Monday, February 21, 2005

First Cellphone Virus
Good news! The Philippines is back in the world map! The bad news is, it's because of another computer virus (*hears not agains and oh nos*). This time, the virus doesn't actually hit PCs but rather thrives in cellphones.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The world's first mobile phone virus "in the wild" has spread to the United States from its birthplace in the Philippines eight months ago, a security research firm said on Friday.
The virus, called Cabir, has spread slowly into 12 countries and marks the beginning of the mobile phone virus era, which could one day disrupt the lives of many of the world's 1.5 billion mobile phone users. [viaYahoo! News]

Why do we always have to be in the spotlight because of those damn KSP programmers (must be from another computer science school who claims teaching students how to build a robot maid - "You win"). Can't we just all muster our skills and talents and put it to something useful for all of humanity?

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Useless Info
Gumby was originally blue, not green
- A rat's sneeze contains no bacteria.
- At each campaign stop, George Bush kissed an average of 4.1 babies, while John Kerry kissed only 1.2.
- A piece of paper and 10 matchsticks use roughly the same amount of wood.
- The average house has more spoons than forks.
- The dime has the highest ratio of value to weight of any coin in the world.
- Shoelaces have an average lifespan of 3.2 years before breaking.
- One quarter of Starbucks' garbage is taken up by used coffee grounds.
- There is no US patent declared for the personal computer.
- 12 percent of married couples divorce within six months of purchasing a house.
- Kids who first bite the heads off of "Teddy Grahams" and other animal-based snacks tend to show violent behavior later in life. (I remember that koala [or is it panda] snack with a chocolatey inside which I used to eat when I was young[er])
- Even those allergic to nuts will end up consuming more than two pounds of nuts in their life.
- The technical name for a plus sign (+) is a quadrapoint.
- The average rubberband can stretch up to 5.2 times its length before breaking.
- Breakfast ceral is more commonly consumed as an afternoon snack than a morning meal.
- Although they are commonly assumed to go together, phrase "once upon a time" predates "and they lived happily ever after" in printed books by almost 150 years.
- Time zone differences cost the world economy over 12 billion dollars a year in lost efficiency.
- Users of earbud headphones, like the ones that come with an iPod, experience a 61 percent increase in ear wax production.
- The average person changes their underwear every 2.21 days. (I'm not an average person)
- 54 percent of lost earrings are never found.
- Most puzzles with over 1,000 pieces are never completed.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Ouch!
racket + face = aint good
Today is a Wednesday and that meant it's tennis day. For months, I have been learning the sport of tennis which is something new to me, and to be frank, I am a fast learner - I have a good forehand and I so-so backhand (but I am improving). Recently, we are having a doubles tournament which is to be our practical exam. Unfortunately, I am paired with a not-so-good player. I'm not here to lambast him or anything but it is quite difficult to win a 10-point match with him as a partner. Our 3-7 win-loss record atests to that. But I'm not blaming our misfortune on him, rather it's a combination of that and me not getting the breaks.

To add insult to injury (or injury to insult in this case), I accidentally hit my face (the chin to be exact) with my tennis racket. (Ouch! Stupid oaf! hehehehe!). I was so eager to hit the ball that I forgot about my grip on the racket. So when I swung the racket it went a little bit out of control and hit me in my chin. It wasn't that painful and no blood squirted out of my chin but it did bug me for the rest of the afternoon. Now, I have a mosquito bite-like something on my chin. But don't worry, I'll live to play another day of tennis.

Monday, February 14, 2005

Ode to Air
Coming home,
could you be the wind
that hits my face,
strong yet gentle
or be the warm gale that
slowly sweeps me off my feet.

Could you be a zephyr like no other
who will softly blow
sweet notes and melodies
into this lonely heart of mine.

Or could you just be
the air that forever fills
the emptiness of my being
from this spotless mind
to the lifeless heart.

Ah yes!

Be that air that I can feel
slowly soothing my wounded soul
as it flows through this hollow
form of mine.

Be the same air that I have grown
to yearn in its absence
to cherish in its presence.

Be the air that catches me
as I fall into the depths
of nothingness and despair.

Be the air that I have loved
yet just passed me by in return.

But I will never ask for your love
for when you slipped through my fingers
when I tried to catch you
I know you can never be mine
like the birds who you gave flight
and snows you made white.

Though to you I am just
another tumbleweed caught in your breadth
to me you are still
the very air that I breathe.
* * * *
Oh it's that time of the year again when legumes (sometimes mixed with lacteal fluid), stuffed grizzlies, plant vaginas, and colored cardboards are must-haves (fallacy alert). Although I have no honey (nor money), I'm quite happy since I spent Valentine's night with my dear blockmates.

Yup, I am currently living a romance-free life (translates to: hey girls! Mr. milkolate is free for the taking.. hehehehe!!!). Nonetheless, I'm still in the mood for some loving therefore, I revamped my lay-out to form

Pinkolate

It's for a limited time only so Don't think. Drink Pink. Keep the love drink flowing(k)!

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Why?
*wishful thinking*
Why - a simple plea for reason and a complicated search for purpose and rationale. Why, for me is the most difficult of the W questions to answer for it relies not just soley on facts but on the motive or whatever driving force that made the cookie crumble the way it did. But the difficulty of the question of why also lies on the simple circumstance that you are the one asking the question of why and that no matter how much you try, you can't find the reason for the fate that has fallen upon you. Some ask why we are created or why people do the things they do (I can't find a question that is mind-boggling enough to drive my point like a nail unto a wooden board).

As for me, I'm asking these difficult and heart-felt questions - After one week of not seeing them, why do I have to find my parents fighting when I come home?
Why should my mother pressure us to choose sides between the two of them?
Why does my father choose machissmo over understanding and humility?

But the most difficult of all - Why can't I do anything?

Why?

Friday, February 11, 2005

The Reason for My Low Exam Scores
People who have the greatest chance or potential to succeed might also be the most likely to crack under pressure. A new study finds that individuals with high working-memory capacity, which normally allows them to excel, crack under pressure and do worse on simple exams than when allowed to work with no constraints. Those with less capacity score low, too, but they tend not to be affected by pressure.

This may well be the reason for a lot of my low-scoring examinations. The pressure that builds up clouds (hazes) my mind which should have been used to find definite integrals and evaluating Riemann's sum. I am noticing a strong pang of tension whenever I take my math examination. It's as if the deadly cocktail of anxiety and tension pervades my whole body, from brain to nails, especially when it comes to math.

Speaking of math, the long test was quite easy. Compared to my initial projection, the problems were manageable. The only problem is that I wasn't able to study well (slacker boy!). Because of cutting 2 crucial classes (slacker boy!!!!!), I wasn't able to connect the dots of integration. Therefore, I'm in the verge of getting my first F in math for this semester.
* * * *

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Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Taxing
The whole day has been quite taxing...
- I crammed for a 5-page paper within a span of 1 and a half hourse while playing Tantra
- I went to mass becuase it's Ash Wednesday
- I only had a tuna kariman for lunch partly because it's Ash Wednesday and because..
- I had to make Eric a paper within a span of 30 minutes
- I had to learn majority of the lessons in math within 1 hour
- I had to go home early to study for the math long test tomorrow
- I have been studying until now
- I feel as if I'm going to fail

Something to smile about...
Today is Wednesday thus, it's tennis day. Today, half of the period was spent marvelling at Potchi, a 9-year old grade 3 student who can play tennis. When I mean play I mean P-L-A-Y. He was able to beat three of my classmates, one of which is a former high school tennis varsity. Unbelievable eh? It truly is hard to believe a kid (a chubby one at that) smashing the ball at 100 kph. It was both entertaining and amazing to watch. Gotta love Potchi!

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

President's Day
Today is the special day of Ateneo's president, Father Bienvenido F. Nebres, SJ. For this momentous day, the students are the happiest since we get the whol day off. Thus, what would a normal student like me do on such a lazy day? Very simple - reformat laptop, buy a USB mouse, play DotA, and play Tantra.

Thus, it was a very unproductive day - as unproductive as a lit candle inside a cupboard or a gift unoppened. Nonetheless, it was a good day to unwind a bit. With the Math and Physics long tests looming just around the corner, I'll need all the recreation I can get before the tsunami of stressful work crush me to smithereens.

On a lighter note, here are some glasses of milkolate for the bored soul:

How to make a giant KitKat
Get all the buoys!
See a plant grow to the color of a webpage (Hint: try typing Yahoo's URL)
If condoms had sponsors...
Make your Firefox look like an IE with Firefoxie