RSShi tumblr
Feb 16
why didn’t i notice before that you can be reached via mail without going through somebody else? 🙁
The percent fallacy
Feb 15
How many times have you heard the phrase “I will give my 101%” or “You can count on a 120% effort for this project” and think its a good thing? It is becoming one of my pet peeves because people are getting more stupid each time that escape their mouths.
The word percent comes from the root word “per centum” which literally translates to “by the hundred”. Nowadays it is taken as “a portion of the whole” where whole is pegged at 100. When it comes to effort, there is no such thing as going over the top. It is just plain impossible. Some might argue that they just mean going the extra mile but in that case that person was squandering because they were not giving it their all during the other times that they are giving their 100%. They were lying when they said that they were giving their all during all those times so what makes you think they are not lying to you now?
In the fields that require physical exertion like blue-collar work or sports, it is not uncommon to hear that somebody has died because they went past their limits. These are the people who gave their 100%. These are the people who really gave their all and paid for it dearly. Keep that in mind the next time you hear somebody spouting a figure over 100%.
ciao!
Might as well be dead
Feb 15
I can’t believe that it has been three months since I posted something here. Time flies when you are really busy and when you are pissed off (not in that order :P). Hopefully I will be able to finish up some items I want to blog about and stop being a slacker. 🙂
ciao!
The ultimate solution for company data loss…
Nov 10
Or your money back!
Sounds like a pitch for snake oil medicines. 😀
Tonight I opened my company mail and I found a curious memo about a new guideline about backing up data on company owned machines. The first though that entered my mind was “WTF, another roadblock for doing backups?”
Reading the memo, it made some sense if you apply some common sense. And then I tried reading it from a “Security Expert slash Manager extraordinaire” perspective who follows everything by the book and then my world shrunk by a magnitude of ten. The phrasing combined with current practices is enough to give me the shivers if I think about embarking in a simple task of performing backups.
In line with the company’s commitment to protecting client data, effective immediately we are implementing the following process for backing up data on company-owned machines (desktops or laptops):
You may not back up any sensitive data residing on a company-owned computer (Laptop or Desktop) without permission of the IT Support team and obtaining a signed form. Only encrypted back ups are allowed, including copying files to flash media or CD.
Not bad eh? Not until you read that you need a very high approver before you can even think of performing a backup. If you need an analogy then think of the company as ruled by a god and you need the approval of the high priests. That approval is now on top of soaking one’s self in gasoline, rolling in live coals, and dancing a cha-cha number on top of broken blades and glasses.
To top it all, the last sentence was like adding insult to injury:
Further details will be released this week, as the IT Support team mobilizes to handle this task.
Yeah, I am brimming with confidence that the over-worked and ticket-closing trigger happy support team is able to take on this new task while spreading cheer and world peace. I am saying goodbye to backups then. I think it is easier to just slaughter some chicken and offer it to my anito to protect the company data that I am working on from sudden glitches and electronic crashes.
ciao!
Feeling stupid
Oct 23
A common computer prank is to take a screenshot of an unattended Windows desktop, configure the desktop to hide all shortcuts and the taskbar (for more kicks, move it in the left or right side) and then set the screenshot as the wallpaper. The pranksters then wait on the wing for the unsuspecting user to keep on clicking the applications in the screenshot and scratch their head why nothing is happening.
There is another behavior that makes this prank effective: tunnel vision. If using a big screen then people would have a tendency to zoom in on the middle portion and not pay much attention on the edges unless really needed. This and my work on “environment support” ensures that I make an ass of myself once a week. I normally take desktop screenshots when working with different applications. I usually position the different application windows in such a way that all the information are in a little portion of the screen. I then past the screenshot in mspaint, select the portion I need and send it to the other support team.
And then I move on to the next task and sometimes I forget closing the mspaint. Sometimes the mspaint window ends up getting the focus and then I start clicking on the the app window buttons or menus and wonder why nothing is happening. It is only after a few seconds that I notice the palette on the left side, or the title bar at the top. That is the time I press alt+f4 with a vengeance for using part of my 5-minutes of daily foolishness at that moment. 🙂
Just letting out some steam and sharing as this is the second time that it happened to me this week.
ciao!
Daredevil motorcycle drivers
Oct 16
I hate driving and find it as a chore that needs to be done. What makes me hate it even more is the amount of reckless and daredevil motorcycle drivers that are on the road today. These motorcycles give their riders enough mobility to wheeze in and out of traffic but it does not give them to right to start cutting off four-wheeled vehicles just because they think they can squeeze through. They are the ones who should be doing more of the defensive driving but they are the ones who are always on the offensive. I had my engine stalled twice because the traffic in C5 while going uphill on the bridge was already worse and a batch of these damn cycle drivers keep on squeezing through between my bumper and the edge of the bus on the lane on my left. To make matters worse, my right is also infested with motorcycles and bikers who think giving enough space across the vehicle is a sign of weakness. I have a word invented for these drivers: BORATE which is a hybrid from words meaning dick-heads and worms.
Taking lives is never a good thing but I wouldn’t really mind if some of these daredevils gets some jumpstart in getting to hell faster than the rest of us.
grrrrrr!
ciao!
The registry of deeds experience
Sep 17
With the additional amount we have added to our savings from my Denmark assignment we are finally able to pay off the remainder of our mortgage to the Home Mutual Development Fund (aka PAGIBIG) earlier this year. Upon hand-off of the land title we were told to proceed to the city/municipal hall encompassing our home to have the deed updated.
I have a one and a half hour commute (one-way) so to deal with the local Binangonan government means I have to take a day off. I decided to put it off until September wherein I planned to get a lot of things going. Yesterday morning was the slot I allocated with going to the Binangonan municipal hall but little did I know that the two hour stint I planned would stretch to an almost full-day dealing with an inefficient and bureaucratic process. I was complaining on how the office process is becoming like a government institutions in terms of process red tape but it is refreshing to get a taste of the real thing every once in a while. I don’t believe in stereotyping but what I saw was nothing but very fit for theatrical offerings.
I will summarize the whole process for those who are going to undergo a similar task of having a newly acquired land title. Note that this is only for canceling the hold of the previous title holder as the land title is already named to us. I would assume that the process will be longer if you will have the title transferred to your name. HDMF underwent that process after we fully paid our mortgage and it took no less than two months. The steps might vary for each municipality/city but the general flow would be the same.
How to Cancel and Update the Land Title Registry
- Before going to the city/municipal hall, make sure you have the following:
- Valid id with picture with at least two clear photocopies
- A working pen
- Land title
- Notice of deed release. HDMF provided this for us but make sure you have this as the title alone is not enough.
- Enough money[1] to pay for land tax, various processing fees, and enough for lunch and snacks.
- Some reading materials, portable music player[2], or portable gaming console to help you pass the time.
- Go to the government office early. The earliest you can finish your business, the better off you will be.
- Go straight to the Assessor’s office and request for two copies of the land tax declaration.
- Go to the cashier and pay the fees for the tax declarations. I paid Php50 for each copy.
- Go back to the assessor’s office and give back the receipt. I was asked to wait while they were preparing the tax declaration. I was asked to pay Php20 per document for the documentary stamp. Why they didn’t include this in the amount I paid in the cashier is still boggling me.[3]
- Go to the land tax windows and have your tax liabilities printed and settled. For a 50 sq. meter lot, I paid around Php800.
- Go to the registry of deed and ask for a form to have the deed registration’s previous owner cancelled and updated to your name. Fill up the form and submit it together with the deed and notice of release. Wait while your deed is being verified.
- Upon verification, you will be instructed to proceed to the cashier with your papers and pay for the processing fee. Don’t bother asking how much since only the cashier will answer you. I paid about Php700 for the processing fee.
- Wait. And Wait some more. This is where the device you brought for passing time will be very handy.
- Once you get a receipt, have the title, stamped notice of release, and receipt photocopied. Submit the photocopies and the originals to the clerk for further processing.
- Your papers will be handed back to you sans the photocopies and you need to submit this to one of the receiving areas near the releasing.
- Wait for your updated deed at the releasing area. Again, you will have to wait for quite a while.
Sounds simple. What killed my time was that I didn’t know the process and the people I talked to in the Land Tax area weren’t too versed in the whole process. They sent me to the “other” building where the Deeds Registry is located which turned out to be three building away and outside the hall compound. Upon going to the Deeds Registry I was asked if I have already paid the land tax and said they are the last stop so I had to troop back to the Land Tax and Assessor’s office. I was also hit by the lunch break just as soon as I was waiting for my papers to be released. One thing I can say with the Deeds Registry people is that they are religious in observing their time schedules. 🙂
ciao!
[1] DONT go with only large-denomination bills or else you are asking your stay to be prolonged if they don’t have enough change for your large bills.
[2] If you are going to bring a music player, make sure that you can free up an ear since you need to be alert if your name is being called. If the person processing your paper is in a bad mood, they would be happy to put your papers at the bottom of the processing stack for “wasting” their time.
[3] The fees posted for the document was pegged at Php50.00 so your guess on where the payments for these highly-overpriced stamps are going is as good as mine.
ciao!
Sep 16
It is the hardest thing of all, the one thing that will show if you have the one true courage. To know that you have failed, that your best efforts have been defeated, to not be able to stand it, to not be able to go on and yet to go on nonetheless.
Lord Lucian Tremain – “InSerein”, http://inserein.com/1/1-5-6.htm