the beginning that any questions on concepts and proprietary regulations needed to be spelled out clearly.

As always, any great ideas are only as good as how its community wants it to be.

The fact that a good idea has to actually work in order for it to be beneficial overtime needed to be addressed clearly, and that was not the case with Wikipedia.

It was soon clear that the people who introduced the "Wiki concept" had done so in haste. And around late 2005 - to early 2006, the small cracks started to appear...

Slowly, the wiki administrators find themselves refereeing infighting and similar activities between contributors and community members. The level and quality of contributions/articles also declined as most of the community quality contributors decided to leave in disgust as Wikipedia tries desperately to put new laws and guidelines in place, sometimes, giving out new procedures and rules, in a daily format.

The general rule of saturation slowly sets the next stage...

Questions like, "well how often does any article have to be updated" didn't help the Wiki folks and the community at all. Debates over how to set the standards of a Wiki article also became a focus of attention for sometime in 2006.

I mean, let us agree on this fact - That we can only put (or at least try our best to) a finite set of knowledge articles in there, that's one thing, but the contention over editing and updating documents and the governance and processes of these and similar topics cannot all be addressed in the interim.

Overtime, the situation is just bound to be in a direct collision course to mayhem and disarray.

The founders should have made clear that knowledge and information has to have a proper founding guidelines, in order for it to stand the test of time.

Free information is indeed a novel idea, but somehow, all needed to consent to an acceptable regulation, formulated to impact the community overtime, and not when problems are identified.

In the realm of the information super highway, Wikipedia is a small idea that needed a gigantic feat to fully accomplish. Something that requires a rather significant investment in time and energy initially as planning.

Again, I am, in all honesty, do not see the concept of free information to be an impossible novelty, in fact, I'm still hopeful, that some day, someone will be able to tie the "loose ends" and forever secure the world of free access to information for all!

The question on whether that's Wikipedia? I very much have little faith at this point in lieu of fact that they should have given more time hatching out the guidelines beforehand instead of fire-fighting their way out of this mess.

I believe that, bottom line, free information (open-source) is a workable proposition; we just have to fully identify the guidelines and preliminary rules completely and clearly.

Pacquiao vs. Cotto

It's just one day to go and already the workplace is alive with folks picking slots and putting down bets for the much anticipated Pacquiao - Cotto "Firepower" Match.

The event is scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on November 14.

I'd like to give the whole spiel on in-depth analysis for both boxers, but I figure I don't want to give you readers an impression that I'm biased.

So, I'll just give you the statistics on both athletes and let you make the decision.

Let's get it on!!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Click the link for:

Manny Pacquiao's Professional Record

Miguel Cotto's Professional Record

Tale of the tape

Proof that you should never take your problems seriously

"It's never really a matter of choice. So if your screwed now, you're destined to be screwed for the rest of your life"

- this is how I understood what life is really all about, not really a comforting thought, huh? I know...

If you thought that you are here right now, empowered or in control of your life, and existing in a reality by your own accord or merits, then folks, I'd have to urge you to think again.

I've always wondered how people often look back later their lives thinking that they could've changed their lives' outcome if they could have done things differently - if they could've made a different choice.

I believe that this is the main reason why people are unhappy and stressed; that they grow old bitter at an "opportunity lost" or at least the prospect of what could have been a better life... if only...

Unfortunately, I have to concede, that this is how I also used to think, thus explain my fondness of leading a stress-laiden, circumstancially-dependent, adrenaline-driven life..

And, this is what I'm trying to train myself out-of right now (sadly, with mixed results)...

Why the sudden existential quips from yours truly?

Well, with everything going-on right now - with my job, life, family, kids; I just feel that everything is slipping out of control, in short is heading for a road to nowhere!

I feel so lost... so unsure... always in panic-mode with life's every twists and turns...

Not really a good thing when your the sole-provider of a young family...

I feel that all my living seconds are spent with making or taking split-second decisions, that I would either later regret or forget(?) why I made it in the first place.

This month, has been more of the same, and for some reason, I always find myself reflecting on the same questions everytime (i.e. what is the point of this life? why is everything going the way they are? etc), going halfway, then not really bothering to finish the thought process.

This is the cycle that is my life's story:

Problem comes in the picture -> Think of Solution -> Implement Solution -> Evaluate Results -> Results unpleasant/pleasant? -> Question "what if" scenarios -> reflect on "what if" results/scenarios -> then, another Problem comes into view, repeat step 1...

and this is the summary: Same old shit, different day!

Looking forward this time around though, I chose to take another path.

Somehow, I found myself not rationalizing with "what if" scenarios, but rather trying to figure out if theology holds some explanation to this perpetual life mystery.

Digging deep to my collection/knowledge of theology and philosophy (there's really not much left in there, so it was a quick half-a-day trip to psychedelic dooland) I came out with this understanding...

If you really understand the basic theological rationale of your very existence it should be this:

"That God has created man from his own image/likeness; that HE has ultimately, something planned for you altogether even before your parents were born..."

Western theology's twist in this concept, is the notion that God has given man, the right to make his own choice on things. And that those choice (with predetermined outcome) would essentially be your accountability and would eventually spell your life story.

I believe that western theology's view on this concept are the primary reasons why people today are much inclined to be lethargic, psychotic, and essentially living stressed lives - the fact that they have a "say" on their lives will obviously throw people off whenever things "magically" don't go the way that they plan it to go...

But let's take time to analyze this idea.

Immediately you'll run into a couple of inherent flaws, namely:

First point is, that even though your basically empowered to make your own decisions, you are still eventually choosing something that was, in essence,
already chosen for you (with the argument that God would have known what option
you'll choose in the end regardless). So, with that, the argument that you are the captain of your life goes down for the count.

Second point is, if we argue that you are indeed empowered to make your own choices, and basically in control of your life's destiny by choosing to take a different path than what God has laid for you - you are still, effectively making a decision over already pre-determined options to begin with, due to the argument that God already know the outcome for "each choice". This would therefore contradict the notion that your choices will essentially spell any difference in your life.

So, if we agree that all the options that we will encounter in our lifetime, have already been "previewed" by God (meaning that the outcomes of those options are already known), and that even act itselt of "making a choice" is already known (due to the argument that God is Omnipresent and Omnipotent) then, the logical derivation of this argument would be the following:

1. That your life is composed of pre-determined choices, all of which have their specific outcomes already identified.

2. That even the "act" itself of making a decision over these options and their corresponding implications in your life have also been determined, long before you were even born (since God already knows what your life's end/story will be).

3. That ultimately, you don't have any control of what your life would end with (circumstances) and that the choices that you've made or the one's you'll be making in the future already have a "pre-determined" result, and all the "impacts" of those decisions are already foretold or mapped.

Kinda makes your skin shrivel doesn't it?

As a consolation though - we know that it's human nature to second guess ourselves and our decisions.

It's the primary reason why we, as a species, choose to exist at a much higher level of consciousness.

It is the same reason why we're even talking about this topic, at this very minute.

I mean, this could probably explain why people, at the dawn of their life is still bitter with the prospects of a different reality over the thought that their lives could've been different if only they've made a different decision - Its in our nature to question their fate in the entire fabric of life, as designed by God.

The moral of the story is, whatever God decides for you in your life's circumstances, is already a pre-determined path, something that "He" has known long before you were even born.

So there's really no value at this point to not trust HIM.

Afterall, He knows your life's story, inside, and out.

That all the pains, worries, and stress that you're experiencing right now, are all part of God's "grand design" of things.

So to be stressed or be worried about every little quirk or problems is essentially moot and frankly, stupid.

And that ultimately, we are all in this for the ride!

We just need to trust Him and His will for the simple fact that He would know what's best for you and me, and everything else that's happening right this very minute, are just details...

Glory to God's name forever!

And they say that logic and religion don't mix... =)