Apr 20
ErinReviews, Technology
That for me is the CD-R King website, which provides me with my near daily fix for cheap affordable gadgets. I find it frustrating that every time I buy something overseas (through my unwilling co-employees stationed abroad) CD-R King releases a similar product with half of the price I paid.
The site has a page which explains why their prices are cheap (e.g., direct to the supplier, no credit card processing, no flashy advertisements and marketing,etc.) which makes sense but I still can’t shake the notion that some of the items there are really knock-offs from that big sleeping dragon of a country. Just look at the MP4 player category. But most of the items are of good usable quality and that makes it OK in my book. And it isn’t as if the shop is passing them off as the real thing because it is more probable than not that the products are branded with the CD-R King logo.
My only gripes with them are that
- buying the stuff in their website is a hit-or-miss thing when you actually go to a brick&mortar shop. I have had experiences of visiting 3 branches to no avail even though their site listed it as on stock.
- their “online stock inquiry” is a joke. I understand that they are probably undermanned in that area since there are only 2 of them but I would expect to have a response within the day, or at least an email facility for such inquiries.
- their online tech support is slightly better but leaves too much to be desired. they treat their customers are ignorant users which can be irritating if they are just rehashing what you have already said. as of last count there are four of them that could be online at any given time but don’t expect them to give you a pretty quick response.
Item reviews from their wares are pretty much available but only if you are willing to trawl along several local message groups. I am toying with the idea of posting my own reviews on stuff that I have bought or at least planning to buy in case somebody is also looking at the same thing.
ciao!
Apr 14
ErinFLOSS, Garbage, Reviews, Technology
Metrobank’s eBanking interface rates a notch better in my book since it now supports Firefox, where previously it only supports IE and *gasp* Netscape. The stupid ActiveX control that was previously required (which effectively locks the interface to IE) is also gone. Actually that is the first clue I had since I transferred to another PC at work and was curious why I didn’t get the irritating prompt about the ActiveX installation.
The office network prevents me from uploading the screenshot but you can test it for yourself. I did it with the beta 5 of Firefox 3. 🙂
Kudos Metrobank Online! But I still despise you for that 10-character password requirement. 🙂
[edit] I finally grabbed a screenshot while in Archer (my Arch system). The picture is using “Bon Echo” which is a rebranded Firefox browser. The version is 2.0.0.14.
MetrobankOnline in Linux!
ciao!
Nov 01
ErinRubbish
Starting from this point on there is only one universal truth for me:
Shit Happens.
Once this truth has been accepted then everything will fall into place and the world will continue to spin.
Remember, if it happens don’t devote time figuring on who is to blame. Don’t over-analyze it, don’t dwell on it, and just let it go.
And here is the universal truth when distilled to the masses.
ciao!
Oct 31
ErinRubbish
I watched parts of an episode of According to Jim wherein it was Jim’s birthday and Cheryl (the wife) managed to coerce their children to giving Jim gifts that she wants him to get. Jim ended up with a hand moisturizer (from son Kyle), a tacky, sleeveless golf vest (from daughters Rubie and Gracie) and a professional painting set from Cheryl. There is only one problem, Jim hated all of it but was pretending that he does like the gifts to avoid further discussion.
The plot thickens at bed time when Jim entered their bedroom and saw Cheryl assembling the painting kit. A confrontation ensues wherein Jim blurted out his feelings about the gifts. He said that Cheryl was doing it every year. Cheryl defended that she always put a lot of thought in those gifts but Jim countered that she was giving him gifts that Jacque, Cheryl’s imaginary ideal alter-ego of his husband, would want. She was giving him these gifts hoping that they will change him, and he doesn’t like it.
The following day, Kyle approached his dad and said that the gift was his mom’s idea and gave him his real gift. It was a long crooked stick with blue ribbons. Cheryl saw it and proceeded to take it to throw it away but Jim said that he likes it because it is a gift from his son who loves and idolizes him for who he is. The next few scenes show Jim flaunting the gift to Cheryl’s chagrin by using it in almost every mundane task. Fast forward in the end and through a couple of comic innuendos, Cheryl came into the realization of Jim’s message and traded the painting set for a large, flat rock with the word “Acceptance” painted at the bottom. Jim found a perfect use for it: crushing nuts.
This is what I love about sitcoms, they present little truths in an exaggerated comical package but if you think about it they are showing the lessons to be gathered from everyday happenings. How many marriages would be saved if both man and wife would begin accepting each other, with all their faults and weaknesses?
I read somewhere that love is not about being able to appreciate your partner’s strengths but rather how you could complement their weaknesses. Marriage is not about becoming one person, but rather growing as two persons who agree on most topics, and tolerate each other on the topics that they disagree on.
Change is inevitable but change does not have to be sudden. Sudden change rarely brings favorable results. Ice age was a sudden change and read about what it did to most species on this planet. The same can be said for trying to suddenly change your partner to bend to your will. The saying from Robert Henlein comes into mind “Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.” For change to become permanent it must come at a glacial pace. This way the person changing grows accustomed to it, or likes it subconsciously. I am not encouraging people to resort to using subterfuge on their partners to instigate change because that only works until your partner finds out that you were manipulating them and nobody wants to wake up with the realization that their happy moments were nothing but an intricate scheme. The person must want the change either consciously or otherwise.
Food for thought, why would you even want to change your partner? Weren’t they already like that when you began liking them? What do you expect to gain from getting your partner to mirror your likes and dislikes, share your whims and fancy? I hear couples saying that they are perfect with each other since they share so many things in common. They like the same food, music, hobbies, etc. They even share the same taste in fashion and have the same circle of friends. Wow, the only type of people that I know who have the same kind of view are the narcissistic ones. Were you really looking for a mirror image when you were looking for somebody to love? Homogeny eventually leads to monotony. Imagine eating the same food every day, doing the same routine everyday, and talking about the same thing everyday. If you think that is perfect then either you have a very simplistic outlook in life, or a pretty bad liar.
I am blessed in this respect that my wife, Neth, was almost my exact opposite. We have very little in common in terms of what we like in things, in our outlook in life. We were classmates in high school so we have some common friends (some whom we are still in communication with). We went to different schools in college. In the end, fate (with a little help from our common high school friends) led us to each other again and we have been together ever since.
As what is typical in new relationships we strived to make our relationship work. Looking back I can say that even when we were just starting to know each other, we were already changing without us knowing. But this is the kind wherein we were adjusting to each other’s eccentricity, she more than me. We got to know each other, reveling in each little discovery. Marveling in what new thing we would find out about each other, and about ourselves. We spent six years doing that until we decided to get married.
It has been more than three years living as husband and wife, and we are still discovering new things about ourselves. Some are changes that were long in the making. The discoveries are now far in between as we have become familiar with each other’s moods. The little things that we found cute or adorable sometimes become things that drive us nuts. That’s alright in my book as I know that after those spells we will come back to the reality that we love each other. That is called acceptance, not of the inevitable and hopeless but the fact that we are two lucky persons who happened to have found love, marriage and lasting happiness. I think my wife is still trying to change me in some ways that drives me insane but I can live with that as I have accepted that part of my wife. The friendster testimonial I gave her a few years ago still stands:
How do I describe her? I will surely
fail but I will definitely try…
She is the reason why I see the world in
a whole different light. She provides
the contrast of my life; she is my
strength and my weakness; the person who
can send chills down my spine but
radiate warmth during my trying times;
she can make me laugh and shed tears
like nobody else could. My best friend
and confidante. Simply put, my better
half, my passion-embraced. She is my
little spitfire. Her diminutive frame
belies her strong grip on my heart. I
feel so lucky to be blessed by such a woman.
I love you my labsc. I am looking
forward to living the rest of my life
with you.
ciao!
Oct 14
ErinRubbish, Work
On one of the leadership seminars (just humor me. they want to make me a leader) I attended one of the speakers addressed the participants in this way “you are now in the cross roads of your careers. you are now in place to be the mediator of the management and the rank and file. you are no longer wholly part of the rank and file since you have to begin looking at the business side of the equation.”
Ok, so that is already a paraphrase of what the speaker said. Regardless, my understanding of the whole thing makes me feel giddy inside. Why should there even be a distinction? Is the rift between management and staff really that wide that they can never meet? This might be stereotypical but the staff generally views management as people who doesn’t care about the life of the ordinary employee while the common perception of management is that the staff is incapable of understanding the big picture thus incapable of making the correct decisions.
Why can’t a person be both? Why do we have to choose? Does getting promoted really means swimming with the sharks? Does achieving the next level really require a shift in ones belief and norm? Does one have to compromise one’s principle to cross the perceived rift?
Instead of a cross-road I am finding myself walking in a tightrope. I still want to view myself as one of the staff since technically I am still a staff member. I just happen to be in a place where I ideally viewed it as a place wherein I can effect more changes. These are the same changes that I have always been clamoring when I was still below a lead position.
I think my problem is that I am cursed with this desire to be neutral but at the same time have this streak of idealism burdened with a lot of pragmatism. I want to have my cake and eat it too. Why can’t I have it both ways with my decisions? Why should every decision be viewed and weighed if it was tainted by management or staff concerns rather than being weighed on its own merits?
It might just be a transition phase (or in staff parlance, my heart is still beating) but I am getting tired of being cut off for every non-trivial decision I make. This is where I abhor being a leader, rather being happy with being an adviser. The latter have the luxury of letting others with the ambition run the show but at the same time have enough inputs to steer the greater master plan.
Paraphrasing something I have heard from a friend;
Don’t walk in front of me for I may not follow.
Don’t walk behind me for I may not lead.
Walk beside me so that we may learn from each other.
Why can’t the life of (middle) management be like that?
ciao!
Sep 21
ErinRubbish
Living beings are said to have a biological 24-hour clock called the circadian rhythm which has an effect on our day to day lives. But there is a less commonly known version of this biological clock that extends for longer periods of time. It is called an infradian rhythm which explains things like the menstrual cycle, yearly migration of fowl during winter and the start of the reproduction journey for salmons and penguins.
The segue is to put into writing why I feel miserable every mid-september. I term this as my calendar days of depression. For reasons I cannot fully rationalize I feel so miserable during this period. During the college days there were even years wherein I have contemplated in committing suicide just to end it all. Thankfully those severe bouts of depression no longer happen, but still I feel miserable and depressed for two to three weeks of the first -ber month.
What is so special in this period? To mark the irony, my birth date falls in this period. A period that most people consider special and mark with flowing wine and uninterrupted supply of food. For me my birth date is a period wherein I just want peace and to be left alone. Usually I just stay at home even if my wife keeps on bugging me to celebrate. How can I celebrate if I am feeling so down? I don’t want to act like everything is ok when I don’t feel like it. There is nothing more depressing than to hear one’s own hollow laugh.
One thing I know is that Tatay (my grandfather) passed away on my birthday. I was just four years old then but until this day I can still see in my head the white walls of the hallway of the Doctor’s hospital in Cabanatuan. Damn it, I just felt my whole body shiver as I typed that one in!
They say that four year olds do not retain their memories at that age but I think that is the earliest memory that I could remember. I can still see my parents and relatives trying to show a brave front especially in front of a child. I think there is where the trauma stems. I don’t think I even know it was my birthday so don’t ask me how to explain how I correlated the two.
Nanay lived for quite long after Tatay passed away but guess the period when she finally left us . Yes, it was in the same period. Four days after my birthday to be exact. What a coincidence! I always associate the period with something bad. September was always our lean month, the time wherein the family experiences financial difficulties. Maybe that is another reason why I don’t want any celebration. There is always something better where the money can be used, no need to splurge it.
Consistently my depression period does not disappoint. I usually hear something bad happening to a family member or friend during this period. I usually wish September will pass away very quickly so that I can breath easier without the fear that something will happen to my love ones. I know it is psychological but that is just the way it is.
This year my calendar days of depression came earlier. Maybe my being away from my wife has something to do with it. The good news is that the universal balance of life is not passive. My depression is already lifting. I can now laugh without it having a hollow sound. I can smile on the little funny happenings. My colleagues probably still see me as a stoic person but I don’t care. I can sleep tonight with a smile on my face and that is good enough for me.
ciao!
Sep 21
ErinRubbish
Yesterday the subject of Friendster accounts came up when Ynna (now called Tsang Ynna as a sign of respect 😛 ) mentioned that our nearly troglodyte manager opened up an account. The opening of the account itself is a milestone in itself.
When I opened up my gmail account, I saw again some notification from Friendster. My friends, or whom would like to still call me a friend, know that I rarely login to my Friendster account. It was an account that I opened _just because_ and maintains because my wife tells me too. I don’t request for friends but do approve requests that come into my account so my friend count is still way down. I don’t mind, which is why I didn’t open a myspace account since maintaining a single spammer smörgåsbord account is enough.
Occasionally it serves its intended purpose and I get some messages from long lost friends like She , our always-harried college class president. Anyway today I got a message notification from Manny aka spyder aka “si kulot na lapitin ng mga maligno at multo”. I decided to login and see what the message was about and while I was there I decided to do some exploration of what Friendster has to offer since I last looked (maybe a couple of years ago?).
Overall I don’t think my Friendster activity will see any upward surge. I was hoping to update the blog link to point to this blog but I can’t find it anymore. I swear that it had that option before but now I think you can only link blogs from their sister site. No thanks, I am renting this space because I want some degree of control over whatever measly content I am dishing out.
One of the message notifications I got was that a friend has updated her blog. Looking at her account I noticed that she already got married so I got curious and jumped to her profile. Lo and behold, I am denied access because even if I already got her listed as a friend the system does not recognize the link. Crap.
In Friendster’s defense, they have made leaps in terms of increasing the security of their site. It is still a spammer’s smörgåsbord but at least they are doing something in making it harder. I just wish the members understand the options and not select the default option.
And another thing I am not sure if I like or hate is the customization part. I visited some friend’s accounts and was greeted by a blaring audio file that I don’t know how to turn off. I thank the Universe for Adblock plus since it showed me the blockable items and I was able to turn off the script that blares the cheesy sound clips. I don’t know if they have audio controls or the customization skins are just too ghastly.
Will I keep on using Friendster? Yes because friends are still using it. But I don’t like the fact that they are forcing people to use their partner services. People should have a choice so I am making mine not to use their partner services. No skin off my nose.
ciao!
Jun 24
ErinRubbish
Yesterday another kid has the misfortune to have a parent who thinks I will be a good godparent. Carlos Tristan Corpuz, a 7-month old kid, was helpless when he realized that I intend to honor the agreement I had with his father and show-up in his christening.
Carlos makes number seven after Amboy, Gabe, AG, Ian, Io, and Jayda. Hopefully I can be a godparent to him in the full extent of the word and not just in paper. I dislike the latter because I think being a godparent is a heavy burden since a godparent is like a parent who needs to devote 100% commitment and not just during Christmas season. Except for a few, I actually refuse godparent notification if I cannot see the kid in a regular basis. My parents warned me that when my time came to look for godparents for my kid(s) then I will receive karma and also be refused. I just laughed at it and retorted that if they don’t want to be my kid’s godparent then that is perfectly fine because that means they are honest. I am not after having a doting godparent, I want somebody who can straighten out my kid like I would.
The baptism was held in St. Peter the Apostle church in Malate, Manila. Carlos almost had a baptism that I want for my future kid(s): a solemn rite all of his own with no screaming other babies and chatting attendees that I do not know because they came with the other babies being baptized in bulk. The baptismal “chamber” in the church was nice, complete with a marble pedestal where water will be poured on the baby’s head.
What merited a -1 in my book was the officiating priest. He was so haughty and full of it (or Maangas in Filipino street talk) that I was tempted to flaunt my preferred agnosticism on his face to make him aware that his superiority to me is just in his head. I think the priest was feeling special when he asked what Kit and Tetet was asking the “Iglesia ng Diyos” for Carlos. Tetet replied the usual spiel a proud momma would: good health, good upbringing, etc. The priest asked Kit the same question and Kit replied something similar but added through “occasions like this” referring to the baptism. The priest then launched in a “shame on you” tone about his question not being answered and ranted of a spiel about they should be asking the Church to baptize the kid. What a maroon and thick-headed priest, if you cleaned your ears that morning and went down a few steps on your pedestal you would have realized that your preferred answer was given to you albeit from a father’s heart and own words. If you didn’t get your preferred answer then any good facilitator would have coaxed the answer out by providing guiding questions like “do you want the Church to baptize your child and blah blah blah?”. You, err your church, didn’t actually accepted payment from us so you can embarrass us, didn’t you? And attitudes like that is what keeps me away from returning to being a Catholic.
The priest cannot even remember Carlos’ name and he was the only kid being baptized in the rites. Err, Father the kids name is on the sheet of paper you haughtily asked was attached on the receipt and is under your hand resting on the pulpit. Checking it twice to get the name correctly is alright, but did you have to check it everytime you need to say the kid’s name? If Carlos’s name was very unique then probably yes but “Carlos”? sheesh…
Next time somebody asks me to be a godparent, I will first have them verify if the priest allows non-Catholics to stand in the rite. I am officially changing my religion from NPC (non-Practicing Catholic) to Agnostic.
ciao!
Apr 16
ErinRubbish, Work office politics, rant, Work
I have just came out from a long OTy[1] weekend, and when I said long I meant a 19-hour rally with 3 hours of sleep. All because the project I am with has once again been selected for a security audit and an internal audit will be conducted today.
The unplanned rally is caused by the short notice given to the project and the not-so-good state of our security documentation. Before somebody starts that it is our fault for not updating the security docs as we go along then please give us a charge number for that kind of work before you start pointing fingers. In typical corporate wheedling and cajoling, they (meaning the powers that be, or the power trippers as i call them) say that these should be part of the “continuous improvement” (CI) budget of the project. REALITY CHECK: WHAT CI BUDGET? We are on a fixed time arrangement with the client and just trying telling the client that “we would allocate a portion of the time you bought to spend on security work that is not part of the contract you signed, and thank you for understanding.”. Couple this with the fact that we are running overbudget for the things that the client actually paid for! It doesn’t take a super sleuth to figure out that we are between a hard rock and a PHB.
To make matters worse, I am not satisfied with the output because we are tasked to churn out security documentations “aligned” with the corporate “version”. No thank you because
- I don’t believe the return of investment on those documentations is significant.
- The template documents provided are either not enough or an overkill.
- The person who created those template documents should stop using PCP. Reformatting them to look professional entails too much work.I reserve the right to save my co-team members from the atrocities of using too much colors in a document, and loud ones at that.
- If I am going to churn out security measures, then I will at least have the decency of believing those are practical and not just for show.
Why did I go through it? Because of pressure to pass the audit since the whole office accreditation can go up in smoke for failing the external auditors, and I don’t have the heart to add more stress on my manager. She already has enough problems on her plate regarding the project going over-budget and CMMi (yes, that effectively makes it a four-letter word) demands for full compliance.
19 hours and we aren’t even halfway the 100% completion mark. I know I told my manager that what we are targeting now is just damage control but it is really disheartening whenever I see the completion ratio for the project. And after that I also need to consider going back to reality that I am also over-budget on the client deliverable that they want me to submit by end of this month. 🙁
End of rant for now. I need to check what else I can finish before the internal audit today.
[1] OTy, n., Short for O-Thank you, the free version of overtime.
ciao!
Mar 09
ErinRubbish
Post Mortem – After death.
This phrase is usually used in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) to see what went wrong and what went right during the cycle in the hopes that it would be rectified and re-implemented in the next iteration of the SDLC. Unfortunately life is not like that. We only have one shot barring reincarnation that is not yet proven.
Before I proceed I would like to say that I don’t have suicidal inclinations, well at least not at the moment. I do however have the tendency sometimes to think about death objectively since, as they say, the only things sure in this world is death and taxes. 😀
Some have an irrational fear of death, considering it taboo to even talk about it for “fear” that talking about it is synonymous with inviting it. Experts always talk about worst-case scenarios and some of those are not even close to happening. I don’t have any fear of death but I am afraid of dying. There are still a lot more life has to offer but I am not afraid to miss those out if my time really has come. When you die you die right?
This post is really what I want and don’t want when I pass away from this existence. Feel free to join in but I would like to minimize religion to a minimum and deal with physical facts. As my father says, “when you leave this earth you no longer have a stake on what happens after”. Wise words. Death does not affect the departed but only those who were left alive.
Here are the things that I want to be done when I die:
- If I am still young then I want my organs to be donated to those who can use them. I guess my eyes is out of the question and probably also my heart due to my unhealthy living, but somebody might need a liver or gallbladders. For those who are not aware, the back of the Philippine driver’s license can serve (upon accidental death) as a binding contract that will allow the paramedics to tag your organs for donation without notifying your next of kin. I have already checked mine and I think all should too. You won’t be able to make use of your organs after you pass away so it is much better to have somebody put them to better use.
- I originally want my remains to be donated to medical schools for study and experimentation. I prefer if my body is donated to those medical students who have a hard time gathering the funds to buy a cadaver. I am thinking that by offering my cadaver I might be able to help save other lives. But I think this won’t come true as my wife said there is no way she is going to allow this. Since I won’t be able to object by then I don’t think I can do much about this. It is just my luck and bane that I married a loving but sentimental woman. 😀
- If the above can’t be granted then I also would want my body to be buried in a backyard while being rolled in a straw mat. I initially wanted to be buried under a rice field so that my decomposed remains will serve as nutrients to the crops that will feed other people. I realized this would probably scare people so I settle on being buried in a backyard then have a fruit tree planted on top to mark my final resting place.
A mango tree would be ideal. I can only imagine with glee with the thought of the tree’s primary root going through my rib cage, or its secondary root enclosing on my bones. Then after 10-15 years there would be children playing on the tree branches and enjoying the fruits. Some can even hang swings on the straight branches and maybe the thick foliage can help alleviate the heat during summer.
Nice thoughts, I just hope it could still be done given that the land we purchased does not have any backyard and I think my family would get in trouble with the law if they did bury me there. 😀
- The last resort would be to have my body cremated. My family can decide on what they want to do with the ashes. They can sprinkle it in the air (and cause some people asthma attacks), put it in a vase and display it the house, put them in pendants, or use them as seasoning when preparing dinner or lunch (ewwww!).
And here are the things I don’t want:
- I don’t want my cadaver to be put on display during funerals. I don’t want to imagine people peering over my coffin and saying stupid things like “he looks like he was just sleeping” or “he looks very much alive”. Excuse me, you wont catch me wearing makeup and I would take it as an insult if you think I look better dead than alive. 😛
My office mate’s mom had it figured out when she asked her remains to be cremated immediately after she passed away and in the funeral there were only the vase of her ashes and some pictures of her. I want it to be the same if my remains are to be cremated.
- No flowers especially those in wreaths. I am dead remember? In case you don’t realize it, my sense of smell and sight went away with my life so I can’t smell and see anything. Do my family a favor and just give them the donation in cash so they would have something to spend for their basic needs. You can call it my final support to them if you really want to pay me respect.
- I would really hate it if I had a funeral procession. How much respect can you get by clogging main roads just so your remains can be “escorted” to the cemetery in a snail pace? You are already dead and you are still causing grief to strangers. Nope, I don’t want that to be me. I would figuratively turn in my grave, or in that case in the coffin while on the way to my grave.
If there will be funeral procession then please dont let anybody walk alongside the hearse. The practice of walking slowly beside the hearse is no longer applicable since that was done in the old times to avoid getting the light of the candles blown away. Nobody even uses candles during funeral processions today. Let everybody ride a car, jeep or tricycle but nobody walks. Period.
- Don’t let my body decompose in a concrete-enclosed grave. I consumed a lot of food in this life so it is only proper that my body be returned back to nature. Call it “returning to the circle of life” or “ashes to ashes” but I don’t want to be useless at the very end. I have been useless enough when I was living.
Ending with my father’s universal response: “What about you?”
ciao!
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