Oct 05
ErinGarbage
The first one I attributed to recklessness, the second on tiredness. However the third time is too much since I verified that I know my arti, areth.. err my math!
I am talking about the spam-deterrent math verification system that Chris has in his blog. Everytime my answer failed I lose whatever I have written but this time I was pretty sure that 10 + 10 is 20 unless it is in binary!
Anyway I tried it on another post wherein I was asked 2 + 3. So it is not binary! I answered 5 and even have a screenshot to prove it (none of the error though).
I notified Chris about this peculiarity and I was writing this he called me up (*mucho dinero!*). He tried it on one of his pages and he got the same error (hehehe, he sucks in math too) but on the other post it went through. I tried posting a test comment again and it was successfully entered.
I blame it on the code gremlins. And no, my math skills may be retarded by I know my rith, arthme, math!
ciao!
Sep 29
ErinGarbage, Rubbish
I am currently employed by a big, multinational company dealing with various IT outsourcing and consultancy deal. With the Philippine office alone, we are already dealing with more than a hundred projects, therefore the company explored various ways to augment its information distribution channel especially for emergency situations wherein not all personnel have access to their company email (default communications channel). The company employed a SMS-based emergency information dissemination channel wherein employees can subscribe to receive ‘late-breaking news and advisories’. Given that the SMS-usage in the Philippines is very pervasive; this looks like a perfect deal.
The infrastructure seems to be ideal but as always it is the human side that functions like crap. The problem with the setup is somebody has to send out the message and given the variance of project culture in the local office, such messages need to be approved (re: immense red tape). The system really underwent a litmus test yesterday when typhoon ‘Milenyo’ hit the NCR area and I have to say that the SMS system is just an excess baggage.
Understandably the NCR is buffeted by strong winds since it was given a Signal No. 3 rating. Normally that should have suspended work since it is a fortuitous event, an act of God if you will. Unfortunately the SMS channel was dead silent even when I have arrived in the office. The SMS announcement came at around 1PM, at the height of the storm when roofs were being torn and billboard structures and trees were being ripped from the foundations.
To add insult to the injury the message goes something like “Exercise discretion if you want to go to the office as safety is a personal responsibility. Project management can work out with you if you want to go home. Should you go home you can charge the hours to your vacation leave.” Typical upper management bureaucracy! The message is worthless because:
- Majority of the employees are already in the office!
- The purpose of the emergency channel is to provide emergency information when its usefulness is still relevant.
- We don’t need to know that project management can work out offset or leave hours if we want to go home due to the weather. We already know that but whatever the reason (cheap, needy or working on a tight deadline), we cannot afford to skip work. Management knows it is the norm in an outsourcing environment since the storm does not cover the international client.
It would have been useful to receive that message when I was still at home. I would have skipped the exciting experience of getting stuck in traffic for 2.5 hours from Ayala to Shaw Blvd (standing nonetheless since the buses are jam-packed),and standing in line in the FX terminal for 3 hours since most FX units are not on the road due to damages caused by felled trees and flying debris.
Worthless crap of a service. They should either retire it, or else revamp the red-tape laden process.
Sep 21
ErinBackburner, Garbage
Even if I am artistically-challenged I am craving for a different look for the Flex theme I was using before. I saw the fluidity-3c theme which is simple and stylish enough for me.
Over-all I am satisfied but somehow the right sidebar does not display properly with IE. Not that I mind but the theme was supposed to use 2 different CSS files to enable proper rendering in both FF and IE. I just cant figure out for the life of me how I can reduce the size of those sidebars so IE users can still view it properly.
Oh wait, I don’t have readers. Carry on… 🙂
Another thing missing is my tagline disappeared. But I can live with that for now… *Task gets chucked to the backburner.*
ciao!
Sep 15
ErinGarbage
Finally got around to installing Akismet to this blog so hopefully that will be the end (or at least cut down the number) of blog spam. 🙂
 i love cli. apparently it works around stupid network rules too! hehehehe.
ciao!
Sep 12
ErinGarbage
Today, for the first time in weeks, I went out of the building to have my lunch instead of going upstairs in the cafeteria. The lunch and company was fine but I am now regretting it when I got back since I found out that the area of my pants directly below my back pocket was slashed!
It is apparent that whoever did this was after my wallet. It is a good thing that my back pocket has an inner sleeve that is not pressed to the pants fabric otherwise they would have succeeded in slashing the inner sleeve and getting my wallet. It might also be a factor that I unconciously do some erratic swishing to help deter situations like this but unfortunately I did not do it enough. :(While I would love to see the reaction of the thief when he finds out that my wallet is empty but I cringe at the thought of the effort required in replacing all of my credentials (driver’s license, atm card, etc.).
Right now I am angry at the thief for two reasons: for messing up a good pair of pants, and for being a nuisance to hard working people like me. And please dont justify that they did it because of poverty or lack of opportunity. That is a crock of bull and everybody knows it. Anybody who thinks otherwise should get robbed everyday so they can reaffirm that it is not the thief’s fault that he got robbed. Stealing is stealing no matter how you look at it. The Robin Hood principle does not even remotely apply to these because these people do not discriminate that their ‘victims’ are not ‘heartless rich people who robs from the poor just because they can’.
I am far from being a violent man, but I am not sorry when thieves and snatchers gets mobbed when caught. I believe that is the best example of karma at work. Too bad there is no Darwinian Theory related to evil doings. How the world will benefit if there was such a thing…
ciao!
Jul 25
ErinGarbage
Some people would dislike rainy days like the ones currently being experienced by most of the Luzon area here in the Philippines. But that is not me, I prefer rainy days than sunny days. Sunny days are always linked to cheerful days but I associate it with days of pain and itchiness and sweat.
I think part of that preference stems from two facts:
1) I am a bonafide introvert (aka lazy). I would rather be inside the house than go out. Some might argue that rains bring out the worst traffic in the metropolis but I encounter those on any workday. At least during rainy seasons I dont swelter in the heat. 😛
2) Ever since I came from my first assignment to Helsinki, my body thermostat is way off. I guess -22 C can do that to your body. Now I have a high tolerance to cold (to the chagrin of my wife who seems to despise any temperature below 27 C) but a low tolerance to heat and humidity. It was not always this way since during my student years I am the one who goes in the middle of the field when harvest seasons come and I could hold my ground by being baked under the sun the whole day.
Yep, rainy days are not gloomy days for me. Especially if I can stay at home, lazily lounging in bed, looking at the rain drops splattering at the closed window, and cuddling with my wife. I could never ask for anything better…
ciao!
Jul 18
ErinGarbage, Technology
I am currently on the hunt for a good optical trackball for use here in the office. Apprently trackballs are a dying breed in today’s computer marketplace. I have hit a couple of online computer stores here in the Metro and nobody carries any trackball, even the non-optical kind. I also went to TipidPC to see if any enterprising individuals is offering or offloading an optical trackball. Nada, not even a single trackball hit.
I have also scoured the Glorietta shops since that is the nearest mall in the office and the only thing I saw was an overpriced Logitech wired trackball that seems to belong to the first generation of pointing devices.
Hopefully I can see a good trackball when we go malling this weekend . Neth still owes her nieces and nephew a trip to ‘Hall of Asia‘. 🙂
ciao!
May 31
ErinGarbage, Top of my head
Feels good to be home. After a month in Chennai, my own piece of paradise got sweeter. 🙂
The bad news is that I might get sent to Malaysia either mid this month or the third week of July. The duration depends on the timing, if ever that would push through. No sense worrying about things that you do not have control. This is the time for cliches so I will take the ‘relax, sit back and enjoy the ride!’-stance.
Oh, I also got my license yesterday. Now I am more dangerous than ever since I have added a speeding hulk of metal in my arsenal. People beware, my stupidity knows no bounds. 🙁
ciao!
Mar 09
ErinGarbage
Just listing down my pet peeves when it comes to public commuting in the Philippines:
- Jeepney amputees – people who for the life of me cannot extend their help in getting the fares to reach the driver. Can’t they see that the people who are handing the fares are already reaching out beyond the normal physical limitations of their limbs? Are these people scared of the germs that are going to be transferred via the paper notes and coins? These people should not be riding the jeepneys, they should be taking taxicabs.
- “Healthy people” – I am not against people with a “healthy” body since I am almost past the medium built. However I am against “healthy” people that do not accept the fact that they have body builds that are enough for two persons. It really gets on my nerves when they try to squeeze to the space for a single person and fail miserably. I know the commuter fares today are very expensive but lets get a hold on reality, shall we? Occupying spaces good for one and a half people still counts for you paying the fare for two people. The fare is not for each head but for the space that is occupied by your ass.
- Mucus marauders – these are the people who find it very entertaining to spray their colognes/perfumes inside contained spaces (e.g. confines of FX or van,etc.). Why cant they apply these strong smelling concoctions when they have alighted the vehicle is beyond me. Strong smells elicit a strong reaction to my body, my mucus membranes shift to overdrive which leaves me gasping for breath.
- Mobile boomboxes – or vehicles that have sound systems that compete with jet engines when it comes to a decibel pissing match. Most of these vehicles are open but even then I can feel the bass make my heart vibrate like it is suffering from an epileptic seizure or something. Usually the bass settings are so loud that I can’t even understand what kind of music being played. And please, trim down on the mixes. Adding bass and drum rolls to any music does not make it sound cool.
- Sardines conductor – these are the bus conductors that will put the sardine factories to shame. They keep on piling the people up the buses even if the people are standing up. More passengers means more income for them but please we are also paying the same amount as the one who got lucky with a seat. Dont treat passengers like sardines because we appreciate some degree of personal space even when using public transportation.
- Sidewalk moppers – bus drivers who developed an affinity for the sidewalk. It seems to me that they could not drive unless the side of their bus is no more than two feet away from the sidewalk. They even engage in a long mooching match with certain sidewalks that they ignore the honking of the vehicles behind them.
I know there are more but I need to get back to work… 🙂
ciao!
Jan 30
ErinGarbage
I had a dream and it was special.
It was about killing snakes in the bedroom/storeroom in our house in the province…
It was about a large snake that transformed into a human being when I killed it…
It was about me putting the snakes in a bag and taking them to school…
It was about me missing a major exam that I am not aware of, in college, and administered by my high school language teacher…
It was about me failing to answer anything since they were taking off the questions written in sheets of Manila paper as I am about to answer them…
It was about snakes that I assumed to be dead but are miraculously alive…
It was about finding out that even if snakes are dead, they have tiny eggs in them that succeeds in producing new snakes that takes an unbelievable short time to hatch and mature…
It was about killing these new snakes and trying to flush them down the 3rd floor men’s bathroom in the UST College of Science building…
It was about snakes that were maturing to constrictor-size beasts while I was trying to flush down small snakes on the toilet…
It was about me having enough and realizing it was a dream and woke myself up.
Now how many of you have ever had a dream wherein you realize its only a dream and could wake yourself up by just willing it?
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