Friday, March 12, 2010 As I timed-in on the DTR last Monday I saw the words 3rd BU VS Dept. below my name. I guess it's official that I'm no longer part of the 1st BU, the department that became my family. The first week is a week of adjustment. I no longer drop-off usually at 31st floor. I no longer open the lights and aircon like I usually do. I no longer fiddle with the things of my seatmate before opening my desktop and double checking my time in. It was sad but that's reality...Today I got the chance to come to the 1st BU office for the soon to be married colleagues had a delicious treat. I got the chance to sit on my previous workstation and joke around with my former project mates. But as the clock stroke 3:30 I had no choice but to return once again to my new office. As painful as it is, I have to accept the reality that I am no longer part of the 1st BU. Time to move forward. I need to be fair with my new family, the 3rd BU. I should not close my doors to them and I'll try my best to be part of their community. Labels: my-two-cents Read Full Entry
Posted by Siopao Master @ 9:32 PM Sunday, March 07, 2010  Ano ba ang 1st BU? Ang Tsukiden kasi eh kinakatawan ng tatlong BU o Business Unit. 1st BU ay may CP (Communications Platform) at CA (Communications Application). Ang 2nd BU ay may International at Local clients, nandito rin ang mga dating Infrastructure. Ang 3rd BU naman ay may tie-up with Denso. Ano ba pinagkaiba ng 1st BU sa ibang BU? Basahin ng malaman. 1. Kilala sa mga makulit at mabongang performance na siguradong gugulat sa lahat Sa katatapos lang na company outing...Ra ra a a a roma roma mama..alam na! 2. Hindi papatalo sa trash talk. Asarin niyo na ang lahat wag lang ang 1st BU kung ayaw niyong umiyak 3. Very well coordinated Mula sa pakain hanggang sa pagbili ng pare parehong costume wala ng mas magaling diyan kundi ang 1st BU. Kahit nga sa pagsagot ng online survey eh maasahan mo ang 1st BU. 4. Sama sama sa inuman Nasa 1st BU na ata ang mga beterano sa inuman. Umaabot hangagang madaling araw sa inuman! Nakakagawa ng paraan para matuloy ang inuman. Tagay lang ng tagay! 5. Mga tunay na kaibigan Sabi nila ang tunay na kaibigan sinasabi ang katotohanan sayo. Sa 1st BU hindi uso ang plastikan at kung may hindi man pagkakaunawaan ay napag uusapan naman (see number 4 for details). Dito ko naramdaman na ang mga bossing mo ay hindi mababa ang tingin sayo, bagkus, para silang mga tatay, nanay, ate at kuya na tutulong sayo sa iyong mga problema. Sa kasawiang palad, huling beses ko ng kapiling sila kanina sa outing, dahil bukas ay magsisimula na ako sa 3rd BU. Naging pamilya na ang turing ko sa 1st BU, at tinanggap nila ako kung ano ako at dun ako nagpapasalamat. Pinagmamalaki ko naging parte ako ng 1st BU at kahit nasa kabilang bakod na ako eh mananatiling 1st BU ang first love ko. I left my heart at 1st BU.. thank you guys for the memories.... Labels: daily-life, my-two-cents Read Full Entry
Posted by Siopao Master @ 2:58 PM Tuesday, March 02, 2010 Yahoo! Sports loses Skeets to The Score  What's there to love about Canada?Well there's Canadian Bacon, maple and the distinct accent. And for the sports fan in you, there's ice hockey, ice skating, the recent 2010 Winter Olympics, the Toronto Raptors, Steve Nash and J.E. Skeets. Wait, J.E. who? To be honest, I know very little about Canada and had very little interest until the South Park kids kept talking about it, and until Vince Carter started dunking in Air Canada Centre. Having a friend who spent some time in Canada also helped. Ah, but Skeets, now that guy is All-Canadian. He gave me some idea what Canada is all about and influenced my blogging as well. As a basketball junkie, I had to get my fix from NBA.com on a daily basis. But after accidentally running into Skeets at Yahoo! Sports, I realized there's life after NBA (game) through Ball Don't Lie. Unlike the opinions posted by seasoned sportscasters in NBA.com, which focuses more on the nitty gritty of basketball, Skeets' take on matters, as well as that of other Yahoo! Sports bloggers, are often atoned to the lighter side. They talk about almost anything that has something to do with pro-ballers, related or unrelated to the game. Skeets is the one who writes and edits entries for BDL. And though his arguments and opinions may not always seem valid, it definitely gives people something to talk about. Just check out a BDL entry and you'll find hundreds of comments and reactions below. Thanks to his freestyle and loose approach, BDL is always an appealing alternative from all the hardcore, hard court stuff the NBA and NBA.com offers. Fortunately, all that writing and podcasting has done some good for Skeets. After earning recognition for his works in BDL and The Basketball Jones, Skeets and co. got some love from The Score, who will now televise TBJ. This event ends Skeets longtime partnership with Yahoo! Sports, and the end of all those hilarious-sometimes-doesn't-make-sense-albeit-entertaining blogs. This leaves me, and a lot of BDLers out there with nothing. You hear that Skeets. Nothing! I'm not really much of a TBJ guy because I do most of my surfing at work. And since there are restrictions and a firewall in the office, I seldom watch and instead read entries in BDL. But now that Skeets is gone, it looks like the days of all those fun blogs are over. Sure, I can always visit The Score (or maybe not thanks to firewalls), and someone as good is bound to take Skeets' place. But I can't deny that Yahoo! Sports won't be the same without the Canadian. And I probably won't ever get used to watching TBJ outside of BDL. Sorry Skeets. Skeets presence will sorely be missed in the pages of Yahoo! and that's proof that he is among the things you could love about Canada. The best of luck Skeets. Ball don't lie man, ball don't lie. -Marlone Viardo Read Full Entry
Posted by Marlone Viardo @ 9:50 AM Thursday, February 25, 2010 The Miracle that was EDSA People Power The 1986 EDSA revolution was indeed a very historical event that will forever be in the hearts of every Filipino. The whole world was impressed and amazed by the courage and unity that our fellow Filipinos showed on that momentous day. It was indeed a miracle that no blood was spilled despite the massive APCs and numerous soldiers that were ready to kill. That's why the Our Lady of the Rosary a.k.a. EDSA shrine was build at the heart of EDSA to forever immortalize that divine intervention. Now, do we take for granted that miracle? Are we waiting for another miracle to manifest to stop the downfall of our country? Let us not waste what happened on that faithful day and be enslaved by corrupt politicians and government officials who feast on our wealth. We should not wait for the time when the miracle of EDSA people power will only be just a story to tell our grand children and not something that they cannot experience.Labels: my-two-cents Read Full Entry
Posted by Siopao Master @ 11:13 PM Sunday, February 14, 2010 [Review]Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief  The first thing you will think of when you see this movie is it's another Harry Potter in the making. Okay, Chris Columbus, who directed Harry Potter 1 and 2 directed it but this series has a foundation of its own. I never read the book so it is safe to say that I'm not going to be biased here. The series in general is a break away from magic and spells. It focuses entirely to an all time favorite subject..the Greek gods (expect some feedback from Christians and Catholics some time later) Add some coming of age genre and we are all set. Now, let's focus on the movie itself. We all know Hollywood is very good in special effects and this movie is an example of that. The fictional world of Percy Jackson was beautifully rendered in 3D and Chris Columbus did his job well. Add some heavy stars like Uma Thurman and Pierce Brosnan and you got yourself here a blockbuster film. I wonder if Pierce Brosnan will reprise his role on the sequel. The music and sound effects was good and the lines of the cast was not badly written. Overall, this movie is a must watch for Percy Jackson fans and for those who is taking this series for the first time. I will now read the series for this movie convinced me that there is life after Harry Potter. Read Full Entry
Posted by Siopao Master @ 1:25 AM Tuesday, February 09, 2010 It is less than one hundred days before the presidential elections. I am not into politics but I do give a damn to the future of our country. The presedentiables have their own gimmick of convincing each and every voter in our country. Some resort to black propaganda, some exploit the weakness of evey Filipino, being sentinmental. This is the first time we will use a computerized voting system but the objective is still the same. Vote for the right person.Even though there is little hope for an elected official to really do his job, we still hold on to that hope. We are proud to be Filipinos in other countries, thanks to Manny Pacquiao and to everybody else who bears the Philippine flag. But that is all just fame. We cannot convert fame into food that will feed the mouths of the hungry Filipino children. The power to solve those problems lie on the hands of the politician. They have the resources, they have the manpower. They have the fund, but they don't use it. They never return the money that came from the people. Heck I pay taxes from my salary, but I still pay more because of that effin' EVAT that was conveniently added on our basic needs. What the hell those guys did to our money? It will be a miracle if we successfully voted for the right president. The future of the Filipino people is hanging on the balance. Labels: my-two-cents Read Full Entry
Posted by Siopao Master @ 11:39 AM Monday, February 08, 2010 Today was the 14th year anniversary of 24 Hours in Cyberspace. It was "the largest one-day online event" up to that date, headed by photographer Rick Smolan.The project brought together the world's top photographers, editors, programmers, and interactive designers to create a digital time capsule of online life.It marked the cooperation of netizens through-out the world and to think 1996 was still the infancy of the commercial internet. Today, We reproduced that success by successfully decimating information from Ondoy to the Haiti tragedy. We used the vast power of the internet to spead awareness and to give our support. The advancement of the internet paralled to the advancement of help all over the world. No one is alone in this world now. Seek help and you shall find help. Truly, the flame of dedication of the the netizens 14 years ago is still burning until today. Labels: internet, my-two-cents Read Full Entry
Posted by Siopao Master @ 11:03 AM Saturday, February 06, 2010 The Last Airbender Superbowl trailer Coming to theaters July 2,2010 No..no blue men here..just some badass element bending Read Full Entry
Posted by Siopao Master @ 5:35 PM Thursday, February 04, 2010  Just like most the female celebs in the Philippines, Dora decided to show some skin in the hopes of launching herself to stardom. I don't know about you guys, but I definitely think that Dora should reconsider her career move. Labels: humor Read Full Entry
Posted by Marlone Viardo @ 3:57 AM  With its colorless images and sometimes crappy lines, the uninitiated might find it hard to imagine how manga captivates its readers, I included. I was introduced to the world of manga by my brother and best friend last year, and though I still prefer animé with its moving images, its stationary counterpart can be as engaging. I started by reading Shounen manga, Naruto and Death Note in particular, and although the absence of colors discouraged me at first, the stories revolving around each character eventually convinced me to turn page after page. After witnessing Near put an end to Light Yagami's semi-psychotic ambitions, and while awaiting for the future that lies ahead of Konoha, I started searching the Net for other manga to gobble up. During my search, I decided to move away from the Shounen genre and started exploring other genres, Ecchi to be exact. Now, if you know what Ecchi is, you just figured out that I was attracted to read manga of such genre for all the wrong reasons but ended up enjoying it for all the right reasons instead (although, I still get my fair share of the wrong and am enjoying it). Now, I've only read a handful of Ecchi manga, since I'm still in search for more (don't get the wrong idea) but among those that I've read, Mysterious Girlfriend X seems to standout. MGX tells the story of high school student Tsubaki Akira, whose attention was caught by Urabe Mikoto, a scissor-wielding transfer student who lacks interest in socializing with others, and has a knack for spending her breaks asleep while saliva freely flows from her mouth. One day, Tsubaki saw traces of drool from Urabe's desk in class, and out of curiosity, tastes a sample of the said liquid. After a few days, he got sick (and who wouldn't after tasting a stranger's saliva right?). Urabe then paid Tsubaki a visit, only to inform him that she knows what Tsubaki did (tasting her saliva) and the reason he got sick is because he developed dependence towards Urabe's drool. Urabe then placed her finger in her mouth and applied saliva to the tip, then placed her finger inside Tsubaki's mouth which led to his recovery. Realizing that they are now bound by his saliva-dependency, Tsubaki asked Urabe to become his girlfriend, and after cutting the picture of his former crush into pieces, Urabe accepts his offer. What follows is a series of funny spit-swapping events that allows the couple to communicate their inexpressible feelings through their saliva. In addition, readers are treated to Tsubaki's and Urabe's day-to-day progress as a couple as they try to make their relationship work while keeping it a secret to the rest of their classmates. Aside from their relationship, the couple has to deal with sexual urges, miscommunication, insecurities, other people trying to break them up (or so I think) and all other problems that come with being a teenager and growing up. Though most the issues tackled in MGX are common among your typical boy-gets-girl stories, the spit-swapping factor somehow changes the entire playing field putting this manga on a slightly different level. A must read for the young ones and the 'young…once', Mysterious Girlfriend X, an on-going series published in Afternoon, is guaranteed to make you drooling for more. - Marlone Viardo Labels: review Read Full Entry
Posted by Marlone Viardo @ 1:45 AM Thursday, January 21, 2010 LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile communication systems are expected to be deployed from 2010 onwards as a natural evolution of Global system for mobile communications (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). They say that LTE will be the cornerstone for the 4G technology which will be implemented soon on first world countries.The truth is, LTE haven't met the requirements for 4G also called IMT Advanced as defined by the International Telecommunication Union such as peak data rates up to 1 Gbit/s. The ITU has invited the submission of candidate Radio Interface Technologies (RITs) following their requirements as mentioned in a circular letter. So far they are finalizing the requirements for 4G to push through. Are we prepared for the coming of 4G? So far we are enjoying the fast bandwidth of HSDPA a.k.a. 3.5G, even telcos grabbed this opportunity by offering 3G anywhere USB dongles at affordable prices. Imagine that speed will peak at 1 Gbps and you have here a true wireless broadband. Heck I wont be needing my DSL anymore if that's the case. So far no phone in the market support 4G but 2010 had just begun and cellular technology is rapidly evolving breaking the gap between communication. Labels: news Read Full Entry
Posted by Siopao Master @ 9:28 PM  George Mikan, Bob Cousy, Bill Laimbeer and Larry Bird – what do all these guys have in common?Aside from being NBA Champs, all of them are all notable American-born (if you're wondering about the inclusion of this adjective, read on) Caucasians who earned a reputation for their prowess in basketball. For a sport invented by a white guy, and initially played (and to some effect exclusively) by whites, it's not surprising to find white people earning their place in basketball history. However, since the 60s, the game of basketball has been dominated by African-Americans. From Wilt Chamberlain, Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, Magic Johnson up to this generation's Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, African-Americans have been the face of their respective teams and ultimately, the league. And let's not forget that Michael Jordan is considered as the greatest basketball player of all-time. African-Americans currently outnumber American-born white guys in the NBA because of the evident advantages they hold over the latter in terms of athleticism, strength, power, speed and agility. Add some Europeans to the mix and the place of American white guys in the league just got smaller. This brings us to Don Lewis' All-American Basketball Alliance (AABA), a league exclusively for American-born (thus the inclusion of this word) Caucasians who want to play fundamental basketball. This league would most likely give white guys, who are usually dunked on by the Wades and the Bryants, a chance to enjoy classic basketball, that is, if this league ever materializes. And that's a big IF, thanks to the pro-racist comments of Lewis, the probability of any city in the U.S. to support this idea is as good as zilch. On the surface, a league that requires qualifications such as "American-born Caucasian" does really seem to discriminate color. But come to think of it, it's not a bad idea. If you want to gather people with same skill level in one place and pit them against each other, you have my blessing. When I was taking my younger brother, Marfile, to his basketball game last year, I saw this gym somewhere in Mandaluyong that seems to be holding basketball games for the B6L or the Below 6-feet League. Since few Filipinos grow beyond 5'11", a league that disqualifies 6 footers offers a venue with level playing field. The AABA on the other hand disqualifies African-Americans, majority of which are high-flyers, so that the whites get their share of hardcourt action without having to compete with opponents who possess otherworldly leaping ability and physique. However, what's disturbing about the AABA is Lewis' justification of its founding. I just don't see the connection between fundamental basketball and a player attacking a fan. In addition, color doesn't have anything to do with playing fundamental basketball. Take Tim Duncan and Jason Williams. I mean TD isn't Caucasian but you're not gonna see any player more fundamentally sound than he is in this generation. And J-Will, in his prime, shakes, bakes, throws fancy lobs and dishes no-look passes. Now that's streetball to you. And he happens to be white. And let's get real; even if the AABA actually becomes a league, I bet it won't survive for long if it isn't entertaining. Fundamental ball may be an efficient way of playing the game, it's what gave Duncan and the Spurs four NBA titles after all, but it's also the reason why they're not as popular as the Lakers or the Celtics. With a handful of followers, the AABA is bound to go down the drain. And seriously, who would even watch a league ran by a racist. By limiting your participants to white guys, you limit your audience to that color as well. Plus, there could be an implication that supporters of the AABA are racists, resulting into lesser patrons. The NBA as of late has been the melting pot of the world's best ballers. It's where athletes from various continents come together to play a highly competitive level of basketball. If there's one thing that the NBA has been doing right, Gilbert Arenas aside, it's unifying people from different cultural backgrounds, one dribble at time. As for the AABA, it plans to do the exact opposite. If Lewis is really eager to get the white Americans back into the game, the AABA is definitely not the way to go. And as J.E. Skeets of Yahoo Sports suggested, he might as well put up a league with modified rules that would eliminate the advantages of African-Americans, and in someway, get through some hardworking Caucasians so that he can remind them that even though white men can't jump, there are other ways to approach the game and succeed. What is Lewis even trying to pull-off with the AABA? Your guess is as good as mine. One thing certain though, if the AABA does materialize, the people behind and taking part in it won't be welcomed by the people of this time who value peace and shuns racism. If only Lewis would see things this way, everything is bound to be alright for all whites. -Marlone Viardo Labels: my-two-cents, news Read Full Entry
Posted by Marlone Viardo @ 11:07 AM |
