Monday, September 27, 2010

Gabi

Gumagabi na namang tuluyan
Bumabagsak na ang purong kadiliman
Nguni't ang nasa taas na mga bituwing
Tahimik ay lalo namang nagniningning. :)
A short Filipino poem about the silence and calm of the night. I forgot what to call 4-line poetry. Pinag-aralan namen sa HUMALIT yun eh. :))

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Saturday, September 25, 2010

I'm inspired! I was revitalized. I feel renewed, and I feel blessed with all the new things happening right now. :)

I'm inspired! I was revitalized. I feel renewed, and I feel blessed with all the new things happening right now. :)

I'm inspired!

First, I feel really inspired. I thank the Lord, I know that there are no accidents in Him, for making me have kuya Luis as my brother. You really don't put a lot of thought in the reason why you were born siblings with your brothers or sisters. But, this time, I just find it wonderful that I see one of the reasons why the Lord has given me my brother, kuya Luis. :)

After visiting Rainchem earlier, I've discovered more things about my kuya. I only knew about his achievements, recognitions, and awards (not sure) from Rainchem and in his job. I sometimes hear him telling my mom about what he's done for Rainchem, the hardwork that he's put in it, and how glad he is that he's contributed to the company. His company has grown during his stay in it. There would be no harm to believe that he had significant contributions to its growth -- with all the good reports, recognitions, and all. But, all I knew was from reports and stories alone. I never really knew exactly what he did for him to say he did something good in his job. But, I believed in what he said because it was all believable, and there were even some tangible evidences like plaques of appreciation. I just didn't see for myself.

While waiting for Rainchem's production manager or other officers to come back for the interview (they had a meeting), I heard my groupmates talk about how they think Rainchem has been earning a lot lately. Probably they noticed a lot of changes. For one, Shane thinks that the owner of Rainchem is a very wise person, probably attributing it to his dad since it is his point of contact where he can relate things between Rainchem and their company. I think that he has this belief that there are super people that have all the qualities he likes -- decisive, good planning skills, innovative, visionary -- and he attributes those skills as the recipe for success. That may be his only explanation to why Rainchem is experiencing success in their sales this year.

I would try to defend by saying that "my brother told me that he did a lot for Rainchem, and I believe that he deserves credit for it". But, that's not that credible -- given his 'knowledge' and 'experience' with business, I might just be wrong and he might just be right. So, I could not convince him, and insisting that my brother contributed to Rainchem's success was just futile.

I remember before that we tried talking to each other about how my brother told me that their boss did a wrong decision, that is why they experienced high sales, but very low profits. It had something to do with wrong decisions that their boss did, while my brother contested to that. But anyway, that was past. However, Shane insisted that bosses never commit mistakes. Again, I can only explain this by thinking that he was only defending the 'boss' image as infallible, always ready to get up and stand back on one's feet no matter what the situation. I don't know but, this may have something to do with his John Robert Powers (JRP) sessions -- that everything situation can be fixed. I also think that by admitting it, that 'boss' image would be imperfect, also reflecting his idea of his father. However, it is not really the point.

Justin Go, on the other hand, would also suggest that it was because Rainchem was able to hire an old, expert Sales lady who was able to close a deal with PGE, one of Rainchem's biggest clients.

All of these information only came from sir Rai's explanation of how Rainchem possibly succeeded. It was him trying to rationalize the boost in sales and the overall company growth. I cannot blame him because he never got to work with my brother -- or at least my brother told me that he had just applied a week or two before he quit work.

I really couldn't defend my brother, because I wasn't confident enough that I could defend my claim that he really had something to do with Rainchem's growth. I'm not saying it's all because of him. I'm saying that he also deserves credit (that I believe Rainchem gave and has already given to him), also from the people that do not claim or, in their terms, 'buy' it.

Ma'am Shiela asked me about my brother and how he was -- all in a very sweet manner. In her eyes I saw the genuine friendliness of her question. It wasn't the usual "how's your brother" just to relate something to me, but I believe it was more of 'I'm asking this because I really wanna know -- we miss him and he's done a lot for us'. I know that my brother had a deep relationship with everyone in the company. Everyone must have liked him for what he did, and he must have given it back to them. I know that they were like one family in the company, based on my brother's stories. They treated each other very kindly, and they were comfortable with each other. I guess one reason would probably be because of the kind and friendly nature of my brother. They can all attest to that! :)

From Ma'am Shiela's question, I remembered one status message of kuya on his Facebook account. He said about being lonely, and I got affected. He's a very kind and caring brother. He would send me my allowance for the month. He's very generous and kind -- I used to think otherwise, that he was only like that to other people and his other friends. Now I stand corrected.

This evening, he gave ma Personal Message (PM) on Y!M. With that thought of him in mind, I replied right away. Whatever the favor he would be asking me, it would be the least I can do for him for being a really blessed person. Then, all he asked was that he get to talk to mom and dad. Before, that disrupting task of having to go upstairs and do a video-call with him just so that he can get to talk to mom and the others was very annoying -- but manageable. He could just chat directly to my mom, and it would confuse me to think of any reason why he'd have to chat with me just to talk to my mom. My mom's got her own laptop and knows how to chat well enough. But, now, I understand the value of lending my time and my computer to help him. :)

How I wish I could be like him -- and I was thinking that I could in my own time when I graduate. I mean, I was already doing some things that can make my parents proud of me like my previous honors, stories of success, and so on. I have shared them to my brother too. But, am I really looked at by other people as comparable or even greater than my brother? Do I give justice to the good image that my brother left on Rainchem? Or, do they see me as this little brother who sounds and looks exactly, carbon copy, like him but acts quite differently? I asked those questions tonight.

I was revitalized.

I feel like performing better again. I have no reason to have no confidence in myself anymore. I can offer myself again for service to others, with no regrets, with no hangups, with no limitations but God's will. I feel really energized and strengthened! I'm gonna take this term by storm!

These questions challenged me to live at par with my brother's legacy. I don't wanna live at my brother's shadow and just rest on the laurels believing that it just runs through the blood, and that it'll come out no matter what. What I've learned is you have to have purpose, good reason, and courage to succeed and leave a good mark in others. I forgot that. You have to use the skills and gifts that God gave you. Gifts and skills that aren't used for the purpose they were meant for are a waste.

I feel renewed,

This stands as a firm challenge for me to do great in everything I do. I should do this always. I thank the Lord for reminding me of His word. This is what I just needed. He stays true to His promises, particularly when He said that His Holy Spirit in me will make me remember the things that I should remember. And, in a perfect time of unveiling! It's really perfect because I appreciate all of them, it was very timely, and I understand all the reasons as they connect freely with each other.

and I feel blessed with all the new things happening right now. :)

I am just very thankful that there are a lot of new things that the Lord is giving to me, my family, and my friends right now. Let me list them:

- New house soon to be finished!
- Shuane and the Valledor family's new life in Canada
- A new and better vision in life

Right now, I'm praying for all my requirements in school, and my other needs. But, what I pray for the most is that the Lord reveal His will to me, and may it be done in my life. What use is your life is you do not meet its purpose? I want to know His will and fulfill it. I know that it is only good. I do not want to take the wrong roads of my life anymore. I don't want to be easily blinded by my wants and end up not having them, being bitter, and blaming the Lord for 'confusing' me if it was really His will or not. Instead, I'd rather stop, stay, and listen to His voice, so that I know for sure what He wants in my life -- and for me to take that path. This is the first time, I think, that the Lord's prayer, which says, "Your will be done" started to make sense to me. I can now pray it with my whole heart, with a clear meaning in my life.

I'm glad to end this night with something this good. I can try to write about a lot of interesting and intellectual stuff, but nothing beats something that feeds the heart, the soul, and the spirit. :)

Thank you very much, Lord! :)

PS

I know for sure that this post will only do good to its readers who are under the Lord's influence. :)

Problem Areas

Please do not mind my succeeding posts, for they might be irrelevant:

SAN-DES/SYSDEVE Problem Areas. HAHA.

Problem 1: Difficulty in Tracking Inventory


MACHINES


They do not use their valve machine to aid in counting the withdrawn raw materials

- valve machine requires constant maintenance

- cost-cutting


They lack an Information System that consistently provides and manages their information needs (old)


- Rainchem is a small company so they cannot afford the subscription costs/inapplicable to them

- NetSuite, an "ideal" system for the company, costs millions per year for maintenance/service cost

- Focus on administration (Finance/Human Resources/Purchasing) rather than Inventory system.

-- inventory monitoring is still manageable (manual checking)

-- it is done by one personnel, doing multiple tasks

---Lack of manpower

---- Cost-cutting


MATERIALS


There are too many raw materials

Their base raw materials are oils/liquids (difficult to measure/count)


METHODS


Inventory records are on separate files/records

Recording and updating of records is difficult

- Production staff withdraws raw materials from the warehouse without informing the warehouse officer

-- warehouse officer is not present

--- flexible workload

---- lack of manpower

----- cost-cutting

- They use one central logbook (cannot be updated by multiple users at the same time)

They cannot consistently update their excel files (inventory records/logbook)

Their excel file (inventory records) isn't systematic/organized yet

- No-one can update it consistently

-- lack of manpower

--- cost-cutting

-- lack of defined system for inventory


MANPOWER


Disorganized task assignments/flexible workload

- lack of manpower (to update and monitor the inventory)

-- cost-cutting


Problem 2: Reliability of their New Information System


They bought an Information System, however, it is difficult to use because it is a generic information system

- There are many unnecessary fields to be filled up / not customized to RAINCHEM's business processes/req'ts

- The information system is, on estimate, 10-years old


Information System is susceptible to malfunction during brownouts

- instance where all database records were deleted at a brownout

- they were doing data conversion and it happened midway

- user accounts were inaccessible

- functionality of the system is dependent on local database



SOCCOMP Notes last term

Now that the 3rd week of 2nd term is about to start, let me save my notes for 1st term's SOCCOMP:

SOCCOMP


Miss Pineda Blog: ideasonsocialcomputing.blogspot.com


FACEBOOK LESSONS


The Facebook Data Torrent Debacle: Q&A


news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100729/tc_pcworld/thefacebookdatatorrentdebacleqa


Facebook Panic Button: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/8555221.stm


COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE (COP)


- communities of practice (COP)

-> concept derived from online/virtual communities

-> communities extended online

-> sustain online practices

-> look into the level of COP

-> technology intervention is always present

- digital ethnography


DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY/TEACHING BEST PRACTICES


What is Digital Ethnography?


- give a short introduction on "digital ethnography'


- introduce professor as subject of experiment


- recommend include a short profile of your professor


- move on to your interview with him/her


- transcript of interview will appear on the blog (word for word, verbatim), include date and time (at the header)


- use several medium


- full interview two forms: podcast, transcript


- video into different parts: a portion of teaching delivery


- digital ethnography:


- include CONCLUSION


- interview/podcast

- video -> teaching style


1. use of social media in capturing the teaching style/knowledge of professor

- relevance/implication of using social media to capture of CCS teaching history

- try to encapsulate what we're doing and put it in a podcast/social media

2. it would be interesting to hear what your professor has to say in your interview

- several aspects

a. data gathering

- basic things to consider when it comes to an interview

- was it easy/difficult?

b. what are the things/tools you have to use

c. what have you learned from/about your professor?

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Tadhana (Fate) - Up Dharma Down (my own english translation)

Up Dharma Down's song named "Tadhana" just blows me away. The way Armi Millare depicted the love song was very visual -- "in bare feet, feeling enchanted", and "I am carried by the storms of fate". Very descriptive! I love how she used deep Filipino words. Plus! The song is just a killer! Just sweeps me off my feet!

Tadhana (Fate)

Sa hindi inaaasahang pagtatagpo ng mga mundo
(In an unexpected meeting of [different] worlds)
May minsan lang na nagdugtong, damang dama na ang ugong nito
(There was a rare interconnection, and we can really feel its roar)

Di pa ba sapat ang sakit at lahat na hinding hindi ko ipararanas saýo
(Is it not enough that the pain and all, that I will never ever make you experience them)
Ibinubunyag ka ng iyong matang sumisigaw ng pag-sinta
(You are being divulged by your eyes that shouts of love)

Ba't 'di pa patulan ang pagsuyong nagkulang
(Why don't you now fight for the love that fell short [or wasn't enough])
Tayong umaasang hilaga't kanluran
(We who hope [are] like [you] the east and [I] the west)

Ikaw ang hantungan at bilang kanlungan mo
(You are my destination, and as your shelter)
Ako ang sasagip sa'yo
(I'll be the one to rescue you)

Saan nga ba patungo, nakayapak at nahihiwagaan
(Where am I headed, in bare feet, feeling an enchantment)
Ang bagyo ng tadhana ay dinadala ako sa init ng bisig mo
(The storms of fate, it carries me into the warmth of your arms)

Ba't di pa sabihin ang hindi mo maamin
(Why don't you now say the things [or feelings] that you can't admit)
Ipauubaya na lang ba 'to sa hangin
(Will you [it be] hand[ed] them over to [and carried by] the wind?)

'Wag mong ikatakot ang bulong ng damdamin mo
(Don't you fear the whispers of your heart)
Naririto ako't nakikinig saýo
(I'm here and I am listening to you)

Hooohh... hooohh...
Hooohh... hooohh...
Hooohh... hooohh...

La la la la...


NOTE: all credits belong to Up Dharma Down & Armi Millare. She's a great writer. She inspires me to write beautiful songs like this one... :)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Pwede Ba Minsan?

Warning: cheesy/drama/emotional itong poem na to. Nagustuhan ko lang gawin. Hehe. Simpleng inspiration lang. ;)

Ang tahimik ngayon
Wag sana natin sayangin yung ganitong panahon
Bihira lang kasi tayo may kapayaan ng tulad ng ganto
Sana nga lagi ganito kaganda pakiramdam ko

Pero pansin kita sa paligid
Iba yung musika na lagi mong pinakikinggan sa radyo
Mukhang hindi sinasadya, iba ang kilos mo
Para talagang sumasalamin sa'yo

Gusto sana kitang tanungin
Gusto sana kitang lapitan
Kaso nga lang bigla akong napatigil
Kasi bigla akong napaisip ng...

Pwede ba minsan tumahimik na lang?
At makiramdam imbis na puro salita lang?
Pwede ba minsan makinig na lang?
Kaisa mapagod sa kakaisip kung ano ang sasabihin?

Dahil minsan hindi naman kailangan ng salita
Kahit simpleng katahimikan lang okay na
Dahil kasi minsan hindi naman kailangan ng gumawa ng kahit ano
Kasi maging nandiyan ka lang alam ko maayos na lahat

What is your most liberating moment/situation in your life?

I can't tell for sure... I guess I don't remember the exact situation, but I can still feel the experience. It's probably when I faced a big storm in my life, took a big leap, and succeeded. I wish I had more such experiences, though.

Ask me anything. Please be decent. You can be honest. :)

At some point, did you ever doubt your talent/skills/judgement?

Yes. There was a point in time that I felt really useless and ineffective. I took a lot of time for myself and for soul-searching. It wasn't easy.... it took a long time for me to accept all the changes in life that made me feel inferior.

Lesson: never doubt yourself. :)

Ask me anything. Please be decent. You can be honest. :)

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Team Daniel vs. Team 4 Seasons?

What should we name our team for thesis? The past SYSDEVE term, we came up with two team names. The first team name was "Young Men", YM for short. A funny name! YMG = Young Men Group, or YM (sounds like Yahoo! Messenger). But, I came up with this because I wanted us to be named after the 4 young men during Daniel's (bible) time (himself included). Next is Ascend, because what I wanted is something that soars high. But it's too lacking in uniqueness. It doesn't really identify our group.

We only came up with them because a 'team name' was required. However, I didn't really 'feel' it got used throughout the term. Maybe, under Ma'am Tangkeko's classes utilized the group names, because I know she does in STRAMGT where she's my professor. :)

Okay, so here are my thoughts about my group that can be used as a basis for an epic group name:

1. We all are 'overdue' in college. We are all delayed. All of my groupmates (3 of us) are shiftees. Two came from CS-ST, one came from CS-CSE (or NE?). I'm a pure I.T student, (except it's Information Systems in DLSU-Manila). We all are pretty much in the same situation, and we want to graduate. Together, on "time", this time. By time, I'm talking about my expected term/time of graduation since I started 1st year again -- different curriculum "para daw organized".
2. We all have a degree of seriousness as compared to the batch with us. It's because we are generally older than the 108 batch (two 107s, two 106s). We also are generally seen as a 'serious' group. I hope that's true. :p
3. We are generally a balanced [I hope so :'( hehe] team. This in terms of different abilities. We share different skills, and most of them complement each other.
4. We all have this deep rootedness in the Christian faith. 3 of us are what you may call "born-again" christians, and Justin is a roman catholic, and is also very in-touch with his faith.

So, what's a good team name? I suggested to my STRAMGT group to take "The Apprentices" as the group name, because we didn't know each other very well (except them 3 109s, and us 2 108s). Practically, we were like renegades, and ready for a training like an 'apprentice'. And, also the show "The Apprentice" speaks of someone who succeeds eh. So that's what I saw.

Now for my team... is Team Destiny fine? How about Team Daniel? I have Daniel as a second given name anyway... we will see its use soon. :)

Hello next term, hello ma'am Tangkeko, hello learning. Hello step closer to graduation, and to success!

PS

I edited this blog because I saw that I wrote 4 reasons... why not something like "4 Reasons, 4 Seasons"? Team 4 Seasons? Haha. Because we're 4 in the group, and we all are, I believe, seasoned ones. :)