Thoughts from my head, published to the web. Punishment for people like you who have nothing better to do.
May 26
Literature, Top of my head rant No Comments
Gusto kong manalo sa Lotto
Hindi dahil ayoko ng magtrabaho
Kungdi dahil medyo sawa na ako
Magpaliwanag paulit-ulit sa mga tao.
Maikli na nga siguro ang aking pasensya
Marahil sadyang dahil tumatanda na
Kahit gustong idaan sa diplomasya
Kahit paimpit nais kong magmura.
May 02
Garbage, Work communication, Garbage, Leadership, life, people management, Work No Comments
Holding a ball in one hand in front of you illustrates the common fact that two or more sides of the truth can exist without negating other truths. This boils down to perception; and managing the perception of the other viewers.
My co-lead in the project was getting some reputation flak for his leadership style. When we talked about it he raised a good question: “I used the same tone and method you used a few days ago when you addressed the team. What makes my delivery different (and unacceptable)?”
It was good question because I agree that our leadership styles have a lot of similarities. How come one can get away with using that style while other people have a negative reaction? Is it the context/personality of the person using the style and the preconceived notion of the audience about the person that makes a difference? This makes me think of the social experiment wherein random people were made to taste cakes. In one experiment there was a tag price in front of the cake where the slice came from and one is expensive while the other is affordable. In one variation there are no price tags but one of the cakes were placed in a plain platter while one was in an ornately gilded tray. A lot of the people said they preferred the more expensive cake (or the one in the more expensive looking tray) better stating that it is finer and has a more chocolaty taste. The catch is that all cakes used in the social experiment were IDENTICAL.
Presentation and context may be the critical factor in play here.
Nov 16
Reviews, Rubbish dining, food, review No Comments
My wife and I are currently enamored with Frankie’s Buffalo Wings whenever we will eat lunch in Megamall. A couple of stores beside it is occupied by “The Halal Guys” which is another US-based franchise. The queue for The Halal Guys is insane and has been that way since it opened up a few weeks back.
This weekend we had an opportunity to try it given that I have seen some rave reviews from friends in facebook. By opportunity I meant we are not famished yet and the queue is not that long. I queued up for about 20 minutes and ordered the Gyro/Falafel combo for me and my wife. The fare costs around Php470 for the New York size, and it seems a bit normal: two scoops of yellow rice pilaf, a scoop of what seemed to be lettuce salad, a few tablespoons of fresh tomato salsa, a small serving of gyro/lamb meat and 3 falafel medallions. The meat and falafel was then squirted with a white sauce that they are also selling for Php25 per additional packet.
My wife and I made short work of the food, and the verdict is… MEH.
Don’t get me wrong. The food is good but I dont think the price and the wait is worth it. I may not be able to replicate the lamb part but if one is really looking for a similar taste then going to a tex-mex or mediterranean place would do unless you belong to the Moslem religion and really looking for Halal-prepared food. Again this looks like a food hype and will eventually die down when everybody has tried it once.
We are going back to Frankie’s on our next visit. There are a few more flavors that we are really excited to try. And the half-dozen required to satisfy us will cost half of the food we ate from the Halal Guys.
ciao!
Oct 30
Garbage, Work Leadership, opinions, policies, Work No Comments
At any given point we are either a follower or a leader. In some rare scenario we fulfill both roles.
I am getting a reputation at work for a troublemaker when in fact I am only clarifying glaring holes in policies that are too specific or useless. These are the same policies that, to paraphrase one of my recent statuses, people wield like a paper shield that wont even muster against the slightest reason. Pitiful that the instigators of these policies are the same people that I should be relying on to look after my welfare as a follower.
In these cases I take up the mantle of being Captain Obvious. It may come across as troublesome but being a leader means you need to take the road that is not going to be comfortable. If nobody complains then it is the same as being complicit to something that you do not believe in.
Follow or lead? Do you take a chance in participating in a battle that can be the turning point of the war; or sit quietly in the corner reminiscing the “what if” of an opportunity that has long gone by? Choose your own poison.
ciao!
Oct 18
Top of my head emo, home, rant No Comments
The camera phone might not have captured it properly but the picture below is meant to capture the dusk of a stormy day.
More
Oct 13
Laboratory, Technology container, docker, tip No Comments
Running docker frequently can lead to mysteriously disappearing space. I kid, its not mysterious. Each image builds a layer which in turn eats up space. Logical but PITA!
Put this in your .bashrc or run it as cron on your docker host to clean up.
docker rm -v $(docker ps -a -q -f status=exited)
docker rmi $(docker images -f “dangling=true” -q)
or do it in one alias (use at your own discretion)
alias docker_janitor='docker rm -v $(docker ps -a -q -f status=exited);docker rmi $(docker images -f “dangling=true” -q)'
sounds too easy..
ciao!
Oct 07
FLOSS floss, Linux, Tech, troubleshooting, ubuntu No Comments
Last weekend I reinstalled my Linux system (and not because I want to rename it as Pyg!) which is a very bad decision as it is the same time that my pitiful internet connection fails to transmit any data beyond a few bytes. The new install to Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Verve) gave me the confidence to start using btrfs which is being touted as the next generation file system for linux systems. Bad move and very short-sighted on my part. 🙁
The btrfs is supposed to provide enhancements to ext4 file system since it (btrfs) is built from the ground up but with the useful features already present in ext4. The ext4 filesystem is basically being viewed as an aging hack on a hack since it builds on ext3 which is a tack-on improvement for ext2. Btrfs might be delivering on some of its promised features but those who use it should still be wary of it as it is still not considered as ready for “production” or real-world use[1]. I wish I knew this before I chose it as the filesystem for my home directory. 🙁
For those that will have the misfortune of encountering it, the gist of my predicament follows (which is based on how I remember it):
A start job is running for /home… (10s /no limit)
It was unnerving for me since a reinstall means I would need to re-download the upgrade packages on my #@$@#$ Smart LTE connection. The light-bulb moment for me was that /home is the only partition in the sequence that is using btrfs. The working theory is something borked during the forced shutdown which should have been handled by the journalling features. Thanks to an alternate albeit slow alternative connection, I was able to google enough to do the following:
# mount -o remount,rw /
# btrfsck /dev/sda4
# btrfsck --repair /dev/sda4
The repair option is always accompanied by a cautionary warning as it can delete information so having a proper backup is recommended. In my situation that is like adding salt to the injury. When I ran the repair option it reported that the cache and super generation areas do not match and that it cleared the space cache. After doing so I ran another btrfsck on the partition and rebooted the system which thankfully landed me on a working system with no (identified) data loss.
The moral of the story is to select btrfs only for the filesystems that you can afford to lose data; or have a good backup scheme. Using it for /tmp is going to be an overkill but to each to his own. Now Im thinking if I want to convert my home partition back to ext4. 😀
ciao!
[1] https://www.wikivs.com/wiki/Btrfs_vs_ext4
Jun 28
Garbage language nazi, rant No Comments
Tagalugin ko para mas magkaintindihan.
Kung sa pagmamalaki sa iyong anak ay ipinangangalandakan mong siya ay “Top One” ay ibig sabihin ay TANGA KA. Oo matalino ang anak mo pero kitang-kita na di nagmana sa iyo. Mabuti na lang mareremedyuhan pa yang katangahan na yan. Maipapayo ko sumabay ka pag grammar ang lesson. Mas mahaba lang sabihin pero subukan mong sabihin na “Top of the class” ang iyong anak.
Ngayon kung sakaling di naman siya ang nangunguna pero kasama sa grupo ng mga nangununa sa kanilang klase ay huwag mo naman sabihing halimbawa na “top three” ang anak mo. Hindi naman triplets yan kasi di mo naman sinabing “mga” anak mo. Third of his/her class ang tamang pananalita na kailangang gamitin, o kung ano mang pwesto ang kinabibilangan nya. Pwede din sabihin na “kasama siya sa top five” kung gusto mong magpakumbaba at hindi tahasang sabihin kung ano ang pwesto ng anak mo (pwedeng siya ang una o pang-lima). Pero pakiusap, itigil na sana sa ikasampu. Kung lagpas na sa sampu ay wag ng ipagpilitan para lang makapagyabang. Suportahan mo na lang ang anak mo kung gusto nyang umabot at mapabilang sa “top ten” ng klase nya.
Huwag din sanang tawaging valedictorian o salutatorian ang inyong mga anak kung di naman pa siya graduating o gumradweyt ng elementary o high school. Meron lang iilang lebel o baitang ng pag-aaral na pwedeng gamitan nito. Saka ang valedictorian ay yung taong nagbibigay ng talumpating pamamaalam (valedictory coming from the root word valedictum o “pertaining to leave-taking”) habang ang salutatorian naman ang nagbibigay ng talumpating panimula (salutation). Nagkataon lamang na sa Pilipinas ang top two sa nakuhang grade point average ang binibigyan ng karangalan na gawin ang mga ito.
Ulitin natin:
Ngayon kung estudyante ka pa pero gumagamit ka ng ganitong pananalita ay maipapayo ko na: anak mag-aral-aral din paminsan-minsan at hindi puro facebook at computer games lang ang inaatupag.
ciao!
May 09
Top of my head government, public service, shipping 80 Comments
Most internet search hits are still showing up with the Mandaluyong Post Office number which is +63 2 719 0716. This number is no longer operational. If you need to call them to validate postal notifications then the following number was provided by the PhilPost customer care: +63 2 8535 2131.
NOTE: The number is ringing and no longer responsive. The PhilPost site also removed the numbers in their web page. This is a disappointing turn of events. 🙁
[CAVEAT] I am not affiliated with the Philippines Postal Service. I am an ordinary private Filipino citizen who uses their service and publishes this blog entry as a public service.
(Paunawa: Wala akong kinalaman o koneksyon sa Postal Service ng Pilipinas. Ako ay isang ordinaryo at pribadong mamamayan ng Pilipinas na gumagamit lang din ng serbisyo ng Post Office. Itong post na ito ay isang kawanggawa lamang sa akin blog.)
[UPDATE 2016/09/19] Visitor Monica said the 535-2131 number is not working last July. I called the Mandaluyong Public Information Office and they confirmed that the post office still has that number. The number is ringing when I tried it but I didnt have the time to wait for somebody to pick it up. If the number remains non-functional then please try calling the main office using the numbers posted at https://www.phlpost.gov.ph/
Apr 21
Top of my head haiku, musings No Comments
It will pass away
The feeling of uselessness
My reality.
RSS