The RubeTube

This past month has been the busiest and most eventful one in recent memory (for me). It's rather ironic, therefore, that I have not posted a single meaningful update about my personal life in nearly two months. (With the lone exception of my birthday post, which was even one day overdue!)

Perhaps it's because this past month has been so overwhelming that I've lost the time and energy (but not the interest) to blog. So I'm planning to make up for it since I have quite a bit of free time on my hands now. Here's a brief rundown of what's been going on in my life:

1. I went on a Boracay vacation with Andreé. Just a 3-day, 2-night getaway, which also coincided with our second anniversary last August 13. We both had a blast! Everything was perfect!
   
2. I joined the 2007 Rubik's Cube Philippines Open (RCPO 2007). This was the first-ever official Rubik's Cube competition held in the Philippines, held last August 25, and I felt tremendously honored to be part of history. I did well for myself, I think: 17th (out of 28) in the 3x3x3 category, and 8th (out of 17) in the 2x2x2 category. Not bad at all! And now I have my own personal records page with the World Cube Association. Cool, huh?
   
3. I've resigned from HP. Yes, I'm no longer an HP employee. My last working day was last Friday, August 31. I lasted exactly one year at HP; quite interesting, doncha think? My last few weeks at HP were also very eventful and memorable (and busy).
   
4. I'll be joining Microsoft. Some of you already know this, but for the benefit of those who don't, yes, I'm joining Microsoft. I'll be working at their headquarters in Redmond, WA as a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) starting October 1. I'm very busy with my preparations (with my move and all) and I'll be flying to the U.S. on September 27.
   

A lot of shocking and surprising developments, huh? I'll write more about those events in the next few posts. It should be much easier to write now that I've regained some of my momentum again.

Labels: Andree, Boracay, contests, HP, Microsoft, Philippines, RCPO 2007, Rubik's cube, vacation, work

Just how big is the Filipino outrage towards Malu Fernandez? My not-so-substantial post about her has been solely responsible for a huge spike in my blog's traffic, currently at over 400 visits just for today! I have never had this many people (people that I don't know!) visit my blog. And I've never had so many anonymous (and venomous) comments on a single post before!

Just goes to show how much hate there is going around, directed at Malu Fernandez. Pinoys and OFWs all around the world are getting the word, reading the article, and determining for themselves just what exactly is the fuss all about.

Labels: Malu Fernandez, people, Philippines

If you are a Filipino, then I guarantee that your day is sure to be ruined after reading this. Even if you're not a Pinoy I'm pretty sure you'll at least lose your appetite. Read the comments and follow the links and you will find out why everybody hates Malu Fernandez nowadays.

However I forgot that the hub was in Dubai and the majority of the OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) were stationed there. The duty-free shop was overrun with Filipino workers selling cell phones and perfume. Meanwhile, I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them.

On my way back, I had to bravely take the economy flight once more. This time I had already resigned myself to being trapped like a sardine in a sardine can with all these OFWs smelling of AXE and Charlie cologne while Jo Malone evaporated into thin air.

All in all, it’s been a pretty good summer. Jetting from the Aegean Sea to the Pacific may sound a bit pretentious until you wake up in economy class smelling like air freshener.

I wasn't planning on blogging tonight or even for the next few days but people like Malu Fernandez can make anyone's blood boil. As if the Philippines wasn't experiencing enough hardship right now without this bitch's derisive attitude towards her own countrymen. Is it possible for a country to disown one of its own citizens? If not, can we make an exception just for her? Punyeta.

After some thought, I've finally figured out why the article was so offensive for me. Sa lahat ba naman kasi ng lalaitin niyang mga tao, mga OFW pa. It's like going to America and making fun of the soldiers stationed in Iraq. Malu, make fun of politicians and celebrities if you like, I might even laugh with you, but at least have some respect for our tireless workers who give us pride and hope and help keep our economy afloat. They make such sacrifices out of need, yet what have you done for our country lately, aside from giving us shame?

(A less venomous commentary can be found here.)

Update: Not sure if this is 100% official/confirmed, but this article reports that Malu has succumbed to the public outrage demanding her resignation! I hope this is the end of this emotionally-charged episode. There are lessons here for all of us, not just Malu (and I have no desire to expound on them at this time).

Labels: bigotry, Malu Fernandez, OFW, people, Philippines

I didn't vote in today's senatorial and local elections. Not that I didn't want to; I'm just not a registered voter.

It's tempting to justify my actions (or rather, inactions) by saying "I didn't have time to register" or "My vote won't count for much anyway", but I did have time and everyone's vote does count. I have no excuse and I will deeply regret this...

For a while, anyway.

Labels: current events, elections, Philippines

Students held hostage on bus in Manila:


"I love these kids; that's why I am here," says Jun Ducat, the hostage-taker and owner of the day-care center where the children were taken from. Ducat said the hostage-taking was for the children's benefit. With the children chanting his name, Ducat was allowed to make a rambling statement, with media microphones laid beside a loudspeaker, in which he railed against corruption and politicians' failure to make good on promises of free education and housing for the poor. "I am asking for justice so they can have continued education up to college."

That is one sick bastard.

Labels: current events, Philippines

I reporting to work late in the afternoon today because I had to pass by Ateneo first to pick up some documents I had requested/ordered from the registrar (80 pesos for a flimsy sheet of paper with the Ateneo seal, geez). I dropped by the CS department before heading to the office to deliver a package: my donation to the Pamana Fund.

It's not a mind-boggling amount by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel that my contribution was fairly significant. When you're contributing to a good cause, any amount given feels like a whole fortune, especially when you factor in the warm-and-fuzzy feelings into the equation.

Seriously though, I owe a lot to our department (and to Doc Mana) for much of the experience that has shaped me into what I am today. I feel more like I'm giving back what I owe rather than just sharing what I can afford. I chatted a bit with Dr. Rodrigo and we discussed the declining Ateneo CS/MIS population, and the waning interest in ICTs in the Philppines in general. I'm hoping that my tiny contribution can help stem the tide. I'm not sure how, but I trust that the capable people at DISCS will find a way.

Labels: :), Ateneo, donations, IT, Philippines, PMana

There goes the long weekend...


Watch it live!

Prepare for the inevitable blackout, people.

Labels: :(, current events, Philippines, typhoon, weather

The RubeTube is proud to present to you a special edition of the Pick of the Week.


Pacquiao knocks out Morales in three rounds. I'm not a fan of boxing or of Manny Pacquiao in particular, but this victory makes all those maddening advertisements and nauseatingly excessive media coverage worth it.

For delivering the knockout punch for Filipinos around the world, Manny Pacquiao is (also) this week's RubeTube Pick of the Week. You are a real winner, Manny. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Labels: boxing, Manny Pacquiao, Philippines, PoW

Alright, we've got our electricity back! I woke up at 6 AM (that in itself is amazing) and saw the street lamp outside my window working. I tried some switches; nothing. Then I found out that my dad turned off the power to the whole house. I pulled down the switch and was rewarded with the sound of a humming refrigerator. I was ready to face the prospect of having no electricity until Monday (that's what Meralco told us) so I'm tremendously pleased at this turn of events.

On the other hand, I just found out that our Smart BRO antenna was toppled over during the storm and it's broken. Customer support isn't answering; maybe their overloaded with service requests? I've resorted to dial-up in the meantime and I really don't want to get used to this speed. But aside from that, our house has escaped virtually unscathed.

Meanwhile, the rest of Metro Manila isn't faring as well. A lot of those fallen billboards and signposts are still down and out. There's a lot of fallen leaves and debris to be swept up. I don't think power has been brought back to all parts of Metro Manila; I believe that as of last night only approximately half of the power grid was restored.

It's going to take a few more days until everything completely go back to normal, but Filipinos are very resilient. We won't let some nasty storm interrupt our daily life. Everyone's back to work and the malls are jampacked as usual.

Labels: current events, electricity, Philippines, Smart BRO

I retract yesterday's statement that it was really scary outside. It wasn't just scary; it was f***ing scary. That's the only adjective that truly captures the reality outside the walls of our house. Can't recall a recent typhoon that really scared the shit out of me (not literally). You think you get used to typhoons when you live in the Philippines, but you haven't experienced the real thing until one hits you dead on.

The typhoon started to calm down at around four in the afternoon. Our family went out in the evening for a movie because there were no signs of electricity coming back any time soon. Unfortunately, all the malls were closed by the time we decided to leave the house. We tried looking for a place to eat and pass the time and we managed to find an open Yellow Cab Pizza (Better Living branch) on the way home. Until now, there's still no power at home.

The weather was much, much improved this morning so I decided to go to the office (besides, I really needed to charge my cellphone). In the daylight, you could see the destruction brought about by the typhoon. The only word to describe it is "awesome". I don't mean to say that I enjoyed seeing uprooted trees, fallen signposts, and gigantic billboards crushing buses. The typhoon's destructive effects were an awesome sight to see. My brother took some pictures of the carnage; I'll try to upload some of them later.

It took me two and a half hours to get to the office. The MRT wasn't in operation and there was some serious traffic along EDSA for some unknown reason. The bus I took had to take a long detour to avoid the traffic. All seems well though, for now.

(Thanks to Pau for finding the above photo. I actually saw that bus on my way to work!)

Labels: amazing, current events, Philippines, typhoon, weather

If you haven't heard already, typhoon "Milenyo" (international codename "Xangsane") is currently hammering Metro Manila. It's really scary outside right now. Classes have been suspended in all levels and government offices are officially closed. I eagerly checked my HP email this morning for any announcements and...

Walang pasok!!! Gosh, I never thought there'd come a time that I'd say that as part of the workforce.

I sure am glad I don't have any pressuring deadlines. At least I don't even have to work from home. Now I can comfortably watch Game 2 of the UAAP Men's Basketball Finals on TV. Hope it's no less exciting than Game 1.

Addendum: D'oh! Power blackout started half an hour ago (running on laptop batteries now). Just when I thought I could stay at home, watch TV, and play some PC games. At least the basketball game was pushed to Saturday; thanks to Ma'am Didith for the info.

Labels: :D, current events, HP, Philippines, typhoon, weather, work

Got wind of this cool website from an entry on Alfred's blog. The Speech Accent Archive hosts over 500 audio samples of people from different locations and backgrounds speaking the same English paragraph. The idea is to compare and analyze the different English accents from around the world.

If you're from the Philippines, you might want to listen to samples from Tagalog and Cebuano speakers. I'm obviously being biased here, but our accents are probably one of the most understandable among the English speakers of the world.

Labels: English, Philippines, speech

(Nope, I'm not referring to myself.)

Believe it or not, this guy is a Filipino. Here's the proof. Well, he's half-Filipino, but we'll proudly claim anyone famous with even a tiny drop of Pinoy blood as one of our own (sad, but true).

Ryan Patricio's the current world record holder for solving a 3x3x3 Rubik's cube with one hand. That's the record-setting 20-second attempt in the video. Mabuhay ang mga Pinoy! More about Ryan here.

I pride myself in being an above-average Rubik's cube solver (50 seconds on average), but I'd already be in Rubik's cube nirvana if I could do 20 seconds with two hands (my current record is 30 seconds, and that was a fluke). I ought to buy a good cube online because the ones available here in the Philippines just plain suck; you can't turn a face with just one finger.

Unsurprisingly, Ryan ascribes to the Fridrich method of cube-solving, arguably the fastest method available. I don't use the Fridrich method myself, and neither do I plan to. I use a personalized version of what is simply known as the "X method". Don't try to Google for it; you'll never find it published anywhere. I just learned it in high school from a classmate, who learned it from another classmate, who learned it from... well you get the drift.

Nobody knows the origins of the X method, and it has very few living practicioners. But that's gonna change once I tell the whole world about it. I'll be detailing the X method here one day, exclusively for the RubeTube (now you understand what's with my blog's title), so that you too can do the cube the "X" way.

Anyone know of tools for creating Rubik's cube diagrams?

Labels: amazing, Philippines, Rubik's cube, videos