Wow, it's raining.

It's 2:45 in the morning and hell, it's raining.

I carefully listened as I heard raindrops start to fall from the sky and hit the ground.

Elsie and I were kidding about this this afternoon.

It's freakin' raining.  Egay is here?

I hope classes will get suspended (Okay, now that's just a shitload of wishful thinking!) *Wow, I actually used the word shitload.  Been wanting to use that for the longest time* *Ignore me, I love asterisks and parenthetical statements*

I have an exam mamaya eh!  Waaaah! >_<

Drool Worthy

I'm drooling right now.  As in Literally.

Reasons of excessive drooliness:

Asus EEEPC 701 - I'm falling in love with portability

The ASUS Eee PC is an upcoming series of ultra-portable laptops designed by Intel and ASUSTeK, aimed at the consumer market. According to ASUS, the name derives from "the three Es": Easy to learn, work, play; Excellent Internet experience and Excellent mobile computing experience.^[1]

The specifications as stated by ASUS are:^[1]

• Processor: Intel 900 MHz Pentium M (Dothan-based)
• Chipset: Intel 910^[3]
• Graphics: Intel UMA, additional VGA port
• Display: 17.8 cm (7 in)
• Memory: 512 MB DDR2-400
• Storage: 4, 8, or 16 GB flash Solid state drive
• OS: a Xandros-based Linux variant^[4] with a Windows XP-like interface^[3]; the laptop may also run other Operating Systems like Windows XP^[1], Mandriva, Debian, SuSe, FreeBSD, Ubuntu or MenuetOS optionally
• Communication: 10/100 Mbit Ethernet, 56k modem, 802.11b/g wireless LAN (Atheros-based)
• Ports: prototypes provide either 3^[5] or 4^[3] USB 2.0, MMC/SD/MS card reader, microphone and headphone
• Camera: 0.3 megapixel video
• Audio: Hi-Definition Audio CODEC; built-in stereo speaker; built-in microphone
• Battery: 5200 mAh (4 cells, 2S2P), estimated 3 hours run time. There are no plans to offer a larger-capacity battery^[6]
• Dimensions: 225 × 165 × 21~35 mm (8.9 × 6.5 × 0.9~1.4 in)^[6]
• Weight: 890 g (2 lbs)
• Colors: white, black
• Price: according to ASUS "around USD $199"^[7], a British news service has reported a UK price of GB£199^[8] (around US$400 as of June 2007), a Philippine online dealer has listed a starting price of PHP 13,999^[9] (around US$300), ASUS Spain has announced a unit price of €299^[10] (around US$400), a Belgian online shop has posted an entry price of €346.54^[11] (around US$470)

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Canon Powershot S3IS - Prosumer ZOOOOOOOM!
The PowerShot S3 IS is the successor to last year's 5-megapixel PowerShot S2 IS digital camera. The PowerShot S3 IS enhancements include a newly designed 6-megapixel image sensor that together with Canon’s proprietary DIGIC II image processor dramatically reduces “noise” for better image quality and achieves ISO equivalent speed ratings ranging from 80 to 800. This increased sensitivity allows the use of faster shutter speeds, thereby reducing the effects of camera shake and subject blur during hand-held photography in low light. The S3 is also fitted with a larger 2.0-inch, color Vari-Angle LCD display.

Powershot S3 IS Features:

• 6-Megapixel CCD for images up to 2816 x 2112
• Canon 12x zoom (36-432mm equiv.) with Optical Image Stabilization
• Super Macro closeup focus to 0 inches!
• New Widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio for HDTV display
• Articulated 2.0-inch color LCD flips forward and rotates 270°
• Program AE, Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority, full Manual
• Image zone modes: Portrait, Landscape, Night scene and Stitch assist
• Interval shooting and Exposure and Focus Bracketing
• Movie w/stereo sound, 640x480 or 320x240, 30fps or 15fps
• Shutter speeds from 15 secs to 1/3200 sec in Manual mode.
• Evaluative, Center-weighted average or Spot (Center or AF-point)
• High-speed 2.3 frames per second continuous shooting
• Up to 60-second sound memos for still images
• Sharpness, Contrast and Saturation is adjustable
• ISO sensitivity: 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 or AUTO
• Built-in flash with Auto, Fill, Red-eye reduction and Slow-sync modes
• Secure Digital (SD) memory card compatible, 16MB included
• Powered by four standard AA type batteries
• USB 2.0 Hi-Speed data transfer to host computer
• PictBridge and Canon Direct Print compatible

DILEMMA INCOMING!
I hate this.  I want them both.  WANT WANT WANT.  But with the current budget (assuming I have one) I can only choose to have one for now.  Sigh... which shall I go for?  The camera or the laptop?

I'm gearing towards the camera... since the laptop is new, I'm sure there'll be a lot of developments next year.  Sigh... any cheap places where I can buy the S3IS?  Kumi?  Mimi?  Help?

Lust-o-meter's definitely going off like crazy.

Post-it

There are tons and tons of things I have to do.

Work just piles up by the minute.  I have thousands of things on my mind, 99.9% of which are acads-related.  It's hard to squeeze in work-time to my already-filled 8-to-4-21-unit schedule.  It's impossible, really.

Just when I start to peel off the post-it of a completed assignment off the back cover of my notebook, another one comes along.  I never see that part empty, it's always full of post-its.  I'm actually collecting the done-for post-its, hoping to do something with them someday.  Any ideas?  Anyhow, it's stressful, really.  Sometimes I can't take it anymore.  Sometimes.

Heck, this is just laziness taking.  Let's go study!

I'm not good enough for her

I tried.  But I failed.  So many times.
I tried.  But it's just not enough.  I gave my best.  I thought I did what is right.  But it's not.
I tried.  And I tried real hard.  But my effort didn't give way.  She was too high to reach.  I could never be good enough for her.

Is everything a test?  I bet it is.  But right now, I'm not too determined to surpass everything.
When will I achieve success?  When will I be able to impress her?  When will she take notice?
I guess I really just have to try.

I adjusted to what she wants.  I changed my ways.  I CHANGED!  I CHANGED A LOT!  But it's still not enough.

She's all over my head.  Everywhere I go, it's her that I see, it's her that I think about.  I can't get her out of my head.  Even if we don't meet, even if we don't see each other for weeks, she doesn't fail to make her presence felt.  Haaayy... I'm going crazy because of her.  She's all I think about.  She's always on top of my head.

I gave it my all.  But she's really way out of my league for her to notice my little effort.

But I shall not be defeated.  I shall conquer it all.  I shall do everything!  Just to get her nod, just to let her know that I gave it my all.

I hope my efforts pay off.  I can't wait to see the day when I finally finish this god-forsaken race and get through with it all.  I hope by then she'll take notice of me.  Just that.  And I'll forever be fine.

You're way too beautiful gir
That's why it'll never work
You'll have me suicidal, suicidal
When you say it's over
Damn all these beautiful girls
They only wanna do your dirt
They'll have you suicidal, suicidal
When they say it's over

Haaaayyyy Ma'am Chua.  I'm not good enough for you.  But I'll try. =)

The Dismal State of Philippine Collegian Today

I just came home from a contract signing with Inquirer Publisher Isagani Yambot (read: I was late!  Kahiya!).  I gotta give it to that man!  He was very down to earth and very approachable.  He even had some McDo merienda delivered for us!  Haha!

Photo-ops and some kamustahan transpired.  He was really talking like our father and us his children (haha tama ang Daddy Yammy Yambot!  Pero more like Lolo!  Hehe sana hindi nya to nababasa =P).  Had a lot of laughing moments, like this one:

JM: Sir sa Inquirer po ilang beses na na-stop ang press?
IY: Umm... onti pa lang, siguro mga once or twice.
Claire:  Ah yah I remember sabi ni Ma'am Khan sa US daw twice pa lang na-stop ang press, yung when Titanic sank and when namatay si JFK.
IY: Sino?
Claire: JFK po.
IY: Ah akala ko GMA eh!  *laughs*
*everyone laughs*

Haha.  He was sooo cool.  He even proposed a dinner with other Inquirer scholars.  Haha!  Looking forward to that.

Anyway, after much talking we landed on the topic of our campus publications.  Royce took out a copy of the Collegian and Sir Yambot asked how it was doing.  To our surprise, all three of us Iskos and Iska had only one answer: progressive, STAND-UP, somehow leftist.  We told him it was red, and he noticed how it was literally red (because of the cover).

UE had the same situation, where oppositionists dominate The Dawn (tama ba?).  UST's Varsitarian, on the other hand, is somehow having problems with the intervention of their administration.

I find it somehow sad how the Collegian has become ultra-progressive nowadays.  Everything is tinted with a tinge of red.  You find it rare to find articles there about student and faculty achievements, developments in discipline, academic milestones.  I mean, these are--just as much as the nation's issues are--important facets of an iskolar's life.

Remembering I grabbed a copy of the Collegian this morning, I took it out on the bus on the way home.  The first article I read was about how the stand of the USC about TFI and STFAP took so long to be agreed upon.  While I do not condone the administration's railroading and subsequent implementation of the said measures, I find it quite pathetic for the Collegian--headed by a Journalism major, no less--to be unfair on ideas and opinion not in accordance with theirs.

Just look at these paragraphs in the USC article:

"USC vice chairperson Viktor Fontanilla, member of Alyansa ng Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katuwiran at Kaunlaran (Alyansa)..."

"Fontanilla and his Alyansa colleagues in the USC..."

While I am not a member of Alyansa myself, I find it appalling that they had to mention, and furthermore stress, someone's affiliation just to highlight a dissenting opinion.  I look at Shan Abdulwahid's (USC Chair) and Sarah Cabrera's (USC Councilor) names and just had to ask why they have not been labeled as members of STAND-UP?  Ano 'to, dahil kabilang party sila parang outside of the USC na sila?  Why such discrimination?

Apparently, there are some who are really disappointed with the Collegian, and they haven't failed to make their opinion heard.  They had the guts to tell it to Collegian's face (and everybody's faces behind Collegian, for that matter).  Some Mr. Ponce wrote quite a few issues back about how he viewed the Collegian as targetting the so-called elitist students of UP through one of its published articles.  The editor in chief published a rebuttal.  Here's a reaction from the current issue:

"Elitist or not, Mr. Ponce is a UP student, is he not?  I thought the Collegian was supposed to stand up for the collective views of the students.  It's unfair to gang up on Ponce, and others who think along his line, just because he espouses different views and comes from a different background.  We are all entitled to our ideas.  We're free to think outside popular opinion.  Mr. Ponce's guts in expressing his seemingly unpopular views is commendable.  Hail to the free exchange of ideas!"  -Carmela, UP Law

Where can you find a campus publication so critical of the nation's leaders?  Only in UP.  But somehow the Collegian has gone a bit far.  Where can we find updates on what's happening at the school?  There are meaningful events that could have been covered by the Collegian.  Issues are important, but they're not the only ones that are important to a student's life, more so an Iskolar's life.  Why has the Collegian deviated so far?

Another text message sent to the Collegian asked why they have not published an article about the death of a certain Psychology professor.  Why, because it doesn't matter?  What is the Collegian's concept of news?  As far as I can see, all the Collegian publishes are views.  And, quite sadly, views by only a small percentage of the entire UP community.  Aren't we supposed to be entirely represented in the Collegian?

Mimi asked why we can't have a school paper like the Guidon of Ateneo.  Sadly, all I could say was that the Collegian is very different in nature from the Guidon.  The Collegian has been through a lot of things, including being a bastion of press freedom during the Martial Law years.  But, I ask, isn't the Collegian going too far?  Three years ago it wasn't like this.  Three years ago there can still be a hint of decency I can give for the Collegian.  Three years ago I willingly take home three copies of the Collegian to give out to my friends, who are members of their respective school's publication.  Now I don't think I could gladly do the same.

The Collegian, sad to say, has really become a lip service, reduced to a tool used by a mere fraction of the entire studentry.  Not all students in UP has the same view as the Collegian.  While I find it noble their fight and coercion of the government to pay attention to education, sadly, all I can say is, sometimes we are too immersed with ideals that we fail to see what is real.  The times have changed.  And the present University Student Council is a sign of that change.  For years one party has dominated the USC.  Now another party is gathering clamour and support from the studentry.  Shouldn't they take that as a sign?

And what could the Collegian say when the fight against TFI and STFAP fails?  Students studying in UP can no longer be called "Iskolar ng Bayan" because they dish out their own cash to pay for their education.  Can they be compelled to adopt such views?  "Ang Iskolar ng Bayan, may alam, may pakialam", sabi ng isang famous line ng STAND-UP.  Pano 'pag wala nang Iskolar ng Bayan?  (Na hindi malayong mangyari)  Ang mga estudyante ba ang kailangang tumanggap ng kung anuman ang inilalathala sa Collegian?  O dapat bang ang Collegian ang mag-adapt para sa mga pinaglilingkuran nito, ang mga estudyante?

Pula lang ba ang kulay ng aktibismo?

No wonder not many journalism students are interested to join the Collegian.  They don't espouse and live the journalism we see, breathe, and feel everyday.  "Relevance, Context, Integrity," sabi ni CheChe Lazaro.  Yun yon.

Just thinking out loud.  My opinion.

HSA: Huwag Sisihin si Arroyo

July 15 has lapsed and the moment we've all been dreading has arrived.  Finally, the administration was able to make the horse pass through the needle eye.  The impossible has happened.  And our basic freedoms have all but gone to exile.

As of late, people are awaiting the unfortunate one who gets to be the first "victim" of the ironically-named Human Security Act, or the antiterror law.
The law has met many dissenting opinions, even during its proposition and deliberation.  We discussed the first versions of the law in our J100 class, and clearly, there are many provisions that need some brushing up.  Some safeguards weren't enough, while some pretend to be safeguards when they actually are not.

The problematic state to which the law is in right now lies on its very fundamental component: the definition of terrorism.  The law so vaguely defines it as "an act sowing and creating a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand."

By theory we all know how terrorism looks like: World Trade Center, Iraqi suicide bomber, Abu Sayyaf, etc.  But to qualify the act to a meager sentence is a bit problematic.  The attempt by the law to encapsulate the act in such a definition fails in many aspects.

One, fear and panic are very subjective indicators.  One who surprises someone by sneaking up his back and shouting "BULAGA" can very well cause fear and panic upon the person.  As Atty. Hilbay put it, these are factors to which one cannot produce a clear and tangible evidence, an element that is needed in the establishment of the alleged crime.

Two, the definition umbrellas numerous crimes already existing in the Revised Penal Code.  A rape can cause fear and panic, while a murder is sure to sow widespread and extraordinary terror even to the non-victims.  How do we qualify terrorism, then?

According to Atty. Hilbay, we don't.  What is needed is a more rigorous implementation of the existing laws, not a new one to blanket over what is already there.

But the questions don't stop there.  Another reason why this law is very highly contested is the fact that it contains a thousand and one ambiguities.

Take, for example, where it says that 'bugging' or 'wiretapping' of journalists shall not be authorized (a pretentious safeguard).  Why then has Sec. Gonzalez made a very strong assertion that 'media can be bugged'?  Are we on the same page?  Or has one of his screws gone loose again?

Several sectors have issued statements seeking its repeal.  Sec. Norberto Gonzales said it's okay to push through with it without an IRR.  Legally, according to Atty. Hilbay, a law doesn't necessarily need an IRR.  But with a very vague law such as this, he said, an IRR is mandatory.  How else are we going to disambiguate it without a very specific IRR?

All things being equal, it's quite asked of us to seek the context of the said law.  When was it passed?  Why was it rushed?  What's the political situation in the country?  What are the possible implications of its enactment?

Clearly, one only needs to peek behind the curtains of this one spectacular show.  And you all know what I'm talking about.

Much has been said about the issue.  Just my two cents.  I end with this graphic from Pinoy Weekly and an excerpt from Conrado de Quiros' Inquirer column:"I remembered this speech shortly after I read about Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asking everyone, the media in particular, to rally behind her in her effort to leave a legacy to the nation. I knew I had heard those same words before. I knew I had heard GMA tell the world she was no longer interested in politics but would spend the remaining time she had to do well by this country ... When GMA talks of leaving a lasting legacy, she means herself."

Everything's TWISTED over here

Waaahhh blag.  Missed you.  'sbeen so long since I last updated.  So many things happened (cliche).  So many things I want to talk about (cliche).  So many pressing matters on top of the other (cliche).  Thanks, I'm a walking cliche, I know.

Drama-rant up ahead.

Okay, so people are teasing me for (supposedly) being a PDI (Philippine Daily Inquirer) Scholar.  No, I haven't got the scholarship yet, I'm still in the "screening" process, if that be the word.  However, news travels fast where news is made, duh.  So practically the whole journalism department knew about it, even Ate Penny, a senior!  Gaadd.  That was what I wanted to avoid.  I'm not keen on being on the spotlight so much.  I'm more of a 'behind-the-scenes' guy.

I have no problem with the teasing.  Some are even darn hilarious whenever they tease me (take Kumi for example, even coining the 'Daddy Yammy Yambot' name for Inquirer's publisher).  I mean, I totally understand how I'd suddenly become the center of attention and, on some rare occasions, the butt of jokes.

(here's the drama part) What I can't take is the pressure, the expectation.  By being a PDI Scholar I'm forever labeled to be someone 'great' or 'good' with writing.  Imagine the stigma, imaging the feeling.  Once again I'm forced to live up to some expectation I didn't even solicit.  If I fail, it's for shame.  I'm not even half as good as some journ students in our college.  I mean, there are a lot more people deserving of the scholarship (like Dana and Kath and Tine, I'm not kidding or humoring you).  The question is, why me?

It's a curse, I tell you.  And it gets worse.

But then again that's just me.  Just my two cents.  ^__^  Let's still thank God for this opportunity.  Thank God for this blessing.  =)  And work hard to make it work. =D