Links

Going out of town for a couple of days, here are links to some interesting posts I've read

To air is pre-pre-pre human

Carrying Ancient History In The Gut

If the First Bite Doesn’t Do It, the Second One Will

Dinosaurs: Beyond Cute

Pleistocene Medicine for Battling HIV

Mythbusting - it's harder than you think

Ah, E. coli...is there any limit to your uses?

200 milyon

Dalawang daang milyon! Ito daw yung pera na sabi ni COMELEC Chairman Abalos na ibibigay kay Sec. Neri kung maaprubahan ang NBN-ZTE. Nahihilo ako sa laki ng pinag-uusapang pera dito. Kay Secretary Neri pa lang iyan, di pa natin alam kung magkano ang mapupunta kay Chairman Abalos, o kung magkano ang mapupunta kina Mike Arroyo, kung kasali nga siya. Paano pa yung mas mabababa ang posisyon sa kanila? May parte din kaya sila? Kung susumahin natin, bilyong piso siguro ang aabutin ng suhol para lang maaprubahan ang proyekto na ito

Nakakahilo, ni hindi ko maarok kung gaano kadaming pera ang 200 milyon. Ni hindi pa ako nakakakita ng 200 libong piso, paano pa kaya ang 200 milyon. Ini-isip ko pa lang nasusuka na ako. Kung may 200 milyon ako puede na akong mag retiro, maski ibangko ko lang siya at maski na 2 porsiyento kada taon ang kita nito, mayroon akong 4 na milyon taon-taon. Hindi ko na kakailanganing maghanap ng bargain na libro sa booksale, puede ko nang bilhin lahat ng librong gusto ko.

200 milyon, putsa.

Walang Bakla sa Iran

Sabi ng Presidente ng Iran, baka dahil sa pinapatay nila yung makita nila.

Update:

O kaya nagiging babae.

Alicia Silverstone for PETA

Not really a fan of PETA, but hey, it's Alicia Silverstone. :)

Excel 2007 Can't Multiply

Excel Can't Multiply - AppScout

"We all learned how to multiply with pencil and paper, even great big numbers and decimals. But when it comes to something important like a blueprint or a scientific formula we reach for a calculator - or a spreadsheet. That's much more reliable, right? Well, not if the spreadsheet is Excel 2007. Over the weekend a member of the microsoft.public.excel newsgroup revealed that Excel 2007 thinks that 850*77.1 is 100,000. What's the correct answer? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Anybody? Right, it should be 65,535. Other members verified that the error carries over into some (but not all) calculations based on the incorrect result. Microsoft has been informed of the bug, but hasn't yet formulated a response."

Might as well try out Open Office. Di mo na kailangang magbayad ng libo-libong piso o maging pirata.

Update 10/6/07

Here is an explanation on why excel can't multiply and his verdict:

"In general, I like ragging on Microsoft as much (if not more than) you average Mac user. But I can't say that I really blame them too much for this one. Floating point arithmetic and conversion is a nightmare - it's enormously complex, and the demand for speed is extraordinary. Slowing things down a tiny bit - taking an extra microsecond per conversion - can have a huge impact on the performance of the system. That kind of code is under constant pressure to squeeze out every last drop of performance. And errors like this are so easy to miss, while catching them in testing is almost impossible. You can only reliably catch this kind of problem by doing a detailed analysis of the logic of the code, and all you need to do is miss one out of hundreds of different corner cases, and you're hosed. It's just so hard to get right that the only surprise is that they've made so few mistakes like this."

LUPA by ASIN

Balita by Asin

UP coach marooned

Una kong nabasa itong balita sa Manila Bulletin, pero mas maganda titulo ng istorya sa Inquirer.

Nasipa si Joe Lipa bilang coach ng UP. Hindi naman natin masisisi ang UP sa pagsipa kay coach Lipa dahil walang ipinanalong laro ang UP ngayon.

Medyo nalungkot lang ako dahil nung pumasok ako sa UP, si Lipa din ang coach noon at kaka-panalo lang ng UP ng championship (kaya alam niyo na kung gaano ako katanda). :)

Kabaro

Napunta na ba kayo sa isang party kung saan may ibang tao na kapareho niyo ang damit? Alam niyo na ang naramdaman ko ng ipakita ni Nashman na pareho pala ang template na ginagamit namin dito sa blogger.

Bagong pili yung template na ginamit ko, nagsawa na ko sa dati kong template kaya kumuha ako ng bago, hindi ko napansin na pareho ang gamit namin. Pareho na gamit naming pangalan, pareho pa gamit naming template, buhay nga naman, parang life :).

Kaya binago ko ang kulay ng aking blog, hindi ko mabago talaga yung template, pero siguro sa pagbabago ng kulay hindi na masyado halata na pareho gamit namin.

Papagawa na talaga ako sa misis ko ng original na template, matagal na naman niya akong gawan eh.

Learn How to Draw

Update

The video was been removed, sorry :(

What's the deal with ZTE?

I did not intend to post something on the ZTE-NBN deal, I don't have the motivation to analyze the deal. But like most Filipinos, I am following the unfolding of the secrets, mostly by reading MLQ3's serial posts, DJB is also covering the story. Between the two of them and the newspapers, I feel the story is fully covered.

But I came across this post from Rick Bagahue at Tek for the Pipol and he cites a UP study by Raul Fabella and Emmanuel de Dios that

"...debunked economic rationales it determined beforehand.‭ ‬It provided reasons why the following can not be the basis for the NBN project‭; ‬supposed savings that the government will get,‭ ‬anticipating congestions,‭ ‬back-up inadequacy and pre-empting predatory behavior of private providers.‭ ‬In addition,‭ ‬the paper sees the government as incapable of keeping up with the rapid technical changes.‭ ‬It has also advised the government to just concentrate on‭ "‬core competencies‭" ‬and leave all‭ "‬non-core competencies‭" ‬to the private sectors.

The paper concluded that such a NBN project is not needed and all the government needs now is a moral backbone."

It seems that we are not only dealing with a project that is financially disadvantageous to the the Philippines and financially advantageous to some, but worse, we are being asked to fund a project that is not needed.

Update: September 24, 2007

The paper by Professors Fabella and de Dios can be downloaded at the Action for Economic Reforms website.

5 Questions Season Two of Heroes Had Better F#@king Answer

from CRACKED.com

"we’ll re-examine some of the loose threads and questions left over from the first season of Heroes, and make some predictions about what will happen next. Hopefully this will help our readers get back up to speed before Monday’s season premiere. Also, this will give us a good excuse to post several pictures of Ali Larter in her panties."

read more | digg story

Mammals are Great

Several days ago, Micketymoc bought Christopher Hitchen's new book, God is not Great. Since I was also contemplating buying it, I asked him if he can post a review of the book. He most graciously agreed.

Here now is micketymoc's review of Christopher Hitchen's new book, God is not Great

His recommendation:

"If you’re an atheist fresh out of the closet, god is not Great is exactly the kind of book you need."

Which leads me to tentatively decide to buy the book only if I can find it in a bargain bin sometime in the future.

Results of Death-Camp Experiments: Should They Be Used?

In this feature, you will be faced with an ethical dilemma that is progressively illustrated with ideas and imagery you might find repugnant, even abhorrent. At the end of each page you will be asked if, based on what you now know, you still believe that doctors and scientists should be able to use the data from death-camp experiments.

read more | digg story

Going International

I had a post about former Judge Floro a while back, he even left a comment on the story and I told him that I would write a follow up post on his story when I had the time. Obviously, I was not able to do that. Then, picking up a free copy of the Asian Wall Street Journal, I came upon this story.

Former Judge Florentino Floro has hit the big time. When I first read about him, his story was featured in Reuters. Now he is in the Wall Street Journal story which was picked up by one of my favorite blogs.

Then and now, his claim is that he should not have been relieved of his position because

"It shouldn't matter what I believe in, whether it's Jesus, Muhammad, or Luis, Armand and Angel,"

On the face of it, he is absolutely correct, it does not matter what he believes in, as long as he does his duties as a Judge fairly and honestly. And the Philippine Supreme Court resolution that relieved him of his position actually states this fact

"There is no indication that Judge Floro is anything but an honorable man. And, in fact, in our disposition of the 13 charges against him, we have not found him guilty of gross misconduct or acts or corruption"

But he was not relieved of his position because of what he believed in, he was relieved of his position because of

"the findings of psychosis by the mental health professionals assigned to his case indicate gross deficiency in competence and independence."

In the WSJ article, it states that

"He passed a mandatory psychiatric evaluation applied to all prospective judges and was sworn in as a regional trial-court judge in November of that year, handling both civil and criminal cases in Malabon, a district in greater Manila."

What is not stated in the article, that he failed two previous psychiatric tests in 1995 and 1998 because as stated by the evaluating psychologists in 1995

"evidences of developing psychotic process"

and in 1998

"he is at present not intellectually and emotionally equipped to hurdle the responsibilities of a judge and he may decompensate when exposed to anxiety-provoking and stress-laden situation"

but

Because of his impressive academic background, however, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) allowed Atty. Floro to seek a second opinion from private practitioners. The second opinion appeared favorable thus paving the way to Atty. Floro’s appointment as Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge of Branch 73, Malabon City, on 4 November 1998.

The Supreme Court came to regret this decision by the JBC because despite all the psychoilogical findings against former Judge Floro, the SC states

"It goes without saying that Judge Floro’s appointment as RTC judge is fait accompli. What awaits us now is the seemingly overwhelming task of finding the PROPER, JUST AND EQUITABLE solution to Judge Floro’s almost seven years of suspension in the light of the fact that the penalty imposed herein does not merit a suspension of seven years."

The Philippine Supreme Court tried to do the just and equitable thing, and judging by Judge Floro's actions after his relief, I say the Philippine Supreme court succeeded.

p.s.

Links to Judge Flortentino Floro's actions after being relieved of his position.

His blog
A thread he started in badscience.net
Blog post from Lowering the Bar on Judge Floro
Blog post from A Criminal Waste of Space
News story from Sun.Star Manila

Leftists Increasing

via Jessica Rules the Universe

The Sunday Times reports that

"A large-scale historical study of handwriting down the ages by academics at University College London (UCL) has found that the proportion of left-handers has gone up from 3% among those born more than 100 years ago to 11% today."

:)

Dating Age Range

from xkcd.com

Welcome to Hell

from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal via Pharyngula

7 Thinking Errors People Probably Make

The brain isn’t a flawless piece of machinery. Although it is powerful and comes in an easy to carry container, it has it’s weaknesses. A field in psychology which studies these errors, known as biases. Although you can’t upgrade your mental hardware, noticing these biases can clue you into possible mistakes.

The common thinking errors are:

1) Confirmation Bias
2) Hindsight Bias
3) Clustering Illusion
4) Recency Effect
5) Anchoring Bias
6) Overconfidence Effect
7) Fundamental Attribution Error

read more | digg story

Totoo ba ito?

Nagbabasa ako ng isang istorya sa Philippine Daily Inquirer tungkol sa mga nag martsa na taga suporta ni dating Pangulong Estrada sa Makati ng mabasa ko itong pangungusap na ito.

"Makati police chief, Supt. Gilbert Cruz, estimated the crowd at 2,500, mostly from the PDP-Laban Party, of which Binay is national president."

Totoo ba ito? Ang PDP-Laban, ang partido na isa sa mga namuno sa paglaban sa diktaturya ni Pangulong Marcos ngayon ay sumusuporta na sa isang corrupt na tao? Ni hindi nila ipinagkakaila na corrupt si Erap, batay sa isang quote kay Mayor Binay.

“If you have to compare it to the ZTE broadband deal, the Erap case is peanuts. If the Erap case is plunder, the ZTE deal is super plunder,” Binay said."

Hindi ipinagkaila ni Mayor Binay na magnanakaw si dating Pangulong Estrada, sinasabi lang niya na mas magnanakaw so Pangulong Arroyo.

Hindi ko maubos maisip kung paanong pagbabalu-baluktot ng katwiran ang ginawa nila para iwanan ang kanilang paninindigan para sa isang makatwirang lipunang Pilipino at suportahan ang isang balasubas na magnanakaw ng pera ng gobyerno at ng tao.

Guilty!

Napatunayan sa Sandiganbayan na nagkasala si dating Pangulong Estrada ng plunder at nahatulan siyang makulong ng habang-buhay.

Pinakinggan ng Diyos ang dasal ni dating Pangulong Estrada

Update:

Full text of the Sandiganbayan decision (via the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

html copy - from Sandiganbayan site

Decision on plunder charge
pdf copy
html copy
lit copy (for Microsoft e-book reader)

Decision on perjury charge
pdf copy
html copy

Friendster for Atheists

Just what we need :)

http://www.richarddawkins.net/social/

may pinoy na kayang kasali?

via Pharyngula

Ang Panawagan

Ayon sa balita ng PDI, nakiusap ang dating Pangulong Estrada sa kanyang mga taga suporta, ang kanyang panawagan ay:

“Sila ay huminahon sapagkat ano man ang magiging desisyon ay handa na ako. I cherish more the voice of the people, who have already acquitted me.

“My freedom is no longer my concern because what is more important is the freedom of our people in their search for truth and their fight against poverty.”

Sana ay pakinggan ng mga taga suporta ni dating Pangulong Estrada ang panawagan na ito.

Ang Dasal

Ayon sa balita sa PDI, nagdasal kagabi si dating Pangulong Joseph Estrada, ang dasal niya ay:

“I pray hard that the justices will decide based on the merits of the case. I pray that they will be enlightened,”

Kung guilty and hatol sa kanya ng Sandiganbayan, ibig bang sabihin ay dininig ng Diyos ang dasal niya o hindi?

Update:

Ang Hatol

Batman by Dostoyevsky

This marriage of Classic Russian Literature and the Caped Crusader of Gotham also serves as further proof, if any were needed, that everything is better with Batman.

read more | digg story

My Books

Discovered this site, http://www.shelfari.com/ where one can list the books one owns. Not yet finished listing all my books, hopefully this page will automatically update itself.

Bakuna

Galing sa Aetiology

Ayon dito sa balita kumakalat ang tigdas sa Inglatera dahil marami sa mga magulang doon ang hindi pinabakunahan ang kanilang mga anak.

Ang kanilang dahilan sa pagtanggi nila sa pagpapa-bakuna sa kanilang mga anak ay dahil naniniwala sila na ang bakuna ay puedeng maging sanhi ng pagiging autistic ng kanilang mga anak.

May mga pag-aaral na na nagpapatunay na hindi totoo itong sapantaha na ito. Ipinagpalit nila ang sapantaha na puedeng maging autistic ang kanilang mga anak sa isang sitwasyon na puedeng mamatay ang kanilang mga anak dahil sa tigdas.

Noong bata ako, ang tigdas, bulutong, polio, beke at iba pang sakit ay tinitingnan na normal sa Pilipinas. Ang bawat tao ay malamang magkaroon ng mga sakit na ito.

Ang polio ay isa sa pinaka mahirap tumama sa isang tao, may kaibigan ako na nagka-polio noong bata pa siya at naa-pektuhan ang kanyang mga paa at braso lumaki siya na hindi nakapaglakad o nagamit man lang ang kanyang mga braso. Ang kapatid ko ay na-polio rin noong bata pa siya, buti na lang at hindi grabe kaya lumiit lang ng kaunti ang kanyang kaliwang paa na sa kabutihang palad ay hindi na halata ngayon.

Ang beke ay pina-panalangin na tumama sa batang lalaki habang bata pa siya para hindi siya mabaog at ang bulutong at tigdas ay hinihintay na dumating para magkaraoon na ng immunity ang mga bata, habang nananalangin ang mga magulang na hindi sana magkaroon ng komplikasyon ang kanilang mga anak.

Sa ngayon, may mga bakuna na para panlaban sa mga sakit na ito, hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit hindi mo pababakunahan ang iyong mga anak.

- revised 1/13/08

Software Freedom Day 2007 Celebration

Software Freedom Day 2007 Celebration

Date: September 15, 2007
Tentative Venue: UP College of Engineering Theatre

"Transparent and sustainable technologies are vital to ensuring we can protect our freedoms. Think about e-Government systems such as electronic voting. When the systems running our voting is proprietary or closed, it means that we can’t be sure what the software actually does, so how can we trust the results? The issues with the Diebold [2] voting systems in the US is testament [3] to the need for transparent systems that are trustworthy. Think about other software you use everyday that is proprietary and apply the fact that you can’t be sure what it is actually doing! Does your email system send copies of your mail to a third party? Is your web browser, logging and automatically sending your browse history to someone? The most interesting case recently was when Sony purposely added spyware [4] to their music CDs that silently and automatically installed itself onto Microsoft Windows systems to search for piracy breaches. This behaviour has spawned a whole new wave of viruses and is a gross breach of privacy.

Software Freedom Day is a global celebration and education of why transparent and sustainable technologies are now more important than ever. With over 200 teams in 60 countries participating, it is a fantastic event to get your schools and communities involved in. Go along to your local event or start your own event and meet a wide range of people, all working together to help ensure our freedoms are maintained by the technologies of tomorrow."