My Mom Got Robbed!

News has come to me that earlier this morning my mother got robbed while she was at the Tanauan Public Market canvassing fruits to sell at Los Baños. All that she has at that time was taken away from her, including her bag, phone, basket and money. My mother has so much to bear right now. She owes microfinance projects, middlemen and the Bumbays money, and if her debts would be compared to flood, it would be an Ondoy flood. And then it happened to my mother. I feel for her, and right now I need to do something. I need to find a job, and this time I won't be choosy. Yung bwisit na holdaper kasi na yun, hindi pa nilanggam nung bata pa. (Sorry.)

Oath of Electronics Engineer

I, (name) of (address) hereby solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will obey the laws, legal orders and decrees promulgated by the duly constituted authorities of the Republic of the Philippines; and that I impose this obligation upon myself voluntarily, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion.

I further solemnly swear that at all times and places I will adhere closely to the ethical and professional rules generally accepted by the ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING Profession in the Philippines, and I will well and faithfully discharge to the best of my ability the duties and obligations incumbent upon a legally authorized ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING practitioner.

SO HELP ME GOD.

Dreams

I had a weird dream last night. I don't know why I dreamt of it and what it meant. I was driving a huge truck, trying to make my way home when in the middle of my driving, I thought of making the truck stop but I couldnt; it couldn't. Then I got lost in a place and I was with a few children and we were trying to figure out how to get out of it. Then we found a very narrow netlike tunnel and we tried to fit ourselves in. I could barely get out and when I finally got out, I just woke up and I felt an aching sensation in my chest. And that was it, kind of. I really don't what it means.

TS Ondoy Strikes the Philippines

Everyone was struck and left in awe by the extent of damage that TS Ondoy had left during a 24-hour non-stop rains that caused rivers and dams to overflow, streets to be clogged, many places to turn to sea, properties to be damaged and lives to be taken away. The country that is very much used to having strong typhoons cannot believe that within a day a big part of Luzon would be covered by flood. Report has it that within less than a day the country has received rainfall that it was supposed to receive within a whole month. And the storm chooses no one as even known personalities desperately called for help on national television to be rescued from high floods that could sweep them away within minutes. I remember seeing sexy actress Cristine Reyes from the roof of her house scared and crying and calling her friends to rescue her from the floods. And it's very heartbreaking too witness the aftermath of this disaster as bodies of victims are found in the streets after the floods have abated. To all who have the logistics and resources to help, please help our fellows in this ordeal. Let us also offer our prayers to those who have lost their loved ones and for the healing and recovery of the nation.

Bookkmmaarrkks

Why are bookmarking sites fond of using the 'double letter' in their names? Twitter? Digg? Reddit? Tweetmeme? Propeller? (okay, this one's forgivable) Kaboodle? Mixx? Diigo?

Social Media Marketing and the Superspindle

This is one very effective social media marketing strategy that I would like to apply to my blogs. It is called the Superspindle Strategy and it is fairly simple than other SEO strategies. The things that you will need are a topic, a target page, a blog and accounts on several bookmarking sites. This is how you should do the Superspindle Strategy:

Step 1: Choose the page you want to boost and the key term you're going after.

Step 2: Create an industry-related blog on Blogger.com and write a piece of non-promotional content related to your industry for your first blog post (400-600 words). Include a link within the content of this post which leads to the URL in Step 1. Be sure to use anchor text in your link which targets the key phrase you want to rank for. Be sure to include this key phrase in the title of the blog post. Tag the blog post with your key phrase and other important terms contained within the content.

Step 3: Create a campaign on Digg and Reddit leading to the URL of the blog post done in Step 2. Record the URL of the Digg and Reddit submissions so you can bookmark those URLs in Step 4.

Step 4: Bookmark the campaigns on Digg and Reddit across at least 3 different bookmarking networks.

Step 5: Bookmark your submissions page on Digg and Reddit across 3 other bookmarking networks that were not used in Step 4. Your submissions page is the page that shows all the content that you have submitted to Digg and Reddit.

Step 6: Rinse and repeat for every page of your website or blog or create a new Squidoo lens for a different affiliate product.

Notes:

1. Choose a high-trend, low-dense keyword to increase the chances of your page found and visited. A high-trend, low-dense keyword is a keyword that is frequently searched but there are not so many pages on the web that contains this keyword.

2. If you are an active member of Twitter and you have a huge following, you can have it as a substitute for your campaign on Reddit provided that you repost the links once or twice a day so that these link do not get buried forever. If you have thousands of followers, so could be your followers, and after a few seconds their pages are updated by tweets of people they follow, so make sure your links are visible everyday.

3. When creating a campaign on Digg, make sure to submit links that are non-promotional. You do not want to get your links buried there or worse your account to be suspended. (Believe me, I know.)

4. Organize your links in a file, e.g. an MS Excel or Access file so that you don't have to write down every URL that you submit.


Information courtesy of Social Media Science and Jehzlau Concepts

Tayong Dalawa Sequel?

The most successful teleserye of the year has just ended and as expected there were the cheesy elements that a large part of the followers were hoping to see. It was a not-that-bad ending for an average viewer, but personally I didn't like it. Honestly I was hoping for a 24-ish season finale that's why I got disappointed. Nonetheless, it was okay. But what really got me is the appearance of two new characters, and I got a little upset when I saw Rosanna Roces. It was because when another former phenomenal teleserye Maging Sino Ka Man bid farewell, I saw the same actress, and that was a given for the viewers that they should watch out for a sequel. And a few months after there was the sequel. Now there is another character to anticipate and I think he'll draw a big part of the sequel if indeed there is one. The name of the character is David Anthony Garcia III and he is introduced as the other son (again?) of the father of the two Davids. Now there are three Davids. The fun part to this is to guess the title of the sequel. Any guesses? I have mine. Tayong Tatlo?

Tayong Dalawa Finale Tonight

I got a feeling that tonight'sgonna be a good night...

Not just a good night, but also a terrific night, because tonight's the night that a phenomenal and history-making TV series will come to its end. Tayong Dalawa is about to end tonight after a very successful 9-month run in Philippine Primetime TV. This series has triumphantly secured its place among the rosters of hailed soaps from the past. It's not surprising why this series has made a mark on the lives of the televiewers due to its stellar cast frontlined by three of the most popular artists today: Kim Chiu, Gerald Anderson and Jake Cuenca, and backed by some of the best actors that the indie scene has to offer: Coco Martin, Gina Pareño, Cherry Pie Picache, Alessandra de Rossi, Agot Isidro, Helen Gamboa, Mylene Dizon, Anita Linda, Spanky Manikan, Baron Geisler and Jiro Manio, among others. And it's not just the storyline that brought the series to success but also its outstanding characters who were loved, or hated, or loved and hated by people. Those include JR, Dave, Audrey, Ramon, Ingrid, Marlene and Lola Gets who some were even more popular today by their characters than their real names! Now how heavy is that!

So now people are awaiting the big finale tonight like wild horses, including us in the house. And just as what the commercial said, "Where are you by the end of Tayong Dalawa?" Me? Obviously I'll stay inside the house and watch the finale myself.

RFID System to Pool Vehicle Data

I was watching the evening news earlier and I got hooked on the headline: the use of RFID system to document key data of all the vehicles in the country. I watched and listened intently to see if they were getting at the right points, and to my surprise they quite did. They were able to explain the basics of the system, and they answered questions of privacy invasion correctly. Yes, it is true that RFID readers have limits to reading the tags registered to the database because the primary factor that limits the reading distance is the Inverse Square Law, that is, when applied to power, the power density received from a point varies inversely with the square of the distance from the source. And if the source is taken as isotropic, it radiates the signal equally in all directions so that the covered space of the radiated signal at any given time takes the form of a sphere. So if an RFID tag radiates 1 watt, considering only free space loss, the reader will receive 80 mW at a distance of 1 m and only 20 mW at 2 m. This means that as the distance is doubled, the signal is reduced to a quarter.

So much for the math. What I'm just trying to point out is that distance alone is a safe point for disproving the ability of the system to track vehicles at great distances. What bothers me is the price of the card that contains the tag. P350 is too much for a supposedly cheap RFID tag together with the all the production costs. That is if commissions are excluded. Then if it includes that, it's not anymore confusing why that card costs that much. But beware, possibilites for invasion of that privacy are endless because every important detail could be transcoded to that chip, including name, address, blood type, physical attributes, SS number, bank account number, credit card number, etc. That is if the government runs through the archives of its agencies and include all of those details to your RF card. Well, that is just for the worst case scenario.

Before I end this cloud, I just want to say something about RFID that might happen in the future. If time comes that you need to have your tag or chip or whatever you want to call it placed at the back of your hand or at your forehead, no matter what happens, don't apply for it. It might lead you to a place where redemption is never possible.

Mirko Cro Cop Officially Retires from MMA

Mirko Cro Cop announced on Croatian TV that he is officially retiring from mixed martial arts just days after his loss to Junior dos Santos at UFC 103 resulting to his unsuccessful comeback to the UFC. "I have no motivation left and it's time to leave. Thank you all for supporting me," says Cro Cop.

This is a sad moment for MMA fans worldwide, especially fans of his, including myself. For me it felt like losing half the interest for the sport. In fact he is the reason why I became a fan of MMA. His deadly knockout kicks have amazed me to the infinity enough for him to become my ultimate fighter and the fighter that I look up to because he does not realize how big and famous a fighter he is that he remained humble throughout the 15-year run of his career. Cro Cop has helped shape and define a sport that even a few years back was still in the grassroots.

Mirko, you will truly be missed. And as Joe Rogan would always say, I look forward to seeing you again. And truly I look forward to seeing you in a stellar comeback, if that is still possible. You've been an inspiration to the world. I'll end this right now so that this does not become a eulogy. :(

Lost in Translation

This is a nursery rhyme that I translated to German using Yahoo! Babel Fish. I don't even know if it has correct German grammar. Just killing time.

Reihe, Reihe rudern lhr Boot leicht hinunter den Strom
(Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream)
Fröhlich fröhlich fröhlich fröhlich ist das Leben aber ein Traum
(Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream)

Prepositions: Time (IN, ON, AT)

Read this from a local newspaper. Thought it could help.


Use IN when you refer to a year, month or decade:
In 1987; In the 80's; In January

Use ON when you refer to a day, date or holiday:
On Monday; On the 23rd; On Mother's Day; On January 23rd

Use AT when you refer to a specific time:
At 8:00; At dawn; At noon; At the scheduled time


Courtesy of the American English Skills Development Center


From The Philippine Daily Inquirer, JOBMarket Section, 12-18 Jul 2009, p. 4

Pride is not UFC

Mirko Cro Cop's lost to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 103 has pulled him back again to the bottom of the Heavyweight roster and yet again failed to impress more commercial and newer MMA fans. His career in the UFC has never been good since his devastating knockout to Gabriel Gonzaga which arguably became the biggest upset in UFC history and his decision loss to Cheick Kongo. Cro Cop reached the pinnacle of his career when he won the 2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Tournament. His reputation as having deadly knockout kicks didn't materialize in any of his UFC fights as he failed to win key fights that could have put him up for title contention. It seemed like Cro Cop doesn't like to be at the limelight of the sport and prefers to fight in other hardcore and less popular MMA organizations where there is less pressure to win and impress. Or is it that he belongs to the building trend of non-transferrable success exhibited by some fighters from the outside, especially Pride, who were considered monsters outside the UFC? Wanderlei Silva for instance is a former IVC Light Heavyweight Champion, the first Pride Middleweight Champion and the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Winner, but he never held a title or even fought for title contention in the UFC. Antonio Nogueira is the first Pride Heavyweight Champion and the 2000 King of Kings Winner, and though he earned the UFC Interim Heavyweight belt, he wasn't able to defend and unify it. Dan Henderson is the only fighter to hold two Pride belts simultaneously when he earned the Pride Middleweight and Welterweight titles, but he failed to create a great first impression when he lost to Anderson Silva in his UFC debut. Mauricio Rua is the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Winner but like Henderson he started his career in the UFC when now former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin pulled off an incredible upset. However Rua is not that unlucky because he is now up to challenge current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 104. The only fighter from the outside who is successful in both worlds is current UFC Middleweight Champion, current Cage Rage Middleweight Champion and former Shooto Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva who now holds the record for most UFC consecutive wins (10) and is yet to lose a fight in the UFC. It seemed UFC newcomers had their 'UFC jitters' and dealt with tremendous amount of pressure coming into this now highly commercialized arena. They were some of the sports' greatest but UFC belts have been elusive on their waists. The Law of Symmetry does not seem to apply to them in that if you're the champion out there, it does not necessarily mean that you'll become the champion in here. But it's probably only a matter of time that they shall become the champions here. We just have to wait and see and hope the best for them.

UFC 103: Cro Cop Loses to Dos Santos

MMA legend Mirko Cro Cop lost yet another important fight as he was defeated by Junior Dos Santos via verbal submission at 2:00 of the third round at UFC 103 held at The American Airlines Center yesterday. The bout was the co-main event which was headlined by former UFC Middleweight Champions Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort.

The fight started with Dos Santos as the aggressor always standing at the center of the cage forcing Cro Cop to stay up against the cage which resulted to Cro Cop being pinned down and having been fought defensively most of the time. During the second round Dos Santos threw more punches which some landed and rocked Cro Cop. Past the middle of the round Cro Cop accidentally hit Dos Santos to the groin which gave the two some rest and after a minute the fight proceeded with Dos Santos still being the more dominant fighter. At the final round Cro Cop came more aggressive but was caught by several punches which put him in danger. Cro Cop was put up against the cage with Dos Santos throwing punches. A punch to the eye blocked Cro Cop's vision disabling him to continue the fight thus forcing him to submit verbally. Dos Santos won via submission at 2:00 of the final round.

Mirko Cro Cop Loses to Junior Dos Santos

Junior Dos Santos defeats Mirko Cro Cop via verbal submission at 2:00 of round 3. Oh shoot! Feels like I don't ever want to watch the primetime telecast at Studio 23 this night. :(

Awaiting UFC 103

Only a few hours to go before UFC 103. I'm very much excited to see Mirko Cro Cop to fight inside the Octagon again. He is the reason why I became a fan of the sport (besides Georges St-Pierre). He started his career in the UFC very badly when he was knocked out by Gabriel Gonzaga via high kick at the button. This fight remains to be one of the biggest upsets in UFC history (besides St-Pierre-Serra 1 of course). I've waited for two years for Cro Cop to come back to the UFC. UFC is the only MMA event that I get to watch on free TV. Finally Cro Cop came back in UFC 99 and right now he's in the cards for UFC 103. I wish him well and I know that he can do it. I really want to see him in contention for the Heavyweight belt, and if it's still Brock Lesnar, all the better because Cro Cop's gonna beat the crap out of him. Right from the start I didn't believe in Lesnar. He got the belt through popularity so he got the better fights. And I think that if he'd fare with a fighter that could withstand his punches only proportional to his size, then he has no more aces to flash. Go Cro Cop! Fight!

What is Your Favorite Lady Gaga Video?

Much to her unusual sense of fashion and catchy techno sound, I've started to show interest to this orgasmic music artist known as Lady Gaga. I remember when I first heard this gaga's name when she performed her song 'Just Dance' at the 2008 Miss Universe Pageant. Back then for me she was a relatively unknown artist with a funny name. She had I would say a not that bad song. Pwede na. Then she came up with 'Beautiful, Dirty, Rich' which was included in the original soundtrack of the TV series 'Dirty Sexy Money'. Then she released 'Poker Face' which I think propelled her from the clubbing scene to mainstream pop music. She also made it really big here in the Philippines that this song became a novelty song, and she was even stereotyped by performers as a girl with straight platinum hair with henna on the left cheek. And when she finally held a concert in the country, even the rich and famous showed how much they have been influenced by the Gaga fever. There were events master Tim Yap, Anne Curtis who dressed like a Gaga and Angelica Panganiban who even missed the premier of her fiance's biggest movie yet, to name a few, just because of the Gaga! But it was not just about the catchy songs that made her really famous. It was also about the video and the way she dresses. Each and every video she would come out as an alien in the outer space depicted in the 60's movies. She always had vast ideas on how to dress to impress. Her dress was always bursting with diverse style and vivid colors. And her hair, always a scene stealer. But what caught my attention most was her video 'Paparazzi'. I love it because of the three E's. It is an eccentric video, truly a one of its kind. I can't seem to forget her lipstick which created an illusion of narrow lips, her glasses which made her look like a bug and her snugly fit yellow pants. I also have this eerie feeling because of the unusual poses of those dead chicks. Artistically done! And lastly, her making out with that guy is erotic that it gives me an uncomfortable feeling in my pants. Truly this gaga set a new trend of music and sense of style. So what more can you ask for in a gaga like Lady Gaga?

This Song Breaks My Heart Everytime I Hear It

Damn, I hate this song! It makes me remind of someone, and it brings back all the sad memories that I wish I could forget but I couldn't. The video of this song is so killing me. This is what it feels when you remember someone you dearly loved. How I wish I could right the wrongs that I've done...


HILING
Silent Sanctuary

Minsan 'di ko maiwasang isipin ka
Lalo na sa t'wing nag-iisa
Simula nang ikaw ay mawala
Damdamin pilit ko nang tinatago
Hinahanap ka pa rin ng aking puso
Parang kulang nga kapag ika'y wala

At ihiling sa mga bituin
Na minsan pa sana ako'y iyong mahalin
Ihiling kahit dumilim
Ang aking daan na tatahakin
Patungo

Alaala mong tinangay na ng hangin
Sa langit ko na lamang ba yayakapin
Nasa'n ka na kaya, aasa ba sa wala

At ihiling sa mga bituin
Na minsan pa sana ako'y iyong mahalin
Ihiling kahit dumilim
Ang aking daan na tatahakin
Patungo sa iyo, patungo sa iyo

Ipipikit ko ang aking mata dahil
Nais ka lamang mahagkan
Nais ka lamang masilayan
Kahit alam kong tapos na
Kahit alam kong wala ka na

At ihiling sa mga bituin
Na minsan pa sana ako'y iyong mahalin
Ihiling kahit dumilim
Ang aking daan na tatahakin
Patungo sa iyo, patungo sa iyo

Teodoro is the Administration's Standard Bearer

The Administration have already chosen a candidate for President and they chose Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro to be Lakas-Kampi-CMD's standard bearer for the 2010 Presidential Elections after a closed-door meeting held by the National Executive Committe at Edsa Shangri-La today.

After having formed a quorum when 52 of 64 members of the Committee were present in the event, they proceeded with the meeting to decide which between Teodoro and MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando they would choose to represent their party in the upcoming elections. The selection process were done through secret balloting and after having tallied the votes, it appeared that for every one vote that Fernando got, Teodoro had eight. Meanwhile, DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno also received nominations for Vice President but the party said they would like to reserve the slot to give Teodoro the chance to choose his running mate.

To Run or Not to Run, That is the Question

Time is running out for Vice President Noli de Castro. He only has until midnight tonight to decide if he wants to be Lakas Kampi-CMD's standard bearer for the 2010 Presidential Elections. Though the VP's camp has said that Noli would announce his decision within this week, the Administration would be forced to toss the coin between Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando if Noli did not represent himself tonight, although it is apparent that they are still hoping that Noli would accept the offer. De Castro is the Administration's best based on the previous surveys. Other Administration candidates did not fare well on any survey, getting 1% or even less. But should De Castro keep his silence for the rest of this day, it is most probable that Teodoro would be the one to represent the Administration in the election. Testament to that is the expressed support of 90 Lakas Congressmen to Teodoro earlier today. If indeed the Administration considers Teodoro to be their standard bearer (this is just my opinion), I think and I am convinced that De Castro will still run for presidency, and since the slot has already been given away, he will run as an independent candidate. Well, I will take a close look at the political movements in the days to come and see for myself if I was right or wrong about my prediction. But until there is no definite answer to De Castro's political plans, to run or not to run, that is still the question.

Pop Goes Jake 2.0

For more than a year I tried to popularize my blog, but it seemed it never worked out. I get an average of 300 page views, about 7000-11000 on a monthly basis. And my keywords weren't so competitive that after 20 months and 130000 page views, I only got an accumulated revenue of $8.61! So now I'm going to try a new approach. I shall blog about Pop Culture or if not, anything inside my head. And I get a headstart for my first blog entry under my e-monicker, Jake 2.0, and I'm going to post it through my mobile phone. Moreover, I'm going to apply this new strategy that I just learned: The Superspindle Strategy and Social Bookmarking. I'll completely drain my phone's battery within three hours because of this, haha!