to school! I can feel the glee and excitement of my eight readers right now...
Yep, it's June once again and the school year is about to start. I had one of the weirdest summers of my adult life. It was almost two months of bum-ness and now I'm ready to buckle down to work, harnessing the minds of youngsters in the field of Industrial Engineering.
This school year will be different than the past four years. My adviser, de facto parent/guardian and boss Ma'am Aura will be taking a sabbatical to write a book on Methods Engineering to be published by John Wiley. Three of my colleagues, Sir Erick, Norman and Melai, are leaving the department for greener pastures. The surprise of the school year however was the sudden decision of Jonas to join the faculty. He'll be joined by "Sir" Rex and Lo. Jon will be teaching IE 153 which I handled last year. Too bad for him, my hard drive crashed last February and thus, I lost my slides (which were in Keynote anyway). Long lost friend Chester Sy is also joining the ChE department.
What I'm excited about is that I'm again in-charge of the Ergonomics class (which I like way better than the Feasibility class) and I'm also handling the one-unit freshman IE class (IE 10). So right now, one day before classes, I'm trying to prepare a syllabus for the IE 10 class tomorrow.
I resolve to blog every week at least on what transpires from my ergonomics class. First day's on Thursday.
***
Movie to see list:
Pirates 3 (YES! hindi ko pa napapanood!)
Ocean's 13
FF2
Transformers
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Poisson letters
Yes, the title was intentionally misspelled. I will write some more when I get home...
***
Today is the deadline for grade submission. Hope I make it.
UPDATE: I made it, with a lot of time to spare!
**************
Before I submitted grades, I got this unusual poison letter from a student (I assume)...
***
Today is the deadline for grade submission. Hope I make it.
UPDATE: I made it, with a lot of time to spare!
**************
Before I submitted grades, I got this unusual poison letter from a student (I assume)...
from: dragon@axti.com
good day sir. won't you ask us to evaluate our groupmates according to their contribution to the project? i don't mean to bring anybody down or anything (and there's probably no way to say this without sounding like a tattletale) but it's unfair that members who didn't contribute much to the project will end up gettnig the same grade as the members who did their parts.
good day sir. won't you ask us to evaluate our groupmates according to their contribution to the project? i don't mean to bring anybody down or anything (and there's probably no way to say this without sounding like a tattletale) but it's unfair that members who didn't contribute much to the project will end up gettnig the same grade as the members who did their parts.
thank you sir.
Now, a few facts:
* - Yes, I don't ask for group evaluations under the assumption that everyone will contribute in their own fair way to the project. Not everyone will put in equal effort, but they should put in whatever is expected of them. Don't expect the average/below average student to come up with brilliant analysis. You can expect the usual (well-resourced) slacker to provide an overnight venue, unlimited food, snacks, ink and paper. Few are lucky to have good groupmates who can provide excellent input without really being a pain in the ass. In short, it is not expected that everyone will put in an equal amount of effort/work/resources but rather, it is expected that each member should contribute in the manner best suited to his/her capacity.
* - My policy is that group imbalances and snafus should be addressed at the group level. However, if something is brought to my attention, I will assume that they have tried to address it but my intervention is necessary.
* - I am not a firm believer of group evaluations per se, especially if this results in an "equal score" for everyone. Besides, the group slacker will more often than not, fail to recognize his/her own shortcomings and therefore, give a higher than actual grade for himself. Also, it would be very tedious to come up with a list of criteria that would be fair to all members in terms of what they can contribute to a project.
Having said that, I replied to my student codenamed "dragon" but alas, I got a Mail Delivery Subsystem failure message. I sent a shoutout to the student but he/she didn't approach me.
Poison letters have no use unless someone owns up to it. Until then, it will remain what it is, just a letter. I will simply reply, "Noted."
P.S.: Why Poisson letters? It was misspelled since I wanted to write about Poison letters and I got reminded of the Poisson distribution.
Now, a few facts:
* - Yes, I don't ask for group evaluations under the assumption that everyone will contribute in their own fair way to the project. Not everyone will put in equal effort, but they should put in whatever is expected of them. Don't expect the average/below average student to come up with brilliant analysis. You can expect the usual (well-resourced) slacker to provide an overnight venue, unlimited food, snacks, ink and paper. Few are lucky to have good groupmates who can provide excellent input without really being a pain in the ass. In short, it is not expected that everyone will put in an equal amount of effort/work/resources but rather, it is expected that each member should contribute in the manner best suited to his/her capacity.
* - My policy is that group imbalances and snafus should be addressed at the group level. However, if something is brought to my attention, I will assume that they have tried to address it but my intervention is necessary.
* - I am not a firm believer of group evaluations per se, especially if this results in an "equal score" for everyone. Besides, the group slacker will more often than not, fail to recognize his/her own shortcomings and therefore, give a higher than actual grade for himself. Also, it would be very tedious to come up with a list of criteria that would be fair to all members in terms of what they can contribute to a project.
Having said that, I replied to my student codenamed "dragon" but alas, I got a Mail Delivery Subsystem failure message. I sent a shoutout to the student but he/she didn't approach me.
Poison letters have no use unless someone owns up to it. Until then, it will remain what it is, just a letter. I will simply reply, "Noted."
P.S.: Why Poisson letters? It was misspelled since I wanted to write about Poison letters and I got reminded of the Poisson distribution.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Multitasking and DoTA
As of press time, I'm preparing to accommodate the dotagang for a day long session of DoTA. The significance of which is that it's Good Friday today and it seems that everyone else thought it would be a good idea to play today (when no one else is playing).
To compensate for this (probably) sinful act, I thought of fasting for the entire day. Of course, that's a bad idea. So, I just settled for serving pasta and seafood only. Yes, we are going to burn in hell for this.
***
In a totally unrelated topic, ErgoWeb, my weekly source of ergonomic news, recently posted an article that totally bashes the concept of multitasking. While I am not totally against everything the article wrote (e.g., texting and driving dangers), I'd like to say that I'm a fan of multitasking in specific instances. However, I've noticed a dip in my multitasking skills as of late, which I could probably attribute to lack of sleep.
Jeez, I need a Sleepasil...
To compensate for this (probably) sinful act, I thought of fasting for the entire day. Of course, that's a bad idea. So, I just settled for serving pasta and seafood only. Yes, we are going to burn in hell for this.
***
In a totally unrelated topic, ErgoWeb, my weekly source of ergonomic news, recently posted an article that totally bashes the concept of multitasking. While I am not totally against everything the article wrote (e.g., texting and driving dangers), I'd like to say that I'm a fan of multitasking in specific instances. However, I've noticed a dip in my multitasking skills as of late, which I could probably attribute to lack of sleep.
Jeez, I need a Sleepasil...
Monday, March 26, 2007
A Weekend of Celebrations, and then some
March has always been full of celebrations, especially graduations. This weekend was no exception.
Friday, 21st: Mark Monserrate celebrated his 25th birthday (actually last Wednesday) and the party was quite far from the house, around a couple of hundred... steps away! As expected, a few drinks, lots of pulutan, and a ton of stories. I got together with some of our former and current neighbors and his HS friends.
Saturday, 22nd: (Niccola) Tesla Manasan celebrated her 1st birthday at the sumptuous Luk Foo Cantonese Garden in Commonwealth Avenue. The usual kwento & lots of duck were the main courses. In attendance were Jon, Alekos, Jam, Oli, Ruben & Hiyas, and Mark & Hannah. Of course, the Gamises brought Sam...
Jam got a group pic and I'm still waiting for it in the email.
Sunday, 25th: Off to Don Henrico's West Avenue for the baptismal party of Alfonso Miguel D. Guererro, son of Mylai Dimaculangan (Camia, Gluon'98). I was expecting some more Pisay batchmates, instead, we had a mini-Gluon reunion (sans Buan & Amado)... Hmm, whatever happened to those two anyway? Well, as most of my friends say, I should know (of all people)...
Don't forget to visit my Picasa site to see other pictures... :D
Monday, 26th: Birthday party (9th) of Bea Martinez, daughter of Prof. Iris Martinez. Was treated to a sumptuous meal of lasagna, chicken pastel, roast beef and potato salad. Yum...
I was there with Dean Ega and Mickey Mancenido.
***
On a slightly unrelated note, do we have an updated list of couples from Pisay and IE'98? I doubt such a list exists. If it did, then I'd easily answer everyone's questions about everyone else. Now, I'm trying to attempt to make this list (and I'm soliciting help from everyone to try and fill this up).
Well, I noticed (for a while now) that it seems that no IE'98 couple remained intact after our graduation. In fact, to put it as a stretch, most of the couples we know in IE (even if they had a relationship with someone not from IE) are no longer couples today*. Therefore, there's none to enumerate. Also, few IE'98 people read my blog anyway...
On the other hand, Pisay couples have enjoyed some success at relationships. Here are some of the Pisay success stories...
Pat and Chicks Manasan - Been married for a year and a half now and Tesla is as cute as the day she was born. Of course they're at the top of my list since I was the best man at their wedding.
Hannah and Mark Gamis - Has been married longer and has an adorable son in Sam (see pic above). Them and the Manasan's are actually Physics couples. Let's say they mastered the concepts of friction and attractive forces.
Ria and Frank Guevarra - recently married (January) and are expecting their first-born.
Dyan and Gary de Guzman - has also been married for some time now and they seem to be as happy as ever.
Andrea and Ramil Herrera - got married in UP the day we had our Christmas party back in 2005 I think (correct me if I'm wrong).
Elena Dacanay and Andrew Pinlac - easily Pisay's most recognizable (yet) unmarried couple, being almost, if not all, Pisay-related events.
Krishna and Darrell Cagalingan - okay, so they're not yet married. They're gonna be, very soon.
Charisse Siapno and Jayrus Soliman - am I allowed to even mention this?!?
So, there's your list. At least, when somebody asks you, "what's new," you can just direct them here. To my (few) readers, if I missed adding a couple, just paste a comment to add them up...
I wonder, may madadagdag pa kaya sa list na ito?
* - I'm not a all-knowing... Someone from IE might still be in a relationship that dates back to college.
PS: Congratulations to Faye and Herbie. I heard they're getting married soon!
Friday, 21st: Mark Monserrate celebrated his 25th birthday (actually last Wednesday) and the party was quite far from the house, around a couple of hundred... steps away! As expected, a few drinks, lots of pulutan, and a ton of stories. I got together with some of our former and current neighbors and his HS friends.
Saturday, 22nd: (Niccola) Tesla Manasan celebrated her 1st birthday at the sumptuous Luk Foo Cantonese Garden in Commonwealth Avenue. The usual kwento & lots of duck were the main courses. In attendance were Jon, Alekos, Jam, Oli, Ruben & Hiyas, and Mark & Hannah. Of course, the Gamises brought Sam...
Sam and I enjoy a moment
Jam got a group pic and I'm still waiting for it in the email.
Sunday, 25th: Off to Don Henrico's West Avenue for the baptismal party of Alfonso Miguel D. Guererro, son of Mylai Dimaculangan (Camia, Gluon'98). I was expecting some more Pisay batchmates, instead, we had a mini-Gluon reunion (sans Buan & Amado)... Hmm, whatever happened to those two anyway? Well, as most of my friends say, I should know (of all people)...
Gluon gang with their newest member
Don't forget to visit my Picasa site to see other pictures... :D
Monday, 26th: Birthday party (9th) of Bea Martinez, daughter of Prof. Iris Martinez. Was treated to a sumptuous meal of lasagna, chicken pastel, roast beef and potato salad. Yum...
I was there with Dean Ega and Mickey Mancenido.
***
On a slightly unrelated note, do we have an updated list of couples from Pisay and IE'98? I doubt such a list exists. If it did, then I'd easily answer everyone's questions about everyone else. Now, I'm trying to attempt to make this list (and I'm soliciting help from everyone to try and fill this up).
Well, I noticed (for a while now) that it seems that no IE'98 couple remained intact after our graduation. In fact, to put it as a stretch, most of the couples we know in IE (even if they had a relationship with someone not from IE) are no longer couples today*. Therefore, there's none to enumerate. Also, few IE'98 people read my blog anyway...
On the other hand, Pisay couples have enjoyed some success at relationships. Here are some of the Pisay success stories...
Pat and Chicks Manasan - Been married for a year and a half now and Tesla is as cute as the day she was born. Of course they're at the top of my list since I was the best man at their wedding.
Hannah and Mark Gamis - Has been married longer and has an adorable son in Sam (see pic above). Them and the Manasan's are actually Physics couples. Let's say they mastered the concepts of friction and attractive forces.
Ria and Frank Guevarra - recently married (January) and are expecting their first-born.
Dyan and Gary de Guzman - has also been married for some time now and they seem to be as happy as ever.
Andrea and Ramil Herrera - got married in UP the day we had our Christmas party back in 2005 I think (correct me if I'm wrong).
Elena Dacanay and Andrew Pinlac - easily Pisay's most recognizable (yet) unmarried couple, being almost, if not all, Pisay-related events.
Krishna and Darrell Cagalingan - okay, so they're not yet married. They're gonna be, very soon.
Charisse Siapno and Jayrus Soliman - am I allowed to even mention this?!?
So, there's your list. At least, when somebody asks you, "what's new," you can just direct them here. To my (few) readers, if I missed adding a couple, just paste a comment to add them up...
I wonder, may madadagdag pa kaya sa list na ito?
* - I'm not a all-knowing... Someone from IE might still be in a relationship that dates back to college.
PS: Congratulations to Faye and Herbie. I heard they're getting married soon!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Another 300 movie review...
Last weekend, the gang watched 300 in Shangri-La. While we were used to catching either the last or second to the last screening, we ended up meeting at 11 AM and catching the first screening.
The movie is rated R-13 which seems to be a variant/combo of the R-18 and PG-13. While buying our tickets (pleasantly surprised to see Rheanna Go behind the counter), a group of kids were scrambling to buy tickets. I wonder how they passed the age requirement...
Personally, I think the movie started out slowly but there was action all throughout. It's definitely one of those testosterone-filled flicks that should be watched on the big screen...
The movie is based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller. The reason I'm telling this (considering that everyone who reads my blog knows the fact) is because of a particular quote from a New York Times review...
(Movie Director) Snyder is something of a dork. Only a dork--the finest, most discriminating of dorks--would have read 300 in the first place.
Tamaan na ang dapat tamaan... ;)
(Leks, this is your cue!! Three days na nakapost ito hindi ka pa nagrereact... I had to change the post title in deference to his intellectual ownership of the phrase Rated R for raaaarr...)
Rating: 4/5 whiteboard markers
PS:
Happy Birthday Joyce! Quarter-life na, if you expect to live to a hundred! ;)
PPS:
Incidentally, leonidas is indeed a brand of chocolate
The movie is rated R-13 which seems to be a variant/combo of the R-18 and PG-13. While buying our tickets (pleasantly surprised to see Rheanna Go behind the counter), a group of kids were scrambling to buy tickets. I wonder how they passed the age requirement...
Personally, I think the movie started out slowly but there was action all throughout. It's definitely one of those testosterone-filled flicks that should be watched on the big screen...
The movie is based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller. The reason I'm telling this (considering that everyone who reads my blog knows the fact) is because of a particular quote from a New York Times review...
(Movie Director) Snyder is something of a dork. Only a dork--the finest, most discriminating of dorks--would have read 300 in the first place.
Tamaan na ang dapat tamaan... ;)
(Leks, this is your cue!! Three days na nakapost ito hindi ka pa nagrereact... I had to change the post title in deference to his intellectual ownership of the phrase Rated R for raaaarr...)
Rating: 4/5 whiteboard markers
PS:
Happy Birthday Joyce! Quarter-life na, if you expect to live to a hundred! ;)
PPS:
Incidentally, leonidas is indeed a brand of chocolate
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Hello I'm a Mac, and You're likely a PC
Yes, it seems 9 out of ten computer users operate Windows PC's*...
Even though I suffered some recent data loss, I'm still proud to be a Mac user. Actually, I'm treating it as a blessing in disguise since I got to upgrade for free (from 1.83 GHz to 2.0 GHz, from combo to super drive, and from white to black...)
However, the best page in the universe** has something else to say...
I'm sure you've seen the Apple ads, and the corresponding parodies (e.g., Christian vs. Christ-follower). I'm in UP now so I can't furnish the link, but if you have time, go to YouTube and search for Mac vs. PC ad parodies. There's one there that has a third player (Linux) referred to as something I'd rather not post here. I'll update this post when I get home later.
______________________
* - estimated statistic
** - thanks to Jem's WTF list
Even though I suffered some recent data loss, I'm still proud to be a Mac user. Actually, I'm treating it as a blessing in disguise since I got to upgrade for free (from 1.83 GHz to 2.0 GHz, from combo to super drive, and from white to black...)
However, the best page in the universe** has something else to say...
I'm sure you've seen the Apple ads, and the corresponding parodies (e.g., Christian vs. Christ-follower). I'm in UP now so I can't furnish the link, but if you have time, go to YouTube and search for Mac vs. PC ad parodies. There's one there that has a third player (Linux) referred to as something I'd rather not post here. I'll update this post when I get home later.
______________________
* - estimated statistic
** - thanks to Jem's WTF list
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Meeting de Avance
No, this is not an election-related post
Recently, the IE Department went to Leo's Garden Resort in Bacolor, Pampanga for a meeting of sorts... They joined us for that meeting...
They were late that's why they're in a hurry...
Ma'am Aura, Gina, Iris and Kats as well as Sir Ega, Melai and Norman were also in attendance. Food was potluck and Melai and I sponsored the California Maki (remember that Chicks?)
Among the highlights of the "meeting" is the fishing expedition...
I caught a rather small one
Norman and Melai each caught a fish too!
At some point, I got bored with the fishes and decided to feed the goose instead...
The goose at Leo's garden was more than willing to entertain for a few pinches of fishmeal
While feeding the goose, something from my HK trip flashed back into memory...
Yummy
That's all for now. Have a nice weekend!
******
Happy birthday to Jon and Jason Gonzales
******
Last night, we got to play dota again and this time, we managed a 4v4 group! Jem hit us with another spiral hook!
Looking forward to have Rolly Doolittle Marasigan on our future games...
Recently, the IE Department went to Leo's Garden Resort in Bacolor, Pampanga for a meeting of sorts... They joined us for that meeting...
They were late that's why they're in a hurry...
Ma'am Aura, Gina, Iris and Kats as well as Sir Ega, Melai and Norman were also in attendance. Food was potluck and Melai and I sponsored the California Maki (remember that Chicks?)
Among the highlights of the "meeting" is the fishing expedition...
I caught a rather small one
Norman and Melai each caught a fish too!
At some point, I got bored with the fishes and decided to feed the goose instead...
The goose at Leo's garden was more than willing to entertain for a few pinches of fishmeal
While feeding the goose, something from my HK trip flashed back into memory...
Yummy
That's all for now. Have a nice weekend!
******
Happy birthday to Jon and Jason Gonzales
******
Last night, we got to play dota again and this time, we managed a 4v4 group! Jem hit us with another spiral hook!
Looking forward to have Rolly Doolittle Marasigan on our future games...
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