Barack vs. Hillary

The entire world is now enthralled with the US Presidential Election. It's been wild as no incumbent President or Vice-President is on the ballot for the first time since 1952.

I'm for Hillary (not that it counts for anything, but it does mean something), but it's gonna be uphill for her till the convention...

Found this bit on the fireside ...

Oddly enough, I'd say the usual Filipino is a Republican in terms of social issues and a Democrat in fiscal and economic issues. If that's the case, we have the worst possible molotov cocktail. HAHAHA...

BTW, a shout out to ABS-CBN or GMA (or any other station), if you need someone to give commentary on what's happening in US Politics, give me a ring. Your current crop of "experts" makes me squirm! They don't know what they're talking about!

Expect more posts on this topic!

Do you agree Chicks?

Big Brother, Po Family edition

No, this is not a post about that retarded show in ABS-CBN. It's really about my big brother (we'll, I'm taller and better bult than him, haha!).

He's my older brother (full three years and change). He's actually an architect but stumbled into photography. With all our yabangans and squabbles at home (on top of the fact that he acts like a arr-tard sometimes), I guess deep inside he knows I'm proud of what he's achieved so far in his chosen career. He even had the guts to quit his day job and devote time to photography.

He got interviewed in a New York based web-zine called Project Three. Just follow the link and I hope you read the interview and view his pictures...

He also got featured on FTV's Photographer's segment. I guess its in his Flickr or Multiply...

Ayan, todo bola na... Iwan mo na iPhone mo sa akin!

Catching up

I got a lot of catching up to do, as my hard drive crashed yet again! I was again caught without a backup. Well, I'm not giving up on Apple since it was the hard disk (Seagate) that failed. I requested for a brand that isn't Seagate but let's see. Right now, I'm resolved to buy a new drive (probably 120 GB so I can run Parallels or BootCamp) and use the 60 GB drive as a (gasp!) backup.

MOVIE UPDATE:

Among the movies I've listed, I failed to watch Ocean's 13 and Pirates 3 (DARN!)... FF2 sucked a lot (passable though I wanted some of my money back) while Transformers ROCKED!! I managed to also see the Harry Potter movie recently and it was a good extension of the fourth movie (which I managed to also see recently). While reviews for the shortest Potter movie were mixed, I think the book-to-film transition was one of the smoothest in the series.

While on the subject of HP, I managed to read a (what-turned-out-to-be-a-hoax) copy of Harry Potter that I downloaded on the eve of the supposed launch date of the 7th book. I read until about 100+ pages when I was informed that it might be a hoax copy/fanfic literature. WELL... after reading about 100+ pages of the (according to Chicks) real thing, the hoax compares very well. The hoax explores the possibility of Dudley being a wizard (because he was attacked by Dementors in book 5) and the libido-raged version of Harry and Ginny Weasley. It was right on at least two things (spoiler warning)...

It was right about the wedding of Bill and Fleur being attacked and on the real story behind the fake Horcrux with R.A.B. initials.

(end of spoiler)

Oh, and Hedwig dies...


ERGO

I read again that I promised to post about my Ergo lessons. Anyway, my classes now seem less animated than before but I can manage to get a few reactions especially with some funny anecdotes and their (sometimes pilit already) connection to the lesson. My first lecture explored the beginnings of ergonomics from its allied fields of psychology, scientific management, anthropology and sociology, among others. The next lectures would focus on the foundations of ergonomics.

We looked into the theory, concepts and principles of human error. Essentially, human error is the reason why we have ergonomics in the first place. The phrase "fool-proof" is essentially linked to ergonomics. One of the main foundations of ergonomics is information theory. Here, we talked about how humans receive and send information and learn how limited our perception is compared to the inflow of information that we receive and how even more limited is our processing capability. We also talked about population stereotypes and stimulus-response compatibilities. Think about a knob and a dial (for a radio). How do you move from 89.9 to 96.3?

The latest lesson was about anthropometry. What proved to be interesting was the discussion on brassieres and hipster jeans. Also, a possible correlation between hand/foot size and other body parts. Go figure.

A new addition to my IE 160 classes is the ErgoNewsNow (ENN) which features student reports on news items that have ergonomic significance.

OTHERS

Settlers of Catan has finally arrived! Thanks to Celsus for spending a small fortune so that the geeky gang can enjoy a board game that can possibly ruin friendships and temporarily sets aside marital vows.

The geek gang has also set aside DoTA for a while and focused on Catan and mafia. While I'm not at liberty to discuss the goings-on of the current game, I encourage groups to try this game out. It's free anyway!

I'm Back...

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

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)...

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.

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.

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...

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...

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!