May 13
ErinGarbage
After three gruesome and stressful weekends I have finally enjoyed a weekend wherein saying good morning, hi and “kitakits ulit mamaya” to the manong guards of the work building is not part of the routine. *huraahhhhh*
was the long work rally worth it? i think so, but i don’t want to go through it again. the best part of the whole deal is we aced the external audit. the auditor couldn’t find anything but given that he only inspected us for 1.5 hours then i still consider it luck.
what have i accomplished for my first free saturday? almost nothing. i splurged it on sleep; sweet, sweet and careless sleep. after driving my wife to Makati for their outing and getting some week-long supplies in the Angono palengke I just slept. Let see, I slept from 7AM to 10AM in “The Rundown” on AXN, slept on the couch, did some documentation work for my manager, slept from 7PM to 9PM, upgraded Lala to Mandriva Spring (where I have just finished reconfiguring the wireless card), and now doing some house chores. i still have some leftover bitter gourd for lunch so i don’t need to cook until this afternoon. i still have to do laundry though since the workers doing the garage will still have to work today.
ah, not bad for a lazy weekend. i still need to finish the SCM documentation so i can give it to my manager for review. the current one is pretty confusing but then the person who did it has only the basic knowhow of how SCM works, and she was merely using the copy-search-replace method from a previous instance of the document. i still have a few revisions to make before i can put my name in the revision log. 🙂
my wife is already en route to Manila so i will get to see her this afternoon. the downside is she might miss to much and give me the ‘sermon’ that i didn’t get yesterday. oh well, that is one of the perks of the married life, you no longer have the luxury of just hanging the phone when you don’t feel like listening. harharhar.
and i need to post some blog items that have been floating in my mind, mostly rants about what irritates me during the normal course of my day. 🙂 or make that 🙁
ciao!
Mar 06
ErinGarbage
Long live Unang Hirit!
Since the college days I have been a fan of UH over the competitor from the other network. The hosts, especially Arnold Clavio, is more realistic. I dont care if the other morning programs want to cover everything up in niceties to promote a positive energy. That is the reason why our country is shot to bits, because the *blessed* powers-that-be always try to paint a bright and giddy picture when our country is wallowing in the mud. What our people needs is a reality check. Arnold Clavio’s side-comments are really funny because they reflect the truth. The best so far in the past two weeks are the following (might be paraphrased from my memory):
- “Ikaw siguro, pero ang mga tao sa Makati hindi.” (Maybe you do, but the people of Makati don’t) – regarding a segment wherein Manny Paquiao (the talented Filipino boxer delusional with ambitions of politics) was campaigning for Lito Lapid and was quoted to say that incumbent mayor Jejomar Binay has been serving Makati for so long and it might be time to replace him. Yeah, real rational thought from a champion. If a person is doing good service then replace him with an incompetent.
- “Tuloy nyo lang yan, wala namang nahuhuli at napaparusahan.” (Just continue doing that, nobody gets caught and punished anyway) – referring to the irrational overspending for the senatorial elections. The comment insinuates the incompetence of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to enforce the electoral regulations.
There are a lot more but you have to really be an open-minded Filipino to appreciate them. More power UH!
ciao!
Feb 12
ErinGarbage, Work
And employees are rotten. This is the reason why companies need to institute proxy filtering technologies to ensure that productivity is enforced. You won’t find any arguments from me regarding this matter. The company is paying me my salary thus I am expected to render 8 productive hours each day (I don’t have overtime pay benefits).
What I am fussing about is if the company would put such mechanism in place then they should create a fast exception mechanism since there are still good sites in the Internet. This has been a gripe I had with the Websense mechanism that have been installed since last year. The company opted for the “Filter everything except…” route which means that they are religiously applying the WebSense filter updates that trickles down daily. WebSense is actually good in the sense that they have about 90% accuracy in classifying sites if we are talking about generic rule sets. However since we are in the IT development business then the rules need to be customized which WebSense is actually recommending.
Now here is the fuzzy part. Imagine you are working in the migration of a technology used by a client to a fairly new technology. What would be your primary resource for the troubles you are encountering? If you are fairly tech savvy then the answer would be Internet, right? What would you do if you suddenly found out that the sites that may have the answer to the problem causing you to have hair loss has been blocked by your company’s proxy filter? My answer would be to file for an exemption. What if I then told you that you would receive a reply within 45 days for a resolution to a problem blocking you from completing your 7-day task? What I actually did was raise hell about it but I do not have the flair of a seasoned statesman, or a Dilbert manager. My attempts to have a fast-reacting exemption system is met with standard “those sites have information that could impact our security” type of explanations.
The problem I think is that those actually doing the security doesn’t realize that we are working on a broad fields of technology. What is wasteful in say manufacturing might not be in software development teams. They say that they are aware on the complexities of having a diverse development clients but I don’t think they understand it at all. Awareness doesn’t guarantee understanding.
Before you judge me as being idealistic, know that I have pointed out alternative ways such as creating a separate team whose task is to validate site exemption request submitted to an internal site. I even volunteered my free time for that endeavour. But apparently it will cost too much time and it is far easier to block all message boards and mailing list archives. Usenet archives? Blocked. All blogs and virtual hosted sites? Blocked. Sourceforge development utilities? Blocked. JUnit for ensuring correct code modification? Hah, dream on. They even went so far as block IBM and Eclipse information sites. DAMN IT, WHAT ELSE REMAINS?
//waiting for google.com to be blocked
ciao!
Feb 11
ErinGarbage driving, novo ecijano, rant
We went home to Nueva Ecija over the weekend and, I don’t know if it is because election time is around the corner again, there was an improvement on the Cabanatuan portion of Cagayan road (the main highway). Stop lights have been installed at most intersections!!! Never mind that the installation posts seem to be shoddy as they aren’t even straight but *SOME* seem to be even working! Imagine that, a stoplight that actually works! In Cabanatuan! It’s like twilight zone or something…
And here is the best part; nobody is paying correct attention to them. Having been driving in more urban cities like Manila, I am extra careful of following the stop lights thus it is already instinctive for me to slowdown when I see orange, stop when it turns to red and patiently wait for the green light. In Cabanatuan this action will only get you a lot of honking as nobody expects these lights to work and most are just blinking orange.
On the way back we approached an intersection wherein the light in our direction was set to red. I was elated to see that the vehicles (mostly tricycles) in both sides of the road are following the traffic light and they aren’t slowly inching their way on crossing the intersection. I was elated since this means that there is still hope for the Cabanatuan drivers! I patiently stopped and waited for our lights to turn green which it did after a couple of minutes.
I shifted to first gear and started to get ready to move but the vehicles in front of me are not moving. A couple of minutes and we are still not moving! The lights begin to change to red and that is the only time they begin to move. Following the flow of traffic we actually crossed the intersection under a red light. What made it more disgusting is that there was a traffic policeman directing the flow of traffic on one of the corners. Sheesh! If the traffic police can’t follow the functioning traffic light then how can the drivers be expected to do so?
Nueva Ecija, kailan ka magbabago?!?!?!
ciao!
Feb 04
ErinGarbage hosting, web
Aside from this site? Nobody… 🙂
For those who came in via the catatonic url, I am temporarily changing the domain of the capsule since I am unable to access it with the nazi-istic webproxy filters in the office. I know it is about security and policies but if they really want to secure the place then they shouldnt give me a computer with an optical drive. At some point you have to trust your people because treating them like guilty criminals will only provoke them to act like one.
Anyway, hopefully the other domain would allow me to post some from the office where I spend >14hours a day. This is temporary until I could get this workaround to work. 🙂
ciao!
Jan 29
ErinGarbage
For anybody who has done support work (paid or gratis) the scenario below is very familiar:
My non-techie neighbor, who is also on the same morning shuttle service that my wife and I are taking, just purchased a new computer for her kids. I just provided some inputs on the parts but all-in-all she went with the recommendation of their office IT guy.
After a few days my neighbor asked if I could drop by to see why the new computer won’t connect to the dial-up service. She said that their IT guy has already done some initial test on it and they could connect just fine. Since I am on good terms with my neighbor I said I will drop by when I have free time.
Due to conflict of schedules I was only able to take a look at the computer last Sunday after my wife and I arrived from our trip to Nueva Ecija. Expecting that the problem will be with the internal modem I dug up my old diamond supra external modem and proceeded to my neighbor’s house. The workstation runs Window XP. I made a half-hearted effort to pitch Linux but ,knowing the users, I cannot commit to providing 24×7 support line and besides my neighbor is adamant on having ‘Print Artist’ on the computer because it is the primary reason why she bought the machine. I didn’t understand the reasoning but it sways on the issue of it being a crucial part of school work. (NOTE: Don’t ask me about Print Artist because the last time I saw a version was circa ’97. If you want to talk about graphics software then talk to my wife. I am happy being artistically-challenged. Thank you.)
Back to the topic. The computer was configured to auto-login to the administrator account (yippee! instant-admin+XP! what else can you wish for?). I checked the Device Manager and the internal modem seems to be detected without any problems. I tried to dial-up and the pop-up dialog just hangs there and throws out an indecipherable error after a minute or two. I plugged in my external modem and transferred the phone cables. The modem was detected correctly. I disabled the internal modem to ensure that all dial-up activities will be routed to the external modem. When I tried to connect I was greeted with a “No dial tone.” message.
Ah, we are getting somewhere. I then checked to see if there is really a faulty connection. I picked up the receiver of the phone to see if there is indeed no dial tone since it is connected via the modem. Egad! There is a dial tone!!!!
Scratching my head, I assume that this is a Windows problem. I went back home to get my Knoppix LiveCD to verify my assumption. When I got back the company technician who assembled the unit arrived. As I explained my assumptions to him he watched as I booted the system in Knoppix and answered questions about running Linux on the desktop. When KDE is up I opened a terminal and did a quick check on the modem using this command:
echo > /dev/ttyS0
The lights on the modem gave a few blinks so it was definitely working. I created a new dial-up account using the information on the prepaid card. When I started the dial-up connection I was greeted by the very warm message “no dial tone”.
Scratching my head, I took out my liveCD and rebooted the machine to Windows. I gave the machine to the tech so he could do his thing. Being the tech he is, he wanted to see everything for himself so he opened the dial-up window and fired the connection. After 5 seconds THE UNIT HAPPILY AUTHENTICATED WITH THE DIALUP SERVER!
My jaw dropped. Wha– How– whe—? I can only shake my head in disbelief. Another gremlin incident has wasted 30 minutes of my time and what is worse the tech didn’t do anything special! This was really a role reversal since I was usually at the other end when officemates asks me to troubleshoot their computer issues. 🙂
Oh well, I just gave the tech my Knoppix livecd. At least something good came out of the experience since I have introduced another IT professional to the world of Linux. There is no guarantee that he will use it but at least he now has the knowledge that Windows is not the only OS out there.
ciao!
Jan 14
ErinGarbage
Only in the Philippines (I think)…
I just cant understand what drives pedestrian to make a sudden dash to cross the road but stop at about 3/4ths of the road. I know that normal people by instinct have a tendency to fear being hit by an oncoming vehicle so I cant for the life of me fathom why crossing pedestrians always stop at that specific point of crossing. Three-fourths of the road means that you an approaching vehicle will not just clip you but hit you head-on. The safe zones (if there are any) is halfway, where the vehicles of both lanes can afford to leave unused, and at the other side of the road. Stopping anywhere else is a death wish.
I initially thought that it was because people are slowing down from their mad dash to cross the road but I dont see the point of slowing down so your body is at the dead center of the approaching vehicle. It would be safer to slowdown after you have reached the other side of the road unless there is not enough sidewalk to perform the slowdown. Seeing this behavior frequently shows that this is not an isolated case to a specific location. I have seen it in the cities as well as in the not-so-developed parts of the country. I have seen this behavior in people of varying age, gender and sexual preferences. There is some logic in all this craziness but I am at wits end trying to figure it out. Anybody notices this behavior and want to help me puzzle this out?
ciao!
Dec 05
ErinGarbage, Movies
Last night Neth got two premiere tickets[1] to A Good Year which stars Russel Crowe. The movie premise is simplistic, even predictable, but I find the overall story development as excellently done. A feel good movie that left me with a good feeling. 🙂
The setting helped a lot on creating a very enticing atmosphere. Who in their right minds would pass living the simple but great life? I wish I was rich enough to afford an early retirement to a laid-back life. *sigh*
If you are looking for a movie to watch then put this in your list. There is a lot of English humor but that wont stop you from enjoying the movie.
[1] Last minute benefits of working for a company administering a mall. 😀
ciao!
Nov 07
ErinGarbage
No, I did not mean myself. Everyonce in a while I get messages like those in my phone but sometimes the anonymous person on the other end is pretty persistent even when told no. I don’t know if they have just received their very first cellphone which explains their incessant need to have friends via the unorthodox channel of text messaging.
I can understand chatting strangers via IRC since those people log-in for that kind of interaction, but in SMS? Sorry but I am not interested nor am I willing to spend Php1.00@SMS to have a broken conversation with a stranger who might very well be a lunatic. Scratch that, I may not mind having conversation with a unknown lunatic but I do mind if I am going to be charged for it. 😛
Last night I decided to have some fun. The person who introduced him/herself asked if I could be his/her friend. I replied with the following
sure.just kol me rolito, 45yrs old and lyk kids,d youngr d beter.btw s not my ril nme bec my lawyer advsd gving my ril nme.blib me dat i am inocent of d 2 rape cases.dey askd 4 it.do u heb nud pix?send it to yedaddy@hotmail.com n ill send u mine.how old r u?
No reply yet and the best 2 pesos i spent yesterday. 🙂
ciao!
Oct 25
ErinGarbage
Yesterday, Betsy has finally decided that enough is enough. Betsy has finally suffered a neuro-mechanical shock and entered a deep state of comatose. In an effort to give more meaning in her existence, she broke a nerve and never woke up again from the lapse.
Betsy is lovingly survived by Lala and Paquito. Thank you for all the good memories.
Oh yeah, Betsy is my ~7 year old, triple-booted workstation. I was cleaning the computer command center (or nook depending on who is talking 😀 ) yesterday when the power switch on the Simba casing refused to work properly when I returned the chassis in the rack. I already took the casing apart but the switch is a one-piece deal and electricals is one area where I dont dare push my limited tinkering skills. This is the last straw for me so I decided to coax my Chief Financial Officer (CFO, aka Commander Wife-san) to finally approve Betsy’s upgrade. I am currently looking for an affordable barebones package (Chassis+Motherboard+Processor+RAM) since I will be reusing most of Betsy’s reusable components: the 60GB HDD and the DVD/CD Writers. I am currently looking at buyqube.com’s offerings but I am still confirming if they would allow the removal of the HDD and Optical drive on their packages.
For those interested, I am selling the remains of Betsy which is composed of the following:
- AMD Duron 800Mhz
- Redfox motherboard w/ built-in video (32MB shared) and sound
- 386MB SDRAM (256+128)
- 52X CD_ROM Drive
- PCI Lan card
- USB-PCI 1.1 adaptor card (6 ports, i think)
- The darned Simba chassis
- Aged (read:Yellowish) Speakers, keyboard and mouse
All except the chassis switch and ethernet card is working since it has been a long time since I used it on a network. Based on current market price of the components, I am setting the asking price to Php2,000 (which is already a bargain price). I am also willing to add a 2GB Fujitsu HDD but it is missing a jumper but usable as a floppy disk since I sometimes use it with an external HDD enclosure. So if you are interested then do drop me note. 🙂
Btw, Lala and Paquito are the given names of my laptop and Ipaq. Once upgraded, Ol’Betsy is to be named Bettina. /lol
ciao!
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