Tag-ulan

It's been raining continuously these past few days. I like this kind of weather, but not to the point that it causes floods everywhere. Just this morning, I woke up at around 1:30am (and I don't know why). I checked Facebook and saw that a number of people just got home, or are still stranded somewhere. Some of them accounted that they almost tried every route they know, but still, it's either blocked, flooded, or not passable for some other reasons. A friend of mine messaged me that she just got home from school. It was about 2am then, and I know she's usually home by 9 or 10pm.

It's funny sometimes that we cannot solve flooding problems in cities, especially. There are only two kinds of weather in the Philippines -- Tag-araw and Tag-ulan. The rainy season comes every year like night time comes every day. But why in the world can't we solve the problems caused by this regular thing every year? We know why streets become flooded during heavy rains. And we know its effects. And also, we all hate it! But come May, June, July of every year, people complain of the heavy rains causing floods. The government will just say it has ordered the DSWD to distribute relief goods, and acts as if it has done its job already.

I'll just probably take advantage of this season. Make a business selling flat irons, umbrellas, etc. and hopefully, get super-rich someday so I can finance projects that can help eradicate flooding!

Help: A question of morality (?)

Suppose you are driving a bus and suddenly, all controls went nuts -- from audio and video cables, door locks, to brakes. The only functioning and controllable part from your end is the steering wheel. Now, up ahead are 5 workers working on the road. And without any uncertainty, you know that the vehicle is going to hit these 5 workers and will definitely kill them instantly. Now, just a few meters on their right is another worker -- just 1 -- also unaware of what's happening in your bus. You can steer the bus to the right and avoid 5 workers but this will definitely hit the other worker.

Just for this question, let's assume that it's simply hitting the 5 workers, or turning your bus to the right and hit just 1 worker.

What will you do and why?

(This question -- and some few others that I'll be posting -- is based from the book Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do.)

Are you a Harry Potter fan?

Then, this post is for you. JK Rowling made a website named pottermore.com, and when you click either of owls in the page, it goes to a Youtube site with a countdown. As of this writing, it's at 6 days 9 hours 6 minutes. It also says, "The owls are gathering... Find out why soon."

Well, I don't think she'll just announce that you prepare your surfing clothes for a beach party she'll sponsor. And while some may say it has nothing to do with Harry Potter, well, it has got to have something to do with it... with him. Hehehe.

My sister is so excited. And I am so excited to be the first to know about it so I can twist some information for my sister. Hahaha.

Good luck!

Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen

Conan O'Brien delivers Dartmouth College commencement address

Before I begin, I must point out that behind me sits a highly admired President of the United States and decorated war hero while I, a cable television talk show host, has been chosen to stand here and impart wisdom. I pray I never witness a more damning example of what is wrong with America today.

Graduates, faculty, parents, relatives, undergraduates, and old people that just come to these things

Good morning and congratulations to the Dartmouth Class of 2011. Today, you have achieved something special ----- something only 92 percent of Americans your age will ever know: a college diploma. That’s right, with your college diploma you now have a crushing advantage over 8 percent of the workforce. I’m talking about dropout losers like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg. Incidentally, speaking of Mr. Zuckerberg, only at Harvard would somebody have to invent a massive social network just to talk with someone in the next room.

Youtube link here.

Take it all!

A statistics professor was describing sampling theory to his class, explaining how a sample can be studied and used to generalize to a population. One of the students in the back of the room kept shaking his head.

"What's the matter?" asked the professor.

"I don't believe it," said the student, "why not study the whole population in the first place?"

The professor continued explaining the ideas of random and representative samples. The student still shook his head. The professor launched into the mechanics of proportional stratified samples, randomized cluster sampling, the standard error of the mean, and the central limit theorem.

The student remained unconvinced saying, "Too much theory, too risky, I couldn't trust just a few numbers in place of ALL of them."

Attempting a more practical example, the professor then explained the scientific rigor and meticulous sample selection of the Nielsen television ratings which are used to determine how multiple millions of advertising dollars are spent. The student remained unimpressed saying, "You mean that just a sample of a few thousand can tell us exactly what over 250 MILLION people are doing? Or maybe a random check of one lg lcd tv gives the quality report for a thousand units of its batch?"

Finally, the professor, somewhat disgruntled with the skepticism, replied, "Well, the next time you go to the campus clinic and they want to do a blood test...tell them that's not good enough ...tell them to TAKE IT ALL!!"

- pang alis ng stress. :-)

On connecting the dots

[Y]ou can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever...- SJ

Solenn Heussaff will be arrested and jailed (RA 9211 violation)

Have you guys heard about the No Smoking law being implemented by Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA)? Last May 30, 2011, the MMDA has started to strictly enforce RA 9211 (also known as the "Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003"). This, apparently, was part of their campaign for a 100% smoke-free Metro Manila. Now, whether this was indeed strictly enforced Metro-wide is debatable. Not many people know this but I think Solenn Heussaff (do you know her?) will be arrested very soon because of this law. Want proof? Click here. Or just see the picture below.

Is it any wonder why some can't maintain their normal testosterone levels
especially when they are near this lady?

Now, tell me, if you're an MMDA officer, won't you arrest her?

Isn't she SMOKING HOT?

Google's +1 or Facebook's Like?

Facebook, I Like!

For the first time in (this blog's) history, I will admit that Facebook owned[!] Google.If you don't have a Facebook account, there is this Like button where people can "Like" a page, and this event is visible to his or her connections. Now, from a consumer's point of view, LIKES are an indication of how good a product or service is. So, a page (product/service/people/places etc) with many likes means consumers rate it higher than similar page with fewer likes.

Google's +1 is just a delayed LIKE button

Now, Google has a +1 button now and this basically functions the same as a Facebook Like. The only difference is, you don't have to have a Facebook account to do this, BUT you need a Google profile. The rest are just the same.

Facebook has this strategy for quite some time already. It's like Facebook created a steel building, and Google constructed a similar one -- but only after, say, 20 years. There.

I hope Google can redeem itself by coming up with something really new. I like Facebook, too, but Google is my first love. :-D