Entries categorized as ‘Bits’
It’s good to be back.
I purposely tuned mysef out from posting anything from Friday and the rest of the weekend so I could take a much needed rest and spend some quality time with my Family.
I slept and slept, as well as pored over some of my half-abandoned readings to try and catch up on my backlog (i.e. I have yet to finish 20 books in my stockpile). A trip to the bookstore last Saturday night did me good as I got the resolve to finish at least 4 titles before the month of July ends.
Too bad, the bookstore was on a storewide sale. Some titles were going for a 40% discount. But I just couldn’t get myself to buy one (although I was already holding a copy of “Naked Economics” by Charles Wheelan). Useless to buy right now as I may not be able to get past the halfway mark… again. 
Anyway, on with the postings…
Categories: Bits
Have you ever noticed the heavy traffic congestion all over the metropolis every Friday?
A friend and I wondered why. And this is the most probable cause we came up with:
- Fewer and fewer car owners are opting to have their license plates end in 9 and 0. License plates with 9 and 0 as ending numbers are banned from plying the streets of Metro Manila from 7 am to 7 pm to reduce the volume of vehicles.
Since it’s a Friday, everyone with a vehicle would like to go home early or leave work early to go on R&R or watch a movie or go out on a date. As they say, most people go out on a Friday night.
Sounds logical? Maybe. What do you think?
Categories: Bits · Musings
First, the demo environment we have set up at a local data center got quirky at 9 am. That would’ve been just fine if not for the fact that we were scheduled for a big demo at 10 am! We frantically got in touch with the telco, asked for help (pleaded, really), and headed to the client not knowing if the fixes would turn out fine….
Second, on my way home, listening to some classical music on the radio, when… all of sudden… PHSEEEEET HISSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! A cloud of steamy smoke. Dang! The car’s radiator popped! I was about 2 kms from home so I decided to test my luck and see if I can make it home with the temperature gauge planted at H….
It was a good day yesterday.
The fixes to the demo environment worked just fine, in time. Seamlessly showed how the service worked. Impressed the audience.
Safely got the car home, albeit the car just made it midway through the garage port when it conked out. Still, I got home.
Yes, it was a good day yesterday.
Categories: Bites · Bits · Overheat · Personal
Ever since I’ve gotten hold of this new laptop (with batteries that last me for 3 hours), I’ve been directed to focus my attention to reading as much as I can from blogs that I subscribe to. I now find myself dropping the books that I read. Well…. it has been a bad habit of mine to snap up books in my favorite bookstores, reading them, and end up not finishing the material halfway through… and this latest fascination has compounded my already worsening habit.
In fact, I have about 20 unfinished reads as of this writing. The latest casualty is TITAN (a biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.) by Ron Chernow.
For me, reading blogs, articles, and stories on the web definitely has its PROS and CONS. You know the CON side of it already. The PROS are: (1) I get to hone my comprehension skills when reading anything from a monitor (I never really get to retain the information I pick up from online reading materials, which lead to a low comprehension grade. I usually have to print the article and read from a piece of paper.), (2) I get to save a lot from magazine subscriptions and purchases as there are more interesting reads which you get for free on the internet, (3) I get to save on paper and ink (related to number 1), (4) I get to read as many as I can if, in case, I happen to not bring my books with me (Google Reader has a new feature in beta right now — the feature that allows you to read your subscribed blogs offline).
Categories: Bits
It’s a lazy Monday morning. And I am trying to finish a report to submit today. And I am not making any progress. My mind is still in weekend mode. My cup of coffee isn’t working it’s magic, so I thought of posting entries to Knightly News.
I’ve been making feeble attempts to blog for the past 5 years, but never got around it really. It was only last June 5, 2007 that I finally decided to keep to a commitment of regularly posting entries, no matter how trivial or inconsequential. So far, since my first post last June 5, I’ve made 28 posts already and I’ve blogrolled 7 blog sites. Out of those 28 posts, I’ve gotten 262 views and elicited about 6 comments. I’ve generated two incoming links, one from a mobile computing blogger, and another one from a design blog site.
These are modest stats compared to others. But it is quite exhilarating to know that people from all over the world get to see your own, small space, interact with you, and link you for some worthwhile reason.
I hope to keep on doing this despite the hectic schedule that I carry. And I hope that, somewhere along the way, I’d be able to provide some helpful thought to a good number of viewers who happen to stumble upon this humble piece of real estate in the internet world.
Categories: Bits
No. Not mine. They’re someone else’s.
I feel sorry for this bunch of folks who, every early morning, while having their breakfast of coffee and water, rant and complain and whine about problems, issues, and debacles in their office. They hurl vindictives and bad-mouth their colleagues, and, yes, the powers that be. I just don’t get it when people keep complaining and not doing anything about it.
One of my favorite adages… “Don’t just complain. Do something about it.”
Solve the problem. Work a solution. Or the best solution… Resign and get out of that God-forsaken place.
It will do you no good staying. It will eat you up. Wear you down to the point that you’re bitter and negative all over. It is utterly pointless to keep on and endure the pain.
Categories: Bits · Overheard
If you haven’t noticed it yet, Filipinos are, actually (hehe), fond of, when speaking English, starting their sentences with…
- ACTUALLY. The most preferred “starter” word. Used in any type of discourse… sports, politics, business, gossips, ANYTHING!
- BASICALLY. Up and coming starter word. On track to displace ACTUALLY as the most preferred. Commonly used by Account Managers and tech people I go out on calls with.
- USUALLY: Oft used when the person talking loves to talk about himself/herself, most especially when referring to his/her past or habit.
- THEORETICALLY: Used every now and then… especially if the person wants to be scientific or really intelligent about an explanation.
I am waiting for the time when these words will be replaced by other ALLY-ending words like: Practically, Grammatically, Programatically, Specifically, Especially, Essentially…
Oh… if I may add… Have you noticed the proliferation of “YOU KNOW’s” everytime someone is talking to a foreigner? Like… You know?
UPDATE (06.28.07, 8:35 am Manila Time): Found two more words… INITIALLY and EVENTUALLY….
Categories: Bits · Social
Wanted to post yesterday evening, but instead found myself in a cold Data Center helping my colleague replace a Dell Quad Proc Server with an Intel-provided Xeon (Woodcrest class — whatever this is) server.
All I can say about the Data Center is, apart from being a cold place, that it is a boring / lonely place to be.
Imagine watching over someone else’s server day in, day out… making sure you strictly comply with and follow the rules… fill up a lot of forms every time there’s a machine coming in or going out… endure the sound of the machines’ hum all day… (almost forgo) endure the cold, impersonal place… WHILE all the action happens outside.
I have no idea what the engineers do in a typical day. I guess it’s more than just staring at the monitor… making sure everything’s A-Ok. If it is not more than just the staring part… oh, men… you wouldn’t find myself working in such a place if ever I happen to know anything about their craft.
The ironic thing is… this Data Center may well be the power behind one of the most exciting things to happen in Philippine Commerce… soon.
Categories: Bits
Yep. That’s Me. One of them Ants. Let’s keep on working, Boys! Bit by arduous bit. That’s how it is.
Categories: Bits
